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Disclaimer: I own not Harry Potter, I think Draco might have bought him in an auction already and I sadly cannot compete with so much unbelievable wealth.

Chapter 4
Draco

I spent the next couple days trying to pinpoint the wild vampire, but he remained irritatingly illusive. Even in the Great Hall during meal times, when everyone was in the same room, I still couldn't locate him. Nor was I able to pick him out of any of my classes. It was as if he was everywhere at once and it was driving me crazy.

I was becoming increasingly irritable due to my lack of success in locating him, so I eventually decided I'd have to find him the hard way.

It was at dinner on the first Friday after school commenced that I began my list.

It couldn't be someone I associated with on a regular basis, so all of Slytherin was out. Besides, if one of them had been turned they would have come to either me or Severus (who in turn would come to me) right away. That left over three fourths of the school as candidates.

The person would likely try to spend as much time alone as possible, so most of Gryffindor was out, though I did make a quick scan of that table anyway (to be on the safe side).

For some reason my eyes were drawn to the Golden Boy, and I spent a few minutes puzzling over him. Something was up; he may have been sitting in his usual place at the boisterous house table but he wasn't participating in the conversation or any of the surrounding shenanigans at all.

There was something very wrong with that picture, especially after what he was doing finally sunk in. Potter was staring down at his plate and listlessly pushing his food around.

No, I couldn't think about him now. I had to finish my list. Even so, my eyes were repeatedly drawn back to the boy throughout the meal. It was vaguely surprising to realize that he wasn't eating. I saw him raise his fork to his lips a total of four times in roughly an hour (yes, I was counting).

Perhaps he was ill?

Not that it was any concern of mine anyway - I had more important matters to attend to.

It took an additional two days before I was satisfied with my list. Fortunately, it was relatively short.

The most likely person I had found was my new defense teacher (though I never once questioned why a full-grown man that had been newly bitten didn't seek help). He was a gaunt man in his late twenties with dark brown hair, sallow skin, and an unreadable expression in his eyes. He never spoke much, even in class (which did make me wonder how he obtained his position and why he would even want to be a teacher in the first place).

I never saw him outside of class and meals and he avoided physical contact at all costs. Either he was the wild one, or he was seriously disturbed.

I would find out soon enough, because my next step was a confrontation. I wasn't sure exactly what I would say to him, but it had to be done.

It was after dinner that I finally made my way to his rooms. I would have confronted him after class, but I wasn't positive how long I would need.

The hallways were empty, causing shadows to jump and twitch.

I wasn't expecting to run across any other students so close to curfew, so I almost missed seeing the small form crouched at the base of the wall.
I paused, staring down at the dark form, unsure for a moment if it was even a person.

They were breathing though, and I could see their outline almost perfectly. They had their knees drawn up to their chest, locked in place by the arms wrapped around them. A dark head of messy hair lay on the drawn up knees and the pale column of their throat were illuminated by the dim light.
That was quite the tempting sight, that was, but I disregarded the tingle in my teeth as my thirst made itself known, and knelt down in front of the person. "Hey, you can't sleep out here," I said, my Head Boy instincts kicking in.

Sluggishly the dark head lifted and the persons face was revealed to me. "Potter?" I asked in disbelief, uneasy with those hollow green eyes staring into me. It was extremely disconcerting to see such a dead expression in those usually fiery eyes.

"Hmn…" He cocked his head to the side and it looked as though it took a moment for him to realize who I was... which disturbed me even further.

"Malfoy?" He shook his head as if to clear it, "What time is it?"

The lack of hostility in his voice was almost as troubling as those lifeless emerald orbs, and I wasn't sure how to respond to it. "Close to eleven." I admitted, though I wasn't sure why, "You had better get back to you're dorm before I decide to deduct points."

He didn't seem to hear me, and proceeded to lay his head back down. Just what was wrong with Hogwarts's perfect little prodigy?

Seeing my rival look so defeated snapped something inside me and my eyes narrowed on him, "Just what is wrong with you, Potter?" I growled harshly. "You're not dead, so snap out of it."

I don't know what I had expected when I said that, but whatever it was, it not the response I received. For some reason, Potter started laughing. Only, it wasn't the pleasant kind of laugh expected of the beloved Boy-Who-Lived. No, it was a bitter, cold laugh that bordered on hysterical. I could only stare at him in stunned silence.

What exactly had I said to cause such a reaction? Replaying my words in my mind, I still couldn't see what I'd said to warrant such a response.

"Come on Potter, up you get," I said, ignoring the insane chuckles still issuing from his lips as I pulled him to his feet. As much as I'd like out of this alarming situation, I couldn't just leave him like that. He was the perfect victim for a wild vampire, which I knew all too well.

I'm not sure what it was about him that drew me, but I'd always wanted him. Sometimes the thirst was so strong that I could almost taste his sweet blood on my tongue.

It was one of the reasons I antagonized him so often. When he became angry his heartbeat rocketed and it was like a siren's call to me. I couldn't get enough of that sweet torture, even knowing I could never have him. He was about as 'off-limits' as a person could get.

I wasn't the only one so affected by the boy either. I'd spoken to many a vampire and werewolf alike that had heard the call of his blood but were forced to restrain themselves and the number of rogue vampires in the Forbidden Forest had increased tenfold since he started attending Hogwarts.

His blood drew us like Honeydukes drew third year students on their first trip to Hogsmead. It was nearly impossible to ignore a siren's call like that; and if I wasn't allowed to have a taste of him, then there was no way I'd let some wild one have at him.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" I demanded, trying to distract myself from how he was leaning against me for support and the way his face had fallen into the crook of my neck, and how his pulse raced beneath my fingers. Why was his heart beating so fast anyway? That wasn't normal, and I doubted it was healthy.

"Couldn't sleep." He admitted, much to my surprise, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Bloody Merlin, I'd hoped he was too messed up to notice the lack of angry words passing between us. "Don't be delusional Potter, I'm not being nice to you. I'm simply doing my job as Head Boy." It was a shallow excuse, but I hoped it would suffice. "Why can't you sleep?" It was out before I was even aware the question was forming in my mind. I truly hate my curiosity sometimes.

Those empty ivy eyes stared at me for a long moment (didn't he ever blink?). Then he simply shrugged. "You wouldn't understand," he mumbled into my shoulder.
I said nothing to that and we finished our walk in silence. After he'd slipped inside his dorm, I made my way back down to the dungeons.

dmhpdmhpdm

My list slowly deteriorated over the next few weeks until I was back at square one.

As you can probably imagine, I was not happy about this. Every idea that I had resulted in a dead end and I was becoming increasingly peeved.

I wasn't the only one, either. My wild one was only becoming more agitated as time passed, and his thirst was growing daily. I was impressed by his self-restraint as it was unheard of for a newly born vampire to suppress their thirst so well, or for so long.

That was what made me decide to contact my father. I only had enough blood to support myself, and as soon as I found my wild one I knew he would definitely need blood.

Potter was also acting up. I wasn't sure what had happened, but he'd had some sort of row with his friends and wasn't talking to them anymore.

He also wasn't eating. I didn't know what had caused his anorexia, but it was starting to concern me.

It wasn't any of my business, of course, but he was my rival. If anything was going to be his undoing, it was going to be me.

Only, I didn't know what to do about it, and no one else even seemed to notice.

I would have informed one of the professors, but they probably wouldn't believe me. Either that, or they'd think I'd caused it in some way.

I was completely out of ideas, both for Potter and my wild one. Hopefully Father would know what to do.

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