He is broken, shattered. I wish I could help him but I know I can't. He is here every morning before dawn. Preparing for the sunrise before the students are even out of bed. He wears nothing other then his boxers standing on the Quidditch pitch. Waiting for the sun to show. He will wait till the very last second before drawing on my power to gain his immunity. Why he does it I do not know, but every morning it's the same thing.

I know he goes though a lot of pain when the sun does finally come up. After a few seconds I can see a faint smoke come off his body as the sun burns him, but still he does not grasp for my power. No, he stands there fighting it like a duel he must win.

When he is finally about to pass out from lack of energy and pain I feel him reach for my power and I give it to him and let him feed greedily from the energy. He has lost his personal duel with the dawn.

I sometimes wish he would tell me why he does it, but I don't ask because I can sense that he feels he has failed. Not him but me. He feels that every time he taps my power he feels as if he is a burden to me. I just know it but yet do I? I wish he would tell me what he is thinking, just once.

"Headmaster, I must speak with you," I stated to the Headmaster as he was walking down the hall on his way to his office.

"Yes Malfoy?"

I could tell that he did not trust me but that did not matter he is probably the only one that could help me.

"In private." I then moved ahead of him in the direction of his office with him following behind me.

As we entered the office I moved to sit in a chair facing the headmaster as he sat in his own chair. "I am doing this against my better judgment but Harry holds a lot of faith in you. To hear him talk you could walk on water and I am in a really big mess." I started looking anywhere but at that piercing gaze. He did not say anything and I knew he was waiting for more. "You see while Harry and I were both missing Harry managed to get himself killed."

"He does not look dead to me, Mr. Malfoy."

I looked up to meet his gaze my eyes cold and unreadable or at least I hoped, "I brought him back sir, to life that is."

"You did not feel that this was important enough to share with me earlier?" His eyes have managed to get colder then my father’s ever could have.

"I was afraid of your reaction. I still am for that matter, but Harry has assured me that you will do nothing but try to help me." I could feel a wave of reassurance coming from Harry as he must have sensed my distress.

"Are you going to tell me all that took place during the time you were missing with me now or not?"

"When Harry was abducted by Voldemort someone killed Harry. I don't know if it was Voldemort or one of his followers but it was someone." I looked to the floor after saying this then continued, "I felt it where I was. I then had to travel to the Abyss to claim Harry's soul so a powerful mage could bring him back. However while in the Abyss realm, I managed to become, well, undead."

I looked up to gauge my life span. 'Would it be minutes or seconds?'

"How did that come about Mr. Malfoy?" his voce was soft and measured like he was afraid he would drive me back into silence.

"The living can not cross the river of the damned so I needed to sacrifice my life to cross."

"You willingly became undead?"

"To save Harry, yes." I did not even look ashamed.

"You want me to do what, Mr. Malfoy, cure your curse and make you human again? Once you are undead, Mr. Malfoy, it is permanent."

"That more or less is what I told Harry but he thinks that I could be cured over time."

"If you know it is permanent what do you need of me? Not to hide it of course, for until now I did not know, so you have that part down."

"I am of the vampire type of undead. I drink blood, burn in the sun, nor can I cross running water, and I can not enter any private domicile without permission from a resident."

"I know of Vampires, Mr. Malfoy."

"I am a Malfoy, that much you have right Professor, and Malfoys can't stand any form of weakness."

"Oh I see it now. You want me to remove your weak traits for you?"

"I do not feed on blood, I don't need to cross water for any reason, and I really don't care about entering houses I don't have permission to. However, I have also found a way around the sun but it hinders Harry and I don't like hindering him," I continued as if the headmaster never said anything.

"How are you walking during the day, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I draw off Harry's energy and shield myself from the sun, however this leaves both me and Harry weak."

"And feeding?"

"I have made a ring." I stood and walked over to the headmaster and showed him my hand with the blood ring on it. "It keeps me in supply of blood and I have no need to feed."

"Clever."

"I need another way to walk around during the day. I don't care about hindering myself but I don't want to be a burden on Harry." I walked back over to my seat and sat. "That is if you allow me to live past this night."

"You know you need to have more faith in Harry and what he tells you."

I looked up into his eyes to see that twinkle there and I found that I was not uneasy.

"I can't make you immune to the sun but I can help you with a few charms and spells that could delay death by sunlight. With your kind, vampires I mean, over time your weaknesses will become less and less till you don't even notice them anymore."

"How much time?"

"Depends on how much conditioning your body goes through."

"Sir?"

"The longer you stand in the sun the more immune you will become. The trick is not getting killed while you are fighting to keep control of your powers."

"Sir? How do you know so much about vampires?"

"Do you think you are the only student that has come to me with this problem young Malfoy?"

I blushed, "I would like to think it is uncommon."

"Don't we all," he smiled. "Tell me, how did you cross the river of the damned if you can't cross water?"

"You of all people should know that the river of the damned is made up of maddened souls not water. That is why the living can't cross without going mad, yet undead and the dead are unaffected by the call of the souls."

"No, I did not know a lot of the Abyss. It is known only to Dark Mages and Necromancers. I am neither you see, Malfoy."

I shed all my clothing save my undergarments. I don't fancy going around the rest of the day with charred flesh in my robes somewhere. I first enter a meditative state to prepare my mind for the pain that I will feel. I can sense Harry at the edge of the pitch watching me. Not for the first time and probably not the last, though I am getting better.

When the sun finally does come I am too busy casting quick healing charms, wandless, to pay much heed to my pain. But the pain is great. The meditation helps me to push it to the back of my mind. Sometimes I wish I had this ability back when my father introduced me to his small room. It only takes a few seconds for the steam to come off my skin and the boils to form. The healing charms help heal what my unholy healing factor cannot heal. I can feel Harry pleading with me to reach out for his power almost demanding I end this torment, but he does not move. He respects my decision to do this.

When my energy level is so low that I am in danger of passing out, I finally reach out for Harry and he lets me. I feed off his energy to restore what I have lost and he lets me. I all but rush over to him and he pulls me into a tight hug ignoring the smell of burnt flesh, crying the whole time.

And I can only think,

But at least he is safe and with me, and because of that I will fight to be whole again.