Full summary: At the night of his sixteenth birthday, Harry is granted a wish; to no longer be the Boy-who-lived, Chosen One or Harry Potter. With a wizarding world full of hypocrites and a new face, Harry decides to flee, believing that people count on chance to save them too much, it's time for them to wake up to reality and the fact that their saviour might not necessarily choose to save them after all, it is time to be Dark. With Harry Potter gone, their world is thrown into a frenzy of panic and uproar, just the kind of distraction needed for a new unknown pureblood, Raziel, to make his appearance without bringing too much attention to himself. Slightly Dark!Harry. Eventually Powerful!Harry. HP/DM
Rating: T for now but M later.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Pairing: Both slash and Het. Main will eventually be Draco/Harry but for those against slash you can consider this a Harry/no one fic, coz I'll be placing slash warnings for each chapter.

A/N:

If you cannot review it might be because I moved around with the chapters, in that case anonymous reviews will still work. Sorry about the short chapter.

Tenebrae Aeternae
Chapter Six
- Shadow Walk -

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

Dark

It was a very sinister darkness.

That was his first observation as he trudged through the rock-strewn path leading them from the outer gate to the inner gate, where a portcullis loomed dangerously ahead. For a split-second he had the faintest flash in his mind show him the image of the seemingly harmless portcullis dropping, ready to pierce unsuspecting people beneath it with its merciless metal teeth, effortlessly ending young lives.

The scene before him blurred he felt a rush of magic leave his body like an invisible feeler, reaching for the still dissolving hallucination of the falling portcullis and then nothing, his vision had returned.

Déjà vu again?

He blinked as screams cut through the steady crunching tune of gravel grating on one another, halting the stream of students. The portcullis had fallen.

"What was that? It stopped midair, something stopped it!"

"Is he ok? How could the drawbridge drop like that, he could have died!"

Questions carried across the cool night air by the breeze but Raziel blocked them out, watching horrified as the third years on the ground near the gate wept from shock and relief.

"Raziel," Draco called out, catching up with him, the Greengrass girl pacing after him like there was an invisible string or bond making sure to keep the two wherever the other was. "Did you do that?"

"No." Raziel murmured serenely, adding a touch of aloofness to his dealing with the blonde, effectively putting the distance of formality between them – exactly like Draco had taught him. This seemed to make the other's brow twitch a bit, but Draco did not pursue the matter further when Astoria tugged at his sleeve, efficiently drawing his attention once again.

"Draco, can we wait for Daphne please?" She asked, worry over the unknown cause of the incident evident in her clear eyes. He nodded with a sigh and turned to where Raziel had stood just a moment ago.

"Wait on us. Don't just walk away… Raziel?" Draco looked from left to right but the Peverell heir was no longer within sight, he was gone.

"How did he do that?" Draco unconsciously asked himself out loud, slowly regretting having taught the other the soundless walk of a pureblood. But they were walking on gravel weren't they? It shouldn't work here.

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

These days, he noticed several things he had not, noted in the past five years of his life. It was as if he saw everything - anew.

As he stood there, under the gate, he looked at the vertical grooves where the portcullis should have been – it was now magically removed by Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick whom had instantly dragged away the more frightened students to give them some psychological relief by retelling their impression of the incident – other students was passing by him en masse though, all eager to get inside. Raziel suddenly felt a myriad of colours exploding in his head, and he saw. For the first time, really saw, the castle he had considered his home for so long, yet never cared to really look at.

Had the trees surrounding the inner garden of Hogwarts always been festooned with coloured lanterns like today? Had there ever been so many torches to light up the old castle like there was now, and what were these layers of magic looking like white veils surrounding the whole castle and inner garden.

This must have been part of his truth sight as well, because no one else seemed to notice the touch of Dumbledore's magic in the network of force fields.

"Hurry up." An insisting female voice said. On his right Hermione trudged by, looking angry as she pulled Ron-in-the-shape-of-Harry along like they were the only ones on the road. "Dumbledore said we had to make the switch fast."

Had they not seen him? Or was Hermione getting careless talking so openly?

Tentatively, he focused on the fluttering veil of white that was the force field and raised his hand to gently taste Dumbledore's magic out of curiosity.

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

Daphne Greengrass sighed in vexation as she saw her sister waving a hand to greet her; a big idiotic smile plastered on her face and the cause of it entwined edgily with her other arm. Draco Malfoy who usually played the perfect role of the attentive fiancé was now looking slightly troubled by something that did not concern her precious sister, Astoria. How unusual, Daphne thought.

"Daphne! Where were you? You were supposed to share a carriage with us but you never came to our compartment!" Astoria said in her reprimanding sister voice that did not seem to match with her apparent glee at being alone with him.

Her younger sister had despite the recent gossip about the Malfoy family's connection with the dark lord still upheld the engagement. Not that Daphne could blame her, many would stay engaged simply because it was Draco, definitely not because he was a Malfoy. But her sister was stupid to let herself be used no matter how desirable her future bridegroom was, he would not bring their family honour with his tainted name.

"Why? I didn't promise anything." She said grimly; staring hard at her sister who gaped liked a goldfish. "I was with Pavarti and Padma."

Draco's eyes shot up to look at her from his spot next to Astoria who looked angry, her lips pursed, as her normally charming face had wrenched into somehow less pleasing to look at.

"They are Gryffindors!" Astoria yelled disbelievingly, angry that her sister had ditched her for such improper friends.

"Padma is a Ravenclaw." Daphne corrected her.

"That doesn't make it better."

Stop looking at me like you actually meant to wait for me, spoiled child. Even I know you only wanted an excuse to stay alone with the Malfoy. Daphne thought darkly. She would never understand what so many people saw in this boy.

"Whatever."

"Let's get going, I'm getting hungry." Draco broke in successfully breaking up the building tension between the sisters. Daphne sighed and walked with them to the castle. Grudgingly bearing witness to Astoria's manipulative manner of dragging - whoever held her interest - around like some kind of prize, made her feel sorry for the Malfoy actually.

"Daphne is it true that you accepted that Hufflepuff boy's courting? Pansy said you have been exchanging letters over the summer." Astoria asked as they neared the final gate.

"Pansy gossips too much, I would do no such thing." Daphne growled at the misunderstanding. It was true though that last year a Hufflepuff boy had asked her out but she had instantly rejected him because he was a half-blood and that was the end of that. Not that she had anything against half-bloods in general, she had some friends who were like that. But she still stuck with the family tradition of keeping pure. And friends was one thing, who she would date or in the end marry was another.

A pulse of magic surged through the air making Astoria squeak from surprise and Draco yell someone's name.

Daphne looked in front of them to see a silhouette of a boy standing with his back to them, just next to the final gate. His hand was raised and gripping at air as if trying to touch something invisible.

"Raziel!" Draco called again and this time she heard the name. The name instantly rang a bell, when she remembered how distressed Astoria had been when Draco had been busy the last week of the summer where they were supposed to have met up. Draco had been busy with this Raziel person, that much she understood from watching Astoria secretly cursing the boy she had never even seen for taking away her precious time with the Malfoy heir. This in Daphne's book made this Raziel person someone she wanted to shake hands with and let inside her home, if for nothing else, he could annoy her sister.

The boy froze and let his hand drop to his side while slowly turning to look at her to-be-brother-in-law.

She felt like she was frozen solid in place as the stranger's - Raziel's - piercing eyes quickly traced over her much-too-fast before focusing on the now suddenly bossy blonde.

"What's the matter, Draco?" Raziel enquired suavely yet so very passively that it broke Daphne from her stupor to take in the other's appearance, and reluctantly admired the lean frame in front of her. The guy was a good height and the agreeable face surrounded by midnight black hair didn't put her off either. The boy was actually quite pretty, if she could call a guy pretty. Not prettier than her of course. She hadn't met many boys she could earnestly call beautiful, but he was the exception. She began to count the good points and the bad points like she always did when she saw someone unique.

He annoyed her sister, that was a definite plus, but unfortunately he also looked too detached and dreamy to have a decent conversation with. Minus. Probably a pureblood, plus. Almost as tall as Draco but without the same air of overconfidence about him, plus, plus. Magical capabilities? Unknown but from the gist of it, not very powerful. Minus.

"You-" Malfoy began.

"Mr. Peverell." Minerva McGonagall called standing in the entrance, face as stern as everyone remembered it. "The headmaster wants to see you now."

"Alright," The boy said sheepishly, before looking at a anxious Malfoy. "We'll talk later."

He made Malfoy anvious? Plus, plus, plus, plus, plus!

Daphne hid her smile as she stared at the retreating form of the dark-haired young man.

McGonagall turned to the rest eyes narrowed. "You three, better get to the great hall now. A storm is brewing as we speak."

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

Bloody. Bloody. Bloody. Hell. Hell. Hell. He chanted over and over.

Seeing Dumbledore so soon was not the plan.

"You must be Minerva McGonagall right?" Raziel asked attempting a mix of innocent curiosity and awe.

The stern-looking McGonagall kept walking. "Correct, but I will be Professor McGonagall to you." She suddenly said almost half a minute later.

Raziel relaxed a bit, she couldn't possibly know anything about him, but still even if it was to be expected, he was a bit unnerved by being called to the same office, where he had only a few months ago screamed at Dumbledore, but now was different, he was not supposed to know Dumbledore, and Dumbledore was not supposed to know Raziel, this was his chance to become ordinary, only problem was he didn't know how an ordinary student would handle this meeting? Would they be excited that the leader of Light was meeting them personally? Quiet and collected, or simply nervous wreck, like he genuinely was? Being here in the castle, as someone else, other than Harry Potter was so, surreal. But for appearances sake he had to pretend to not know anyone, in a way that was deceiving or lying to people, something he had never been good at, he had to get used to lying sooner or later so he might as well aim to become a smooth liar.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, Professor. I just read so much about the McGonagalls in 'Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century' and 'Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy', I was surprised that your family could be traced all the way back to the dark ages there are so few old families left. Some books even mentions the McGonagalls connection to Syn the seer," He paused seeing the old woman's eyes narrow at the mention of Seers, and he remembered a bit too late that McGonagall did not believe in those. "Not that I personally believe in prophecies and such, but the stories about her are classics."

McGonagall picked up her pace, as if she couldn't wait to get rid of him but answered nonetheless. "Knowledge through books isn't all, Mr. Peverell and I don't take kindly to people digging up information about my family, I hope you know that whatever you have read in those books is far from the truth."

"Well I've been stuck with muggles all my life. Reading was the only way for me to get knowledge about this world, even if I couldn't perform magic I still wanted to know where my family came from. As you've probably heard. I was believed to be a squib until recently." Raziel explained looking purposely downcast to pull the pity card on his old house head, speaking to her compassionate nature. He felt bad, truly he did, mainly because he remembered that sucking up to people was Malfoy's –Draco's forte, not his, and now here he was doing the same despicable thing. He looked over at McGonagall who walking next to him now, no longer as fast and determined as she had seemed before, she was watching him with perched lips still, but her face had softened and even if she did not respond, he could see she was regretting her harsh behaviour a bit. If he had looked sad before then it would only serve to heighten the effect. And it was enough for now.

They stopped in front of the golden statue to Dumbledore's office.

"The headmaster is waiting." She gestured at the newly sprouted staircase. "In the wizarding world we always greet our headmaster with a bow. Do not speak to him unless spoken to first."

Resisting the urge to raise a brow he started climbing the stairs, biting back his surprise. Instead of saying the password out loud as she and Dumbledore always had when he was Harry, she had whispered it making sure he wouldn't hear. Was this the normal way they did things when it came to ordinary students? And the 'don't speak unless spoken to' was this some sort of hearing, or had he just grown too used to the special treatment and been blind to this obvious favouritism that Harry Potter had been basking in all along.

"Come in." Raziel shivered involuntarily, feeling his heartbeat pick up and skin crawling at the sound of the voice usually gentle humming voice now tired and humourless. The floor shone in its newly polished state, only vaguely reflecting the light from the floating lights around the Headmaster's desk still filled with unidentifiable golden instruments. These instruments flickered with magic of various colours but none of them as orange as the Bulstrode Family's book.

His adoptive father had hinted at the meaning of the different shades of magic, but admitted it wasn't reliable because only people with the sight could see these auras, and that he had not read a lot about it, out of lack of interest. The items that caught his interest was a tawny spyglass and a needle-like object, one possessed a burgundy aura while the other shone bright green, like the shade of new leafs in spring, also the colour of the most lethal poisons, if that needle was to ever as much as prickle someone's skin they would be mortally wounded for sure, who could have known that Dumbledore of all people hid such merciless weapons in his office, and why was it out on the table for all to see if it truly was as fatal the aura suggested. The burgundy aura around the spyglass however was not the sign of anything deadly, it told him it was a….

"I see my Omniscient Spyglass has caught your attention, Mr. Peverell." Dumbledore suddenly spoke with a nostalgic tint to his tone. "There are so few of them in our world now, but in the past they were weapons of war commonly used to detect hidden traps and field magic unseen by the human eye. Florence Eveens invented them during the Goblin wars, 432 years ago and without them our loss would have been much greater than they were."

Raziel fought back the urge to inform Dumbledore that it was the wizards who had started the trouble, with their lack of respect when invading Goblin territory to catch a persecuted Goblin who had if sources held truth – unlikely as it was - caused some trouble. Goblins were intellectual beings and followed laws of their own, one of which clearly stated that they would punish their own criminals and that only Goblins should decide the fate of a fellow Goblin. Wizards had nothing to do in the Goblin's tunnels, but Dumbledore probably knew that. Swallowing tensely he bent his back, in a deep bow, causing locks of still unfamiliar hair to tickle his cheeks. Part of him felt stung at having to do this, to the same man who had indirectly planned his whole life without his permission. "Headmaster." He spoke softly forcing himself to sound respectful, before straightening his back returning to his upright position, sternly keeping his eyes on near the old man's shoulders.

The headmaster stood and walked over to a golden cabinet, reaching up to take down the old dusty sorting hat. Raziel blinked when he saw the silvery light around the hat, not white but not dark either. "Normally we don't take students in who develop magic so late in life but your father insisted and told me you were far more knowledgeable than a normal sixth year student. The unfortunate incident with the Death Eaters has led to this exception; we cannot have a powerful wizard such as you uneducated in our ways."

"I am not powerful, sir. Even a dog will bite back if you corner it. I was cornered." Raziel said.

"So it would seem, my boy. No one blames you for defending yourself, but people still fear the fact that one young such as you has the knowledge of dark magic." Dumbledore stood still next to him, with the glowing hat in one hand while gesturing to the guest chair with the other. "If you will, we can begin."

"Dark magic perhaps but the killing curse isn't hard to come by, everyone knows it so it could hardly be considered 'Dark knowledge'." He said, whilst he knew he had talked too much, but he still couldn't control his anger towards Dumbledore, every fibre in him fought to not convey its dislike. He mentally slapped himself for debating such a taboo subject as dark magic was with a light wizard, he was revealing himself. Dumbledore watched him for a moment with a calculating gaze that made him shiver.

He promptly sat down after looking the wooden chair over for any signs of magic, but found none. Was he a bit too guarded?

Dumbledore placed the hat and quickly withdrew his hand as the hat came to live and started moving.

"You again? You've come to be sorted again I see, was the life of a lion not what you begged me for all those years ago?" The hat laughed inside his head, easily rummaging through his mind like there were no occlumency shields.

"I want you to look again and tell where I belong the most."

"Riiight… let's see. Somewhat ambitious, studious - such unquenchable thirst for knowledge, that is new, I sense great potential, and hidden power from you but also a bit of cowardice, oh my, how could I have put you in Gryffindor, you're just running away, are you not? I must say you are not bad at deceiving everyone if Dumbledore knew…"

"But he doesn't and you won't be telling him either. You can't without my permission, and that you do not have. I'm tired of being used, I am not running away, the life of Harry Potter isn't mine any longer so what does bravery offer me?"

"It seems like it is settled if you do not regret then, but you still sway towards two houses, the life of a Ravenclaw would suit you great with that desire for knowledge you possess, although Slytherin has you in heavy chains, ambitious, cunning, deceitful and so very prideful."

"Seems like you've made your choice."

"So let it be, boy" The hat said and retracted from his mind to yell. "SLYTHERIN!"

He dared himself to look up quickly but looked away immediately when noticing the hardened stare from the headmaster. The old man stood still, observing with steely eyes, not much different than a statuette, Raziel thought. After what seemed like eons, Dumbledore broke the stare, sighing and the Harry inside him knew that Dumbledore was currently pondering if he was facing the next dark wizard, in line to take over after Voldemort. And in that moment, he felt a bit regretful, like Harry should be ashamed of his decision, he had never had any life goals to become a dark wizard, he had wanted to be light, he had wanted to side by side with Dumbledore. Dumbledore wasn't exactly evil, part of him knew, but he had different ways of doing things, and the old man scared him, in his new form. He had never felt fear with Dumbledore when he was Harry, but right now he felt like he was choking, in light magic.

"Mr. Peverell. The head of your house is Severus Snape. You will find his office on the third floor, should you ever need his guidance." The headmaster started, his eyes sparkled dangerously and a smile spread on his lips, making him cringe. "I shall escort you to the Great hall now, for dinner."

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

That night when he had arrived in the Great Hall, the feast had long since begun and the Gryffindor table especially, showed the rest of the houses a true sport of eating – consuming -, most of all. Draco, had after a meal and a glass of wine, been over the top with positivity, and long forgotten was the fact that Raziel had left him, something oddly unfitting for his old rival, who always had seemed to be in a bad mood, whenever Harry had been around him and Raziel could only think that the blonde bore a grudge against his other self. He suddenly thought of the stuck up brat Draco had been when he introduced himself to Harry Potter whilst also dissing Ron's family and Hermione's muggle parents, and felt his lips pull into a smile. Draco was such a bitch, he agreed, but he wasn't so bad hanging out with otherwise. As long as he was in Draco's graces, he wouldn't have to worry about being trashtalked.

"Look at Harry, I think his special training has made him look dumber." Blaise exclaimed with a smirk. Of course they also noticed that someone was missing..

"Where is that bloodtraitor? The ginger kid, Ron." A girl who sat next to Astoria Greengrass asked, from a bit further down the table.

"Ah yes, that mudblood lover got himself hexed on the train and had to go to the hospital wing with a pig's snout!" Astoria joined in. "I heard it from the other girls." Figures. Someone had to spread a rumour to cover up for the switch.

They all broke into laughter at that, and some, namely Draco, Blaise and the goons Goyle and Crabbe, turned in their seats to send silly faces at the Gryffindors who had heard and turned around to glare. Raziel looked away, feeling embarrassed. He had almost forgotten what childish things Draco did. And as Harry he had been embarrassed over Ron's lack of self-control in ignoring this childish behaviour. Harry Potter from the Gryffindor table sent them all a death glare and seemed to turn slightly red, but just slightly. Polyjuice doesn't cover everything, it seems.

"So Raziel, what happened in Dumbledore's office?" Draco inquired, bursting his bubble of comfort at not being the topic of discussion anymore. Damn.

"Nothing much, I got sorted." And that was all they needed to know.

"He didn't do anything weird to you did he?" Millicent asked, eyes looking so stern that they could almost equal McGonagall's.

"Weird? What should he have done? Manipulated me?" Raziel chuckled a bit, trying to shake off their guard, but from the looks of it he had made it worse.

"Actually, yes. He has done it to all of us. Probed us I mean." Draco almost whispered, and the fellow Slytherins all nodded solemnly. "It is fairly common, everyone knows that Dumbledore is growing more paranoid, it isn't for no reason that people call him senile. It is unfair though, he does it to every Slytherin, but never to the other houses."

"Yeah, that is how he can tell if we're in allegiance to the Dark." The girl from before added.

Raziel remembered the thick blanket of light-natured magic he had felt earlier and just disregarded as Dumbledore's own aura, which had almost choked him in the office and wondered if that was what his new housemates were referring to. If that was the case and Dumbledore did this to every possible dark wizard he could come across it was no wonder that the Slytherins despised him so. Nevertheless it was but another source of evidence that he had made the right choice. He didn't wish any harm on Dumbledore obviously, but his kind headmaster wasn't exactly what he had imagined he was for years.

Raziel must have appeared apprehensive to the others' eyes. "Don't worry mate, he probably didn't see anything. It is scary though, the thought of your mind being invaded." An older Slytherin, he'd been introduced to as Jayce Tsuchiya said comfortingly. Jayce's family was of one of the few dark family's from the east that attended a school far away. His father being a wizard of Japanese origin had married an Irish pureblooded witch and moved to Europe. Jayce had started on Hogwarts last year after finding the life of Durmstrang not to his liking. The boy had clear green eyes, a well shaped pointed face and a thick straight hair black as coal that many would envy.

Raziel didn't say much and quickly looked away from the other boy when he felt a pair of icy blue eyes resting on him.

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

In the Slytherins common room, the house elves had outdone themselves, preparing a snack table – much to Crabbe and Goyle delight – with fresh fruit, cupcakes, cookies and butterbeers. All setting a nice mood for a small welcome party, for the new first years, who really weren't supposed to drink, but it happened anyway.

"Raziel!" Blaise called from the stairs and waved him over as soon as they made eye contact. Some of the more wise first years had skipped out on drinking and had settled in their rooms, unlike Raziel who still had no clue where he was going to sleep. Not that he cared much, but he would prefer not to share a room, with Crabbe and Goyle for example. Blaise seemed all right though. "You luggage is in our room. It seems you will be staying with Ian Vaisey, Jayce Tsuchiya, myself and Theodore Nott. We're all nice guys so you'll be most welcome and um… Mind that you don't uh, make any noise, some of the boys are a bit touchy, when it comes to, yeah you know."

Raziel cracked a brow, not quite following what Blaise was talking about. "No I don't know."

Blaise looked a bit uncomfortable, but leaned in and whispered. "You know… masturbation."

"Oh.." Raziel muttered, not sure what to think of the blunt explanation. He vaguely remembered his old friend Ron having a phase of constant masturbation and he hadn't been able to sleep contentedly for weeks. In the end it had been Neville who although awkward about the whole situation had asked Ron to do it while no one was there and not at nighttimes. Ron had afterwards ignored Neville for a good month or so. "No worries there."

Blaise looked quizzical and Raziel didn't want to know how his new friend had interpreted his instant rejection of ever doing what most healthy teenage boys did. He wasn't abnormal, he was just more private about this sort of stuff, and doing it in your bedroom with three other boys wasn't an option.

"Don't ask." He finally said, as Blaise was about to make a funny remark. The other boy laughed and nodded, slightly drunk too and with a shortened attention span that made this conversation meaningless, as it would – most likely – be forgotten tomorrow morning.

"Sorry mate, it is just, you are quite the looker, don't take it the wrong way, but soon you might be, more active in that department. When you get a girlfriend. And we all understand." Blaise grinned. "I heard the girls talk, you know. You're the new hottest thing since Draco turned boring."

Suddenly painfully aware of numerous pairs of eyes watching him from several locations around the room, turned away. Raziel had brushed off their staring as general interest and curiosity, because of what the tabloids had said about him, not thatsort of interest. And perhaps Zabini just read too much into it. That had to be it.

"What about you, don't you have a girlfriend?" Raziel hid his sigh and decided to turn the conversation in his favour, meaning, away from himself.

"Me? Gods no, what do you take me for? Way too much effort, after the first date, girls start to want more, and you will eventually be sucked dry, by their constant mood swings, need for attention and….no. Just so." Blaise ranted, then halted and searched the crowd around the couches, looking for someone. "There. You see Draco? He has been with that Astoria girl for ages now. Draco can do it, and I have no clue how he does it, but he must have been very patient to put up with the shit and drama she has caused for so many years. It's almost sad man. Two years! Two! Ever since that girl started clinging to Draco he's changed. Ok enough of that, want another butterbeer? I see you haven't had enough, you aren't fooling no one, come let us go sit with them."

"Nah, I prefer standing here to be fair. I am feeling kind of bummed tonight, first day and everything, so I think I will just cool a bit here."

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

Draco didn't feel so well. Astoria just smiled sweetly and chatted on, holding firmly onto his arm. His stomach was acting weird and stuffy. It could be that he had too much Shepherds pie, or perhaps it was the amount of people in the room that seemed to make his eyes blur as he searched for his new friend, amongst the flock of Slytherins. He emptied the butterbeer in his left hand and placed the flask on the table. Astoria gave his arm a squeeze and asked if he was all right, to which he nodded wearily, not able to put up with the fuss right now.

It soon became clear to him that he missed the silence of the safe house. Just being able to grab a book, and sit in the library with Raziel going over something as tedious as old customs, which had never really interested him, but the enthusiasm Raziel showed had rubbed off on Draco. Him and Raziel might perhaps have more things in common that Draco had realized and the other male's presence had been strangely soothing, his father had warned him about people with great magic, and it was clear to Draco that his father was talking from experience with all those years of service to the dark lord. A lord's magic could have an almost drowsing, or in some cases infatuating effect like an aphrodisiac on normal wizards and witches that didn't take heed.

"Draco?"

He looked up from a spot on the black stone table he had been watching for the last five minutes, and noticed the softness of his fiancé's breast pressing against his arm. She looked at him with bedroom eyes. It was almost too much to bear, he wasn't in the mood, and he just wished she had known him well enough to see that he needed space. Resisting the urge to snap, possibly due to the butterbeer in the system, he wrenched his arm free and excused himself. It could be the beer, or just this whole discomfort that put him on edge but he was starting to feel very annoyed with everything. Ignoring the surprised look of his closest, he sauntered across the room to a less crowded spot near the stair leading down to the boys' dormitory. There he leaned on the cold stonewall and saw Raziel talk animatedly with his former best friend Blaise Zabini.

It hurt.

His head was pounding, and even the cold stone against his back didn't bring him much comfort. Nor did the fact that girls were paying a bit too much attention to his new friend help. Draco knew, Raziel would be popular here, it went without saying, and people would try to get close to him with motives. He was just worried that Raziel would be gobbled up because he was too naïve to see these people for what they were. Except for Millicent, only Draco knew what background Raziel came from. These people knew nothing; to them he was just the new hot thing. Then once the hype was over they would dump him. Draco couldn't let Raziel get hurt like that. But Blaise was nice, so why did he have to worry?

Blaise put his arm around Raziel's shoulders and pointed at Daphne Greengrass, but Draco didn't see.

He had closed his eyes, unable to keep himself up any longer, he glided to the floor, in pain more than one place, this time he felt it clearly, the second stab of pain, it was his chest, it hurt as well.

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

Ice blue eyes narrowed on the small child sitting in the chair, unmoving. The child - no older than seven - was staring into the wall, hands falling limply at his sides, shaking like a little animal cornered by its predator, unable to escape and waiting for the hammer to fall.

The older man strode behind his chair and leaned down near the nape of the fearful child.

"Draco." The breath caressed his sensitive skin.

"No."

"No what?"

"I d-didn't…"

"Didn't what, my boy?"

"I didn't mean to look at that girl!"

"Now, now, Draco there is no shame in looking at something beautiful but amongst the beautiful are also those with nothing but outer beauty, make no mistake, because inside they are foul and deceitful." The beautiful man said melodiously, creating a fake sense of leniency. "But what happens when you as much as glance at those?"

"I-"

"Answer me."

"They might think that I like them."

"And then what danger does that bring you?"

"They might approach me…"

"What happens if they approach you, son?" The man pushed.

"T-they might…" the child began with a whimper, trying not to cry. "They might t-touch me..."

"Exactly. And you know what physical contact, with such foul beings means to us don't you?" His father spoke serenely, while patting his shoulder.

"Physical contact creates unnecessary emotions." Tears prickled forth and young Draco stared at the ground ashamed and deeply appalled by his own actions.

"What do they do to you? And what emotions must at all costs be avoided?"

"They blind my j-judgement and show me a distorted reality. Lust and l-love are the worst." Little Draco stammered letting the words he'd been hearing all his life sink in so that he would never forget.

"Lust, Draco. There is no love. There is just attraction. It will create short-lived illusions of bliss. We are most vulnerable when we are buried in this malicious feeling of endless ecstasy."

"But father..." Little Draco tried to dry his cheeks with the sleeve of his silk shirt, earning him an angry look from his father, which quickly made him stop. "You and mother touch…"

"Your mother is special. We did not marry because of lust or any of those illusory feelings. We married because we were right for each other, we are both of pure and noble blood, unlike that Rebecca Williams you so carelessly gawked at earlier, a mudblood, she does not deserve to be looked upon, she is of foul blood and could nullify your pureblood status and make you foul and dirty like them! Do you understand, my precious Dragon?" The longhaired blonde now sneered, no longer troubling himself to sugar-coat his poorly hidden revulsion." Don't even bother to look at those foul creatures! You may only look at our own kind. The pure and strong. And you best remember that!"

Little Draco didn't know what happened then, the next moment he was on the ground in pain from the harsh landing. But at least his face, currently adorned with an expression of shock and stilled tears, had gone numb from the sudden blow, and he did not take notice of the warm liquid running from his broken nose.

-ϟ-Tenebrae Aeternae-ϟ-

Draco was laying on one of the hospital wing's beds, with his head buried in his pillow. His entire form trembled from the aftermath of his dream. Pansy Parkinson watched him worriedly from the door opening, relieved that no one else was here to see the Slytherin's ice prince in tatters. Draco had been in this position ever since he'd woken up after the welcome party. Professor Snape had hushed up his blackout.

"Did I faint?" He asked, wondering where Raziel was, had the other boy visited him?

"Yep! Everyone was worried, but it seems like you had a bit too much to drink, that combined with your fever did it I think." Pansy smiled.

He then turned to look at Pansy. "Where is Raziel?"

"Raziel is in Potions class. He carried you here last night you know."

Draco nodded feeling a bit better than before.

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