Bloodthirsty Dragon

The hour slowly crawled by; minute by minute, second by second. Draco could still feel the phantom watching him and it made him squirm uneasily in his seat. He fingered the little golden cross that hung around his neck nervously. His classmates were beginning to notice his strange behavior. Usually the top student in Potions, Draco had jumped when Snape called on him and asked him about the potion of Half-Death. Draco had been so distracted that he hadn't been able to answer the question, even though he had written an essay on the potion that was 3 and 1/2 rolls of parchment long the previous month. Now, Draco pretended to take notes as Snape lectured the class on the antidotes they would learn to make in the following month and what poisons they would cure.

On his parchment, instead of notes, was a list of names.

Ginny Weasley

Neville Longbottom

Hermione Granger

Ron Weasley

Harry Potter

He was currently thinking of the possibility of each of them in turn. He knew one of them had to be the hunter. The only problem was that he was having an awful lot of trouble thinking of the possible culprit when he could still feel the eyes on him. Finally, the eyes lifted off of him. Draco sighed quietly, able to think for at least a moment.

'Hmm… Weasley is a strong witch, but she is much too shy and gentle to be a hunter,' Draco thought. He crossed Ginny's name off the list. 'Longbottom…. If he's the hunter, than I'm sweet and warm to others.' Draco crossed Neville's name off the list. 'Granger…. Now Granger is the type that might be a hunter. She's strong, smart and quick witted. But… I doubt that she is the hunter. You can't learn to be a hunter by simply reading books.' Draco lowered his quill onto the parchment and was about to scratch off Hermione's name as well when he changed his mind. 'No, she might just be the hunter. I'd better keep an eye on her.' Draco jumped to the next name on the list. 'Weasley… is a bit too stupid to be a hunter. No, he's way too stupid to be a hunter. His family is an old one, there may have been a hunter or two in there before, but for some one that has as big a mouth as he does, he would have blabbed it to the whole school by now.' Draco crossed Ron's name off the list. 'Now, Potter. Well, he does have good instincts. There is a possibility that there may have been a few hunters on his father's side, and with instincts like his. They make him dangerous. He could easily be the hunter. Granger or Potter? Granger or Potter?'

"Draco. Draco! The bell's rung! Let's go!" Lita tugged at Draco's arm.

"Oh!" Draco got up and put his things away. He followed Lita, but stopped at the door. He crumpled up the list and threw it in the trash.

Lita looked at him strangely. "What was that?" she asked.

"Nothing," Draco said. "Let's get down to the Great Hall for dinner."

Draco ate nothing, but, instead, only pushed the food on his plate around with his fork; his face was contorted in a thoughtful expression. 'Granger or Potter? Granger or Potter?' The thought ran through his head once again and the frustration of not knowing whom it was making Draco quite irritable. Lita sat next to Draco, looking concerned.

"Draco. Draco, talk to me!" Lita pleaded. "Please."

"What's wrong, Li-ta?" Pansy Parkinson's taunting voice sang from behind Lita.

"Go away, Pansy," Lita growled through clenched teeth.

"Aw. Is little Lita having a fight with her boy-friend?" Pansy chuckled.

There was a clang as Draco dropped his fork, causing the whole of the hall to turn in their seats, ready for a fight. "Grow up, Pansy," Draco snapped, spinning around to face the tall girl.

Pansy jumped, shocked at Draco's sudden, and lightning fast, reaction. "Gee, Draco," she said in a whiny voice. The whole hall had their eyes locked on Draco, Pansy and Lita, waiting for the next move. Some were whispering about a catfight behind their hand. Even the teachers sat staring, apparently too shocked at the pairing to move. Pansy's eyes flashed at Lita. "Why'd you ever go for a tramp like that, anyway?"

Draco jumped up from his seat. "Don't you dare call Lita a tramp, you little slut!" he snapped. The students, and several of the teachers, gasped, some cheered, while others were too shocked to make a sound.

Pansy looked at Draco, her face fallen. "Oh, I see," she said, turning to leave. "I know when I'm not wanted."

Draco snorted. 'Seems like you finally learned something Pansy," he said coldly. More gasps and shocked silence filled the hall.

Pansy spun back around, shot Draco a pained look, and then ran from the hall crying. The whole of the hall was silent and staring at Draco, who sat down as soon as the great oak doors closed. "What are you all staring at?" he spat, causing everyone in the hall, except for the teachers, to return to their normal, well, slightly changed, chatter, most of them talking loudly of the row that was just held. Some of the teacher gradually stopped watching Draco and resumed their normal talk, while those few who continued to watch him, such as McGonagall and Snape, exchanged worried and confused looks.

"Draco," Lita said quietly, so not to get the notice of the whole hall again, "don't you think you were just a tad bit too hard on Pansy?"

"Absolutely not," Draco replied sternly, but in the same hushed voice as Lita. "She needs to stop soaring around in a fantasy world and land herself back in reality."

"I guess you are right," Lita mumbled.

Draco resumed pushing his food around, losing himself in his thoughts. Lita watched him for a few moments before she shook her head, dismissing his actions, and went back to her food.

Now that Draco had narrowed his suspects down, he felt safe to sneak out and feed. He decided to try out a new animal form and use it to slip into the woods instead of using the potion. Draco came to the large front doors leading out onto the grounds and stopped. He glanced around to make sure that no one was watching, and then turned himself into a small, pure-black ferret.

He scurried into the woods, which were their usual inky black selves, and transformed back into his human form. Draco caught a couple large rabbits and drained them, feeling better than he had in the past two weeks. It wasn't much, but it would do for now. He leaned back against the trunk of a tree and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the night, the hoot of the owls, the chirp of the crickets, the flutter of a bats wing. Draco sighed, feeling completely at peace.

But, that peace didn't last for long. Draco jumped as he heard two voices and the snap of twigs breaking under the clop, clop of hooves on the forest floor. 'Great,' Draco thought, ' centaurs.'

Draco transformed back into a ferret and scrambled behind a tree as the centaurs rounded a corner and came into view. “What is this?” asked the older of the two centaurs when he saw the two dead rabbits. Draco mentally slapped himself as he realized his stupidity. Two animals don’t just drop dead of natural causes at the same time and place and on these animals there was no visible wound, except for the bit marks that he himself had made.

The younger of the two bent over and picked up one of the dead rabbits. “Something has drained its blood,” he said knowingly.

“I can see that, Fenrir,” said the older centaur, not pleased with being told the obvious.

The younger centaur, Fenrir, sniffed the air. “Whatever is killing off these poor creatures is still here, in this clearing,” he said.

"Fenrir, there is nothing in this clearing but a couple of dead rabbits," said the older centaur, looking frustrated.

"But, Cleope," Fenrir started.

"Now, Fenrir, I want you to forget about the rabbits and come back to the village," said the older centaur, named Cleope, as he started back the way they had come.

"But-"

"Forget it," Cleope said sharply, turning slightly so to face Fenrir.

"Alright," Fenrir sighed. "But, can I stay out for a bit longer? I want to look at the stars… by myself."

Cleope smiled. "Alright. But don’t stay out too long." Cleope turned and headed back for the Centaur Village, leaving Fenrir alone in the clearing.

Draco's mouth dropped open. He'd been sitting in the shadows of the tree, as a ferret, for the entire conversation, not moving a muscle. If he'd still been alive, he would have held his breath, as well. But now, he just stared at Fenrir, who was examining the rabbits. He couldn't believe his luck, or the stupid thought running through his head. But, he ignored the stupidity of the thought, for he was still very hungry.

He transformed back into his human form, staying silent in the shadows of the trees. When Fenrir's back was to him, he moved quickly and quietly from the shadows and up next to Fenrir, who froze. "Who- who's there?" Fenrir asked shakily, not turning around, maybe for the fear of what he might see if he did.

Draco remained silent, reaching out with his mind. 'Sleep,' he commanded. Draco could have jumped for joy when Fenrir's body became limp and toppled to the ground. Draco was still a young vampire so his powers were very weak, even if he was surprisingly strong for a vampire of his age. Draco dropped to his knees next to Fenrir, lifting the centaur's limp head. He bent over, exposing two long, sharp fangs, and bit hard into Fenrir's tough skin.

Draco nearly ran back to the Slytherin Tower, mentally slapping himself for his stupidity. Fenrir's disappearance would not go unnoticed in the Centaur Village, not even for a short period of time. He just had to let his appetite take control, didn't he? He'd been working hard on controlling himself in the past seven months, so not to bit a student, but then, all in one night, all that hard work caved in because of one, lone centaur. Draco might as well not have fed for months, because now he would defiantly not get to feed as often as necessary. The centaurs would have that forest protected better than Fort Knox.

Draco was so wrapped into his thoughts that he nearly ran into the wall that led to the Slytherin Commons. He shook his head clear for a moment, said, "Basilisk," to the wall, and hurriedly walked into the Common Room. There was only one person there, but she was not a student.

"Celest," Draco said coldly, but with a tinge of surprise in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

The woman stood up and turned to face Draco, locking his silvery-blue eyes with her black ones. She was tall, slim, with black hair and pale skin, and was very beautiful. The only thing that took away from her beauty was the scowl she was wearing at the moment. She stepped forward, causing Draco to back into the wall, a slight twinge of fear in his eyes. "What were you thinking?" she asked coldly, her voice soft but demanding at the same time. "Or should I say, why weren't you?"

"I couldn't help it?" Draco tried, searching for any way to escape from the older woman.

"Yes you could have!" she hissed, grabbing his arm tightly and making him jump. "If you couldn't have helped it, half of the students in this school would be dead by now!"

Draco yanked his arm out of Celest's. "I've been deprived of blood for two weeks strait!" he growled. "I couldn't take much longer!"

"I could go for twice that long without blood and still be strong enough to survive," Celest said, not sounding impressed with Draco's excuse.

"You may be able to," Draco protested, narrowing his eyes, "but I'm not. I'm still young, remember? I can't go that long without blood! I was getting so weak that Lita had to practically carry me from class to class!"

Celest's expression softened for a moment, making her beauty shine full and true. If any other man besides Draco, who knew what she was really like, saw her now, they would instantly fall in love and throw him or herself from a cliff for her, like someone under a Veela's, or a Siren's, spell. Celest seemed to be thinking, and thinking hard. "Who is the Lita person?" she asked finally.

"She's and old friend of mine, why do you ask?" Draco hissed.

"Does she know?" Celest asked, looking at Draco, again locking his eyes in her's.

Draco, who was busy looking into those eyes like they were pits that were fathomlessly deep, said nothing and only nodded.

Celest broke eye contact with him and looked up at the stairs leading to the girl's dormitories. "Someone was there," she said. Draco looked onto the stairway as well and saw a tiny golden speck shining in the light. He rushed over to the stairs and picked it up, gasping. It was a golden charm bracelet with little birds and butterflies dangling from its chain.

"This is Pansy's!" he gasped.