A Place To Call Home.
Drawing Blood
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, thank god; I wouldn't want to be responsible for it.
A/N: I guess first of all, I owe everyone an apology for taking so long. I haven't updated anything in weeks. I feel so horrible. I think it was part laziness and part tiredness. I've been dead on my feet for the last couple of weeks and spring break wasn't the best way to jump-start my creative juices either. Hopefully I'll have updated Striking Back by the middle of the week and DTA should be up by the end of next week…maybe. That's my tentative schedule for the next couple of days. It might change, but then again, I have been busy. Again, my apologies. Finally, enjoy the latest installment of APTCH and if there are any questions or comments, REVIEW!
Draco let go of Harry and staggered backward as if struck a physical blow. He turned and stared first at Dumbledore and then back at Harry. Finally he recovered himself and stalked forward. Ignoring the flinch from Harry, Draco grabbed Harry's chin and pushed his head up. Then he brushed the offending messy hair away from Harry's brow. There, sitting innocently on his forehead was the mark of his master's rival. He had a lightening bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.
He had just tried to complete a Blood Donor Ritual with a boy that Voldemort wanted dead.
He, Draco bloody Malfoy, Voldemort's right hand man, was partway bonded with Harry Potter. It had to be a joke, the gods obviously thought to funny to mess with him today of all days. Or maybe it was retribution for all the less than wonderful things he'd done through his life. Wonderful, he thought sarcastically, if I mark him then I die by Voldemort's hand, and if I don't then the bloody restrictions on the Ritual will kill me by midnight. Draco looked at the sky. He didn't have much time.
If Draco were a better man, or as it was, a better vampire, he would have left Harry with Dumbledore and died honorably alone in the woods. He would let the boy die in the hands of some fanatic vampire, desperate to carry out Voldemort's wishes. At least he now knew why so many vampires came to this village. One question answered. Voldemort sent at least two vampires every half a year to try and kill the boy-who-wouldn't-die. One of them would exceed sooner or later.
Too bad Draco wasn't an honorable person.
If Draco were, he wouldn't have survived so long as a vampire, and more over, he wouldn't be one of Voldemort's vampires. Draco walked forward and grabbed Harry by the cuff of his shirt, pulling him close in one decisive motion. He ignored Dumbledore's warning sparks. There wasn't much either of them could do without Harry as the bargaining chip. If Dumbledore tried to shoot anything at him, he might very well bring the cave down upon them, and if Draco tried anything Harry could get caught in the crossfire, effectively ruining Draco's chances of living through out the entire night.
Draco evaded a kick Harry sent at his knees and hugged him tightly, facing Dumbledore.
"It seems we have a bit of a problem…"
Harry looked back and forth between the two men in the cave with him. He could sense a power play. On one hand, he had never been more relieved then when Dumbledore had stepped into the cave, wand pointed at the vampire, but one could tell that it was Draco who was in control of the situation.
Draco was the one who had attacked the Weasley's at the clearing. Draco was the one who had kidnapped Ron. Draco was the one whose arm was so painfully digging into Harry's neck.
Honestly, Harry didn't think he had ever hated a vampire more.
Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling mercilessly, "You're quite right, young vampire. I need you to let go of Harry…now." His eyes hardened, and the last word was spoken with a menace, usually unheard of from the aging wizard.
Draco snorted, seemingly unafraid of the wizard's underlying threat, "Yes, and I suppose I'll just go off to die."
Harry couldn't help thinking that this plan of action would be very agreeable to all the parties involved, but he thought that Draco disagreed from the way he was tightening his hold on Harry's collar. Harry sighed under his breath and shifted his weight from one foot to another, trying to irritate the vampire, but instead got a cuff from Draco and a rather quelling look from Dumbledore who seemed to be trying to tell him to 'lay low'. Disgruntled, Harry stopped trying to wiggle about and instead stood quite still.
"Of course not son…"-Draco raised an eyebrow and Harry wondered irregularly if it was a good idea to patronize a vampire whose hands were so close to someone's jugular-"I need Harry to come back to the village with me, but"-I knew there'd be a but, thought Harry, there's always a but with him-"you will also get a chance to fulfill your Ritual with him. No one wants you to die."
Draco raised an incredulous eyebrow, but before he could say anything, Harry yelped, "NO WAY!"
Harry twisted and turned, trying unsuccessfully to smack Draco away or at least to get him to loosen his grip.
"Little brat…" Draco grunted with the effort of trying to subdue Harry without actually hurting him, "You're really not worth it, you know."
"Headmaster Dumbledore, you can't really expect-"
"Quiet Harry, the adults are talking."
Harry shut his mouth with an audible click. He stood still in shock for a moment, before opening his mouth again, intending to scream or shout or maybe even cry…he wasn't sure which anymore. But then before he could, Draco, who had passed up the chance to make any disparaging marks, suddenly gripped Harry's shoulders tightly and fairly tossed him towards the end of the cave. Now Draco was between Dumbledore and him.
Draco himself was standing; lips pressed together, hair on his nape practically raised. It seems as if the full impact of the situation has finally hit him, Harry thought ironically. Two spots of color appeared high on his cheekbones and for the first time Harry realized that he wasn't having a sudden outburst of comprehension …he was angry.
"I refuse to share my donor."
"Well I refuse to be your donor, how's that?" Harry muttered rudely.
"Ah, well we must all make sacrifices now and then." Dumbledore said, ignoring Harry completely now.
"I DO NOT share MY donors."
"Well that will change; or you will die before the night is out." Dumbledore's voice carried an unmistakable note of steel.
Harry backed away from them both. They were both equally loony. Well, Harry supposed that the vampire couldn't help it, but Dumbledore was doing nothing short of throwing him to the wolves. He wondered if he could try escaping into the forest; there wasn't much time left until midnight. All Harry needed to do was elude the vampire's grasp for a little while and then he would be free of this curse. Harry inched towards the exit, but stopped when he saw the look on Draco's face. It was almost as if he had known what Harry was going to do before he had even tried it.
Draco pushed Harry back with a careless kick of his foot, "What do you expect from me, to keep him with me during the night and return him to you at daybreak?"
"Well that wasn't my plan exactly, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. You don't have much time, do you?" Dumbledore's voice sounded slightly worried and Harry cast a glance at the emerged moon. It was the only accurate way to tell time way out here and Dumbledore was right, Draco didn't have much time.
Draco hissed under his breath, obviously trying to get his emotions under control and then turned and stalked towards Harry who tried to move backwards as fast as he could. Draco stared at Harry with his silver eyes for several minutes, then finally he spoke in a strangled voice, "If I agree, then you have to leave."
"My dear boy…"
"Leave," Draco half-shouted, "I'll give him back to you when the bloody thing's done."
Silently, and with one sad backward glance directed at Harry, Dumbledore exited the cave, while Harry watched terrified. Draco sighed and helped Harry stand upright.
"Don't worry okay, it's not bad, being a donor. There are a lot of worse things that could happen to"-Draco smirked ironically-"Harry Potter."
Harry paid to attention to Draco. He was frantic with confusion and fear. He didn't want to become a blood donor. Blood donors helped vampires and he didn't want to help vampires. Not after so many of them had tried to kill him and his friends.
"Relax."
Harry glared and tensed in retaliation. Dumbledore might have left him, but there was no way that he would make this easy or fun for the vampire. He'd go kicking and screaming all the way if he needed to.
Harry closed his eyes and whimpered as he felt a warm puff of air circle his neck. They fluttered open again as Draco withdrew. Both boys stared at each other, faces only inches apart. Then Draco put his hands over Harry's eyes covering them and Harry's breath quickened slightly. He took in quick gasps of air and stopped breathing altogether when he felt teeth on the side of his neck.
Harry wasn't sure long he had been holding his breath; in fact he wasn't even sure if he was awake anymore. For all he knew, this could be a dream. Of course he quickly changed his opinion when he sensed the initial scraping of Draco's teeth against his skin. Harry shuddered and tried to twist away, but then Draco bit down, drawing Harry's blood.
Harry yelped; the sound muffled by Draco hair, which had fallen into his face and then slumped down against the cave wall. In contrast, his fingers gripped Draco forearms with surprising intensity. He gasped again as an odd sensation filled his body. It wasn't unpleasant, uncomfortable maybe, but not horrifyingly so. It felt as if Draco were empting him and Harry wiggled in protest.
Draco made a small soothing sound in return but Harry squirmed even more as Draco sucked more and more blood out of him, making him first, dizzy and then sick. He lurched away and Draco let go of his neck before he could cause any serious damage.
Harry staggered to the side; neck freely bleeding and kneeling down, he threw up.
Well this certainty wasn't supposed to happen, thought Draco dismayed.
He was currently watching his new donor throw up every thing he had to eat for the day and what seemed like the rest of the week. Yuck…how much could one kid eat? Judging by the contents on the cave floor, quite a lot.
Finally, Harry stopped gagging and keeled over. Draco swooped over and caught him before he could land in his own half digested lunch. He must be exhausted, thought Draco with a half fond; half exasperated smile on his face. His neck was still bleeding and Draco could smell his special scent. It made him hungry, but he pushed the thought out of his head and delicately licked the wound closed.
When the bleeding stopped, Draco got a closer look at he boy he had just claimed. He looked pale, but that was normal considering what had just happened. What was not normal was when Harry had thrown up. He had only had one other blood donor, but he had been told that the experience was not at all disagreeable. Harry never should have gotten sick like that…unless…yes, there is was, the reason Harry had reacted so violently. When Draco brushed away the hair that covered Harry's temple he had seen Harry's lightening bolt mark. The scar wasn't scabbed over and old looking as it should, but instead was a vivid red and looked as if it had only just been cut open.
It seemed like Harry's body had rejected Draco, a Deatheater, drinking its blood. Maybe it had to do with the dark mark that Draco had on his forearm. Or perhaps, Harry had already been marked. No one knew what had happened that day, when Harry got his scar. Harry himself was a baby and Voldemort certainly wasn't telling anyone. There was a chance that Voldemort had marked Harry and that was why he had reacted badly to the ritual.
Full of unanswered questions, Draco adjusted Harry so he wouldn't fall over and walked out of the cave. He felt alive and well. It was the best he'd felt since his last donor was killed and he planned to enjoy every second of it…that is until he saw the figure standing near the cave entrance.
"Dumbledore." Draco said in curt greeting.
Dumbledore inclined his head. Draco stared at him for a moment before motioning to Harry in his arms and saying quietly, "He's asleep."
When Dumbledore said nothing, Draco continued, "He had a bad effect to the Ritual. He started vomiting and his scar turned all red. Did…Voldemort do something to him that night, other than killing his parents and giving him this blemish, which so proudly marks him?"
"Actually the reason he reacted so badly is probably because of the protection that he got from his mother that resides in his veins. That pureness couldn't cope with your…evilness."
Draco blinked and said snarling, "And how do you suppose we get rid of that problem?"
"Oh I'm sure Harry or you will think of something. You are both very smart boys." Then Dumbledore raised his arms and took Harry from Draco before he could protest.
"Now, now." Dumbledore said chuckling at Draco's growl, "I made a promise. I don't want you snatching him off the grounds so we'll have to…share."
Draco gritted his teeth, "And how do you propose we do that?"
Dumbledore smiled and said, "I was thinking that you should take up residence somewhere near the Weasley's. Then Harry could spend the nights with you and the days with his family."
Draco jerked his thumb at the bundle sleeping in Dumbledore's lap, the fool had somehow wrapped a blanket around him, "He'll never agree to it. He hates me. It'll be easier if I take him now, it'll cut down on the resistance…and what will happen when he goes to Hogwarts, hmm. I refuse to follow him there."
"Give him a day with me and he'll be completely educated about Vampires and some of their special traits. This is the only way you'll even see him. I won't hesitate to kill if you try to take him. Neither will anyone else in the village." Draco noticed how he avoided all mention of Hogwarts.
"Do you even know who I am?" Draco asked dangerously.
"Yes…all the more reason to try and conclude this harmoniously."
Draco pressed his hands against his eyes and exhaled sharply, then in an almost whining voice, he said, "This isn't right. He should be with me all the time. I don't want to share him. I never had to before and…" Draco recovered himself and continued in a stronger voice, "and if you touch him, if anyone touches him, I'll kill-"
"I really don't think it's appropriate for you to be making threats, especially considering who you work for."
Draco faltered and Dumbledore continued, "Are we agreed?"
The forest stayed quiet for a long time.
"I have to see him so I can inform him of this latest happenstance…he won't be happy."
"Then don't tell him."
"…You'll have to…explain to Harry as I won't be here."
"It would be an honor…I'll see you in three days."
Draco left then, with his donor, Harry Potter, the most wanted boy alive sleeping another one of enemy's arms as he went to inform his master of this terrible new outcome. An outcome that could drastically change the way the game was played.
His master. Lord Voldemort.
To Be Continued…
Thank You:
Rena: Thank you for your encouragement. I hope you like this chapter.
General of Darkness: I'm glad you like this story though I'm sad you don't care much for the other one. Hopefully it'll interest you more later on. Anyway thank you so much for reviewing, I feel so lucky to have such a faithful reviewer.
Lola: Thanks so much for your praise.
Timra: Good question…obviously I just needed a really good plot device. No just kidding. Actually I figured that a vampire would want someone younger because they'd live longer. Of course you must remember that I'm shooting from the hip. I'm making up all the vampire aspects of this story.
DairyGirl: Same question as above…Hmm, I guess I'm a bad explainer or thinker. I thought it made sense, but still thanks for asking. I appreciate anything that makes him think about the story and its attributes. Thanks for reviewing twice.