Chapter Nine

The First Attack

"Damn Potter," Draco muttered, as he followed Severus from the Potions classroom. Ahead of him Severus grunted in agreement, thought he sounded only half-hearted about it. Draco was irate at the fact that Harry had chosen to heal his friend rather than conceal his abilities, it was only by chance that no one had noticed the girls burns disappearing from her body.

Draco picked up his pace a bit to catch up with his Professor. He knew that Severus was headed to find the Vampyr and make sure that he wasn't doing anything rash. He knew they were catching up on the boy as the bond let him judge the distance between the two of them.

Neither was very surprised when their journey led them outside, and even less when Draco led the two of them to the Quidditch Pitch, where a very-healthy Hermione was watching in ill-concealed awe as Harry flew about, wings flapping gracefully, far above them.

"Miss Granger," Snape said, snapping the girl out of her astonished stupor, "are you quite alright?"

Hermione took a second to get her bearings, then nodded eagerly. "Oh yes Professor, Harry healed the burns easily. I wasn't aware that Elves had that power, of course I knew they were highly attuned to nature and all of its elements, but I hadn't considered..."

"Miss Granger," Severus interrupted, before the girl could get too into her lecture. "I trust that you will keep this information about Potter to yourself?"

Recognizing the remark for the dismissal that it was, the Gryffindor stood and nodded. "Of course Professor."

"Thank you. I expect you have somewhere to be?"

Granger nodded and hurried off, shouting out a farewell to the boy above her, which Draco severely doubt he heard.

Severus and Draco stared at each other for a second, each trying to come up with a possible plan of action for getting the angry, stress-relieving Vampyr-Veela-Elf mix out of the sky. Severus shrugged and was about to conjure the net he had used before when Draco stopped him.

"Hold on Sev, I think I have a better way."

The Veela opened his mouth and closed his eyes. Above them, Harry faltered in the air, then looked around and let himself drift to the ground when he spotted them. Severus shot the Slytherin a surprised look, clearly asking how he had gotten Harry's attention, when Malfoy just shrugged and winked. "Trick of the trade," he said.

"Screech much Malfoy?" Harry asked irritated, landing on the ground gracefully.

Severus now turned his stare to Harry. "I didn't hear anything," he admitted. Harry just looked at him and shrugged, accustomed to surprises recently.

"Maybe if you paid attention to your surroundings, I wouldn't have to whistle for you as though you were my pet dog Vampyr," Draco snapped. "What if I was the Dark Lord? I doubt he would have given you the consideration of calling attention to himself before he chopped off the wings that kept you aloft."

Harry's face fell and he looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, I have some stuff on my mind."

"And this was the stuff that led you to completely disregard any necessity for being careful?" Malfoy sneered, glaring when Harry looked puzzled. "Granger, Potter. Why did you heal her in the midst of potential enemies? Why would you risk something like that?"

Harry still looked puzzled. "She was hurt. I could feel her pain. I had to do something to help her."

Draco just shook his head, exasperated. "I don't know why I even try with Gryffindors. They will never be able to separate cunning and stupidity in their heads."

Severus, who had remained silent for most of the conversation, smirked. Then his face grew serious once again as he remembered the reason for Granger's healing.

"Are your wings burned Potter?" he asked, not having been able to actually assess the condition of the boy's wings since the actual incident, but figuring they couldn't be too damaged if he was able to fly.

"No actually, they're completely fine. Didn't even leave a scorch mark. In fact, I didn't even feel it at well. I'm kind of glad I don't know how to retract them yet."

Severus' eyes darkened. "You may not be able to." He sighed at the look of panic he saw on Harry's face at his statement. "It may not be such a terrible thing. I've been researching this. Your wings are instruments of flight, but they are also defense mechanisms."

In a blink of an eye, the Potions Professor pulled out his wand and cast the Cruciatus curse at Harry. Harry jumped back and pulled his wings out in front of him. The spell bounced off harmlessly. Harry glared at him, but Severus shrugged.

"Completely impenetrable. As long as no one's shooting at you behind you back you can hold them off. Of course, I'm sure there are ways to get around your wings, but for now its one of your best defenses. I suspect that is also why you can't retract your fangs or claws either, your body isn't prepared to fend for itself without it's physical manifestations of defense."

Harry looked confused. "So does that mean that in time I may be able to hide them?"

Severus shrugged. "Perhaps. No one knows too enough about Vampyrs to be sure, but it's a definite possibility."

Harry considered it for a moment, then decided that there was nothing he could do about it for the time being. Instead, he focused his energies on Severus. "I hope you gave Parkinson a months worth of detention," he growled.

Draco's voice took on an angry tinge. "He did something worse. He took away 120 points from Slytherin."

Harry's eyes widened in shock, "From Slytherin?"

"Parkinson showed a severe lack in judgement," Severus said. "She insulted you both beforehand, clearly showing her dislike, then proved her bad intentions with blatant hostility. Worse than that, she didn't have the ability to even force the blame on someone else. It was an action clearly unsuited to the Slytherin House."

Harry goggled for a moment, then shrugged. "As long as she won't do it again."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Gryffindor's are entirely too forgiving. Whatever happened to vengeance?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Lord Voldemort?"

Draco winced. "Point taken."

Several hours later, after dinner, Draco halted in the hallway. He had an ominous feeling. Someone was watching him. He shook his head, laughing at himself. He didn't have time for this. He had been without Potter's contact for too long. Already, Draco was weakening.

The two magical creatures had been granted two private rooms adjoining each other which was where Draco was headed now. Unfortunately, the genius who had designated their living quarters had decided on rooms deep within the heart of the dungeons. Slytherin territory. Dangerous for he and Harry.

Shaking his head resolutely, Draco increased his pace, his need for the Vampyr's presence outweighing his usual discretion when on dangerous ground. Which was why, when he was forcefully apprehended only a few steps later, he was so surprised.

"If you behave Veela, this won't be any more painful then it has to be."

Theodore Nott. The boy's voice was gruff, lusty, and the hands holding his arms were large, painfully strong. Draco's mind worked quickly. The boy was strong, but Nott was underestimating Draco's Veela blood. It shouldn't be too difficult to twist...

"I think not Veela."

Another voice, Blaise. Draco twisted his head to look but stopped instantly at the familiar feel of a wand jabbing at his throat.

"Good boy," his year mate murmured, flicking at one of Draco's sharpened ears experimentally and tsking when Draco flinched at the pain that came from the sensitive spot.

"Come now Draco, you must learn to control yourself."

Draco sneered, "What do you want Zabini?"

Zabini laughed, "Me? I want nothing. Theodore however, looks as though he could use some satisfaction."

Draco's face darkened as he heard Nott's hungry growl and winced as the boy tightened his grip even further.

"How did you get him to agree to help you Zabini? I've never had problems with Nott before."

Blaise grinned. "Lust can be an excellent motivator." He directed his gaze pointedly to Nott's ring finger, which, unlike Blaise's, was not covered with a Veela charm.

For the first time, Draco felt his stomach lurch in fear. The sex-lust caused by a Veela had been known to drive a man to do insane things. Things he would never even consider doing if he was in his right mind.

Zabini was speaking to Nott now. "Have some fun with him, then return him to me. I want him undamaged Theodore, do you hear me? I can't sell damaged goods. And this one's worth his weight in galleons."

Zabini started to retract his wand, then paused, remembering something. "Oh yeah." He pulled out a syringe, then, in a quick movement, plunged it into Draco's arm.

"Just a sedative. You understand I'm sure."

And Draco's body, already weakened from lack of contact with Potter as the bond demanded, quivered and weakened.

As soon as Zabini was out of their sight, Nott twisted Draco around and pulled him flush against his front, capturing the Veela's mouth in a cruel, vicious kiss.

Draco tried to push him away, but his movements were lethargic at best. Nott merely caught his wrists in his hand and used his other to push Draco even further against himself, rendering him immobile.

Draco whimpered involuntarily as Nott pushed his tongue further into him and he choked, unable to bite down. When Nott finally withdrew, leaving Draco's mouth bruised and tender, Draco gasped for air and would have collapsed had Nott had not had such a strong hold on him.

Before Draco could even comprehend what was happening, Nott had pushed him against the wall, and was in his mouth again, fumbling at Draco's pants and ignoring Draco's senseless cries and pleas as the boy slipped deeper into blackness.

Just as Draco was about to lose all hope and succumb to unconsciousness, he heard a voice.

"What's going on here?"

Harry.

And then there was darkness.

"What's going on here?" Harry repeated, noting with alarm how Draco's body suddenly went slack.

"Go away Potter," Nott said, pausing his attack of Draco's mouth. "This is between me and the Veela."

Harry's eyes flickered to Nott's hand only to find that the Veela charm almost all of the students wore was suspiciously absent from Nott's finger.

"This isn't you Nott. The Veela lure is driving you crazy," Harry took a step forward, tentatively. Nott noticed and lashed out on Draco, leaving a bruise on the unconscious boy's face. Harry stopped.

"Come any closer and I'll hurt him worse than that," the Slytherin threatened.

"Calm down Theodore," Harry said, allowing some of his Veela side's melodic voice to come through. "It will be alright."

"He's mine Potter," Nott growled. "You can't have him." The boy's voice wavered and Harry felt a tingle of hope that Draco's lure was wearing off.

"You aren't in control of your own body right now Theodore," Harry said gently. "This isn't what you actually want."

Nott lessened his hold on Draco slightly, and Harry, remembering what the book had said about the Veela song, hummed a bit, forcing his wish for Nott to overcome the lure into his voice.

The older Slytherin's eyes grew heavy and he released Draco altogether, letting both of them drop to the floor.

Hary sighed and, conjuring up stretchers, brought them both to the hospital wing.

"So you found Mr. Malfoy being accosted in the hall and, using the Veela song, forced Mr. Nott to release him?"

Harry glared at the headmaster, "That is what I said, Professor. Though it was more of a hum than a song."

The headmaster shook his head irately. "I don't think you understand the situation here Harry. You can't just use your magic as a Veela on students like that."

"And why not?" Harry asked disbelievingly. "He was harming Malfoy, who was completely helpless by the way, oh, and did I mention? Drugged. Nott is lucky I only put him to sleep."

"We don't know that it was Nott who drugged him Harry...and we won't know until Mr. Malfoy wakes up."

"Why isn't he awake yet?" Harry asked, the concern evident in his voice. It was over an hour since Harry had brought the two Slytherins up to the hospital wing and neither had woken up. Dumbledore had had to come to the wing, just to keep Harry calm.

"It was a muggle drug. A sedative. Magic can't flush it out. Have no fear Harry, it will wear off in time."

"And Nott?"

"The Veela song works in mysterious ways. It will wear off when it's purpose is met, when your wish is fulfilled."

"All I wanted was for Draco to be away," Harry said.

"Then I suspect that when Draco awakes, so too will Mr. Nott."

The door opened and Harry and Dumbledore turned to see Severus enter, shooting a venomous glare at the headmaster.

"I told you when you placed them there that the dungeons were not the safest place for them," Severus said accusingly.

"I assure you that we will take better precautions in the future."

"I don't give a dam about your precautions Albus! My godson was assaulted, nearly violated. If Potter hadn't of been there he would have been."

Harry was startled. He'd never seen his greasy potions master care so much before. It was mind boggling.

Severus looked as though he was going to say more but at that moment both Draco and Nott awoke.

"What's going on?" Draco queried lethargically. Then, remembering, his eyes snapped open. "What happened? Where is Blaise? Did Nott...did Nott..."

Harry, taking pity, answered him. "No Draco. I stopped him before he could do anything more than give you a couple bruises."

Draco touched his cheek and winced. Harry nodded sympathetically.

"Blaise Zabini, Draco?" Severus asked. "Is that who drugged you?"

"Oh crap," Nott's voice came from the other bed, weak at the sound of Blaise's name.

Severus sneered. "You could say that."

Draco touched his godfather's arm. "It wasn't Ted's fault Sev. He was tricked. Blaise took his charm."

Sev's eyes widened in alarm and he quickly conjured another one, holding it out to Nott who took it gratefully.

"Do you know what Mr. Zabini's intentions were Mr. Nott?" The headmaster questioned. Theodore nodded.

"His uncle's a Veela trader. When Blaise sent him news about Potter and Draco he got real interested, promised Blaise part of the profit if he sent Draco to him."

Harry's eyes widened. "Did he just say Veela traders?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "You are so naive Potter. I thought you read about this."

"Of course I did, but I didn't take it literally. Are we in a lot of danger?"

Severus sent the Gryffindor his trademark sneer. "I doubt you're in any more danger than you usually are. Traders normally concentrate on full bloods, not part-bloods. Draco however is full-blooded and male which increases his value."

Draco made an uncomfortable noise. "Can we stop talking as thought I'm something to be sold please?"

Madame Pomfrey came bustling into the room at that moment and after a thorough check-up of each boy she pronounced that Nott was free to go, but Draco was to stay the night so she could make sure the sedative was completely out of his system.

"That's really not necessary Madame," Harry said after Nott had left the room, placing his hands over Draco's face and healing the bruise there, then running his hands over Draco's body and heaving a contented sigh when he found no sign of the sedative. "He's perfectly fine."

Madame Pomfrey gaped at him while the other three glared heatedly. He shrugged. "Well, there's no point in making a healthy person stay overnight in a hospital wing is there?"

The nurse snapped out of it at that statement and glared at him as well. "Very well, shoo then. Get out."

"You know Remus," Saetan said. "It would save us both the trouble if you would just tell me who the Vampyr is, instead of leading me on this ridiculous quest to that magic school of yours."

"You know Saetan," Remus said, copying the Vampyr's tone. "If you read the paper, I wouldn't have to answer that question. I'm sure it's all over the place by now."

Saetan's face darkened. "You had best be joking with me Remus."

When Remus didn't reply he cursed. "I cannot believe that this idiot would reveal himself to the entire world. As soon as I find him and learn who his parents are there are going to be some severe consequences for revealing himself."

Remus gulped. "You might want to take it easy on him Saetan..." he trailed off.

"Wolf-friend, if I took it easy on someone who revealed his identity to the world, pigs would fly even in the muggle world."

Remus just sighed and threw some floo powder into the fire. "Hogwarts," he said, and stepped through the flame." Several minutes later, Saetan Lupine headed for the Forbidden Forest, high above the clouds and out of sight.

A/N: Thanks for all your input about the title everyone. Some people have brought to my attention that some of the title selections don't make a lot of sense. I have to disagree with this. While some things may not be apparant now, things will come to light which will show how these titles are pertinent to the story. Regardless, I've decided to retract the vote for now and consider some possible alternatives. Thank you.