Author's Note: Hey, guys. Here's chapter twenty. There are twenty-five chapters total, but I'm going on a trip to Europe for the next while (slightly over a month). So, I'm sorry to say that there's going to be another mini-hiatus for this fic. It should get back to its regular programming after that if I don't get distracted by college. Heh.

P.S. Please don't kill me for this chapter.

Chapter 20

It only took two weeks until they called Draco back for a trial. Harry felt nervous as hell. Thankfully, they had managed to keep the news private; although, it wasn't likely that many people would've come. While it did involve Harry Potter, it wasn't as important as his trial.

However, that news had been all over the wizarding world. Every time Draco and Harry had gone out walking around London late at night, some wizard or witch would come out of nowhere, giving them odd looks. Of course, there were those that cursed them out as well, but most of them were just curious. Not that Harry could really blame them. Still, it was his business.

He had been called a poof a good number of times by now, and each time he had to hold Draco back. He thought that people would have been smart enough to realise that insulting a vampire in the presence of another vampire mate would be dangerous.

But then again, most of the people who actually called him that probably didn't know much other than a life of chauvinism.

It didn't mean that there weren't times that it hurt, though. Draco seemed to realise this, and there were times where he would lean over, squeezing his hand comfortingly or nuzzling against him. Just feeling Draco's touch immediately would calm Harry down.

But then came news of the trial. Harry had barely been able to sleep for the past two days. Draco had tried everything, but every time he closed his eyes, all he could picture was them ripping Draco away from him. The thought alone knocked the breath out of him and made him cramp up.

They had been unusually serious about what Draco had done, and it frightened him. He couldn't comprehend why they couldn't see that Draco had merely been a kid and frightened of his father. But the secrets had continued after he had turned seventeen as well, and that was what scared Harry the most. Legally, he was an adult.

"C'mon, it'll be fine. What's the worst they can do? I don't have a soul for the Dementors to take," Draco joked.

But Harry couldn't be pacified.

When he wasn't restlessly lying about, he would pace back and forth across the room. It was only when Draco would wrap his arms around Harry's waist that he would take a deep breath and pause. It wasn't easy.

At least there wouldn't be spectators at the trial. It wasn't like news wouldn't leek out anyways, but as Harry approached the wooden doors, he couldn't help but feel relieved about that. Of course, everything else cancelled out the relief. His hand slipped down into Draco's as they walked into the room.

It seemed bigger than Harry remembered, and the hundreds of empty seats only gave it an eerie quality. In a sense it reminded him of the Department of Mysteries; that place had been so vast, and the lack of people had been, if nothing else, unusual.

As if sensing Harry's queasiness, Draco leaned over, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry. I've already told you; it'll be fine." But when Harry glanced over, he noticed that Draco's face was drained and he looked as if he was going to throw up. Fear poured out of his eyes, and he trembled slightly.

"But I don't even know what they have in mind. What if they –" Harry broke off as Thatcher cleared her throat.

"We've already agreed on the decision. I'm just here to let you know. I hope you don't mind if I get down from here. I was thinking I could make this a little more informal. Kingsley's suggestion..." Harry gave a nervous smile. If Kingsley had told her that, the verdict couldn't be that terrible, could it?

"I guess that's fine," Draco responded. Harry felt how his trembling decreased slightly. Here he was with Draco comforting him when, in reality, Draco was the one who needed comforting.

"He's been fine. He was just scared," Harry muttered, sighing. "He doesn't deserve – What exactly is his punishment?" Beside him Draco stood column-like and mute.

"See, Mr. Potter, while I do understand why he chose to hide this for fourteen years, we don't have much of a choice."

"Much of a choice?" Draco shuddered, looking between them, wide-eyed. "But, what are you going to do? I mean, what did you decide on?" He looked as if he was on the verge of tears, and Harry frantically scrambled for a way to make this better.

Maybe he could ask for help. He had done so much for the wizarding community, or so everyone insisted. If he just asked them for this one favour... As if reading his mind, Thatcher smiled sadly and turned toward him.

"I'm afraid there's nothing you really can do."

"I wasn't thinking of doing anything," Harry lied, gritting his teeth.

"But why exactly?" Draco asked, now visibly trembling.

"Why? Well, you had three years to tell us. You waited, and in this time over two-hundred and twenty people have been killed. That's a good deal more than died even at the Battle of Hogwarts. I don't think you understand the graveness of this situation."

"But my father –"

"He was no longer a threat. He was locked up in Azkaban, safe and away where no one could get him, and he couldn't get anyone. You chose not to tell us because of William."

"I don't understand what you're saying," Draco said, shaking his head as if he could erase this from having happened.

"You wanted to do something to help – I don't know how to say this... You wanted to find your own way to save William or to fix things enough that you could feel as if he'd forgive you. It's understandable."

"Please..." Draco's voice broke, and he continued wildly shaking his head back and forth.

"It wasn't fair what happened to you. But you're a legal adult, and you have been for three years. You have to be tried like one. I'm sorry. I really am." Even Harry could see the way she ground her teeth and her eyes crinkled slightly as if she was holding back tears. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"What's the... What's going to happen to me?" Draco's voice was small, and he sounded like a child frightened during a thunderstorm.

"Six months of Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" He deflated, and his eyes screwed shut. Harry could hear his breaths become uneven, almost stressed.

"No!" Harry shouted, suddenly, letting go of Draco's hand and falling to his knees. "Please, not Azkaban. He doesn't deserve that. He did something wrong, but he also helped so many people. We'd still be staking vampires. I'd be dead. Please..."

They were going to drag Draco away from him and lock him up. The thought made Harry quiver and his chest constrict. "No, oh God, no..." He pushed himself up so that he was standing again and looked at Thatcher with pleading eyes. "Anything. I'll do anything. Just don't hurt him."

"It's the minimum sentence. He's an adult. He has to be tried like one. I'm so sorry. It's not my choice. It's law."

"I..." Draco's face was vacant of expression and his voice was monotonic. He faltered, and then closed his mouth again. Harry's mouth felt dry. Draco was going to be sent to jail and there was nothing he could do. How was he going to live for six months without him?

"But blood! Even I'll start killing if I can't get it." Thatcher seemed to pause at this.

"You'll send it. We'll give it to him, and we'll let him send some to you as well." She seemed to work it out as she went along. Harry shook his head.

"I'll go with him to Azkaban."

"That won't work, I'm afraid, Mr. Potter. It's meant to be punishment for him. Rooming with a mate, no matter what the circumstances, is not going to –" Her voice wavered, and she cut off suddenly, and looked up at them, eyes brimming with tears. "If I could've changed it, I would have. It's just not possible. Please, we'll do everything we can to try to make it comfortable as far as the vampire thing goes..."

Harry nodded, feeling like a wrung out rag. Everything hurt from feeling. Draco suddenly collapsed beside him, his breaths ragged.

"Oh, God!" Harry kneeled down, grabbing his hand, but Draco stared off blankly at nothing.

"No, no, Draco, please, look at me." Draco didn't even respond. "Draco!" Draco finally glanced at him, although it was as if he was seeing right through him.

"Azkaban..." His voice was wheezy. Tenderly, Harry placed a kiss on his forehead, cradling Draco's head against his chest. His fingers ran through Draco's blond hair, and he rocked back and forth.

"I love you. You know that, right?" Draco barely nodded.

"Mr. Malfoy, I guess we can let you two say goodbye, but he –" She cut off again, looking down, horrified at the mess that was Draco. Tears continued to stream down her face.

But Harry ignored her, still soothingly petting Draco's hair. "I'll be here when they let you out," he muttered, trying to seek for any signs of emotion coming from Draco. But the blond seemed to be emotionally numb. "I'll find Dorian, and I'll kill that son of a bitch for you, Draco." Draco looked up for a fraction of a second, slowly showing more and more fear.

"Don't leave me. Please." Harry's throat closed up. But I have to. "I saved you. Why can't you save me?"

That thought pierced him, and Harry kissed Draco, trying to show him he wasn't abandoning him and that if he could do something more... Their lips scraped together, and Harry quickly darted out his tongue, purposefully cutting it on his own tooth.

Blood rushed into the kiss, and Draco's instincts kicked in. He shuddered, finally love. Grabbing onto Harry's shirt, he pull him closer and crashed into him. Draco's fingers slid to Harry's face, and he cupped his cheek as if he was afraid to let go. When he finally pulled back, he stood up and walked toward Thatcher; he was barely able to walk.

"You ready?" Thatcher asked. At some point during the kiss she had stopped crying, although her eyes were still red and puffy.

"No, but I'll never be," Draco responded in a raspy whisper. They walked out of the courtroom, and the door shut behind them. Harry crouched down again, feeling all bravery and hope drain from him without Draco by his side. As he curled up into a ball on the ground, he sobbed.

HDHDHDHDHDHD

Harry's eyes shot open. "I had the worst nightmare. I dreamt that they took you away, Draco. I don't know what I'd do if they took you away..." No one responded. "Draco?" Harry rolled over to find his bed empty. "Draco?"

HDHDHDHDHDHD

He clutched the toilet seat and vomited. His entire body convulsed as the last bit slowly dribbled down his chin. When he had finished, he slide to the floor, pressing his face against the tiles. The cold felt nice against him, and when he opened his eyes, droplets of sweat that had collected on his eyelashes fell like tears down his face.

HDHDHDHDHDHD

"I'd like my job back."

It was only four days after the trial, but Harry hadn't slept at all. All days he had sent his blood in a vial and received Draco's, and all times he had treasured it until the end of the day. The taste seemed dusty in comparison to how Draco usually was. It wasn't the same.

He wasn't there to hold Draco, and even his imagination couldn't compensate for that. It was enough to keep him from feeling murderous, but the ache in his heart grew more and more. Yet he was sitting in the comfort of his own apartment, curled up on the bed or the couch. He couldn't even pretend he knew what it was like for Draco in Azkaban. He had decided to try to pick up his old job; what better distraction was there?

"I was wondering when you'd ask," Kingsley replied, smiling slightly. He looked exhausted. "But I'd just like to ask why."

"Why?" Harry was confused. Wasn't this what he was supposed to do?

"Why do you want your job back? I mean, you clearly have..." Kingsley paused, trying to think of the right words. "You have other things on your mind, I'm sure."

"I do, but that's part of the reason why I want this."

"Here, sit down," Kingsley motioned to a chair, and Harry sat down. "Just explain to me why you want this job again."

"Well, I want to help Draco and get my mind off of him." Harry paused, unsure what exactly Kingsley was looking for.

"Well, I'm disappointed. That's the only reason you want to come back here?" As got up, he added, "I have work to do, so if –"

"No! I want to help, and I need something to keep me going. I like knowing I'm helping. I just feel so damn useless right now sitting at home. Please, I need to get back to this. I know I'm not human, but I still care," Harry babbled, feeling as if he was going to cry. If he couldn't get back his job, he would really go insane. But Kingsley sat back down, looking pleased.

"Good."

"Good?"

"I was planning on re-hiring you. Besides, I don't think I ever officially fired you. You may be a vampire, but you're still Harry. I was thinking of placing you on this new case we have. These two Muggles were attacked by –"

"No." Harry wasn't sure whether he could be so open about how he felt. After all, despite Kingsley being his friend, he was also his boss. "I want to be put on Dorian's case."

Kingsley's face darkened.

"Harry, you have a strong emotional connection to this one. I'm not sure whether you'd be able to –"

"Look, I'm not going to lie; I want to get back at him for Draco. But he's strong. As a vampire I'm less vulnerable to his attacks. And as for emotional connections – I dealt with those for the first seventeen years of my life. I know I can do this. Please..." For a moment Kingsley seemed to mull this over, and then he reluctantly nodded.

"If you do anything stupid, though, I'm kicking you off the case. And you're coming in at the right time. We got a lead on the case recently. I think they were planning to check it out tomorrow. I'll inform everyone else that we're changing the attack from afternoon to evening. Just make sure you're here the moment the sun sets."

HDHDHDHDHDHD

It turned out the team consisted of Roberts, Thomas, and four other men Harry had either known vaguely or not at all – Durham, Jones, Edwards, and Smith. They don't look too welcoming, Harry couldn't help but notice as he walked into the room, Kingsley at his side.

Kingsley reintroduced him to all of them, and each of them curtly nodded their heads. Despite their serious expressions, Harry could smell their fear. It wasn't as if he could blame them. This was a vampire that had survived for centuries, and they were expected to kill him. Even he was scared, although the thought of Draco kept him going. He had to do it for Draco.

"You're still going to be an Auror?" Roberts asked, twitching slightly. Kingsley had left with the instructions that Harry was supposed to let them know anything 'Mr. Malfoy' might have left out.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Roberts shrugged. "Okay, so Dorian has attacked me."

"He attacked you?" Durham spoke now, looking shocked. "When was this?"

"It was right after the first trial. Draco and I were outside, and he came out of nowhere. Apparently he had got into the courtroom and had watched the whole trial."

"Oh, God," Edwards muttered. "So, he knows to expect us, probably."

"Probably," Harry admitted. "But he's strong. He almost killed both of us. But Draco managed to distract him. We might've been able to take him on if he hadn't Apparated." Harry scowled. But there was no use looking to the past. "And while there are other vampires that have slipped under the radar, I think Dorian is the one we need to worry about most." Of course, Lucius Malfoy was probably equally as dangerous... "Wait, whatever happened to Lucius Malfoy?" He had been so caught up that he had forgotten to find out. In a way, he felt guilty.

"They gave him a life sentence," Smith said.

"Good." Harry made a mental note to tell Draco when he got out. When he got out... Feeling his throat start to close, he cleared it and moved on. "Alright, there's also Sybil."

"Sybil?" Everyone looked confused.

"She's his mate," Harry explained. "I'm just guessing that she isn't going to be too happy if we manage to kill Dorian."

"When we manage to kill Dorian, you mean," Roberts replied, a cocky, condescending smile on his face.

"Don't underestimate him," Harry warned.

"Just because you and Malfoy weren't able to deal with him effectively doesn't mean that I'm going to fail."

Harry growled. Roberts was testing his luck. It was almost ridiculous how careless he was being. Just because he hadn't told Kingsley before about the horrible way Roberts had treated him, it didn't mean that Harry still couldn't.

"We'll see if you're still as sure when you have an angry vampire on your trail."

"Is that a threat?" Roberts stepped forward, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think Shacklebolt would like it if he found out that you were threatening me, Potter." Before he could get anything else out, though, Jones stepped forward, pulling him back.

"We're supposed to work on this together. And Potter's right. He's dealt with him with super-strength and he still almost lost," Jones said, looking angrily at Roberts.

"I agree," Thomas added. "I don't think Kingsley would like it if he found out that you were harassing him the moment he got here either. Didn't you say that he's still angry at you for treating him so horridly when you first found –"

"Shut up," Roberts snapped. Harry felt a warm glow hit him. Others were actually standing up for him despite the fact that he was a vampire. They actually seemed to care...

"Let's just go," Harry muttered. "I don't think there's much else I can really tell you." A few of them made non-committal head movements and began walking toward the doors.

"We're going to get out and then Apparate a few blocks away from where we heard they are," Durham explained as they walked. "But before we go into the building we're going to cast anti-Apparition spells around the place."

"I wish we could've done the same," Harry muttered. "He just came out of nowhere." He avoided adding the part about how they were slightly distracted with each other. That detail wasn't exactly necessary to the story.

"I'm really sorry," Durham said, sighing. "This must be hard on you. And I'm sure it doesn't help that Roberts is being a right prick."

"No, not really."

"He can be a real pain in the arse sometimes. I'm not particularly fond of working with him, Har – err – Potter."

"No, I'd rather you call me Harry." A feeling of shame washed over him. "What's your first name? I don't think Kingsley mentioned it. I'm sorry, I should know it."

"I'm new. I came in while you were trying to cope with all that. I'm Nathanial."

"Well, nice to meet you, Nathanial." Harry smiled. At least some people weren't complete idiots when it came to social niceties.

"What's the phrase – pleasure's all mine or something?" He grinned, but before he could add more, they had managed to find themselves outside.

"Enough chitter-chatter," Roberts said. "Time to be serious. After all, we don't want to underestimate Dorian." He sneered at Harry and pulled out his wand. Everyone else followed suit.

With a crack and an uncomfortable few seconds of feeling as if he was being squeezed through a pinhole, Harry found himself standing outside of a place he didn't know too well. Of course, Kingsley had explained the basics to him. Harry had never heard of the place before, although now that he saw it, it looked like their scene. The houses were nice enough that they could live there. From what he had seen, these vampires weren't the stereotypical 'living in the gutter' type.

Wordlessly Harry followed them down the streets. They weren't crowded, but a handful of people appeared every once in a while, talking amongst each other. Harry felt slightly afraid. What if this lead was a false trail? What if they failed? Swallowing that, he thought of how Draco. Draco needed him to do this.

"This one," Roberts muttered, pausing in front of a building that led downward. At the bottom of the staircase there was a door, but the brick wall seemed to have no windows. This looked awfully convenient. After all, vampires avoided the sun at all costs.

Harry raised his wand with the other, carefully crafting his anti-Apparition spell. "C'mon..." Roberts crept down the stairs, and faced the door looking worried. "Bombardo!" So much for a sneaky entrance...

The rest of them ran down, Harry throwing himself at the front. And sure enough, a pair of red eyes met him. "I was expecting you, Potter," he muttered, throwing himself at Harry.

There wasn't enough time to dodge, and Harry and Dorian went flying toward a wall, crashing into it. Harry's head hit the bricks, and he went limp slightly, stars flying before him. He could feel weight lifted off of him as a jet of light flashed before his eyes. Dorian was immediately back up on his feet, and Harry pushed himself up, feeling slightly woozy. He could smell blood oozing out of his own head, but shoved that thought away. He had to keep on fighting.

Sybil appeared as well. She had soft blond hair, and she almost seemed fragile. Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She didn't seem like the same type of person as Dorian. And yet she was going to lose a mate. Her teeth were bared and she frantically stared around the room. Slowly more and more appeared. It was nothing like the swarm from Draco's memories, but there was a good fifteen or sixteen of them.

"Shit." Lunging at one of the angrier-looking ones, Harry pulled a stake out of his pocket, pushing it through the vampire's chest. He gaped at Harry in surprise before falling backwards and dusting. A few of the other faced him, and a good deal of them seemed to focus in on him.

With the darkness and the jets flying, it was hard to focus in on them, and Harry barely had time to dodge several of their grasps. One of them grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms behind him, and Harry kicked forward, knocking another one backwards and into the wall. That one hit it with a horrifying crack and slumped downwards, passed out.

The vampire holding him loosened his grip in a moment of shock, and Harry managed to break free. "You're Harry Potter," the vampire muttered. She backed away from Harry seeming scared by this fact. "Dorian said you were strong..."

The words somehow gave him power. So he wasn't only afraid of Dorian. Dorian was actually afraid of him too.

Using his stake again, he lunged at her, pushing it through her heart. A part of him felt bad. What if some of these were innocents, and he was slaughtering them? There wasn't much time to think, however, as a guy crashed into him.

"You fucking killed her!" He shuddered and stared down at the dusty ground with wide eyes. It didn't take much for Harry to realise that this was her mate. "Rachael..." The guy swung out, smashing Harry's nose. Harry screamed out, feeling blood drip down his face.

Dashing out his tongue, he tasted it on his lips and pushed upwards, managing to get the guy off of him. Still, the vampire had a wand to Harry's chest. "You bastard..." He had managed to grab the stake from Harry's hand and his hand moved backwards. Harry was immobile. Oh, God...

With a giant swoosh the vampire flew off of him. Harry looked over to see Jones' wand pointed in the direction. He only had time to share a small, scared glance with Harry before he moved onto another vampire. Harry leaned down, grabbing his stake and stabbing that vampire with it. "I'm sorry..." He muttered as the vampire stared at him with a frozen expression. Looking around he saw that there was only two other ones if Dorian and Sybil were excluded.

Those two moved with grace when dodging attacks. They weren't attacking anyone yet, but Harry didn't doubt that soon they would. He had to get through the other two quickly so he could help them.

Jones, Durham, Smith, and Roberts were fighting off Sybil while Thomas and Edwards focused on the other two. Pulling out his wand, he sent one of those two vampires off of their feet. They landed gracefully, but in that time Thomas had managed to run up to him. But the vampire expected him. He knocked the stake out of Thomas' hand, breaking it in the process. Thomas shrieked out as the vampire moved forward, ready to bite him.

Running forward, Harry threw himself at the vampire, knocking him back to the ground. The vampire seemed to equal his strength and shoved Harry over on his back. No matter how he tried to hit him, though, Harry was ready, blocking almost all of the attacks. Only one caught him by surprise, and as the vampire's nails clawed into his face, Harry shouted out, pushing the vampire off of him.

He threw another quick blow and grabbed the vampire's neck, but the vampire was expecting that. He managed to rip them off before Harry could do anything. Snarling in frustration, Harry bit down on the other vampire. His blood tasted sour in Harry's mouth, and he quickly spit it out. The other vampire seemed shocked, though that Harry was able to grab his neck again and tear his head off. The vampire vanished, and Harry lay there for a moment, exhausted.

"Sybil!" Harry heard the shout and looked over to see Sybil arch downward, looking at the stake in her chest with horror. She hit the ground with a poof before disappearing. Dorian moved forward with lightning speed toward whoever had done that.

With a drop in his stomach, Harry realised that "whoever had done that" turned out to be Nathanial.

Harry pulled himself up, but Dorian had already reached out. Everything seemed to turn into slow motion. As he pulled himself up he could see Dorian's hand pulling backwards and hitting Nathanial with full force. Nathanial went flying, a horrible crunching sound hitting him.

Spells thrown at Dorian missed as he ran, and Harry rushed forward as well; he was closer to Nathanial. But suddenly the other vampire hit him from behind, taking him down. Harry barely could make a sound as he watched Dorian pick Nathanial up.

A heart-shattering scream came from Nathanial as Dorian bit down, tearing out a chunk of flesh out of his shoulder as he yanked back. The red curse seemed to hover mid-air, and as if he knew what was coming, Dorian turned around, using Nathanial as a shield. Robert's Cruciatus hit Nathanial instead.

"Watch him die," the vampire in his ear whispered. Those words were like a trigger, and Harry found the strength to pull that one off of himself and pull himself off of the ground. His legs felt like lead as he ran again toward Nathanial. Dorian's and Nathanial's eyes snapped toward him.

"Harry..." Nathanial gargled. Dorian's movement seemed to be amazingly slow, and as he twisted Nathanial's neck, Harry could feel himself scream. Nathanial's body slumped and fell to the ground as Harry tackled Dorian. His throat felt raw as his fists repeatedly smacked at Dorian's chest, but Dorian merely chuckled.

"This is what it means to be a vampire. Pretend you're not one, but even your precious mate is in Azkaban because of it. Whatever bullshit reason they gave –" Harry's fist moved down to Dorian's mouth and his upper lip tore open. Dorian cried out in pain finally and his mouth reached down, teeth plunging into Harry's chest. They moved downward, cutting into Harry and creating two parallel gorges down his chest.

Pain flooded his body as Dorian flipped over on top of him, reaching toward his neck. Harry's eyes swivelled and fell upon Dorian's wand. Grabbing it, he stabbed forward, piercing Dorian through the chest.

The vampire's jaw slacked as his hands loosened from Harry's neck. "No..." For a moment he seemed almost human, cowering, fearing death. And then he slumped on top of Harry, disappearing in a cloud of dust. It was the last thing Harry saw before the black that swum in the corners of his eyes clouded the rest of his vision.