AN:
English is not my native language, so it's very probable that I make mistakes in grammar, that's why some Beta readers are helping me.
The fic is not mine, is a translation of "Entre las sombras" by madelinegiovani.
I hope you like it.

Today is September 1st and I have to return to Hogwarts. With Lucian I have learned how to control my thirst, and I also learned how to handle myself with my new status and all the advantages that come with it.

My new mentor is with me at the station, whispering to me the last few tips: if you can't stand the smell close your nostrils, if you can't stand the daylight stay in your room, if you're hungry go to the forest, but don't drink from your classmates... Yes, I've practiced this. I have even been able to go out alone at night without Luc accompanying me, but I know he was near me, watching me through the shadows... That is another detail that I've learned. There are different types of vampires, and we belong to a group that are masters of the shadows.

My parents haven't come to accompany me-they don't tolerate my new situation as a vampire very well. They didn't think about the consequences of calling Lucian, the only thing they thought about was that they didn't want to lose me. Now my mother doesn't support me. Since my conversion I have met her a couple of times, but for short time periods, and she says that my eyes aren't the same and that I have changed too much...that now I'm not her father, however, is dealing better with my conversion, but he isn't happy. Now I'm a monster in his eyes, but at least he is still speaking to me with all the calm he can muster.

But I can't get lost in my thoughts. If I do that I could lower my defenses and I must not hunt in the middle of so many people; that would be too obvious and would not be appropriate.

Crabbe and Goyle are surprised to see me among the living, although they don't know that I'm not actually alive, but that way will be more comfortable for all of us. I guess I'll have to give the excuse of a plastic surgeon.

I sighed. It was time to leave. The steam locomotive exhaled steam and roared like a beast wanting to go out of his burrow. I said goodbye to Luc with a mere nod and went to one of the wagons.

The first thing I felt was the scent of wood and varnish hitting my nose, and the next thing I felt was the smell of blood filling me completely. I held a growl in my throat. Before coming Luc and I went hunting together, and I was surprised at how easy is to convince someone to let you drink a few drops of blood from their arteries. I guess when you're as beautiful as we are it is easy to get dates, even in a coffee shop.

Honestly, now I understand why Lucian has never gotten tired of being a vampire and has always been concerned about keeping up with the century in which he lives. Another thing I have to remember is not to count the time in centuries, decades or fifteen years... I think that despite being dead and having studied more than I ever got to imagine, this has been one of the best summers of my existence/life.

Something caught my attention. A pair of amber eyes were watching me, half closed, through the window of one of the compartments it is daytime and I can't control everything that happens in the middle of the shadows, but I wish I knew what they were talking in that particular compartment... That thought remained in my head when I entered the cubicle where my friends waited for me. Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and Parkinson. This last was very surprised when she saw me. I guess I really have changed something, as my mother said, but the look Pansy gave was absolute adoration and delight. Yes, it is definitely very likely that I have changed a bit.

"How are you, Draco?" Crabbe asked.

"Healthy as a horse..." I smiled.

"Seriously, are you okay?" Goyle asked.

"Totally." I refrained myself from doing anything else but smile. My fangs were well hidden and wouldn't come out until I needed them. "Anyway, I'm a little tired... If you don't mind, I'll take a nap."

I fell into the seat and lowered the curtain of the window with an extreme slowness for my taste because I didn't want to scare them. It's a pain having to do everything so slowly, but I have to concentrate. If I move the way my body reacts now I would just be a blur in their eyes. I would have entered, dropped the curtain and I would have sat in less than a second.

I closed my eyes now that I was properly protected from the light of the sun, and I concentrated on the shadows around me. The most important thing was that I couldn't let myself go because if I fell into lethargy and any of them came near me he or she would die because of my lethal reflexes, the fruit of being in the most vulnerable moment we have-the day. I ordered the shadows to whirl around me, enough to serve me of alarm if anyone came too close to me, discreetly so as not to appear that I disappeared in them. Not that I enclosed in a cocoon of shadows, but they were close to me. Surely everyone was feeling the shiver travel down their backs; apparently this kind of power creates an automatic reaction in all living creatures. That is why my parents had feared me despite the love they professed me when I first came before them.

To entertain myself and not doze off, I tried to concentrate on the shadows of the train. That way I heard several things, some of them very interesting.
"Didn't you say that Draco was half dead?" Pansy asked, sure they thought I was fast asleep and I have to remember to breathe.

"I assure you that if I hadn't seen with my own eyes how burned he was, I would think like you." Crabe was totally surprised.

"Well, he doesn't look even a little tan," Blaise joked.

"I would say that he is more pallid than before and also more handsome," Pansy said.

"We can't judge that." Blaise cleared his throat.

I wasn't very interested in their conversation so I slipped, with my thoughts, to the next compartment in which were enough shadows to hear something that would keep me awake. Apparently a large part of the students had heard that this summer I almost died. To be honest the gossip system of the school, even when we aren't in there, would be the envy of any spy. Nothing escapes the gossipers.

Most of the conversations had me as the protagonist, my new look over everything. Apparently I'm much paler than before, thinner and more attractive. It's fun to hear what people think of my new condition, but several compartments further I found a discussion that I didn't like at all.

"Have you noticed Malfoy?" a girl asked.

"No, and the truth is that I don't care..." a boy answered.

"Since we killed Voldemort, he doesn't seem so cocky," another boy added.

"He seems...different" she murmured.

"Surely he is afraid of us," the second one was laughing.

"No...not fear..." Her voice disappeared.

I was worried about that voice, I knew perfectly to whom it belonged. Granger. Sure that smarty had noticed a detail that had escaped me. Apparently I had to show beaten in front of those stupid... No... They can sit and wait.

All the paraphernalia of pure blood and dirty blood means nothing to me since I've tasted the real blood. I couldn't care less about the birth of my classmates... Their blood is all the same...red, warm, sweet and salty... But I'd better entertain myself with something else before my fangs come to light with just the memory of blood...

It's already night. We are reaching the castle and there I expected Snape. I know what he will say, but I don't know how he'll greet me. When I go down the carriage, for a second, I forget to move slowly and of course it had to be in front of him. My eyes were fixed on his face. He is still very good at Occlumency, but I can smell his fear overflowing from every pore of his skin. I also feel his blood circulating through his veins, his heart pounding...

"Welcome, Mr. Malfoy," he said in a strained voice. "Please, follow me."

My classmates don't understand, but I know he'll tell me the rules-which I have been told hundreds of times.

"Of course, Professor Snape." I follow him through the corridors to the dungeon in silence.

"How are you, Draco?" he asked once we were alone.

"Well," I smiled, "a little dead, but nothing more," I say, sitting down on the desk.

"How have you been...well...you know?" It was fun to see him so uncomfortable.

"Thirsty?" I asked. "Pretty good, my new tutor has given me good lessons and you shouldn't worry about me killing any student." I shrugged "The truth is that I'm slowly getting used to my new diet and every time I need to feed less often... I guess you will have thought of that detail, right?"

"Yes. Professor Dumbledore asks you to limit yourself to hunt the animals of the Forbidden Forest." He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. Am I the one putting him nervous or it's my new situation? "We also want to emphasize that you can't feed from any student. Your chambers will be your choice... we hope you understand that you can't live in the dungeons anymore."

"I understand. Indeed, I agree." I got up and walked over to him "I want a quiet place where I don't have to concentrate on thinking about all the blood that surrounds me... a place where I can sleep if I consider it necessary and where no one wakes me up..." I smiled again. "It's very important that nobody tries it because when in lethargy I'm not conscious and the only active thing is the most basic instinct of survival. And even though I'll attend most of the classes, it's very likely that I will miss a few of them."

"Agreed. That's what you'll argue with the director after dinner. He'll wait for you in his office." He avoided my gaze.

"Tell me something, Severus... Are you afraid of me?" I asked.

"No, it's not that." His eyes were fixed on mine.

"I can smell it..."

"A part of me fears of what you've become automatically, especially knowing it. Another part feels automatic rejection and repulsion, but mostly I feel sorry for you..." he said. "I'm sorry you had to become a monster to survive."

"I guess we can't decide our own destiny...but to make you feel better I'm not a monster... I haven't killed anyone."

Pity? I approached the door too quickly and opened cautiously, I didn't want to tear it from its hinges.

"Yet." I could hear him as if he had shouted it, but I know he said it to himself, only his lips moving to form the word.

I walked through the dining room to make an appearance, and the smell of so much food almost nauseated me. The truth is that sometimes an overdeveloped sense of smell can give many headaches. So much for the concern over the smell of blood when it turns out that what can get me to lie down is the smell of food.

I went to the Slytherin table, ignoring the whispers that took place in my way. I looked arrogantly toward the staff table and found Dumbledore in the midst and he smiled, welcoming me; I'll find out later whatever he wants to tell me.

I did not want to draw too much attention, not more than I had already done I mean, so I sat on the place my friends had reserved for me on the table between Blaise and Pansy. At least they don't eat much, unlike Crabbe and Goyle... Immediately they tried to fill my plate with food, but I politely refused, saying that I wasn't hungry. They don't care since I've never been a glutton.

"What did he want? Snape I mean," Blaise asked.

"He wanted to tell me a few things, nothing major." I tried to let him know I didn't want to talk about it. "I've a new room, that's all."

"Why?" Pansy asked, horrified.

"I need certain facilities since I had...the accident." I prefer to look weak, it is the best excuse to justify the change of bedroom and absences to the classes. "I'm not entirely restored..." I grimaced, trying to look like I was in pain.

"Do you have lifelong consequences?" Blaise asked, intrigued. Yes, a real snake.

"A few..." I smiled, trying not to set my eyes on his, "although nothing that can't be done..."

"But... What kind of consequences?" Vincent asked. He was concerned about my state, not for nothing, since he was the one who took me out of the cave.
"Relax, I'm telling you it's not nothing I can't live with, only that you'll have to look for a new seeker for the Quidditch team." I shrug. I don't think that I might be able to play under direct sunlight.

Greg breathed hard.

"But no worries, seriously. Otherwise, I'm strong as an oak."

I managed to change the topic of the conversation and they begin to think who would be the captain and who would take my place on the team. When the food was gone I could breathe a little easier. Dumbledore stood up to give the usual rules but I realized that on this occasion, he made special emphasis on the rule of the Forbidden Forest.

I guess he doesn't want me coming across anyone while I am hunting, not that I was going to be neglected.

Everyone got up and they began to go to the door while I stayed a little longer at the table to be the last leaving the room. I thought it was funny. They looked like animals returning to their stables, and from my point of view they were that more than ever, but a pair of amber eyes were watching me.

I turned to face her eyes and she immediately looked down and her face flushed... That almost caused an attack on me. I felt my fangs against my lips and my mouth watered when I saw how her blood was flowing through her cheeks, but I managed to direct my sight to another point that was not so provocative, and at the same time I remembered that I had hunted that morning.

When everyone went to the bedrooms of their household, I went to Dumbledore's office intrigued by what he had to say. When I got the gargoyles, they watched me with their stone eyes and I found it very funny. They opened soon after, though I had already memorized every chisel that the artist had given at the time. I went upstairs and entered the office of the old director, and I was surprised to see Lucian sitting on a couch and waiting for me.

"Good evening, Draco," he greeted me with his lovely voice while making an almost imperceptible nod.

"Good evening, sir," I greeted him, but my bow was more pronounced. I looked towards Dumbledore. "Good evening, Professor Dumbledore."

"Good to see you, Mr. Malfoy," he said, smiling warmly. "Master Deveraux and I were discussing how good you seem to be...taking your new condition."

"Yes, it seems that you manage quite well without me, young man," Luc said.

"Thank you. I had a good professor," I say with a half smile. "Anyway, I think at first I'll miss some lessons, Professor Dumbledore. I was talking about it with Professor Snape before dinner."

"Yes, something I was told. I guess there will be no problems, the professors won't be an obstacle, I'll see to it."

"Thank you."

"Please feel free to come to me with any question or problem you have."

It astonished me how sincere he seemed, but above all he seemed calm despite being alone with two vampires.

"Anyway, Master Deveraux has no objection of coming to the castle if you need it."

"Yes, Draco, we are interested, above all, in helping you to control this situation. You have to understand that Professor Dumbledore risks a lot having you come back." As he risked in his day letting a werewolf to study here for seven years, I would only be here of course. "But don't think that we are stealing the credit for what you have achieved today: The journey by train, the carriage ride and dinner... That can be challenging even for some vampires with more experience than yours."

Once I left Dumbledore and Deveraux talking in the office I took a long walk through the castle, looking for a place to rest. After several turns around a hallway the door of the room I wanted appeared. I guess I had it in mind from the beginning and I wasn't disappointed-it was everything I wanted and more. Anyway I was likely to find some alternative shelter so that nobody could find it based on developing a routine. It is very difficult for any student to even get close to hurt me, but I have to limit the possible risks.

CLARIFICATIONS:

Draco can't be reflected in mirrors.

His skin is even whiter than before and has a silky texture. His hair is completely blond and no longer seems to be oxygenated, but it shines as if it had its own life and is silky and strong to the touch. His eyes are still gray, but lighter than they were before.

The way he moves is totally elegant, he makes no noise when he walks. Every step is a combination of elegance and decision, he has to walk with what's for him a very slow speed, because the natural speed for him is invisible to the human eye.

Being close to Draco gives people the creeps because of the shadows, they are a very disturbing characteristic of his new condition. Though, I'm not going to explain much more about it, I prefer you go discovering little by little as it appears in the story.

That's the clarification made by the original author in this chapter.

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