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Cannot Save You Now	By : tigrelilje Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 15706 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter fandom nor do I make any money from writing this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Chapter 11
Draco was very confused. And hurt, if he was honest with himself. But as much as he wanted to forget about Henry Renard, he couldn’t.
And that made him angrier than anything else about this situation.
He still felt that pull toward the other boy that he couldn’t explain. He had contemplated a casual affair with someone else, but it felt wrong. The thought of someone else touching his skin in a sexual manner made him feel like bugs were crawling over him. Was he destined to become celibate? That was unacceptable.
Even more frustrating, he caught Henry watching him sometimes. His expressions were always different when Draco noticed; longing, worry, lust, frustration. Draco wasn’t going to confront him, however. He knew, he knew, that Henry knew he wanted him. He was even fairly sure Henry wanted him back. But the other boy was keeping his distance.
And Draco kept seeing him with others.
Including Hermione Granger. That was… odd, to say the least. But mostly Draco just found it infuriating. He had no idea when those two would have met, or why. And he was surprised Granger seemed to be so close to a Slytherin. There was something there that he was missing. It didn’t make sense.
The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Richter, walked into the classroom then and Draco tried to force himself to pay attention to his professor instead of the dark haired boy sitting a row in front of him and across the aisle.
“Good afternoon class,” Professor Richter greeted as he set his things on his desk. “This term we have been covering some of the darker creatures that we share our world with. The first week we learned of dementors, who feed on our happiness and are capable of eating our souls. We then continued onto incubi and succubi, who feed on sexual energy and can invade our dreams. Today, we will begin our discussion on vampires, who feed on our blood. Can anyone tell me something about a vampire’s nature?”
There was a moment of silence before a few people raised their hands. Draco was surprised when Hermione Granger was not one of them; from her expression he got the impression that she was uncomfortable.
“Vampires are completely controlled by their bloodlust,” Finnegan from Gryffindor answered when the professor called on him. “They are single-minded in their desire to consume blood when in the presence of a human.”
“Indeed,” the professor agreed with a nod. “Five points to Gryffindor, Mr. Finnegan. What else? What makes them so frightening, other than their diet?” This time he gestured for Pansy to answer.
“They used to be human,” Pansy replied simply.
“Yes, yes, exactly,” Professor Richter agreed approvingly. “Take five points for Slytherin, Miss Parkinson. Can anyone explain why this fact is so disturbing?” A few students raised their hands again and the professor called on Parvati Patil this time.
“It’s scary because it is like seeing a beast in the body of a human, someone who could have been a friend, but instead must be seen as an enemy,” Patil replied. “Any instinct or reason that you would feel cannot be expected from a vampire. They do not think like us or react like us. It is scary because it is a fate that you could face if attacked by a vampire; to lose your personality and your humanity.”
“Most definitely,” Professor Richter nodded. “Five more points to Gryffindor. Now, let’s talk about behavior. Vampires are predators; perhaps you could consider them near the top of the food chain, since they hunt us. As a result, they are rather territorial. They do not do well when in a group and such groups will frequently dissolve into lethal battles for dominance. It is one good thing we wizards and witches can depend on. We can relax in the knowledge that we need not worry about a takeover by vampires since they cannot work together. They are lone creatures who live only for the hunt of their prey.
“How do vampires make other vampires if they don’t get along?” Weasley asked. “Can they make baby vampires?”
“No, of course not,” Professor Richter shook his head. “A human will turn into a vampire if they are bitten by one. If a vampire does not want to create another of their kind, they will destroy the human’s body after they are done feeding.”
“But sir,” Draco said, having finally found something to add to the conversation that didn’t add up to him, “if vampires are little more than rabid beasts, how would they determine which humans to turn and which to destroy?”
“From what we know of vampires,” the professor began, looking at Draco while he spoke, “we have to assume that there is no rhyme or reason to their decisions. It is completely arbitrary. Though, we can safely say that they destroy far more often than they create. Vampires are quite violent and seem to thrive in carnage and bloodshed.”
Draco’s attention was drawn to Nott when he heard a smothered noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort. He was sitting directly across the aisle from Draco and though his expression was mostly impassive, Draco was fairly sure he detected some amusement. To add to his confusion, Henry glanced back at Theo with a raised eyebrow before focusing on the front again. Against his will, Draco’s attention when back to Henry.
The dark haired boy’s eyebrows were raised the slightest bit while the rest of his face was completely blank. His mouth twitched every once in a while and Draco couldn’t decide if he was trying not to smile or frown.
“Professor?” Dean Thomas called from the back of the room. When Richter acknowledged him, he asked, “You said vampires feed on blood and are rabid but can’t they- uhm- aren’t they rather sexual as well? Don’t they seduce humans as a method of- uh- luring their prey?”
A few students sniggered at the question, mostly purebloods, while others looked genuinely interested in the answer. Professor Richter made shushing noises to call the class’ attention back to him.
“May I assume you are a muggleborn, Mr. Thomas?” the professor asked neutrally, without any hint of distain. Thomas nodded his head slowly and Richter continued, “You are asking about the muggle phenomenon of romanticizing monsters, then.”
A few purebloods made small noises of disgust before the professor waved them to silence once again. Draco leaned forward slightly, interested in hearing about why muggles would even know about vampires or any other monsters.
“Recently, muggles have made it a habit to create stories where dreadful monsters are really more like lost souls who just need love to set them straight,” the professor began. “It was not always like this, however. There was a time in the past where muggles were aware of the creatures that roam the night and feed on humans. They had their own crusades to stake vampires, shoot werewolves, and even burn witches.
“Witches and wizards had quite a time attempting to contain these creatures and prevent the exposure of our world. Their efforts paid off, and now muggles only consider vampires and the like to be mythological beings and not a reality. As a result, over time, they have also begun to romanticize these creatures. There is rarely much horror associated with them in their stories.
“That is not to say that they are not fearsome, but in muggle stories they still retain their humanity, to an extent, and are able to be ‘saved’, when we know in reality that there is no humanity left within them to save or uncover. They are not human and do not sympathize with us. We should not make the mistake of sympathizing with them just because they look like us if our paths ever cross.”
The room was filled with the scratching of quills. Draco glanced at Henry again and saw that his brow was furrowed in a frown as he absently took notes while glancing at their professor every once in a while. As he watched, he saw Blaise, who was sitting beside Henry, reach over and subtly grasp his thigh. Henry’s attention was drawn to his friend for a moment. Draco couldn’t see Blaise’s face, but he saw Henry give a tight smile to whatever he saw before turning back to his parchment with a politely interested look on his face now.
Draco wasn’t really sure what to make of the reactions he was witnessing from his dormmates. Slytherins weren’t ones for showing much outward reaction and he couldn’t think of an explanation for Henry’s.
Then Draco remembered that Henry had told him that he had been raised by muggles, but had never made any mention of his parents. Were they alive? Were they dead? Had Henry been one of the rare survivors of a vampire attack? Draco wasn’t sure how else to explain his tense posture.
His thoughts drifted back to vampires again. They sounded like the kind of allies the Dark Lord would like to gain. Draco shuddered at the thought of an army of bloodthirsty vampires ripping through the Wizarding world until the Dark Lord took control. There wouldn’t be much of a world left to take over, then.
Draco really hoped vampires did not form communities that the Dark Lord could appeal to. His family was in enough trouble already; he had no desire to meet any vampires that might ally themselves with Voldemort, who would feed his own followers to them as soon as his enemies.
“Sir?” Draco turned his head to see Granger finally participate in the conversation.
“Yes, Miss Granger?” Progessor Richter asked.
“If vampire are unable to control themselves around humans, how is it that we have any information about them at all?” she asked, her expression very intent like the answer was beyond valuable.
“Well, it is true that vampires will kill humans indiscriminately,” Richter began, “and they don’t leave survivors. Our information comes from the rare occurrences when a witch or wizard escapes an attack. This is really only possible when there is a group of magical folk, allowing some to escape while the vampire, or in very rare cases vampires, are busy with other members of the group.”
Granger’s face looked oddly skeptical while Draco noticed Blaise lean toward Henry and whisper something that made the other boy smirk briefly.
“Alright, in the last portion of our class today, I would like you all to turn to page 97 in your textbooks and read the chapter on vampires,” Professor Richter announced. “Also, you are all to write a two foot essay on vampires; include their appearance, behavior, habits, their history, methods of warding them off, etc. Bonus points if you can effective incorporate how dementors, incubi and sucubi, and vampires are similar. Essays are due one week from today at the beginning of class. Get to work.”
Draco slowly pulled his textbook toward him to begin reading, determined to learn everything he could about these dark creatures in the event his path ever did cross one; he would not be unprepared.
***
Draco was heading to lunch when he heard a number of footsteps approaching him quickly from behind. His shoulder blades tensed and he gripped his wand tightly; he would not be caught off guard again if he was to be confronted by more power hungry children.
“Malfoy,” he heard his name being called behind him and he glanced back to see Braden with two other boys. He sighed in irritation before stopping and turning around. He wasn’t about to run from these morons.
“So we meet again,” Braden said with a smirk that Draco was sure he thought was condescending, but really just made the boy look like he had eaten something sour. “Though this time, you won’t be able to pull any of your fancy little party tricks to save you.”
Fancy party tricks? Draco just sneered at him, thinking of just walking away to let Braden know how little he thought of him. Before he could turn away, however, two things happened almost at the same time.
First, Braden and his two companions raised their wands at the same time, clearly about to hex Draco. Secondly, a moment after their wands were raised, all three boys were hit with a blast of magic from behind, causing them to fall forward and lose their grips on their wands.
A moment later, Draco saw all three wands fly through the air and land in the hand of-
“Nott,” Draco said coolly, “whatever are you doing here?”
“Just helping out a fellow snake,” Nott shrugged with a small smile.
“Oh?” Draco asked dangerously, “And what would you have in return for such assistance that I did not require?”
“So suspicious, Draco,” Nott scolded in a pleasant tone. “Must I have a darker motivation to assist a friend? Perhaps I just felt us Slytherins should stick together more.”
“Perhaps,” Draco agreed, not believing him at all.
“Watch your back, Malfoy,” Nott turned to leave, after throwing the three wands he had caught to Draco. “Try to keep yourself safe, yeah?”
And with that, he was gone, leaving Draco wondering if Nott was an ally or an enemy with a smile.
***
Harry was on his way to the library, knowing he was going to have to do research to write about his own species. It was ridiculous when he thought about it; and amusing. He had had a hard time stopping himself from laughing during the lesson. He knew that vampires had hidden their true nature from humans but he hadn’t realized just how successful they had been.
Funny that muggles were actually closer to the truth.
He slowed down when the section on dark creatures came into view in the library. A few of his other classmates were already browsing the titles, including his mate. He wondered what his mate thought about vampires now. Probably nothing good. Harry wondered if he was going to have to work through a stigma about vampires now as well as Draco’s preconceived notions about Harry Potter.
“Finding anything useful?” Harry asked when he was standing next to Draco. The blonde boy startled before scowling at Harry.
“A bit,” he said noncommittally.
“Would you like to research together?” Harry offered, hoping Draco wouldn’t shoot him down right away. “Everyone is going to be trying to look at these books, at least we can cover more if we work together.”
Harry really didn’t care about the assignment at that moment, he just wanted to be close to his mate and try to find some way to assure him that Harry wanted him and wasn’t just toying with him.
“Fine,” Draco responded after a moment. “It would save time to have us both working on it.”
His tone wasn’t nearly as warm as it had been last time they spoke, but at least he wasn’t telling Harry to get lost. He turned toward the shelves and helped Draco select a number of books that looked promising before they secured themselves a table to work on.
They each grabbed a book and started reading through it while taking notes. Occasionally they would compare the results of what they found. Harry was having a hard time not laughing at some of the things he read. He almost forgot he was researching for a homework assignment and not reading a parody about his life that was meant to be amusing. He was taking extra detailed notes. He needed to make sure he had enough information that he wouldn’t add any of his own thoughts and accidentally reveal something he shouldn’t.
He was brought out of his concentration when he heard Draco fail at concealing a laugh.
“What did you find?” Harry asked.
“Just this absurd fairytale meant for children about the evils of vampires,” Draco explained. “I’m not even sure how this book ended up in my pile.”
Harry got up and went to stand behind Draco without thinking so he could take a look at the story. He bent over Draco’s shoulder and rested his hand on the table to support himself so they could both look at it. Before he really had a chance to look, though, he felt Draco stiffen and draw away slightly.
Harry’s immediate reaction was to be hurt that his mate was offended by his presence but he forced himself to remember what had happened the last time they were close together. He slowly made his way back to his seat, pondering if he should pretend that he hadn’t noticed Draco’s physical withdrawl from him.
“What is going on, Henry?” Draco’s voice was low and snapped with irritation. When Harry didn’t immediately answer, Draco clarified, “What is going on between us? I cannot understand you.”
“I-,” Harry cut himself off, thinking about what he should say. Obviously the truth, but this was not the place to have a heart-to-heart with Draco. “I know my actions may seem contradictory, and I apologize for that. I have not been misleading you but-,” he cut off again, feeling horribly nervous. “I have many things I wish to tell you. But this is not the place. Will you give me a chance to explain? This weekend?”
Draco studied him impassively for a long moment until Harry began to despair that he had waited too long. Finally, after what felt like an hour, Draco said, “Alright, I’ll hear what you have to say.”
Harry couldn’t help the smile of relief that spread across his face.
“This Friday after dinner then?” he asked Draco. His mate nodded his agreement.
“I would like to ask you a question, before we begin working again,” Draco said quietly. “Hopefully, it isn’t something you wanted to wait to discuss.”
“Very well,” Harry said warily. “I’ll answer it if I can.”
“You seemed very tense during this lecture,” Draco began, gesturing toward the vampire books as he spoke. “You told me once that you had been raised by muggles. I was wondering if perhaps vampires were a part of your past in some way?”
“They are,” Harry said slowly, “but not in the way you’re implying. My parents were killed, yes, but not by a dark creature. I would prefer to discuss this when we meet on Friday, if you could possible wait until then.”
Harry was sure his expression was pleading, and Draco relented a moment later with a nod and a lightly softer expression on his face.
Harry wasn’t sure how he was going to do it, but he was finally going to speak to his mate. All his cards would be on the table and there would be no going back.
***
Draco didn’t know it, but Theo was subtly suppressing as much hostility as he could toward the blonde boy. He wasn’t really the fighting type, so he much preferred to stop a problem before it began.
It wasn’t hard. A few subtle threats and the problems were taken care of. It made him sneer in disgust how easy it was to intimidate the followers of the Dark Lord. And he had been one of them. It ashamed him, but he was fairly sure he hadn’t been much better before meeting Harry. Perhaps he subconsciously knew that his master hadn’t been strong enough and any power he gained would have had to have been done on his own, not given by the Dark Lord. He had been alone.
Though Harry was his friend, he was also Theo’s new master, in a way. He had made an oath to follow Harry over all others. He didn’t regret his decision at all. He was confident in Harry’s abilities and, unlike his previous master, he cared about Harry’s well-being. And he thought Harry cared about his as well.
It was a refreshing change from the fearful servitude that described his life under the insane Dark Lord.
Right now he was watching Draco stroll around the lake from the front of the castle. He was sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall of the castle while reading a mystery novel for fun. It was Friday after classes and he knew Harry was finally going to explain himself to Draco tonight. Theo could hardly wait; he and Blaise were about at their breaking point with Harry’s evasiveness.
He hoped Draco was able to get over Harry’s past and see his real personality. And forgive Harry for keeping so many secrets. He had no idea what they would do if Draco rejected him. Harry wouldn’t die, but he would be terribly hurt for a long time. And Draco would have information that Theo didn’t think he should be allowed to remember if he turned Harry away. There was too much at stake.
As Theo was absently watching Draco, he saw movement behind the boy in the shadows that were being created by the setting sun. He sighed in annoyance, assuming Draco was about to be challenged by more weak-minded children that he knew the other boy would be able to take care of on his own. Nevertheless, he closed his book and stood up. He would get closer to Draco to help if needed, but try to stay out of sight. He didn’t need Draco to think he was stalking him.
As he got closer, he realized the movement was only one person and he snorted softly to himself, looking forward to watching Draco easily put the interloper in their place. But then he saw something that made him second guess his original assessment.
The individual was keeping to the shadows, which wasn’t a surprise, but Theo was disturbed by the way they were moving. He was reminded of how Harry had moved that first time that he had followed him into the forest. It wasn’t human. This person was moving with a deadly grace that only a natural predator could achieve.
Theo quickly tried to conceal himself more effectively while still sneaking toward Draco. Was Harry meeting Draco early and testing how Draco would react to a vampire?
It seemed highly unlikely and foolish beyond belief if it were true. And Theo didn’t think that would be the case.
Draco’s lazy stroll had taken him near the forbidden forest by now, closer to the figure moving swiftly closer to him from shadow to shadow. Theo tried to move quicker, wondering if he should shout a warning to his housemate to run back to the castle. But if it was a hostile vampire, or some other dark creature, Theo knew it would do no good except get them both killed. Though he was afraid to let anything happen to Draco on his watch, he hoped Harry would forgive him if something did happen and he had information to share.
Theo stopped behind a portion of the forest the stood out further than the rest where he could keep Draco and the stalking figure in easy sight. He was close enough now to see the expression on Draco’s face. He looked deep in thought. He paused in his aimless wandering and stared off over the grounds.
Time seemed to stand still for Theo for a minute when nothing happened. Then, the figure suddenly rushed out of the shadows until they were directly behind Draco and Theo got a good look at the individual finally.
They had long, dark hair that looked wild while their figure was lithe but strong. The person was tall, taller than Draco, and the small bits of flesh that were exposed at the edges of their clothing were ghostly pale. The mysterious man wrapped a hand around Draco’s mouth and his other arm went around his middle, preventing him from escaping.
Before Theo could run toward them, the mysterious figure turned their head and looked directly at him. Blood red eyes froze Theo in place while a cruel smile lit up the man’s face in an expression that could never be considered friendly.
And then they were both gone.
***
Harry was just about to leave his dorm for dinner when Theo came sprinting in with a wild look in his eyes and panic written all over his face.
“What’s wrong?” Harry demanded. “Did something happen to Draco?”
For a moment it seemed that all Theo could do was gasp for breath while he stared at Harry with wide, horrified eyes, as if he was expecting Harry to figure out what he had to say by reading it on his face. Harry was just about to go and shake the other boy until he got the information that he wanted when he finally started to speak.
“Draco’s gone,” Theo managed to get out. He continued before Harry could demand more information with, “I was watching him, outside, while he was wandering around. He was near the forest when he was kidnapped. By a vampire.”
Harry went very still while he felt a rush of rage begin to flood his veins.
“Harry,” Theo’s voice sounded distressed, “he knew. The other vampire knew I was watching Draco. Before he left, he looked over at where I was hiding and smiled at me before they both disappeared. It’s like he wanted me to see him!”
“Take me to where they were. Now,” Harry demanded, in no mood to wait. He felt magic unexpectedly wash over him from behind and then Blaise’s voice.
“I just cast a glamour on you, before you turn around and try to attack me,” Blaise explained calmly. “I know you are upset, but it will be harder for you to go to your mate if you raise a panic over your obviously vampiric appearance. Though considering the fact that I can feel your magic pulsing off of you, you’ll probably inadvertently shatter my illusion in the next few minutes.”
Harry nodded curtly before giving Theo a sharp gesture to start moving. Harry and Blaise followed him out to the spot where Theo had seen them last. When they reached their destination, Harry stiffened before growling in outrage. He knew this scent. He recognized it intimately.
A vampire could always recognize the scent of their Sire.

*This is still a revenge fic, I promise. I have not misled you or lost sight of my goal. Just adding some twists...
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Cannot Save You Now