Forbidden Union

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Draco felt elated. He had read the thick tome his godfather had given him, and, shocked that he hadn’t thought of it before, had raided the library for similar books which might give him more information. He wasn’t surprised to find that many were out of his reach in the forbidden section, however he did find a copy of Eldred Worple’s “Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires” which was surprisingly informative and gave a more modern look at vampire society today rather then historically.

He had been shocked to discover that becoming a vampire had once been a fashionable way to extend life without losing strength or good looks among the aging wizard nobility. It had lost favour when one family had made the decision to turn their father into a vampire after he had began to become senile after many years of abusing fire whisky and mind-altering potions. They had hoped that becoming a vampire would restore their father to his previous self. It had not. The old man had become unpredictable and violent, eventually killing his whole family. Many families then decided to either disown, or put into hiding their aging relatives that had already made the change. Many of these, old arrogant nobility all, had rejected the decision of their younger relatives and started their own social hierarchy; however it had never been accepted by wizarding society. The society of vampires was still quite wealthy, supported as it was by connections to all the oldest and most powerful wizarding families, even if most would deny the connection. They were not short of willing servants who accepted the small discomfort of being regularly fed off in return for very generous wages. In reality it was rare for a human, magical or muggle to be turned against their will, as the vampires were quite jealous of their power and what they saw as their status, however there was a small but steady influx of new people into the community who were willing to become vampires, so the population stayed relatively constant despite the long life span of vampires, and the fact that they couldn’t reproduce. Draco found the history fascinating, but was even more intrigued by the more practical information given in “Blood Brothers” He learned that there were three different types of bite he could inflict as a vampire; to feed, to kill, to turn. This meant he would no longer have to cut Crabbe or Goyle, then allow their blood to run into a glass which he would then drink cold for fear of turning them into vampires.

Lost in his musings he didn’t see Harry coming in the other direction until the other boy had ran into him hard, causing him to drop the two books he had carrying.

“Watch where you’re going, Malfoy!” The voice dripped with venom and Draco was shocked he hadn’t felt the anger radiating from the boy before they collided. “What’s this?” Harry had caught sight of the two books on the ground, “being a Deatheater not enough for you? Want to be a vampire too now?” Draco studied the other boy, he had been vaguely aware of Harry’s continuing anger towards him, and confusion at his own changed attitude, however he had ignored it as irrelevant, but if Draco ignored him now it would be suspicious and besides, Harry was not going to leave without an argument this time.

Draco stepped up into Harry’s space and was pleased to see he had to look down a good few inches to meet his angry green eyes. “Yes Potter, I want to be a vampire.”

Potter scoffed “yeah right, you wouldn’t have the courage, and anyway I’m sure daddy wouldn’t want his precious ferret to pollute his nice pure Malfoy blood.”

Draco felt a shiver run up his spine, Harry didn’t know his father at all, unable to respond to that remark Draco locked onto the other half of the statement; “courage? What would you know about courage, running around with your little friends playing at being a hero? The boy who lived; huh! Famous for something you had no control over that happened when you were a baby! You’re pathetic!”

Harry froze, he’d had the thought himself many times, but never had he had it thrown at him like this. He thought he had been angry before but now blind hatred and rage flowed through him, yeah ok, so he’d had no control over being famous, but he’d tried his best since then, he’d never ran away from anything, he thought he’d earned some of the hero worship some of the magical population had for him, and damn it he was sick of people implying he’d ever wanted to be famous, or enjoyed the attention! Without pausing to think he threw himself at Malfoy, fists flying uncontrollably, just wanting to hurt the stupid arrogant Slytherin.

Draco barely felt the fists thumping against his chest, his neck, wherever they could easily reach, he was drowning under the waves of Harry’s emotions, it was like nothing he’d ever felt, nothing he’d ever imagined anyone could feel. He’d grown up in a family where showing emotions was a weakness and never had he experienced the total loss of control Harry was showing now. The anger was hot and fast and all consuming, the hatred was spicy and dark, underneath was regret and sadness and guilt which Draco didn’t understand. Draco pulled himself out and back together, and found himself holding the angry Gryffindor at arms length. Harry was still struggling and throwing himself about, growling uncomprehendingly. Draco realised the ease at which he was being held back shocked Harry and was doing nothing for his anger, so he let him go, a fist cracked against his chin and he tasted his own blood as his teeth went through his tongue. Finally he felt an answering pulse of anger and swung his foot out, tripping the Gryffindor who fell hard against the stone wall of the corridor, he stepped forward to strike out again only to walk into Harry’s kick to his right shin, the kick was hard, all his strength and anger behind the blow and Draco heard the bone snap.

His leg gave way under his weight and he collapsed. The pain was jagged and sharp, biting into his calf. Harry had stood and was leaning over him, for a second Draco thought he was going to kick him again; then he realised that Harry’s anger was gone. He felt weak and dizzy, he pulled his robe up to survey the damage and felt physically sick as his leg, bent at an unnatural angle, was exposed.

“Shit!” Harry’s fear showed in his voice; to escape accusations of underage magic only to be expelled for a stupid fight! “Damn it Malfoy! Trust your bones to be made of glass!”

Draco felt a hysterical laugh welling up and thrust it back down viciously. “Er… how bout some help to the infirmary?” He felt stupid as he asked it, but pain was stopping him from thinking properly, and just right now he couldn’t think how he could get there himself, nor did he want to wait in the deserted corridor for someone else to pass.

“So you can tell everyone what happened and get me expelled?”

“No you idiot! So I can get my leg fixed and stop the agony I’m in right now!”

Harry stood, unconsciously stepping from foot to foot, he was shocked at how calmly Malfoy, who had cried murder when Buckbeak had scratched his arm, was taking this obviously painful break. As much as he was tempted to, he really couldn’t leave the boy with a broken leg lying alone in the corridor. Unfortunately.

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