Thank you to ALL who read and review.
Thank you to my BETA's: Merlin, GoldenSunnyGrl, Malombra.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. belong to JKR. I am not JKR. Therefore, Harry Potter and Co. are just here for me to play with. And I do so love to play…
Pairing: Harry/Draco so this is SLASH.
No MPREG in this story though it is IMPLIED that it happens in the future. If, by some odd reason, I change my mind, I do apologize now.
Also, Blaise Zabini is a girl in this story of mine. I know that in book 6, JKR finally reveals the gender of Blaise, but this was started before book 6 and anyways, I am not JKR so anything, ANYTHING, I write here is AU.
MY STORY IS AU.
ENJOY!
CHAPTER THREE
HISTORY OF VEELAS cont.
The Air Clan have pale blue eyes and they can turn into a bird like creature, with a hawk like nose, sharp teeth, wings, and talons, when they are angered or their mate is threatened. They like to wear clothes that are adorned with feathers and that are flowing and airy. They find their mate through the mate's smell. Their affiliation is normally neutral.
The Water Clan have pale green eyes and they can turn into an amphibious creature, with webbed feet and hands and gills, when they are angered or their mate is threatened. They like to wear clothes that are adorned with shells and are tight and formfitting. They find their mate through their mate's blood. Their affiliation is normally dark.
The Earth Clan have pale grey or brown eyes and they do not turn into any creature when they are angered or their mate is threatened, instead they have immense strength and can turn invisible if the situation calls for it. They wear whatever is the fashion of the time as they are also the most visible of the Veela Clans. They find their mate through spikes of need. Their affiliation is normally light.
Once a mate is recognized, by either smell, blood, or spike, these are moments of intense sexual or emotional feelings that strike at random, or when the Veela's side is searching for his mate. The mate is then given the chance to deny or accept the bond. Each Clan has a different form of acceptance; the Air Clan accepts by the sexual act, the Water Clan by an exchange of blood during the sexual act, and the Earth Clan accepts verbally and a with kiss. In only the Earth Clan is no sexual act required to bond. No Veela has ever survived a refusal.
Excerpt from: The Veela- Beauty or Beast.
By: Keneth lazaru'ian Kian
Information courtesy of The Hogwart's Library
anno domini merlin 1976.
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Draco had been released from the infirmary first thing on Sunday morning. He had quickly made his way back to the Pit in just enough time to catch his mother's firecall. He settled into the chair right in front of the fire, after having set distraction and privacy charms, and waited for her face to show in the flames. He was staring off into space and missed her first call of his name.
Narcissa Malfoy took this time to study her son and she immediately realized that his friend's report had been correct; he had been using a glamour on himself before he let himself be seen each morning and if he had eaten in the last few days, she would have been very surprised.
"Draco?" She called softly and watched as he slowly came out of his daze and returned her regard.
"Mum?" He asked before he shook his head and straightened in the chair.
"Oh, Draco, what have you been doing to yourself?"
"I'm okay, Mum. Really. Just…just tired is all." Draco tried to reassure her but he knew he fell short of his goal. He was tired. He was also hungry, needed a shower, oh, and the Madness wasn't a thing of the past anymore. He felt like falling to the floor and throwing a right spectacular tantrum for his mate, complete with kicking legs and flailing arms and fake tears, except he didn't think they would be fake. He would do that, if it would do any good, except he knew it wouldn't so he let the Madness simmer on the outskirts of his mind.
"You haven't found him yet?" His mother asked softly, understanding in her tone and her expression.
"No." It was a simple answer and was the only answer he had to offer her.
"And the Madness?"
Draco flinched; he had wanted to hold off on that part of the conversation for a few minutes at least. But he wouldn't lie to his parents about this, it was too dangerous to do as his very life depended on finding his mate. "Just on the surface."
Narcissa let the tears fall from her sad eyes as she took in her son attempting to deal with something she had no knowledge of. She was a Veela, yes, but she didn't have the dominant gene. 'Maybe he should be talking to his father', she thought, 'but after I have my time with him'.
"You have not felt him?"
"I have." Draco admitted softly, the hurt and longing in his voice so painful for a mother to hear, "but I just can't find him."
"I am sure you have done everything that you can think of to do." Narcissa reassured him. "We know he is at Hogwarts, it is just that you have had no contact with him yet."
Draco nodded in an attempt to placate his mother's fears. He didn't see how, but she was right. If he was around his mate when a spike hit then he would be able to find them, spikes were how they found their alona, if a spike wasn't happening a Veela had no way of knowing who his mate was. The only logical conclusion to his whole problem was he had yet to be near his mate when one hit. That was the only thing that made sense. His mate, even with the natural block he seemed to have on his mind, would still feel the emotional flare and if Draco was within seeing distance of his bedine when a spike hit…there was no way he wouldn't know him. What they couldn't understand is how he had seemingly missed his mate each time this occurred.
"What is that on your hand Draco?" His mother's sharp voice broke into his thoughts.
He absently looked down to his hand and saw where Madam Pomfrey had cleaned the cuts but had refused to heal them. "I had an…encounter that caused me to be in the infirmary yesterday, that's all Mum." Draco tried to make light of it but knew, by the glint in his mother's eye, that he had missed his goal again.
"Fighting! What have I told you about that Draco?" She snapped. Draco tuned out the lecture and just nodded every once in a while to show that he was listening. They had had numerous conversations where she lectured and he nodded and then he would ignore her and carry on with his little encounters with Weasley. He really disliked that red headed prat.
"I did not start it, Mum." He protested weakly. He had, at Vince's prodding, but he wasn't going to tell her that. "It was Weasley and you know how we rub each other."
Narcissa nodded. No matter how much she tried to get him to see reason, she knew her son would never like the youngest Weasley. They had never figured out why he had such hatred for the boy and Draco always refused to talk about it.
"Just be careful Draco. Your father is waiting to talk to you." She sighed as she made to pull away so that Lucius could take her place. "I love you, son. Ain e Shialla sini'n asa."
"Sini'n asa, Mum. Love you." Draco replied to the standard goodbye as he readied himself for his firecall with his father. He could handle his mother with a pout and a tired face but that would never work with his father.
"Draco?"
"Father."
"I see you have not been straight forward with us in your letters, son. Care to tell me why?" Lucius asked bluntly. He had listened to his wife and son's conversation and was not in the mood to pull any pleasantries. He wanted answers, now. He refused to lose his son without a fight.
"I did not want to worry you father." Draco said quietly.
"Worry me? I am not worried, Draco." Draco heaved a sigh of relief that was quickly stopped by his father's next words. "I am terrified! I do not want to lose you, son."
"I have no plans to go anywhere, trust me Dad."
"I trust you, Draco. It's these other idiots I have no faith in." It was one of Lucius Malfoy's regular sayings and Draco couldn't help but smile to hear it.
Lucius let his mask fall as his fear for his son settled heavy in his heart. "Draco, is there anything I can do?"
Draco shook his head, "no, Dad. Nothing I can do either. The spikes…they come at times when he is just not around. I don't know what to do."
"Are you sleeping behind the wards?"
"Yes, except for last night. I was in the infirmary." He held up a hand to stop the lecture before it started, "Mum already read me the Riot Act, but it was necessary to do it. People were beginning to talk."
Draco knew that Lucius would understand that he had to keep up the Malfoy and Slytherin tradition. He took his father's sharp nod as reluctant acceptance of the fight.
"And the Madness?" Lucius repeated his wife's earlier question. He knew he would get a more complete answer from Draco than Narcissa had.
"I-its right there Dad." Draco said softly. "I'm scared."
Lucius knew how much it had cost his son to admit that, and it also told him that the Madness had a firmer grip on him than they had first thought. He had been talking to Toshiri for the last few days but even he had come up with nothing that could help save Draco. Veela didn't survive either the Madness or the denial. It was a fact of life for them. Never, well not in a long while, had a Veela ever gone this long after their eighteenth birthday without finding their mate.
Veela were normally born around September, as the fertile period was the month of January. Draco was born in August because Narcissa had been in an accident that had sent her into premature labor. Lucius had almost lost both of them. He felt, and Toshiri agreed, that that was the reason why Draco was still able to function so well after this long. Not that this was well, it was just better than it could actually be. Normal Veela males went through this in September so they could only postulate that he could hold on until the end of that month, after that, they just didn't know. The only problem with that theory was- they had no proof to back it up. Draco was experiencing the Madness but not as strongly as it should have been this long after his eighteenth birthday.
"Symptoms?" He tried to keep his voice even and calm but he was sure Draco heard the waver in it.
Draco looked away. He didn't want to tell his parents how close he was to losing it. He was silent too long as Lucius said his name sharply and he reluctantly turned back to face his father. In a voice that was as emotionless as he had ever heard from Draco, Lucius listened in horror as he listed the classic symptoms of the last stages of the Madness.
"I stopped eating a few days ago, I don't know when, Pansy could tell you as she rags me enough about it. Sleeping went sometime before that. Chills and fever at the same time. Sweating, confusion, fear, all of that and more. Shaking, mostly at night. It's the screaming that I can't deal with. Day and night, always at the back of my mind. My Veela side keeps searching and when it slams up against my mate's wall, it starts screaming and my Human side can't cope. Thankfully, I usually pass out at night when it all gets to be too much. The wards are a big help but even still…"
Lucius was silent until something that Draco said registered in his shocked mind. "Your mate's wall? Draco, behind the ward, you shouldn't feel him!"
"I don't, Dad. But I was not behind a ward last night. I reached for him and…it was like hitting a wall. There were brief flashes of…" Draco sighed and wearily settled his head back against the chair, "there was darkness but not darkness. I felt safe and not. And there was something…a wrongness. And then nothing. It was as if a switch had been thrown and there was just nothing."
Draco smirked, "Weasley had to wake me up. Apparently he is a heavy sleeper and he was offended that my screaming woke him up."
Lucius eyed him as he snapped, "I am not interested in the sleeping habits of Weasley's young spawn."
"I know Dad, it was just funny. I found myself almost apologizing to him." Draco shuddered in disgust.
Lucius sneered but said nothing about that, instead he brought the conversation back to were it needed to be. "Do you think a stronger ward will help?"
"It might. I need some sleep Dad." Draco hated to admit it. As a Veela he couldn't take a dreamless sleep potion, they were not effective on his kind and frankly, he hated the taste of them.
"I will send one to Blaise." He knew that out of all of Draco's friends, Blaise was the one strongest in charms and Pansy had a mind that could soak up and remember anything it read. He did feel sorry for Greg and Vince as they had to play the dumb goons to keep themselves safe. He knew that they were both extremely intelligent and that one day, Vince would make an excellent Potions Master and Greg a fine politician. Draco was a fine Quidditch player and would go far in that sport even without winning against that blasted Potter boy. "Go and try to get some sleep. Rest today, son."
"I'll try, Dad."
"I love you, Draco. Ain e Shialla sini'n asa."
"Love you too. Dad. Sini'n asa."
Draco watched as his father's head disappeared from the fire and he slumped back in his chair. He had known that one look at him and his mother would know he had been lying. He was glad that she feared for him about this Veela thing or he would have been actually punished for fighting with Weasley, instead of just getting the familiar lecture and glare. He cancelled the charms around him and slowly made his way to his room. He felt the ward that Blaise had put up as he walked in and he sighed in relief as some of the pressure was taken off his stressed mind. Maybe by tonight, he thought as he settled onto his bed, he would be behind a ward strong enough to help him, he did not want a repeat of Saturday night, he wasn't sure he would survive.
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True to his word, Draco's father sent Blaise a stronger ward. The first time she cast it Draco sighed in joy.
"You'll sleep tonight, 'Ko?" Blaise asked with a knowing raise of her eyebrow.
Draco felt his face flush as he nodded. His friends had known that he had been glamouring himself before leaving his room each morning but it was his mother's howler last night that really pushed that fact home for the five friends. He flinched as he thought about what she had said.
'DRACO MALFOY IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GLAMOURING YOURSELF AGAIN YOU WILL HAVE NEED OF THAT SKILL ONCE I GET THROUGH WITH YOU. AND STOP FIGHTING!'
The message had been short, sweet, and loud. It had also caused his friends to glare angrily at him and give him the silent treatment until he had apologized, profusely. Blaise had glared at him the longest before looking to the short note from Lucius that had come with the howler.
"You can only use this for two days before we have to go back to using the weaker one for a day." Was all that she said before casting the ward.
That had been two days ago and he was about to spend his first night under the weaker ward. Under the stronger one he had been able to eat a little before falling into a deep sleep. He did look better and he only had to use a small glamour to cover his weight loss and dark circles under his eyes which he still had, though he was now able to sleep easier.
He didn't look forward to this night. He knew that the weaker ward would not totally contain his Veela side from searching for his mate. He had taken every opportunity, even skipping meals, to get as much sleep behind the stronger ward before tonight.
As the night wore on and he started to shake, Draco knew that no matter how much he had rejected the idea of a mate before, it was a better option that laying on the floor of his room screaming his lungs raw.
It took more than a simple glamour, come Wednesday morning, to cover the ravages of the Madness . Draco was getting weaker and he knew it. And was well aware that his friends knew it too. He could see the concern in their eyes but he refused to let them talk to him. Right now, he had to concentrate on finding is alona. Even if it killed him.
Friday night came and he was too tired to go to his first nightly Astronomy Class so he begged Professor Snape for an excuse, and it was only with a threatened firecall to his father that he got one. He sent the note to Professor Sinistra and hid behind his weak ward. He hated missing the first night Astronomy Class but he was so tired that he was willing to take a detention if Professor Sinistra decided to give him one. It wasn't one of his favorite classes but he did enjoy it better than some. He finally got to sleep about the time the class would have been over.
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As soon as they were alone, Harry pulled her into a hug while whispering, "Sin, I missed you so," before leaning down to give her a kiss on the tip of her nose.
She smiled and swatted at the back of his head, "stop being funny HJ, you're not good at it. Come, sit, and tell me of your summer since we didn't get to talk after Tuesday's class."
Harry sent her a sheepish smile rubbing the back of his head as he took off his school cloak and draped it over the back of a chair. He sat down in his chair by the fire, before speaking in a soft tone, very different from the polite one he had been using with anyone else. "Sorry about that Sin; Twink had me in extra training all this week to see what I had remembered from last year. I swear I think he is trying to kill me."
Sinistra handed Harry a steaming cup of black coffee as he didn't drink tea, and just raised an eyebrow at that comment. She settled in her own chair before the fire and said with a grin towards her young friend, "I don't think his goal is to kill you, Harry, but make you so tired you can't get into any mischief."
Harry scowled at her, "funny!"
She hummed at him as she sipped her tea but didn't answer him in any other way. She took the time to observe him: his summer must have treated him well if the soft golden tan and the well defined muscles she could see were a clue. He must have played again this summer. That was good, she thought; give him something to keep his mind off of this Dark Lord business. But there was in him a new look she didn't like. He had retreated again. Oh, he was still the same Harry, but there was a reserve about him now that wasn't there at the end of last year.
"Did you play?" She asked as she sipped her tea. She couldn't put her finger on what it was about him that was telling her that something was wrong but she always went with her gut feelings when it came to Harry, and she was seldom wrong.
Harry nodded but didn't answer as his gaze seemed to be caught in the fire.
"And?" Harry sent her a look of apology at her sharper tone before he answered.
"First."
"Congratulations are in order then." Sinistra raised her cup to him in acknowledgement and he grinned at her.
"Will you be going?" She watched as his grin quickly faded.
"Ah, no, it was time to come here…so…" Harry shrugged as he blew off the fact that his team would be going to the Nationals without him. He had helped them get that far and they had not been happy when he had told them that he couldn't go with them. This was just another thing that would pull Harry from the Wizard World. She just wished that there was something that she could do for the growing discontent she knew he was experiencing. She had tried, countless times, to get him to talk to her about it but he would just shrug and go silent on her.
"When is it?"
"In two weeks, on Saturday. London." Harry's tone was now short and she could tell it was affecting him even though he was trying hard not to show it.
"Perhaps I can get you there if-" Was all that she managed to get out before he had launched himself at her. She couldn't breath he was holding her so tight. "Hey, what's wrong?"
He shook his head and didn't answer. He couldn't answer. She was offering him something that Dumbledore had denied him and even if she couldn't get it approved the fact that she offered in the first place meant more to him than anything else had lately.
Harry held her tight for a few more minutes before returning to his own chair with a small smile. He was not sure she could convince Dumbledore to let him go, but the fact that she was going to try was enough for him. He made a mental note to go to the infirmary and send off an owl to Dude when he left here to let him know he might get to go. He sighed as he stared into the fire, unaware of the pensive look on his face.
"How's Da-" She started to ask when Harry's tense voice interrupted her.
"Don't."
Now she was confused, her last letter from him had had glowing reports and now, this coldness. "What happened?"
"Nothing."
"And I take it that that was the problem, eh?" Sinistra asked shrewdly.
Harry tried to stop flinch but he was unsuccessful. "Not for me."
"I see."
Harry could feel her staring at him, willing him to answer this question. How could he say that it just didn't feel right? That no matter what had happened, and nothing had happened, the feelings that he had wanted to have, were not there. He looked for them, searched frantically for them, but they were still absent. And could not be forced, he had tried, tried and hurt someone who hadn't deserved to be hurt. When he spoke his voice was bitter and thoughtful at the same time.
"It wasn't there, Sin. No matter how hard I tried, it just wasn't there."
"What wasn't, Harry?" Harry could hear the worry in her tone but there was nothing he could do about it.
"Feelings, Sin, there were none." A frown crossed his face and he added as if in an afterthought, "no matter how much I tried to force it."
"You can't force love Harry. It either is or it isn't there."
"I know." Harry whispered as he took a sip of his still hot coffee. "But that doesn't mean I didn't want it to be there, Sin."
"I am sure you did, Harry." Sinistra kept her voice light and warm so that she didn't push him back into silence. She let the silence linger for a few minutes before she deemed it safe to speak again.
"Something else is wrong." It wasn't a question; Sinistra knew that there was something he wasn't telling her.
"It's nothing." Harry tried to brush it off.
"It is, I know you Harry, something is bothering you."
"Besides the whole Voldemort thing or the 'I want to have feelings for you but they just aren't there' thing, you mean?" Harry sneered.
"Don't sass me HJ." Sinistra snapped as she levelled a pointed look at him.
"Sorry." He mumbled. He did not want to talk about what was happening to him. These spikes, that's what he had started calling them as he knew no other word that would describe them better, were not dangerous he didn't think.
"Harry," Sinistra's voice was gentle but firm, "talk to me."
Harry sighed and looked away. He let his gaze settle on the crackling fire and he slumped in his chair even more than normal. His earlier resolve to tell nothing to anyone dwindling in the face of Sinistra's own resolve to find out what was wrong with him. Harry didn't want to tell her anything but she was better than Dumbledore any day of the week. Harry was keeping him for a last resort. It was minutes before he spoke and his voice was tired and seemed to shake every few words. Sinistra listened in shock.
"Last year, something started happening to me. I call them spikes; they are some kind of need... At first, they were small and easily ignored. Over the summer they grew in intensity until the last few were so overwhelming that…" Harry stopped there and was quiet for a few minutes before his face paled and he spoke again in a softer tone, "I find myself looking forward to the next one." Now, Harry's face flushed pink, "there are many different kins of need. They range from fear, longing, desire, and love or to a mixture of them all."
"Have you gone to the Headmaster about them?" Sinistra couldn't keep the worry from her tone. He had described something she had never heard of and things didn't just happen to Harry for any reason.
"No." Harry's tone was flat and brooked no argument.
"And why not?"
"I don't trust him." Harry's voice was hard and his expression set.
"I know, but, he may be able to help you find out what is happening." Sinistra tried to sooth away the anger she could feel rising in him. She knew that he didn't trust the Headmaster anymore and she also knew that he had every reason not to. But, he was the Headmaster and he was considered very intelligent.
"He may, but until I am unable to handle it by myself, I am not going to him; besides, I don't think they are a bad thing." Harry felt his face flush as he remembered the spike that had hit last Friday night, it had left him crying, but with an unfulfilled need that he really, really didn't want to even think about right now.
"You don't? Why?" Sinistra narrowed her gaze at him as she took in his suddenly flushed face.
"I just don't Sin, I can't explain it so could we just drop it for right now?" He pleaded with her and she decided to let the matter drop as it was apparent that it was upsetting him.
"Okay. I have something for you." Sinistra said instead as she handed him a folder that had been sitting on the table beside her.
Harry took the folder and stared at it curiously, before opening it and beginning to read. When he was finished he looked up at her in astonishment and undisguised hope, "what…," he licked his suddenly dry lips and tried again, "what is this?"
"That," she said, with a smug tone and a huge grin that lit her normally severe face into one of almost beauty, "my dear Harry, is a scholarship that is only waiting for your signature of acceptance."
"Where?"
"Oxford."
Harry put the papers slowly back into the folder and then hugged it to his chest for a few moments. "How?" He asked weakly.
"Pulled a few strings." Sinistra shrugged it off. She had been happy to do this for him and she was not going to let him turn down this once in a lifetime chance. "All you have to do is sign and it will all be finalized."
For the second time that night she found herself with an armful of her young charge. He had never before been this affectionate and she wanted to make this moment last for as long as she could.
"Thank you." Harry mumbled into her shoulder as they held each other. Sinistra felt her heart reach out to him as always. She knew that for him to say that, to anyone, meant that he knew she cared. Harry didn't say 'thank you' very often, it was always 'thanks', never the full meaning of the word. She smiled down at him gently and pulled him even closer, though she knew she would be sore in the morning, "you are very welcome."
Once he had calmed down they talked for a few more minutes and then he left to go back to his own room. She smiled to herself and vowed that she would get him to that game, no matter how much she had to argue with Albus about it.
'That boy needs something to hold him here', she thought wistfully, 'and I am not enough to do it.'
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He made his way to the owlery when he left the astronomy Tower to get that owl off to Dude. He couldn't wait to play again! He could already feel the itch and he knew he was going to miss it when the season was over. They were good, all of them on the team were, or they wouldn't have made it as far as they had.
After sending his message he decided he was tired but not sleepy so he made his way to the pitch. He walked up to the stands and sat at the top of the Gryffindor side. He sighed as his mind raced from one thought to another. He needed to clear it and he knew just the way to do it. He took out the bag he always carried with him, pulled out his shrunken spare broom, and expanded it. He had gotten the broom, along with another wand - that no one but Ollivander and he knew about - at the beginning of the summer when he had gotten his new glasses. In the bag, that was shrunk down and carried in his back pocket at all times, he kept a broom, his CD player, another set of glasses, his second wand and medical supplies.
He jumped from the stands and soared into the air. As he flew he turned to the loudest song on his CD, and lost himself in the sensations of flying. He dipped and turned, dropped and rolled, for over an hour before he slowed and just flew around the pitch. He let his mind fall to the conversation with Sin. He had learned the hard way not to trust anyone. And the one person he should trust the most, Dumbledore, he didn't. Oh, he knew that the Headmaster would not let anything happen to him, after all, if he was gone Voldemort would have free reign, but Harry just didn't trust him. The person he trusted the most was Sin and he only got to see her when he was at Hogwarts.
He didn't trust anyone, not even Ron and Hermione, not completely. He knew he should. But he had been hurt and deceived so many times by people that he just didn't care anymore. He would do what he had to do here and then he was gone. 'Be damned to the Wizard World', he thought viciously, 'they haven't done anything for me'! He was far safer at the Dursley's than here, even with the way they had used to treat him.
He flew for another fifteen minutes before flying back to his bag and re-shrinking his broom. He made sure to put everything back in the bag in the best order to keep it as flat as possible before he put the protection charm back on, so as not to break anything in it, and shrank it again and slipped it into his back pocket. He took his invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map out of the other pocket, resized them, and made his way to his room for a hot shower and bed.
Harry didn't get much sleep on Friday night, nightmares of blackness and coldness and a huge gaping hole of loneliness, had kept him awake. Thankfully the spike that hit him at about 3 o'clock in the morning had been a faint one.
As he got up to go to training, he was once again reminded of what Sin had done for him, and he couldn't stop his grin. He was going to Oxford! He would leave the Wizard world behind without a backward glance and sod them all! He did a little happy mind dance. He wanted to spend some time with Hermione and Ron so he had gotten up early enough to have breakfast with them before training started for the day. Not that he ate breakfast; he really hated any kind of breakfast food that wasn't coffee.
He made his way down the crowded corridor, following the flow of traffic to the Great Hall. He had his head down so he missed the crowd of Slytherins, in front of him, that abruptly stopped for some odd reason. He glanced up just in time to avoid running into Goyle and made to go around them. He sighed as they started in on him; he hadn't really missed this.
"Where have you been hiding, Potter?" Crabbe sneered as all Malfoy did was stand there.
Harry noticed that the blonde Slytherin Prince, in the center of the group, looked very sick but he just didn't care to bring it up. "None of your business, Crabbe." Harry's tone was void of emotion and his body language clearly indicated he was bored.
"Must be hiding." Goyle said to the others and they all laughed meanly.
"Poor Little Gryffindor has to hide, he's so scared." Pansy mocked.
Harry stood there, face expressionless and raised an eyebrow at them all, "do you not have anything better to do? You might want to take a look at your friend there as he is looking a bit sick." He motioned to Malfoy, who did look a bit green around his mouth, as he turned to walk away.
As he did, he could have sworn he heard a whimper come from the unusually silent Slytherin. For a split second he fought the urge to turn back around and was relieved when he conquered it. The control he had over his Occlumency seemed harder to maintain at this moment than since the day he had learned it. 'Maybe I need to strengthen it again', he thought as he struggled to walk away. As he turned the corner to head to the Great Hall for dinner he felt a spike of wrongness hit him with such force he fell against the wall. He could hear the others talking, shrill voices that sounded concerned, but was unable to make out what they were saying for the ringing in his ears. This was new. He had never felt a spike like this. There had been a sense of wrongness for a while now but never in a spike. Maybe going to Dumbledore wouldn't be such a bad idea.
He struggled to breathe through it, but when it became apparent he was not going to be able to. He moved out of sight and slid down the wall behind a clanking man of armour. His vision started to fade in and out and the ringing in his ears got louder. He could not stop his moan of pain and then all of a sudden there was an intense spike of sexual need that brought a different moan from him. He had to get out of there! He knew there was a side passage further down the hall that would take him back to the Entrance Hall, so that he could go back to his room which was right next to the Tower.
Harry forced himself to stand and make his way, slowly, back to his room. So much for spending breakfast with his friends; he had a…problem he had to deal with first. He would just have to tell them at dinner.
If the Slytherins had not been so engrossed with Draco they might have seen what they were looking for. A boy with glassy eyes, flushed face, and unsteady walk. But they didn't see it in time to end the suffering of their friend.
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They had to practically carry Draco back to his room. By his moans he wasn't in any pain anyways. They laid him out on his bed and watched, all frantically worried, as he came out of the spike.
It took him a moment to get his bearings and his eyes flashed in anger, "why did you bring me here? He was there! I felt him!"
"There were too many people around, 'Ko." Greg said quietly as he tried to calm the enraged Veela down. "We didn't see anyone acting strange."
Draco groaned and slumped back onto the bed, "no one?" He asked plaintively.
Pansy sat beside him on the bed and ran a comforting hand up and down his arm, "no, love, we saw no one."
"If it hadn't been for Potter we might have seen who it was." Vince snapped.
Draco scowled in confusion, "Potter?" He didn't remember seeing Potter. He didn't remember getting up this morning let alone walking to the Great Hall for breakfast, all he remembered was a sea of blackness and a sense of wrongness that was frightening in its strength. The Madness was closing in on him, fast.
"Yeah we ran into him, had some fun." Vince said with a shrug.
"Actually he is the one that pointed out you looked sick, Draco." Blaise said in a soft voice. She was quite concerned for her oldest friend. She couldn't help him, none of them could; all they could do was be there for him. His mate was the only one who could help but they didn't know who that was.
"He saw past my glamour!" Draco's face echoed his shocked tone.
"Well, we all know he's powerful, Draco. It's no big deal. We'll get him next time." For a man who was normally calm and collected, Greg could be vindictive when he wanted to be.
Draco sighed and just nodded.
"So," Blaise said with a grin, "that was some spike, eh?"
They all laughed at the Veela's blush and he ushered them out the door and to the Great Hall for breakfast. It had been a doosie of a spike, he must agree, but that didn't mean they needed to bloody talk about it
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See…ya'll should have known I was going to do them right. I, personally, don't see Harry with anyone other than Draco. ANYONE who has read my stories should know that.
Can anyone guess to which Clan the Malfoys belong?
This also should have explained the many questions you had as to why Draco can't tell that Harry is his mate. Harry has not been around Draco during the spikes; therefore, Draco can't tell that Harry is his mate. Only during a spike will he be able to sense him enough to find out who he is, and since Harry does not have regular classes and eats alone most of the time…hardly any interaction between them has occurred. The times they have met, no spikes.
I must apologize for the lateness of this chapter.
Honestly, people, we writers here are all writing out of character. Yes, Harry did seem obsessed with Malfoy but he is with Ginny too until the very end when he told he couldn't see her anymore.
But everything that we write is AU. EVERYTHING. The only one who can write canon is JKR herself and the last time I checked I wasn't her.
So, my theory is this: this story is for me to write and for you to read. That's it. End of story. No big deal.
I DO want everyone to read my story and I DO want everyone to like it. Just like JKR does. Though I didn't make 36 million dollars in less than 24 hours, I do love to write.
MY STORY IS AU. KAPEESH!
Please, just ENJOY.
LMG
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SPOILERS
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SPOILERS
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I just finished Book 6 and I am sitting here in complete shock. I want to say that I believe that Dumbledore will come back but I do think he is truly dead. I felt pity for Draco and my anger at Snape is boundless.
I think Dumbledore was showing Harry all those things so that Harry would know what was needed. I also think that Dumbledore knew he was going to die. He knew and he wanted to give Harry as much information as was possible.
Harry not returning to Hogwarts and going to Godric's Hollow was a surprise. I have no thoughts about who R.A.B. is and can only think that it is an ally that Harry needs to find. After all, the note did say that he knew Voldemort's secret.
I sit here in shock and wonder what the hell am I doing? I am not sure if I am going to be writing anymore after this. I just seems...GOD! wrong somehow. I plan to spend the next few days reading my stories in the hopes that it will give me the incentive I need to continue. I love writing. I don't want to give up what I have started and I am sure many other authors are feeling the same way.
The one saving grace for me about all of this is Draco's obvious reluctance to kill Dumbledore. He was being forced to so that he could save his own life and that of his mother's. It is possible that he can be redeemed and there was something fishy about when Harry confronted Snape at the gates. He didn't WANT to curse Harry. In fact, he kept Harry from cursing him.
Dumbledore may well have been wrong about Snape, but then again maybe this was all part of the plan.
ARG! My head hurts just thinking about it so I am just going to stop. Please, take my ramblings as nothing and just remember, Harry has knowledge that Voldemort doesn't know that he has. We saw a glimpse into what made Voldemort like he is, and therein lies his defeat.
ENJOY!
LMG