He was in the middle of the Slytherin common room. Everything was dark and the only thing that illuminated the place was himself. His body emanated a strange glow, a kind of black light that allowed him to see everything with little clarity. The light bounced off the furniture and the curtains, turning them into greenish silhouettes whose edges were too blurred. The atmosphere was even colder and more humid than usual, as if the heating charms had failed in the middle of winter. But without a doubt the most disturbing thing about that situation was the fact of knowing he was alone and not feeling that way. There was a presence dancing in the darkness, watching him, making him feel as he hadn't felt for a long time: like prey.

He knew it was there because he could feel the power emanating from it, a powerful one but at the same time blocked by some other element he couldn't describe. And it moved through the shadows stealthily, whispering in his soul, like a faint hiss that seemed familiar and yet alien. He looked in all directions, searching, trying to see beyond what his glasses-less eyes could see, unable to move from his spot, unable to make a false step knowing that whatever was watching him could attack directly and he couldn't defend himself despite feeling his wand in the pocket of his school robes.

He narrowed his eyes when a slight noise coming from behind him made him go on the defensive. He instinctively reached inside his robes and grabbed his wand. One step, then two, then three, the noise stopped and he held his breath, waiting for one more movement from his adversary. Harry felt him move even though his footsteps were no longer audible, the magical cycle that had been there before changed and the dark-haired boy turned around to face that mysterious being only to find himself face to face with Draco Malfoy.

Harry had raised his wand against his best friend, pointing it directly at his chest, but the blond didn't seem to flinch at such an offense, at least not as Harry knewthe realDraco would react. They looked at each other for a long moment, it seemed that the contact of his wand against the boy's chest transmitted light and that allowed him to look at him perfectly well; Malfoy, like the last few days, looked pale and haggard, tired, exhausted, as if the potions the mediwizards had prescribed him after his fainting spell were of no use. He looked like the first two days after he had lost consciousness and he didn't like that.

Draco's eyes, tired as they were, looked at him sleepily and without a spark of brightness. Harry thought that the only reason he could distinguish them was because they were as clear as the moon that mysteriously did not illuminate the dungeons that night. His green eyes stared into those grey orbs and Harry felt the strange sensation of recognizing the boy in front of him but completely ignoring him, as if his magical essence was not the same. Harry did not recognize Draco Malfoy under that appearance.

He opened his mouth to cast a spell, still aware in that strange dream that it had to be applied with non-verbal charms, but nothing more than a weak sigh came out of his throat when the blond took him by the nape of the neck and kissed him. That kiss was nothing like the ones he had received from him before, that short peck on the lips or the affectionate kiss on the cheek, that kiss had been grotesque and wet, completely unpleasant, Harry knew, that was not Draco no matter how much he looked like him. The kiss could be compared to those he regularly saw upperclassmen share in the corridors when no teacher or prefect was looking and it was uncomfortable; his companion's saliva tasted like blood.

He tried to get away, pushing the body of the person in front of him hard, without apparent success, those hands held the back of his neck with a supernatural force. He felt something liquid drip down his chin and Harry didn't know if it was saliva or blood. He kept his eyes wide open and continued to struggle, those grey eyes so similar to Draco's looked at him, inserting his tongue inside his mouth and then, in a blink, they stopped being human eyes; a snake, those were the eyes of a snake.

The dark-haired boy made his last attempt and pushed using magical energy that luckily freed him from that being. The yellowish eyeballs stared at him coldly and Potter, recovering from the moment, regained his posture, raising his wand.

Draco smiled at him, as if he were the real thing, letting out a mocking laugh, his thin lips parted just enough to let the sound escape. Then the blonde's pink mouth opened wider and wider until it became disturbingly large, enough for a huge snake to emerge from its entrails and mock Harry, hissing in a way that imitated a laugh.

The prince, seeing himself confronted with something he had never seen before, stumbled and fell to the ground, terrified and stunned, while the snake left behind its old skin, the one that had once been Draco Malfoy and that at that moment was only a mass of flesh, blood and fluids that stank of death.

Harry screamed, overwhelmed by the idea that the shapeless body on the carpet had been Draco, completely cowed by the unknown. He knew he had to act, he had to do something, but he was so used to having everything planned that uncertainty made him act clumsily. His survival instinct screamed at him to stand up, to put aside the nonsense, that this was a matter of life or death and he obeyed that little voice that had gotten him out of trouble on more than one occasion.

The snake, as big as he was, crawled to his spot, filling the ground with blood. Harry raised his wand and as he prepared to attack, Draco's voice called to him from the ground and said:

—Harry, please Harry, kill him for me, Harry.

Harry opened his eyes suddenly, in the middle of the darkness of his room, he felt his magic overflowing all over the room, trying to protect him from that nightmare. Some books and bottles that levitated fell into the dream making a lot of noise, the candles in the room suddenly lit up and then went out, with the flames so out of control that one of the curtains caught fire and was consumed until Draco put it out using anaguamenti. The dark-haired boy, beaded with sweat and with his breathing labored, looked for his best friend, finding him with an alert expression in case something more serious happened because of his sudden loss of magical control.

The sound of the other dorm doors slammed shut, but Harry paid no attention, too overwhelmed to even try to process that his magic had alerted all the Slytherins. Then, as if it were something automatic, the dark-haired boy stood up and walked over to his blond friend, who, in waiting for an answer to what had happened, only received a hug and a sigh of relief. Upon making contact, Harry realized that Draco's magical essence was the same as always and that brought him an inhuman relief. It was true that his magic felt weak, but given the health circumstances his friend was in, it was not abnormal.

The brunette pulled away and held his face as if he thought he would disappear, the blonde blushed slightly and just as he was about to say something the door opened, revealing Severus Snape behind it. Both boys pulled away abruptly and looked at the head of house.

"What does this mean?" he asked in the unpleasant tone he always used when Harry was involved.

"It was a joke, sir," the blond finally said, after looking at his friend who apparently had no answer. "It's Halloween, sir."

Snape stared at Malfoy as if trying to read his mind, and Harry thought Snape would probably be able to do just that. Draco took his hand as the professor turned his dark eyes on him, silently protecting him. After a few seconds of silence, however, the professor simply snorted in annoyance, surely aware of how stupid it would be to take points away from his own house for something like a pre-Halloween prank.

Finally Severus said:

"I don't want any more of this nonsense," her eyes fixed on Harry every second.

And almost immediately he left the room while running screaming at anyone who dared to snoop outside his room.

With a skillful movement of his wand, Draco blocked the sound from the room so that no one from outside would try to approach to find out something and with another he sealed the door so that anyone who tried to open it would receive an electric shock that would make their hair stand on end and release small electric shocks for a week. Harry felt the absence of that hand on his almost immediately but he did not say anything knowing what was coming; the interrogation, Draco would not let him evade it and Harry did not feel capable of doing so, not when he had only been a few days after recovering their friendship.

"What happened?" he asked bluntly.

"A nightmare," he answered truthfully, and Draco didn't doubt him, just as Harry wouldneverdoubt Draco.

—Well, you'd better learn to control it. Snape suspects it and will probably speak to Dumbledore. If they come to the conclusion that you're dangerous, they won't let you return to Hogwarts.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

—As you heard, a wizard who can't control his magic is dangerous, especially if he has the amount of magic that you possess... —he took a breath and exhaled, sitting on the edge of his bed— if my father... if he finds out that you are incapable of... he will ask for me to change my roommate and Severus will be happy to oblige, you are not exactly his devotion.

—Your father can't do that...

"My father is on the school board, he can and will do it if he thinks it's dangerous for me to sleep next to someone who can set the whole room on fire," she sighed. "Nothing personal, my mother adores you and he, well, respects you a lot but I…"

—You're always going to be his priority, I understand that —he sat down on his own bed—. I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't want to hurt you... you... you're not hurt... right? —Draco made a worried face and then shook his head before immediately going to sleep.

—You better get some rest, tomorrow is Halloween and we'll be spending the whole night celebrating.

Harry watched him sit up to try and grab his diary, but change his mind halfway and lie down, pulling the covers up to his head, protecting himself from the autumn chill.

The candles went out but the dark-haired boy didn't go to bed, instead he stayed staring at the diary. He looked at his friend who was resting with his eyes closed and considered for just a second taking the object and taking a look at it, an idea that vanished again, reluctant to invade Draco's privacy.

Finally he lay down and made himself comfortable as best he could. He had a hard time falling asleep, but the next morning he could barely remember the nightmare that had alerted everyone in the dungeons.

Only awakened by Draco accidentally dropping a couple of books, Harry stretched, rubbing his eyes and putting his glasses back on almost immediately. Malfoy looked showered and groomed, ready to head out to breakfast. Harry gave him a morning smile and got up to take a shower and go together to the Great Hall.

Once he was done getting dressed and packing his backpack with everything he needed for morning classes, the two boys headed out to the Great Hall. Draco remained quiet, but lately he was too quiet, as if his mind was everywhere but there. Harry patiently walked beside him, commenting on various things from time to time, but not even joking with other students seemed to cheer him up much.

They reached the snake table where their usual places remained intact; in the center of the table, overlooking the other houses' tables. Harry greeted some of his acquaintances from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, stopping a little longer with Cedric who was animatedly talking about the match between his teams and was only interrupted by the dark-haired boy when he noticed that the blond had left to go to breakfast.

Potter took his place to the right of Draco, who had helped himself to small portions of food, too small.

—You heard Madame Pumfrey, Draco, you must eat better... did you bring today's potions? —she asked quietly, taking care that no one else would hear. Revealing any weakness about Draco could be dangerous. —Okay, let's go to the bathroom on the third floor, the abandoned one, you'll take them and then we'll go to class.

"That's a girls' bathroom," she complained quietly.

—Nobody will see us, don't worry.

"Good morning, Harry!" a voice said as it approached. The Slytherins frowned.

—Colin, good morning —he greeted the boy.

"Could I take some pictures of you at the Halloween dinner? In the History of Magic class, I was asked to write an essay about someone I admire and…" she blushed noticeably. Draco rolled his eyes and Harry smiled feigning kindness.

—Of course, but if anyone else asks for them, don't give them to them, okay? —the dark-haired man replied, winking. Colin turned a noticeable shade of red and nodded awkwardly.

"Creevey!" Ginny's voice came out, furious as she walked up to her classmate. "You're not supposed to be here bothering Harry." She looked at the Slytherin and smiled. "Come on." She practically dragged the lion out of there.

When Harry looked back at his table, Draco had already left without having had more than a few bites and a glass of pumpkin juice. He sighed, certain that he wouldn't be taking his revitalizing potions before class either. Draco could be incredibly mature at times, talking like an experienced adult, and sometimes, when it came to things like his health, he was like a real child, putting off taking his medicine and not even telling him that his mother would be very worried if it didn't work.

Harry had received a letter from Narcissa who had fervently asked him to make sure that her dragon took all the medicines and Harry did not want to look bad with the Malfoys, so he spent most of the time behind the boy insisting, almost forcing him to take his potions. And he was worried, he could not imagine what Lucius Malfoy would say if he knew that he could not even handle his heir's tantrums, Harry knew that if he wanted to continue prospering he had to win over that man, that last name.

However, babysitting his best friend was starting to get annoying, he didn't have time to babysit anyone, Draco was old enough to understand, Draco was close enough to him to understand that Harry couldn't just go around wasting his time, that Harry had important business like forming alliances with the other houses, alliances that even Ron and Hermione understood, and Harry thought that if Draco could be a little, just a little bit sensible and take care of his health without needing to be reminded every now and then, then that would be for the best.

Without Malfoy around, Zabini and Nott clung to him like flies to honey, Harry could see through their eyes and understood that just like him they were looking for benefits, so he let the conversation flow and let them understand that he was in control, that he was no longer the dull first-year boy who didn't understand anything. And they respected him, they all did, even the older students, they all wanted a bit of Harry Potter and Potter needed everything from everyone, aware that in them he could find alliances, position and status, aware that they would want something in return in the future, unlike Draco, Draco was different, he wanted to see him high up because he loved him and Harry loved him and would give him the whole world in gratitude, one day.

After breakfast he met Hermione and Ron who invited him to spend Halloween at Mr. Nicholas' death party in the dungeons. The brunette refused, he already had a date with Draco that night in the dining room. However, when classes ended and it was time to get ready for that night's celebration the blond simply refused to leave his room and Harry had to attend Mr. Nicholas' party. It had been deadly boring, the ghosts, of course, didn't eat anything he could eat, it was cold, even for him who was used to the dungeons. In the end he and his friends decided to go to the great dining room where the party was in full swing.

Harry took advantage of the moment to make more friends, the badgers seemed reluctant to trust him at all and his main task was to win them over by any means necessary. He ate, drank and chatted with anyone who was willing to listen to him talk. The magic of Halloween made him feel more powerful than any other day and he knew that those around him could sense it, as they seemed more submissive than usual.

It was just after midnight that he began to feel empty, being surrounded by people who weren't entirely honest with him suddenly seemed overwhelming; Hermione was chatting with some boys from her house, Ron was trying to play a prank on Snape with the help of his brothers and Harry decided that he'd had enough, that he needed a change of environment so taking some things from the feast he decided to return to his room where Draco assured him that he would stay, too tired to do anything else.

The dark-haired boy made sure to bring only the things that his best friend liked the most, taking special care not to fill his hands only with sweets and candy. Finally he left the great hall towards the dungeons thinking that maybe Draco wanted to help him practice chess and that he would have to force him to take the medicine by bribing him... maybe doing his history homework would be enough. It was when he was on the stairs that went down to the dungeons that a presence overwhelmed him, a presence very similar to the one in his dream the night before.

The horrible images of the snake coming out of his best friend's entrails made him throw everything to the floor and run to his room. This time he was prepared, he had thought about it almost all morning and had forced himself to review the charms he knew to repel small magical reptiles. He looked at the snake ring that rested on his right hand and grabbing his wand he entered his room only to find it completely empty, the blond's bed was unmade and still warm, which meant that he had not left long ago. With more determination than ever Harry went out in search of Draco. He had not reached the third floor when he heard him:

—... Tear... Tear apart... Kill... —The same voice, the same cold, murderous voice he had heard days before, just before Draco fell ill.

By now he was convinced that something bad was happening, something serious that was only intensified by the time they were in. He stood in front of some classrooms and thought that maybe his charms wouldn't be that useful and he definitely wasn't made to run after danger. However, the voice was beginning to fade away and if he didn't go after it he would lose track of it. He wasted a lot of time thinking about what he should do; if he went back for a teacher it could be too late and Draco could be dead and if he went forward he would put himself in danger. Harry was powerful, yes, and quite intelligent, but he was still a boy and a Slytherin and his instinct for self-preservation screamed at him not to go, but it was Draco he was talking about and before he knew it his feet had already moved in the direction of the voice.

The floor was covered in water, so his footsteps, although careful, could be heard splashing through the puddles as he walked slowly and cautiously. He continued forward, wand at the ready and hearing sharp, his voice growing quieter and the movement of the creature or whatever it was becoming more and more lost, frustrating him. He turned a corner and ran into Ron and Hermione, whom he almost cursed in surprise. Hermione's eyes shot open, Ron bravely pulled out his wand when she didn't recognize him immediately, then the three of them looked at each other and smiled.

"We were looking for you," the girl said, "you left without saying goodbye."

"I'm sorry but..." the voice sounded very close and Harry stopped suddenly, then asked, "Do you hear that?"

—...wanted...for so long...—said the voice that was now moving away upwards, they had to find some stairs, soon.

"This way!" Harry said authoritatively, his friends snapping to attention and following him to whatever was happening. Neither the Ravenclaw nor the Gryffindor dared to question him as they climbed to the fourth floor.

They ran through the corridors until they finally found a set of stairs which they climbed at full speed. Harry had let Ron go ahead while he guided them with silent gestures, he knew that if something happened Ronald would not hesitate to defend them and Hermione would find a quick way to get them to safety, she knew almost as many charms as he did. And he felt much safer, his thing was not to risk his life, to go into the battlefield blindly, even when the Philosopher's Stone thing happened he had taken the time to investigate what they would find under the trapdoor. However, it seemed that Ron was very good at feeling his way bravely so he let him, hoping not to have to give his condolences to Mrs. Weasley who had been very kind to him during the summer.

—... kill... It's time to kill... —the voice said once more.

"He's going to kill him..." he whispered more to himself than to his friends who didn't quite understand.

Potter ran like hell, with Ron on his right and Hermione on his left. The corridors were deserted, everyone or most of them must have been at the Halloween party. Then at the end of the last corridor of that floor Harry stopped and gesturing to his friends they ventured to face whatever was around the corner, however there was nothing there and the voice had disappeared. Everything was really dark, but to the dark-haired boy's relief there was no sign of Malfoy, which was a good sign, he didn't want to know what the Malfoys would do if they knew that...

"There," said Hermione's voice, and with a wave of her wand she lit the torches in the corridor. Then Harry was able to see.

There, in the far corner by a window, lay the body of a man; Argus Filch, the janitor, and his cat Mrs. Norris, both lying on the floor, and on their heads, on the wall, written in blood, was written:

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIRFEAR.

—Let's get out of here —Harry said.

"We shouldn't try..." Ron began, at a loss for words.

"Listen to me," Harry replied, "they better not find us here."

But it was too late. A noise, like distant thunder, indicated that the party was just over. From either end of the corridor in which they stood came the sound of hundreds of feet ascending the stairs and the loud, cheerful chatter of people who had eaten well. A moment later students were bursting into the corridor from both sides.

The chatter, the bustle and the noise suddenly died away as they saw the cat and the janitor on the floor. Harry, Ron and Hermione were alone in the middle of the corridor when silence fell over the mass of students, who pressed forward to see the gruesome spectacle.

"Harry?" a voice asked from the crowd and the dark-haired boy turned to find himself staring into the face of Draco Malfoy who had apparently decided to go down to the party at the last minute.

"This wasn't my doing," he said then in a firm voice and Draco smiled in a way that Harry didn't understand.

A/N: Still enjoying it? don't worry, there's more to come