A/N: hello! Thank you everybody for reviewing! Yay for me!!!!
NOTES: /---/ thoughts
there's also a dream in this, I'll leave you to figure out who and what it's about. Good luck, it's not too confusing! j/k, it's easy to figure out
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, you all know that...
(4)......
Draco came through the fire, and dusted himself off. The living room was empty, but the sconces were lit and the flames cast shadows on the walls. The walls were lined with book shelves and portraits, the paint upon them a soft forest green. There were three sofas and a coffee table positioned between them by the fire. Draco ran a hand as he walked out of the sitting room, and into the hallway.
The hallway was of hard wood, varnished and decorated with rugs of dark, warm shades. Again, there were portraits, but they were all asleep. Draco glanced at the clock positioned between two portraits. /Shit/ he thought when he saw that it was nearly midnight.
Draco saw a light coming from a room to the left and down the hall, the study. He went to it, grateful for his stealth. He poked his head in, and saw his godfather, Severus Snape, standing by his desk. In the candlelight, he was reading a letter, and by the envelope on his desk, which bore the Hogwarts seal, it was from the Headmaster of said school. Snape's brow was furrowed as his onyx eyes glanced over the letter, and he sighed.
"Sev," Draco said quietly, stepping into view.
Snape jumped slightly in surprise, looking up at Draco; "Draco," he said, his voice steady compared to the other times Draco came home late; "Where have you been?"
"Duty," Draco replied simply.
Snape nodded; "Well," he said; "Sabet left a letter to you, it's in your room," he had gone back to reading the letter, and sighed.
"Who's that from?" Draco asked, peering over Snape's shoulder.
"Dumbledore," Snape said curtly, stepping away and hiding the letter from Draco's view.
"Ah, come on, Sev!" Draco said, going after him; "It's not like I'll tell anyone!"
"Fine, if you must know," Snape said, folding the parchment; "Potter's missing. He took out his cousin on his way. Though they're not sure, the Order thinks that he is running away from everything, and that if he's not found, all is lost," he rolled his eyes and sighed; "I honestly feel sorry for him..."
"Well, what if I said he wasn't missing?" Draco asked naively.
"Oh?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow to his godson.
Draco nodded; "The assignment I was on?" he asked; "I had to find Har—Potter."
Snape eyed him; "You mean," he said, "No, potter isn't.... you've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed, wiping his brow; "Now he's a—?"
"Yes!" Draco said, smiling; "Sabet wanted me to keep an eye on him, show him the ropes. That was my job today. I found Harry and we talked about everything. He seems okay with it, but Sev, he's a wreck. He's beaten horribly, bruises and cuts and—ick just everywhere! And something happened to him that traumatized him. I reached out to shake his hand, and he flinched and cringed! Anyway, I was going to—"
They both froze as they heard a crash. Snape's hand dropped the letter and went to his wand, but Draco had already gone to the source of the sound. It had been a crash, in the living room. Draco slipped into the room through the shadows, and as he went around the room in silence, he saw a trunk against a shattered coffee table. Quirking an eyebrow thoughtfully, Draco came out of the shadows and watched as a leg came from the flames, then an arm, and then finally, the rest of the body. Harry Potter fell out with a shout, catching himself and quickly jumping to a couch. He looked around, dusting himself off. His eyes quickly found the blonde vampire in the shadows, and Harry sighed.
"I can sense you," Harry drawled, rolling his eyes as Draco came out into the open.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Draco asked.
Before Harry could reply, Snape came in, wand poised on Harry; "Get off my furniture, and do not make a move to escape," he said dangerously, causing Harry to freeze.
"Would you really attack a student?" Harry asked, turning his head and looking at Snape's stunned expression.
"Ha-Harry Potter," he said, lowering his wand smugly; "I should have guessed. Tell me, what has caused you to... come to my home?"
Harry got down, and faced him; "I couldn't risk rooming at the Cauldron when the Weasley Clan found me;" he replied solemnly; "And, this was the only place I could think of off the bat that would be safe enough for me... you know, from the Order and such."
"That might be my fault," Draco said admittedly; "I um, well..."
"You were being your usual prat self;" Harry answered for him as he turned and smirked at the blonde.
Snape stared at the two; "And I was under the impression you two were bitter rivals;" he muttered; "I'm going to owl Albus—"
"NO!" Harry said, in front of Snape in an instant. Snape eyed him suspiciously.
"Oh?" Snape asked; "And why can I not owl him?"
"Because, if that old man finds out I haven't run away for good, I won't get the chance to get my point across," Harry said; "Come on, Professor," he said, while at he same time thinking /Don't make me beg, you bastard/.
Snape stared at him, and Draco walked over to them; "Severus," he said; "If you won't let him stay here on your own will, than please, let him stay as my guest if anything."
Snape considered it. The thought of actually fooling the supposed "greatest wizard" of their time was tempting, since the old coot had the upper hand 99% of the time. But this was not the average teen Snape wanted around. This was Harry Potter. Still, something must have happened for Draco to worry over it. And, being able to monitor the young vampire would be a plus...
"I will need to think on it," Snape said finally; "For now, though, Draco, help Harry take his things—" he paused when he turned and saw the damage. Snape rolled his eyes and moaned, and with a flick of his wand, the trunk was leveled and the coffee table was fixed; "Help Harry take his things to the guest room, please."
Draco nodded, and he and Harry took Harry's trunk to the hallway, Snape watching them. When the two went up the steps, he sighed wearily, and sat on the nearest sofa, slumping into the cushions as he rubbed his eyes.
---
Harry and Draco brought the trunk up to the second floor, and went to the door on the west side of the wide landing. Draco opened the door, and they shoved it in. Harry walked in, and looked around. It wasn't a large room, but there was a nice bed, a desk, closet door, and a bookshelf. There were two windows, as well as a large bay window overlooking outside. Harry went over, taken by surprise by what he saw. He looked back at Draco.
"Snape lives in Hogsmead?" Harry asked.
"Temporarily," Draco said, crossing his arms and looking around the room as well; "This is just a summer place, you know. He spends most of the time at Hogwarts."
Harry nodded; "Hey, thanks for backing me up and all."
"What are friends for?" Draco asked, smirking.
/Yeah, exquisitely hot friends/ Harry thought, but he mentally slapped himself for thinking that. /C'mon, Harry, this is Draco... but we are friends now.../
"Yeah, suppose you're right," Harry said finally; "We still on for tomorrow?"
Draco broke out of his trance of thoughts, and stared at Harry; "Err, of course!" he said blearily.
"What were you thinking about?" Harry asked, eyeing him mischievously.
"Nothing," Draco said bluntly, walking to the door; "Good night, Mister Potter, I do hope you enjoy you're stay at the Snape Inn."
Harry laughed quietly; "Of course, Mister Malfoy," he said suavely; "And I must thank you for assisting me."
"A pleasure," Draco said, smiling as he pulled the door closed behind him.
Harry stood there, staring at the door. Draco Malfoy had actually smiled. Harry smiled himself as he undressed and got ready for bed. He climbed into the bed. He reveled in its comfort, pulling the comforter and soft blankets around him and sighing. It was a good feeling, and Harry eased enough to where his wings unfolded from his body slightly, visibly black against the green silk. Soon, Harry was in a calm slumber. But it didn't last...
---
"BOY, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU?" Smack
"YOU'RE USELESS, YOU WASTE OF AIR!!!!! YOU'RE LUCKY WE TOOK YOU IN!!!!" Punch
"You're beautiful, you know that, Freak? Oh... and so—tight..." Searing pain.
Can't get out.
No one can here you.
All alone...
No body cares...
Red, all red, oh, and black with pain... so lost... no way out... too deep...
Screams, all my fault... all my fault...
No light in sight... no savior for me... my martyr won't come around...
Hunger... need for light, crave for release...
But no, all alone, no help here...
"I'm here if you need a new friend..."
No, no one's there... no one ever has been... Sirius, where are you? Save me, it's cold here... a flicker, over there... That voice, it's close... so comforting, don't fade away...
"I'm worried about you, Harry..."
No one... worried? Light, it's there... who' standing there? I can't see it, it's gone, darkness again... who was talking? Oh god I'm slipping... that voice was light... no more voice, no more light... pain, so much pain... can't survive... ripping... torn... gods the pain...!
"SCREAM FOR ME, FREAK!" so condesending, no remorse from that voice...
never...
---Draco shot out of bed, wings spread and breathing all but stopping as he stood poised on his bed. He jumped down, quiet as air, and slipped form his room, wings folding back in place as he rushed across the hall in a blur and opening the door to Harry's room. He was not happy with what greeted him.
Harry was thrashing on the bed, shouting, yelling, and clawing at his forehead desperately. Draco rushed over to the bed, crawling onto it and pinning a struggling Harry down.
"Harry!" Draco said; "Wake up!" when it only made him struggle more, Draco tried a different approach; 'Harry,' he telepathically sent to Harry, his hand resting to Harry's jaw line; 'Harry, you need to wake up. It's just a dream, you're alright... it's me, Draco,' he brushed Harry's hair from his face as Harry quit thrashing.
---
Voice? Yes, voice means light, light means salvation from the dark... darkness means pain... voice saves you from the pain... Draco...
---
Then there was a click, and Draco looked over to the door. Snape was standing there, in his bed robes, a blue vial in his left hand. One eyebrow was raised skeptically as he stared at Draco.
Draco glared and mouthed; "Not a word," as Snape walked over.
"What did you do to calm him?" Snape asked, barely a whisper as he opened the vial.
"Soothed him, I guess," Draco replied quietly, his eyes trained on Harry sympathetically; "What's in the vial?"
"Dreamless Sleep Potion," Snape replied; "Here, see if you can give it to him."
"What?" Draco asked, looking at Snape; "Why can't you?"
Snape simply motioned to Harry, and Draco looked down at the raven-beauty. One of Harry's hands was clamped firmly to Draco's wrist, as his face contorted into a pained expression again. Draco shushed as he went to stroking Harry's hair again, his other taking the vial from Snape's hand.
Disgusted by the utter romantic-ness of it all, Snape left, closing the door behind him and letting a withheld shiver overtake him. He grimaced, and then went to his room.
---
Draco softly muttered nonsense to Harry, gently shaking him; "Wakey wakey, Harry," he said all too-sweetly when Harry groggily opened his eyes.
"Wha... what the hell?" Harry mumbled, turning his face into the pillow.
Draco rolled his eyes and snorted, getting onto the edge of the bed and holding the vial over his head; "Sev says you need to take this..."
"Fuck Snape," Harry mumbled into the pillow.
"Ah, Harry, don't ever swing that way," Draco said; "Um...I can't feel my hand!"
Harry looked up, saw that he was still holding Draco's wrist, and quickly let go; "Sorry," he said, blushing.
"It's alright," Draco muttered, waving his hand in the air until the tingling feeling wore off; "Now," he said, turning to Harry; "This, drink. Dreamless Potion. Good for you. Savvy?"
"I'm no child," Harry said, "And what are you doing in my bed?"
"Well, you were in quite a fitful slumber," Draco commented, leaning back on his elbows as Harry sat up; "Yes, you were shouting god knows what, and were clawing at your face," Draco looked at Harry worriedly; "What was it about?"
"...This and that," Harry said, looking away and out the window.
Draco nodded; "Well, you know you're safe here," he said, "I wouldn't want anything to happen to the one person who..." he suddenly stopped, voice trailing off with his realization.
Harry's eyes watched Draco; "Who what?" he asked quietly, turning his head fully to face Draco.
/You dumbass, now look what you did. Malfoys don't do stupid shit like that.../ Draco berated himself, and he cleared his throat as he looked away; "Nothing," he said.
"Oh, come on," Harry said, "I've spilled my heart out to you like a sodding girl, you're turn."
Draco smirked at the comment, but lost the grin when he cleared his throat again; "Just, you're the one person who... who's such a beautiful, mysterious rarity," he finally managed. /Damn it feels good to get that off my chest. Should have thought of that sooner.../
Harry gazed at him, and Draco began to wonder if he was going to get punched. But no, Harry merely stared at him. /Well, was it that shocking? / Draco asked. /Well, I'll make the first move.../
Draco sat up, and crawled over to Harry, who was still sitting there. Soon, Draco was inches from Harry, so close that they felt each other's breath...
---To Be Continued--- ;)
A/N: Oooh, I'm evil!!!!!!! Mwhahaha review to find out! Oh, don't you hate cliffhangers? =smiles wickedly= yes, I do as well, but I have a plan that's going to take time!!!!!! --Boom-Rhapsody