Flames and Chains, 7/?
A/N: Early because I don't know if I'll get another chance today...sorry becca, just let me know when your art's done and I'll post it!
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Draco walked slowly down the hall. He felt torn, forced to choose between his parents and his mentor. It was not an easy decision to make.
He had been brought up all his life believing that family loyalty was the highest priority. Other people may come and go, but family would always be tied by blood.
Snape was not related to him by blood, but he might as well have been - there was no other adult that he had trusted and confided in so much; no one else had taught him and guided him so well. And yet it went against his very nature to choose him over his family.
Sighing, he went to the dungeons to see if Harry would eat.
When he pushed the door open, he found the vampire facing away from him, unmoving, staring blankly at the wall. He was taller, as Snape had said he would be, and his hair had turned deep blue-black. Draco wondered why he hadn’t noticed that before, but then Harry turned and fixed him with a red-green stare and he knew why. It was hard to look away from those eyes, but he did it, forcing himself to check for other changes.
The trademark scar was still there, though it had grown fainter and turned silver against skin that had grown paler - whether that was his normal skin color as a vampire, or whether it was because he was undernourished, Draco couldn’t be sure. The metal and glass fragments of his glasses hung from long white fingers with hooked black nails, and there was a rip in his shirt from where his shoulders had broadened overnight, revealing more pale skin and a jutting collarbone.
Draco was so mesmerized by the creature before him that he jumped when Harry spoke, his tone soft but demanding an answer. “What do you want, Malfoy?”
Draco composed himself. “I came to see if you were ready for some potion,” he said, holding out the vial, still sealed in a Cooling charm.
Harry didn’t answer. His eyes had fixed on the Dark Mark, which had been revealed when Draco straightened his arm.
“Potter?” Draco asked, moving forward slightly trying to catch Harry’s eye, but it followed his arm. “Do you want some of the potion or not?”
Silence. Harry had not moved an inch, but he had tensed, as if waiting for a fight. “Potter? Harry! Look at me!” He moved forward again and Harry sprang, moving so fast that Draco didn’t even see him coming. He barely had time to register that Harry wasn’t chained anymore - he had bitten through the metal, judging by the rough edges and puncture marks - before Harry grabbed hold of Draco’s forearm and sank his teeth into the eyes of the skull tattooed on his skin.
“What --” Draco gasped. He felt sharp teeth entering his vein and froze, terrified, just as he had when he’d been attacked by the vampire in the forest, expecting the sickening feeling of his blood being drained out of him, but it never came. Instead he felt warmth, starting at the bite and spreading through his entire body. He closed his eyes and let it wash over him, a contented sigh escaping his lips.
He felt almost bereft when Harry released him. He looked down at his arm and inhaled sharply, then looked back at Harry, who was watching him peacefully, licking his lips. The Dark Mark was gone, vanished entirely, as if it had never been there in the first place. In its place were two tiny puncture holes - the mark of a vampire. He touched them wonderingly, and then looked at Harry again, getting lost in the depths of his eyes. And in that moment, he understood that the vampire had made his choice for him.
Chapter 8
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Um...I didn't realize this chapter was so short either... *hangs head* I think they get longer later on...