Author's Note: Thank you for all your reviews! I had to read some Vampire Knight and Twilight fanfics for this chapter. I hope you like it.

~~HPDM~~

Chapter 8: Screams and Whispers

Harry Potter was in a bitter mood during his seventh day as a sixth year student.

No one dared to cross his path. No one dared to look at him in the eyes. No one dared to call his name. No one dared to ask him for an autograph. No one dared to take a photograph of him. No one dared to stalk him. No one dared to reprimand him for not eating. No one talked to him about Quidditch. No one conversed with him with a mouth stuffed with food. No one dared to scold him for not studying.

No one.

Bloody no one.

Who wouldn't be mad when instead of flying around the Quidditch pitch, you find yourself stuck in Hogwarts castle because of detention with Draco-sodding-Malfoy? Oh yeah, almost the whole female, and even male, population of Hogwarts. By almost, Harry meant that the female Gryffindors (although no one is sure about that) and the whole female faculty simply wanted nothing to do with the ferret.

In all his anger towards Malfoy and his admirers, Harry found himself inside the Clock Tower. He didn't know why, but the silence of the place and the constant ticking of the huge clock calmed his mind.

The detention was still about half an hour away, so Harry decided to take a rest in his sanctuary. As he looked down at the courtyard, he suddenly thought of what happened a night ago. Still less than a week since classes started but there they were, fighting the lights out of each other. He remembered Hermione muttering that night about "males and their testosterones". He remembered how the greasy git decided to add fuel to the fire, "you are, in any way, not allowed to be in the Quidditch Pitch. It's time you learn, Potter, that not everything goes the way you want it to." Harry really wanted to stomp his feet, not on the floor, but on Snape's face. However, that would seem childish to everyone except Harry; he thought it was only fair.

The sound of creaking wood made Harry look towards the only corridor in sight. The moon that night was hidden behind the clouds, and the only strong source of light only came from the torches within the Clock tower. Even with improved sight, the darkness within the tower prevented Harry from identifying the person that was at least ten feet away from him. The Gryffindor decided to muster up some courage and decided to approach the figure.

"Who are you?"

If the person was surprised from Harry breaking the silence, he decided not to show it. "You already forgot me, Harry? I never thought you were forgetful." The figure put a hand to his chest to show how hurt he was.

I'm right. Harry thought as he heard the voice of the person right in front of him. He was much nearer to the figure now, but he still could not see anything. "Why are you here… again?" Harry knew he had to emphasize on that word. He was curious as to the identity of the person right in front of him.

The atmosphere became heavy with tension. Suddenly, the jolly figure in front of Harry lost all his humor, "You should learn how to take care of your gift, Harry. Others are willing to kill simply to have your gift." The person then looked right behind Harry, straight towards the shining moon, "it is better that you prepare yourself for the worst." He faced Harry again and simply shrugged, "Well, ending up with such a creature is the worst that I can ever imagine."

Clouds began to drift towards the moon, and in a matter of seconds, the tower was shrouded in darkness. If it weren't for the lit torches, the clock tower would be pitch black. The clock started to chime, signaling the start of another hour.

Tick

The figure started to walk towards Harry.

Tock

The Gryffindor boy was frozen on the spot.

Tick

The person was just right in front of him.

Tock

Harry held his breath when he saw the figure lift a hand.

Tick

The figure raised his hand only to smooth down the hair of Harry.

Tock

A hand suddenly covered Harry's eyes.

Tick

He could suddenly hear a voice that whispered in his ear, "You'll be late for Potions if you don't go there now."

With eyes still closed, Harry heard a whoosh of wind and everything went silent. As he opened his eyes, he was the only one in the clock tower. He suddenly remembered what the person said. He cast Tempus and swore to himself when he found out what time it was. Five minutes until detention. Merlin's beard, he would have to run again.

With no intent of suffering further punishment from the Potions Professor, Harry ran to the dungeons.

He did not notice the white feather that lay softly on the floor, silently waiting for the cold wind to pick it up.

~~HPDM~~

When he arrived in the Potions' classroom, Snape was already there. It seemed that he was busy giving failing marks to his students. A glance to the paper for a few seconds, a dip of the quill into the bottle of ink, a second glance at the paper, and finally, with a swish of his quill, Snape would have made another one of his students cry.

As Harry took the seat nearest to the door, he did not notice Malfoy's absence or Snape's curious look towards him. "Care to tell me, Mr. Potter, what are you doing here in this classroom when it is already after curfew?"

Harry met Snape's glare head-on, "I came here because you gave me detention, Professor."

The Potions Professor laid his quill right beside the papers that he was marking. He reclined back on his chair, with his hands on his lap, "Are you deaf, Mr. Potter? Did Mr. Malfoy hit your head that much? I said detention with Hagrid."

The Gryffindor did not even bother to correct the man. He completely forgot about the detention was to be spent with Hagrid. Harry tried to hide his blush from embarrassment. Smoothly, he stood up from his chair and proceeded to open the door.

As soon as the door was closed, Snape smiled for the first time that day. Really, it was fun to joke around the Gryffindor boy. He looked down at the papers that he was marking, and he decided to take a break.

He went inside his private quarters that were directly connected to the Potions classroom. He took the bottle of champagne that he always kept on top of his fireplace. He looked at the warm flames that took shelter gave warmth and light to his room. As he became enthralled with the fire, he began to talk to himself.

"Tell me, Mr. Potter, when the time comes, are you prepared to face your destiny?"

~~HPDM~~

As soon as Harry closed the door behind him, he quickly ran towards Hagrid's hut. He wanted to bang his head on some wall to help him get over his stupidity and the humiliation he experienced from Snape. No use for that now, because in a few minutes, Filch might see him while doing his rounds. Harry definitely did not need another detention.

When he reached the courtyard, he came to a stop when he saw Hagrid and Malfoy already waiting for him. "About time you got here, Pothead." Malfoy spat with ill intent.

Hagrid looked at the blonde beside him, "No need fer that, Mr. Malfoy. Now Harry, I need both of yer wands before we start with yer detention." Harry approached the two individuals and he gave his wand to the large man. Malfoy, on the other hand, seemed reluctant to give up his wand.

Seconds went by, and finally, Malfoy gave his wand to Hagrid. However, there was always something that came when Malfoy gave up something of his own, say… another glare directed at Harry.

Hagrid was completely oblivious to the two teenagers that were glaring at each other behind his back. "Now that we're done with that, let's go to the trophy room. It's just right behind the Great Hall." Without any enthusiasm, the two students followed the half-giant towards said trophy room. Silence ate them up during the whole trip towards their destination.

The door to the trophy room was located inside the Great Hall, right behind the teachers' table. Beyond the door was a spiral staircase that led to all the trophies Hogwarts has acquired for hundreds of years.

No one mentioned to the two rivals that they would be accompanied by dust throughout their whole detention. When the three of them arrived at the trophy room, Malfoy's face contorted with disgust, and Harry's nose wrinkled from the tickling sensation he felt.

Hagrid walked towards the middle of the room and faced the two boys. "Well, 'ere we are. It's been ages since I went -" he down at the objects that were covered thickly with dust, "-here. Well, I'll be leaving the two of you fer three hours. Fer that time, just clean this room, alright? The mops are inside that cabinet, and remember, no using of magic." Hagrid walked with heavy footsteps towards the staircase. Before he left, he looked one last time at Harry and gave him a look that clearly said,

Good luck.

In a matter of seconds, the two were alone inside a room that contained tons of dust. Harry simply decided that he wanted to get this over with, so he went to the cabinet that Hagrid mentioned and brought out two mops and two rags. He turned around to face Malfoy, who was busy avoiding the dusty trophies at all costs, and threw a mop and a rag at him. Being a seeker had its gifts, so Malfoy was able to catch both the mop and the rag that Harry wished desperately to hit the Slytherin's face.

"Okay, Malfoy. You will clean –" Harry motioned with his broom, "- that side of the room. I'll clean this side." The Gryffindor turned his back on his companion, and he cleaned everything in his vicinity. There was silence once again.

After a few sweeps and a few wipes, Harry realized that the only sounds that could be heard within the room came from his side. He took a sly glance at the Slytherin that he knew was behind him, and he saw that the blonde was doing nothing but stand on his side of the room.

Harry sighed and turned to face Malfoy, "you really should start with that, Malfoy." All he got was Malfoy crossing his arms and raising one eyebrow, "Why would I follow orders from someone like you?"

"Because if we were to wait on your words, we would get no work done." Harry said with a cold tone.

"You're wrong about that Potter." Malfoy replied as if that was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

"Why do you say that?"

"I'll order you to get the cleaning done, then in a matter of minutes, you'll be finished. You get our work done, I don't get dirty, and everyone goes out of this room happy." Malfoy was able to raise three fingers by the end of his statement.

Harry saw himself walking towards Malfoy. His rational mind kept thinking, here we go again, while his other half seemed to egg him on. After a few steps, he was right in front of Malfoy.

"You'd better change your ways, Malfoy."

The Slytherin only smirked at him, "I'm a prefect. Therefore, you can't order me to do things."

"You are a prefect stuck in detention –"

"Because of you, no doubt." Malfoy finished Harry's statement with his own words.

Harry finally surrendered, "Look, Malfoy, I don't want to fight."

"Because all you want to do is clean, right? Just like the Weasleys. They're so poor they can't even afford a house elf."

A punch was about to land on Malfoy's face, but he was able to dodge it. Harry's balled fist went straight to the wall, earning him tremendous amounts of pain. When Harry retreated his hand from the wall, he saw fresh red marks. As he looked at his fist, he realized that he was bleeding. Just like the times when Uncle Vernon beat him and locked him up in his cupboard, he covered the wound with his lips, hoping that his cold lips would stop the bleeding.

~~HPDM~~

Draco was about to turn around and laugh at Potter's face when he smelled it.

Blood.

Even before this detention, he was able to smell blood from different people. Blaise cut his fingers during Potions, his teammates would often have wounds from playing Quidditch, and his Father would often come home covered in blood.

But to Draco, those were not comparable to how delicious this blood smelled.

He quickly turned around and to locate the source of the blood that he immediately craved to taste. There it was, on the human just by the wall. Without any hesitation he quickly walked towards the man and pulled his wrist to his lips. His tongue searched for the blood and licked it.

Merlin, he was about to die from the sheer pleasure he got from that blood.

The man in front of him seemed to turn to stone as he sucked the wound of its blood. He then felt something pushing him, and the hand that he was holding pulled itself away from him. He growled low in his throat, for he was clearly frustrated that he was being pushed away from this elixir. Out of anger, he looked at the man who was the source of the divine liquid.

~~HPDM~~

Too busy struggling against the grip of Malfoy; Harry didn't notice the Slytherin's red eyes that were directed at him and the shortening distance between the two of them.

It was too late for realization because when Harry finally noticed the Slytherin, he was inches away from his face. Malfoy's eyes were not grey anymore; they turned to something that closely resembled the colour of blood. Harry was so nervous, he could not even breathe. Those eyes spoke of nothing but anger, and Harry was sure he was in a lot of trouble. Suddenly, Malfoy's face went closer, and the Gryffindor closed his eyes.

A second after, Harry's eyes opened and widened as he felt something wet drag across his lips. Merlin, Malfoy licked his lips. Harry blushed a million shades of red as he felt tongue on his lips. It seemed that things were about to get worse, because Harry's entire body stiffened when he felt something else.

Malfoy's mouth was on his neck, and he was about to bite him.

Harry could certainly feel two knife-like objects touch his skin. It seemed to tease him, putting more pressure to the point of almost breaking his skin, then backing away slightly, his skin tingling from the feeling that the fangs were just near his skin, just a few inches.

Those fangs finally punctured Harry's skin. He suddenly felt a surge of strength within him, and he struggled with everything that he had. The bite on his neck was too painful for him; tears started to fall from his eyes. He heard a growl, but the pain that he felt was too much to be simply ignored. His mysterious strength was slowly fading and the edges of his vision became blurry.

Just then, he felt something travelling across his chest, lifting his shirt, and touching the skin beneath. With the last reserve of strength left within him, he mustered all the anger that he felt.

~~HPDM~~

Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood.

The mantra kept repeating itself inside Draco's head. Merlin, he wanted more, he wanted to be greedy, and he wanted all of it. His instincts led him to the neck of this man in front of him. He toyed with him a bit, but the desire was too much to handle.

He bit the man's neck.

He could feel warm elixir travel down his throat, and he moaned from the pleasure of it. He could simply survive from only this… this delicious liquid. More, he wanted more.

Just then, he felt cold liquid travel down his face. His senses were on alert and he smelled it as something different from blood. It was tears. He realized that the man was in pain, which was something he did not understand. Stories were told that a bite from a vampire could send anyone to the seventh heaven, but why was this one crying?

Too busy with his thoughts, Draco never realized that the body he was taking blood from was stiffening. He was too caught up with the taste of blood, so much so, that the scream of the man went unheard by his sensitive ears.

All of a sudden, he saw black.

~~HPDM~~

"SECTUMSEMPRA!"

The pressure of Malfoy's weight on him seemed to disappear. Harry opened his eyes once again, and he saw something that he would never forget in his life.

Malfoy was sporting a huge wound, and was loosing blood, fast.

Harry went blind with fear. His hands were shaking as he knelt beside Malfoy, trying to stop his wound from bleeding. His hand was shaking with such tremor; he could not even hold the rag for more than a few seconds. His breath came in short gasps. He never expected this to happen, he never expected that the spell he found in his Potions book would result to something like this.

Unable to help Malfoy, Harry ran with shaking legs out of the trophy room. He kept shouting for help, but his fear made him ignore the obvious: no one would hear him at this time of the night. Where was Hagrid? Wasn't he supposed to come back after a few hours? Why are all the portraits empty? Why did it seem that the moving staircases did not want to help him? Where was everyone?

"Cutting detention, Mr. Potter?"

He never thought the day would come that he would be grateful to Snape. In a rush, he held his Professor at his arms, trying to control his breathing, trying to control his tears, trying to tell his Potions professor something.

"Ma- mal-malfoy."

With all the blood that he lost, and the fatigue from uttering a spell without a wand, Harry collapsed in the arms of his most hated Professor.

~~HPDM~~

Severus widened his eyes when Potter said Draco's name. Something was wrong, and he had to get to Draco fast. To make matters worse, the brat decided to lose consciousness right then and there. He then looked at the boy, and he noticed bite marks on his neck. Blood came out of the two small wounds, and Severus suddenly knew what happened.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the air beside him move. "Oh dear, he lost consciousness. Would you like some help with that?"

With surprisingly gentle arms, he gave Harry to his companion. "Take him to the infirmary. He has lost a lot of blood."

His companion took Harry in his hands. "Will do. What do you think will happen from this night?" The other person did not expect Severus to answer, for he left towards the infirmary with the question still hanging in the air.

When he was alone again, Severus realized a grave mistake. He never knew where his two students spent their detention. He thoughts about Draco turned from bad to worse, but then he looked down at the floor and saw blood.

Right. He only had to follow the trail of Potter's blood. With renewed hope, he ran with his age-old muscles, and followed the blood. He went down two flights of moving staircases, ran past empty portraits, and went straight to the Great Hall.

When he went inside, he saw that the line of blood led towards the small door at the back. Severus muttered a curse and he promised that he would get Hagrid for this. Students were forbidden inside the trophy room. It was not just filled with trophies from competitions; it was also filled with trophies of the different kind, trophies of dark nature. There was one trophy in particular that scared Severus.

The trophy that Salazar Slytherin himself hunted, the head of a centaur that cursed Salazar before he was beheaded. No one knew what the content of the curse was, but people only knew one thing: it made people lose control of themselves, and for Draco's situation, that would be a bad thing.

Full of protective spells on himself, Severus went inside the trophy room.

As soon as he went inside, the smell of blood seemed to permeate. Severus hurried down the staircase and saw Draco lying on the ground, motionless. The Head of Slytherin House noticed with a start that he knew this spell.

Immediately, he knelt beside Draco and sang a song that could be identified with the sirens. The tune was beautiful, and it seemed to heal Draco's huge wound across his chest. Severus lost his prim posture when he noticed that Draco would be all right.

With careful arms, he carried his godson towards the Infirmary. Many thoughts crossed his mind, but one needed confrontation. The silence served to make him think more, and his face paled when he realized the implications of this event.

When he arrived at the Infirmary, he found Poppy fussing over Potter. The noise of the door alerted the matron, and when she looked at Severus, she gave a look of defeat. Somehow, he realized what she meant; she was never surprised when these two students would be sent to the Infirmary, both hurt either emotionally or physically.

Poppy prepared the bed a few feet away from Harry; she would not need to wake up next morning with screaming in her Infirmary. She motioned Severus to put Draco on the bed. He was covered in blood, but when she checked, there was no wound where the blood could have possible come from.

She noticed that Severus was about to leave, so she asked him, "Have you seen Ms. Lovegood, Severus? The poor girl brought Harry all the way here; I was too busy checking up on Harry that when it was turn for her to be examined, she already left."

Severus did not look at Poppy as he answered her question, he simply opened the door, and before he went out, he replied,

"I haven't met her on the way. I just asked her to bring Mr. Potter here."

The door closed, and Hogwarts was once again filled with silence.

~~HPDM~~

Wow. I never thought I would write such a long chapter. Oh well, the New Year does change people, doesn't it? Your reviews and critique are very much appreciated. I hope you realized something by the time you finished reading this chapter. :D