Let the Darkness Take You

Let the Darkness Take You

Chapter Nine

~~~~~

By the time Harry left his rooms the next day, it was already after lunch. He had slept late into the day and had opted to lay in bed, awake, pondering what had come over Draco before he had run out of the room. So, when he left, it was with the purpose of finding the Slytherin. The castle was almost completely empty. Which, Harry was blissfully thankful for. He wasn't even sure if there were any students staying besides for himself and Draco. Luckily for Harry, he ran into the other boy just outside of the library. Draco was coming out of the aforementioned room with a small stack of books in his arms and looking completely preoccupied.

"Malfoy!" Harry called.

Draco gave a start and dropped his books. "Potter. What do you want?" he sneered.

"I um... I didn't know you were staying for the holidays."

Draco raised an elegant eyebrow and stepped forward. "Yeah, you did," he said quietly so that only Harry could hear.

"I know. I just didn't know what to say. What are you doing today?"

"Studying. Like I told my father I was."

"You've been speaking to your father again?" Harry asked surprised. Draco bit his lip and looked down for a moment before meeting Harry's eyes again. No emotion showed there and Harry didn't know what to think.

"Yes. We've been writing to each other. I am his son, Potter. What do you expect?"

"But..."

"But nothing. I don't know why you stopped me, but I don't care to carry on this conversation. It's wasting my time. Why don't you do something useful and go pull out some parchment to do some actual homework? Merlin knows it might actually help your terrible grades." Draco looking meaningfully at Harry and then turned to pick up his homework.

"Right, Malfoy. Wouldn't want to waste your precious time. You may miss a Death Eater meeting."

Harry turned on his heel and hurried back to his room to pull out his enchanted parchment. A note was already neatly scrawled across it from Draco.

Sorry about the grades remark. I know you're not completely stupid.

‘Your confidence in me astounds me, Malfoy.'

Would you expect anything less?

‘Probably not. I'm going to move back into the Gryffindor dormitories today. You want to meet me there later?'

Sure. Why not? I'll have nothing better to do. I'm the only Slytherin here. And there's only two Hufflepuffs and one Ravenclaw.

‘How do you know?'

Some of us take the time to show up at meals. That's how.

‘Oh. I was sleeping for most of the day and then I didn't feel like coming out.'

Right. Well, I have some things to do right now.

"Okay. Stop by the room first and I'll leave the Invisibility Cloak in here for you. The password to the tower is bravery.'

How original. I have no idea where the Gryffindor tower is, you know.

‘Seventh floor at the portrait of the Fat Lady. I never thought I'd share that information with you. I'll talk to you later.'

Later, Harry. Oh.. wait. Don't ever talk to me in the hallways again or I may be forced to place Rictusempra on you again.

‘Should I be scared? Because I'm not.'

Probably not. But seriously, don't.

‘I know. I'm sorry. It won't happen again.'

Good. I'll talk to you later.

‘You better make good on that promise.'

Only for you Harry, dahling. Ta-ta!

Harry snorted in laugher. 'Ta-ta!'

For the rest of the afternoon, Harry busied himself with moving his personal belongings to his dorm room. Afterwards, he lay down on his bed and sighed. It really was great to be back in his own bed again. No matter how accustomed he had become to the other room, this room was still his home. A half an hour before dinner, Harry was still lying on his bed, staring up at his scarlet hangings, when part of his bed sagged under an invisible weight. Harry gave a start and sat up, but a hand pushed him back down and traced a finger down his chest.

"I swear that better be who I think it is, or you will die a terrible, painful death."

Ripples in the air appeared and a moment later, Draco Malfoy's head appeared, smirking broadly. "I hope I'm the one you're expecting."

"Who else would I be expecting?"

"Somebody a bit less attractive than me, maybe?"

"I don't think that that is possible, seeing as how you already rank on the bottom of the ‘attractive people' list."

Draco adopted a sly smile and moved onto his still invisible knees beside Harry. "Drop that cloak. You're freaking me out."

"I didn't know you wanted to see me naked so badly, Harry," Draco said demurely.

"That's not what I meant." Draco sighed and let the cloak puddle to the bed around his body. He then started tracing patterns on Harry's chest that only he was able to see.

"You really don't find me attractive?" he pouted.

"Do you really want me to that badly, Draco?"

"It's good for a boy's ego."

"Well, sorry. But... I don't," he said, without much conviction in his voice.

Draco leaned down and began to whisper in his ear, purposely breathing into it. "Sorry, if I don't believe you, Harry, but you're just going to have to... prove it," he said and he jumped off of the bed and ran out of the room. Harry stayed motionless on his bed for a few moments, trying to gain his senses back, before he also jumped off of his bed and chased after the other boy. He heard the light footsteps of Draco running down the stairs and stopping in the common room. Harry tore after him, into the warm, and cosy room. Only now, it was neither warm nor cosy. In fact, as Harry stepped off of the last stair, his foot caught the ice that covered the floor and he slid a distance before finally dropping down onto his bum.

Draco's laugh resounded throughout the room as Harry looked around his Common room in bewilderment. It was no longer his Common room. It looked as if they were outside, in the snow. There were a couple large snow forts and plenty of snow. The walls that Harry could have sworn had been there when he had gone up the stairs to his dorm room, had now been replaced by nothing but trees and endless fields of snow. "What the hell did you do to my Common room?" he demanded.

"I enchanted it. We certainly can't have a snow fight out in the open so I decided to do something about it. Don't worry, after we're done, I can turn it back. Harmless, really." Harry was still staring around in bewilderment when he was taken by surprise by a snowball to the back of his head. He turned to see Draco smirking evilly at him.

"I'll get you now, Malfoy."

"Not if I get you first, Potter," Draco retorted in a low voice.

Harry had no time to deliberate over the underlying meaning of those words as he was tossed into the best snow fight he had ever had. Draco was undeniably winning by pushing Harry further and further back. Harry finally gave up and started running for the protection of the trees. But before he got there, he ran into an invisible wall and was thrown back into an embankment of snow. "Oh," he groaned as he rubbed his aching chest, which had taken the blunt of the blow. "Déja vu."

"Oh, I forgot to warn you about that. The walls are still there, so you just ran into one," Draco said as he sat beside the Gryffindor.

"Thanks. The warning is much appreciated."

"I'm sorry." Though, how sorry he actually was, Harry could only guess since that amused smirk was held in place once more. He couldn't help but smile back. Draco was looking... there was no other word for it... beautiful. His cheeks were flushed a subtle pink from the exercise and the cold. And his blonde hair was wet and strands were falling over his face, covering up his gleaming silver eyes. The smirk fell from his mouth and now his rosy lips were parted, revealing the tips of his white teeth. His breath was condensing in front of him and with bated breath, Harry watched as Draco scooted closer in the snow. He put his hands on Harry's torso and pressed slightly.

"Does that hurt?"

"No. But it kind of tickles," he replied, looking down at the Slytherin's hands.

"Then you're probably okay. Just a little bruised." Harry froze as he felt Draco's breath on his face, but slowly, he turned his face up and found their faces to be only centimetres apart. "You still have to prove to me that you don't find me attractive," Draco whispered, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Well, I think that doing that would be kind of pointless after I do this."

Harry closed the small distance between them and pressed his lips against the other boy's. His hands crawled slowly up Draco's chest and then entwined into his wet hair, while Draco's hands encircled Harry's waist and brought his body closer to his own. They pulled away from the gentle kiss at the same time, and Draco kissed the corners of Harry's mouth before allowing their lips to meet fully once more. Draco's tongue slid out of his mouth and ran along Harry's bottom lip, and soon their tongues met for the first time, searching, exploring. They both laid back into the cold snow with the blonde boy on top, getting to know the inside of each others mouth. The wetness, the taste, the texture, anything that would help them to remember this moment forever.

Before the kiss could become more urgent, the boys pulled away and looked into each other glazed eyes. Green met silver and it was as if an iceberg hit land. "Oh my God," they both muttered at the same time and separated. "I... what... what... we..." they both stuttered in unison. "You're gay?" They both managed to get out, once again at the same time. More staring. Silence, quiet enough to suffocate. Slowly, both of their mouths quirked up in smiles and they began to laugh nervously, not quite sure of what to do besides laughing..

After both boys stopped laughing, they stared some more. Finally, Draco broke the silence: "Let's just clean up all this snow up and agree to not talk about this. At least not right now... okay?"

"Agreed," Harry replied with a grin and held out his hand. "Friends?" Harry watched as a dozen different emotions flitted across Draco's features. The first was surprise, disappointment, acceptance, surprise once again, happiness, and then pure bliss. Draco put his hand into Harry's and shook firmly.

"I'll take your word on that, Harry. Friends."

Harry smiled as they shook on it, but couldn't help but feel a little disappointment. Friends. They were friends. And that was it. Did he actually want something more?

~*~*~

The next couple days were spent going between the Slytherin Common room and the Gryffindor Common room. Though more time was spent in Gryffindor since the dungeons were always so cold and Harry complained when they were down there. The incident in the snow was not spoken about as planned, but when there was a silence, both knew that it was what the other was thinking about. For Harry, it was either that, or the voice that still came to him. It kept telling him the same things: that he was too powerful to be on the Light side. That the Light didn't want him in the first place. The Dark would treat him better. Though Harry still fought with it, his arguments were becoming weaker. The voice was too good at coming up with good answers to Harry's doubts. Soon, Harry felt like he would have none left. And… that was what scared him.

So, more and more, he found himself trying to block out the voice to think about his kiss with Draco. It wasn't exactly preferred, but it was a good distraction. Especially since Draco's lips had been so soft, and his kisses so gentle. So caring, like he would never let anything happen to Harry. And his hair had been like silk, so gratifying to run his hands through. But no, Harry couldn't say any of those things to Draco. He had to settle with the one memory he had and sometimes look longingly at Draco, when he thought he wasn't looking. It was weird to think that Harry was even comfortable with his feelings for Draco. If somebody had told him that he would develop feelings for Draco Malfoy a year ago, he would have told them to go check themselves into St. Mungo's. It seemed natural now to fancy the boy. It seemed natural to send him those discreet longing looks.

Draco did see the looks sent to him by the Gryffindor. The last thing he would do though, would be to let on that he did see it. The fact was, was that he liked knowing that Harry could possibly be longing for him. Because, it just wouldn't be fair if he was pining for Harry, and Harry didn't feel the same way. Though knowing that they both fancied each other, Draco didn't make another move. He thought it better to let it happen naturally, like it did before. Besides, Draco did have slightly more important things to worry about. Like, such as his upcoming meeting with the operative inside Hogwarts. It was coming up, the day after Christmas. Upon reflection, Christmas morning was here, and Draco was still lying in bed.

The Slytherin chastised himself and quickly jumped out of his bed to rip into the presents that were sitting at the base of his bed. They were all from his parents and from the select few Slytherins who were nice enough to get presents for their friends. Draco ripped through all these without a thought to any individual thing. After all, he was to meet Harry in the Gryffindor Common room so that they could exchange their presents at the same time. Draco quickly showered, dressed, shrunk Harry's presents and wrapped the Invisibility Cloak around himself. But, just as he stepped out the door from his dorm room, he stopped himself and ran back to spray a bit of cologne on himself. Hopefully, Harry would notice... and maybe then anything something could happen.

Draco scowled at himself, as he ran out of the Common room, for his girlish thinking. He was like a silly little school girl with a crush. It wasn't like Harry would notice. But then, the last time he had checked, Harry had been undeniably sexy. It wouldn't hurt to put a little effort into his appearance. Draco secretly didn't think he had a chance over those sparkling emerald pools that Harry had the nerve to call his eyes. (Though Draco would never admit that to anybody) Nobody's eyes were that pretty. Then there was that hair that was so stubbornly untidy and flew every which way. Draco had checked for himself while Harry had fallen asleep the day before. He had tried to brush it down but nothing had worked. It was naturally that way. Damn it all to hell. That made Harry's appeal all that much more sexy. Draco felt his knees go weak as he imagined those full red lips, covering his own body with kisses. Damn Potter. Damn him to hell for making me like this, he thought fiercely.

As his thoughts continued of Harry's lips, the portrait of the Fat Lady appeared before him and he called out a breathless, ‘bravery.' After he climbed through, he let the cloak fall to the ground and looked up just in time to see Harry wrap him in a hug.

"Happy Christmas, Draco."

"Happy Christmas, Harry," he replied into Harry's shoulder. He couldn't help but smile as he heard Harry take in a deep breath, most likely taking in his scent. They pulled away and smiled at each other. This time, it was Draco's turn to take a deep breath. Harry had already showered and dressed. And damn him to hell a thousand times. He looked good. He had on form-fitting black trousers and a dark red knit jumper. It all fit... very nicely. "You look... good," Draco choked out. Draco cursed Harry to hell a few more times when Harry gave him a maddening knowing smirk.

"So do you, actually."

"Don't I always?" Draco replied smugly.

"And I'm the one who needs a pin in my ego?"

"Who says that?"

"Everybody who hates me. So... everybody."

"Well... I don't. I'll prove it. I brought you presents!" Draco exclaimed while enlarging his the shrunken gifts. Harry's eyes bulged as they saw them.

"You didn't have to get me three gifts!"

"I'm making up for the ones you probably didn't get this year. I don't mind."

"Well, now I feel like I've cheated you out of two gifts."

"Not necessarily. Depends on if your gift is good or not." Draco said with a grin.

"That makes me feel better. Come on. Let's go open them. I have yours over there by the couch." Harry pulled Draco over to the couch and sat down.

"You first," they said at the same time. They both laughed uncomfortably, as speaking at the same time brought back the memories of their first kiss.

"You first," Draco said again. "You've got three. I'll open mine last."

"Fine." Harry grabbed first the one that looked like a book and wasted no time in tearing it open. A book with a golden title gleamed up at him. ‘'Know Your Enemies'

"What's this?"

"It's a book on Dark curses and potions. It's so that you know what's coming to you if you are ever in a bad situation. It actually tells how to cast the certain spells and make the potions if necessary, and of course, how to defend yourself against them."

Harry got a wicked gleam in his eyes and he quirked a corner of his mouth up at Draco. "Now, Mr. Malfoy, what would give you the idea that I, Harry Potter would ever need to defend myself against Dark curses and potions? Why, the idea is simply preposterous!" Draco smiled and immediately became sober again.

"Do you hate it?"

"No! I love it! Of course I like it. Why wouldn't I want to know more ways to defend myself? It's very nice." Draco's smile reappeared and he pushed the largest present towards Harry. It was a cube about a foot long and just as tall on every side. Harry ripped the paper open again and gasped as a glass cage with a violently purple snake inside came into view. "A snake!" he exclaimed. "It's beautiful, Draco! Thank you!"

"Take it out. Talk to it."

Harry looked hesitantly into Draco's face but got nothing but encouragement; so, he put his hand inside the tank, let the snake's tongue flicker out to smell his hand, and then the snake slowly wrapped itself around Harry's wrist. It wasn't a very large snake. Maybe, about six inches long. Draco informed him Harry that it was already full-grown.

"My name is Harry Potter. What's your name?" Harry hissed at it.

"I do not have a name, Harry. But you are welcome to give me one. Only those who can speak my language are worthy enough."

"Er - I can't think of one right now. I'll get back to you on that one."

"Take your time. Can I stay wrapped around your wrist? The cage is cold."

"Sure. I'll place a warming charm on it for when I can't have you on my wrist."

"Thank you."

Harry looked back up at Draco, his face shining. "She's wonderful. Thank you."

"Do you have any idea how weird it is to see you speaking with a snake?"

"No. Sorry. I won't do it around you if it bothers you."

"No! I like seeing you do it. It's fascinating. Just weird. Here, you still have another gift." Draco handed the last gift to Harry. And Harry thought that this one kind of resembled the shape of a photo album. Sure enough, when he opened it up, it was a photo album full of pictures of his parents' school days, wedding, Harry's own birth, first birthday, and a picnic.

"Where did you get this?" Harry asked, awed, as he flipped through it.

"I... I don't want to say. I had to tell some lies to get it and... I'll just tell you when the time is right, okay?"

Harry looked up into Draco's eyes, curious, but let it go. He would find out sooner or later. "Thank you," he said quietly. "I don't have that many pictures of them."

"No problem," Draco said, but really he was thinking that it had been worth all the problems that he had gone through to get it.

"You still have a gift, Draco," Harry said as he pushed his gift over to him. Draco took the gift in his hands and began to unwrap the silver paper. Inside, there was a dark green, velvet box, and upon opening it up, a dark silver dragon flew out and landed on Draco's knee. He stared at it, captivated. It was about the size of his fist and had the most amazing eyes that Draco had ever seen. They were an emerald colour that had a light silver shimmering through it like waves. The dragon spread its wings as if in a stretch, opened its mouth to emit a small jet of fire and curled up on Draco, ready for a long nap.

"Wow," Draco breathed.

"Do you like it?" Harry asked nervously.

"Like it? Harry... it's the most wonderful gift anybody has ever given to me. I'm not just saying that. Nobody ever gets me anything with dragons and they're my favourite animal."

"Well, then it's good luck that your name is Draco, isn't it?"

Draco finally looked up from the small dragon on his knee to look at the boy beside him. He gave a dazzling smile that made Harry's heart flutter rapidly. Never had Draco given out a smile like that to anybody, and Harry had been the recipient of it. "It's incredible good luck, Harry." Draco picked the dragon up and placed it on the table and then surprised Harry by giving him a hug. "Thank you," he whispered into his ear.

"Don't mention it. You deserve more than that for all that you've done for me this year. I never thought I'd come to you as a friend."

"I know. I can't believe I let Snape talk me into this," Draco said as he pulled away. They both sat back on the couch with their bodies much closer than they had started out. Harry could feel the heat radiating off of Draco's body now and longed to touch. "I really didn't want to be your ally," Draco continued.

"Why? Because of who I am, or because we've been enemies for so long?"

"Both I think. And I think I was scared."

"Of what?"

"... That -- that you would reject me again."

"... ... I did do that, didn't I?" Harry said slowly.

"You did."

"I'm a terrible person. I'm so sorry, Draco. I know that must have sounded pretty harsh what I said to you, but in my defence, you had just insulted my first-ever friend."

"I know I deserved it. I was just parroting what my father put into my head. I'm not completely stupid, I know what I said to you. But I won't deny that it did hurt when you said that. That's why I've been so rotten to you all these years, Harry. I was protecting my pride. I was just trying to be nice, and then Weasley laughed at my name, so I snapped back about his family. Then you refused my hand because of it. Again, I made your life terrible because of it."

"I'm really sorry, Draco. I wish things would have been different but..."

"They weren't. We are bitter enemies..."

"We're not anymore. We did shake on it the other day if you don't remember."

"I know. I remember, I remember perfectly."

The two boys locked eyes, silver swirled into green, and it was as though all time stopped. "Draco," Harry whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I... I don't know."

A few moments' silence stretched out between them. "Draco," Harry whispered again, intent on saying something intelligent this time, but stopped any thought process as their faces slowly crept closer. Draco's hand brushed along Harry's cheek to rest lightly on the back of his neck. And the two still stared into the other's eyes, unable to look away.

"Harry..." Draco whispered softly. His breath played against Harry's lips, sending a tingling down his entire body. Both their eyes closed as their lips touched. Neither one moved. They both sat there with their lips pressed softly together, enjoying the touch more than anything else. Draco was the first to move. He brushed his lips across Harry's cheek and down to his neck. Harry took a deep breath and fell into Draco's embrace, feeling like everything was right again. As long as they stayed the way they were, nothing would ever go wrong again. Neither boy knew how long they held each other, but they didn't care. All Harry knew, was that he liked having his head buried in Draco's neck, taking in his soft, masculine smell.

Draco drew in a deep breath and pulled away a little, only to be drawn back by the intense need to kiss Harry again. He pushed the red jumper a little to the side and kissed the place where Harry's neck ended and his shoulder began. Draco made a trail of kisses up Harry's neck, down his jaw bone, to his chin, until finally, Draco's lips found Harry's lips once more. He gave the Gryffindor a lingering kiss before gently snaking his tongue out to seek entrance to Harry's mouth. Harry sighed and returned the kiss, wrapping his arms even more firmly about Draco's neck. It was Draco's turn to sigh into the kiss as he felt Harry's fingertips softly playing with his hair and brushing over the back of his neck. Draco pulled back from the painfully gentle kiss and gained a small whimper of protest from Harry. The Slytherin smirked a little and kissed Harry's cheek.

"I can't give you too much of Draco Malfoy at once, Harry. You may faint from sensory overload."

Harry laughed and playfully pushed him away. The rest of the day was spent sitting in front of the fire, spearing food onto the fire pokers and eating to their hearts' delight. They spoke of inconsequential things, Quidditch, homework, teachers, (mainly Snape) new broomsticks, and telling foul jokes that had them rolling on the floor with laughter. It was still an unspoken rule to not bring up their two kisses and when silence fell upon them at a couple points during the day, Harry found himself wondering what they both meant. But he wouldn't be left long to ponder as either Draco, would break into those thoughts, or the voice would. The voice was becoming relentless and Harry had even begged it to leave him alone on Christmas. For some reason, the man had become suspicious and asked who he was with. Harry, of course told him nobody, that he had no friends left. Then the voice would be so kind to remind him why he didn't have any friends and that the Dark side would be more accommodating. Harry found it increasingly difficult to deny.

Sometime after the two boys had arrived back in the Gryffindor tower from the Christmas dinner, they could be found sprawled out on the couch together once again, playing with their presents. Draco was petting his new dragon with his forefinger and Harry was absentmindedly stroking his purple snake, trying to think up a good name for her.

"Thought of a name yet?" Draco asked suddenly, making Harry jump a little.

"Er - not yet. I might just look one up soon if I can't find one I like a lot."

"It's not hard to think of a name, Harry. Just name her Bob or something."

"You can't name a girl, Bob, Draco! Besides, I want something that I think sounds exotic."

"How about Rosalie?"

"Hmm... good name but not exotic. And it just doesn't fit a snake. Did you name your dragon?"

"I sure did!"

"Well? What is it?"

Draco smiled and scratched the dragon under his chin. The little animal seemed to like it and gave a weird sort of purring sound. "Wally."

"Wally? Where did you come up with that?"

"I don't know. I just knew from the moment I saw him that his name was going to be Wally."

Harry laughed quietly, shaking his head. "I don't know about you sometimes, Drake."

Draco cocked his head to the side in a thoughtful expression. "Drake, hm? Nobody has ever called me that before. It's almost as good as Young Master Draco... and since you refuse to call me that, you'll call me Drake from now on."

"Oh, really? I don't take orders from you, Malfoy."

"Oh, please, Harry?" Draco whined. "I promise the next time I kiss you, it'll be nice, long, and hard. Just the way you like it."

Harry flushed red and looked down. "How would you know that that is the way I like it?"

"I don't. But we'll experiment," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'll find out what you like and you'll find out what I like."

Harry looked up at Draco, hoping that his face wasn't red anymore, and offered him a small smile. "Okay, Drake." Draco's eyes lit up and he sank back into his seat.

"I knew you'd see it my way."

"Well, your way was extremely tempting."

Draco quirked an eyebrow at Harry just as a small strand of blonde hair fell over his eye. "That's because I'm extremely tempting, Harry, my boy." Harry only smiled and fell back into the couch. He wasn't fighting with that, but he also wasn't going to tell Draco that. His ego didn't need to be pumped up anymore.

Draco decided to spend that night in the tower with Harry. He slept in Ron's bed and they talked late into the night. After only a few hours of sleep, Draco rose and walked to Harry's bed, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest with a smile. Borrowing a piece of parchment from his bedside table, he wrote a note to Harry, explaining that he had some things to do for Snape and would be back later to see him. He set the note down on Harry's bedside table, next to his glasses and sat down beside the Gryffindor.

"Wish me luck, Harry. Don't ask me why I feel the need to do this for you. I wouldn't have an answer." Draco sighed and ran a hand through his dishevelled blonde hair. "I'm supposed to hate you, you know. You're bloody Harry Potter. Lover of Mudbloods and Muggles. You're a half-blood. All the signs are pointing to hate this bo...man, but I don't. And I hate you for that. You're turning me soft. Just please... don't hate me if you find out what I'm doing today because I'm risking my life for you... and maybe a little for me." Draco lifted a hand and ran his fingers through Harry's hair. "I'll help to keep you safe from this, Harry. Even if I have to keep you from yourself."

Draco sighed sadly again and bent to give Harry's slightly parted lips a soft, lingering kiss. When he stood up again, Harry moved in his sleep and muttered a barely imperceptible, ‘Draco' before drifting off again. Draco took the Invisibility Cloak, wrapped it around himself and left the Gryffindor dormitories. After showering and changing in his dorm, he left again to meet the operative in the East Tower. Draco couldn't help but be a little nervous about it. He kept telling himself that he wasn't doing this for himself. He was doing it all to keep the school safe and in the process, helping Harry. But, then the little niggling thought came back to him that deep down, this was what he wanted.

Not for Voldemort, not for his father, not for anybody but himself. To prove to himself that he wasn't turning soft. To prove that he still had the traits in him that made him so distinctly Draco Malfoy. Sure, he still had his hatred for Muggles and Mudbloods, but he hadn't been exactly vocal about it as of late. He still had his love for making people miserable, but again because of his preoccupation with Harry, that had been put on hold as well. Maybe the petty little joke that Weasley was going to receive when term started again would be enough, but somehow, Draco didn't think so. He needed something more to satisfy his longing for the Dark. Maybe this was for himself more than anything. He'd be satisfying a craving while helping out the greater good.

Draco arrived to his destination sooner than he expected, and taking a deep breath, opened the door to the top of the tower. There weren't many windows in the room, so it was mostly cloaked in darkness. But from what Draco could tell, the room was completely lacking in any decorum. The Slytherin boy stood in the open doorway and shivered as a draft blew through.

"Close the door," a gruff voice said all of a sudden. Draco jumped but did as he was told, gripping his wand the entire time. "You're late."

"Sorry. I slept in later than I thought I would."

"Right. So... I think that introductions are necessary. I know who you are, Draco Malfoy." The cloaked and hooded figure could be seen taking down his hood but his face was still in blackness. "And I..." he said, as he stepped forward into a small beam of light. His features came into view and Draco's eyes bulged as he gasped loudly.

"You!"