Chapter 5

Dear Son

I hope you are well.

Good work on keeping a close eye on Potter. Your information has been helpful. It is not every day you hear the Golden Boy is not beneath making threats to get his point across. I have gathered from my sources that the boy has some shady contacts. Look into it.

Have a good stay at Hogwarts and make me proud.

L.S Malfoy

A strange noise drew Daphne's attention as she passed an empty classroom on her way to the dungeons. She came closer and the sound grew louder, now identified as growling. She gripped her wand tightly as she approached. She cautiously opened the door and cringed at the loud screech it caused. The growling stopped immediately, making her even more cautious. Once the door opened fully it revealed a bare classroom with nothing but a single desk at the front and a thick layer of dust coating the whole room. She frowned in confusion. 'I could have sworn…' shaking her head, she left with a last thought of 'Maybe it was really nothing.'

Back in the room, the bareness of the room dissolved to reveal multiple claw marks on the floor and walls, the dust almost nonexistent. In the middle of the room was a boy laid on his back and panting harshly. His broad wings were spasming every few seconds and the tail laid out on his side was twitching violently. His eyes were screwed shut and clawed fingers digging into the floor harshly. Harry Potter was not doing well. It had gotten worse. It has been six months since the start of school, and two months since the Christmas holidays. He was now back at Hogwarts for his second term. But he had one problem.

His inner demon was slipping, fast. It was ripping his control to pieces layer by layer, and even Lelita was now having a hard time holding it back. He needed blood. He needed to kill. He needed… His eyes snapped open, a bright scarlet with slit pupils, and a terrifying pained snarl left his lips as agony lanced through his chest. He groaned a bit as he tried to roll over to his knees, sitting back with his arms held close to his chest. It was taking longer than usual for him to take back control.

It had started on his first week at Hogwarts, but then it was just bouts of bloodlust and spacing out. It graduated to sudden pain and losing his mind for a few seconds and then to this agony and fighting desperately for control. According to Lelita, this would not stop until he absorbed the demon into himself, holding it under his control. The problem is, the only way to do that was to defeat it at its worst, when it has had its fill of death and he would have to wrestle back control from it at its strongest. Even now he could tell it would be difficult if not nigh impossible.

The pain slowly dissipated and left him heaving for breath. He listened to Lelita's soft crooning as he tightened his control, shutting down his occlumency walls firmly. 'Master, this is getting worse. You have to do something.' Harry sighed at the concerned daemon's words. 'I know. I'm working on it.' 'I am not talking about that potion you are concocting. We have to get rid of it forever, not stall the inevitable! What if your control slips in the middle of the great hall?' Harry snorted 'I imagine you would enjoy that.' Lelita was not impressed 'If you don't I wouldn't. It would be a hollow victory and you know it.' 'I know. This is all I've got for now Lelita, bare with me. It's not like I can just pick out a random village to slaughter in one night.' The daemon did not answer. With another sigh Harry lifted himself to his feet and made his way to the black lake. He needed a cold bath in complete solitude.

"Harry, where have you been?" Harry almost groaned at Draco's voice following him down the hall. He turned back to see the boy angrily stomping towards him. "I have looked everywhere for you and no one else knows where you were." "I didn't know I needed a keeper Draco." The blonde's glare intensified. "You missed our study session." He stated. Oh right, he had a study session with Draco and his friends yesterday night. Harry smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, ignoring Draco's shocked face. "Right, sorry about that. I forgot." Draco folded his arms "Well, it is the first time. Alright, I forgive you." They then started walking towards their first class of the day. "You missed breakfast. Why?" Harry shrugged "I wasn't hungry. I also needed to finish my potions essay." Which wasn't a lie. He had another episode yester night and was not in any state to do homework at all. Draco nodded "I get it. You were too lazy to do it again. For someone who is meticulous about almost everything you have the strangest bouts of tardiness." "Yeah well, we have to let loose once in a while." Draco snorted in disbelief but did not comment. They parted ways a few minutes later, Draco joining his fellow Slytherins and the dreaded Gryffindors.

Pansy immediately clung to his elbow, seeing Harry nowhere in sight. "Draco, you let me walk alone all the way here." She complained. Glancing around at the people around them, he grimaced "You hardly look alone." "You know what I mean." Pansy said batting at his arm playfully. The other Gryffindors started snickering and with an annoyed scowl he roughly pushed Pansy away. She pouted but did not grab him again, only staying close. McGonagall came down the hall and entered the classroom for her lesson.

"What's up with you and Potter?" Millicent Bulstrode asked to his left. Still irritated, Draco turned to her "What are you talking about." Blaise dropped into the conversation. "You two have been spending an awful lot of time together. If you are not with us, chances are you are with Potter." "So what?" the blonde asked defensively. Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Do you remember which side Potter is on and your own side. If I were you, I wouldn't get too close." "Yeah, or Potter might just snatch you up." Bulstrode quipped gleefully. Eager to set them straight, Draco said snootily. "If you must know, I am not hanging around Ha…Potter to befriend him. I am spying on him for my father." The two student's eyes widened, making Draco smirk. "Yes. And when I am done I don't care what happens to Potter." With that he promptly ignored them and face forward to pay attention on McGonagall's lecture. He didn't notice Hermione's eyes widen behind them and a small smile enter her lips.

"Potter!" Harry groaned at Granger's voice. Why were people stopping him down the hallways today? He turned to her. "Miss Granger. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Granger's smirk did not leave her face. "I just came to see how you are doing." As she came closer Harry replied "Fine thank you, and you?" "Oh I'm doing great." 'What is wrong with Bucktooth?' Lelita's confusion was apparent. Harry smiled as they started walking together in silence. Ten seconds later Hermione cleared her throat. "Is Malfoy your friend?" Harry raised an eyebrow but still replied. "If you want to call it that." She seemed unusually happy today. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." "Why is that?" With the utmost smugness she said "Because I heard him say in Transfiguration class that he is not your friend. He is just spying on you for his father."

Hermione expected Harry to be angry or at least severely disappointed, but what she did not expect was the amused laughter that filled her ears. Once Harry calmed down he said. "I already know that." A lie. Her shocked expression forced a huff of laughter from him. "What? Did you expect me to be angry and disappointed? To scrunch up and run to the bathroom to cry? Forget it." Hermione blushed in fury. "What would it take?! You are always cool, always in control, always polite! You are good at everything you do! What would it take to break your composure?!" She appeared close to tears at this point. Putting on a concerned face, Harry said "Hey, calm down. It was only a joke." The bushy-haired girl sniffled. "I'm sorry. I'm just… you are so good at everything and don't even seem to put any effort. I work so hard only for people to give me the cold shoulder all the time. I don't have any friends, here or at home. I just wish I was like you. So smart yet so good with people." She started breaking down in the middle of the hall.

Harry hugged her gently, arms firmly around her. Hermione gasped in shock. "I'm sorry if I upset you Hermione. You are a good person, brilliant even, you just don't know how to show that to the world. I bet that with time you will figure out how to handle the people around you. In the mean time, I'll show you a thing or two." Hermione's sobbing became deeper with those words. She sank deeper into his embrace. "Thank you. Oh, thank you Harry." Disgust blossomed in his mind, courtesy of Lelita. 'Urgh!"Even though for the next week Harry showed Hermione how to socialize better with people he did not allow her to hang around him. She never asked either, too grateful for his help to ask more from him, but she was allowed to join him for study in the library from time to time, that is if Draco was not with him. The end of the school year was fast approaching and with it the final exams. He was seeing more and more of Hermione the closer the exams got. Draco did not appreciate her ruining his time with Harry even though he fiercely denied that fact to anyone who cared to ask. What irked him even more was Harry accepting her presence so easily, mostly ignoring the both of them if they were together or happened to start arguing acting only to answer their questions or break up a fight.