Close Enough

Ch 30 The Amazing Cloe

Draco watched the pair in the entrance hall for a few minutes before approaching. They were conducting a hushed conversation and Draco was being polite, for once, and not listening in. Once Cloe released his mate from her arms however, Draco stepped forward towards them.
“Well, Harry, are you going to introduce me to your friend?” Draco asked as the walked closer to them, raising an elegant eyebrow as he did so.
“Uh, yea. This is Cloe, Cord’s bonded.” Harry gestured toward the purple haired girl. “Cloe this is Draco Malfoy,” the hand previously gesturing toward Cloe was now pointing toward Draco. After a brief pause Harry added softly, “My mate.” Now it was Cloe’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
“Really?” Cloe drawled out this one word, while she looked the tall blonde over. “Well, I must say, you have taste.” A genuine smile slid onto her face. “A pleasure to meet you, Draco. I’ve heard so much about you from the band…” with a small chuckle, “and most of it was good.” This being said she looked back toward Harry and winked. “Shall we retire to the dining quarters, my short friend, and obtain some sustenance? My lengthy journey has depleted my energy supply and Cord will need to feed later.” By the end of the question Draco was confused, while Harry was laughing.
“Cloe, you know I hate it when you speak like that. You sound like Ty. And it’s annoying enough to listen to him, let alone have you do it!” Harry exclaimed with a chuckle. Cloe rapped her arm around Harry’s waist and led him toward the doors to the great hall.
“Ty has been asking about you.” Cloe said with a quick glance toward Draco. “He has been wondering how you have been since your birthday, he’s been wanting to see how his work has progressed.” The line of conversation was ended there as they entered the great hall, once inside Draco left to go sit with his friends while Harry and Cloe made their way to sit with the band a few tables away.
Cloe kissed the top of Cord’s head before she sat down, placing Harry in-between them. When Harry looked up from his plate he saw not only Draco’s eyes on their table, but Pansy and Blaise’s as well as a few others in the hall. Cloe, who had been greeting the rest of the table, followed Harry’s gaze only to have her face break into a huge grin and wave.

“Draco, what is my sister doing here?” Blaise asked leaning toward Draco slightly. “I don’t understand why she is here, I mean, she hasn’t really spoken to my parents in a couple of years, but you’d think she’d let me know that she was coming to my school…”
“Iz, remember that picture you found the first day in the common room…” Draco let the end of the sentence drop as realization dawned on Blaise’s face. “I knew you weren’t that dense.” He added with a smirk and loaded up his plate.
“Wait a second…” Blaise looked up at Draco again after a few minutes, “Cloe and I met up at this club over the summer, and we saw this band,” Blaise’s gaze went back to the table where his sister now sat with narrowed eyes, “That can’t be them, can it?” looking back at Draco, “I mean, we never got really close to the stage, and I had to be back before the set was over, mum and dad didn’t know I was gone. Do you think that’s them? Those guys that are here with Harry?”
Draco chuckled softly, “Yes, Iz, that’s them.” Draco looked at Blaise curiously, “Don’t you know who that girl,” pointing to Cord, “is?” Blaise shook his had no. “Hmm… I think you and your sister need to talk.”

Harry looked at Cloe, “Who are you waving at?” he asked her.
“My brother.” Cloe answered with a laugh. “I didn’t tell him I was coming, I’m a surprise.” She explained watching the conversation between her brother and Draco at the other table. “He probably can’t figure out why I’m here, and why I’m sitting with you guys.” She giggled softly.
“You are telling me that he doesn’t know about you and Cord?” Harry was astonished, how could Cloe’s own family not know about her bonded?
“No, he doesn’t know.” Cloe said, her smile fading slightly. “I’m going to invite him to the show tomorrow tho.” She turned to look at Harry, “He met me at one over the summer, the one at Slate in July, I never let him close enough to the stage to get a good look though. I knew that you two went to school together, and didn’t want you to have to deal with the questions. Plus it was the first time I had seen him in a few years, so I kind of just wanted to feel out the relationship between us, ya know?”
“I guess that makes sense.” Harry, having finished all the dinner he could stomach, looked at Cord, “Cord, do you mind if Cloe and I go for a walk?” Cord laughed and shook her head no.
“Go ahead, I’ll meet you in your dorm when you get back. Just don’t stay out too late, I want to take Cloe to meet Severus before we turn in.” with the permission, Cloe and Harry waved a goodbye to the rest of the group and exited the great hall.

Draco watched as Harry and Cloe left the great hall. He was wondering if Cloe was going to talk to Harry already, or if she was going to wait. Draco seriously hoped that she was going to slip it in today, he was tired of taking the extra potions just to be close to Harry. Draco had a very deep desire to be able to be near Harry and not worry about whether or not his actions were okay, to not have to worry that if the need arose Harry would turn him down. The stronger the bond was getting, the more Draco was feeling the need to feed off of his mate. And the more time that he was spending with him, the stronger the bond was getting. Living together, and having a project together had meant that they spent a lot of time in each other’s company. That project was now finished, but the fact that he still lived with Harry meant that they would still be together often. This frightened Draco, even years of Malfoy training on self control could not keep his desire to take what he wanted, what he needed, forever. He needed to drink from Harry, and he needed to do it soon, or he was going to lose his mind completely.

Harry and Cloe walked arm in arm around the lake, stopping when they reached the rock Harry had sat on a few nights ago. The pair sat together on the rock gazing at the castle for a long moment in silence. Harry leaned his head onto Cloe’s shoulder, who in turn reached for Harry’s hand, interlacing their fingers.
“Harry…” Cloe said softly, breaking the silence after nearly ten minutes.
“Hmm?” Harry acknowledged, not lifting his head from Cloe’s shoulder.
“I wanted to ask you about your bond.” Cloe stated, slowly rubbing her thumb on the side of Harry’s hand. “How do you feel about it?”
“I feel fine about it. It isn’t the first time I’ve had someone else in my head, Cloe, and you know that.” Harry joked.
“I’m serious, how do you feel?” Cloe asked again.
“I feel fine, really. I mean it’s kind of strange, it being Draco and all, but I’m fine with it. There is nothing I can do, besides, he seems willing to work on having a relationship with me.” Harry answered honestly.
“Have you two discussed your… uniqueness?” Cloe asked hesitantly.
“In a way, yes. But no, not really.” Harry sighed. “What am I supposed to tell him Cloe? I am the only Creature like me to exist in the history of ever, and due to the mix that I am the horniest virgin that ever graced the face of the planet. I’m sure that would go over great.”
“But Harry, Draco will have his own Creature issues that he will need to talk to you about.” Cloe reassured.
“What do you mean, E?” Harry finally raised his head from her shoulder to look at her.
“Draco is a Vampire, Harry, and they have needs too.” Cloe smiled at him.
“How do you know that?” Harry asked, brow furrowed.
“That Vampires have needs? Umm, my girlfriend is one?” she answered with a smirk.
“No, that Draco is a Vampire.” Harry stated seriously.
“Cord wrote me, told me that he was.”
“Did she ask you to talk to me about this?” Harry asked looking off over the lake again.
“Kind of.” Cloe looked back over the lake too. “She told me that Draco was having the same communication problem that you are currently finding yourself in. It seems that you both find it difficult to discuss things, probably has a little something to do with the fact that you fought for the first five years that you knew each other.” Cloe wrapped her arm securely around Harry, pulling him into a one armed hug. “Just talk to him, okay?”
“I don’t know what to say to him, E. I mean he is my mate, my bonded, the one person that I am fated to spend the rest of my life with, and I can’t even talk to him. I just don’t know what to say, what do I tell him, how do I tell him. He freaks out when other people are near me, or when Dex touches me, and we’re just friends! How I am going to explain to him about me?! He won’t like it, and I don’t want to make him mad! And I know him, he will be SO angry!” Harry rambled. Cloe finally quieted him with a raise of her hand.
“Whoa, slow down Harry. He won’t ever understand if you don’t explain it. I know that Cord has explained a little to him, but it is yours to explain the rest of it.” She squeezed him a little closer. “Look, he might get mad at first, but he is your mate, he will grow to understand. Plus he’s got his own things that you will need to understand, so that will probably help him come to grips with your needs.”
“You really think that he will understand? I mean, he gets completely freaked out, he keeps yelling at Dex telling him off for being near me.” Harry sighed again, resting his head back on Cloe’s shoulder. “I just don’t think that I could stand knowing that he was mad at me, Cloe. I can feel him in my head, it’s comforting in a way, and I don’t think I could deal with him being mad… I know I would be able to feel it.”
Cloe removed her arm from around him, stood, and reached a hand out to him. “Talk to Draco, just sit and talk to him. Honesty is best, you two should be honest with each other about everything if your bond is to be strong.” Cloe began leading Harry back toward the castle, holding his hand tightly. “Will you do that for me?”
“Yea, I’ll catch him tonight. At least let him know that I need to talk. Maybe I’ll invite him to the show tomorrow.” Harry said with a smile.
“That sounds like a good idea, Painboy.” Cloe and Harry both laughed softly as they reentered the castle.