Almost to vamp Vlad and Sixth Year... I never imagined how much far this would come when I first wrote a Vlad/Harry one shot.

Sorry for the delay, I got absorbed in a HTTYD short that I just had to get finished so I could focus on these boys. Then I had a migraine for about two days straight. Can't stare at a smart phone like that to write.

-YDHP-

Harry watched his boyfriend, who was currently sat in the shade, knees hugged to his chest and head buried in the space between. He himself sat in the sun, Georgina Giles sat next to him with her schoolwork and snacks. Even from several feet away, he could see the tremor in his shoulders.

"How is he?"

Not-Hogwarts-uniform-compliant heels landed in the grass next to him, the sun protection magic radiating off of Ingrid. It was June, and it must be terribly uncomfortable for her even with practice. Vlad was relatively new to his struggle in the sun. After years he'd spent taking advantage of his pre-transformation ability to be in it comfortably.

"Struggling."

"Not surprised."

"Was it this bad for you?"

Ingrid shrugged.

"I'm not him. And I never fought it. Inside or out. Magically or mentally."

"You didn't answer my question."

Rolling her eyes, Ingrid turned back toward her brother.

"Yeah, it sucks. But it's over soon."

Vlad looked up as his sister approached, flinched from Ingrid slightly - his skin was hypersensitive as life and death fought over his body. Even his clothes hurt him. Only Harry didn't. Not that he minded an excuse to be naked with his boyfriend, but he didn't exactly revel in the reason being that otherwise, Vlad was in pain.

Still, vampires were easier on him than humans right now. Luckily, Harry didn't happen to be fully human. That probably helped his cause.

"How long until he's ok again?"

George looked over at Harry, frowning in concern for her brother. The expression looked almost alien on this perpetually peppy, vibrant girl.

"I don't know. I want to say his birthday, but we don't know what will happen the other side. Vlad's unique. We just... don't know."

Harry couldn't lie, not to wide eyes full of concern for her big brother. He sought the same answers, but there had been nobody quite like him before. Dimidius were rare. A magical Dimidius quite probably rarer. Someone powerful both vampirically and magically rarer still.

There was only one Chosen One though.

"Not all of his kind survive, you know. I looked. Dimidius die as infants alot, because their bodies don't combine the genetics in quite the right way."

Harry looked round at George, immediately panicked. Raven.

"How do you tell?"

"They'll be sickly and slow to develop, then down with some kind of breathing problem or... a weird thing like haemophilia. Why?"

"No reason. Just... curious."

George was too smart, too shrewd to take that hasty lie at face value.

"You're lying."

"No I'm not."

"You are, but its ok. Vlad's made me realise sometimes we have to lie for good reason."

Popping a Fizzing Whizzbee in her mouth, George continued with her work whilst throwing the occasional look over at Vlad. The sun felt warm and comfortable on Harry's skin, far from the painful irritant it was to the vampires over in the shadow of a tree.

That evening, the Defence group met. The burning off nervous energy was needed for everyone, though Vlad didn't come that day. It made sense, since he could easily overpower his magic in the state he was in. Harry wasn't even sure Vlad would be able to take practical exams, with the worry he could overpower even simple magic running rampant in the teen vampires head.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!"

Harry ducked a stray deflected Stunner, circling the paired up duellists and calling order a few minutes later.

"Ok... who thinks they've mastered their Patronus?"

Several people raised their hands and Harry waved them forward; a time drew near where the more people could fight off Dementors, the better. That was his driving motivation here, to make everyone as safe as he could before the darkness began to fall.

Before he and Vlad became part of it. Or at least looked to have done. Because, as the brand on his boyfriends chest proved, sometimes the only way to bring something down was from within.

Many of the people around him now would believe Harry a turncoat. That he had been swayed to evil, maybe even blame Vlad's influence. And they might lose hope if they thought Harry was gone. He had to give them all the strength and faith in themselves that he could until then, in the hopes that the light side felt something was still worth fighting for.

"Ok. Off you go Michael."

Several students had cloudy shield forms rather than a corporeal Patronus, but a spectral-looking cat chased a similarly floaty eagle while a hefty see-through St Bernard loped around in confusion at the lack of target to chase.

"Good work! Jared, come here."

Jared, a fourth year Hufflepuff, approached Harry shakily. This was when Harry channelled Vlad the most, remembering his own lessons learning this spell.

"Close your eyes" the badger complied, everyone watching avidly "and think of your happiest memory. That one that makes you smile every time it crosses your mind even for a second."

Jared's face tightened as he thought, but then a smile broached his face.

"Got it? Ok. Now let that feeling fill you up. Don't think of anything else... now, cast!"

"Expecto Patronum!"

A ghostly shape escaped the boys short cherry wood wand, taking form a few seconds later to reveal a sleek arctic fox.

"You did it!"

Jared was elated, staring at the form and reaching out toward it like he couldn't really believe he had conjured it. Harry swelled with pride, and several students clapped. Before long a handful more Patronus charms had come to fruition, a playful monkey and a quick-footed tiger amongst them.

"That's great guys!"

Harry dismissed them that evening, the last meeting before exams, with a room full of smiles. Even from the NEWT students. The stress relief of hexing each other to Merlin and back seemed to have done the trick, and as soon as he watched them all get in on the Map, Harry left to go see how Vlad was faring.

"I know he isn't feeling great, but give him my love yeah?"

Hermione said quietly as she hugged Harry goodnight, and he nodded.

"I will."

He found Vlad already behind closed drapes, and according to Neville he had been like that since he got back too.

"I asked if he was ok, he said he was studying and wanted quiet."

Harry suspected it was more to do with the fact the sun had only recently dipped below the horizon, otherwise shining into their high tower dormitory and irritating the almost-biter.

"Fair. I'm gonna take a shower before bed, broke a sweat in group."

Neville nodded, returned to his quiet pre-sleep cramming session as OWLs loomed ever closer while Harry grabbed his pyjamas, headed into the bathroom. His skin seemed to sigh in relief under the water, and he suspected he would 'shed' again sometime soon. Being part reptile had it's ups and downs. Brushing his teeth, he sighed in exasperated amusement at how his sharper teeth wore at the bristles.

When Harry left the bathroom, most of the others were bunking down for bed. Harry tried to appear he was doing the same as he waited, chewing a fudge square and frowning at the taste after just cleaning his teeth. Lily curled around his shoulders, hissing quietly about how 'the vampire was in distress'.

"I know. I'm just waiting for the others to sleep."

"Ah yes. The peculiarity of human secrecy."

"It's not about that. We don't need him knowing."

Lily rolled her eyes, slunk around Harry's chest and curled herself into coils there like it wasn't hugely inconvenient.

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

She laugh-hissed to herself, closed her eyes and adamantly resisted being moved. Harry surrendered and stroked her emerald coils, soothed by the familiar feel of scales beneath his hands. Samael had been very understanding that Harry had other calls on his time, was just glad for the brief visits Harry could make and the regular meals.

But he missed his bigger pet greatly. Made a resolution to spend time with Samael while Vlad was away with the Mirror. He was adamant Harry wasn't coming with him; his vampiric family would be there, and Vlad could be gone all day. The vampire refused to leave his mate surrounded by less human-friendly biters indefinitely.

The others finally started to drop off, soft snoring filling the room. Harry carefully dislodged his snake, who hissed in complaint but accepted her fate and curled in the warmth of Harry's vacated spot. He closed his drapes, then padded across to Vlad's bed. The closed curtains permitted him, and Vlad immediately turned toward him.

Even in the limited light, he could see Vlad's eyes were black, knuckles white where he clenched his fists. Only when Harry reached out and cupped his face did Vlad calm, eyes clearing as he leant into Harry's touch. He laid down, let Vlad cling to him as a sole port within the storm Vlad was being thrown through by his body and mind. Slowly, his tight muscles eased.

"I don't want this."

"I know Vlad" Harry ran a hand down Vlad's spine, felt his boyfriend shudder lightly "but it's nearly over."

"Then I'm like this forever."

"And I'll be around forever to calm you down."

Vlad burrowed into him tighter, face buried in his neck and arm tight around Harry's abdomen.

"That's basically the only upside to all this. That I never have to let you go."

"Exactly. I know you're going through alot Vlad, but the other side of it is immortality together. Now think you can get to sleep, or shall I get you a potion?"

Vlad pondered, shaking his head.

"No moving."

Harry smiled as he was cuddled up to by the vampire, squirming as Vlad inhaled his scent and it tickled his neck.

"Get some sleep. Not long now."

Drop. Drop. Drop.

Vlad clutched his quill, twitching as he heard even the charmed grains of sand trickle at exactly the right amount for measuring exams. His senses were on fire. Rapid, anxious pulses. Deep, sighing breaths. Scratching quills and the wet dipping of ink.

He was due before the Blood Mirror in only two days. Who's idea was it to let him take exams?

Of course, if they had offered to delay his tests, Vlad would have insisted he was fine and turned them down. They should have offered to let him take them early.

But that would be suspect. Vlad couldn't be suspected as a vampire. Not now. Ingrid was almost free. He'd keep his species under wraps to protect her. Lucifer knew he had had her graduation at the front of his mind when he insisted upon the year to Riddle. It would give him the time he needed to try and prepare everyone else... but Ingrid could finish Hogwarts. The first place she ever felt accepted. Proud. Brilliant, even.

Vlad was trying to be a good brother. A good person. A good vampire... if such a thing could exist.

Putting quill to parchment again, Vlad winced as he heard every scrape of quill over parchment. His heart started to spasm again, undecided about stopping yet as his 'death' approached. His fists curled, quill crushing between his fingers before blinding pain shot through him. Vlad clutched his chest and cried out in pain, crashing to the ground as he attempted to curl up in a ball as defence against the agony.

"Vlad!"

Voices cried out in concern, answered by deeper, sharper ones.

"Everyone stay in their seats! Collect his paper."

He was lifted onto something, whisked away from disrupting the exams as the fire spread to his head, burned down toward his extremities but the hottest pain was in his chest. The sound of a wounded animal was audible, and after a minute Vlad realised it was him making it.

"Everyone out!"

Wait. He knew that voice.

"Ingrid-"

"Do it!"

Footsteps made his hospital bed rattle, then an ice cold hand touched Vlad's burning skin. Ingrid said something in Latin, and a second later Vlad's body shrunk and his pain vanished. Opening his eyes at last, Vlad cocked his feathered head.

"Better?"

Vlad trilled, nodded as best he could and stretched his wings out before finding himself with the strangest urge to start pecking at the bedsheets until he had a sufficient nest. Now the pain had eased, he knew the pain was pre-transformation-syndrome. Not everyone got it. Vlad hadn't had anything specific to it before now, but the collapsing in his exam probably counted. Ingrid had used the forced-transformation spell to turn him phoenix, knowing it was unlikely the phoenix would feel the pain of a vampire.

"You'll have to change back so I can leave, but I should be able to mix something that'll help get you through your exams."

He cooed in question, glad Ingrid seemed to have the same weapons-grade ability to read expressions in his bird face as his humanoid face.

"I'm a NEWTs grade Potions student. I have access to so many cool books."

'Cool' and 'books' were not words Vlad ever expected to hear from Ingrid's mouth. But then, Ingrid really loved Potions. Bracing himself for pain, Vlad focused on changing back. The pain had receded, but it was definitely waiting to get him again on the next wave.

"Stay here. Tell Madam Pomfrey it's your transformation and you need rest. I'll be back in a few hours."

Ingrid left him there, ignoring any of the nearby adults as Madam Pomfrey entered the room Vlad saw the inside of far too often, shooed away the exam invigilator who had brought him up and closed the door.

"Let me guess. Vampirism?"

Vlad nodded, rolling onto his back and stretching his arms out, shoulders twinging from wings-to-not.

"Yeah. Two days to go. Did I fail my exam?"

"They are waiting on me telling them in my professional opinion if this was a skiving attempt. Naturally, I shall tell them you are genuinely ill and that you can finish your exams alone tomorrow."

"Alone would be awesome. Well. Depending who's watching me. I could be killed by any Ministry employee."

It was surreal how insane his unlife was that that was a normal thing for him to say. Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips, tapped her wand against her arm.

"I could insist they be done here, under my supervision in case of another... episode."

Vlad nodded eagerly, the matron one of the few people he was certain to be on his side. Not to mention very few were capable of arguing with her Dracula-level glares.

"Very well. Stay there for now."

Pain starting to climb again, Vlad flopped to the bed.

"Going nowhere."

He was used to learning to ignore pain, but Vlad was unable to help but count down to the end of the exam he had left, fairly sure one visitor in particular would come in soon after. Sure enough, it was only five minutes after quills down when he heard Harry's voice outside the door, demanding to know if Vlad was ok.

"Oh, go ahead before he get up."

Madam Pomfrey said with some exasperation, and Harry let himself into Vlad's hospital room a heartbeat later. He inexplicably felt better immediately, despite the pain not really abating as Harry closed the door, perched on the edge of his bed, ran fingers through Vlad's hair.

"Anybody else and I would assume it was to get out of tests, but with you I know it's for real."

"Pre-transformation-syndrome. Basically a taster of when I 'die' in a couple of days, but because my body isn't totally prepared for it, it hurts when my heart tries to stop and my brain still wants oxygen."

Harry sat with him, stroked Vlad's hair and face until the pain waned again. He wondered if Ingrid was done with whatever concoction she was coming up with.

"I take it pain potions won't work?"

"Nope. It would be like treating frostbite with one. Pointless."

"Harry" they jumped, but it was only Madam Pomfrey "you need to leave for your practical exam."

His mate sulked, but agreed and after leaning down to kiss Vlad's forehead, then his lips, Harry left regretfully to finish his OWLs.

"I'll leave you to rest, unless you need anything?"

"Calming draught? It might help me nap."

The small brown vial left him dopey, sinking into the bed with a yawn and blissful oblivion was his for a whole thirty minutes. His erratic metabolism burned through the potion too quickly. He could take more, but there was a chance his human side would overdose. Shifting on the bed, Vlad sat up, called an elf and requested juice and an incredibly rare steak, barely touched by heat. The near-raw meat soothed the angry vampire inside him, settled the gnawing ache in his gut.

For now.

Ingrid came back before Harry, holding a disgusting yellow mix in a bottle that she held out to him.

"Half today, other half in the morning. Ought to help ease your symptoms."

Vlad grimaced at the smell, and Ingrid merely looked away with a smirk when Vlad asked what was in it. Too desperate to turn it down when he was in pain, Vlad downed half the bottle in one long gulp. It sank to his stomach like ice, but within minutes his pain eased, tension lessened.

"That. Is. Disgusting. But... seems to be working. Thanks Ingrid."

"Even I think you've suffered enough. Now pass your exams. Then you just have to..."

She trailed off, frowning slightly. Vlad knew what she was thinking about.

"Become a member of the undead and murder the headmaster."

-YDHP-

Thank you for always being so patient with me!