Dark Temptations
A/N: Finally the next chapter, with some new entertaining fun just for you guys!
Disclaimer: I will never own Harry Potter, for it was well-semi completed before my time. Or, at least my graduation time, for now only two years remain. So there.
Bold/Italic-Harry's thoughts
Bold-Voice
Chapter 14-The Forgotten Passion
A quiet malice resided within the school.
None, carpathian, muggle-born, pureblood or wizened headmaster sensed the slow developing of the sinister fate settling upon Hogwarts grounds. It had become part of the ether of the students, connecting to their bloodstream, flowing unnoticed into their hearts, their minds. It brought an unknown hold onto the many pupils, nonmattering if their parents were part of the deceiving Ministry or the accursed branded Death Eaters. Each personage now had an invisible chain laced around his or her being, from first years to professors, magical and mythical creatures to deceased spirits haunting about, even the giant squid out in the lake was now imprisoned within the unseen web of this alterable destiny.
Though the carpathians were singled out from these dastardly deeds, they sensed the tension in the air. Even close friends could only hold a feeling of being lost, a great gaping in their hearts that couldn't be filled nor explained through any kind of logical reasoning. And it scared them.
Something was changing within the stone walls of this magnificent castle that was known as a shelter and refuge to those many with magical talents who refused to give up. As if to prove this fact, the number of students had immensely increased, but that alone would not be enough to withstand the destructive hunger and passion of he-who-shall-be-supposedly-defeated-by-none. Classes had become stricter, pressuring and encouraging the adolescents to take their studies more seriously, to accelerate in the more important classes, such as Defense against the Dark Arts, Potions, and Charms. Curses and hexes were being learned quickly, but would be just as much out of sorts like a wildflower in the middle of a freeway if protection spells weren't studied and mastered as well.
No, as much as they struggled to practice and accomplish different tasks of both offense and defense, there would still be the little doubt placed in the back of their mind: Would this all truly be enough?
Just as such questions and fears slowly took root and blossomed in their souls, it also overpowered the existence and knowledge of a certain individual. For, as long as he wasn't present, any hope that was deeply embedded within them could be bid farewell.
Harry Potter remained forgotten.
I know that name.
I know that face. I know that person. Draco Malfoy, the one I love.
Truly?
Yes, truly. I truly love him.
But does he love you?
I...do not know.
Then it is not love.
He says he does! He says he cares for me, that he wants me to be happy. That he would never hurt me and will always protect me.
And you?
I care for him the same. I long to protect him and my determination to do so is resolute. I don't ever want him to be put in harm's way because of me. He promised the same to me.
And you trust this?
Yes, yes I trust him with all my heart and soul.
Then, as you say, with your heart and soul, you shall pay the price.
Who are you to judge upon my decisions and demand a price?
The same that will protect you from harm.
Once again, all Harry knew was the unbearable silence that accompanied the shadowed demons of his mind. And he could only repeat Draco's name to help lessen his fears.
This corridor is endless, Draco despaired, squinting ahead for any sign to show that it would end.
It seemed to him as if hours had passed if not days, the scent of him either becoming heavier or fainter had been indistinguishable so long ago. Everywhere Draco turned, it remained the same.
I love you; good-bye.
'This is ridiculous', he thought, shaking his head to steady his emotions and try to calm the raging beast within him. 'This is not real. This is some kind of manipulative fog.' Draco acted as if he'd suddenly grasped the reality of the situation. He punched the wall, the stone immediately crumbling under the impact.
Harry had never been in here to begin with.
'It's a trap! Damn them!' he cursed in his mind, bolting forward, figuring the door at the end would probably be closer than the one behind him. Only the end of the corridor still never came. 'Fucking vampires!'
Until Draco passed what seemed to be the sixty-eighth segment of wall he had counted, he leaned his hand against the stones to try and think. This made no sense; he should have come across some kind of exit so long ago-why wasn't there any sign of one?
Looking at where his hand rested, he noticed the uneven indent of the stones. His eyes did slowly bleed red as he figured out what he had been doing this whole time while god-only-knows-what was happening to Harry. In circles; he had been running in circles.
His suppressed growl coalesced into a full-fledged roar that echoed through the hallway and, bouncing off the walls, caused bits of loosened rock and dust to fall and be set free. Draco didn't trust his scent anymore, allowing his judgement and sense of direction to help guide him towards the right path where his mate was. Parting himself, he easily sifted through the cracks and gaps within the walls.
Only Draco didn't know that he truly had gotten closer to his mate. He had only to watch the ground as walls shifted around him through the haze of deception.
Would you like to see him?
Harry almost choked as he inhaled, looking around for the bodiless voice. Yes, yes I do!
A mirthless chuckle rose out of the darkness, wrapping around him as if to crush his bones. Very well then, it croaked, look deep into yourself, and you shall find what you seek.
Harry had doubts about what it said, but as true as it's word, he saw Draco in radiating power.
He saw how Draco was struggling to find him, calling his name, pleading for any kind of sign as to where he was. Harry had heard the sound increase as his footsteps came closer, as Draco had started running down the hallway. But then they stopped.
Harry was scared for a moment that something had happened to him, that Draco was experiencing something that he couldn't see, something internal that he couldn't help with. His face clouded over into an expression he couldn't read, his eyes starting to glow a dangerous red.
Then, without any kind of warning, Draco turned on his heel and went back.
Harry at first didn't believe his eyes. He was speechless and that sight struck him deep, hard, cold. It shattered his soul, what little bond they had shared was now crushed. The dark feathery touches in his gut distorted into blistering rakes against his skin, his own vision in the darkness turning into a hazy red.
Betrayal. Draco betrayed him and had left him behind.
The bitter kiss of supposed realization met him head-on, merciless and relentless as it struck him wave after wave as little bits of confusion and lies merged together into one single moment of pain. And it hurt him deep.
He couldn't voice his scream, his mouth was dry, unshed tears easily flowed down his soft cheeks. He felt lost, his mind was restless. Draco betrayed him.
Draco betrayed him. He didn't come to help him.
Draco. Betrayed. Him.
Draco wouldn't do that, the little part of his brain that seemed to work tried reasoning. Draco couldn't do that.
Doubt easily overrides efforts of convincing the opposite. Couldn't he?
Harry shook his head, clearing his sight so that he could just stare into the inky blackness that surrounded him. His mind slowly started working again.
Couldn't Draco do that?
He tried denying it to himself, saying that Draco wouldn't do that. Draco had changed; Draco had captured his heart-
And was free to do what he wished with it.
The faint memories that desperate part of his mind was sending him were the recent times of how they had laughed together; how they had gotten along and held each other; how they had confessed deep-kept feelings for each other. Someone you share something so special with couldn't just up and go like that.
But this was Draco they were 'talking' about. The stronger part of his mind that seemed out of place had more control, and brought back all the memories of how they had argued, how they had fought and despised each other. How Draco had done his best to try and hex him to nothing, and Harry doing just the same to defend his friends.
He couldn't deny it. They had hated each other, and in two weeks it seemed that it would be impossible to forget all of that spite and malice.
But it had been possible, because they had forgotten about it.
I warned you that you would pay with your heart and soul, the voice drifted close. I tried to help you before, but you were torn between whom to trust. And now you suffer.
Silently, his crystal promise fell from his shut eyes, his body trembling as he cried like a lost child, truly alone in the deep dark woods, danger lurking around every shadow. He wanted to not believe that Draco had turned back, but the seed of deception had slowly sprouted roots, growing into something that would also change Harry and his heart.
I want to go speak with him, he whispered, choking on his attempt at speaking. I do not wish to believe he truly did that. Please, allow me to speak to him.
You have already lost your heart once to him, the voice intoned gently, he has caused you this pain, yet you wish to return again. Are you for certain that you long to return to experience an aching loss in your soul once more?
I...Harry had doubts. He wanted to prove that Draco hadn't done what his eyes showed him, that this faltering of his mind to truly believe was just that; a faltering of his trust in him. I...
Allow yourself to become bonded to him, the voice instructed. Allow yourself to be seduced and hold yourself true towards him. But once your souls are merged to one, all you know, see, and feel will become part of him. Same as all his will be yours. And if you find it true that he has betrayed you, it paused as if to add a more dramatic effect to his words, then allow yourself to be destroyed and in turn cause him much grief and suffer, equivalent to your own.
Harry listened intently to its words, not knowing that what it was saying was actually a laced command that the little parasite inside him would invoke obedience. Yes, he would return to Draco, he would share his whole being the same as Draco with him. He would also be able to see his mind and thoughts, though these would be trimmed with an ever-so-slight alteration that Draco himself would not be able to detect. But these alterations would eventually lead to Harry feeling ultimately transgressed by who he believed to be his whole world.
Harry would return to Draco, only to find his fate and trust to conclude him to his awaiting demise. The voice would train him somewhat in supposed techniques that would show only the 'truth' to him. The reality, not what his heart desired to see.
Allow yourself to return to the ground; ashes to ashes, such as dust to dust. Allow your time to expire, and cease existence, if you truly wish to see him thrash in your own pains and slowly lose his grip on sanity, for the hunter to become one of the hunted, the most deadly of them all. For a undead to go mad is indeed a threat to all. Allow him to cry out in agony as the rest of the world trembles in pain and fear of him.
Allow yourself to die, Harry Potter.
Two weeks passed without incident, Draco doing little more than fading away in his dormitory rooms, Lolita and Gregori not being able to do much more for him. Savannah occasionally managed him to drink a blood pocket from a hospitals' blood-storage once, but that was the only sign to show him to still be among the living and sane.
"Is Draco dying?" Pansy asked Savannah one day as she watched the young woman bustle back and forth in his private rooms, Madame Pomfrey still having yet to return.
Savannah turned and stared at her, torn between amusement and annoyance. "Whatever gave you that idea?" she asked in idle curiosity.
She shrugged indifferently, but her brown-gray eyes could not cloud her worries about her friend as Draco could even smother sadness and replace it with spite. She had no such skills, simply because she wasn't a Malfoy and she didn't mind being open. She was a girl.
Savannah shook her head, not knowing how to answer her. "He will be fine sooner or later. Hopefully Harry will show up soon." She glanced up through the moon-arched window out into the night, where storm clouds roiled across the star-scattered sky, obscuring all light from them. Dinner had only been over about two hours.
"Who?" Pansy glanced at her, not fully aware of what she said.
"Nothing." It was strange, the way no one seemed to recall Harry Potter. But then again, she herself could barely remember the poison-green eyes as they flashed with sudden malice. "Could you get his homework for him and try to keep those two walking columns out of my way? They're really starting to get on my nerves." She inclined her head towards Crabbe and Goyle as they loomed threateningly over Draco, though it was their way of showing concern.
"Yes miss," Pansy smiled and grabbed them by their sleeves, dragging them behind her obediently, though she did risk a glance back over her shoulder at Draco's still form.
Savannah sighed, sitting down in the chair next to the desk as Gregori appeared next to her. "He's slowly losing it, isn't he?" he intoned quietly, his usually apathetic face frowning as he noted the still vacant glaze in Draco's eyes.
She nodded in reply, tilting over to lean against him as he put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "If only there were some sign of Harry being somewhere nearby," she whispered, trying to understand what was going on inside of Harry. Elder and more experienced Carpathians would have gone mad by now, possibly torn up all of England if not Europe to find their mate. But Draco fought within himself, not sure of what to do. He was lost within his darkness, and only said person could have any hope snapping him out of it.
Suddenly and without Warning, Draco's gray eyes immediately sprang into focus, their glaze changing to brilliant silver sprinkled with blue as he looked around the room, his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted. "Ha..." he croaked, tangling himself within the emerald sheets as he tried to reach his goal.
"Ha..." He couldn't finish it. He couldn't say his name.
"Draco, restrain yourself!" Gregori ordered, moving to his side and putting his hands on either shoulder as he tried to force him to lie back down.
But it proved to be futile. Draco had summoned all of the gathered and preserved strength of the past two weeks and bundled them into this one instant, all to free himself of these temporary chains and reach his other half, his lifemate.
"Harry!"
Draco ran and ran and ran.
He ran until he could run no more, he ran until he could barely see through his unfocused eyes, he ran until he found what he searched for. He ran until he saw Harry Potter stand in front of him, healthy and alive, smiling that openhearted and carefree smile that made Draco shiver inside with admiration.
"Harry..." he sighed, relief and joy overwhelming him until he nearly passed out. He crushed these easily with the longing to touch Harry's hair and face and neck and-simply just to hold him once again. He ran once again, not quite as fast, but still knocking Harry backwards as he stormed and embraced him in a hug that threatened to shatter his ribs if not lungs.
"Hey Drac-"
"Don't you 'Hey Draco' me!" he shouted, pulling Harry, though thought impossible, even tighter into his arms. "Don't you dare 'Hey Draco' me as if it's only been a few minutes! Damn it, Harry! Don't act like nothing happened!"
"Wha-what?" he mumbled in confusion. He was struggling to breathe properly, Draco obviously not about to let go anytime soon. "Draco, I-"
"Don't!" Draco shouted, his whole body trembling as he leaned his head down against Harry's raven hair. "Just don't..." he silently pleaded, Harry's hair dampening without the presence of a shower or rain. Draco was crying.
Harry was stunned. It was an emotional attack that made him want to hold Draco close, wanted to kiss away his tears and tell him everything would be fine. But maybe everything wouldn't be.
They stood there in the hallway a little longer, the torches and candles flickering erratically as their shadows shifted from the walls to the stone floors and then cast strangely against each other. Harry relaxed into Draco's death-grip, finding no sense in trying to push against him if he didn't want to faint for lack of air. Seriously, he could black out if his oxygen-supply dwindled further down.
Finally daring to try and break the silence, Harry lifted his turbulent golden-green eyes to stare directly into Draco's. "Look," he started very slowly, not too for sure on how Draco would react, "I'm sorry that I–"
Draco traced his hand from Harry's hip to his lips, gently placing his fingertips against them. He felt heat crash within him at the gesture of his lips still moving against him. Temptation would not be cheated again. Draco allowed the shadow within him to consume him slightly and he ever so carefully placed his lips against Harry's.
Harry's eyes widened in surprise, caught completely off guard. His first thought was to push Draco back, to fight and tell him that he didn't want to, but it was as if he wasn't part of himself anymore. His mind screamed and raged, trying to speak sense as Draco continued his onslaught as he bit Harry's lower lip, his little caresses begging for entry into his mouth.
Harry didn't understand the change within himself, the way he wanted to be taken by Draco, to be his alone. Temptation to surrender himself completely to his ex-nemesis seemed so criminal, and yet so right. It was sweet torment for Harry, not understanding why he wanted to keep Draco away from him, but needed to be filled with him. He wanted Draco to be inside him, to be part of him. He wanted to be one with him.
He could do little more than open his mouth as an unspoken invitation, one that Draco didn't have to ask twice for as he immediately befell the smaller boy, tasting him, exploring him, wanting to swallow him whole.
He was warm, delicious, and the taste of him made Draco go crazy with tamed desire. He whispered something against Harry's lips as he momentarily withdrew his tongue, only for Harry to find himself a moment later to be sprawled out on Draco's bed sheets.
Savannah and Gregori were out of sight, which Draco noted and activated all safeguards incredibly fast.
Now having ensured their privacy to remain undisturbed, he focused all his attention back on the ardent Gryffindor underneath him. Momentary Malfoy pride gave him the time to allow himself a wicked smirk down at Harry, who was now trapped and he loved the sight of him. Hot and wanting as he moved restlessly against him.
Arching his back as he dipped down to yet again have a thorough tasting of his young lover, Draco only stopped to whisper huskily against his ear. "Please," he mumbled, his lips moving against Harry's sensitive shell, "please be mine. Be mine hear and now, and I will never let you go."
Surrender yourself to the darkness, surrender yourself to him. Allow yourself to be bonded to him.
A warning bell was ringing unrestrained in his mind, signaling something not to be right. But this sweet seduction game that had him so filled was undeniably blissful. Harry couldn't deny him, not now, nor ever. Possibly.
He nodded, only to find his clothes gone within seconds, a sweep of Draco's hand having discarded the offending material. It had been the last remaining barrier between him and Draco, and now that little protection and reassurance was gone. He was truly exposed and vulnerable to all and nothing that Draco could or would do to him. Harry's mind suddenly felt trapped, as if he'd walked too soon into the den of a predator. He could see the intense energy radiating from Draco's stoic chest. He was pure dominance that demanded submission, and Harry was beginning to feel slightly panicked.
Draco sensed his unease, but only a smidgen through the hazy lust that purposely clouded his mind as his beast anticipated its release. He wanted to choose for Harry, wanted to take him and show him how it felt to be close to someone else. But to do that would be just as bad as taking advantage of him if he were unconscious. No, he sighed in regret, he would have to try and coax Harry back into being open with him, to allow himself to be consumed by him.
But then again, Draco thought with some joy, to make him tremble for him and make him call his name until he could barely stand the feeling of Draco not being inside him would be more fun. They had all the time in the world, and he was not about to make a blunder that could last for eternity just because he was impatient.
Harry had his fingers entwined into the soft emerald sheets of the bed, arching his back every time Draco lightly ghosted across him, feeling himself clutch at the loss of his heat.
He writhed against him, straddled firmly underneath him as Draco slowly administered some unspeakable things to him that made him feel near the point of suffocating if he didn't release himself. His eyes were a smoky golden-green, his hooded gaze alone ablaze with fervor and need that had been so unexplainable to him only a short while ago. Or so it seemed to him.
Draco alone was having the hardest time controlling himself, always having to force himself to stay until Harry called his name, begged for Draco to make him belong to him alone. He had to wait until Harry wanted him unconditionally, until he screamed for Draco to make him his. He had to wait until then, not before.
He touched Harry's cheek, looked at his panting form lightly coated with sweat, barely restraining himself. It was a beautiful sight and Draco would never forget the sight of Harry, the thought being burned into his mind for future memories he grinned to himself.
"Draco," Harry groaned his name, trying to make closer contact but only to find himself hindered by the fact of Draco having pinned his wrists and his hips, making it only possible for him to squirm and graze his stomach occasionally.
During those skin contacts Draco found it immensely hard to hold himself in check. He quivered internally at the way Harry said his name, like cream running down a tulip petal. He bent his head down and slowly swirled and nipped, enjoying every sensation that vibrated through Harry's trembling form.
He couldn't stand it any longer. To be teased and taunted, fine, but this was agony in person, torment come laugh at him every time Draco's hot mouth got so close, then only to move away, leaving him colder and more wanting than before. Harry couldn't take it! "Draco!"
Draco gladly obliged to Harry's plea, shifting his weight as he looked down at his love, allowing his incisors to lengthen as he kissed Harry's forehead, nose, lips, and neck. "For so long, Harry," he said, kissing his collarbone and moving back up to his lips, grazing them gently, his touch feather-light, "for so long to have had my lifemate across from me." Draco lifted his head to look down at Harry's blushing face once more, at the way his emerald eyes completely surrendered to him and wanted to trust him, to believe in him. Draco felt his breath hitch. He was deeply touched. "I claim you as my lifemate," he whispered, rubbing their noses together as he slowly moved, rocking him slightly with only added pressure that almost showed no true difference until he became more persistent. "I belong to you."
Harry felt something within him tremor, as if something had been set off, slowly ticking away for the right moment to appear.
"I offer my life for you. I give you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul and my body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours."
His eyesight wavered, swirled around him in multiple colors. A true change was undergoing within him and he couldn't control it. A part of him was feeling sealed, but to have only another split in two. He didn't understand, but as Draco went even deeper within him, Harry could do little more but moan in pleasure as their bodies pulsed in a rapid moving exotic and seductive twist and dance.
"Your life, happiness and welfare will be cherished and placed above mine for all time. You are my lifemate," he paused and gently let his fangs dig into Harry's lower lip, flicking his tongue out to lick the blood away, "bound to me for all eternity and always in my care."
He felt the sudden release, both did, and leaned in heavily against each other. Harry was tired, but he somehow got his limbs entwined with those of Draco, who lapped at the sweat on his neck and snaked his arms about his slim shoulders. Almost immediately a spark behind his eyelids made Harry go blind as Draco sunk his teeth deep inside his pulse, a blazing fire or ignition of lightning that shook both their worlds at once. Draco drank deeply, savoring the mysterious and exotic taste of Harry's blood, not at all coppery as that of others but with its own unusual sweetness that made him ache for more. He started to move restlessly against him again, feeling the heat gather and throb in his gut and lower.
Harry slumped in his shoulders, his strength fading at the great amount of blood he was losing. His sudden weakness was the only thing that called Draco back to his senses, immediately cursing himself for having been so greedy for his blood. It wasn't his death he was after, yet here he almost was the reason for his early demise. Instantly he slit his wrist, bringing the precious blood to Harry's slack lips. His once rosiness had turned a ghostly pale and Draco feared for both their lives for a moment. Taking his own blood into his mouth, he leaned and nudged Harry's lips open with his own, forcing Harry to drink the vital essence from his lips, making it impossible for him to spit it out.
Harry gagged at the first attempt, the taste so foreign he could do little more but choke. He slowly got used to the taste, but after the third mouth full, Draco had to close his wound and hope that the blood he had given Harry would sustain him until the morrow. He gathered Harry's exhausted form close and cradled him, kissing his forehead and wiping the stray strands of midnight-hair from his pale face. He couldn't blush, wouldn't blush. To blush you needed blood.
Draco feared until Morpheus' lullaby called them to the land of nod.
'Harry', he prayed, 'please be okay.'
A/N: I had a feeling that if Harry didn't show up soon, I would be digging my early grave. Hey! I even managed to bond them in this little ditty. Aren't you proud? Anyway, school's back in movement, so updates once again every two weeks. Attempt for every two weeks, but anyhoo, review please! And I love all you guys who have such patience with me!
Lythtis
