He's here
Draco saw the insult coming, it was the way Ron’s eye twitched before he looked down at her that gave the hothead away, he had figured the attack would be aimed at him and his friends. But when Ron’s mouth opened and he accused her of whoring herself out to them, Draco’s heart stopped as he began choking with pure fury.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the point of view, he’d have to deal with Weasley and his own anger another time.
He had felt the charge of dark energy enter the space after the accusation of killing Fred. It prickled at his skin in warning and the darkness within him rose to meet its Familiar. But by the time the ginger was finished insulting Granger, it was too late. It was here. HE was here.
Air left the room, the crackling fire extinguished, and a biting chill seeped in. It wasn’t cold like his Manor, it was worse; it was lethal and hellish. Draco bolted out of his chair, reacting on pure instinct and conjuring a barrier in an attempt to keep Theo from moving any further than he already had. The dark magic battered against him and his feeble wall. His magic, though strong and also other-worldly, was no match for what lurked within Theo.
“Potter, I suggest you leave right now. Take your repulsive friend with you.” He growled, straining to contain the rage pouring out of his own friend.
When there was no movement, Draco chanced a look over his shoulder in their direction. “NOW!”
“Go!” He heard a girl yell.
He didn’t care who said it as long as they got the fuck out and quickly.
“Granger?” He called out, sweat quickly gathering in his hair line. “Granger, I need you to find Susan. Find her fast.”
“I… what’s happening… what’s wrong with The- ”
“Hermione, please.” He begged. Using her first name to try to get her to understand the urgency of his request. “I can’t hold him for long. I promise to explain later.”
“It’s three o’clock, she’s on rounds with Madam Pomfrey!” Pansy shouted at Hermione’s back as she raced for the passageway.
“Blaise.” Draco choked out, his energy depleting rapidly, Theo’s magic was shredding him. “The shocks you gave me our first day…”
“Yeah?” Blaise asked when Draco’s voice trailed off.
He grit his teeth against the new onslaught of force being used against him and his barricade. “Amplify by ten and hit him with it if he breaks through.”
“Draco that could kill him.” Blaise argued through clenched teeth.
He shook his head, retreating to the Manor to strengthen himself and allow the Death Eater within to step forward. “He's not Theo right now.”
‘Theo’ was standing perfectly still behind the film of Draco’s partition. One would think he was a statue if it weren’t for the completely black eyes that now stared at them. The silent psycho Draco sensed loitering beneath Theo’s surface, this was him. Abaddon.
Draco had heard whispers of the Fallen Angel turned Demon right before the final battle. Legends and rumors swirled in conversation amongst the higher-ranking Death Eaters. That he, Abaddon, lived amongst the magical community to order to mask his abilities as regular magic. The Dark Lord had been looking for him, hungry for that kind of power. How he had not sensed it in Theo was a bloody miracle because he would have killed him for it. Or worse, found a way to use him and keep Theo as a slave.
It took him a bit longer than he would’ve liked to admit that even though his opponent was fighting him… the Demon was allowing himself to be contained. Which ultimately meant that Theo, his friend, might still be in reach. His mind left the Manor and he snapped back into his body.
“Neville, there’s strange looking vials in the bottom of his trunk, get one.” Draco was still straining, despite the Demon not using his full power he was fucking strong.
“Ginny, Pans, a little help would be nice.” He immediately felt the reprieve when the girls used their wands to cast their own versions of his barrier. He sucked in a large breath at the same time the girls grunted at the sheer force thrashing against them.
Neville came flying back into the room, sounds of bottles dropping and rolling all over the common room. “They’re all empty!” He cried.
Damn it all to hell. Literally.
“Theo. Theo, I know you can hear me or else we’d all be dead by now.” Draco remarked. “He’s gone, mate. The threat, the thing you want to destroy, he’s gone.”
Glass behind him shattered.
“Blaise…” He warned. The girls were fading and he wouldn’t be able to hold the Demon by himself again.
Hermione and Susan burst through the entry, both panting as if they just ran the whole way. Oh gods... they had run the whole way. If he wasn’t battling a damned Demon right now, he would have laughed at the absurd muggleness of it.
“Susan,” he paused to change his tone noticing the girl’s wary eyes, “you have to help him. You’re the only one who can.”
“I… I can’t.” She whispered sadly. He was about to say to hell with the coddling but then she continued. “He told me to never go near or touch him when he’s like this.”
“He told you about… It doesn’t matter. It’s either you try or Blaise tries.”
Susan looked to Blaise who sported an unreadable expression with his wand pointed at their friend, the end crackling with the blue curse Draco had asked him to prepare.
Pansy and Ginny both gasped and dropped their wands as they stumbled back, Draco felt like he was being split in two when the force landed solely on him again. Their time was up.
“You’ll never… see him again… if he leaves this room.” He panted. “He will hate himself if he hurts anyone.”
Susan cautiously approached Theo, stepping on his side of the barrier and grabbing his hand. Draco fell to his knees as all the pressure released.
Theo hissed and Susan whimpered as smokey shadows spilled from his skin to hers. Air and warmth returned to the room. Draco slowly stood and watched as Ginny and Pansy did the same. He was beyond drained but at least all the pain was gone, like it had never even been there. Susan’s eyes were screwed shut but tears were skating over her cheeks and her hand fell from Theo’s as she collapsed at his feet.
The onyx eyes were gone, replaced by the forest green that usually lived there. Theo looked down at girl sitting against his legs and promptly lost it.
“Fuck.” The room shook
“Fuck.” A chair slammed against the wall.
“FUCK!” Another window shattered.
Blaise flicked his wand to keep glass splinters from assaulting everyone.
“Theo?” Susan cried weakly from the floor and his friend dropped down beside her, hands hovering over her like he was scared to touch her. The girl’s eyes twitched wildly beneath her thin lids. “Theo, it’s so dark. I can’t see. I can’t see anything.”
Draco shivered, he knew what that was like.
“I’m so sorry, love. I’m so sorry. I’m here.” Theo pulled her into his arms, her back to his front, and cradled her as he leaned back against sofa pressing his lips to the side of her head. "I'm right here."
Draco looked away. The moment felt too intimate to watch.
He scanned the faces of the others. Pansy and Ginny were also crying. Pansy wiped at her tears angrily as if they offended her while Ginny just let hers run free. Blaise had found a spot above the mantle to get lost in. Neville was looking down at his shoes, wringing and twisting the empty vials around in his hands. Hermione was looking at him and they held each other’s stare.
“It’s s-s-so c-cold, Theo.” Susan’s voice broke as she quivered. “It hurts.”
Draco looked back to the pair on the floor.
Theo closed his eyes and clenched his jaw before pressing yet another kiss to her hair and squeezing her tighter. “I know, Sunshine.”
“Sunshine, that’s exactly what she needs.” Luna’s sweet voice called out from her balcony swing. Everyone’s eyes snapped up to her, except for Susan’s of course. Where in the bloody hell did she come from? Had she been there the whole time? “She’s an empath… a light-worker. Didn't you all know?” And when no one said anything, she continued, "She’s charged and healed by the daylight.”
Everyone’s eyes shot back down to the girl who was turning more and more gray in Theo’s lap.
“Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight…” He heard Hermione muttering from her spot by the entryway. Her head snapped up. “Levitate her!”
Blaise and Draco were the first ones to obey, giving their hands a quick flick in Susan’s direction. She floated out of Theo’s arms. His friend shoved his head between his knees and began pulling at his hair once she was off him. Draco got a sickening sense of déjà vu, like he was looking at a version of himself from five months ago.
And then Draco was temporarily blinded.
“Lumos Solem!” Hermione chanted, rays of bright light shooting out of her wand.
Swirls of a fine black steam filled the space above Susan’s body. She sighed peacefully as if Hermione was rubbing a potion on a wound. It only took a few more moments before color had returned to Susan and Hermione lowered her wand, nodding at him and Blaise giving them the clear to bring her back down.
“Ginny, will you please float Susan to her bed? She probably needs to rest now.”
Pausing briefly to push a lock of curls behind Hermione’s ear, the youngest Weasley nodded before she whispered something causing them both to look down sadly. And then she was flicking her wand to take the Leviosa over. Once she disappeared behind the door, Draco had about thirty seconds of peace before the questions started flying.
“What in the bloody hell just happened!?” Blaise yelled while Pansy demanded, “Someone better start explaining.”
Neville asked something about their safety glancing up at Luna who was still swinging away, unbothered by everything that had just taken place as if she had already seen it all.
Granger sighed and sat on her bench, picking at the cushion beneath her fingers seeming lost in her own thoughts. Draco could feel his suppressed wrath starting to crawl back in now that Theo’s episode was over. He wiped a hand down his face, glanced down at Theo who was still on the floor, and then swallowed.
“He’s an ancient Demon.” He put a hand up in the air to stop the two mouths that opened from interrupting him. “He’s called Abaddon. A Fallen Angel that thrives on destruction and darkness. It was said that he hid himself among witches and wizards hundreds of years ago so that he could blend in and still be able to use his powers. It was rumored that he tied himself to a family line, being passed down from each generation on their 18th birthday. Sometimes dormant and never surfacing, and sometimes when finding the right host... active.”
“How long have you known.” Theo’s broken voice whispered.
Draco shrugged. “I’ve had suspicions since last spring during the trainings. But when you disappeared on your birthday last month, and then again after Granger’s birthday, I think I knew… I just didn’t want to really believe it.”
He could feel Blaise and Pansy’s eyes on him. Blaise was probably pissed that he hadn’t shared his suspicions and Pansy was most likely hurt for being left out. Theo nodded after pulling his head from its place between his knees and moving to stand up. He sent a broken look towards the door Susan had been taken through and then moved his eyes to Blaise.
“Next time, just electrocute me.” And then he was sulking toward their room.
“Next time? Mate there better not be a ‘next time’.” Blaise tried to joke. It missed.
Theo froze mid-step and his shoulders deflated even more. “I can’t control him without the suppressant.” He kicked at one of the empty bottles Neville had dropped. “I’ve run out.”
Draco heaved a hand through his hair. He snuck a glance out of the corner of his eye, Hermione hadn’t moved. She still sat with her head down and fingers twirling an errant string that she had pulled from the cushion’s stitching. Gods the thought of her fingers twirling around him was so out pocket in this exact moment but he couldn't help it. He never could when it came to her.
He slammed his eyes shut and called out for his Manor. Listening to the room around him while he let the recognizable cold ground him. The other side of him answered the call and stepped forward.
Light footsteps danced down the stairs. Luna.
“Neville, I think I would like some plums from the greenhouse. Care to join me?”
“Of course, dear.”
“Bring one of those vials with us, there may be some Sprites in the cherry blossoms this time of year. They do love a good puzzle.”
They left the room. Draco wasn’t sure if Luna was as daft as they came or a brilliant clairvoyant. Perhaps both.
Feeling less impressionable, his eyes opened and sought out Pansy, she was looking between Granger and him. When they caught eyes, he nodded at Granger and then flicked his eyes toward their bedroom passing along the silent instruction. Pansy rolled her eyes at him but carefully made her way to their girl. He watched as his friend leaned down, murmured in Granger’s ear like Ginny had done, and then gently grabbed her hand guiding her toward the girl’s dorm.
When they were alone, Draco let out a ragged exhale before placing his hands on the back of his chair and dropping his head in exhaustion ignoring Blaise’s eyes on him.
“Were you going to tell me?”
“Eventually. I had to be sure.”
When Blaise said nothing further, Draco lifted his head to look at him.
“Would you have believed me if I did?”
Blaise stared into the fire in front of them. “You kept all of us alive, Draco. I would believe you if you told me the sky was purple.”
He’d killed three times before the end of the war and once after. One time for each of his friends: Greyback for Pansy, one of the Carrows to cover for a mistake Blaise made, and Nott Sr. for Theo. The fourth kill was for him and him alone. It was not for survival, and it was how he knew he was truly wicked and unredeemable just like his fucked-up family.
Draco began to feel his dark energy swirling in his blood while the thoughts of death awakened the dormant Death Eater in him.
“We’re going to bring the girls and Theo dinner and then we’re going to send Wesley a little message.”
“No need.” Ginny said from the doorway, fiddling with what looked to be a small marble in her hands. She stepped forward revealing Pansy standing just behind her, moving toward them and placing the glass ball on the floor by the fireplace. She bent down, tapped it with her wand three times and said, “You owe me, I’m collecting.”
Draco had barely blinked when George Weasley was suddenly leaning against the mantle in front of them.
“It couldn’t have waited until morning?”
“You can thank Ron for that.”
“What’s he done now?”
“I’ll explain later, it’s more important that you find him and make sure that he does not tell anyone what he saw today. Any method of your choosing.”
George then took notice of the other people in the room. “On a scale from one to Voldemort, how serious is it.”
“Umbridge.”
“What exactly am I walking into here, Gin?”
“Theo is a Demon.”
“Ginevra!” Blaise seethed. She responded by putting her hand up in the air to silence him.
“Theo is a Demon, Draco has dark magic, and Blaise is a shadow. Ron threw a tantrum and said vile things to Hermione which triggered Theo. He saw Theo change and Draco’s attempt at containing him. No one can know about them, George. You know full well what will happen if word gets out.”
“And their safety matters to you?”
"It does." She nodded.
"I see." Her brother said quietly before a wicked grin split his face. “Things have been rather dull lately… this might spice things up nicely.” And then he was gone.
Ginny turned towards them. “I trust him.”
“How did you know those things about us?” Draco warily.
“You’re not the only one who watches people around here, Malfoy.”