Paralyze

Chapter Three: Feeding The Vampire

Night didn't come as quickly as Draco had hoped. It seemed like after a good five hours of rest, Draco lay motionless on his bed, breathing lightly and his ears pricking to the slightest movement at all. With a flick of his wand, he had put a lock charm on the door so that Kreacher nor his mother could walk in and had closed the thick, velvet curtains shut all the way so that not one pinch of sunlight could seep through.

It has to be noon by now, Draco thought idly, staring up at his shadowed ceiling. His vision was a bit clearer now there was more darkness and his weary eyes before had gotten some rest. Draco would have slept longer, but he kept awakening from haunting dreams and bad headaches. Too many thoughts and questions flooded his mind and he didn't know what or who to turn to. Not even did he have enough strength to get up and send Pansy an owl.

His muscles ached and locked up and his insides felt numb and pelted with ice. His body had completely shut down on him. He didn't like the feeling one bit.

He tried with all his might to look at the good sides though. I'll have more free time now that I don't have a reflection. I won't have to worry about what I look like anymore...I guess. Now I have excellent night vision and I don't like the sun anyway. I prefer being awake and active during nighttime. They were the only good things he could think of so far. He didn't even want to think about having to go back to Hogwarts after the summer was over. He'd have to face sunlight...and many people that he certainly disliked or loathed so much that they didn't really matter to him. But seeing him in this state did matter to Draco and it bothered him every second.

He'd have to tell someone sooner or later. But it couldn't be his mother. He'd have to send an owl to Snape or someone he could trust, which was hardly anyone; and most definitely send an owl to Pansy before it was too late to have his many questions swimming in his mind be answered.

"So much for being immortal," Draco muttered, irritated.

It took Draco about thirty minutes to actually find strength to get up and walk over to his desk where a clean piece of parchment was already lying on top of it. He just remembered that he had to send his cousin, Fredrick a letter back saying he got his gift.

Draco gasped. His gift! Fredrick said in the note that the dark liquid inside his necklace could suck the poison of a vampire's mark if it was…damn. It had already been almost half a day gone by. The venom would only work if the bite was within two hours young. Draco cursed under his breath.

Too frustrated to care about sending his cousin an owl back, Draco started scribbling a note down to Professor Snape instead on the blank parchment.

Professor Snape,

I need your help. A vampire bit me and I need a potion or something to help me face the sunlight so I can actually get to Hogwarts without having to fear to go outside. Do you have any antidotes or solutions to this? My head is pounding and I'm completely confused as to what to do with myself. I know I don't usually ask for people's help, but this is a huge deal and you're the only one I could think of turning to. (Draco hesitated at this point, but wrote…) I trust you the most…Please. I'll do anything to make up for what I'm asking of you if it's any trouble.

Draco Malfoy.

Suddenly, Draco's nose started bleeding and dripping onto the parchment. He tried wiping it away with the back of his hand, but it kept running and he could feel his face burning.

"Oh, my God! What the hell is happening to me!" Draco screeched. Maroe hooted from Draco's cry. He clicked his beak at Draco and held out his leg for his master to tie the piece of parchment to it. "Hold on, Maroe. I'm not finished yet," Draco said, edgily. He grabbed another blank piece and started writing quickly and furiously.

Pansy, (He would have put dear, but it just wasn't right for this purpose)

What is going on! My nose is bleeding uncontrollably. My head and teeth hurt. My muscles ache so much; I don't even know how I'm able to write this letter to you. You made me into a vampire and I want an explanation now. WHY? The feelings and symptoms I'm getting are terrible and annoying. When will I be able to do anything? Basically, tell me all the things that happened to you before you could actually act normal again? I can't even face my mother or leave my room. I can't let anyone see me like this. I feel incredulously weak, starving, and feel like I'm slowly dieing in pain and agony, literally.

Please, send me an owl back as soon as you get this. I'm very frustrated right now.

Draco.

His questions were corny, but at least they were basically what he wanted answered. "Okay, now I'm done, Maroe." To this, Maroe lifted his head again, obviously ready to go on another adventure. Maroe was a very restless owl. Even in the daylight, he was always prepared to deliver anything or go on any ol' random flight to hunt or just roam.

Draco rolled up the two letters together and tied them to his owl's leg with a thin, brown twine. He fed Maroe a soft sweet that was lying in a tray on Draco's desk from his mother, and the owl waited for Draco to open the curtain and window quickly, standing back in the shadows. Finally, he took off from his post and out into the beautiful afternoon sky. Draco kept the window open so that when Maroe came back he'd just have to rest on the windowsill and Draco could pull back the curtains.

Closing them quickly though, Draco cursed again under his breath and walked over to the open book lying fallen on the floor next to his bookcase. He skimmed the index for a sign as to what Vampires had to eat because he could feel his stomach rumble and his mouth was horrible dry. None of the sweets on his desk seemed appetizing and settling for his stomach and taste.

"No way," he said after a few minutes. "I'm not drinking blood. That's disgusting. Is there nothing I can eat?" he asked himself. "I just cannot believe this. Pansy, damn you!"

"Draco," a voice suddenly came from the door. "Are you up yet, sweetie?" Draco froze. He didn't know whether to answer Narcissa or not. He couldn't find his voice. "Can I come in?" She wrapped on the door and then tried turning the knob on it, but it was locked.

"Uh…Just a second, Mum. I'm getting dressed," Draco lied. He realized that his nose had stopped bleeding, but as he tried to see how it looked in the mirror, he forgot he had no reflection. If Narcissa saw him with no reflection, she would definitely freak out. Draco tried covering up the mirror with a long blanket.

"I just wanted to know if you were hungry for lunch?" Narcissa asked behind the door.

"What is it with you and food, Mother?" Draco mumbled. "Uh, I'm not really hungry, Mum."

"Still? You haven't eaten since dinner, honey."

"I know, but I…um…accidentally filled up on your sweets. I have a whole tray in here on my desk. They're so good that I couldn't resist," Draco lied again.

"Oh. I can make you more if you want, but you need to have a real meal, Draco."

"Shit…" Draco whispered. He was caught. He didn't know how to get out of this one. "Mum, if I get hungry, I'll just ask those elves to whip me up something."

"If you can get them to. They're being very stubborn after Durin invaded the kitchen while they were cooking breakfast."

"Well, if they don't do as I ask them too, then I'll promise then I'll--"

"You'll what?" Narcissa asked, firmly. What was wrong with her? She was on the house-elves' sides now.

"Mum. They're dumb house-elves! They should be punished if they refuse to cook us food!"

"I know, but…Oh, never mind, Draco. If you need food then just make it yourself if the house-elves won't." And to that his mother left.

Make his own food? What had seriously got into that woman? He would not make his own food when there were servants to do these sorts of tasks instead.

Draco stopped fumbling with the blanket and collapsed onto the edge of his bed, his elbows resting on his thighs. He had suddenly forgotten what his father would think of him as a vampire if he were to find out. He'd probably kick his own son out of his house and remove him from the family tree. His head started to lighten from the pounding a little and his teeth didn't hurt that much anymore, but his muscles still felt locked and paralyzed. He was starving and he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to drink blood, but he assumed that if he wanted to stay strong and breathing…he'd have to. But who or what would he drink the blood of?

Draco picked up the book again and looked for something saying what he could and couldn't drink. It explained that muggles and house-elves should not be drunk because of the different sanitation of the blood. Werewolves also shouldn't be bitten too because of the mixture of the species, meaning it'd turn the human that could already form into something else, into a vampire and it might cause deformation. But wizards/witches were definitely okay to drink and so were other vampires (it was actually confirmed as the healthiest way to keep satiated because they had the same blood type). Magical creatures were all right to drink, too such as unicorns, family pets (only if they lived in the wizarding world), hippogriffs, centaurs, snakes, and…goblins.

"Goblins?" Draco muttered. Durin. That was the first thing that came to his mind when he read that one simple word. He could feed off the blood of Durin?

The book also explained that if you fed off a human, it'd only turn it into a vampire. If you fed off a vampire, it'd just stay as it is, but its blood supply would just be drained a little. But if you fed off a creature, it'd kill it instantly if you didn't kill it before to be able to drink off it such as a centaur or unicorn.

So that meant that Draco could kill Durin if he drank off his blood. His other options were the cats that roamed the mansion…or Maroe. He didn't want to kill Maroe, though. Maroe was the only thing that didn't flinch at the sight of him. Maroe wasn't worth being killed just to have his blood drained by a starving vampire.

The thought of killing and drinking the blood of a cat or goblin was just repulsive to Draco. It seemed unsanitary and inhumane, but he was a vampire. He had no choice and he definitely would not feed off of his dear mother. It'd just make her into a vampire too and then they'd both be lost soul, confused and weak.

Draco would feed off Durin tonight. He guessed that he was downstairs in the dining room right now eating lunch with Narcissa or at least trailing behind her wherever she went. Draco would just have to cover up Durin's death once Narcissa found her little friend dead and say that a wild animal got him during the night when he "wandered" out into the garden, climbed the tall wall, and roamed too far out into the forest behind the mansion.

Yes, it was the perfect plan. Draco smirked and he could feel himself turning back to normal. At least, his typical personality was back…