"Harry, what the hell happened?"

Harry sighed, he had been expecting fifty questions, but he had hoped his friends would wait to interrogate him until they were alone, although he should have expected Ron's outburst. Harry pointedly glanced at the many students around them before walking back the way he had come. Ron opened his mouth to protest but Hermione pinched his arm to keep him silent before grabbing his arm and quickly dragging him so they could catch up to Harry. Harry lead them down several halls before he slipped behind an ancient statue that was so faded it was absolutely impossible to distinguish it's features, the only thing that didn't seem completely weathered away where the intricately carved wings. Behind the statue was a very narrow hallway that you couldn't see unless you were actually in it, the hallway led to a set of stairs that went up to one of the shorter towers. At some point the little room at the top of the stairs must have been used as a secret owlery, because there were ancient owl droppings littering the floor which had long since hardened. He leaned against the only open window as he waited for his two friends to catch up.

When they did finally enter the tower through the trap door Harry had left open, Ron immediately opened his mouth to ask a question, but before he could get a single syllable out he winced and with a glare he hissed, "Stop pinching me!"

Hermione ignored him as she turned big worried and assessing eyes on their long time friend as she asked, "Harry, are you alright?"

Harry felt a smile creeping onto his face, but he didn't turn around to face his friends, instead he continued to gaze out the window without really seeing the view. He had decided he was going to do a preemptive strike, and answer some of their more obvious questions before they could hound him, he just wasn't sure he wanted to see their faces when he told them what had happened, he was certain he couldn't handle it if they reacted poorly, "When I was a kid, I was bit by a Vampire. The same vampire apparently fed me its blood, I would have likely turned soon after that if Severus hadn't already perfected a potion that could effectively suppress the blood until I came of age, the only problem is that apparently the potion degenerates if the drinker gets close to an active vampire. Last night the Vampire that turned me came onto the grounds."

Harry chanced a glance at his friends. Ron looked shocked and his eyes were wide, but he didn't show any signs of fear or disgust, which Harry took as a good sign for now. Of course he wasn't completely out of the woods; those reactions might come later once the shock of his statement wore off. Hermione didn't look all to surprised, in fact she had the same expression she often wore secants before she solved some difficult problem or riddle she had been working on. Suddenly her eyes widened and she gasped out, "Oh!"

Ron's brows drew together as he looked at her and asked, "what is it Mia?"

Hermione let out a snort and crossed her arms angrily, for some reason every time Ron used that nickname it got her ticked, even though she didn't mind when Harry used it; Harry never did understand women. Hermione sighed and said, "Honestly Ron, I can't believe you haven't put it together already."

Ron crossed his arms as well, obviously not liking Hermione tone and what she was implying. Harry recognized the signs of a quickly approaching row, and quickly did the only think he could think of on short notice that would circumvent the fight, if only for a little while, "Draco's a submissive vampire and apparently we're mates."

Hermione looked faintly surprised, and that calculating look came across her face once more, the one that always made shivers run up and down his spine. Ron looked shocked and horrified as he shouted out, "What!"

Harry winced at the sudden sound, ever since yesterday his senses had been in overdrive, and between the offending odor of the long dried owl droppings, the scent of rain and forest being blown in on the wind, he was already starting to develop a thrumming headache. Ron's sudden shout was twice as loud and painful because of how much Harry was straining just to catch the faint and so distant beat of his mate's heart.

He was a still a little freaked out that Draco was his mate, but he couldn't doubt his instincts which were practically screaming that Draco was his only chance of happiness. He wanted to deny it, to deny that the boy that had made his life hell for so many years was his mate but between his instincts and his senses he couldn't even build up a shred of negative emotion towards the gorgeous blond who smelt so utterly delicious. It didn't help that all of a sudden he was noticing things about his once rival, like this morning when he had gone into Draco's room to wake the blond up, he couldn't help but notice how flawless his skin was and how over the years he had grown out of the sharp angles of his youth. Draco was still petite and was several inches shorter than Harry, but for some reason his arms and legs seemed obscenely long, and he wasn't even sure why that made Draco seem even more appealing.

He was pulled out of his contemplation of what exactly made Draco so appealing all of a sudden when Ron snapped out, "Malfoy? You're telling me that stupid ferret is your 'mate'!"

Harry suddenly bristled, and as he let out a low slightly menacing growl, he felt his fangs length slightly. He felt his anger boil up, how dare he insult his mate right to his face, and how dare he insinuate that Draco wasn't the perfect mate. For a secant he wanted to tear out the boy's throat, but then his brain turned back on and her reminded himself that Ron was his best friend, had been his best friend for many years.

He was still furious, still so angry he wanted to lash out at the red head, but then a thought passed through his mind, this was his fault. He might not have started calling Draco that repulsive nickname which had spread like wildfire and was used by most of the students outside of Slytherin, but if he hadn't laughed when Ron first spat out the nickname, laughed when that imposter had turned his mate into a rodent and proceeded to bounce him against the ground.

Over the years Draco might have initiated a few fights, but they had initiated just as many, and most of the time Harry and his friends were the ones that brought the verbal bouts up to a new level, initiating both physical fights and magic ones. Yes Draco had used vicious words that were intended to press their buttons, but he couldn't remember Draco ever doing anything that might have actually hurt them, not unless they had actually attacked him, in which case it was more a defensive action then one of hate. Hate. Harry, who's anger had quickly deflated making his fang retreat as quickly as they had extended, felt a pang of true terror. After all these years of rivalry, it was highly likely Draco hated him. His mate hated him.

Harry must have voiced that last thought out loud because Ron was looking at him with a new mixture of emotions, too many for Harry to decipher even if he was in a good enough mood to try, and Hermione was looking at him with sad eyes as she said, "I don't think Malfoy hates you, he might not like you right now, but you're his mate, give him some time and I'm sure he'll come around. You wouldn't be mates if you both weren't perfect for each other, and Malfoy isn't stupid, he's actually quite sharp, so if he doesn't see how amazing you are now, he will once you spend some time with him."

Harry frowned and wrapped his arms around himself as he asked in a quite, fearful voice, "You're sure he doesn't hate me?"

Hermione bit her lip as she tucked several strands of bushy hair behind her hair, obviously trying to stall long enough to think of a way to answer that question without lying or dashing what little hope her friend had. She was surprised when Ron sighed and said, "Harry, Malfoy might not be my favorite person, in fact he's more like my least favorite, except for Snape of course… anyway what I'm trying to get at is that I might not like Malfoy, but if he really is your mate than there is a much a chance he hates you as you hate him."

Harry instantly snapped out defensively, "I don't hate him! I could never hate him! He's my mate!"

Ron winced and he let out a depressed and slightly exhausted sigh and said, "there's your answer, Draco might not like you presently, but he doesn't hate you, he couldn't, not if your both mates. Couldn't you have picked someone else to be your mate, Harry? I mean he's a Slytherin."

Hermione gave Ron a reproachful look and said, "Honestly Ron, don't you ever pay attention in class. We went over the reasons all behind why magical creatures mate in class, it's not something they choose but something instinctual. Two people can only be mates if they are perfectly compatible for one another, and after Harry, Draco is the most powerful wizard in our class, and although that's one of the biggest factors, the fact is they have to be emotionally and physically compatible. No one else in the world would be half as perfect a match for him."

Ron pouted out his bottom lip and said petulantly, "But he's a Slytherin."

Hermione shook her head, but her lips were twitching up at the edges, of course she turned to face Harry so Ron didn't notice the amusement dancing in her eyes, and asked, "So where will you two be staying? I assume that Dumbledore assigned you both rooms away from the general populace."

Harry smiled nervously at Hermione's welcomes change of subject as he gave a small nod, and was relieved that both of them seemed to be taking this well, Ron seemed a little unsettled but he wasn't freaking out or running away from him. Harry suddenly gave Hermione a considering look and asked, "Hermione, what do you know about Submissive Vampires?"

Hermione smiled as she linked their arms at the elbow and gently pulled Harry towards the exit, and said in a conspirator whisper, "I've got two books in my bag about vampires, they each have a small section on Submissives, not a whole lot is known about them because they are so rare and because their mates tend to be extremely overprotective."

Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione's antics as he fell in step on Harry's other side. Hermione smiled and right before they reached the hallway at the bottom of the stairs Hermione pulled a small piece of rolled up parchment to Harry and said, "I did an outline of the most important points, but to really get a grasp for what a submissive vampire is, than you really need to actually read the books yourself, but for now this will give you a basic idea, don't worry about others getting a hold of it, I've already put a few charms on it to prevent anyone reading it without us intentionally allowing them to."

Harry gave Hermione a quick hug before they were forced to part so they could squeeze through the hallway and head down to breakfast, hopefully before it ended, they had spent nearly twenty minutes up in the tower. He couldn't keep the growing smile off of his face, his friends seemed to be excepting not only what he was but who his mate was, and apparently his mate couldn't actually hate him, things where definitely looking a lot better than they had forty minutes ago.