'In the very temple of delight veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine.'
~ John Keats
The sky was now darkened, winter winds howling like starved wolves against the windows, bringing with them the icy mists that clung to the castle's walls like cobwebs. He never cared however, his senses making him impervious to the worst of the malicious elements. His green eyes were troubled as he walked for the third time in front of the blank stone wall. A door appeared, spreading like moss over the aged bricks, and allowing him passage to his safe haven. A week had gone by since the meeting and still there had been no contact. To make him feel worse Professor Fairchild kept glancing at him during lessons, concern swirling in her deep purple eyes, only to be replaced in an instant with impassivity when she saw he was looking. The elf was annoying him. It was obvious that she knew what had happened with him and Tom. Then again he supposed it wouldn't be hard to join the dots if one were privy to the information she was.
Ron and Hermione were also getting on his nerves, at least Blaise and Lysander knew to leave him alone. He guessed it had something to do with them being Gryffindors. What the Lions had in loyalty and bravery they severely lacked in subtlety. If they had maybe just left him alone, worried when he wasn't in earshot it would have been tolerable. What he couldn't stand was having them break off in conversation when he entered a room, their guilty expression only confirming the topic they were discussing.
Firing another hex at the dummy, he watched with grim satisfaction as it crumbled to dust. The lack of training from Tom had made his magic restless. Holding back in classes never helped either, and that coupled with the stress of having possibly made his friends targets and Tom's silence was driving him to the Room of Requirement. He was almost thankful to Umbridge, without her he would never had discovered it. Here he could let his magic free, and he smiled as the air crackled, charged with the raw power that was emanating from his core.
It also distracted him from the hunger.
Ever since their argument it was as if he couldn't feed anymore. He could feel the need for blood, but the want was gone. It hurt, but he couldn't help but think he deserved it. He had brought everything down on his friends, mixed them up in business that never even involved their species. They noticed his discomfort. At meal times he would push his food about his plate, eating little and trying to make the rest appear as small as possible. Lysander had tried to talk to him about it, but he had brushed the blonde off, giving him evasive answers that he knew only made him more suspicious.
Conjuring up another dummy, he wearily sent a cutting curse at it, severing one of it's limbs. He felt the magic drain out of him even more at the small curse. Growling slightly, he threw another curse at the dummy, feeling again the magic release from his system. He was getting weaker as his energy was sapped to keep his vital organs functioning. It had been over two weeks since he had last fed. Normally this was insignificant, but the blood of the animals he drank from last where low in magical content to the point where it was virtually non-existent and so only sustained him for a few days. Although the magical training helped him ignore it, it never took away the fatigue or the pain he felt. It was constant, but he had felt worse before and so it was almost manageable. Almost.
"It won't take it away," the melodic voice floated throughout the room. He bristled, turning to face Demeter.
"I never heard you come in Professor," he said, forcing his voice to remain calm.
"I am adept at silence, one of the benefits of my species is the ability of stealth," she replied, sitting in one of the few armchairs littered about the room. He never knew why they were there, perhaps the room sensed his fatigue. Certainly it wasn't conscious, he came here for duelling and that was all.
"Might I inquire as to why you are here?" his voice took on the formal tone, reminding him of his conversation with Nimthîriel. Normally this never bothered him, but now he felt annoyance seep into his gut.
"Merely to check up on you. You have not been with your friends as of late and it is concerning," she smiled at him with an almost dazed look reminiscent of Luna. It made her more approachable and he hated it. Instead of replying he sent an orb of flame at dummy, feeling it release from his fingers and set his opponent on fire before extinguishing it with water. He tried not to show how much these spells drained him as he conjured up another dummy.
"Your performance in class has been declining."
He tried to ignore her, instead opting to petrify the dummy.
"Exhausting yourself will not make it better."
He blew off its leg, watching as it toppled to the floor.
"When was the last time you fed?"
He cut it up, relishing as he diced it, caught up in the moment as the power coursed through him. Feeling long fingers curl round his arm, he wrenched away, only for the room to spin from the sudden movement. Reaching out wildly, he crashed heavily onto an armchair, feeling the wood splinter as it took his whole weight. Mercifully he never blacked out, fighting with his heavy lids and winning for a change. Unfortunately, he couldn't move. It was like all his strength had evaporated, turning his muscles to jelly. Demeter must have seen this, for he felt himself being levitated onto one of the rare couches.
"When was the last time you fed?" he felt something, oddly like water, coat him. It tingled like a diagnostic spell and he gathered it was an Elven equivalent.
"Over two weeks ago," he managed, thankful that his vocals hadn't been impaired.
"What was it?"
"A deer… I think?" Darkness was coming back slowly, clouding the edge of his vision and trying to conquer his sight.
"Hmm, why have you not fed since then?" her voice was almost clinical, impassive and concise. Giving the meaning directly and wasting no time for emotion.
"I… couldn't," he croaked, fighting vehemently against the dark fog which was now infiltrating his mind, cushioning his thoughts and making him feel as if he was underwater and she above.
"We need to get you to Tom," Demeter's purple eyes shone for a moment with aged wisdom, displaying many centuries of knowledge in the dark irises. Harry, however, was tempted to ignore this because of one thing: Pride. He never wanted to return to Tom with his tail between his legs because of his own stupid weaknesses.
Sheer stubbornness brought him to his feet. Staggering to the door, he grabbed the handle, straining to turn the brass knob. It was if his strength had left him as quick as it had come. Determination alone could not drive someone for long. The small flame of defiance burning in his being flickered for a moment, and a flicker was all it needed. He felt himself fall, heard the molecules of air rush past him as he displaced them. Dimly, he was aware of someone touch him, icy coldness creeping up his arm and then he fell into nothingness.
"Of all the moronic things to do he had to do this?" the voice broke through to his consciousness, creating a tear in the blanket of sleep that was draped over his mind.
"Hush Tom, none of us could have foreseen this. He is young, I remember a time when you were just as foolish," the soothing voice had to be Alderan.
"I was never like that!" spat Tom.
"Tom, do not take you anger at yourself out on others. If my hearing is correct then he woke up a few seconds ago," his gentle tone contrasted sharply with Tom's irate one, and Harry almost wanted to crawl once more into sleep. Anything to avoid what was fast becoming inevitable.
"Harry?" gone was the anger, only replaced with quiet concern. It calmed Harry's raging heart, making him feel a little hopeful that Tom desired his presence.
"Give him a moment," said Alderan.
His time had ran out and, reluctantly, Harry opened his eyes. He was greeted with a dimmed room, a candle burning on the bedside cabinet the only source of light. Tom was kneeling next to him, an unidentifiable emotion smouldering in his blue eyes as they carefully searched his face for any hint of discomfort.
"Where am I?" he croaked, clearing his throat and trying again.
"You are home," answered Alderan simply. Looking around Harry became aware that he wasn't in Hogwarts anymore. Then the word 'home' registered and he felt his muscles relax slightly. He was back at the castle. In his room. Safe.
"Won't they miss me?" asked Harry, worry coiling in his gut at the consequences this seemingly unimportant action could have caused.
"No, remember vampyres perceive time differently. It has been only fifteen minutes since you collapsed in the Room of Requirement," answered Alderan, "Now, please excuse me, I must attend to Demeter, she shall provide an alibi at the school should you stay long enough to arouse suspicion." With that he swept from the room, leaving Harry alone with Tom.
Turning his attention to him, he realised that his lover seemed frozen. His eyes in constant motion but otherwise the rest of him was still. Reaching out, he tentatively cupped his face and Tom nuzzled into his hand, the spell broken at his touch.
"I am sorry," Harry heard him murmur.
"What for?" there was genuine curiosity in his tone. It made no sense that Tom would be apologising. Harry had been the one that had endangered everything. Personally he felt he had deserved this.
"I was a fool and should not have taken my anger out on you. I should have known you would want to tell your friends and prepared as such. Instead you took me by surprise, something that has not been achieved for many, many years," Tom's voice was slightly pained, and Harry could see he had a tight hold of his emotions.
"I… I don't understand, what happened?"
"I never realised that you would take it so badly. I shouldn't have let my temper get away from me like that. You had to have infusions of my blood to recover," said Tom quietly, rolling up his sleeve and showing the angry red bite marks.
"I don't remember..." Harry tried to think back, but the last thing he remembered was collapsing at Hogwarts.
"You were barely conscious," growled Tom, Harry saw the anger flash in his eyes.
"I just over reacted, I should have consulted with you first," he countered.
"You weren't the only one who over reacted. I haven't slept in a week" whispered Tom. Looking at him, Harry could see the dark bruise-like semi-circles under his eyes. He looked a mess, but his mind wouldn't let him linger on it too long, jumping onto the next train of thought and making him slightly dizzy. Euphoria coursed through his veins, and logically he should be feeling concerned, but it was as if he couldn't control his emotions.
"Have you ever heard of counting sheep?'" asked Harry, a grin playing about his lips.
"Are you alright?" asked Tom, his eyes narrowing slightly, no doubt hearing his befuddled thoughts.
"Dear God I can't imagine being forced to live with you for centuries! You fuss so much!" laughed Harry, it was rather humorous now that he thought of it. Judging from the worry in his lover's eyes, he was alone in thinking this.
"I shall blame that remark on the mood swings you will be feeling at this moment. It has been too long since you properly fed, and so your body will once again have to become used to the rush," replied Tom, the corners of his lips twitching as he struggled to maintain a straight face.
"Just because you are a grouch half the time does not mean everyone else is! There is such a thing as being happy for the sake of it," said Harry, squashing the little voice that said it was probably responsible for his unpredictable emotions.
"Now, I believe there are a few things we need to discuss, namely your friends."
Just like that his good mood was gone.
A/N: Thank you for the feedback! I wanted to try and introduce Demeter a little more in this chapter, I know I never explained much about her in the beginning but she really is just there for extra protection. That said I wanted to make her a little more prominent and try to flesh her out a bit more :) This is the forth draft of this, at first I had made Harry and Tom's scene a lot more serious, but then I wanted to give them some levity and re-wrote it twice before this one was created. I quite liked writing 'high' Harry...
I don't know when I'm going to update next as I have exams coming up - in fact the quote at the start of the chapter is from one of the texts I'm studying... that counts as revision, right? That said I'll try not to leave it for too long.
11/5/11: It was brought to my attention that in the previous chapter Tom said it would take a few days to help Harry's friends. However, given the nature of his research it has taken longer than he had anticipated hence this chapter is set a week since the meeting. Sorry if there was any confusion, this will be addressed more fully in the next chapter :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.
I apologise for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes.
Please Review!