See chapter one for disclaimers/warnings/summaries.

PREVIOUSLY:

"Unusual how?" The feeling of unease turned to ice in Harry's stomach. "Hermione, what aren't you telling me?"

The redness flew from her face and Hermione took on a rather pale hue. "Er…not here, Harry." She said, at last, when it looked like he was about to demand more. "Not safe enough." Her smile was strained.

Harry forced himself to nod in return and turned to stare at the scenery until they reached Hogwarts.

Safe.

He wondered exactly how safe was safe—new Dragel attributes and all. This year was certainly setting itself up to be a miserable headache.

The welcoming feast went well.

Harry didn't remember much of it. The entire event was something of a colorful and slightly loud blur. There was too much noise, too many scents and too much magic that reminded him of the fact that he didn't have any.

The Sorting Hat's voice echoed through the hallway and the sorting went quickly.

Harry was grateful.

There were three new additions to the Gryffindors, four to Ravenclaw, seven to Hufflepuff and five to Slytherin. Megan would have her hands full with seven new faces, Harry mused as he clapped politely for them all.

The feast blurred by and when it was all over, Harry wearily followed his housemates to the Gryffindor tower. He'd been waiting all evening for the event to finish and all he could think of was his nice, warm, comfortable bed. It was all but calling for him and he desperately wanted to wrap himself up in the clean blankets and sleep for a week.

Maybe more.

Harry yawned.

It seemed as if all the energy he'd gathered up over the summer had evaporated within seconds of being around Hermione, Ron, Ginny and the others. He didn't get it. He thought, if anything, that he'd do even better. Being around the Dursley's had drained him—in the usual way—but that hadn't been anything out of the ordinary. Usually, the moment he was back in his friends' company, his magic levels would restore themselves thanks to the usual auras of good-will and intent.

Of course, the fact that he didn't have any magic at all probably had something to do with that, but Harry wasn't one to give up so easily.

He reasoned it out to stress and a few improbable things—namely a certain unmentionable creature inheritance—and decided to retest his magicless theory in Hogwarts. If nothing happened after that, then he'd really have to start thinking of something.

With stifled a yawn, Harry willing himself to focus. It had been a little while since he'd had to sneak away. Thankfully, his sneaking skills weren't the least bit rusty, he thought ruefully. Of all the skills to have at his disposal, it'd only be that one.

Finally, he sat out by the Astronomy tower, wrapped in his invisibility cloak and staring up at the starred sky.

He'd listened to Hermione's explanations—and noted the bushy-haired witch didn't seem at all like he remembered her. He'd watched Ron's embarrassed face—and noted that his gaze didn't stray towards Hermione as much as it used to. He'd ignored Ginny's interjections and her pointy-eyed stare that seemed as if it were looking through his skin to find out his new secret.

When they were all through, Harry had only been able to process the fact that he had to get away. He was no longer so tired as to be dead on his feet, but he was far too restless to stay in the same tower with them.

So he left.

It had taken him almost an hour to wait on Ron to fall asleep and then a little extra wrangling to slip out, undetected. But he'd done it. It hadn't been as bad as he'd thought. Just a matter of getting back into his groove and of course, it was his best skill.

Once he was through, it was easy to slip around the darkened castle and retreat to his favorite haunting place. No one ever came up in this way to check for students or curfew breakers and he knew he could easily throw a little mini-party and still, there would be no one to hear him. Maybe.

Gripping his wand tightly in one hand, Harry tried to cast the simplest spell. "Lumos!"

Nothing happened.

Harry bit his lip. A sinking feeling had wormed its way into his stomach and taken up residence. He had a feeling—no, he had a very bad feeling—that this could not be good. How could it? He'd tried to cast a glamour earlier in the summer—uncaring as to whether there'd be anyone jumping down his throat for underage magic, but he didn't think that the Ministry of Magic would care to keep an eye out for such little blips as that.

He'd hoped so anyway.

Besides, a glamour didn't hurt anyone and shouldn't have taken much magic at all. Just like a simple lighting spell. Harry sighed. "Lumos!" He tried again and scowled when that failed to produce the desired result.

Something was really wrong here. He tried to close his eyes and think of his magic and how it was faring. Sometimes, he was able to simply relax and feel it swimming through his very veins, other times, it was almost as if it wasn't there at all—but it had never refused to show itself as it was doing now.

"Lumos!" Harry cried again.

Still no result.

He slammed his fist into the nearest wall and winced when the rough stone bruised his skin. That was an unwanted side effect. He turned his back to the wall and slid down to sit on the floor, bracing his back against the cold stone.

He didn't know what else to do. There really wasn't much else he knew to do. His first thought would've been that having a creature inheritance had somehow detracted his magic. But as far as he knew, no one had ever lost their magic simply because of a mere inheritance. Harry twisted his hands together and then tucked away his wand. He was going to have some issues in class tomorrow—that was for sure!

He thumped his head lightly on the stone walls, careful not to make it hurt. He didn't want a headache on top of the aching bruise, but he also wanted the solidness of the rock to provide him with the sliver of normality he craved.

Everything felt so horribly out of whack. Eventually, he was able to push his thoughts away and sit in uncluttered silence. Harry sat there, quietly, staring up at the night sky until his stomach rumbled.

He grimaced remembering that he hadn't had much of an appetite at the table—being unable to concentrate thanks to Hermione's mysterious words—and had consequently been unable to eat as his overexcited mind wouldn't allow him. His stomach had positively rebelled at the thought of food—especially when he saw all the cooked meats and dishes laid out for them. He knew he'd never be able to stomach it.

This had been one of the four days in his 'meat cravings' that he'd been able to pinpoint. He certainly hadn't been able to satisfy it at the Dursley's, a feat that had only gotten more difficult as the summer had worn on. He hoped it would be easier to handle now—at least, seeing as he was at Hogwarts and there were other options than stealing raw meat out of a refrigerator in the middle of the night.

Harry considered visiting the kitchens for a moment and then pushed those thoughts aside in favor of simply calling for Dobby.

The excited house elf appeared in seconds and immediately hushed at Harry's express wishes. He promised to bring the quiet boy a few slabs of rare meat and disappeared with a soft pop. Harry gratefully wrapped the picnic blanket tighter around his shoulders and then settled the invisible cloak around it a little more securely.

He felt the familiar longing to spread his wings and fly—a nightly occurrence at the Dursley's residence—one that he could never risk. Dobby reappeared a moment later with a large plate, knife and fork and two hefty chunks of rare meat.

"Thank you, Dobby." Harry murmured, turning grateful eyes to the excited house elf. "You can go now. I'm sorry to disturb you so late in the night."

"It is no trouble for Master Harry Potter, sir." Dobby exclaimed. "I be happy to get anything Master Harry that he be wantin-"

"This is all I need, Dobby. Thanks. If you'd just pop up here in a bit and collect the plate, that'd be great."

Dobby grinned. "I be doing that then, Master Harry-"

"Night, Dobby."

The house elf disappeared with another pop and Harry sighed. He set the silver cutlery down and then placed the plate in front of him. The barely cooked meat didn't seem anywhere near as appetizing as a fresh kill—not that Harry had ever had one—but it was all he had for the moment and he'd have to make do with it. He pictured it in his mind, a deer perhaps, and imagined the warm flesh and taste of blood.

He sucked in a breath and lengthened his hands into the claws he'd slowly grown accustomed to. Within seconds, he tore into the meat with fangs, claws and happy sounds from his throat as he stuffed his face. The little mental exercise always helped him to handle moments like this.

When he finished, he went through the usual ritual of cleaning all his fingers and face, then set the plate in a corner with the unused knife and fork for Dobby's retrieval. He curled up in a little spot near the railing and yawned. It would be so easy to fall asleep here—and much more comfortable, he was inclined to think.

His mind wandered on, however and he thought about Hermione's words and wondered how many more Slytherins were slowly converting to the side of the Light. That was good, he knew the snakes well enough to venture that they would make formidable opponents to any side and was relieved that they were changing allegiances. He wondered how the Light was faring and what horrors he'd have to face this year.

There'd never been a year when horror and torture didn't come calling and bellowing his name.

His hand clenched faintly and he tightened one into a fist, ghosting his fingers over the scarless back. The Dragel inheritance might have taken away the visual scars, but he could still feel the real ones simmering inside him, a memory he would not easily forget.

A wave of loneliness washed over him and Harry made a soft, sad chirring sound in his throat as he closed his eyes and turned his face to the moonlight. There was no answer to his call, of course, it was barely even a whisper and Harry was too worried that he'd be discovered if he dared make any noise beyond breathing—and after all, there was too much of something at risk. He didn't want anyone to know he was some strange extinct creature. He didn't want to believe he was a strange extinct creature. His life was a dramatic mess without that little bit of information.

Adding a creature inheritance merely made it another nail in the coffin of his supposed freakishness.

Harry swallowed hard. He repeated the sound without even listening for answer. He knew there would be none, but he couldn't keep himself from calling, even as it made him feel even darker and more alone than before. The Dragel inside of him knew that he craved the community of his own kind and the special kind of love and support that would come with a mateship.

A mateship he was sure he'd never have.

The dark-haired boy wearily gathered himself up and shuffled down back to the Gryffindor Tower, it'd be a long, busy day tomorrow and he'd need his sleep. If there was anything he'd learned at all during the summer, after his creature inheritance, it had been the need to rest and to rest well. His sleep cycles had gone haywire and he doubted returning to school would ease that particular grievance.

Harry disappeared into the darkness without a backward glance.

He never saw the tall, shadowed figure lurking the background, who looked from the plate to the direction of the retreating footsteps, shadowed hands clenched tightly at the sides.

A/N: Chapter 5! Yay. This chapter is a bit short, because it focuses on Harry and what's going through his head before all the craziness begins. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you all for voting and reviewing, the results have been really interesting! I appreciate the feedback and the pairing suggestions. The updated list is below! Vote via PM or review. List will be adjusted by chapter until I decide. It's a tad long for now, I'll crop them next chappy. ^_^

Luna -3

Daphne -5

Parvati -1

Padma -2

Bellatrix -5

Narcissa -3

Gabriella -1

Susan B. -5

Hannah A.-1

OFC(Vampire)-3

Pansy P. -3

Millicent B. -2

Lavender B. -1

Jennifer Dawn (Gryffindor in Harry's Year) -1

N. Tonks-2

Rowena Ravenclaw -1

Morgana le Fey -1

Perenelle Famel -1

nobother: I'm definitely aiming to get some rare pairings in here, hence starting out with Megan. I've added your vote to Millicent, it'd definitely be an interesting pairing with her and Harry. :)

Irishfighter: I've added your suggestions to the list, thanks a bunch! I'm not sure about Rowena Ravenclaw-well, as far as time-traveling, etc. I don't want to overload this fic and I certainly have some complicated plans for it, but I'm sure I could think of a way around it, if more folks want her in there. *thinking hard* Thanks for voting!

plums: I've definitely got plans for the OFC vampire and I'm surprised at how many folks want Bellatrix. *humming* I'll try my best to make it interesting. Stick around for the ride!

Count chocula: love your screenname btw. :P It's pretty hard to find a good Harry/Susan. I haven't found one I like yet, anyhow. I'll see how it goes for now.

ghostwriter84: Glad you enjoyed it! I have to set up the plotstuffs before I get to the fun parts.

MattQ1: Votes received! :)

AlexTheGoth: Oh wow. I've started a whole genre. Dragel stories. XD Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the read. It's interesting to flip this story inside out to make it work. I like Narcissa with Lucius and the way they seem to complement each other naturally. I haven't decided what I'm doing to them yet. *cough* To them, not with them...ahem. LOL. Tonks is a bit wild and crazy, but I think that's the little bit of Black in her that she can't escape. Considering Sirius anyway. Ho hum. We shall see. I've plans for this fic. ~_^