(1)Debello means, literally, "to conquer" and lamia means "witch or vampire"
Disclaimer! Disclaimer: OH MY GOD GUESS WHAT? I don't own it.
See the blood?
Very good.
Look at your hands now;
See the blood?
Very good.
Tell me now, child:
Who did it?
-Dying Is Quite Easy- IssaLee (My God, it's me again.)
Let's All Pretend We're Fine and Happy
issalee
"I don't think…no…it wouldn't be…go, now…"
"Maybe I should…room…Potter…"
"No…take…clothes…homework…Potter, later…"
Draco's vision blurred again and again as he forced his eyes open. He sat up, just as the Hospital Door slammed shut and immediately regretted it as he felt his head pound. Something was abruptly forced into his mouth, and he spluttered indignantly even as his vision cleared and his headache subsided.
"Draco? Are you alright?"
The blonde blinked blearily for a moment before he realized who was in front of him; Severus Snape was sitting on the edge of the bed Draco was in, emotions carefully guarded as always. Behind him Madame Pomfrey was Vanishing the bottle of potion she had given Draco, and now she peered at him intently.
"Feeling better, now? It's a wonder you didn't kill yourself, what with this whole situation and all. Approaching your mate so soon!" She tutted.
Draco almost gagged at the last part. "Mate?" He said, somewhat nervously. "What mate?"
"Oh come now," Snape said. "Every Pureblood child with even an inkling of Urian blood in them is kept recorded somehow, and Dumbledore just happened to be the first person to check your father's personal files when your manor was raided. He knows, I know, the whole damn school knows."
"Students too?" Draco asked, gripping his sheets in terror.
"See what you've done, Severus!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed, and she wagged a finger in his face till he got off the bed. "You've gone and made him worry, so soon after he's recovered too! I swear, this school has just gone down the drain…here, Malfoy, drink this. And no, the students don't know, just the faculty."
"What is it?" Draco said, eyeing the light blue, goopy looking drink she had conjured up for him. "It's not poisonous, is it?"
"Of course not!" Mme. Pomfrey replied, seemingly insulted. "Unless you know who your mate is and if they'll accept you, I don't think you want to pass out every time you see them. Everyone is down in the Great Hall, so that buzzing should only be at a minimal. Take this and it will keep it that way."
"Do you know who your mate is?" Snape asked suddenly.
Draco thought back to the train—and his thoughts. The barrage of voices started up in his head again, but lightly this time. All the same, the pressure around his heart was excruciating, and he snatched the bottle from Mme. Pomfrey's hand, downing it in one gulp. Immediately, the voices stopped, and he was left with the normal buzzing in his chest. Along with the relief came a realization; his mate had to have been someone who was heading towards him at the time that he had passed out. What was it Blaise had said?
"Find Ginevra," Draco ordered as he sat down next to Theodore. "Ask her if she's sitting with us or the Gryffindors."
Blaise had winked. "Sure, oh mighty one. And shall I bring these Gryffindors?"
"No."
"You know exactly what I'm going to do, though!" Blaise said gleefully.
Draco sighed. "Yes, I do realize that you will not only come back with Ginevra but probably the freaking Golden Trio as well. Just be sure not to let them think you're insane, all right? And don't you dare say I'm insane either."
"I won't," Blaise replied, with a perfectly straight face.
Draco blinked. It couldn't be.
But it had to be.
His mate was one of the Gryffindors, and, considering especially (as Blaise had put it) his preferences, it couldn't be Granger. And there was no way, even if Hell froze over or Dumbledore was sane, never ever in a million years could he EVER have the boy Weasel as his mate.
Which left Harry Potter.
In an eerie, twisted way, it did make sense to Draco. During their fifth year he'd had something of a fixation on Harry, and it had taken exactly thirty-eight weeks of prodding and arguments before Blaise and Pansy had finally managed to convince him that yes, it was a crush. He'd quickly quashed such a thing, though, seeing as there was no way anyways that Potter could ever even look twice at him.
It was un-winnable.
"No. I don't know who my mate is." Draco said steadily, staring his godfather in the eyes. Snape seemed suspicious about it, but Mme. Pomfrey swept him away quickly, pushing him towards the door and demanding that he let Draco receive some rest. When she bustled back in, she nodded at Draco.
"You can go tomorrow morning. Straight to your morning classes, all right? I've sent for your schedule, books and haversack, with a change of clothes too. Behave tonight, Master Malfoy."
She didn't wait for an answer and stalked off, but returned shortly. This time, she was carrying Draco's slim rowan wand. "I suggest you get rid of those fangs, good sir. You're very lucky your Aunt Tonks decided it was good for Albus to know you had been bitten. We can't have anyone knowing about those, now can we?" She gave him what could have been a friendly smile, before waving her wand to extinguish the lights and returning to her office.
Draco watched her go, before holding the wand up to his face. The spell to hide his fangs had faded because of his Urian blood. No glamour charms would work on him; what was he supposed to do? He growled and almost flung the wand away, before a thought hit him.
Carefully, he placed the wand on the tips of one of his elongated canines and whispered, "Veni Vidi Vici. I came, I saw, I conquered, right?" he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Debello Lamia(1)!"
The wand fizzled, before giving off a bright light. Draco felt his whole body tingling as a sort of protective case went around his teeh, encasing his canines completely in light. Had he been able to watch, he would have seen the light melding the teeth into its own form, forcing them not to retract, but to hide of their own accord.
A bead of sweat broke out on Draco's forehead, but he held onto the spell until he couldn't any longer, and he collapsed onto the bed. Gingerly, he reached up and probed the area where his fangs had been; they had disappeared, and now he could only feel normal teeth.
Wondering for the umpteenth time since the day he had been bitten why he hadn't just listened to his father, Draco Malfoy flipped over on the bed, closed his eyes and fell asleep.
That night, he dreamed of the shadow-person again.
"Ooh…Colin…move that over there and pass me some of the bacon. I don't give a damn about those muffins, they are painted cardboard."
Colin Creevey blinked, before resigning himself to the job and shoving over a plat of muffins so that Ginny could lean over and swipe the bacon. Although he was very annoying when he wanted to be, Ginny had taken Colin in as a friend when she discovered no, he was not secretly in love with Harry; he had trying for a degree in photography and if he had celebrity photos, one of the most prestigious Wizarding finishing schools in London would accept him.
Harry himself looked as though he hadn't slept right; he was yawning and attempting to eat his eggs at the same time. Ron looked over at him.
"All right Harry?"
The raven-haired boy blinked before nodding. "Er, yeah. Just didn't get much sleep last night." He had, in fact, spent the whole night mulling over the mystery that was Malfoy's extraordinary set of teeth.
"I have Double Potions today," Ginny said in disgust, eyeing her schedule for the sixteenth time. "And with the Hufflepuffs…yuck, they always try their best."
"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Hermione asked as she buttered a slice of toast. Ginny sighed.
"When they try their best, they usually end up doing even worse, and Snape goes ballistic. Look, at least I have Astronomy Tuesday nights with you guys; they smushed the classes together because Firenze has got thingies to attend to."
"Thingies?" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.
"Thingies." Ginny maintained.
Harry and Ron were about to start laughing when the doors to the Great Hall opened. Heads automatically swung that way, but they soon returned, all except for a few Gryffindors and several Slytherins.
Draco Malfoy sauntered into the Hall, neatly groomed and looking as well as ever. Ginny smiled happily as she dug into her food. "I knew he couldn't stay out for long!"
Ron muttered something that Harry was sure wasn't very kind, but he was following Draco with his eyes now. The blonde seemed normal to anyone who looked; he was still walking with the same, loping grace, although he was indeed more handsome than any other boy most had ever seen. In fact, the same heads that had turned away before were now staring insistently at him, as though boring holes in his head.
Harry watched, tight-lipped as Pansy flung her arms around Draco, smiling widely. Draco patted her back awkwardly, although he whispered something discreetly to her. As he sat down, Blaise, Theo, Carina, Carleigh and Chloris said a few words to him. He smirked and replied. Typical Malfoy behavior.
"Harry…you've killed it."
Harry turned back to his table, eyes wide. "What?"
Ginny pointed down to the banana he'd been holding in his hand, which was now smushed beyond comprehension. Ginny giggled as Harry blushed and wiped the sticky mess off his hand with a napkin.
"Mate," Ron said, smiling. "I think that you need something. How about we celebrate our coming back to school with a trip to the kitchens later on tonight? Dobby won't mind, I'm sure."
Hermione pursed her lips but didn't say a word, and after a quick glance at her, Harry nodded. "We'll feast on the last of the decent foodstuffs they have and then go to bed bloated. You want to come, Herm, Gin?"
"No. I would like to get all my homework done," Hermione told them with a slight hint of disapproval in her voice. Ginny laughed.
"I'd love to, guys, but I have a date."
"A what?" Ron asked incredulously. "With who? It's the first day back!"
Ginny shrugged. "It's not really a date. I'm just meeting Blaise for a game of chess in one of the many, many little hidden alcoves so that I may get revenge on a particularly hard-hitting game from the past. By the time I get back I'll be downed, so I'm going straight to bed."
"Zabini?" Ron said thoughtfully, and then shrugged like his sister. "Ok. I'm pretty sure he's gay anyways."
Harry snorted into his pumpkin juice and Ginny choked on her eggs. Hermione stared at him with her mouth swinging open while Colin had the good sense to pound Ginny on the back.
"What?" Ron asked, clearly surprised. "What did I say?"
No one at their table noticed the gazes from the Slytherin table. Harry started to laugh, confusing Ron even more until Ginny flicked his head, blushing.
"He is not!" The redheaded girl whispered malevolently. "He—his—his line is just as straight as yours!"
"Must be pretty wavy, then," Colin muttered, sending Harry off into a fit of laughter. Ginny and Hermione started giggling madly, while Ron colored even more.
Over at the Slytherin table, Blaise was looking very confused.
"What's got them in a tizzy?"
Pansy shrugged. "Ginevra looked furious just a moment ago, and now she's laughing as though the funniest thing in the world has happened."
Draco looked over to the Gryffindor table, eyes flashing oddly. He'd felt what could only have been a surge of jealousy at that moment, but he ignored it. "That, my friends, is the mystery that is Gryffindork."
Pany rolled her eyes, but then sobered. "Do you know what made you faint, Draco? Severus didn't tell us anything, and Theo has no idea what was going on."
"I didn't faint," Draco sneered. "I passed out. Malfoys--"
"Don't faint, we know." Blaise interrupted. "We just wanted to know if you knew who it was that had caused the whole thing. Does it have anything to do with your mate?"
Draco saw the interested gleams in the eyes of the Slytherins in front of him, and suddenly felt as though maybe this was something he had better keep quiet. "No, not at all. I merely passed out from lack of nourishment; I do need food, you know."
Looking suspicious, his friends nodded and returned to their food, not at all satisfied but understanding his need to keep this to himself.
"You don't need that," Harry told Ron later that night. They were stepping out of the kitchens, and each held some sort of pasty or sweet to last them for a while. Ron was trying to balance an armful of sweets, chocolates and boxes with cakes in them. Harry smiled.
"You can just take them for tomorrow; I'll ask Dobby to watch them."
"Would you?" the redhead grinned back. "Thank Merlin, I thought I might have to carry this back myself, and Hermione would have killed me!"
"Yes, well, I am a good friend," Harry said slyly. He ignored the look Ron gave him and took several boxes off the top. "I'll just give these to Dobby and leave some instructions. You go back to the tower, you look tired."
Ron yawned. Harry knew that by the time he got up there, his friend would be conked out. The redhead waved as he set off down the hallway. "Thanks, Harry, you're a great pal!"
Harry shook his head as he tickled the pear again. A great pal indeed. When the portrait swung open, Dobby was already there, looking up at him with anxious eyes.
"Is Harry Potter needing anymore food?" he asked.
"No, Dobby, I just wanted to return these. They're a bit too much, but could you save them? We'll probably come get them later…if you can, that is."
"Anything for Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby squeaked. "We is putting charms on it, Harry Potter sir, and they is staying fresh!" he took the boxes and snapped his fingers; they disappeared. Harry blinked, than nodded.
"Er, right. Thanks a bunch, Dobby. I'll see you later, alright?" As he clambered out of the portrait, Dobby cried out a goodbye. Harry smiled to himself as he headed down the halls, but it disappeared as he realized Ron had taken his Invisibility Cloak.
"Now what am I supposed to do?" The Gryffindor asked aloud as he stopped in the hall. Feeling slightly abashed, he took out the Marauder's Map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he whispered.
The diagram of Hogwarts School appeared quickly, spreading over the paper like spilled ink. Harry blanched as he realized that Filch was heading down his way, and a smaller dot labeled McGonagall from the other. Looking around a tad frantically, he noticed another hallway branching off from the main one. He took one last glance at the map and did a double take.
A dot clearly labeled 'Draco Malfoy' was farther along the corridor he was about to go down. Harry almost decided against it, but then came up with a firm resolve. If Malfoy ratted him out, he'd have to go down to.
Harry took one last backwards glance before heading off down the vestibule.
Draco shook his head irritably, blowing upwards in an attempt to shake his hair out of his eyes. He was getting tired of this; he had always been somewhat of an insomniac, but this Vampirism was just too much. He could barely sleep at night, and he hadn't eaten anything since that bite of the strawberry in the manor.
He was terribly hungry, but he wasn't at all sure where the kitchens were or what his position was with the house-elves at Hogwarts. Besides this, the fact that the food he was eating was favored by his arch-nemesis tended to do wonders for his willpower. But every time he saw Potter (and he was sure not to make eye contact) it was all he could do to stop himself jumping the Golden Boy and sucking him dry.
Draco smiled outwardly at that, fangs glinting against the moonlight; the spell wore off at night, and he didn't feel like putting any effort into anything. The spell did take a lot out of him, and he was very sure he couldn't be able to do it every night and day.
He doubled over suddenly and had to lean against the wall as a shock of pain ran through his body. He recognized these as a form of hunger pangs; he hadn't eaten in days! What was he to expect?
Rolling his eyes inwardly, Draco slumped against the wall and slid down its length, letting his head drop into his hands.
He hated this.
He hated that his life was soon to be held in another's hands, and especially one that hated him beyond words. He hated that he couldn't eat, and that he could only watch with saddened but carefully hidden faces as his friends ate their food. He hated that he was losing sleep, not only because of the Vampirism, but because he couldn't stand to have that very same dream again and again and again. Every single waking moment was hell, and now so were his ones spent unawake.
"Malfoy."
His head shot up, and he rubbed at his sleep-weary eyes as he strained to recognize the figure. When he did, it was almost too much for his poor heart; Harry was looking away, at the window, and Draco only just remembered to concentrate on a spot just past the boy's head before Harry turned back.
"Potter," he replied. "Come for another nice talk?"
Harry almost asked what he was talking about before he remembered their conversation a few weeks back. Despite himself he grinned. "Found your perfect world yet?"
To his surprise, Draco lowered his head and buried it in his hands once more, simultaneously trying to put his longer-than-usual hair behind his ears. "No." The blond answered curtly.
Truth be told, Draco was also blushing. The fact that a tousle-haired wizarding world's savior was standing in front of him with an absolutely adorable look of confusion and bewilderment made him think many…naughty things.
"Malfoy? Are you all right?"
Draco didn't say anything. Maybe if he didn't, Harry would get tired and go away. And then Draco would be able to calm down and get rid of the blood that was currently pounding into his veins, telling him to get up, to go, to bite.
But his hopes were dashed as at the next moment, warmth slid next to him and he had to struggle not to shiver. He had to struggle not to cry out, though, when Harry's next whispered words reached his ear.
"I saw your fangs."
Draco's eyes widened behind his hands and he lifted his head slightly to peer out into the darkness ahead of him. "When?" he said finally.
He felt Harry shrug. "On the train. When you passed out, it was me who carried you out of the carriage and into another so that Zabini could give you some sort of potions."
Draco was quiet for a moment before he let his head drop back into his hands. "Go curl up and die."
Harry snorted. "Well, that was nice." There was a moment of silence before he spoke up again. "Are you a Vampire?"
Draco thought for a moment about that. He certainly wasn't about to tell Harry that he was an Urian. He doubted the Muggle-raised wizard would know what that was anyway; though revered, Urians were rare and almost never mentioned. Of course, Potter would never rest until he got an answer. Draco sneered at that; nosy Gryffindors.
"Sort of," he started hesitantly. "I mean, I was bitten, but my—blood sort of stopped it from going any further than the fangs."
"So you don't drink blood?"
"You don't shut up often, do you?" Draco snapped. Harry stiffened next to him before dropping a carefully articulated "I'm sorry."
"What?" Draco said. "Harry Potter, apologizing to Draco Malfoy?"
"It would have been more astounding if it was the other way around," Harry complained. Draco found himself trying hard not to laugh, and then, quite suddenly, it turned into something else.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked as Draco suddenly started shaking next to him. "Draco?"
And it was with that little word that Draco Malfoy bit his lip and let the tears stream out of his eyes. He turned away from Harry though, and the buzzing that had been growing slightly, even under the press of the potion, dimmed and dulled.
"Just—just leave—please," Draco said, ashamed both to be begging, crying and saying 'please'. "I don't need you."
Harry stared for a moment, eyes wide before his kinder, Gryffindor-inherited side took over. Feeling slightly uncomfortable with it all, he gripped Draco's shoulders and drew the blonde closer to him. He got over the shock rather quickly when no resistance came, and he carefully, cautiously, guardedly—hugged Draco Malfoy.
It wasn't as a short thing, either. He held Draco until the sobbing, sniffling and even deep breaths had stopped, and shortly after that just held him, feeling not in the least bit awkward with the Slytherin half-sprawled in his lap and with Draco's head buried in his neck.
Draco, however, was having very different thoughts.
When he had managed to stop crying, his first reaction had been to blush like a maniac, before he started thinking up ways to explain this. It was, however, before he realized that his mouth was lying in the crook of Harry's neck.
His fangs positively tingled in excitement.
Draco attempted to tear himself away, really he did, but before he knew it he had his head turned and he was opening his mouth. Harry shifted slightly from beneath him, and before he could grasp what was going on the fangs had been sunken into his neck.
Harry got the impression that this was a slightly downgraded version of heaven. Ok, very slightly then, if you insist. The fact that someone had latched onto his neck and was sucking for England was definitely not something he hoped to see anytime soon, but then again he didn't want to die anytime soon.
This didn't stop him from realizing that the feeling of those soft, petal-like lips on his neck and the warm feeling spreading through his body was like ecstasy, and thus he ended up squirming only slightly. His whole world went hazy, but Harry could concentrate only on the feeling that startling warmth was wrapping itself around him, rocking him gently until he couldn't hold on to consciousness anymore.
Draco had his eyes closed, savoring the liquid fire that was pouring down his throat, quenching the thirst he had had for days now, settling in his stomach like a full meal. And then suddenly, very abruptly, he broke away, panting.
He looked down at the boy who had just comforted him, and found those vibrant green eyes he would probably never be able to look into again closed. Heart pounding, Draco wiped the blood from his mouth; never once noticing his eyes had started their streaming again.
"Potter? Harry?" He whispered. There was no answer, and with barely concealed distraught, he picked up the other boy, who suddenly seemed very much smaller than his actually tall height.
With a loping, steady run, Draco carried Harry's still body to the Hospital Wing, crying every step of the way.
Oh, Gods, never again will I type such a long chapter in three hours straight. My fingers are KILLING me. Nevermindt that despite the fact that it's only been three days of school so far, I've already got a major project and crud to do. Why? Whhhhhhhhhyyy? And I live uphill too, so walking to school is ok, but walking back uphill?
Noooooooooooooooooooo, I need liberation!
Ok, so shutting up now: Here are your review replies, you lucky ducks:
dairygirl
(Yes, methinks Draco needs to be in a world of hurt for a while before
Harry can forgive him. See him now? This is Soft!Draco, whom Harry
likes better than WhipObsessed!Draco.) xxaishiteru (no, don't worry, when I am really not in a huge spirit I copy and paste something for a review. Don't tell, shh!) Cheezewhizz (Yes,
I hate that too, but I might not update for a while sometimes as I have
a crap school who is Nazi-controlled and thinks homework is life.) Yana5 (Well, now he knows) fifespice (in a way, yes, but no too. Draco does know about Harry now...but you see, the biting here is VERY important) Abi2 (Revel in school? You have to go to Nazi-Headquarters. You have to see Oberfuhrer Smith. Then we shall talk about revelers) Shania Maxwell, Blonde Dragon, Toby7, themaraudersaremine
(You means school is out for Friday or school is out for good? If it's
the latter, I haaaaaateeeeeeee you! That's not fair! And this isn't
Draco's mini-break down...yet...I had to do something...ok, the best I
can explain it is that Draco and Harry needed to swap a
life-saving-deal-making sort of thing, and as I have the ending all
planned out this is the way it must go. So this is not his break down.
Not yet. That's in the next chapter...maybe...) MidnightsRose, Danish Pastry 28
(If you remember them, tell me, as I am trying to write this and (what
is it>) five other ficlets at the same time, so there are bound to
be some. thanks for noticing!)
