Recap: He wanted the blood of the wizards in the room with him. In a last desperate attempt, he visualized Hedwig, the night he left the Dursleys. As he saw the red blood on the white feathers, he felt an overwhelming wave of sadness. His fangs drew back. His eyes cooled. He was Harry again.

Chapter 13

Harry looked up, mortified, at the thoughts he been having. Amazingly, while Malfoy's face was mostly blank with, what was that, a slight hint of fear, Krum was smiling.

"Very good, Harry, very good. You ver so deep in the bloodlust, you saw us as nothing but food. However, even from that vantage point, you realized it vas wrong, and you fought it. Obviously, you have been practicing. It also helps that you fed only two days ago, you are doing vell. Now, time is up," Krum rose from the chair he'd sat in when Malfoy transformed, and headed for the portrait hole, "I must be heading for my room. Qvidditch tryouts tomorrow, right Harry? Goodnight, both of you."

With that, he walked out.

Harry- no, Potter- was still sitting in the corner, staring at the ground in embarrassment. Draco really didn't understand why Ha- Potter was ashamed by the bloodlust. If he were the one who could terrify people just by closing his eyes for a moment, he certainly wouldn't feel bad about it.

Ah well, Harry- no, Potter- was a Gryffindor and they all had some weird sense of right and wrong.

Maybe he should say something to Har-Pott- Ah screw it.

Maybe he should say something to Harry.

He started to walk forward. He stopped about a foot in front of Harry, who looked up with a still-red face.

"Hey Potter, you better get to bed. You've got tryouts early tomorrow and you really should get some sleep before that. After all, if you aren't awake enough tomorrow, you wont be able to replace enough team members to actually give us Slytherins any competition."

He spun, walked to his room, stepped inside, and shut the door.

The next morning, Harry was up early. He dressed quickly, grabbed his Firebolt, and headed downstairs. Not needing breakfast, Harry went straight to the Quidditch Pitch. After seeing that the conditions were perfect, Harry headed off to the changing rooms.

An hour later, the current team, which consisted of Ginny, Ron, Harry, Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper (the two beaters from the previous year), was dressed and flying laps. As the hopeful Gryffindor tryouts approached the field, Harry signaled, and the team touched down.

There were six possibilities for the two vacant chaser positions. First, there was Victoria Frobisher, a fourth year who had tried out for the team the previous year but had been turned down because her Charms club came first. Next, there was fourth year Geoffrey Hooper, who had also tried out the previous year. Euan Abercrombie, a second year, was there and looking very scared. There were also two third year boys, Christopher McLaughlin and Brandon Jamieson. Last was another third year, girl this time, Natalie Macdonald.

Victoria (Vicky she corrected him) went first. As before she flew well, however, he would reserve judgement on that for later. He told her to stay.

Geoffrey Hooper flew next, and Harry didn't like him. He flew almost as well as Vicky, but he had an air about him, maybe just in the way he moved, that stated, quite clearly, he was above them. It reminded Harry of the Draco Malfoy that had once been insulted to have detention helping the Gamekeeper. Perhaps Hooper was channeling a younger Dra-Malfoy's spirit. Harry also found that Hooper was a real whiner, Angelina had been right. He asked him to wait, though.

Euan Abercrombie flew pretty well, Harry (with a few grateful glances from team members) sent off Hooper and asked Euan to stay. In his opinion, with some practice, Euan would be better for the team than Hooper ever could be.

Christopher McLaughlin was pretty good, however, Euan was at least as good. Christopher left the pitch and it was a similar case with his friend Brandon Jamieson.

Last, was the third year girl, Natalie Macdonald. She was a surprise. She was so good, the other two contestants were laughable. Natalie was at least as good as Ginny, though no one could match Harry. The team told Euan to come back in a few years when the next position opened up. In the meantime, Ginny had taken Vicky (who finally set her priorities straight) and Natalie into the changing rooms, and now the entire team, all seven players, was assembled on the field.

Harry looked at the team, his team, and grinned. Sure, they only had two weeks 'till the first match of the year, Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Sure, It was gonna be tough. But, with the faces of his team beaming back at him, he was certain that there was no way a group of slimy Slytherins could possibly beat a team with this much raw spirit.

He rubbed his hands in anticipation before nodding to his team and taking off.

The next two weeks went passed in a blur. By Thursday, a week and a half later, Harry was beginning to flounder. With his new classes he had three hours of work a night, easy. Add to that the five grueling Quidditch practices they'd had per week (which consequently meant he had five or six hours of homework instead) and he was in deep water. He was praying he'd survive just one more day.

By his reasoning, things would settle down after the match on Saturday.

Of course, Harry's not known for his reasoning.

The past weeks had seen amazing progress in ADADA. :::::::: A/N: wow, what an abbreviation! ADADA, Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts:::::: Harry, D-Malfoy and Krum had become, well, I dunno. Friends wasn't the word, it was more complicated than that. Krum was still the teacher and Harry and Malfoy weren't exactly friends yet, but, something had started to change. There was a feeling, almost, of trust in the group.

They had started to work on physical defense, movement, mostly. Harry was practicing fighting the bloodlust in private. During the sessions with Krum, the furniture moved to the sides of the room and Krum would fire spells at Harry and/or Malfoy, who had to dodge them. Sometimes they'd fire spells at each other. Krum knew quite a bit about this sort of thing, and would often teach both of them special tucks and rolls that were better for absorbing impact.

Occlumancy, on the other hand, was a disaster. Sure, Malfoy had decreased the number of biting remarks he aimed at Harry. Sure, Harry had been improving, but that didn't matter. Snape was in a foul mood all the time. Harry had started to experience physical pain when Snape used Legilimens on him. To Harry's further horror, Snape declared that Malfoy was a week away from being ready to practice Legilimens on Harry.

And so, it was with great relief that the weekend finally rolled around.

Harry headed out early that morning to find that it was perfect. The sun was bright, but there were a few stray white clouds coming in. as long as the match was fairly quick, they should be shaded for the most part.

Five minutes before the match started found Harry giving his team a last-minute pep talk.

"We've trained harder than any of the idiots were gonna face out there today. Two weeks and we've held ten practices. Natalie, Vicky, you may be the underdogs in practice, but you're twice as good as the average Slytherin." Harry glared with a fierce sort of pride at his chasers. "We've beaten Slytherin before and we can do it again. Any questions?"

Ron grinned.

"Nope, mate. You've pretty much frightened us into submission."

Ginny felt compelled to add in her two cents worth as well.

"Nothin' on Wood, though, from what I've heard."

And with Harry blushing behind them, the team streamed onto the field.

Once lined up, Madam Hooch ordered Harry and Malfoy, the Slytherin Captain, to approach the center and shake hands.

"May the best man win, Malfoy."

Malfoy gave Harry a rather evil smile

"I intend to."

Harry winced. He'd walked right into that one.

"Three! Two! One!" They all kicked of to madam Hooch's whistle and began to circle the field.

"Gryffindor's in possession. New chaser Vicky Frobisher with the quaffle heading toward the Slytherin goal posts."

It happened in an instant. As the Gryffindor chasers headed down field with the rest of the game, Harry, flying around the Gryffindor goalposts with Ron, knew something was wrong. He had just enough time to throw up a simple shield spell, when the world exploded. He was falling backwards at a great speed, things were flying past his vision leaving black trails in their wake. He saw the world start to go loopy and fade. Things were thudding into him, and he heard Ginny scream.

Something was hurting his team.

That was the last thing he remembered. Others, however, can finish the story.

Draco Malfoy was watching dazedly from where the shock waves from the explosion had thrown him up against part of the stands. Every thing seemed rather distant and he didn't really want to move. He oddly enough, couldn't really feel any of the debris hitting him. He watched as Harry turned over in the air and brought his broom up just before he smashed into the ground. Close by, a bloody Ron Weasley was lying on the ground. Dodging flying shrapnel so fast he was a blur, Harry was suddenly above Weasley and Weasley...

A blue light settled around Weasley. The flying objects seemed, not to bounce, but to simply go elsewhere. Weasley remained unharmed.

Harry was no longer above Weasley, Draco couldn't see him anywhere. Suddenly, though, The entire Gryffindor team was glowing, and then the stands at that end of the field. Draco watched in awe as the blue light swept in a wave until it finally reached his end.

The airborne objects, having no where to go with the light encompassing the whole field, slowed. They moved sideways and settled around the pitch. Draco watched in fascination as the still-airborne form of Harry Potter faltered.

The light blinked out.

As the Firebolt dropped forty feet and hit the ground, Draco knew no more.

Draco woke in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had completely cured him of any injury sustained in the explosion.

His first thought was Wow. I didn't know Harry could do that. His second was Shit! Is he all right? His third was Have I gone insane!?!

He was worried, very worried, about the stupid Gryffindor.

Sitting up and looking around he gasped when he saw the hospital wing.

See, so many people were injured in the initial explosion that the hospital wing was incapable of holding them all. On that note, it had been expanded, temporarily, to about three or four times it's original size. Surrounding him in rows, were about fifty beds, all, for the most part, occupied.

Next to him he saw a few Slytherins he couldn't really remember the names of. Scanning the room, he noticed a group of red-clad people. Swinging his legs sideways, he got up just as the nurse came back and escorted the Gryffindors out. Standing up, while the nurse was once again out of the room, Draco strolled along the beds until he reached the spot where the Gryffindors had stood. The two beds in front of him were occupied by the two students who appeared to have been closest to the explosion.

One of these students was Weasley. Other than a green paste on parts of his face and arms, he looked no worse for wear. Harry, on the other hand, looked like hell. His entire face was black and blue, gashed up, or both. The gashes had all scabbed over and the bruises had started to heal, but he looked terrible. Most of the rest of his body was covered in bandages and Draco really didn't want to know what was under them.

The next four hours passed quickly for Draco. The other students started to wake up and Draco, after a thorough once-over from Madam Pomfrey, was released about noon. From the rumors he heard traveling the school, he was able to figure out that it was Sunday. Dumbledore called him to his office and proceed to explain some things.

"Alright m'boy?"

Draco nodded and sat down.

"Well then, I'll get started. Please don't stop me, just pretend to listen and I'll be happy."

Dumbledore stood and began to pace.

"To begin, I'm sure you're wondering what actually happened yesterday during the Quidditch match, right?" the Headmaster glanced his way and Draco nodded again. "Well, I have spoke at length with the conscious teachers and a group of Aurors specialized in investigation. We know it was a death-eater attack, that's a given. You were probably unconscious at the point that the dark mark flew up, into the sky. We also know what caused the explosion, or should I say explosions. From the remaining pieces, we have discovered that there was a single muggle time bomb probably triggered by magic. Once that one exploded it set off the others, probably about four other smaller ones, in a chain-reaction.

"After something like that, at least half of the people there that day should have died. Something else happened though. How much do you remember beyond the initial explosion?"

Draco looked up at the headmaster curiously.

"I remember Potter flew above Weasley and Weasley started to glow. Then I couldn't see Harry. The blue light came down the field and I stopped getting hit with things. After the light went out and he fell, I don't remember anymore."

Dumbledore continued his pacing.

"Well, from that we have come to the conclusion that Harry saved the lives of over half the school. One of the first people to scream was Ms. Ginny Weasley. I believe that Harry's vampire instincts kicked in. they recognized a threat to something or someone he believed belonged to him. When a vampire's property is threatened they will do almost anything to protect it.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"You mean that were I to, say, steal Harry's Firebolt, he'd try to kill me?"

Dumbledore laughed.

"No, of course not. This rule generally only applies to living things that can be viewed as the vampire's property. My guess is that, being their captain, Harry viewed the Gryffindor team as his team. So, when Ms. Weasley screamed, he tried to protect them. I imagine that he surrendered completely to his vampire side and acted on instinct to save those he cared about. Consequently, he shielded the entire school using a very interesting brand of wandless magic."

Draco started to interrupt but the headmaster cut him off.

"Yes, I do believe Harry, at least his vampire side, knew exactly what he was doing. You will notice, later, that some students will have a few lasting bruises and aches. Harry used another type of vampiric magic as well as the wandless shield spell. This magic seems to have reacted rather badly to some people, most of the Slytherin team included."

Draco opened his mouth. Dumbledore cut him off.

"I have noticed, Draco, that you seem to prefer using Harry's first name over his last name, am I right?"

Draco went red.

"I thought so. You should give it a shot. I doubt he'd turn down your friendship this time. After all, he cared enough to nearly kill himself trying to save Mr. Weasley and yourself."

"WHAT!?" Draco blurted out before he could stop himself. Dumbledore's eyes were serious.

"The three people most injured in the explosions were Ronald, Harry and yourself. Mr. Wealsley, because he was closest to the initial explosion. Harry, well, I'm sure you've seen him.

"You, on the other hand, weren't close at all. Instead, a long sharp piece of metal from the bomb impaled you. I'm sure you had no idea what was going on. You should be dead right now. Actually, you should have died almost instantly. Apparently your own inheritance kept holding on until the spell reached you. Even so, you should have died from blood loss within minutes.

"But you didn't. Apparently, what with Mr. Weasley's miraculous recovery and a few others, Harry poured some of his life essence, namely the healing powers he has for himself as a vampire, into his shield spell and concentrated it where it was needed. As a result, no one died, though Harry still hasn't woken up. At any rate, the only reason we know you were wounded at all was because of the eyewitnesses. When we finally made it to the field, the piece of metal was lying by your side and all you had to show for it was blood stained robes and a little bruising."

Draco gaped at the headmaster. He was just about to try to say something when Madam Pomfrey's head appeared in the, suddenly, blazing fireplace.

"Dumbledore! You're needed right away! It's Mr. Potter and I'm not sure what to do."

She then disappeared. Dumbledore stood quickly, grabbed a fist full of blue powder of the mantel and gestured to Draco.

"Come along m'boy, Mr. Potter needs our help." And with that he grabbed Draco by the collar, threw the powder into the fire, and dragged them both through.

Upon reaching the Hospital wing via the fireplace in the nurse's office, Draco automatically could see what was wrong. Harry had, apparently, thrown up blood all over everything in reach. Madam Pomfrey quickly cleared it away.

"Dumbledore, he woke in was in such pain that he vomited. After a bit I tried to get him to take some blood, and he did. But once he had drained it, everything came back up again."

Madam Pomfrey was wetting cloths. As Dumbledore approached the skinny boy in the bed in front of them, Madam Pomfrey brought over the wet cloths and placed them on Harry's forehead.

Dumbledore held his hands out over Harry for a bit and then withdrew them.

"Draco, please come here."

Draco approached cautiously as madam Pomfrey was looking as though she wanted to send him out.

"Draco," the headmaster addressed him, "the next time Harry wakes would you please help me with him?"

Draco nodded wordlessly.

"I think we will try madam Pomfrey's way one more time before resorting to feeding him intravenously."

A few hours later, Harry woke a second time. Everything happened as it had before, but with a few differences. This time it was Draco who tried to feed Harry and, this time, Harry stayed conscious after expelling Draco's attempts at food.

He held Harry's bandaged hands and let him know someone was there as Dumbledore hooked Harry up to a silver and red device Draco had seen only on muggle television (not that he would admit he'd ever watched that).

Draco, with permission from Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore, stayed with Harry for the rest of the night, as he seemed to have a calming effect on the bruised boy.

A/N:

Sorry if this chapter was a little confusing, it should make sense later.

In response to a review, I live in the southwestern part of the United States of America, Tucson Arizona to be specific. For us, school starts halfway through August and lets out for summer in mid-to-late may. When I originally started this story, I figured I'd make twenty chapters maybe. I also thought I'd have serious slash by the seventh chapter. I never expected to, at chapter thirteen, be less than a third of the way through, planning a sequel, and for the two boy to not even be friends yet. Let's see... Harry and Draco will become friends in, probably, the next one or two chapters, depends on how long I make certain scenes. I will try to hurry but, unfortunately, school, my friends and my boyfriend take precedence over my writing in most cases. I have to be on a bus by six-thirty AM and I don't get home 'til six PM what with the two and a half hours of homework, dinner, and the fact that I can't get to sleep without reading something first, life gets complicated.

I will try, though, and since it is the weekend, you never know.

Try to guess what event is coming up soon.

Rambling over,

-Leif

PS: I've only looked over this once or twice so please alert me to any glaring errors.

Gotta run.