Maddy - ^^ Thanks!
Amber Wind - ^^;; I'm not really that fast. Look how long this one took!
destinywriters - o.O Wow. Glad you like it so much. ^^
Ging - NO! BAD GINGER! I'm not gonna kill Corbie and I'm not gonna give you any spoilers or special info. *Sticks out tongue*
Phoenix Tears - Of course Draco is vicious. ^^
Scythe - Ask and you shall receive!
the_true_silver - Meeeebbe he will.
Mak - Whoo, I impressed someone! ^^;;
Blue Rosed Dragon - I stopped there 'cause... it seemed like a good place to stop. And I wanted to get a chapter up. ^^
kyotyred - Thank you!
The Observer - Sankyuuu! NO PENGUINS!
cassie - o.O Uhm.. thanks...?
paws10081 - Here y'are.
Onyx - Thanks much! I wasn't sure whether that was the right move or not, bringing in an OC, seeing as how I don't really like them... ^^;;
LadyVader - That's, uhm... er... I denno. Here is your sustenance.
Saturn Vampiress - ^^ The strawberry thing only works with Woody, Chloe. But I'll keep writing anyway.
TexasFox - ¬_¬ ... Thanks, Ging.
Kimmy - I'm not sure yet. Dark side? *Brings up an image of Draco as Darth Vader* o.O Uhm... I denno.
Lunadeath - But at the same time what? You did? *Giggles* Bad person.
Whee, new chapter! Rejoice, peons! I denno. You're not peons. Really. I didn't mean that. . Uhm… Yeah. So have fun, people. I guess I'll go start on the next one. I'm surprised I haven't gotten writer's block yet. But I bet I'll have it since I said that… Bleeeh. Curse it all.
Chapter IV: The Confrontation
He next few days were uneventful. As far as anyone knew, Draco was still missing. Harry was required to stay in bed and rest most of the time, and Madam Pomfrey forbade any visitors save for the professors, Ron, and Hermione, the last two of which brought his homework and the various get well gifts from other students (most of which were sweets).
Though they sent gifts, the students were confused. They had no idea why Harry had been put up in the first place, though the rumor was starting that he had caught a strange strain of the flu for which there was no quick cure.
Ron and Hermione asked no questions; they didn't need to, for it was simple to guess what had happened by the now barely visible puncture wounds and Harry's reluctance to talk about it. Harry was grateful for that and missed their company when they had to leave. Being alone gave him too much time to think.
He was loathe to find that his neck was sensitive once again, and every time something pressed or brushed against the place where Draco had sunk his teeth, Harry had to stifle a moan and push down unwanted thoughts and memories of the blond vampire.
Finally, after days of restlessness, Harry was allowed to return to classes and resume his normal schedule.
He got several greetings as he made his way down to the dungeons for Potions: "Hi, Harry"s and "All right, Harry?"s and "Nasty bug, that was"s.
The majority of the school was also under the impression that Draco had been infected with the same illness and had not yet recovered.
He walked into the dungeon and took his normal seat beside Ron, who looked about half-asleep. Harry was surprised he was even in there already. Class started shortly after and Snape began his day's lecture, a continuation of some of the homework Harry had had while he was out.
"The mandrake root is essential. If you do not add it, or do not add the correct amount, there's no telling what you might end up with. Are you listening, Longbottom?"
Neville jumped at Snape's question and nodded hastily. "Y-yes sir!"
Ron elbowed Harry in the side as Snape started up again and whispered, "Is it just me or is he being worse than usual today?"
"It's not just you," Harry whispered back. "Dra—er, Malfoy's still not back yet. He's worried. The professors have no idea where he is."
"Do you know?"
"Well…" Harry paused hesitantly.
"C'mon, Harry," Ron prodded.
"… Someone else was in the room that night. I think it was.. the one who turned Malfoy. I didn't really get a good look at him, and I can't remember much of what was said. Not to mention it didn't make a lot of sense to me then anyway. But I'm pretty sure that, whoever he was, he took Malfoy."
"Took him where?"
"I don't know… He said something about 'lessons,' I think, and—"
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. Something you'd like to share with the rest of us?" Snape inquired icily.
"Uh… no, Professor," Harry replied a bit sheepishly. He should've known their little chat wouldn't remain unnoticed.
"Well, the two of you certainly were doing a lot of talking over there. Discussing the lesson, no doubt." Sarcasm with Snape was never a good thing.
"Er… yes sir."
The Potions master rolled his eyes. "Twenty points from Gryffindor."
Ron made a face. "But—"
"Each."
The two boys shut their mouths and the Slytherins snickered quietly. Hermione gave them a sympathetic look from her place next to Neville, but it was followed by a reprimanding, "you should've been paying attention" finger wag.
"Now then," Snape said loudly, putting a stop to the sniggering and hushed whispers, "for this concoction, what sort of tool would I use for—"
The doors eased open softly at the back of room and Snape stopped, looking rather irritated about being interrupted again, but the expression soon vanished as Draco stepped into the room.
"Sorry I'm late, Professor," he said simply as he sat down beside Pansy Parkinson, whose face lit up like a Christmas tree.
Harry and Ron exchanged a disbelieving glance.
Some of the vampire lore was pure fiction, but other parts were true. The crucifix bit, for example, would get you absolutely nowhere. It was a fabrication. But it was common knowledge that vampires couldn't bear sunlight. Their blood combusted if they were exposed to it. Yet here was Draco, completely unharmed. Granted, the dungeons were dark, but outside the castle it was a different story. Had he gotten in before dawn? The Slytherin dorms were down here as well. But if he had, why hadn't he told anyone? For it was quite plain that Snape knew nothing of Draco's return.
The Slytherin half of the dungeon grew loud, everyone greeting Draco and asking how he was, if that Potter idiot had gotten him sick.
After the commotion died down, Snape questioned, "Mr. Malfoy, did you complete your work while you were out?"
"No," Draco answered nonchalantly.
"Well, have it in by tomorrow."
Parvati Patil jumped up at the back of the room and exclaimed, "Hey, that's not fair! Harry had to turn in his work today!"
"Yeah!" piped up Lavender Brown. "And he got an afternoon's detention for not having completed one of the assignments!"
The two sides of the room were in a fierce argument when Harry yelled out:
"Let it go! Malfoy had it worse than me, okay?"
All eyes turned to him and he promptly sank down in his seat. Had Harry Potter just defended Draco Malfoy? Even Snape was giving him an odd look. He caught a glimpse of Draco, who had one slender brow arched in question, and immediately turned away as a faint tingling began in his neck.
The class went on with a false sense of normalcy, but one Harry was glad of, and he was more than happy to go onto his next class, one he shared with no one who had been present during the odd display.
When lunch rolled around he was back in the library, and he was less than surprised when Ron and Hermione showed up and the former began bombarding him with questions.
He was surprised, however, when Draco waltzed in shortly after.
"Weasley, Granger," he greeted cordially. Then his eyes focused on Harry and he smirked, revealing the faintest bit of fang. "Potter."
"You bloody bastard!" Ron shouted immediately.
"I suppose they know all about our little tête-à-tête, hm? Just can't keep your mouth shut, can you, Potter?"
"For your information," Hermione interjected, "he didn't tell us anything. It wasn't hard to figure out. You should be glad those marks on his neck are pretty well covered by his robes."
"Oh come on," Draco countered with a smug chuckle, "Potter's a popular fellow. I'm certain he could pass it off as a love bite."
"What the hell do you want, Malfoy?" Ron demanded.
"Oh, just a few words with Potter here."
"Well, have them and leave."
"A few private words, if you don't mind."
"We do mind, actually," said Ron angrily. "You're daft if you think we're going to leave him alone with you!" His ears were nearly the same shade of red as his hair.
"What's wrong, Weasley? Jealous?"
"Why you—!"
"Boys, boys!" Hermione cut in, placing a restraining hand on Ron's shoulder. She looked at Draco. "If Harry wants to talk to you, fine. But I won't have you or anyone else," she paused to glance at Ron, "making decisions for him."
Once again, all eyes were on Harry, who had been rather silent for the past few minutes.
"… Wait for me in the Great Hall. I'll be there in twenty minutes," he said finally.
"Twenty minutes!?" Ron repeated, aghast. "Surely it won't take twenty minutes for him to tell you that he's a damn—"
"Okay, Harry. Twenty minutes," said Hermione calmly as she steered a protesting Ron out of the library.
Harry turned to face Draco. "Okay, Malfoy, what did you want to talk about?"
Draco didn't answer; he merely looked at Harry for a moment and then proceeded to shove him back into a more out-of-the-way area.
"W-what the hell are you—"
"Okay, Potter," Draco said flatly, jabbing Harry in the chest with an elegant finger, "what exactly are you trying to pull? Dumbledore told me you're still doing the whole donor thing, and then you go and act all… weird in Potions. One might think you really did fancy me."
"Don't get ahead of yourself there, Malfoy. I don't have to explain myself to you," Harry retorted, suddenly defensive. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that his back was about two inches from being pressed into a bookcase, which hindered any plans of escape should he require one. "And how did you just saunter into class like that? It was afternoon. When did you get back?"
"No reasons from you, no answers from me."
"Why do you need me to tell you? Why don't you just rifle through my mind?"
"I can't pull out answers you don't have, Potter. Wondering if you'd have a ready excuse for me."
Harry simply didn't have anything to throw back. He mustered up his best glare and said stonily, "Are you done yet?"
The scowl was gone as Draco yanked down Harry's collar and pressed his thumb firmly to the fading marks in his neck, eliciting a throaty moan from the Gryffindor as his knees threatened to buckle.
"Don't think for a minute I don't have you at my mercy, Potter," Draco whispered dangerously. "I know you now. I know your strengths, your weaknesses. I see the way you look at me sometimes, with more than just fear or annoyance or rivalry. Granger's noticed it too, and even that dolt Weasley knows something's up. But you're still oblivious." He smirked and was suddenly standing several feet away, leaving Harry to catch himself before he fell. "I'm finished now. See you later, Potter."
Harry leaned back against the bookcase as soon as Draco was out of sight, thankful that the library was blissfully empty. What was wrong with him? He knew his heart wasn't pounding out of sheer fright. He didn't want to think about this. Not now, not ever. It wasn't his fault that bite had been so… erotic. So intimate. These were just after effects. But they were still driving him crazy.
He put on his best resolve face and pulled his collar back up, brushing his robes off with his other hand. Ron and Hermione were waiting for him.