Chapter 2
(Three days later)
Granger was driving him crazy; they agreed on nothing and to make it worse she started to have her friends in the living area all the fucking time. He, however, had put a stop to that she just didn't knew it yet. Last night when he had his private meeting with the med-witch he informed her how much stress having them in his shared living space was, how loud they were, and that it interrupted his rest. He claimed that he needed his living space to be filled with less people and informed her that he wasn't letting anyone from his house hang out there for just that reason, which was all true. So when he was pulling up his hood and heading back to his room at 1am in the morning, the med-witch told him she would take care of it first thing this morning.
Draco had left his door slightly open so he could hear it happen. All he could hear however was one very loud person laughing. He sighed as he took his morning potions. The med-witch had declared that Draco shouldn't be medicating himself, so all his potions now had child safely spells on them. This meant if he didn't take them in a small space of time he'd have to go to the hospital wing and get them. They also poured out how much he could have and then locked up the rest. Sighing, he thought 'I feel weak today.' Thankfully it was Saturday. Even after he took them he still felt weak all over as he got dressed for the day.
Once Draco was dressed, he headed for the door only to hear Potter's voice. "There is something very strange going on." His stupid friends all stared in on 'oh what is it Harry?' Or 'Is a Death Eater or the Dark Lord hiding here again Harry?' Draco rolled his eyes. These people need to get a life. Chasing shadows around at night was definitely getting OLD! What Draco heard next made his stomach turn. "Well first there was that strange person Hagrid had to sit with on the train. Hagrid won't talk about it at all. I've tried to get him to tell me anything, but he just keeps changing the subject on me."
Granger voice chimed in "Then there was that weird hooded figure in dark black robes I've seen walking around the passed three nights. I usually see it around the head area or in the hospital wing. Plus, last night McGonagall told me I wasn't allowed in either area from midnight to one. She just told me to get to bed before midnight or go to the library and wait until one in the morning." Draco touched his head slightly as he slipped down to the floor. 'Oh dear gods I'm the shadow they're chasing this time!'
"But why would the teacher try and hide a Death Eater or him?" Ginny asked, making a pretty good point. Draco hoped to gods they drop it after that because the last thing he needed was for Pot-head and his friends to know he was ill. He just wanted to live as normal a life as he could and now he had them up in his business trying to expose him. And if they somehow managed to expose him it would be all over school and then the wizarding world in days. That he, Draco Malfoy, had some unknown, unexplainable illness and you know damn well how they would explain it. 'The Dark Lord used Draco for some test to help him kill Harry Potter and it back fired!' or some other variation of that.
It was how they fucking explained everything, because EVERYTHING even his unexplainable illness was a plot to kill Potter. It was like 'Oh my gods a Death Eater took a crap! How can we turn that into a plot to kill Potter?' Draco had put up with Potter's overly annoying 'I am the greatest shit' for six years now. The kid was a pro at playing the hero when he did nothing at all really. Oh sure, he was there in the end to save the day again but the way he told it you'd think he did it ALL by himself. He hardly ever mentioned the fact the Weasleys, Granger and half the student body helped him figure out where he had to be and how to kill the enemy every year. The kid was no hero; he was just a front man for the real heroes.
Draco grumbled to himself about it some more before he heard a new voice enter the room. "What is going on in here?" It was Snape coming to be the bad guy as always. "Miss Granger, the Head's area is not your own personal hang out for your house. THAT place would be in the Gryffindor tower. Your friends should not be in here for ANY reason." Draco could feel it in his bones: Snape was now glaring at each student individually. "Take your things little Gryffindors and do not enter this area AGAIN or it will look bad for your Head Girl, who might even lose her Head Girl badge over it!" Good old Snape, playing the part of mean teacher for the Gryffindor house again and making it so Draco could finally have some rest.
Draco listened to the people leaving as he pulled himself off the floor and entered the living space he shared with Granger. Snape stood alone in the room smiling at his handy work. "I believe that will take care of the problem Mr. Malfoy," He said, turning to Draco as his face molded back into its normal hard self. "We're sorry it took so long, but we couldn't come to an agreement on how to handle it until I suggested this." Draco smirked, entering the room and looking around.
"Well it was a great idea; they all left and won't be back now that they think Granger could lose her title over it." Snape nodded his head as if saying 'that was the idea'. "It will be nice to finally have some peace and quiet in here; one of those kids laughs like a banshee." Draco took hold of the back of a chair. "Professor I should tell you I over heard those kids talking about trying to solve the mystery of the stranger in the black robes…In other words, me. I'm their next scam to have their photo in the paper."
"Thank you Mr. Malfoy. We are aware of it and we will take care of it one way or another. Your condition will not be their next meal ticket." Snape then made sure Draco was fine and left the room. Draco just hoped that Snape was right and his condition wouldn't put Potter in the papers AGAIN. He felt weak still so he slumped down into a chair for a breather. He was supposed to meet his 'friends' and Pansy to hang out on the front lawn, but his body was fighting him every step of the way.
Draco felt unsteadily as something he had been secretly hoping creeped into his mind. He hadn't voiced it to anyone, but he had hoped by coming back to school he would get better. So far there was no change, but he told himself it took him a few weeks to feel the illness fully so maybe, just maybe it would take a few for him to feel it getting better. It had been the one and only reason Draco had begged his mother so hard to let him come back to this hell-hole. He had hoped that by leaving his home, they would find out he was just allergic to something in his home. Or maybe even that on his last day of school last year, as a joke, someone put something in his drink.
The end all truth was he was desperate to get better. He hated what his life had become after school ended last year. He felt like he was 100 years old instead of 17 with all the crap he had to take to make it through a day. Even with all of it he still felt weak some days. It wasn't fair, this was supposed to be the best years of his life and he was just barely living them. He put his head in his hand, breathing out an awkward breath and feeling a need to cry. He was just about to when he heard the door opening. He did his best to turn his face and wipe any stray tears away. He didn't want anyone to see how upset he was.
"What are you still doing here?" Granger hissed as she entered the living room alone. She was still pissed that Snape had taken way her play place and now she wanted to take it out on someone. Him being the someone of course. "I mean shouldn't you be off making someone's life miserable… Will you leave already? I want to do my homework in peace!" Draco's voice came out a little unsteadily going up and down in pitch as he tried to clear his throat from built-up emotions.
"I HAVE just as muCH A right to be IN HERE AS You do" He kept his head down, still trying to get it under control as much as he could. Granger, of course, just stood there glaring daggers at him and waiting to pick a fight. Draco was worried that there might be some sign on his face he was about to cry before she showed up. He didn't really have the strength to fight with Granger, but he didn't have enough to get up and leave either. His body ached suddenly in such a manner he felt tears stinging his eyes again.
"MALFOY LEAVE!" She screamed at him, making his head thud. He tried to hold the flood gates back, but this time they won. The illness was too much for him today and Granger was making it worse. He wanted to scream back at her, but his voice was cracking and filling with the sound of someone crying. His face was red and wet from all the tears. He tried his best to hide it, but Granger must have noticed as he felt her hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?" she asked softly. Draco shook his head no as he now felt really embarrassed too.
They were in a very awkward place just then. He being embarrassed, crying and unable to leave. Her being the kind of person that no matter who is upset she had an over whelming need to comfort them. If Draco could have managed a whisper he would have told her to go away. Plus, now she would go run and tell her friends what a cry baby he was. He closed his eyes as tight as he could as he leaned into his lap and covered the back of his head with his hands. He felt Granger sit down on the arm of the chair to gently rub his back.
She wasn't talking or anything, she was just trying to sooth him. "Do you want me to get a teacher?" She asked softly as he sniffed a little. He managed to mumble a soft 'no' when he got control over his breathing. "I um… I know we're not friends or anything, but if you want to talk about it I'll listen and I give you my honorable word I won't tell anyone, especially my friends." Draco sat up to get a tissue to wipe his face off with. He knew Granger didn't really believe he would talk to her, but again Draco was pretty fucking desperate.
"If you're lying I can have you thrown out of school for this." He said in a much more normal voice as he shook a little. He knew right now she was thinking 'yeah right' but once he told her that would change.
"I understand and you have my word no one else will hear what you tell me." She said, stepping away from him to sit on the coffee table.
"I'm sick Granger." He said softly, looking up into her confused face. "I have some kind of illness, an unexplainable illness to be exact. No one has any idea what is wrong with me or any clue as to how I even got it…They can barely treat it because they don't know what it is. My whole life has become drinking potions for the symptoms and trying to live as normal a life as possible."
"What are the symptoms?" She asked, probably thinking she'd find the answer. Draco looked at her for a bit not sure if he should tell her. Yes, he had reached out to her in a moment of weakness, but even with the thought of being kicked out of school looming over her head she might still tell everyone.
"I get winded a lot. Sometimes just from walking from my bedroom to here is too much. I feel weak most the time, picking up anything heavier then 10 pounds is too much for me. Sometimes, like right now, I can't hold up my own weight. It's like someone is sucking the life energy right out of me. I could sleep a whole week straight and then only have enough energy to go to the bathroom before I went back to bed." He explained to her as best he could. Granger put her finger to her lip.
"Have they checked for the possibility of a vampire?" She asked, looking thoughtful as she said it.
"I've been check for that so many times I could be the poster boy." Draco said in a joking manner and Granger gave a little smile and laugh. That kind of made him feel a little better.
"When did you start to get this way?" She asked him in a way that sounded like she was a dear friend. Draco told her when and she nodded her head thoughtfully as she thought this over. "Have they checked for the possibility that you're under some kind of dark magic?" Draco had to think about that one.
"I think so… I don't really know everything I've been checked for. I just know I have been poked and prodded enough to last four life times." He said before he felt her take his hand and look it over.
"Well if I were you I'd find out just what they have been looking for and then expand from that…Cause there is this thing I read about," She put his hand down "It's against the law because it's dangerous…But there's a few things vampires, werewolves and really dark magic can do to a person before they are born to guarantee things for that child… There is also something they can do that would help someone not able to have kids, have them. All of which can really mess up the kid and none of which would show up until later in life… Not to scare you or anything, but it be worth looking into." She said a little uneasy, wondering if he would jump all over her for suggesting his family would do such a thing to him.
"What was this book?" Draco asked, believing he had nothing left to lose just by looking into it. Granger made him wait while she went in her room and got it. She came back with a book called 'Dark children' and handed it to him. Draco flipped through a few pages when something caught his eye. He opened the book fully to a page that held ALL his symptoms. Reading through it, he became very uneasy, but relaxed when he read some more. "For a second I thought I found it," He said as Granger sat next to him.
"Which one?" She asked. He showed her the page about Siveral, a dark ritual that a wizard and a vampire of the same sex could do to help the wizard have children. It said later in life the child would have all his current problems, plus a few more he THANKFULLY did not have. One of which would be the craving to drink blood. "Yeah that's a nasty one and really hard to take care of…The only thing that would help is if you could find the vampire that took part in it and drink his blood…But do you really think your family would do something that crazy?" She did of course, but he could tell she was trying to ease his worry.
"If my father was desperate enough he would have done this and then some."