Warm But Tainted Blood (Drarry)

chapter two

Draco cannot remember ever not being cold. His heart is an icecube; not moved by family or friends. He is cold and holds a suppressed but desperate loneliness. No matter how many people is he surrounded by, Draco feels alone. He is far too freezing for them.

When he arrived at Hogwarts, he had fickle hope that things would change; he would befriend someone who was so utterly perfect that they warmed his chilled soul. In the Slytherin house, no such thing came, and he resigned himself to restless but normal coldness; his heart a dead weight in his chest.

Imagine his surprise, his delight, when a certain emerald eyed Gryffindor makes him feel so overwhelming and utterly warm one evening in late September.

Enter: Harry Potter

He is alone, past curfew, running toward the castle when it happens. He went out for escape; to make his body feel as cold as his heart.

He did not expect to run into an actual fucking dragon.

He is saved, and when he looks up to see who had rescued him, their eyes meet and that is the first time Draco's heart has felt warm. Harry Potter, he then decides, is more of a man, is more, than Draco will ever be. Harry is the type of guy to warm hearts, to fight off dragons for people they dislike, who lets an enemy use their invisibility cloak.

Harry Potter is utterly breathtaking and Draco has never seen a more beautiful sight.

The next day, word is already around of Harry Potter, the dragon slayer, and he tries to deflect the compliments, this praise, but it does not work well. "I didn't kill the dragon," he said, "The squid did!" People take no mind to this.

"Malfoy helped," he insisted, but people ignored this, too. Draco is more than happy with this arrangement.

Harry Potter saved Hogwarts from an un-domesticated dragon is only things being talked about  for that day; words all but drowning the Great Hall. Halfway through lunch, Harry leaves. He is not seen the rest of the day.

Draco guesses the attention got too much for him, and cannot blame him for leaving.

In the meantime, he plots. He knows that, now that he'd discovered how Harry Potter makes him feel, that he cannot just let him go. No, he wants to be friends with him. Needs, he would argue. But this would prove to be a challenge; Draco had not made the best impression with insulting the Wealsy boy. (Harry just had to be the type of guy to defend people as low as the ginger family. He's too kind for his own good; but it's a part of his charm.) And, perhaps, calling the Granger girl a mudblood wasn't the best idea either. (Harry is a half-blood, Draco knew, so Draco suddenly cannot care less about blood status. He should apologize to the Granger girl, he decides.)

Draco knows, though, that it's only been a few weeks since school started, and that he and Harry aren't on that bad of terms yet. He could still turn this thing around, could still befriend the one and only Harry Potter.

∆¶∆

Harry huddles in corner of the library, his invisibility cloak concealing him. He remembers Hagrid, on Harry's first day at Hogwarts, giving it to him. He says it was formerly his father's. He cherishes the piece of magic, one of the only things he has left of his family, holding it close to his heart.

He had been there since he left during lunch. He is hungry, but ignores it. He is busy. There are books, all about ancient runes, spread out before him.

There was a rune on the dragon's chest, and Harry cannot fight the feeling that it is undeniably important.

He had thought about getting Hermione to help him, there was a friendship blossoming between them, and she's not the type to give up the chance to research when she has it. But he decided againist it; Hermione wouldn't even know what to look for. She didn't see the rune, after all.

It is hours past curfew, and Harry has made no progress. His eyes fight to stay open, and Harry ceases his research with a sigh. He had made no progress.

Harry decides it is time to reach out to Malfoy. He's a git, by all accounts, but he is the only other student that has seen the rune. The teachers Malfoy had brought out, as well as the aurors that arrived later, have seen it, but Harry does not trust them, for one simple reason:

They are adults.

He places his books into a stack, moving to quietly put them back in their places on the shelves. He is tired, but does not want to sleep. He had a nightmare last night, and knows another one is coming. It will likely be about fighting the dragon; but making all the wrong moves; watching Malfoy die and dying himself. He woke that morning drenched in sweat and guilt, a heaviness he could not shrug off. He knows tonight will be a repeat, but it is better than going tired.

Harry makes his way slowly back to the Gryffindor tower, his feet moving as slowly as his mind. He arrives, says the password, and slips silently into his dorm room, then into his bed. He hasitly shoves the cloak into his trunk, slumping onto his bed shortly thereafter, and falling into a deep, restless sleep. He will not sleep long; but it will be enough. It has to be.

Shortly after he falls asleep, a figure sneaks into the common room and steals his invisibility cloak. It will be returned within the hour; not a soul being aware of it's disappearance except it's taker.

That following evening, after supper, students are ushered to get to their common rooms as quick as possibly. Harry does not go, however, because he hears what had happened;

The second dragon has broken into Hogwarts.