wintermoon – Heh. ^^ Thanks.
Scythe – My writer's block doesn't seem to care how nicely you ask… . Thanks though.
Lunadeath – It was short, and I'm sorry. ^^;;
Joe-Jack – The Rabid Monkey Bunnies are effin' 3BUL and need to DIE.
The Observer – LOOKIT, I UPDATED! ^––––^
PeachDancer82 – Oh yeah, much mind messing. ^^
Deseri – I OWE YOU NOTHING, GINGER LEE MASTINTA!
proutjj – Thanks. Hopefully Hermione'll be a bit more in-character now then, eh?
Harmoni – ^^ Thanks.
Shania Maxwell – Well, I love vampires and I love HP. Seemed like a logical match. ^^;; And I'm trying.
queenofgondor21 – There'll be fluffy, just not right away. After all, they still don't "like" each other. .
Rain Tenshi – Yeah, me neither, as I have no idea what's gonna happen before I start writing. ^^;;
abekka – *Laughs* Thanks! And, uhm.. you're welcome… ^^;; I think.
otukogirl2005 – I'm an avid Rice fan and a diehard Lestat and Armand obsessor, and so far, my favorite of her Vampire Chronicles has been The Vampire Lestat. 'Cause I love Lestat like nobody's business.
tomomi – Heh. Much thanks, Momi-chan!
Dracavia – Shizzy, a favorite! ^^ Oosh. You might wanna rethink that, as it seems I never update… *Sweatdrops* But anyway. Thanks muchly! After looking for a good D/H vampire fic for longer than I wanna think about, I finally gave up and wrote my own, y'know? And I guess it's goin' okay so far, ne? ^^;;
FakeLover – Oh yes, Draco's totally the mysterious seme. *Hisses at fics in which Draco is made uke* Sankyuu, and sorry the update, didn't come sooner!
blackunicorn – Confusing? Tell me where/how and I'll see if I can't fix it.
MJ – Draco does know a lot about what he's become, but think about it for a moment; in a world with vampires, do you really think people would go uneducated? Anyway though, Draco doesn't know everything, as the general magical populous doesn't know everything. And the spell I think you're talking about, Lumos Solarum, was only used in the film. In the book, the Devil's Snare plant shrank from fire. But anyway, I think Malfoy knows what he's doing to the extent that Harry knows what's going on. Which isn't saying much.
Yes, once again, a long wait followed by a short chapter. My apologies, but it just isn't coming as easily as it was when I began, perhaps because I'm not entirely sure where I'm headed with it. I have some little ideas, but the big picture, though I loathe to admit it, hasn't come to me yet. – –;; So you'll just have to be patient, I suppose. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them, but not in a review. Either e-mail or IM me (I have AIM, ICQ, and MSN). And much thanks again to The Observer for all her help. ^^ She is lovely and you should say thanks to her, because if she hadn't helped and prodded me along, I doubt you'd have this chapter yet.
WARNING: From here on out, spoilers from the fifth book may be included in chapters. If you haven't read it and don't wish to know what happens, I advise you to be cautious, as this is the only spoiler notice I'll be giving.
Chapter VI: Break Me, Shake Me (pt. 2)
So break me, shake me, hate me, take me over
When the madness stops, then you will be alone
Just break me, shake me, hate me, take me over
When the madness stops, then you will be alone
- Savage Garden, "Break Me, Shake Me"
Draco stepped silently into the private room down in the dungeons that Dumbledore had given him, an unreadable expression on his face, and made his way over to the bed.
What am I doing? he thought dismally as he slumped down onto the mattress with a sigh. Tormenting Potter had never gone in that direction before, and he didn't see why it should now.
"Oh well," he muttered with a shake of his head, followed by the characteristic smirk. "I suppose a little fun and games never hurt."
"You think so?" inquired a cold, flat voice behind him. Corbin.
Whirling around to face him, Draco demanded, "How did you get in here?"
"What a ridiculous question," the dark haired vampire said disdainfully. "Where have you been?"
Draco didn't answer, but merely followed the other vampire with his eyes as he moved to stand between the bed and the door.
"You smell like a human," Corbin said, the edge of his mouth lifting slightly in disgust, and before Draco could do anything about it, a pair of cold lips were pressed to his own in a bruising kiss. "You taste like one too," was the older vampire's remark as he pulled away.
"What's your point?" Draco asked coolly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"It's that Potter fellow, isn't it?" Corbin demanded, and his demeanor swiftly changed. His voice became calmer, more deadly, and a dangerous smile danced on his lips. "The one I told you to finish off when you got back."
Draco offered a slight sneer. "I'll take care of it when I choose, if I decide to take care of it at all."
"Oh you will, will you?"
As Corbin pushed him down into the comforter, Draco's hand went for his wand, which he thought was nestled in the pocket of his robes. He was severely dismayed, however, to find that it wasn't there. He was distraught further still as he found himself pinned effectively beneath his sire.
Corbin was sitting on his hips with both of Draco's wrists held in one white hand, a cold look of satisfaction on his face.
"It's foolish to defy me, you realize," he said smoothly.
With a growl, Draco tried to buck his captor off, but to no avail.
"Foolish indeed," the dark-haired man replied as he began to relieve the Slytherin of his clothing.
Draco shouted wordlessly in protest as he realized Corbin's intentions and tried once again to free himself, thrashing violently. He was rather shocked (and quite angry) as he felt a sharp pain; Corbin had embedded his fangs in Draco's shoulder. And it didn't feel like it had the first time either; it hurt, and rather badly. He could feel a cold hand exploring his exposed chest and continuing down.
He tried to rise up as his pants where unbuckled, but the fangs sank deeper and it was all he could do to keep from yelling out. But no, he wouldn't give this sadistic man that little pleasure. At least, that's what he thought.
He felt his pants being removed and shut his eyes tightly. He could block all this out if he tried hard enough, surely. Then the fangs were gone and he let himself relax slightly, taking a deep, slow breath.
There was a hand between his legs, and he could not keep quiet as the pain suddenly reemerged in his inner thigh. He cried out sharply, arching up off the bed, and caught a glimpse of Corbin through half-lidded eyes.
The vampire was smiling in a rather unpleasant manner as he glanced from the small, still-bleeding wounds he'd made in Draco's skin to Draco himself, and he pulled himself up to cover his childe's body with his own. Leaning down next to the blonde's ear with a sneer, he whispered darkly, "Scream for me."
* * *
Harry knew the next day would be awkward, and therefore took his time getting dressed in the morning before he'd have to head down to breakfast, piddling around pointlessly, and when Neville asked if he was coming, he gave the excuse that he was looking for something which, in all actuality, he didn't have.
When Ron came back up to the dorm to check on Harry, though, he was finally forced to go down to the Great Hall.
It didn't take long for Ron and Hermione—well, for Hermione, anyway—to notice that something was up.
"Harry," Hermione said slowly, watching him swirl his pumpkin juice around idly in his goblet, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he replied promptly, setting the goblet down on the table and pulling his bowl of cereal closer so that he could stare down into it rather than meeting the curious eyes of his friends.
"Come on, Harry," Ron pressed. "It doesn't do you a bit of good to lie to us, you know that."
He didn't answer, but instead looked past Hermione's head at the Slytherin table, quickly finding Draco. How could they not tell he'd changed? Didn't they notice he'd stopped eating?
Harry put those thoughts out of his head as he caught the blonde's expression.
Draco was sitting farther down the table than normal, staring sullenly into his bowl much as Harry had been doing a moment ago and dutifully ignoring Pansy Parkinson, who was apparently in the middle of telling him a rather bad joke. His hair didn't look quite as neat as normal, his clothing not quite as impeccable, and Harry could've sworn he looked even paler today than he had the night before.
He had planned to be angry with Malfoy today, and rightfully so. He had planned to shoot him dirty looks whenever he saw him. He had planned to, perhaps, yell at him later in the hallway, if given the chance. But these plans were suddenly wiped clean from his mind as he studied the would-be target of his anger. Malfoy looked… broken.
But as Blaise Zabini turned to talk to him with a wide grin, the drawn, lifeless expression vanished, melting into the smirking, sarcastic visage Harry was used to.
"What did that prat do to you, Harry?" Ron demanded angrily, following Harry's gaze and snapping him back to the here and now.
"What?" Harry said blankly.
"Malfoy! What's he done to you? I know you went out again last night. Did he corner you?"
"… No," Harry lied, glancing at Ron briefly before going back to his cereal.
Hermione was completely unconvinced by that, and it showed on her face as she stabbed a bit of egg with her fork. "Harry," she said tersely, "we can't help you if you won't tell us what's going on."
"Nothing's going on, 'Mione, really. Quit worrying."
He could tell that he hadn't satisfied either of them with that answer, but he didn't care. He had other things on his mind.
Breakfast passed slowly, with stolen glances at Draco and worried looks from Ron and Hermione, but it was finally over and the three made their way to Professor Flitwick's room.
By the end of the class, Harry hadn't learned anything. He didn't even know what they'd been doing, because as soon as he had sat down, his mind had drawn him in, cutting him off from anything going on outside of himself.
Why had Malfoy looked so… so hopeless? He didn't understand it. If anyone should be upset, it was him, right? Unless something had happened to Malfoy…
But what could happen?
Harry shook his head. He didn't care. After all, it was just Malfoy. Malfoy, whose smartass comments and scathing remarks he'd had to put up with for the last five and a half years. Malfoy, whose arrogance was nearly intolerable. Malfoy, whose hand had been down Harry's pants last night…
A sudden blush found its way to his cheeks with the memory, and he tried to force it down as he made his way to Transfiguration, trailing a bit behind Hermione and Ron, the former of which having already scolded him severely for not paying attention in their last class.