A/N: First off, I want to thank everyone for reviewing!

No one's reviewed my INUYASHA story... I'm hurt; I thought it would be good...

Disclaimer: Nothing mine

((Author's notes))

19

Harry slowly opened his eyes, and yawned. He sat up on his elbows, supporting his torso as he blinked to clear sleep from his yes. He looked at Draco, the blonde soundly sleeping beside him. Harry couldn't help but smile at how angelic his dragon looked when sleeping...

"My dragon? Harry asked himself, blinking again. It sounded so natural in his thoughts, and the same on his tongue, but it seemed to hold new meaning. He rubbed his neck in confusion, but froze. He ran his fingers over two small bumps... bite marks. Harry leaned over Draco, rolling him onto his back by lightly shoving his shoulder. Harry stared at the side of the blonde's neck; he had the same marks.

"Draco... Draco!" Harry said quietly, but fiercely as he shook he other boy gently.

Draco mumbled in his sleep, rolling his head to the side as he yawned and came to wakefulness. He looked up at Harry groggily, yawning again, blatantly, in his lover's face. Harry grimaced, his face written with disgust.

"What, love?" Draco asked innocently, as if he had done nothing wrong.

"I've got bite marks, as do you," Harry said, sitting back so Draco could sit up; "I remember the love-making, but it was a blur for a moment after..."

Draco's eyes suddenly widened with realization, and he looked up at Harry. "Harry," he said, his tone that of dead seriousness; "Do you know what we've done — what we did?"

Silently and slightly apprehensive, Harry shook his head. Draco shook his head as he bowed it. After silence, he looked back up at Harry, a small smirk playing on his features.

"What?" Harry asked, oblivious.

"We bonded," Draco said; "And the marks stay so long as it's a true bond..."

"Well, who would have thought," Harry said, looking up as he leaned back over Draco, forcing the blonde down; "I guess you are my dragon," he whispered as his eyes met the silver of Draco's, gently ghosting his hands down Draco's bare chest; "I believe payback is in order."

"Didn't you do that last night?" Draco asked, chuckling. Harry began kissing him, before moving down to his neck, lips ghosting over the mark he had left. Draco closed his eyes and sighed, groaning as he stretched. Harry stopped, his hands now braised on either side of Draco's torso.

"Why'd you stop?" Draco mumbled, opening his eyes, but he saw that Harry's eyes were looking back, head slightly turned so his ear could catch sound clearly. Before Draco could inquire further, Harry turned and continued kissing him, continuing in his ministrations ((ha got it right that time))

Blaise whistled as he walked down the hall, already anticipating the day for he knew it would be a good one for a Slytherin like himself. He stopped outside Draco's chambers and, after seeing that all the snakes on the doors were active, but sluggish, he decided on waking the Ice Prince up himself. Whispering a simple anti-password charm he'd created, Blaise entered.

"Oh bloody hell gay porn!" he shouted out in surprise as soon as he saw the bed. As he slammed the door and stumbled back, he heard both Harry and Draco's loud laughter.

As he stormed back into the common room, Pansy flagged him down; "Are Draco and Harry up yet?" she asked.

"Oh, they've been up," Blaise said, "And next time, we let them sleep in."

"Why, what ha—?"

"Don't ask. I didn't wish to see Potter's ass while he was getting Draco hard."

"Well, say it as politely as you can!"

"Ugh, I'm just going to go now, you can come with me or wait on the two rabbits."

"Why call them that...? Oh... Oooh..."

Harry started cracking up at the outburst, hanging his head down as he did. Draco burst out laughing as well, before shoving Harry off of him and to the side.

"You bastard, you knew he was coming!" Draco said through his mirth.

Unable to speak, Harry merely nodded, before calming and coughing to clear his voice; "I just knew he'd say that!" he said happily, though the mirth was of malicious intent. Draco only shook his head and sat up, then looked down at his groin.

"Oh damn, look at that, would you," he said, his tone of mock disappointment.

Wordlessly, Harry pressed his hand to Draco's chest, and the blonde was pushed down to the bed once more.

Evan sat in the chair of the chambers, silently watching the stranger. The man had been tossing and turning since he had been placed in the bed, as if being in one prompted memories. Occasionally, he would scream out, and Evan would jump or flinch. Even though the castle was a literal menagerie, his nerves were far too exposed and he did not do well to the noises. But for the sake of his duty, he bared through it. So he sat, bathed in the sunlight as he was sitting by the parlor windows, though his eyes never left the rescued.

The room was one of the old royal chambers, decorated in reds and golds to represent the royal who had once dwelled within them once, . Evan did not know much of the castle, even though he had been living in it for almost eleven years. So, the colors were merely that to him, colors.

His gaze drifted to the window, and he watched the courtyard three stories below. There was Ammil, instructing three newly Called vampires from Russia. The vampires were growing in numbers, Evan knew, as were all the other dark creatures that possessed the human race. He was one of ten werewolves that regularly came to the castle, but that paled in comparison to the others.

Evan sighed, without his "mother" he felt alone, even though Sabet had done his best. Amos was gone as well, so there was no one to spar with. He looked back over at the stranger, wondering if he had family. He had to at least have a lover, he'd asked about that, and he also seemed to have a godson. But it all depended on how long he'd been behind that veil thing. Evan was also confused by that, he'd never been in the room before but he'd always known Sabet had his reasons. Apparently, they would good ones.

Evan was drawn from his thoughts as the stranger began to moan, a sad, morose sound of mourning; "James... oh gods, Lily," the stranger muttered, fisting the sheets as he moved and thrashed violently at the mattress.

Slowly, Evan rose, moving over to the bedside to watch the stranger as he stilled. He was growing nervous; who was James? Who had Lily been? He thought about going into the wizard's mind, finding the cause of his distress, but then thought against it. He would just have to wake him. But how?

Timidly, Evan reached out, his hand going to the stranger's forehead. Thinking out a spell, his hand glowed. He felt the perspiration on the wizard's skin, the heat caused by the distress and anxiety, which only made him work faster. Evan removed his hand, and rushed over and brought back a chair. He sat in it, a respectable distance from the bed, and he waited.

At first, the wizard was still, his breathing regulating. Then, he began to groan, and attempted to rise, but fell back into the mass of pillows he'd been propped on/against. His blue eyes stared around the room, filled with regret and guilt, but most of all sadness.

"No," he moaned, closing his eyes sadly. Then they snapped open, fixed on Evan. Evan froze as the man tried to sit up again, only to do the same, fall back into the pillows. His eyes glinted with anguish as he looked away.

Evan slowly rose, sensing the pain he brought to the man just by being in the room. As he headed for the door, he quickly communicated to Sabet, knowing the vampire was near. When Evan opened the door and stepped out, he saw his vampire elder rushing down the hallway, buttoning up a loose white dress shirt. Evan eyed him oddly, and Sabet shrugged, mentally explaining the reasons why as he walked into the chambers and Evan closed the doors.

Sabet was silent as he looked at the condemned wizard called Sirius Black. The man fit the picture from the Prophet of yesteryear, though he was not so pale and his hair not so unkempt, though it was long and could do for a trim. The man in question was currently gazing out the window, angry, sad tears falling silently down his face, biting his lip to control any sound from escaping his mouth.

"Mister Black," Sabet said calmly, walking over with his hands held behind his back. He walked up to the foot of the bed, waiting.

"Who are you?" Sirius mumbled, not looking at the other.

"Morste Sabet," Sabet replied calmly.

Sirius looked over at him, head turning slowly; "What do you want with me?" he asked; malice and past hurt rimming his otherwise hoarse voice.

"You fell through an artifact of mine, and now, you're residing in the royal chambers," Sabet said, walking around to sit in the chair.

"Please," Sirius said, laughing dismally as he looked at the ceiling, the gold engravings seeming to glitter in the sun light; "I've fallen through the veil countless time, and it's never really happened..."

Sabet looked at him, confused, and Sirius looked at him, before chuckling again; "I bet you're just some aristocrat chum of Malfoy's, if this is real," he mumbled, "Bet not, though," he whispered, sighing as he looked straight ahead.

"I assure you, Mister Black, that I am in no line at all with the Malfoy's and that this is indeed real," Sabet said; "What happened behind the veil?"

Sirius shook his head, a smirk on his face like that as if was watching a sick, horrible act play out that he hated but couldn't prevent it and so had to watch on.

"Hell happened, that's what," Sirius muttered; "Nightmares... all of your worst fears... they happened to you... You were stuck in there, there wasn't a way out..." he finished with a shudder.

"Sirius, this is the real world," Sabet said.

Sirius looked at him with a look of morose scrutiny; "What would you know?" he asked darkly; "You're just one more apparition..."

"I will prove to you, then," Sabet said, walking over to the side of the bed. As he did, a dagger manifested in his hand, the hand he held behind his back. Steadily, he brought it around, Sirius's eyes growing wide with realization.

"What the hell—?" he tried to say, but was silenced when Sabet took his hand by the palm, bending it back to reveal his wrist. He gasped as the blade was drawn vertically; a small cut no more than two inches. But the pain instantly set in, but no matter how hard Sirius tried in his weakened state, he could not break free of Sabet's grasp. And the vampire just stood there, looking at Sirius's pained, angry darkened eyes staring up at him. Sabet set the dagger on the nightstand, slowly.

"Did you feel this pain before?" Sabet asked calmly; "Did you?"

"Of course I did!" Sirius ground out, teeth clinching as he hissed from the pain, not willing to let a scream escape him mouth; "How could you, you bastard—!"

"Did it feel like this, like you were surely going to die?" Sabet asked, his tone become louder and stronger; "Did it feel as if you would truly see Hell, be rejected from the very gates of Heaven? Did your blood flow at such a pace as this, like velvet water? Did it seem so red as this? Were your wounds long-lasting physically? Did you harbor any scars?"

Sirius only looked at him, his gaze softening with realization, his look as if he'd been slapped in the face. Gently, Sabet took Sirius's hand and wrist in his hands, and nodded. Sirius closed his eyes and laid his head back as he suddenly felt cold, like he had been thrown into icy water. But he did not shudder, he only opened his eyes when the feeling lifted and looked at Sabet. Sabet was looking at him knowingly, though the wisdom spoke of uncounted years of hardship and experience. Sirius looked down at his wrist, to find it healed, as if the knife had never been drawn again his skin.

"What are you?" Sirius asked, stunned as he flexed his hand, to ensure that nothing was broken. He stared at it, as if transfixed, looking up when Sabet sat down in the chair.

"The same as you," Sabet said; "A man condemned for who I am, what I have become."

"You're some convict?!" Sirius asked, eyes widening with sudden fear.

"No," Sabet said evenly; "I'm what the Ministry of yours considers as a threat. A possible creature capable of destroying a civilization that took thousands of years to get where it is today," he added with clear disdain for the Ministry.

"So... you're a dark creature," Sirius said flatly, summing it up.

"No, to be dark is to be tainted with evil intent, malicious endeavors and the like," Sabet said; "I'm merely a man who embraced my inheritance. I was a wizard."

"Ah, was," Sirius quipped, and Sabet chuckled.

"And then, I turned sixteen," Sabet said; "and I became a vampire."

Silence reigned then. Sirius looked at Sabet, up and down, assessing him. The man looked completely normal, the rumors and stories he'd heard about vampires were that they were despicable creatures with giant harpy wings and spider fangs and the feasted on wayward souls. This man was just that, a man.

"Ah, silly folklore have you confused?" Sabet asked, smirking; "About vampires being winged demons, no doubt," he mused as he rose, walking languidly to stand by the windows and watch the courtyard.

"Uh... yeah," Sirius said; "Did you...?"

"Read your mind?" Sabet finished, turning to look at the wizard with a wry grin; "No, but that is always the common occurrence, is it not?" he turned back down to the window; "Can you rise, Mister Black?" he asked in a curious, but dull, drawl.

"Legs are stiff, sorry," Sirius said, "Why?"

Sabet shook his head, back turned to Sirius; "There are currently thirty children of the wizarding race here, all condemned by their own," he looked at Sirius, "For story book monsters, we are forgiving, aren't we? More so than the others," he paused; "You know Harry Potter, I'm safe to assume?"

"Yes, I do," Sirius said, suddenly on the defense; "why?"

"The boy is guilty," Sabet said; "Well, young man, I should say. He's been through quite a lot, more so than I bargained..."

"What are you getting at?" Sirius all but growled, sitting up fully.

"He thinks he's done so much harm, when really he's paving the way for us," Sabet mused, unaware or ignoring Sirius; "He thinks you 'died' because of him, his foolishness. That all his pain, he deserved, and that everything he receives is just and fair. Do you know, he was raped, by his own flash and blood? And Albus did nothing to stop the beatings..." he finished with a solemn sigh.

"How do you know all of this?!?!?!" Sirius roared, angered.

Sabet silently turned to him, face void of emotion for a moment before he replied calmly; "Because Harry is also a vampire."

Sirius shook his head, holding it in his hands, mumbling "No, not him," over and over like a morose mantra. Sabet took pity on the man, and walked over to the bed to sit on the edge. Sirius looked up at him; "You must be lying," he said, "You have to be."

"I do not lie, Mister Black," Sabet said; "I must admit it has caused a change in Harry. He's not the same."

"I should have been there for him," Sirius mumbled, covering his eyes in shame; "I should have..."

"You cannot stop the cards from being drawn, Fate holds the deck, always has, forever will," Sabet said; "You couldn't help what happened, and all you can say is that you did try your best."

"I was on the run! I couldn't do much, if not anything at all!" Sirius suddenly exploded, angry regret and ignominy lacing through his tone like fire to dry grassland.

Sabet did not flinch, and was silent so that the peace with the quiet would come; "Of course, could you help being found guilty for a crime you did not commit?"

Sirius looked at him; "How would you know?" he asked quietly, disbelieving; "How...?"

"This castle is not cut off from the world, Mister Black, though I rarely leave I have friends everywhere," Sabet said; "Many at the Ministry come here for care and comfort, when the world's beatings become too hard to bear alone..."

"You sound as if this is a place for the damned," Sirius muttered sarcastically.

"In a way, it is exactly that, Mister Black," Sabet said; "You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, as well. Would you wish for me to contact someone you know? Harry perhaps?"

Sirius was silent at that, looking down; "No," he said finally; "Not... not yet. I... I wish to see... no, Harry should come, but..."

"You are allowed more than one guest, Mister Black, so long as they are trustworthy," Sabet said.

Sirius nodded, and after a moment of thought he said; "If you could, contact Harry Potter, and a Remus Lupin. I wish to see them... badly," he added with a sad sigh.

"I will do so immediately, though the ravens may take a while," Sabet said; "The journey from here to Scotland is a long one, you know," he rose from the bed, but stopped when Sirius asked.

"Ravens?"

"Yes," he said; "We cannot trust, nor communicate, with owls. All owls are monitored by the Ministry, a secret tidbit one of my acquaintances supplied me with. A raven flying through the air is nothing, and the parchments are charmed to be visible only to the sender. Besides," he added with an arrogant smirk; "Ravens are far more intelligent than some owl."

Sirius smirked slightly, nodding. Sabet nodded as well; "Rest, Mister Black, I will send Evan to check on you."

"Was that the kid in here before?" Sirius asked.

Sabet nodded; "Try to not be so brusque with him. He is a type four lycanthropy and a mute at that. But he will help in any way you need. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," Sirius said quietly, but he thought, I'm just reminded of him...

Again Sabet nodded, and he exited the room. Sirius then lay back, and sighed. He looked over to the window, but a reflection caught in his eye and he looked down. He saw Sabet had left the dagger, blade still red at the edge with his blood as a stark reminder that he had finally been rescued from the Veil. Sighing again, Sirius closed his eyes, and eventually fell to slumber's powerful welcome.

After getting ready, both Harry and Draco walked out of their chambers, side by side, and entered the Common Room. The few people there turned their heads to stare at the pair, and while Harry pulled his hair back into a low ponytail, Draco gave the other Slytherins a patented glare that made heads turn away.

Harry rolled his eyes at the blonde, and Draco merely shrugged. They cut through the sitting area, and they exited and began making their way through the surface. Harry looked down at the badge on his robes. Now green and silver with a green serpent... no more lion. The rims of his robes were also a dark green, nearly black, and he found that the black fabric was laced with fine silver strands of silk. He felt oddly natural, things were finally as they were meant to be.

In companionable silence the walked, and Draco slowly snaked his fingers though Harry's. Harry looked at him and smiled slightly, feeling the gentle squeeze Draco gave. Harry did as well, removing his hand to wrap around Draco's waist. He turned the blonde and gently pressed him against the nearest wall.

"Ooh, what's brought this on?" Draco asked, smirking.

"You did," Harry said, kissing his lover, the hands of both roaming. After a heated session, they both broke away, air becoming needed greatly.

"So, any idea how we should enter the Great Hall?" Draco asked quietly as he buried his face into Harry's neck, planting soft kisses along his jaw. Harry closed his eyes and hummed a groan, kissing Draco again.

"I have a plan, phase one and a half, really," Harry said; "I'm going to prove to Dumbledore that his reign is officially over. By finally revealing our relationship, he'll get such a kick in the arse it'll come through his pompous face."

Draco chuckled, "Such articulation," he chided, "But do tell..."

Harry smiled, stepping back to pull a small pouch from his inner robe pockets. Draco eyed it, then him, and Harry smirked; "I duplicated the DA Galleon, then crushed it;" he explained; "while you were visiting your mother over holiday. Anyway, I plan on going up to the Owlery, and sending one of the school's owls to drop it off in front of Weasley and Granger. They'll think I destroyed my galleon, so they'll assume that DA meeting swill be safe to attend. What they don't know is that when they do issue a Galleon Call, we'll know," he finished proudly.

"Well, I must concede, Mister potter, a highly Slytherin action indeed," Draco commended; "come, we'll jet up to the owlery, and while the owl comes in we'll walk in."

"About that," Harry added; "Any ideas on how we could shock them the most?"

At this, Draco smirked cunningly, and leaned forward to whisper into Harry's ear...

The Great Hall was alive with chatter, the student masses talking excitedly over their breakfast. The teachers were all silent or conversing, Flitwick and McGonagall conversing with Remus. The werewolf found it odd that McGonagall had sought him out instead of going after Harry immediately the night before, but she had said she had a feeling that it had to do wit the Order. Remus was wary of her, a fact she noticed, and she understood that his trust in her would be hard to gain. Flitwick, ever the optimist and rationalist, had sought Remus out as well. All three were being watched by the headmaster from the corner of his eye, though no remark or notion was made that he noticed. Yet Remus knew the false hope-twinkling eyes rested primarily on him, though not directly and definitely not obviously.

Across the Hall, Hermione and Ron were still under pressure from the fellow Gryffindors, Seamus and Dean especially. Ginny and Neville remained relatively quite, though the youngest Weasley was having a hard time controlling herself from slapping the couple away. Others, too, were curious, and so a certain section of the table was crowded.

"Hermione, where is he, did you every try to talk to him?" Seamus asked strongly, anger in his soft hazel/green eyes.

"Dumbledore told us not to disrupt anything that could be happening!" Hermione persisted; "I haven't spoken to him since we tried to visit! Please, that is all I can say!"

"You idiots, if you knew everything that was happening then why didn't you intervene?!" Dean quipped angrily; "With Harry in the den of snakes, and not to mention off our Quidditch Team, Ron, we stand a chance at losing him!!!"

"We just need to sort this out at the DA meeting tonight," Hermione said calmly.

"Will you send out a Galleon Call?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure," Hermione said, pausing as Ron got into an argument with Seamus and Dean; "It all depends on whether or not if it's a safe idea. I mean, Harry still has his Galleon, supposedly, and I'm not up to risking a bunch of Slytherins overrunning us."

"Hermione, perhaps just because Harry's turned to the Slytherins doesn't necessarily mean he's gone dark," Neville commented quietly; "He might just be rebelling... I mean, wouldn't you if you were in his position?" he added quickly at several aghast looks.

Hermione bowed her head, and sighed as she rubbed her temples. She looked up when someone called; "Look, a late owl!" realizing that the caller had been Seamus. The brown barn owl flew down Gryffindor Table, hooting as it dropped a black velvet pouch. It landed in between Ron and Hermione, and everyone was quiet.

Ron looked at Hermione, before picking the pouch up slowly. There was a small parchment attached which Hermione took and unrolled to read...

"I thought it best that I return this to you, a supposed token of our alliance. Cheers"

Hermione gasped as two and two were put togethe within her mind; "Ron, don't open it!" she said, but too late. Ron already had the satchel and after examining it, he slowly pulled at the tie.

There was a loud scream, like that from a rocket, and gold dust went everywhere, showering down on everyone. Some fragments were large enough to see that the dust was actually remnants of the DA Galleon. Hermione coughed as she inhaled the fine dust, falling back across the bench as she grasped at her chest. She felt Ron hold on to her, rubbing her back and casting a calming spell. Her coughing soon subsided, and she sat up. Looking around, she saw that many had thrown themselves back at all sides, into the tables of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

"Bloody hell," Dean muttered in awe, watching with wide eyes as the last of the fine gold dust began to gather again.

The dust and fragments gathered above the satchel, reforming into the DA Galleon. But there was a difference to it. It held no markings of a Galleon, but instead held writing that slowly seemed to press against the surface before falling back for more lettering. Seamus, who had dove under the table, rose, and looked at it nervously.

"Our time is spent, our trust is gone," he whispered as he read, though his voice seemed to be heard throughout the Hall; "I thought wrong... you lied to me. You showed me betrayal... I learned from the pain... now suffer your repercussions... there is no vindication..."

Seamus dove back under the table as the DA Galleon disintegrated, the ashes smoldering on the small satchel. For a moment, all was quiet, until there was a cough. All eyes turned to see Harry standing in the doorway, Draco beside him. Both had unreadable faces, though Harry's eyes were obvious of his blazing emotions.

"You thought you would get away without a final statement form me?" was all he said, more proclamation that question; "Well, allow me to say, may your year be atypical;" He then turned to Draco, offering his hand. Draco smirked and took it, and then the two walked over to the Slytherin table, amidst all of the gasps. When they reached it, Draco kissed him quickly, both not wanting to be written up for Public Displays of Affection by making out. They sat down, smirks of raw diffiance and arrogance gracing their faces.

The Hall erupted then, in loud whispers and conversations and the like.

"Wonderful show, you two," Pansy said as she piled food onto Harry and Draco's plates.

"Er... thank-you?" Harry asked, watching as she did so.

Pansy stared at him, gazing at his unsure look; "Well, you're all skin and bone, Potter, what did you expect me to do? I won't be seen hanging around some lanky vagabond," she finished snobbishly as she sat back across the table in her own seat, beside Blaise.

"You've become so disgustingly motherly as of late, you know that?" Blaise asked, and he chuckled as pansy punched him in the shoulder playfully.

"Oh, you," she said, mock-glaring at him.

/They will be interesting to be around/ Harry projected as he began to eat.

/Don't we know it/ Draco replied in the same fashion, doing the same. /Honestly, have you know manners?/ he thought as he watched Harry tuck in.

/No/ Harry replied, but he did straighten up and eat a tad slower after that.

TBC

A/N: well, there you all go! Yay, Sirius is back!!! Next chapter will be good. But I'll be gone for a while so please don't be mad if the story doesn't get updated for a while!!!!