Chapter 5

The full moon, in fact, passed with relative ease. Harry cut their chess game short and half an hour before the sun set, Draco traveled down to the basement. Dinner was slightly dulled without the presence of the blonde. And Harry's storytelling was slightly hushed as well. No one got a lot of sleep that night except for Niki. The joys of only being six.

When Harry got up the next morning he walked down to the basement with his old firebolt and looked for Draco in the vast woodland. He found the blonde sprawled out in a field, snoring softly. There were twigs in his hair and minor scratches down his arms, chest and legs.

And he was completely naked.

Harry softly touched down onto the grass and told himself that it was his job to evaluate the heath of his patient. Draco was fit but bony. His arms and legs were coiled with muscles and he had soft defined abs. Harry frowned. He could count Draco's ribs.

He maneuvered Draco and held him to his front and took off back towards the stairs. The blonde was practically unconscious. Harry left his broom by the door and carried Draco up to his rooms to clean him up.

…

When Draco woke up, he'd felt something he hadn't felt in a long, long time. He was warm and clean. His whole body was sore but, soft at the same time. He smelled soap and felt someone washing his chest. His back was cradled in warmth of a body and he could hear water splashing and feel the soapy water up to his torso. All these things should probably have scared him, but all he could smell was Harry.

He shifted and sighed, moving closer to the heat of Harry and fell back asleep to Harry washing his hair, with the overwhelming, odd feeling that for once in his life, he was safe.

When he woke up again, he sensed that the sun was at its highest. And that someone new was in the house. Draco was back in his bed, still naked, but he had a bandage around his arm and one around his ankle and he was clean.

Those things were barley acknowledged. The only thing he wanted, desperately at this moment was food.

He jumped down, his sore ankle already healing, and had a good mind to throw some clothes on. Rich smells floated upwards and he practically growled, racing down the stairs. He was hungry, dammit!

He skidded to a stop at the entrance to the kitchen, his mind finally catching up with his stomach, that there was someone new in the house. He bolted back around the frame but it was too late.

"Draco!" Hermione called. "You're awake! Come on out, you must be starving." He whined, smells of rare roast beef and seasonings assaulting his nose. He peeked out around the corner and saw Lexie beckoning him. The new person was, in fact, a flaming redheaded girl. Her back was to him, for she was helping Harry at the counter with lunch. Sensing no malevolent intensions, he quickly dismissed her.

He sat down in his seat, which was still unnamed, and took three roast sandwiches. Harry had turned around and said something to the effect of 'how are you feeling?' Draco didn't even look up. He hummed a little bit, finally having his food. Only after finishing his second did his acknowledge anyone else. He met Harry's eyes with a contented satisfied smile. Harry chuckled.

"I don't think he was that hungry do you?" the redhead to his right said with a small teasing smile. Draco got his first good look at her and something clicked in his mind. He tilted his head and studied her. She was a Weasley, an old friend of Harry's, younger and… her name was Jenny or Minnie or something. He couldn't quite remember. He bit his lip gently. If she was uncomfortable with his scrutiny she didn't say but, he could still smell it one her and he looked away, embarrassed.

Damian smiled at her. "Don't you worry Miss Ginny; he's just trying to remember you, that's all. He knows that only friends of Harry's are allowed her to he probably recognized you." Draco carefully ate his sandwich and tried to make himself invisible. He didn't mean to make her nervous!

"That's alright, Draco, its good you're trying to refresh your memory." She said his name oddly, like she wasn't used to saying it, which she probably wasn't.

"Draco" he looked up at Harry. "You need to be ready for when the Werewolf Pack and Vampire Clan get here. They'll be here in a few hours. In fact you all need to be ready. This is why I have Ginny here. She and Hermione are going to help me make the five of us look presentable.

Draco noticed that when he said her name his hand brushed her's. Curious little thoughts and emotions surfaced. And he got a little tenser, with the urge to protect what was his. Which was…Harry? It made no sense. Harry was in no danger. Was he? He bit his lip again and stared at his half-finished sandwich. He never recalled the two together. That could have changed but…

He sighed and smiled. Ginny Weasley was engaged to a bloke called Dean Thomas. Harry had said that a few weeks ago. So why did that fill Draco with an overwhelming sense of relief?

He was startled when Harry took his hand and led him out of the kitchen into the living room. "Ginny's going to cut your hair so you look a little more civil than feral" Draco gave him a look that said, "Why would I want that?"

Ginny circled his chair and he got the feeling of helplessness that the rabbits he used to hunt felt. Draco was distinctly uncomfortable with this woman he'd rarely known and hadn't seen in six years, wielding sharp scissors near it head. He sat stiffly, eyes darting around and froze when they landed on Harry and his reassuring smile. He bit his lip tighter with each shinp of the scissors and accidentally looked Harry in the eyes.

He hadn't looked anyone fully in the eyes since he got here, afraid of them. Harry though had made him feel safe. And even now, staring into those eyes, he was calmer, warmer, and safer. Harry held his gaze and inclined his head the slightest.

Draco blinked and was forced to turn his head to the side by the flaming scissor demon. Harry had acknowledged his as his equal. Maybe he'd done it subconsciously but… Harry's opinion of him meant so much already and to hold him in such high regard…

He vowed then and there with the last snip of scissors that he would heal. He was not going to let Harry down.

A few hours later had Draco, Damian and Lexie sitting on the couch with Niki in Draco's lap. Dobby and Kreacher hid in a corner in the kitchen. Harry was pacing a hole in the carpet as the sun sauntered vaguely downwards.

Draco felt it when the last rays of sunlight left. Damian stiffened beside him for he felt it too. Their eyes meet and Draco was startled to find that Damian did the same thing as Harry and inclined his head with a small smile. Draco smiled back as he returned it.

A vampire and a werewolf were equals, united against their own kind.

Dog suddenly leapt up in front of Lexie and snarled at the door. A heavy knocking sounded throughout the house.

Time was frozen as they counted Harry's footsteps to the door.

Hell had arrived.