Guilty as Sin

CHAPTER 7

Harry was still shaking a little by the time Draco sat him down on the bench in the Slytherin sixth year boy’s dorm bathroom. Harry wasn’t sure what had happened to him between when Alan had confronted him and when Snape had hit him. All he could register in his mind was the feeling of complete unrestrained ecstasy that had come with the stinging blow to his cheek Snape had landed him with, and the smell of metallic tangy blood that had lingered in the air afterwards.

“You’re lucky Potter that Goyle has such an intolerance to pain.” Harry looked up from where he was staring at his hands in his lap to watch Draco in the reflection of the mirror above the hand basin’s opposite. The blonde was casually washing away the splatters of his friend’s blood from his hands and face with a face washer. “That could have escalated to another national incident? Do you always confront your Superei like that or do you have a death wish?” Finishing washing his face Draco spun around and stared at Harry pointedly waiting for an answer. Harry had no idea what Draco was talking about and merely shrugged his shoulders, not trusting himself to speak less he lost control again. “Do you even realize what you are Potter?” Slowly Harry shook his head unsure himself when his life had become so complicated and out of control as it seemed to be now.

Weird things had started happening in his first year at Hogwart’s, weird things he wouldn’t have dared tell anyone about. Harry had always had strange feelings as a child but it hadn’t been until he’d started at Hogwart’s and learnt of his wizarding parentage that he really took notice of the strange things happening to him and not his friends. He’d done a little research but most of the books regarding his strange behavior were vague, censored and restricted providing very little information. It was from a book he’d learnt about the potion to control his strange feelings and it was through some dubious channel’s he’d obtained it but as soon as the potion worked Harry had thought he was safe. Safe in not knowing what or who he was, and safe in the knowledge he was controlled enough to just be the normal Harry Potter, everyone was expecting. Everything had been going to plan until this summer when things had slipped out of his control and turned his life to utter shit.

“I’m not sure but I think I’m a Vampire…” Harry was cut off as Draco chuckled and shook his head in obvious amusement. Not in the mood to be laughed at Harry growled at Draco but the blonde instantly put up his hands in apology.

“Down boy, I wasn’t laughing at you. I was just amused by the popular fiction.” Draco walked steadily back over to where Harry was sitting on the bench and carefully sat himself down beside him. Harry watched him suspiciously as Draco leaned back casually against the wall and closed his eyes. “A Vampire Potter is a creature created from an infectious virus within a human making them linger between the world of the living and the dead. The virus is passed between hosts through blood lust, that’s how their race survive and reproduce.” Harry nodded cautiously at Draco having attended Defense Against the Dark Arts and leaned just as Draco had about the Vampire. It had been that lesson which had prompted Harry to investigate his own behaviors in first year. “We on the other hand,” Draco continued as he gestured casually between the two of them by way of explanation. “Are creatures born of parents, with lineage in the wizarding world, not created from a virus but from a magical signature inherited from our parents. While we share traits such as blood lust with the Vampire’s we do not however rely on it for our survival, it is merely a substitute for the essence we truly crave which is pure magic only extractable from wizards and witches.” Draco opened his eyes and smiled across at Harry who was staring at him having heard this new information for the first time.

“Then what are we called?” Harry whispered watching as Draco wrapped his cloak tighter around in the cold air of the bathroom.

“In old law we are referred to as the Eilith-feruatu but we’re more commonly referred to as the ‘unforgiven’ in general circles now days.” Harry nodded slowly, having only once ever heard the word ‘unforgiven’ when Mr. Weasley had mentioned it one summer at the burrow.

“Is there a lot of us?” Harry whispered wondering how many other people were like him.

“It’s hard to tell. We’re rare, and only one child in ten generations may ever be born. With the ministry prohibiting our mere existence most of us are in hiding and die without having found either our companion or mate, so our reproduction rate is low. Most of the unforgiven live lives of normal wizards, marrying into other wizarding families rather than with their own kind. Thus the signature that created us is lost again for another ten or so generations until it reoccurs naturally in their heirs. Most old pure blood wizarding families carry the signature but no one speaks of it. Any family found to have produced an unforgiven child is seen as infected and ostracized from society.” Harry sighed heavily wondering why on earth society didn’t accept them, just as they did the Werewolf or other dark creatures.

“Why aren’t we protected like the other dark creatures?” Harry whispered finding it hard to refer to himself as a creature rather than as a person.

“Misunderstanding and fear. We feed off other wizard’s magic Potter and to any self respecting Wizard that’s a threat. Without magic we are all merely vulnerable muggles, and it is that fear of being left helpless that makes the Ministry and their followers fear us.” Harry sighed again and leant back heavily against the wall beside Draco who instinctively moved in closer to Harry’s side, the blonde pushing his nose into the side of Harry’s neck and inhaling deeply on an aroma only he could smell. “You smell divine Potter, like sin and sex rolled into one. I couldn’t smell you until the start of term, hadn’t even bothered with you to be honest but it’s there despite the concealment.” Draco breathed out heavily against Harry’s neck making the boy shiver a little with restrained delight.

“What did you mean when you said ‘Did I always treat my Superei like that’?” Harry muttered as Draco controlled himself and pulled back from Harry’s neck in order to answer the question.

“To begin with let me tell you about how we were created first. Vampires have been around millennia longer than Wizard’s. When Wizard’s began to appear in the late 10th Century the two distinct magical beings began to seek one another out to find common ground and learn from one another. Naturally there were experiments that happened as Wizard’s learnt about their magic and learnt how to use it. Somewhere in this earliest time though a Vampire and a Wizard got together and did the deed. The results of which was a child who displayed all the symptoms of having the Vampire virus but also carried with it the wizard’s magical abilities. Eventually though through the generations these traits of the virus have mutated making the offspring reliant on magical lust rather than the more common blood lust. Are you with me so far?” Draco looked seriously at Harry who narrowed his gaze in slight confusion but nodded all the same as Draco continued. “As I explained before, this signature that was originally created with the first born child was passed through the generations as the years went by. However what was discovered was that in the children born with this signature there were two distinct types. The Superei, tended to show more of the Vampire’s magical signature making them far stronger and more dominant. The Inferei however showed more of the Wizarding magical signature and were far less aggressive and a lot weaker in comparison to the Superei.” Draco paused as there was the sound of chatter outside in the dorm room obviously the chaos of the great hall had been sorted and the Slytherin’s were returning to their dorm to get ready for the dueling club. Lowering his voice Draco continued. “Not much else was ever found out about us because the Ministry saw fit to ban all tests on our kind, saying that it was encouraging dark magic. All we know now, through the very few meetings that have happened between unforgiven is that you do not confront a Superei no matter what forces pull you towards it. Most of us are Inferei but the two Superei I know of I wouldn’t cross with a ten foot broom.” Draco smiled seriously at Harry who got the general idea of what Draco was suggesting.

“Is Snape…?” Thinking back to what had happened in the hall Harry queried Draco hoping the blonde knew. Draco however shrugged his shoulders in reply.

“We don’t know but if he is he’s definitely at Superei. It’s so difficult to tell with the inhibiting potion and concealment charms blocking our natural senses. If an unforgiven wants to remain anonymous it’s virtually impossible for anyone to tell unless they crack, like you did at your cousin’s party.” Draco looked sympathetically across at Harry who groaned audibly at the mere memory of what he’d done to his cousin’s best friend. While Harry knew he should have regretted it, he didn’t in the least in fact he got quite a kick out of it remembering the way the boy had screamed, and thrashed about as Harry had killed him. “Come on, or we’ll be late to the meeting.” Draco stood up from his position beside Harry having heard the last of the noise of the Slytherin’s leaving the dorm to attend the dueling club.

“I haven’t accepted yet.” Harry muttered realizing that Draco had just assumed he’d accepted the offer the blonde had made on Sunday. Draco paused by the open door to the bathroom and glanced back knowingly at where Harry still sat unmoved.

“Potter after the display in the great hall your decision has already been made for you. You need us and we need you.” With a firm and knowing stare Draco stood aside the door and gestured for Harry to follow. Harry hesitated for a moment but in one of the most significant decisions in his life he stood up and followed Draco quietly in acceptance. “I don’t like being late, they’ll start without us.” With a smile Draco grabbed hold of Harry’s hand and dragged the boy through the Slytherin dorms and down through a secret passage hidden under Draco’s trunk at the end of his bed.

“What goes on at these meetings?” Harry inquired a little concerned as he allowed Draco to lead him through the darkness.

“Just wait and see.” Draco chuckled wickedly leaving Harry more than a little apprehensive about having made the biggest decision of his life in the bathroom after only three days of thinking about it.

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A/N Alright just two chapters today because they\'re pretty information ladened chapters. You\'ll learn more about the Eilith-feratu as we move along but that\'s the basis of them here in this chapter. Draco\'s a smarter cookie than he seems with a severe taste for sugar....*winks knowingly* Sugar tastes better when it\'s someone elses though....

Thanks for all the reviews, I knew I\'d find you all again lost in the snazzy graphics of the new look board. I confess I dislike change but I\'m gritting my teeth and squinting really hard, so I\'ll get used to the new look sooner or later.

Cheers RIFFRAFF