On the Nature of Daylight

Chapter 15

A/N: I just want to make a quick note that I rewrote a scene from HBP, Chapter 21 and used some dialogue straight from the book to fit into this particular fic a little more. I moved it around in the timeline a little, but overall it doesn't change anything that's canon. Disclaimer- I don't own any Harry Potter anything other than the plot to this fic. 

Chapter 15

Draco was forcing down a cup of black coffee when his Eagle Owl, Calix, landed on his shoulder. He reached up and took the letter from his slate colored beak and brushed a few fingers over his mottled chest feathers. He recognized his Mother's handwriting on the thick envelope and dread filled him, stirring the bitter coffee in his empty stomach.

"Cal-" He lifted a piece of sausage up and Calix leaned down, hungrily snapping it up. His Mother had given him Calix right before he left for Hogwarts for the first time, saying that he needed his own owl so that he could write to her whenever he wanted. His letters were infrequent these days and he hadn't even bothered bringing Calix back to school with him this term.

The light weight of his owl lifted from his shoulder as Calix took to the sky again, flapping his large wings silently before soaring out of one of the high windows. Draco watched him disappear into the sunlight streaming in. For a moment he was envious of the bird and his easy escape, rising into the sky and leaving everything behind.

Soon he would be doing just that. After he had completed his task he planned on slipping into the Vanishing Cabinet and fleeing from the school. He didn't care about seeing his classmates or not completing his seventh year of school. What would a scroll of parchment saying he graduated matter compared to the eternal vow he had branded on his skin?

He would have glory, be honored beyond all others for ending the Headmaster's life and even though the act itself unsettled him, his ambition slithered through him, lifting its head and flicking its tongue out, tasting the greatness he would soon achieve.

But once he stole away there would be no return and that meant the end to his involvement with Granger. Not only would Dumbledore's death set in motion events sparking the beginning of the war they all knew was coming, but she would hate him for it. And she would hate herself for what she had done with him.

What would she do if she ever found the mark on him? God, having her hands on his chest and her soft skin caressing his face had been like standing in the sun on a summer day. She lit him up from within and he wanted to feel more. He wanted to feel her skin against his, her tits brushing against his chest, her hands running down his back, nails digging in.

But it was impossible. There was no way that he could hide the mark; concealment charms didn't work on it and it was in a place that he couldn't exactly cover if he had his shirt off. Still, the dark mark didn't stop him from wanting to strip himself and her down to only their flesh and indulging in his favorite guilty pleasure.

He glanced over at the Gryffindor table and found her tousled toffee head easily. She was sitting with Potter as usual, but also... Weasley. What was he doing over there? They weren't friends, she had said so herself. Why was he sitting next to her and... Oh shit.

Granger was biting her lip, cinnamon eyes burning as she listened to Weasley talk, using his hands way too much making him look like some kind of ape trying to communicate.

No.

No fucking way he was letting that absolute Weasel burrow his way back in. He didn't know much about what had happened between them last term, but one day Granger was friends with Weasley and the next she wasn't and she was meeting him late at night in dark corridors. There was a correlation there and Draco had no intention of letting things reset.