Disclaimers: The characters do not belong to me, no matter how hard I wish. *sighs* To actually own Harry and Draco... XDDD Well, that would be the day, wouldn't it? Arrg!! *wishes very, very hard*
Summary: AU. A "faerie" tale with elves, vampires, and reincarnation. Draco's a transfer student who arrives at Hogwarts during Harry's seventh year, trying to fulfill a promise made nearly a hundred years ago. But what is this promise and does it have to do with Harry? D/H!
Shamera
The elvish princess arrived within a few days, summoned by the vampire childe to help the faerie prince. The fey folk had rested their hopes on her, as they were nearly out of options as for what to do for their prince. The princess was their last hope, and they could only pray that she would be able to dispel the prophecy that had been made by the wizard.
But when she had arrived, the elvish princess soon realized that there was little that she could do. Prophecies could never be unmade- they had to be fulfilled above all else. Prophecies made by humans were particularly potent; she tried to explain to the disbelieving faeries. What had been predicted would come to pass no matter what precautions had been taken.
'I refuse to accept that!' the vampire childe cried hysterically. 'There has to be something that you can do for him- can the magic of the elves not overpower those of a simple wizard's?'
'Not a simple wizard.' The elvish princess said. 'It was a very powerful dark wizard. And the spell was only reinforced when the prophecy was made by another wizard with his dying breath. This is magic that should not be invoked or transfigured.'
'Is there nothing you could do?' the faeries asked her. 'To change the outcome of our prince's fate?'
She pondered that question for many long minutes, trying to come up with a solution that would help the fey kind which had been so kind to her before. She had a soft spot for the faerie prince, remembering his innocent questions about the wider world that he had asked her during her stay in the kingdom. She also understood that it was partially because of her that the dark creatures had gone after the Sidhe faeries in the first place. "I can not change the fate of your prince.' She phrased quietly. 'But I can guarantee his health until it is time for the curse to take action. By then, I hope to have come up with a solution to this dilemma."
And so with her elvish magic, the princess was able to heal the faerie prince from his current sickness, allowing him to interact with his people once again without fearing for his own life. With much pleading from the vampire childe, the princess stayed in the faerie kingdom- keeping a close watch over the prince.
Two dark wizards, a curse to end the faerie prince's life, and a prophecy that could not be undone. The elvish princess did not know what to make of what was happening, the only conclusion she was able to make being the death of the faerie prince. And with the death of the faerie prince would come the weakening of the Seelie faeries and all Sidhe faeries in general if the last of the royal bloodline died out. Eventually, it would mean the extinction of the Sidhe faeries.
It was not an acceptable prediction for her. She would come up with something to alter that future she had seen.
Meanwhile, the vampire childe was searching for his own answers. Ever since the prince had gotten sick, he had too much time to think. What if the friend closest to his heart died? It was not a hypothetical question anymore, as everyone was now certain that the faerie prince, last of the royal Seelie bloodline, would die. And with the gift of the violet rose had been something that roused an ambiguous feeling within him. On one hand, he felt that it wasn't right. The faerie prince being the last of the royal bloodline meant that a marriage between faerie nobility was unavoidable. But on the other hand, the boy vampire was ecstatic about the prince's deep feelings towards him. A faerie rose meant a lifelong relationship, be it friend or lover.
The vampire childe was hoping for the latter, although he denied it even to himself.
The prophecy changed everything, though. While the vampire could have waited nearly forever with the faerie prince, and even seen his best friend through a prestigious marriage with another faerie, things were different now. The faerie prince could not wait the forever that the vampire childe could anymore.
The faerie prince had been so preoccupied with his people that it gave the vampire childe time to observe the bright-eyed faerie whom had been so close to his heart for as long as they had known each other. It wasn't hard to figure out that the vampire childe lived for the musical laughter and the bright smiles from the faerie prince that came all too seldom. With decades to observe and fight with his dearest friend, the vampire childe knew how the faerie prince moved in all aspects. Their motions were fluid together, they moved effortlessly without words, and simply knew where the other was without thinking.
But did that merit love?
The rest of the day was a blur to Harry. He carefully dodged Ron's questions about where he had been at the beginning of the Care of Magical Creatures class, and decidedly tried not to look into Hermione's smirking face. It wasn't hard to tell that she knew exactly what had happened to him that day, although she wasn't pressing him for details.
At least, not at the moment.
Classes passed by quickly and Harry soon found himself picking at his plate during dinner, willing time to go faster so that the food would just disappear from his plate somehow without him having to eat it.
Should he just head to the Astronomy Tower? No… that would make him seem too eager. Being so early would be ridiculous, since he was sure that Draco wouldn't be there until well after dinner anyway. The blonde Slytherin was sitting calmly at his own house table, also barely picking at his food. But he seemed so much more composed than Harry felt, and the Gryffindor resisted the urge to scowl at the thought that he was so anxious.
"Aren't you going to eat that, mate?" Ron was asking from his left, leaning over his plate.
Harry felt his stomach do another flip and lay his fork down, disgusted at himself. "No, you can have it. I don't think I'll be able to eat anything else at the moment."
"But you've barely eaten anything!" Hermione protested from across the table, eyeing him warily.
"I'm not feeling hungry."
His stomach then decided to growl in protest, clearly stating that yes, he was hungry.
Hermione gave him a pointed look.
Harry shrugged. He just didn't have an appetite at the moment, which was all. The smells of warm food might have made him hungry, but he just really didn't feel like eating. He didn't want to eat. With the butterflies fluttering around his stomach, Harry doubted that he could really keep the food down for long anyway.
He watched out of the corner of his eyes as Draco got up and excused himself from the Slytherin table, making his way out of the Great Hall. Well, at least he wasn't the only one who wasn't hungry. Should he mention that to Hermione? Or would she just take that as him observing Draco too much?
"I, uh…" he dropped his napkin onto the table. "I think I'll turn in a little early. I might have a bit of homework that I still need to finish."
Ron gave him a look to inform him that it was the lamest excuse that he had ever heard, and that the redhead didn't believe him for a single moment. Hermione also gave him another 'look', but surprisingly, didn't protest against what Harry had said.
"Just make sure that you're done with the essay for Charms before you turn in for the night." Hermione reminded him.
Ah, crap. That stupid essay was due tomorrow!
"Eh…" Harry tried desperately to think up a way to both do his essay and talk to Draco for as long as he needed that night. In any other circumstances, he would have just done the essay the next morning before class, but this essay was to be three foot long. And he hadn't even started researching for it! "I think I'll be in the library, then." He tried to excuse himself.
He got up and left before anyone else could either file a protest against him or remind him of something else. He really didn't want to know.
Harry made a dash towards the Astronomy Tower, his stomach doing flip flops and making him extremely glad that he hadn't eaten anything for dinner. He doubted he would be feeling well at all if he had.
Draco had been searching for him. Harry had not let the thought wander around in his head for the day; for he knew that the curiosity would drive him crazy. Why was Draco searching for him? Was it because he was the Boy-Who-Lived? Or was it something else entirely? There were countless possibilities that were jumping around in his brain, from an idea that Draco's parents knew his mother or father, to stupid ideas that they were meant to be together.
But what was he supposed to think when the Slytherin declared that Harry was the one he was searching for right after their first kiss?
Harry's heart constricted as he made his way up the stairs of the tower. Their first kiss. It was the first kiss that Harry ever had with another boy, and the second kiss he had ever experienced (the first being with Cho in fifth year). It had been the type of kiss that he had only read about in novels that he had been forced to read by Lavender when the girl finally caught him alone.
Arg! Why was he seeking out Draco like this, anyway? Another thought that fluttered in his mind briefly before going away was that Draco had drugged him- maybe gave him a love potion or a befuddlement potion at least. Maybe the blonde Slytherin had hit him with an Enamorement charm (did such a spell even exist?), or something like that.
But it didn't matter if anything like that had happened. Harry wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to see the age-old eyes of Draco's again, wanted to know why the pale boy was searching for him. There were so many things that he wanted to know, so many questions that were unspoken.
Harry pushed against the door at the top of the stairs, and climbed his way onto the top of the tower, the cold night wind nearly sweeping him away as he set foot on the roof.
A warm hand grabbed at his arm, moving to steady him.
"Be careful there. The winds are a sign of an oncoming storm tomorrow." Was the quiet voice of Draco Malfoy that drifted by him. Harry tilted his head to the right to find himself inches away from the Slytherin's face, those intense grey eyes catching his own without much effort. Harry turned bright red.
"I… I'll remember that."
Draco's eyes scanned over Harry's face again, as if seeing something that wasn't there. Those old, grey eyes took a glazed look into them before Harry shivered slightly- although he wasn't too sure if it was because of the strong winds, or because of Draco's gaze. A few seconds later, a heavier over-robe was tossed over Harry's light school robes. The smaller boy startled.
"Wouldn't want you to get sick." Draco tried to explain rather sheepishly.
Harry felt the tug on his lips as he saw the blonde turning his head away, trying to hide the uncomfortable look. But even with the oncoming smile, he couldn't hide the small bout of irritation he felt at being coddled like that. Was this because he was smaller? Just because he was shorter than most people didn't mean that he was more delicate!
Damn it, he was as tough and sturdy as the next person- more so, in fact! Considering that he had faced down the Dark Lord so many times and lived…
Harry tried to shove that thought away. It didn't do to think like that; like he was invincible and responsible for the thorn in the Dark Lord's side. The reason he was still alive was due to all those people who protected him.
"I'm not going to get sick over weather like this." Harry said plaintively, trying to shrug off the robe. He had definitely faced weather both colder and hotter than the weather he was currently out in, back in the days back with the Dursleys. It was Draco who looked much too pale to be healthy, and looked like he was about to be blown over. "You're hardly wearing any more than I am- you need the robe more."
Draco placed both hands on Harry's shoulders to tug the robe tighter around the small boy.
"I don't get sick."
A particularly strong gust of wind blew over them, and Harry winced slightly at the air that got behind his darkened glasses. Seeing that wince, Draco held out a hand to gently take off the green-tinted spectacles, watching as Harry closed his eyes to allow the blonde Slytherin to do as he liked with the article of eyewear.
Draco used his free hand to trace a finger down Harry's smooth cheek, watching intently as those brilliant green eyes started to open again. "Beautiful…" he breathed lightly. "Eyes like Emerald's…. but then, that's who you are."
Harry felt his heart speed up with the gentle touch, both of his hands involuntarily coming up to clutch at the pale hand that was resting on his cheek, not wanting to loose the touch. Why was he being so sentimental about this? Why did he need this touch so much?
"Who are you, really?" Harry blurted out, leaning into the touch that Draco offered. The dark haired boy wanted to be cautious, really… but it was so hard to do so when Draco was this close, when the blonde boy just radiated a charm that was irresistible to Harry. It was something that spoke of familiarity and comfort, since just Draco's aura was able to calm Harry down.
A small smile appeared on the corner of Draco's lips, and despite protests from Harry, the pale boy drew his hand back and stuffed them into his pockets, as if unable to touch the Gryffindor now. His manners made Harry want to reach out for the boy, want to bring comfort to someone whom he barely knew.
"I'm Draco Malfoy, of course." He replied amiably. "It's just that there are some things about me that most of the students don't know. No doubt there are things about everyone that no one knows." The blonde took a deep breath; why was he trying to put it off? "But I promised to explain things to you this afternoon, because… you're an important part of my life."
Harry cocked his head with curiosity, urging him to continue.
"To start off… I'm a vampire."
Luna startled out of her reading when the flames in her fireplace burst and sparked, revealing a head that she only knew too well. She placed her book down on the desk gently, a smile covering her face as she stood from where she had previously been sitting. "Tonks!" she exclaimed, always happy to see her friend. "You called!"
But the face in the fire was pale and pinched, hardly the bearer of good news. One could see even through the fire how pink the hair was, but the expression on her face indicated that Nymphadora Tonks was not as joyful as her hair might suggest at the moment.
"We have a problem." She stated abruptly when Luna finally got close enough to the fireplace so she could communicate properly.
The elvish princess's expression sobered quickly. "What is it? Has there been an intruder to the Havens? Or one in the faerie realm?"
Tonks shook her head. "There's nothing wrong in the Havens, milady. But the faerie realm… well, you'd have to see it for yourself to understand my urgency in asking you to come home."
"Can't it wait another night?" Luna asked. "My scheduled time for departure in the wizarding world is tomorrow, and it would raise questions for me to leave so abruptly in the night."
"Perhaps you can tell them that you have an emergency back home?" Tonks tried to reason.
"But then they would inquire as to the emergency." Luna explained. "Humans. They never know when help is certainly not needed from them. Some might mean well, but there are certainly those who have too much information on their hands."
She was, of course, referring to the Ministry of Magic and their catalogue of prophecies. It was dangerous to leave so many predictions of the future unattended like that! If someone broke into the Department of Mysteries with a way to listen to all those prophecies, they would know the outcome of many situations they are not included in. And although those prophecies could not be changed, there was no telling what havoc would be caused in effort to reverse or dispel what had been predicted.
Luna knew that only too well. There was no way to prevent a prophecy from happening.
"The invisibility spell," Tonks tried to plead, "The one that was placed over the faerie kingdom so that none could see its lands- it is fading, milady. With the Dark Lord of the Wizards searching for the magic of this land, it's only a matter of time now for him to find the Throne."
The faerie throne. One that could grant the powers of nature to whomever was able to handle that magic. It would easily have killed off a human, but the Dark Lord had not been alive for so long without a sinister edge to him. Years, no, decades, of alterations on his body made Lord Voldemort something that was not human. Something that might not only survive the power of the throne, but could wield its power to an extent that his reign would go unchallenged.
"How quickly is it fading?"
"Too quick, milady. Already you can see the outlines of the castle walls. It will not be long before the Dark Lord's spells finds the vicinity of the royal castle, and kill all that lay within its walls."
Luna nodded distractedly. A whisper in her mind that sounded surprisingly like Sybil advised her against leaving that night- that would be ensnarled in a web far too complicated for elves to be involved in.
But if she did get ensnarled, Luna reasoned to herself, it would only be finishing what she had started. After all, she was the one who started the whole mess, and she was the one who set the circumstances up. It would be more than fitting that she be there in the end to see her story through.
"I'll be there in half a candle mark."
The two of them had settled neatly into a small niche at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Although Draco usually detested open spaces, he did like want anyone listening in on him, and the fast winds made sure to dispel any words that might be overheard. Despite the inconvenience such a location was, it was the perfect area for both the privacy he needed, and the assurance that no one else would venture there.
Who else would be such an idiot to be out in a high area when it looked about the rain?
Besides himself, of course, Draco reasoned lightly. It wasn't like he would be likely to catch cold, seeing as he had died many hundreds of years ago. Vampires were immune to most illnesses and ailments that plagued living creatures. They just had to ensure that they fed on healthy prey, so that the blood they drink is healthy and strong.
Diseased blood could lead to symptoms of the disease appearing in the vampire individual. Draco had the unfortunate incident of feeding off a dying human once, and had been sick for a week afterwards.
"Why are you here?" Harry was asking from the spot next to him, bright green eyes focused in the evening light.
The ebony haired Gryffindor had, surprisingly, not freaked out when Draco confessed his nature. Instead, Harry had been the one to surprise Draco when he had sat down next to the boy after that confession, when most would be running the opposite direction.
But then, Emerald had always been special like that. Never understanding that vampires were dangerous… that not all people in the world were kind and loving…
The two boys had settled close to each other for warmth, Draco leaning over the smaller boy in order to provide as much heat as he dared without purposely intruding on Harry's personal space. Draco had wanted to explain everything to Harry, wanted to start in the beginning and tell the Gryffindor all about his search, all about the promise that he had made.
But he found it harder than he thought- and had waited for Harry to ask, instead.
Had the smaller boy been a muggle, Draco would have started with a simple, 'Do you believe in magic?' question. He even rehearsed it in his head, about charming his mate with the splendors of magic and mythical creatures.
But from what Draco had read: Harry Potter was as far from a muggle as it got. In fact, he had heard from the whispers of the school that Harry Potter was perhaps one of the most powerful wizards to be born after the time of Dumbledore. He found out that the boy was on par with, if not more powerful than, the Dark Lord Voldemort.
That certainly made it a bit more difficult for him.
"I'm here," Draco tried to explain, stretching out his long legs in front of himself and trying to relax against the cold stone walls, "because of a promise I made to someone I loved dearly a hundred years ago."
"Another vampire?" Harry ventured a guess.
"No." Draco's eyes clouded over for a moment when he turned to look at Harry again. "What do you know of prophecies, Harry?"
It was a question that Harry hadn't expected, and so the dark haired boy squirmed slightly from where he was sitting, not wanting to seem uncomfortable with the subject but not able to act nonchalant about it either. Harry remembered the events in fifth year clearly in his mind: Voldemort's attempts to get the prophecy at the Ministry of Magic, the pseudo vision that he had implanted in Harry's mind about his godfather being captured, and the fight in the Department of Mysteries.
He remembered the prophecy that he had seen in Headmaster Dumbledore's office, about how either he or the Dark Lord would have to die because they could not coexist with each other.
"I know enough about them." Harry said with unease. "More than I wanted to know."
Draco gave him a careful look before Harry shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to talk about it.
"A long time ago," the blonde Slytherin said, thinking over his words carefully. "Someone very dear to me… was prophesized to die. The first thing that people learn about prophecies, of course, is that there is no way out of them. But even so, a person fights against their destiny with all the strength they possess. They fight because they always want a choice, because they don't want to give in to the inevitable."
Harry watched the Slytherin closely, questions jumping at the tip of his tongue, but not saying a word.
"I fought because I didn't want him to die. Even though I didn't know it at the time, my heart was telling me that I could not bear to see that shining soul disappear into oblivion. He had such a kind soul, a beautiful and inquisitive spirit that could not be diminished even through the darkness of his own despair. Emerald had been my closest friend."
"His name was Emerald?" Harry asked.
"His name was long and difficult to pronounce." Draco corrected. "Not to mention the fact that his culture believed that to know someone's true name was to have power over them, so true names were never spoken unless a power was to be invoked. But one of his names had been for his eyes, and so he was called Emerald: for the eyes that shone like no other."
Harry was starting to get the sneaky suspicion that Draco had sought him out because his eyes were such an unusual bright green.
"That's one thing about him that was so easily identified. His parents had been cursed to never conceive before he was born, so he was a miracle child that was born with eyes the color of the curse that had been cast upon his parents. A curse that would have killed all his parents' children, had he not been conceived before the curse could take affect."
A killing curse, Harry thought bitterly. It would figure that green would stand for death once again.
Draco shifted slightly to take out something that he had placed in his pockets, a faded paper with even more faded ink smeared onto its surface. Harry looked over to see pale fingers lightly skimming over the messy letters that spelled out, 'Remember me' onto its surface. "He… was very special. I should have known that you would be just as special. One of my last attempts to prevent his death was to contact an old friend of mine- an elvish princess by the name of Luna Lovegood. She couldn't dispel the prophecy even with his elven magics."
Harry took in a breath in recognition. "The elf that came to our Defense class!" his remarkable eyes widened. "So she did know you!"
Draco's lips quirked into a smile. "Yes, she did, considering that I saved her from dark creatures long, long ago."
"She talked about knowing the vampire whom had been the lover of the faerie prince…" Harry was slowly starting to figure things out for himself, now having been given enough pieces of the puzzle that had held him captivated for so long. He had been intrigued by the faerie rose that the Slytherin was so sure was real. Now he knew it was most likely because Draco had been the rose in the faerie realm, a location which had disappeared after all the faeries disappeared. Luna Lovegood had glanced at Draco Malfoy when she had been telling her tale of love and woe, and Harry had nearly convinced himself that it was only his imagination when Draco had given her a taunt nod.
Draco stayed quiet to allow Harry his thoughts.
"You… you were the one in love with the faerie prince, who had been prophesized to die a hundred years ago. His parents must have been the king and queen who were cursed to be barren, although nothing was said in the history books about unusual eyes. But… the elvish princess had talked about how the faeries weren't dead, only asleep- and waiting for their prince to be reborn."
Finally having it all figured out, Harry focused on Draco once again. The vampire was impressed with the speed and deduction that Harry had processed all this information (no doubt due to hanging around Hermione way too much) and had already been gazing back at him pleasantly.
"You think I'm the faerie prince reborn!" Harry made it sound more in an accusation than a revelation. Green eyes that had once been so very bright were not shadowed, struggling to reveal all the emotions behind the misty gaze. Harry shut his eyes tightly and shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts. "But you're wrong. You think that I'm your lover reborn again…"
"You are the faerie prince, Harry." Draco was unsure whether he should press the issue or give the small boy time to digest it, but followed his instincts telling him to enforce the idea. "Faerie roses are known to wither away should they be placed in the care of someone other than faeries and their most trusted. The violet symbolized royalty- symbolized the blood of the faerie prince. And your eyes… no one else in the world would have eyes like that. Eyes that shine with that same light that I saw a hundred years ago."
Harry looked away. "I inherited my eyes from my mother- I have the same eyes as her."
"Maybe a few years ago you did. But your eyes have been getting brighter… are they more sensitive to light now? Are you entranced with the colors that you see when your view becomes unobstructed?"
Harry wanted to deny it. He wanted to deny the vision problems that he had the last few days. But it was hard to do so with his tinted glasses in Draco's hands, the proof that his eyesight had certainly changed.
He was not anyone special, though, Harry thought to himself repeatedly. He was just a boy who had gotten lucky when the Dark Lord attacked. He was just the boy who continually got lucky.
"I made a promise to Emerald that I would be the one to find him so long ago." Draco was saying. "Luna turned that promise into a prophecy of its own. Everything has to do with promises… the promise that the fey people made to their king and queen to protect their prince, the promise that I made to find Emerald when he was reborn. All those promises were turned into a prophecy by Luna. And it's that prophecy that led me to you."
"I don't understand." Harry protested, his mind spinning from all this information. He already had one prophecy concerning him… he didn't want another one!
"I didn't understand until now, either." Draco confessed. Remember me. He hadn't known what that meant until now; remember Emerald. Remember emerald… eyes. "But seeing you now… I think I'm beginning to understand."
continued in chapter 6
Authoress' Notes: @_@ Writing this chapter was like extracting teeth for some reason. It just didn't want to come out. ^^;; But this story finally has a main plot! It's had a subplot since the very first chapter, but now you see that Voldemort has something to do with the plot! XD Things are slowly starting to come together! I hope people understood what Draco was saying in this chapter. If not, I'll try to straighten things out in the next few chapters. There's actually a lot more to it than either Draco or Harry knew- but both of them have half of the information, not that Harry knows he has half of the story.
Responses to reviews for chapters 3 and 4 are on my LiveJournal. ^^;; Sorry about getting them out late last time! Just as a reminder to those who ask- I update every Friday or Saturday. I should get updates out by Friday, but if for some reason I'm delayed in some aspect, I'll try and get them out on Saturday. I should tell you guys if I'm not updating on some week.