The Victim

Harry Potter had never had much luck with love. His parents, the first people he ever loved, died before he was old enough to remember them, and the family who took him in from that time was not the sort that could be loved, and he quickly convinced himself that love was a myth. Things like lust and affection were evident in the lives around him, but an actual commitment like love was just a fairytale. Because of this he wasn't at all surprised that Draco was late for their meeting. In fact he wouldn't have been surprised to pass Draco snogging some unknown Ravenclaw in the corridor as he walked back to Gryffindor tower. After all there had been nothing more than lust between them, since love didn't exist and they fought too much for it to be called affection. This is also why Harry wasn't surprised not to see Draco at breakfast, or in between classes. But the lack of surprise did nothing to stop the hurt he felt keenly with Draco's absence. In his mind he could picture Draco's superior expression at discovering how much Harry missed him, and for this reason he was determined to pretend not to notice the delicate blonde's absence.

This carefully crafted façade lasted for a grand total of two days, but soon Harry began to worry. He hadn't seen Draco since before the holidays. Perhaps more worrisome was the fact that he hadn't even seen a harassed first or second year bearing the tell-tale signs of an encounter with Malfoy. Either way, by mid afternoon on the third day Harry had progressed to full out panic.

In desperation he began to listen to the soft murmuring from the Slytherins, who had been amazingly quiet since school resumed. Unfortunately their hushed and distinctly reclusive manner wasn't helpful to his quest. Finally, deciding enough was enough Harry, invisibility cloak in tow, made his way down to he Slytherin dungeons. He was going to talk to Draco, and he was going to do it tonight.

Waiting in the shadows outside the dungeon entrance Harry watched desperately for a glimpse of blonde. As the after dinner crown thinned Harry knew he would have to follow the next person he saw if he wanted to get into the common room without detection. When he sighted Pansy Parkinson and Milicent Bulstrode approaching he prepared to shadow them into the room. He was so set on not being noticed that he didn't bother to listen to the conversation.

Milicent stepped up to the wall and spoke the password. (Hebridean Black) The wall slid open obligingly and Harry followed the girls into the room.

Had Harry not been in these quarters before he might have deemed the behavior of the students as normal. They were spread in twos and threes throughout the room, doing homework, playing chess or just talking. But he had been here before, and for the Slytherins this was not normal behavior at all.

**flashback**

Harry waited silently outside the Slytherin entrance, waiting for someone to come along and let him in. The shadows flickering on the walls were eerie as was the silence that engulfed him. He sighed in relief when he saw a gang of first years headed his way, knowing they wouldn't notice that one more had joined their group, especially since the extra was invisible.

The shortest of the group spoke the password (Clabbert) softly as if he was afraid a picture would overhear. The wall slid open and the crowd moved in. Draco had given Harry directions to his room and Harry felt reasonably sure of himself as he slipped along a short hall that led to the Slytherin common room. The sight that met his eyes surprised him, there were maybe five students in the cavernous room. Spread out almost as far as they could be, working silently. Harry felt sure he could stand there all night watching this odd behavior, but Draco was waiting for him.

**end flashback**

Slipping through the strangely noisy common room Harry climbed two narrow flights of stairs and slid open Draco's door.

**Flashback**

The door creaked slightly on its hinges as Harry pushed it open wide enough to squeeze through and shut it again. Once inside he let his eyes roam quickly. The stone walls were lined with tapestries and a large mahogany wardrobe took up almost the entire east wall. In the center of the room there was a large bed with green velvet curtains, and on the bed sat Draco. His hair was ungelled and fell softly around his face, glowing like a halo in the candle light.

"It's about time you got here," Draco muttered huskily.

Harry simply smiled. Pulling off the invisibility cloak and moving to the bed. He sat beside Draco, his head turned to study the other boy. Unable to resist he leaned in and ran his tongue lightly along Draco's ear. He felt a tremor shake through Draco's body. Reaching out with a hand, his tongue still caressing Draco's ear, Harry pushed him back on the bed. He let his weight press gently down moving his mouth to the supple skin of Draco's throat. Draco let out a somewhat strangled noise of pleasure and pulled Harry's head up for a kiss. Relishing the sweet taste of Draco's mouth Harry let his hands wander, finally stopping at the buckle of Draco's trousers. With one quick motion the buckled was loosed and Harry went after Draco's shirt. Pulling at it roughly it was off in a matter of seconds. He shivered as Draco slowly undid the buttons on his shirt and rolling him onto his back, slid it off, kissing the skin along Harry's collarbone. Sparks shot up and down Harry's body, ignited by the feeling of Draco's bare skin against his own...

**end flashback**

Harry snapped out of his memories, sitting bolt upright and looking around, nothing. He shook his head; the dark empty room was making him paranoid. Obviously Draco wasn't coming home tonight. He would have to try another method to figure out what happened to his boyfriend.

Harry returned to the Gryffindor dormitories that night feeling more discouraged than he ever had in his entire life. It was worse even then after Sirius's death, because even though no one had said as much and he refused to acknowledge it, Harry knew Draco was never coming back.