364. Draco Malfoy is not a vampire, and I will not treat him as such.

HDHDHD

Harry entered the Great Hall quietly and headed straight to the Gryffindor table. Keeping his head bowed low, he silently placed a single piece of toast on his plate. And stared at it. Susan Bones, face blotchy from crying, walked away from the Hufflepuff table and patted Harry's arm soothingly. "Go on then Harry," she whispered encouragingly. "You must keep your strength up."

Hermione glanced from Susan to Harry in alarm. "What's going on? Harry?"

Susan sniffled, wiping away a few errant tears before smiling sadly at Hermione. "He's just… Harry is so selfless!" she wailed. "Sacrificing himself to help a fellow student…" Susan trailed off, quite overcome with emotions and unable to speak. Impulsively, she leaned down and gave Harry a fierce hug. "I'm going to talk to the rest of the house tonight," she whispered brokenly, "but with you doing such selfless actions like this… well, Harry, I'm going to ask them to make you an honorary Hufflepuff!" Nearly choking on her sobs, Susan turned and ran back to her table, where she immediately began whispering earnestly to her year mates.

Lavender looked unimpressed by the display. "Didn't we meet our quota of Hufflepuff friends when we started hanging out with Hannah?"

Hermione shrugged, looking oddly smug. "Least we know Harry's wasn't making out with any other girls." Parvati and Lavender glared at her. Hermione shrugged again, viciously pleased with the reaction. "So let him make friends from other houses." Harry picked up his toast, taking a small bite, before replacing it on his place and heaving a deep, melodramatic sigh.

Ron looked confused. "Harry? Why was Susan crying?"

Harry sighed again. "I ran into her while I was walking to breakfast," he quietly explained.

Ginny waited. "And?" she finally asked. "You ran into her like literally ran into her?"

"No," Harry sighed again. "We just talked."

"Ooh.," Dean said comprehendingly. "Did you end up telling her about the thing?" Harry nodded.

"What thing?" Dennis asked; looking at his hero worriedly.

Seamus sighed. "Really, Harry, I thought we agreed it was best not to talk about the thing until after it was over and done with."

"What thing?" Neville asked, alarmed.

"You're right," Harry said out of the blue; squaring his shoulders and nodding resolutely to himself. "I agreed to do the thing, so I had best be getting on with it."

"What thing?" Ron echoed.

"That's the spirit, mate!" Dean toasted Harry with his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"We support you Harry," Seamus echoed, patting him on the back.

"What thing?" Parvati asked in exasperation.

Harry ignored them and stood up. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. "Right," he said firmly. "I'm off." He strode away from the Gryffindor table; a determined expression on his face. Susan and several of her friends burst into tears again as he passed the Hufflepuff table. Harry smiled at them but kept walking until he reached the Slytherin table. Ignoring the expressions of mistrust and curiosity, Harry walked forward and knelt in front of Draco Malfoy.

"Oh Merlin," Ron moaned. "I must be dreaming again." He dropped his head into his hands, lecturing himself sternly. "Ron, you are dreaming. Harry is not Malfoy's sex slave. This is a nightmare. Whatever happens here, will not really happen. You will wake up and remember nothing."

"Mutter quieter Ron," Ginny said impatiently, craning her neck to see what was happening. "I can't hear what Harry's saying." Ron whimpered and pressed his face to the table.

Draco stared at Harry for a minute. Slowly, he lifted his head and stared around the Great Hall; clinically noting they now held the attention of the vast majority of the students. He looked back at Harry, still kneeling at his feet. "Good morning, Potter," he said formally. "May I help you with something?"

Harry tiled his head to the side, exposing his neck. He spoke in a clear voice that instantly captured the attention of everyone pretending not to eavesdrop. "My neck is yours. Bite me."

Draco blinked. Susan wailed. Neville gasped. Pansy looked faintly disturbed. "Potter, what are you on about?"

Susan stood up and rushed to Harry's side, slinging an arm around both Harry and Draco. "It's ok, Draco," she soothed. "You don't need to be afraid anymore."

He eyed the weeping girl suspiciously. "I don't?"

"No." She gave her table a meaningful look. They instantly began calling out their agreement. "Harry explained the whole thing," she said confidently.

Draco narrowed his eyes at the form still kneeling at his feet. "Did he?"

"Yes," she stated firmly. "Just because you're a vampire is no reason to be ashamed." Several people gasped at this announcement. Hermione, having finally caught on, slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggle.

"I'm not a vampire!" Draco protested in shock.

"This makes so much sense," Daphne regarded Draco with narrowed eyes. "You never let anyone in the bathroom with you while you primp. Perhaps because you don't want anyone to see your lack of reflection?"

Draco blushed. "I have well established grooming habits. That does not make me a vampire."

"And you're always so angry in Care of Magical Creatures," Bradley, the Ravenclaw chaser, noted. "Is it because you're afraid the other creatures will become violent once they recognize you as a dark creature?"

"I am not a creature! I am a pureblood!"

Pansy gasped. "You were the only one who was attacked by that sweet Hippogriff back in third year."

Marietta Edgecombe nodded importantly to her friends. "My aunt works at the ministry. They're always hush hush when a Malfoy is mentioned. I wonder if Lucius Malfoy is a vampire too?" She looked at Draco curiously.

"My father is a very important man. People fear him, as they rightly should. He is not a vampire, just like I am not a vampire!"

Susan waived her hand dismissively. "Draco, it's ok! Like I said, Harry explained everything; including how he volunteered to be your blood donor."

He looked down into laughing green eyes, though Harry's face remained impassive. "My neck is yours. Bite me." He repeated.

Draco eyed the other students. Some were looking at him with fear; which was acceptable. Others were looking at him with pity; which was not. Still others were looking at him like he was the charity project of the month. He stood up abruptly. "Thank you for your support." He inclined his head regally. "However, I prefer to do my biting in private."

"Oh, of course!" Susan reached down and helped Harry to his feet. "Harry, we'll get a snack for you to eat during your next class so you can keep your blood sugar stabilized." She pushed Harry and Draco towards the door. "You two go on. It's terribly cruel to make Draco wait for his breakfast." She stopped suddenly, clapping her hands as an idea occurred to her. "I can organize a blood drive! That way in case Harry ever can't feed you, you'll have other options!"

Wayne Hopkins waved his hand eagerly in the air. "I'll help!" Susan beamed at her fellow Hufflepuff.

Blaise stared at the door the boys had just disappeared through. "Son of a bitch," he muttered; half admiring, half disgusted. "In ten minutes he managed to convince the school that Draco was a vampire."

"You mean he isn't?" Crabbe looked confused. Blaise groaned.

"So Malfoy's a vampire," Neville mused. "This makes so much sense." Hermione gave him an incredulous look. "What?" Neville asked defensively. "I'm incredibly sensitive to magic. I knew there had to be a reason Malfoy scared me from the minute I met him." Dean snorted.

"Well, I for one am relieved Malfoy's a vampire." Much happier, Ron began loading up his breakfast plate.

Lavender arched her eyebrow in a creepy imitation of Hermione. "Why's that?"

"Well, Harry's shown up with red marks on his neck for awhile now." Ron shrugged. "I thought he kept getting hurt. But it was just Malfoy biting him all along."

Seamus watched Ron did into his breakfast with gusto. "Are you really this dense?" Ron frowned at him, confused.

Ginny laughed, thrilled to be back in the know. "Yes, yes he is."