
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/673365.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Harry_Potter_-_J._K._Rowling
  Relationship:
      Severus_Snape/Harry_Potter
  Additional Tags:
      snarry, Vampires, teacher/student_relationship, child_abuse/molestation,
      Angst, attempted_suicide, AU
  Collections:
      HPFandom
  Stats:
      Published: 2013-02-06 Words: 54037
****** Blood Tides ******
by Eriador117
Summary
     Something happened to five year old Harry Potter that will affect his
     life forever.
Part 1
The Muggles were always so oblivious to those of his kind. Didn't they know?
Couldn't they even sense the danger they were in? They had myths about his
race, but not one of them had ever figured out the whole truth yet. They had
guessed some of it, but not all and it amused him no end to read the books the
Muggle writers had written.
One thing they got totally wrong was the fact that they couldn't walk about in
daylight. He could walk about fine in daylight, but his eyes were very
sensitive and he had to wear dark glasses even in the depths of winter when
there was hardly any sun to be had. It amused him to be so close to his prey
and them not even aware of it.
He'd been watching the boy for a few weeks now; he seemed to be the weakest
child in the playground and also one of the smallest. He liked them small, the
small ones were a lot easier to subdue. He wasn't one of those who delighted in
the chase or of terrifying his victims beforehand, he would much rather strike
up a friendship and gain their trust before they finally realised what he was.
The shock on their faces was like nectar to him, just like their blood would
be.
It was cold today; a sheen of sparkling frost on the ground, but the boy had no
coat. He was dressed in a pair of knee length shorts, one wool sock right to
his knee, the other bunched around his ankle. He was shivering with cold and
had his arms wrapped around himself in a vain attempt to keep himself warm. A
few of the other children were playing games of tag and football, but everyone
seemed to be either ignoring the raven haired boy or taunting him.
A whale of a child, who waddled rather than walked, pushed the smaller boy over
and laughed at the boy's scraped knees. If ever he needed a cue, that was it.
He marched into the playground and showed his ID card to the teacher in charge.
"What can I do for you, Detective?" she asked, sniffling with cold. He removed
the photo from his pocket, one he'd taken himself a few weeks previously.
"I'm looking for Stephen Harper; he was abducted a few weeks ago."
"I'm sorry, we don't have a boy at school of that name," she said.
"Maybe if you look at the photo?" he thrust it into her hands before she could
protest.
"That's Harry. Harry Potter," she said. "Not Stephen Harper."
"And has he been at the school long?" he asked, knowing the answer full well,
he only chose the younger children, those who'd just started school recently,
otherwise his ploy wouldn't work.
"Just a few weeks ago," said the teacher, her face paling. "Oh, God, I thought
there was something odd. The people who enrolled him, the Dursleys, didn't seem
to care about him and his clothes never fitted him. It all makes sense now. Oh,
that poor boy. He's never spoken about it, he never mentions his parents at
all."
"My guess is, they threatened to hurt him if he tells anyone. I'll have to take
him down to the police station and the hospital, make sure he's all right
before he can be sent back home. His parents are frantic with worry. Just
pretend he's still Harry, we don't want to worry the child."
"Of course," she replied and called Harry over. The boy blinked up at the
adults, wide green eyes magnified behind large ugly, glasses. "Harry, this man
is a policeman and you have to go with him for a little while."
The boy's eyes filled up with tears. "It wasn't me," he sobbed. "I didn't kill
Mrs Figg's cat, I promise!"
"You're not in trouble, Harry; we just want to ask you a few questions. Is that
all right?"
Harry looked at his teacher, who nodded and smiled at the boy. Really, it was
getting too easy, as soon as they thought he was a policeman, they handed the
children over to him with barely a blink of protest. Did no one pay attention
to stranger danger anymore? "This way, Harry," he said, taking the boy's hand
and walking him to the car. The boy's hands were rough and calloused, not like
a child's hand at all, but more like those of a manual labourer.
"What age are you, Harry?" he asked once he'd strapped the boy in the booster
seat in the back.
"Five and then next year I'll be six," Harry smiled proudly at him but he knew
the boy would not live to reach his next birthday. His short life would soon be
over, but from what he'd seen so far, he would be doing the boy a favour.
It didn't take long to drive to his house, one on the outskirts of town with no
neighbours for miles. The house was well warded with privacy and silencing
charms of course, but he preferred to hide from prying eyes in the first place.
As soon as the car stopped, Harry warily fingered his seatbelt and made no move
to get out of the car.
"I don't think this is the police station, sir," he said, still polite, even in
his fear. He could smell the fear on the boy, he always could.
"No, it isn't. I just thought you might want to have some fun before we go
there."
"Fun?" queried Harry, as though the concept was alien to him.
"You know, toys and games, like you play with at home?"
"I - I'm not allowed to play with toys," he shook his head. "You'd better take
me home or my aunt and uncle will be really angry if they find out."
"I won't tell them if you won't, Harry," he smiled then, trying to put the boy
at ease, it would make things easier later. He didn't want Harry terrified of
him. Yet.
"So you'll let me play but you won't tell them? Ever, ever?"
"That's right, Harry. It'll just be our secret."
"I like secrets," the boy grinned and fumbled with the catch on his seatbelt,
but he hadn't quite got the dexterity to unbuckle it. He bent down and opened
the clasp for Harry and they made their way inside.
For the next few hours he just watched Harry as he played with all the toys,
even played a few games with him, both of them sitting cross legged on the
floor. He made Harry cheese sandwiches, which the boy wolfed down as if he'd
never eaten anything so good in his life before, maybe he hadn't. The boy
looked half starved.
"Right, Harry. Time for your bath," he said standing up and offering his hand.
"My - my bath? But I'm not dirty!" he protested with a pout, oh he was adorable
all right. Such innocence, such purity and now because of him it would never be
soiled. Harry would be pure forever.
"You've been messing about on the floor all day, Harry. Of course you're dirty.
I won't hurt you; I just want to get you clean. You don't want to go and see
your parents all dirty now, do you?"
"Mum and Dad? They're alive?" he gasped in surprise. Oops, the Dursleys weren't
his parents then? He hadn't factored that into the equation.
"Of course they are, Harry," he lied smoothly. "We'll give you a bath and then
you can go and see them, all right?"
Harry nodded and stood up. He scooped the boy up in his arms and carried him
upstairs to the bathroom, where every bathing toy a little boy could ever want
or need was there. Boats, buckets, rubber ducks all lined the shelf running
alongside the bath and Harry stared round at everything in amazement. "It's so
big!" he exclaimed, pointing at the large claw footed tub.
"Right, let's get you undressed and in," he said, reaching for Harry's overly
large jumper. The boy yanked himself away and backed into the far wall.
"No! I'm not allowed! No-one is allowed to see!"
"Harry, you can't get into the bath with your clothes on, now can you?" he
tried to be reasonable but his patience was wearing thin. He had the boy in his
clutches for over five hours now and he wanted his reward. He deserved his
reward.
Harry stubbornly shook his head. "No, I'm not allowed," he said again, his
voice a lot more subdued.
"You do want to see your parents again, don't you?"
Harry's face crumpled but he didn't cry. "Yes, sir," he whispered.
"Then you will have to take off your clothes and get in or I'll tell them you
were being a bad boy. Do you want that, Harry? Do you want me to tell your
parents you were being a bad boy?"
***
Harry shook his head, he wanted to see his parents again, but the man was
scaring him and what would happen if the Dursleys found out he'd let someone
else see what they'd done to him? Maybe he wouldn't have to live with the
Dursleys if he saw his parents again? But why hadn't they come to see him
before? Maybe they didn't want him? Maybe they never wanted him? He started to
cry and he wanted to go home, even if home was the Dursleys. He at least knew
what they did; he didn't know what this man was going to do to him.
"I want to go home," he said, sniffling a little.
"After your bath, Harry."
"No, now, please. I want to go home!"
The man marched towards him and pulled Harry's jumper roughly over his head.
"You are getting into that bath and you are getting into it now! I don't have
time for your defiance!" The man threw the jumper on the floor and shook Harry
so hard that his glasses fell to the floor and he could hardly see a thing. Now
the man was just a scary blob of features and Harry so wanted to be locked in
his cupboard right about now.
The man pulled down his shorts and his y-fronts, then removed his socks as
Harry tried to hide himself, tried to cover himself there with his hands.
Before he could say or do anything, the man scooped him up in his arms again
and set him down in the bath that had already been filled. Harry hadn't seen
him turn on the taps, how could the bath be filled already?
The bath was a little on the cold side and Harry's teeth began to chatter. The
man was staring at Harry's body, at the bruises covering it but he never
mentioned them. He took up a sponge and began to wash Harry's back. Harry was
kneeling in the tub, resting his head on his knees, his hands clasped around
his knees, crying silently. Something was wrong, he didn't know what, but
something was wrong and he was more scared here than he had been of his uncle's
belt.
He didn't like the way the man was washing him, the way his touch lingered on
his neck and shoulders, Harry could feel the man's fingers there, not the
sponge. Harry tried to stand up, to get out, but the man was much stronger than
him and held him down with a firm grip on his shoulders.
"Don't be scared, Harry. I'm going to make you feel good, don't you want that?"
"No, please! I want to go home!" Harry sobbed. He didn't care how many meals he
missed at the Dursleys or if he never saw a toy again, he just wanted to go
home and back to his cupboard. The man forced Harry down so that he was lying
in the bath and Harry completely panicked, he was terrified of water and he
thrashed about trying to get up. "Let me up! Let me up!" he begged, but the man
wasn't listening to him, ignoring all of Harry's pleas.
"Let me up! Let me up!" Harry screamed and found himself on all fours in the
large room at Malfoy Manor, where he'd been held for the past few weeks. He
retched, dry heaves as they hadn't fed him anything for about three days, but
he wasn't exactly sure of the time frame.
"Who is he?" demanded Voldemort as he did every time he gained access to that
particular memory in Harry's mind, but Harry had no idea who it was. The memory
had been repressed for so long that it was almost like watching a film; it had
happened to someone else, another boy called Harry. Not to him. It hadn't
happened to him, those hands, those touches. He took a shuddering breath. Not
to him.
Lucius Malfoy kicked Harry's feet from under him so that Harry fell flat on his
face.
"Answer your Lord and Master, Potter!" snarled Lucius.
"He's not my master," spat Harry defiantly.
"No? And yet here you are prostrate on the floor in front of him, like any good
minion."
"Who is he? Why do you hide that memory from me? Why that one and not the
others? How can you block me so successfully, Potter? Even Dumbledore cannot
hide his thoughts from me. No one can!" Voldemort prowled the floor as Malfoy
pressed his boot heel on Harry's back, keeping him to the floor. He refused to
groan, refused to give them the satisfaction of knowing he was hurt.
Harry didn't know how many Death Eaters there were or who they were, only
Voldemort and Lucius were unmasked. All he knew was that they watched
everything done to him, every humiliation at Voldemort's hands.
"So you will not speak?" hissed Voldemort. "I know something that might loosen
your tongue. Lucius, bring in the other prisoner."
Another Death Eater took Malfoy's place holding Harry to the floor, but whereas
before Lucius had Harry face down, this Death Eater tilted his chin up so that
Harry could see very well who Lucius brought in.
Robes torn, face and hair blood splattered, Lucius threw the prisoner roughly
in the middle of the floor and spat on him, before kicking him in the ribs.
The man curled up to try and protect himself and Harry at last saw his face.
"Traitor!" all the Death Eaters roared as Harry looked on in horror at the
bloodied, mangled face of his professor, Severus Snape.
 
Part 2
"Shall I show you what happens to traitors discovered in my service, Harry?
Would you like to watch?" Voldemort asked, smiling as if he was inviting Harry
on an exciting outing. No, Harry didn't want to watch, he wanted to get both of
them out of here.
How had they caught Snape in the first place? How had they known that Snape was
the spy? It was all Harry's fault, all of it. If he hadn't been so foolish as
to go wandering off to the Forbidden Forest on his own, late at night, without
telling anyone, neither he nor Snape would be in this current predicament. The
wards on Hogwarts only extended a little way into the Forest and as soon as
Harry had gone beyond them, he'd been caught by two Death Eaters, as though
Voldemort had stationed his followers there, just in case he ever ventured
outside the protection of Hogwarts.
"McNair, get our young friend up, he won't want to miss any of this," ordered
Voldemort. So that's who'd been holding Harry down, Buckbeak's would-be
executioner. As soon as McNair hauled Harry up from the floor, Voldemort cast
the binding spell that not only held Harry immobile, it prevented him from
doing any wandless magic. Voldemort was no fool; he knew or at least suspected
that Harry could cast spells without a wand. Harry's own wand had been taken
the night he'd been captured and he had no idea where it was now.
The binding spell held him completely still, he couldn't even blink or close
his eyes like he so wanted to do. Voldemort stalked across the wooden floor,
his scarlet robes swishing along the ground around him and dredging up dust in
his wake. "Well, Severus, who shall I allow to destroy you first? To whom shall
I grant that privilege? It won't really matter in the end; everyone will get
their turn to break you. I'm a generous master to those who are loyal after
all."
Harry could only see Voldemort's back now and Snape's swollen face as it lay on
the floor. Voldemort was silent, but Snape shook his head and Harry knew the
man was fighting Voldemort's Legilimency. Voldemort cackled, the voice high and
grating. "Well, well, Severus, who would have guessed it? Such a rich fantasy
life you have. But the guilt, oh the guilt! Wonderful! Never mind, you'll die
knowing that you never acted on your baser instincts. Pity," said Voldemort
leaning down and whispering something Harry couldn't catch. Snape's face,
always on the pale side, turned completely white.
"Leave him alone you bastard!" Snape yelled.
"Aw, Harry, your teacher's worried for your virtue, isn't that sweet?" came a
sing song voice that Harry would know anywhere, despite the mask. Bellatrix
Lestrange, his godfather's murderer. Voldemort stood up and smiled in the
direction of that voice.
"Why worry about the boy's virtue, Severus? He no longer has it to lose,"
laughed Voldemort.
"What did you do to him?" Snape screamed. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
"Oh, not me. I know you're so good at Occlumency, Severus, why not go into the
boy's mind and find out?"
"No!"
"No? You think to defy me? Your life is in my hands, Severus. Your life. And
death. Imperio!! Now, look!"
Harry felt the touch of his professor's mind against his own, they were both
struggling against the invasion, but Voldemort's curse was too strong and Snape
managed to get past Harry's defences, he was so weak from his captivity and
near starvation that Harry barely had strength to stand never mind defend
against magic. A few moments later Snape's mind withdrew and he looked sadly at
Harry. Harry wanted to look away from the pity in that gaze, but he couldn't.
Bella giggled like a school girl and simpered at her master.
"Ah, Bella, I think I'll allow you to have the first honours. Never been raped
by a woman before, have you, Severus?"
Harry didn't understand; how could a woman rape a man? As Voldemort's words
echoed round his head, he wondered, did Voldemort mean that Snape had been
raped before? Barely a few moments later, Harry discovered that it was in fact
possible for a woman to rape a man, especially when that woman was as deranged
as Bellatrix Lestrange. She used a spell to strip Snape naked and Harry wanted
to close his eyes, to look away, but both were impossible. He had no choice but
to stare at the professor's nakedness, at the cuts and scars covering his body.
Many a time Harry had dreamed, had fantasised about seeing the man, but not
like this. Never like this. Harry counted the scars, anything to distract
himself from witnessing what was about to happen. Twenty three scars decorated
the man's chest.
Oh, God, how must it feel to Snape to have one of his students witness this?
Harry didn't want to, but he knew neither of them had a choice in the matter.
Bella said another spell, it must have been some sort of engorgement charm and
much to both Snape's and Harry's horror, Snape's prick filled with blood as he
struggled against the invisible bonds holding him. "Crucio!!" screeched Bella
and Harry couldn't shut his ears to the man's screams.
The binding spell on Snape didn't render him incapable of moving, just of
escaping what was about to happen.
"Get away from me, you bitch!" yelled Snape s he fought the spell, his body
arched like a human bridge, trying to get away from the woman now hovering
above him. She didn't undress, just hoisted up her robes and Harry could see a
flash of brown hair at the top of her thighs before she sank down on Snape's
prick and rode him as if he were a horse. She flicked her wand in the air and
cuts appeared on Snape's skin every time she did it, the man biting his lip to
stop himself from crying out, Harry guessed.
Harry couldn't perform any magic, but he and Snape had discovered as a side
effect to their Occlumency lessons that they could in fact talk mind to mind.
It was a rare skill, not really magic based and so Harry was still capable of
it, despite the binding spell.
Professor Snape? Can you hear me? It's Harry. You'll be all right.
It was a while before the man answered in his mind. Did they hurt you? asked
Snape, worried for Harry's welfare even as he was being attacked by Bella.
I'm fine, sir. I'm worried about you.
"Rodolphus," drawled Voldemort. "Help your wife, won't you? Show him no mercy."
Another one of the Death Eaters removed his mask, left the circle and strode to
the tableau in the middle. Bella stood up for a moment, as she did, she
squeezed Snape's prick so hard that the man's eyes watered and he couldn't stop
a small cry of pain from escaping. The Lestranges rolled Snape onto his side,
Bella settled herself down facing him and mounted him again just before her
husband lay down behind him and shoved up his own robes and he thrust into
Snape's arse.
"Crabbe, Goyle. I feel he needs something in his mouth, don't you?"
Harry could hardly bear to watch as the two large men took out their meaty
pricks and began stuffing them in Snape's mouth. Screams bubbled in his chest
but because of the binding they could go no further.
"McNair, now you," said Voldemort as Rodolphus shuddered and pulled out. Harry
saw the blood on Snape's thighs and as McNair moved away from him, the binding
spell holding Harry flickered and disappeared. He stayed completely still for a
few moments, not wanting to alert the Death Eaters or Voldemort to that fact.
As McNair reached Snape, everyone's attention were on the centre of the room,
not on Harry. Harry was livid at what they had done to Snape and he felt a
growl low down in his throat, which he quickly denied. It was surprise he
needed, not to give them a warning. When Voldemort's attention was fixed firmly
on Snape and the rapists, Harry pounced.
He aimed for Voldemort's neck, biting the scaly skin, Voldemort and the Death
Eaters screamed in agony. The blood was black and bitter on his tongue; Harry
spat it out but kept sucking at Voldemort's neck until the creature was drained
dry and dropped to the floor, nothing more than a husk. Harry cast a wandless
Avada Kedavra just to make sure and the wizard disappeared in a shower of
ashes. All the Death Eaters were unconscious except for Snape; his Mark had
been removed a few weeks previously.
"Professor!" Harry cried and bent down to help Snape up, but the days of hunger
had taken their toll and Harry collapsed to the floor.
***
When Harry came to, he was lying on a bed in Hogwarts infirmary and he could
hear Snape protesting that he was fine.
"I am perfectly capable of tending to a few cuts and bruises, Poppy! Get away
from me, woman!" he growled.
Harry turned his head towards the voice and saw Snape standing arguing with the
mediwitch, the man didn't look far from collapse himself, but he was determined
not to let the mediwitch anywhere near him.
Harry's head was throbbing and his throat raw from the screams he'd been unable
to utter as he'd watched Snape being raped. He guessed that was the reason
Snape didn't want to be examined, he didn't want anyone to know. Harry coughed,
bringing Madam Pomfrey's attention to him and Snape used the opportunity to
sneak away.
"Harry, dear! You're awake! The Aurors would like to speak to you about how you
defeated Voldemort."
"The other Death Eaters?"
"Captured by the Aurors, Professor Snape alerted the Order as soon as he
brought you back. They are all awaiting trial in Azkaban as we speak."
"There's going to be a trial?"
"Yes. How are you feeling now, Harry? Do you feel up to talking to them?"
"Not yet, ma'am," said Harry, feeling his stomach drop as if he'd fallen from
his broomstick. A trial, that would mean people would find out what Snape had
endured and Harry knew the man was so proud that he would never want that and
he certainly wouldn't want their pity. "I have a headache and I feel sick."
"Here, take a few drops of this," said Madam Pomfrey handing him a glass of
clear potion. "It'll help with both the headache and the nausea."
Harry didn't argue, but downed it at once, feeling better and very sleepy.
"Rest now, Harry. Now, Severus - where is that man?" Madam Pomfrey fretted as
she walked away from Harry.
His eyes drifted shut and he just hoped Snape was right, that he could in fact
tend to his own wounds.
Harry didn't want to think what would happen if he couldn't.
 
Part 3
Severus made it back to his dungeons, glaring at every student who dared try
and speak to him and managed to hide how hurt he was until he was safely inside
the sanctuary of his rooms. Once he'd locked and warded the door to his
quarters, he leaned against it and let out a scream that if anyone could manage
to hear past his silencing charms, they would have been shocked out of their
skins to hear it. There was such raw anguish in that sound that no one who
heard it would doubt that it was from someone in severe pain.
There wasn't a part of Severus' body that didn't ache, the nerve endings still
so raw after so many crucios cast upon him. He knew he had to get to his
potions, but the effort of just moving into the bathroom was almost too much.
He closed his eyes, but all he could see behind them was his rapists and
Severus snapped them open quickly again.
What was almost worse than the rapes was that Harry had been there, Harry had
witnessed his humiliation, his degradation at their hands. Bile rose in his
throat, but there was no way he was going to make it to the bathroom in time.
Severus sank to his knees, throwing up all over the floor and the edge of his
blood spattered robes. He cast a cleaning charm and he just stayed there on his
knees, staring at the far wall of his living room.
Severus didn't know how long he sat there, thinking about what had happened to
him. He couldn't get it out of his head. He was filthy, disgusting, letting
them do that to him. Even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to forgive him this. To
have let Harry seen what a whore he'd become. Maybe if he just stayed here long
enough he'd die from his injuries.
A few months ago, Severus Snape had come to the conclusion that he was in love
with Harry Potter, but how could Harry ever want him now after what had
happened? He was so soiled, so used. Harry would never want someone like that.
Never mind that he didn't even know whether the boy was gay or not. No, it was
best if Severus died, that way no one would have to know what had happened, he
wouldn't dirty anyone else with his filth.
Yes, that would be best. It wasn't as if anyone would miss him anyway. Severus
stood up on shaky legs and made his way to the bathroom. Just the right
combination of Potions and he could fall asleep, never to wake up. He toyed
with the idea of a razor, but he hated the sight of blood, especially his own.
No, potions were his best bet. He could make it quick and painless. He'd had
enough of pain.
"Harry!" he moaned as if willing the boy to him, to stop him, but he shook his
head at his reflection. No one would stop him. No one would care enough to stop
him, to miss him and much to his horror, Severus felt tears trickle down his
cheeks. He, who'd never cried since the day he'd been Marked as Voldemort's
man, wept a torrent, crying so much that he had to sit down on the edge of the
bath before he fell to the floor.
***
Harry wasn't sure when his feelings for the Potions master had changed; it was
more of a gradual realisation as he spent more and more of his time in the
man's company. Ever since the beginning of Harry's sixth year, after he'd
apologised about the pensieve incident, they had formed a wary truce.
Dumbledore wanted Snape to train Harry in Occlumency and duelling to prepare
him for facing the Dark Lord, but neither had helped him in the end. Harry
didn't know why he'd felt the urge to bite the creature, he sort of sensed that
it would be enough to kill him, but it was very odd.
It was during one of their duelling lessons that they'd had The Moment, as
Harry had taken to calling it. Harry had been tired and very distracted that
day as it was the first time he'd seen Snape without his teaching robes, the
man was dressed almost casually for him in a crisp white shirt and very well
fitting black trousers. Harry wasn't concentrating on the lesson, more on the
teacher. Snape had cast a very painful hex, sending Harry five feet in the air
and slamming against the floor. Harry lay there, stunned and dazed as he
watched Snape stalk over to him. The worry in the man's dark eyes had Harry
falter for breath. What was that look, that concern? It was almost as if the
man had some feelings for him, something other than the loathing Harry usually
associated with the man.
Harry had always been obsessed with the man, first because the man seemed to
hate him for no reason but lately his obsession had become rather sexual in
nature, if the dreams and fantasies he'd been having were any indication. But
it wasn't just sexual; Harry had worried about the man every time he'd been
called to a meeting, every time he saw the shadows under the man's eyes, every
time he barely ate at meals. Harry wanted to protect him, look after him, but
he knew that Snape, such the proud man that he was would never allow it. Harry
was in love with a man who'd just been violently raped and Harry vowed to
himself that he would make them pay. He would make all of them pay.
Azkaban wouldn't save any of them from his wrath.
Snape had just been raped and Harry had been abused as a child. The timing
couldn't have been worse if they'd tried. Harry sensed something in the back of
his mind, as if Snape was calling him.
Professor? he sat up, staring around the darkness of the infirmary. How long
had he been asleep? There was no answer forthcoming from his teacher and Harry
worried even more. What if the man had fainted or something down in the
dungeons and couldn't get any help? Knowing that the man would refuse the
mediwitch's help, Harry knew it was up to him. He wished he had his
invisibility cloak with him, he would have to be very careful to sneak out
without Madam Pomfrey seeing him.
Harry slid out of bed, forgoing shoes and tip toed out of the infirmary, making
his way to the dungeons without incident. Snape's door was locked and warded,
but Harry had been keyed to the wards earlier that year when they'd resumed
Harry's Remedial Potions again. He pushed the door open and wandered in to
Snape's living quarters, spying a sliver of light from underneath the bathroom
door. Harry immediately rushed over to it and banged on the wood.
"Professor! Are you in there?" he demanded.
"Potter! Get out! Get away from me!"
"Not until you open this door! Open it or I break it down!"
"I'd like to see you try! You don't even have a wand!"
Harry didn't need a wand as Snape should well know; Harry cast a spell, the
door splintered inward, just in time to see Snape tip a potion towards his
throat. Harry knocked it from the man's hands and the phial shattered on the
tiled floor. "What was it?" he hissed. "What were you trying to do?"
"What do you think?" spat Snape. "What do you care, anyway?"
"I never took you for a coward, Snape." Harry sighed. He so wanted to reach out
to hug the man, to comfort him, but knew that after what had happened to him,
touch might be the last thing he wanted.
"A coward? You think I'm a coward, Potter?" Snape asked angrily and Harry was
secretly pleased. If he could make the man angry enough, he might be able to
help him out of this dark hole he was determined to wallow in.
"Yes, I think you're scared to face up to what happened to you, so you're
taking the easy way out."
"You think this is easy?" Snape bent down and began gathering up the glass
shards from the floor. Harry watched him intently, ready to intervene if Snape
made any move to use the glass for anything else. Snape straightened up and
banished the shards with a wave of his wand.
"Yes, I do," said Harry. "Easier than facing Dumbledore, than facing the
Aurors, than facing the bastards who did it to you."
"What would you know, Potter? You have no idea how I'm feeling, none! How could
you, being the Gryffindor Golden Boy, Dumbledore's favourite and doted on by
your relatives? You have no idea what it's like to be made to feel so worthless
and dirty!"
"No idea? Is that what you think? That I lived some sort of charmed life with
the Muggles? You couldn't be more wrong, Professor! You saw that memory in my
mind, where did you think those bruises came from? Huh?"
"I - I thought you'd fallen or something."
"Well, yes, that's what the Dursleys told everyone who might have seen the
bruises on me, that I was clumsy, that I fell. Yeah, I fell all right, right
onto Vernon's fists and boots. You think I don't know what it was like to feel
worthless, Professor? They abused me for years, just for being alive, because I
was different, because I wasn't normal in their eyes. I was less than human to
them. I lived in a cupboard for ten years, Professor. A locked cupboard unless
they wanted me out to do chores. You think I don't know what it was like to
feel dirty and despoiled? You're not the only one it ever happened to!"
Harry was appalled to find himself crying, he never thought he would tell
anyone what had happened to him, but if it would help Snape, didn't he owe it
to the man to say something? "You aren't the only one who was raped,
Professor," Harry said softly, sniffling.
"That man? In your memory?"
"I don't know about him, I can't remember. I only know about Vernon. And
Dudley."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Do you?" Harry countered. "I've been where you are, Severus. I know what it's
like to feel that no one would ever understand, that you're not fit to be
around people who are whole, that maybe they'd all be better off if you were
dead." Harry rolled up the sleeve of his pyjamas and showed Snape the scars on
his left wrist. "Aunt Petunia found me too soon and rushed me to the Muggle
hospital, they had me locked up in a psychiatric ward for two weeks that
summer, but since I refused to talk and didn't try it again, they let me out. I
wanted to stay, no one abused me there and when I was back at the Dursleys', it
happened over and over again until I really thought that I would rather be dead
than endure any more of it. I tried pills the next time, but Petunia made me
throw them back up and they didn't risk taking me to the hospital this time in
case anyone discovered what had been happening to me." Harry choked back a sob
as he finished. He felt sick and shaky at all his revelations.
"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Snape, his eyes dark and intent on
Harry.
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "I've never told anyone that before. I don't
want you to kill yourself, is that too much to understand?"
"What? You'll miss your greasy git of a teacher?" snarled Snape. "As if you
care! As if anyone does! They'll all be glad to get rid of me so easily!"
"I do care!" sobbed Harry. "More than you know!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Forget it," said Harry, wiping his eyes.
"No, you started it, Potter. What do you mean?"
"Haven't you guessed? Couldn't you tell?" but Snape just stared blankly at him.
"I'm in love with you, you idiot!"
Oh dear God, he'd said it. He'd said it out loud and he waited for the
damnation, to be berated but all that came out of the man's mouth was a hearty
chuckle. The sound was so incongruous in the setting that Harry wasn't sure
what he was hearing at first.
"In love with me? I'll give you an A for effort, Potter. A good way to get me
to come to my senses at least. Were you hoping the shock might snap me out of
it? There's no need to lie to me, Potter."
"I'm not lying," protested Harry. "I just want you to be well and happy."
"Happy? I don't think I quite know what that concept is, Mr. Potter."
"Not yet," agreed Harry, but he was determined that one day both of them would
know exactly what it meant to be happy.
 
Part 4
Severus stared at the boy in front of him, reeling from Harry's revelations.
Could it be true? Could he dare hope that Harry felt even a little bit of what
Severus felt for Harry? It was such a long time since Severus Snape felt
anything resembling hope. He'd been feeling depressed for so long, he couldn't
just snap out of it just like that, but maybe with Harry's help he might one
day be able to climb out from the mire.
His days had been nothing but darkness for so long that it made sense for him
to be scared of the light. "Did you mean it, Harry? Or are you just saying all
those things to try and stop me?"
Look in my mind, Severus; you know I told the truth. You always do. The boy had
never called him by his given name before, not even when they shared this
strange mind speak and it was that more than anything that helped convince him.
Harry was right; Severus always knew when Harry was lying. Everything he'd just
confided in Severus was the truth, from the abuse to his declarations of love.
"May I fire-call Madam Pomfrey?"
"What for?" Severus asked suspiciously.
"To let her know where I am and that I'll be staying here tonight."
"No you won't!" Severus protested.
"It's either me staying here or you going to the infirmary, which is it to be,
Severus?"
"You don't trust me?"
"Not at this moment in time, Severus, no."
"And you think you'd really be able to prevent me from doing myself in if I was
so determined?"
"No, but it might make you think twice and it might help if you had someone to
talk to you when you feel things are getting overwhelming."
"Are you offering to be that someone, Potter?"
"If you want." Severus was silent for a while, then reached into his bathroom
cabinet and took out a vial of blue potion. "It's a pain killing potion," he
felt the need to explain, feeling the boy's jade eyes boring into his back.
"Do you have any salve for your bruises as well?"
"I don't need to be nursed like a child, Potter! I am perfectly capable of
looking after myself!" But even as he said it, a dizzy spell had him lumbering
to the edge of the bath for support. Harry cast a levitation charm on him and
floated him to the bedroom and set him down on the four poster. How did Harry
know where his bedroom was?
"One, you do need looking after and I will do that looking. Two, you will stop
all this Potter nonsense when we are alone. I'm not my father and every time
you use that name, you're reminded of him. You will call me Harry and you will
rest in that bed until you are recovered from your injuries. Now, where is that
bruise salve?" The boy's tone left no room for argument.
"Bathroom cabinet, top shelf, third from the left," Severus sounded about as
defeated as he felt. He was tired, so tired of fighting, of pretending that
everything was okay. Tired of getting up in the mornings facing class after
class of giggling, incompetent students. Tired of spying, of teaching, of
living. He just wanted it all to stop.
***
Harry went to the fireplace in the living room and threw a handful of Floo
powder in the flames. "The infirmary," he called out and a few seconds later,
Madam Pomfrey's head appeared in the fire.
"Harry! There you are! You should be resting!"
"I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey. I'm with Professor Snape, he won't go to the
infirmary and he really needs someone to stay with him tonight. I don't think
he should be alone."
"Was he badly injured?"
"Yes," but Harry refused to elaborate any more. It was Snape's secret to tell
if he wanted to. Harry would not betray the man's confidence, not even to the
mediwitch.
"Do you know what to do?"
"Yes, you taught me well, Madam Pomfrey. Thanks." Harry had also been learning
plenty of healing spells from the matron as well as his lessons from Snape,
anything they thought he might need when he went up against Voldemort.
"Very well then, just don't forget that you need to take it easy too. Please
call me at once if you need anything."
"Thanks. I will," promised Harry and then they said their goodbyes. After his
talk with Madam Pomfrey, Harry went to the bathroom to fetch the salve. When he
returned to the bedroom, he saw that Snape was fast asleep. Harry accioed a
bowl of water and a washcloth from the bathroom and began to wipe away the
blood and tears that stained the man's face. Snape didn't stir as Harry
ministered to him, he knew the spells would keep him asleep for a few hours at
least, but Harry did nothing more than wash Snape's face. He didn't undress
him; just cast a cleaning spell over the man's robes to get rid of the worst of
the blood. Harry knew how upset he would be if someone had undressed him when
he didn't know about it.
His tasks completed, Harry took the bloodied bowl and cloth into the bathroom
and rinsed them out. He stared at the pink water swirling down the drain,
feeling a strange ache in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't queasiness, he'd
never been bothered by the sight of blood, but he didn't quite know why he was
feeling so strange on seeing the blood. Hunger gnawed at his insides and he
realised he hadn't eaten anything since he'd been back.
Harry dried his hands and summoned a house elf when he returned to Snape's
bedroom, ordering some sandwiches and pumpkin juice from the little creature
who kept glancing nervously from Harry to Snape, as if afraid that Snape was
suddenly going to wake up and attack him. A few moments later, the elf returned
with enough sandwiches to see him through a small siege. Harry ate what he
could manage, three cheese and one ham, before casting a preserving charm on
the rest. Snape might be hungry when he finally woke.
Harry sat down on the armchair in the corner, feeling his own eyes drooping. He
really needed to sleep, but he was afraid that if he did, he wouldn't be able
to look after Snape or stop him from trying to take his own life again. Harry
rubbed at the scar on his wrist wondering how on earth he was going to stop
Snape from doing something that so many times Harry had wanted to do himself.
Snape gave a loud snore, then turned over onto his side, curling his whole body
up into a ball as he hugged a spare pillow to him. Harry cast a monitoring
spell to alert him if Snape woke and finally let sleep claim him.
***
Harry woke up abruptly, as if he'd been shaken awake, but the alarm hadn't gone
off and Snape was still sleeping soundly. Then he heard it, someone was
knocking on the outer door. Casting a scanning spell to see that Snape would
still be okay for a while, Harry made his way to the door and discovered
Dumbledore and two Aurors beside him.
"Harry, Madam Pomfrey said you'd be here," said Dumbledore. "You know Aurors
Shacklebolt and Moody, of course?"
Harry nodded and stood back from the door so the three men could enter. He'd
been dreading this, this talk with the Aurors. How could he adequately explain
what happened without betraying Snape's trust?
"How is Professor Snape, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, his blue eyes no longer
twinkling.
"He's sleeping at the moment, Professor. We shouldn't wake him yet."
"Wouldn't he be better off in the infirmary?" asked Moody.
"He won't go," said Harry. "I know some healing myself, I can look after him."
"No one is doubting your care, Harry, but Madam Pomfrey is more experienced,"
added Dumbledore. "Maybe you could persuade him?"
"He doesn't want to be persuaded," replied Harry as he sank down on the sofa
and waited for the other three to seat themselves as well. Dumbledore sat next
to him on the sofa while Moody and Shacklebolt each took an armchair.
They didn't give him Veritaserum, just asked him a few questions about
Voldemort, would he recognise any of the Death Eaters again, that sort of
thing. Harry was able to answer them all truthfully and felt relieved that they
didn't think it at all strange that Harry had bitten Voldemort before casting
the final Avada Kedavra. It wasn't as bad as he had been dreading. Until
Moody's next words.
"Of course, you'll both be called as witnesses at the trial," said Moody, his
magical eye swivelling around the walls. Harry wondered if he was checking up
on Snape.
"Do we have to?" he protested, he didn't think Snape was up to that at all. To
sit there in the courtroom, to face all those people who had raped him. It
would be unbearable. Harry shuddered in sympathy.
"I'm afraid so. The trial is set for the 5th August," said Shacklebolt. "If
that's all, Dumbledore, we have to get back to the Ministry."
"Yes, thank you, Alastor, Kingsley," replied Dumbledore leading them to the
door before turning back to Harry and giving him a twinkling smile. "All ready
and packed, Harry?"
"Packed?" queried Harry, confused.
"Yes, it's the last day of term, didn't you realise?"
No, Harry hadn't. He hadn't been aware how much time had passed since his
capture nor how much school he'd missed. He'd be lucky if he was able to take
his NEWTs next year at all. He shook his head at the headmaster.
"Well, I'm sure it won't take you long. Your last summer at Privet Drive, eh?
You'll be of age soon."
"No," said Harry firmly.
"No what, Harry?"
"I'm not going back to Privet Drive."
"Harry, there are other supporters of Voldemort still at large. The protection
of your mother's blood is your best defence if anything were to - "
"I said no, Professor. I am never going back to that house. To those people."
"Harry, you need to be protected. I know conditions with the Dursleys were not
ideal..."
"Not ideal? Not ideal?" screeched Harry. "You have no idea! I am not going back
there and that's final, I'll run away first!"
"Where will you stay where you'd be as protected as there, Harry?" asked
Dumbledore just as the monitoring alarm went off. They both turned and saw
Snape standing by the bedroom door, one arm holding the frame as if for
support. His face was grey and haggard, as if even just getting out of bed and
reaching the doorway was an enormous effort.
"He won't need to run away, headmaster. He will be staying with me at Snape
Grange."
 
Part 5
Snape Grange, compared to Malfoy Manor, was a modest brick built house of three
stories, dormer windows peeking out from the roofline and a few slates missing
next to the chimneys. It was a house that had seen better times, it had an air
of weariness about it, as if it had stood too long and wanted nothing better
than to collapse in a heap of rubble and splintered wood. Much like its current
owner.
"It's not much," said Snape next to Harry's elbow as he led them to the front
door.
"It's lovely," said Harry. Anywhere that didn't have the Dursleys or Voldemort
lurking in the building would be lovely to him.
"Put your hands on the door," said Snape. "Otherwise the house won't recognise
you as a guest."
Harry did as he was told; the wood felt warm under his fingertips as the house
accepted and absorbed some of his magic. Wizarding houses were protected by
more than just locks and from what he knew of Snape, the man would be more
paranoid than most and Harry guessed he would have found out about the wards in
a rather painful way if Snape hadn't told him what he needed to do.
It had been three weeks since Snape's suicide attempt, they'd stayed at the
school for a few weeks until they both recovered somewhat from their injuries,
but it wasn't Snape's physical injuries Harry was worried about.
The house was situated on top of a small hill; there were views down the lawn
to a small brook and a copse of trees at the end of the garden. What Harry
noticed most of all was the sound of the birds overhead, it wasn't usual to
hear birds anywhere near Privet Drive, too many cars and not enough trees.
The front door swung inwards, Snape stepped back to let Harry precede him into
the hall. Snape followed a few seconds later, dropping the Portkey, a
newspaper, into a box beside the coat rack by the front door.
"Callie!" called Snape and one small pop later, a house elf stood in front of
them. She was dressed in what looked like a small girl's pink party dress, all
ruffled frills and lace.
"Yes, Master Snape?" she said, bowing so low that her nose almost touched the
floor.
"This is Harry Potter. He will be staying with me for the summer, please show
him to one of the guest rooms. The Blue Room should suit, I think. Dinner is at
seven in the dining room; Callie will show you where it is." With that, Snape
turned and headed away to a second set of staircases, these ones leading down
rather than up.
"What's down there?" asked Harry.
"That is Master's Snape's workroom, Master Harry. You is not to be going in
there. Master Snape is not being disturbed when he is working."
It wasn't the work Harry was worried about. A workroom full of lethal potions
ingredients was not where he felt comfortable having Snape be at the moment.
"This way, Master Harry," said the elf and led Harry upstairs and the first
door on the right. The room was indeed blue, pale blue painted walls that so
matched the hue of the sky outside that it would have been difficult to spot
the window if its frame hadn't been painted white. The bedstead was a curlicued
wrought iron affair painted white, large enough for about five people. A pale
white bedspread dotted with embroidered blue flowers had pillowcases to match.
The wardrobe and dressing table were both white with small blue flowers as
well. In contrast, the carpet was dark blue with white flowers. There was a
window seat with a peacock blue cushion and an open door led to his own
bathroom.
Certainly from the look of the house on the outside, Harry had not been
expecting such luxuries within.
"Is Master Harry needing anything else?" asked Callie with a small bow.
"No, thank you, Callie."
The elf nodded and disappeared and Harry was left to his own devices. He
removed his shrunken trunk from his pocket and was about to resize it when he
realised that now he was outside of school he couldn't do any magic until his
birthday, so unpacking was out. The clothes he was wearing would have to do him
for dinner until he could ask Snape to fix his trunk.
Hedwig was on her way to the Burrow and Hermione's, as Harry hadn't seen either
of his friends since he'd been back at school. They'd already left for the
train by the time he'd gone up to the Tower on the last day of term. He knew he
couldn't explain everything in a letter, but he did his best. He could almost
imagine Ron's shock at the news that Harry would be spending the summer with
Snape. He didn't tell either of them why, he didn't think they needed to know.
Glancing at his watch, Harry saw it was just after half past six, he would have
time for a quick wash before dinner, even if he didn't have clean clothes to
change into. Harry walked into the bathroom, looked into the mirror and
screamed.
***
Snape worked methodically, he was barely thinking, just going through the
motions as he tried not to think about what he'd almost done a few weeks ago.
Would he have gone through with it? Or would he have made sure to take the
antidote? He wasn't entirely sure. He'd certainly felt the despair enough, but
Harry had stopped him. Harry had talked to him, making him angry and hopeful in
turns.
If he still felt enough emotion in his life to be angry and hopeful, was he
really ready to leave it?
The scream from upstairs made Severus drop the vial of phoenix tears he was
about to add to the calming draught he was making. What on earth had made the
boy scream and made him ruin a perfectly good potion? For there was no way to
retrieve the tears now, they dissolved into the stone, absorbed by the house
and he grumbled angrily as he made his way upstairs to the guest room. It
wasn't as if there were any ghosts or ghouls in the house that would suddenly
pop out and surprise him.
Severus knocked on the door. "Potter? What's the matter with you?" At least
there were no more screams from within.
"Pr- professor - keep away! You'd better keep away!" the boy sobbed.
What on earth was up with him? "I'm coming in," said Snape, turning the door
handle and expecting it to be locked, it wasn't. He saw the slightly ajar
bathroom door and Harry standing just inside the bathroom, facing the mirror.
"Keep away, Severus! Please! I'm a monster!"
Snape didn't listen but moved further towards Harry and he saw what had so
upset him. The eyes of Snape's reflection met his own in the mirror, but of
Harry's green eyes there were no sign. Harry had no reflection, or so it seemed
from the angle Harry was looking into the mirror.
Snape did something then that he'd never done before, he wrapped his arms
around Harry and hugged one of his students in order to give him some comfort.
"Ssh, Harry. Look. Your reflection's still there, it's just your eyes becoming
adjusted. Didn't you know you were a vampire?" Severus asked. The man who'd
taken Harry as a child, he must have been the vampire, it made sense now.
That's why Severus could see the man's memories in Harry's head; Harry had some
of the man's blood at some stage, some of his magical essence. "He must have
obliviated you after he'd infected you."
"So I am a monster?" sniffled Harry, but he didn't try and leave Severus'
embrace. Severus wondered why he wasn't scared to touch Harry. Not that he was
worried about the vampirism, but about what had happened to him.
"Harry, vampires aren't monsters, who told you that? Vampirism is a magical
disease, only wizards can become vampires. That man who took you, he must have
been a wizard."
"I don't remember dying," said Harry.
"You're not dead," insisted Severus.
"Undead then, whatever." Harry wrenched himself out of Severus' arms and went
to sit on the window seat in the bedroom. Severus followed him, sitting down on
the edge of the bed, facing the boy. Harry's face was streaked with tears that
he couldn't seem to stop and Severus remembered only too well his own tears of
the past weeks. What on earth were they doing? They were both so damaged, how
on earth would they be able to help each other? Was it really such a wise move
to have Harry here for the summer?
"You've been reading some Muggle literature, Harry. Not everything you've read
is even remotely true. You are not dead, or even undead. Vampirism is an
incurable disease, but it can be controlled, like Muggles with diabetes. They
need insulin to survive, you need..."
"Blood," Harry supplied dully. "I have to kill people? Drink their blood?" he
asked, sounding appalled.
"No, you don't have to kill people. Animal blood, or foods rich in iron like
red meat, liver, spinach and such are perfectly capable of keeping your
cravings under control, but human blood is best. The reason you will feel like
you crave blood is because your own blood is no longer able to absorb iron and
other nutrients it needs. It's similar to a woman craving non-food substances
during pregnancy, it's called Pica. Your body craves blood because that is the
easiest and fastest way for you to get iron, even though blood is not normally
considered food. Vampirism is a rare type of anaemia but it also has other
symptoms.
"Your eyes will be more sensitive to sunlight; I can teach you a charm that
will allow your glasses to darken if you need to go outside. Your skin is also
thinner than most other people's, you should avoid too much sunlight unless you
have a good sun block charm in place, and you are at more risk of getting skin
cancer. You will also be more sensitive to certain foods, garlic and onions for
example, you should avoid them if you can and you'll have to be careful if
you're handling them in Potions classes, make sure to wear gloves."
"You said it was a disease, how did I get it?"
"There's only way to get it, you had to ingest infected blood."
Harry turned his face to the window and leaned his forehead against it. "I'm
such a freak," he whispered almost to himself. "Why can't I just be normal?"
"Harry, you aren't a freak. You just have a medical condition and you can cope
with it."
"If - if that man who took me was the vampire, how come I'm only starting to
notice these symptoms now? I've never lost my reflection before or had this
craving until recently."
"Vampirism only affects children very mildly; it's when you become fully grown
that the symptoms start to get worse."
"Great," muttered Harry. "Lots to look forward to, yippee."
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you," said Severus. "You should leave it to the experts."
"I'm sorry, Severus. This is just a bit much to take in. I don't know how I'm
supposed to react to this. Why do we learn how to defend against vampires in
Defence if they don't attack people?"
"Some do, Harry, just like some humans do. There are some wizards who use the
excuse that they are vampires to go on a murderous rampage, convincing
themselves they are only doing it because they need to. That isn't true, the
amount of blood you need each week will not require you to kill anyone at all.
The truth is, they just wanted to kill anyway and used the excuse of their
condition to do so."
"So I don't need human blood?" asked Harry warily.
"Human blood is best to help you, but you only need a few drops, if you feed
regularly. The problem gets worse the longer you leave it and your craving
might get so unbearable by that time that you get out of control when feeding
and accidents have been known to happen when that is the case. Vampires are
classed as magical creatures by the Ministry, Harry so you and your donor will
need to be registered. If you don't, they could very well send you to Azkaban.
There is still a lot of prejudice concerning vampires and people get scared."
"D - Donor? You mean I have to ask someone to allow me to drink their blood?"
"Well, I was hoping you wouldn't need to ask. I was going to offer."
 
Part 6
Harry didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was a vampire and now Snape was
offering to be his dinner. Why couldn't he just be like everyone else? Wasn't
it enough that he'd killed Voldemort for them? Now they wanted him tagged as a
magical creature, a dangerous magical creature. "Why haven't I craved blood
like this before?"
"As I said, it is very mild in children; you probably wouldn't have noticed
anything different if you'd been getting enough iron in your food."
"I wasn't, Severus," Harry admitted softly. "The Dursleys starved me for weeks
at a time and when they did feed me it was on scraps. They weren't that
bothered about the nutritional value of anything they gave me. So shouldn't I
have started craving blood earlier?"
"Um, probably not, Harry. There's something I haven't mentioned yet. The
craving, the feeding, there's a sexual component to it."
"What?" squawked Harry.
"It's nature's way of ensuring your body gets the nutrients you need despite
your illness. Drinking blood is considered distasteful usually, but you need it
to survive. When you drink, you'll feel a sexual euphoria that will keep you
coming back for more. Your donor will feel something similar so that it
diminishes any pain they might feel from you feeding on them."
"And does everyone know about this?"
"Most wizards would know about the sexual element between a vampire and their
donor, yes."
"Severus, I can't do this. I can't have people knowing about me, I can't put
you through that."
"Put me through what, Harry?"
"If you register as my donor, they'll gossip about you."
"If you don't register, Harry, you could get sent to Azkaban. Maybe I hadn't
been clear, you don't have to register with the British Ministry, just any
magical Ministry will do. The New Zealand Ministry has a privacy code, if we
register with them, no one here would need to know but it would still be a
legal bond."
"A bond? Like marriage?"
"Yes, it's seen as more socially acceptable if the vampire only feeds on their
bonded mate. A vampire and a donor have to become legally bonded; in effect I
become your property. You will have to agree to look after me and not harm me
from feeding."
Harry gaped at the man as if he'd gone mad. Maybe they both had.
"No, Severus, I can't bind you to me. You were the property of a Dark wizard
before; do you really want to be nothing more than property? No, I can ask
someone else to be my donor."
"Who? Weasley? Granger?" God, he couldn't ask Ron, Ron had already told Harry
that he was fine with Harry being gay, but please could he be spared the
details? No, he couldn't ask Ron, the sexual nature of the feeding would see to
that, the same with Hermione. Somehow Harry didn't think Ron would be too
pleased if Harry was feeding from his girlfriend. There was no one else he
could ask if he wanted to keep his condition secret from the rest of the
Hogwarts population.
He wasn't that close enough to anyone else. "Severus, how can we do this? How
can I force you into something sexual after what happened to you?" Harry
protested. "I don't want to be like Voldemort."
"Harry, you're nothing like Voldemort. This is entirely different, I want to do
this. I'll be doing this of my own free will, you aren't forcing me. We don't
have to have sex, but when you feed, we'll both feel - um - aroused and may
even climax during the feeding."
Harry blushed and hung his head. God, he was nowhere near ready for anything
sexual and he guessed neither was Severus. It was like some sort of weird dream
and he just wished he could wake up now. He tried pinching himself, but he knew
that it was real.
"I don't know, Severus. I have to think about this." This was too strange, too
sudden and Harry had no idea how he was going to do it. He'd bitten Voldemort,
but he hadn't fed from him, he'd spat the blood out as it was so bitter, maybe
because of how corrupted the creature was. The thought of actually biting
Snape, drinking his blood was giving him butterflies in his stomach, but he
wasn't sure whether it was from nausea or excitement. Bodily fluids were such
taboos; he found it hard to reconcile himself to the knowledge that he would
have to drink blood in order to survive.
"You don't have to decide straightaway, Harry. We'll have to wait until your
birthday before we could bond anyway. Otherwise you'd need your guardians'
consent."
Harry was not going to ask the Dursleys for anything, not even that.
"What happens if I don't feed from anyone?" asked Harry.
"You'll gradually get weaker and weaker and then you'll die."
"There's no potion or something I could take instead?"
"It has been tried, but the only thing that worked well was fresh human blood,
taken directly from the source. Nothing else allowed the nutrients to be
absorbed by the vampires. No one really knows why, but drinking human blood
regularly is the only thing that will keep you healthy."
"And - and you'd have no problem with me drinking from you? Being bonded to
me?"
"I can't imagine you feeding on anyone else. I don't want you feeding on anyone
else. I think - I think the mind bond we already shared is making us feel as if
we are already bonded, we just need to make it legal."
"Are you in love with me?" Harry asked softly.
"I don't know, Harry. I'm not sure that I've ever been in love."
That Snape hadn't suddenly started spouting declarations of undying love was
what helped convince Harry that perhaps they could make a go of this. He'd been
in love with the Potions master for so long, but for so long had convinced
himself that the feelings would never be returned, that he had never given
marriage or bonding much thought except in daydreams. He had never imagined
that Snape might really one day want to bond with him.
"Severus, what happens if we bond, you become my donor and one day you decide
you've had enough? Am I going to have to worry about you trying to kill
yourself again?" For Harry wasn't sure he could bear that.
"Harry, I don't know how I'm going to feel in the future, I can't make any
promises except one, I'll do my best not to hurt you."
"It would hurt me if you died, Severus and not just because of the blood. I
hope you know that."
"I know, Harry. I know."
"If we do this, Severus, can you at least promise me that you'll talk to me?
That you won't bottle things up?"
Snape laughed then. "We won't be able hide things from each other once we bond,
Harry. If you thought we shared a lot of our minds now, wait until then."
Harry didn't really care what his friends would think, or what anyone else
would think really. How it was too sudden, there was such an age difference,
Snape was his teacher, an ex-Death Eater and all the rest of it. He knew in his
heart that what he was doing was right. He just hoped Snape would one day feel
as much for him as he felt for the man.
He wanted to love him, to protect him and if the bond allowed him to do that,
then who was he to deny it?
"Severus, yes. I would be honoured to bond with you."
Harry slid down from the window seat and knelt in front of Severus. He reached
up and caressed the man's cheek, relieved when he didn't flinch from Harry's
touch. "I love you," said Harry.
The sentiment wasn't returned, but Severus took Harry's hand from his cheek and
kissed the palm. It would do for now.
***
They didn't discuss it again that evening, they both went down to dinner, where
Snape had a word with Callie and a few moments later, covered silver dishes
appeared on the table. The dining room was a cavernous room, the house didn't
look large enough on the outside to be so large inside, but Harry wasn't
surprised. A lot of magical houses looked different from the outside than in.
"Why have you never fixed the outside?" asked Harry, knowing that things could
be repaired quickly and magically.
"It keeps prying eyes away if they think the house is dilapidated."
"Oh."
There was a long mahogany table, polished so that it shone and Harry was
relieved to see that his reflection had reappeared at least. Snape told him it
was because his eyes were slightly different, sometimes he would be able to see
himself, sometimes he wouldn't. The table held eight chairs, but only two were
currently occupied.
Snape removed the lids from all the platters and Harry realised the man must
have told the house elf to change the menu, for everything on there had clearly
been cooked with Harry's condition in mind. Liver and gravy, spinach, steaks so
rare that blood was still oozing from them. There was also a large bowl of
mashed potatoes, wholemeal bread, a jug of orange juice for Harry and a bottle
of red wine for Snape.
"I'm not really hungry," admitted Harry, looking at the food with some
trepidation. He'd never even had steak before, never mind rare steak.
"Harry, you've got to eat, it'll only feel worse if you don't."
Harry took a couple of spoonfuls of mashed potato and some spinach, but he
couldn't face the meat. Not just yet.
"Harry," Snape said in a warning tone, so Harry reluctantly added a slice of
liver and gravy to his plate and then proceeded to mutilate his food with his
knife and fork for about fifteen minutes before he could actually eat anything.
It was difficult to eat with someone's attention on him the whole time, but he
managed to eat about half what he'd put on his plate.
"Please, I can't eat any more," said Harry, so unused to large portions from
his time at the Dursleys'. He ate so much at Hogwarts sometimes, especially on
his first night back, that more often than not he ended up being sick in the
boys' bathroom before he could go back to the dorms.
Snape nodded. "Would you like some dessert?"
"No, thank you. I think - I think I'd just like to go to bed now."
"Okay, Harry. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
"Good night, Severus. Sweet dreams."
 
Part 7
The weeks until Harry's birthday were spent getting to know each other better.
Neither of them were under any illusions that being bonded was going to be
easy. Not only were student/teacher relationships against all Hogwarts rules,
Harry was going to have to hide his condition from his friends as well. Easier
said than done. Hermione's brain was never inactive, if she'd figured out Lupin
was a werewolf long before anyone else had, how long before she figured out
what Harry was? He dreaded that happening, but he had no idea how to prevent
it. Somehow she was bound to know. He just knew it.
During the day, Snape spent most of the time in his potions lab, which Harry
still wasn't allowed to enter. Not that he really wanted to, potions were not
his raison d’être as they seemed to be for Snape. The man only came out for
meals, all geared up with lots of iron rich food again to help Harry. After
dinner, they would sit in one of the drawing rooms and conversed while they
played chess. They both seemed to find it easier to talk if there were plates
or a chessboard in front of them, as if they needed some distance between them.
The night before his birthday, Snape roundly trounced him for the third time in
a row, the chess pieces cackling at Harry and giving him rude gestures with
their small hands. Harry sighed and looked away from the board. It wasn't even
quite dark yet, the summer evenings still long and he could just make out the
shadow of the copse at the edge of the garden.
"Harry, you're very quiet tonight, is something wrong?" asked Severus as he
packed the chess set away in their box, the pieces giving cries of dismay as he
did so. The cries cut off abruptly as he shut the lid.
"Just thinking about tomorrow, I guess," said Harry. "I mean, it's not every
day you get married, is it?"
"No, I suppose not. Are you regretting it, Harry? Have you changed your mind?"
"No, just a touch of pre-wedding jitters. Are you sure the New Zealand Ministry
won't tell anyone, Severus? I don't want you getting fired over this."
"They won't tell anyone Harry and neither can we, it has to be a secret for
both our sakes."
"I know, I won't tell anyone, Severus. I'm used to keeping secrets. I don't
know though, doesn't it seem a bit - a bit sordid, sneaking off like this to
get married?"
When Harry had thought of marriage and he had to admit it to himself, that yes
indeed he had thought of it with Severus, his daydream scenarios had never gone
like this. There had been friends there to give the happy couple their good
wishes, Molly Weasley, Hermione, the female staff crying into handkerchiefs.
There had been confetti and flowers, lanterns and fairies shimmering with light
as he and Severus said their vows. Of course, he'd had these dreams long before
he knew he was a vampire and what he would need to do to survive.
"Harry, I'm sorry it has to be like, but if you want to keep your condition
secret..."
"I know and yes, I do want it to be secret, Severus. Sorry. I don't know what's
up with me today. Ow!"
"What's wrong?"
"I bit my tongue," Harry opened his mouth and ran his finger along his left
incisor; it was sharper and longer than it had been that morning. "I think it's
starting," said Harry. Severus had already told him that if he wasn't getting
enough iron, his fangs would appear to remind him that he needed to feed. They
were retractable and eventually he would be able to control when they appeared,
but what was he supposed to do in the meantime? Imagine if they appeared when
he was in class or talking with his friends?
He and Severus had both decided that they would wait until after their bonding
ceremony before Harry attempted to feed from him, as the bond would not allow
Harry to harm him while feeding. Harry still wasn't sure he was going to be
able to do it, his distaste at something so animalistic ingrained. Maybe he was
the freak the Dursleys had accused him of being all along. Harry was feeling
both disgusted and a little excited that he would get to feed from Severus, but
that didn't mean he wasn't nervous about it. He hadn't the uncontrollable
cravings yet, but now that his fangs were out, he knew it would only be a
matter of time before he would. The teeth would not retract until he'd had
blood this first time.
Severus stood up. "Harry, I am not very good with emotions, nor with giving or
receiving comfort, I never received it growing up and I know now that neither
did you, but would it upset you if I were to give you a hug?" Severus opened
his arms and Harry bounded from the chair in his haste to be embraced in the
arms of the man he loved. Still not very tall, Harry only reached mid-chest on
Severus, so that's where he rested his head, feeling the thump thump of
Severus' heart beneath his ears.
And hearing that sound, imagining the rush of blood as it coursed through the
man's veins, had Harry salivating.
Maybe it wasn't going to be that difficult for him to feed from him after all.
***
It was the first time Harry hadn't stayed up till midnight to welcome in his
lonely birthday, he'd been just too tired to keep his eyes open and he'd fallen
asleep in the drawing room, curled up on Severus' lap as the man had stroked
his hair. He woke to bright sunlight filtering into the blue bedroom, but he
was lying fully dressed on the covers except for his shoes, something he was
immensely grateful for. Severus had put him to bed but hadn't undressed him
while he was unaware. Severus probably knew more than most how off-putting
Harry would have found that.
Callie popped into the room laden with a full breakfast tray and set it down on
the dressing table. "Happy birthday, Master Harry," she said. "Master Snape is
to be saying that you can open your presents after breakfast. They is being in
the main drawing room."
"Thank you, Callie," said Harry, although he was a little surprised. Severus
had got him presents? Wasn't the fact that he'd consented to bind himself to
Harry for the rest of his life gift enough? Severus was offering him his blood,
there wasn't really anything that could top that, but Harry found himself
curious about his presents anyway as he ate his breakfast. Thankfully it was
light, just cornflakes and toast. They would be Apparating to New Zealand later
that morning and it was best not to travel so far without having at least
something in the stomach.
Harry dressed in a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt of Dudley's, shuddering
as he put the items on, as if he could almost feel their one time owner in the
room with him.
You like that, don't you, Potter? Like having something shoved up you. Is that
what they teach at that freaky school of yours?
One of the first things Harry wanted to do after they were bonded was to go on
a shopping spree and get a whole new wardrobe, now that he was seventeen he
would be able to get as much money out of his vault as he wanted and no one
need ever know. Once a wizard reached seventeen, their keys were automatically
given to them and the privacy mode went into operation.
Harry made his way to the main drawing room and gasped out loud at the mountain
of presents sitting on the small tables dotted about the room, he'd never seen
so many at once, not even on Dudley's birthdays.
"Professor!" he gasped. "You can't give me all these!"
"I can and I will and you will call me Severus unless we're in class," he
smiled then, such a smile of pure joy that Harry felt a little sliver of guilt
that he'd seemed ungrateful.
"Thank you, it's just so much. I never had so many presents before."
"Well, that's about to change. You deserve these and more, Harry. You will
never want for anything again, I promise you that."
Harry was shocked to find his eyes filling up with tears and he turned away to
try and hide them. Severus was at his side almost at once, wrapping his arms
around Harry from behind and whispering soothing words in his ears until Harry
calmed down. "I'm sorry, Harry. I did not mean to upset you."
"I'm okay," said Harry. "I just feel a bit fragile today. Nightmares."
"Oh," replied Severus. "I get them too sometimes, but we'll get through this,
Harry. I know we will."
"You weren't so sure a few weeks ago," said Harry, turning to face him. "You
wanted to end it. You wanted to leave me."
"I've since discovered that isn't the case."
"What do you mean?"
"I wasn't sure at first, but I'm sure now. After he - after he raped me, Lucius
Malfoy put the Imperius curse on me, basically ordering me to kill myself."
"What? You mean you weren't suicidal at all?"
"It appears not, it did seem a little strange, why would I have wanted to kill
myself then? I've had worse things happen to me, Harry and I did not feel the
urge to take my own life. I suspected it was something like that when I began
to feel angry at you that day. How could I feel angry? Shouldn't I have been
feeling despair and nothing else? My potion confirmed it, I was under the
Imperius and once I knew, I could end the curse. Malfoy's skills do not work so
well over long distances."
"But why would he put you under Imperius? Why not just kill you himself? Any
one of them could have killed you."
"Oh, they could, but they wouldn't. They didn't want to kill me, Harry, you saw
them that day. They wanted to make me suffer for my betrayal. There was also
the fact that Voldemort was watching and he didn't want me dead, at least not
for a while. None of them would risk killing me in front of their master, but
Lucius saw no harm in casting Imperius on me and me dying shortly afterwards by
my own hand."
"So you're - you're okay?" asked Harry, looking deep into the man's obsidian
eyes. It was like staring into two dark tunnels and he didn't want to escape.
"I don't think either of us are okay, Harry, but I'm not suicidal. Now, I think
it's time you open some of your gifts."
Severus detached himself from Harry's arms and brought him over a squishy
parcel wrapped in green and silver paper. Harry had to grin at the Slytherin
colours, but as he glanced around the room, the predominant colour seemed to be
blue and white, much like his bedroom at the Grange. "This one should come in
very handy today," said Severus, presenting it to him with a flourish, bowing
low like a courtier.
Harry removed the parcel from Severus and undid the ribbon, the paper melted
away and Harry was staring at a shimmering turquoise silk dress robe, along
with a pair of blue trousers and shirt to match.
"They're traditional wedding robes, Harry, magical, so they will size to fit
you. You won't have to get dressed in anything those Muggles gave you ever
again."
Harry's eyes were awash with tears once more and he just let them fall as he
held the clothes in his trembling hands.
"Thank you, Severus," he sobbed. "Thank you."
 
Part 8
Like all Magical Ministries, the one in Wellington was situated underground
beneath the city, so that the Muggles weren't aware of it. Severus held Harry's
arm while they Apparated into the main lobby. The domed ceiling was painted
with the night sky, stars and comets twinkling as they watched. Harry stumbled
a little as they arrived; perhaps it was time for Harry to learn how to
Apparate himself now that he was seventeen. Severus might suggest it later but
at the moment they had an appointment in the Room of Records.
They were both dressed in wizarding marriage robes, Harry's the pale blue
Severus had given him that morning and Severus in a navy so dark it almost
looked black, he didn't think he suited pale colours but knew it wasn't really
suitable to wear black to a wedding, especially his own. So when they arrived
at the information desk, the guard wizard on duty took one look at them and
pointed them to the third floor down, the Department of Records.
The lift didn't take long and the two of them stepped out into a well lit
corridor. A brass plaque next on the wall just outside the lift announced,
Department of Records. Registration of births, marriages, deaths (pseudo-deaths
please go to the fourth floor, Spirits and Hauntings Department.) Animagi
registration. Magical creatures registrations: Werewolves, Vampires, Incubi and
Veela.
"It looks like we’re in the right place," said Harry, and Severus could see his
front incisors glint in the lantern light. The thought that Harry was soon
going to use those teeth to bite him didn't frighten him as much as he thought
they should. He couldn't deny the soft fluttering of excitement in the pit of
his belly and lower still that Harry was going to bond with him and later was
going to feed from him. The thought of Harry feeding from anyone else just
couldn't be borne.
Harry reached out his hand and grasped his, the two of them walking towards the
door at the end of the corridor. Severus knocked and a few moments later a
witch emerged to usher them in. She had long black hair, tied back in two
braids hanging over each shoulder and she was wearing a long flowing robe of
white.
"Mr. Snape, Mr. Potter, come in, come in, I've been expecting you." She led
them past an office which had a cluttered desk and an array of mis-matched
chairs before opening another door. This room had been magically transformed to
look like a forested glade. Garlands of flowers had been hung on the lower
branches and fairies flitted to and fro, their lights twinkling as they passed.
Severus had requested the glade, wanting Harry to see that just because no one
knew of their marriage and bonding did not mean that it had to be sordid.
How could anything to do with Harry Potter be sordid? He was the Light
personified, nothing sordid could come out of this. The witch waved her hand
and conjured a desk, a pile of parchments sitting on top of it. "Right, we just
have to get a bit of the paperwork out of the way and then we can perform the
bonding ceremony. Mr. Potter, you are seventeen aren't you? You look a bit
young."
"It's his birthday today," replied Severus.
"Right, and which one of you will be the donor? It's a vampire bonding, that's
right, isn't it?"
"Yes," said Harry, trying not to open his mouth too much, he was still a little
self-conscious about his teeth. "I'm the vampire, Severus is the donor."
"Fine," said the woman and scrawled something with her quill onto one of the
parchments. She didn't seem at all fazed that Harry was a vampire. To her it
was just another day at the office; maybe this would help Harry see that he was
in fact normal and not something to be feared. Severus knew it wouldn't be as
easy as that, there were still so many myths about vampires that it would be
difficult for the general population to accept Harry as something other than a
monster who would prey on them and their children.
The witch banished the paperwork and indicated that they should kneel on two
green velvet cushions just conjured for that purpose. Severus helped Harry down
and then lowered himself onto his knees. It wasn't the kneeling he was worried
about; it was the getting up afterwards. His knees were not as young as they
used to be.
Once Severus and Harry were settled on their cushions, the witch conjured
another one and knelt down facing them.
"Take Harry's right hand in yours and then his left," she instructed. They both
obeyed, their arms crisscrossed at the wrists. A ribbon appeared out of thin
air and twined around both their joined hands, two intertwined colours, blue
for the Potter family and yellow for the Snape.
"Do you Severus take Harry Potter unto you to be your one true bond-mate from
this day forward? Do you promise never to harm him, neither directly nor
indirectly? Do you promise to allow him the gift of your blood? Do you promise
to be faithful to him and only to him?"
"I do," replied Severus.
"Do you Harry take Severus Snape unto you to be your one true bond-mate from
this day forward? Do you promise never to harm him, neither directly nor
indirectly? Do you promise to accept the gift of his blood? Do you promise to
be faithful to him and only to him?"
"I do," said Harry, just as he finished speaking, the ribbons glowed silver and
gold before disappearing entirely. The witch gave both of them a beaming smile.
"Congratulations! Now, if you'd both like to sign the register, you can get
started on the honeymoon," she winked then and Severus saw Harry flush crimson.
Harry stood up first, reaching out his hand to help Severus up. He stumbled a
little as he reached his feet, his legs had gone to sleep, but this time Harry
was there to catch him. Suddenly it dawned on him what this bonding meant.
Harry would always be there to catch him. They would be there to catch each
other.
***
"It's different to how I imagined it," said Harry once they were back at the
Grange and he was sitting cross legged on the floor going through all his other
presents. Ron had sent him a subscription to a new magazine, Broomstick
Mistakes which was a funny look at Quidditch fouls and injuries over the years.
Hermione had sent him a quill set and a blank notebook which Harry thought he
might use as a journal, despite Hermione's letter which suggested he might like
to use it as a homework diary.
"What do you mean?"
"The bonding, you said that you would belong to me, but it's more like we
belong to each other now." Harry was so pleased at that, he'd always wanted to
belong to someone. The Dursleys had never wanted him, their treatment of him
over the years testament enough of that. He had his friends and the Weasleys of
course, but he was not part of their family, he wasn't official. He and Severus
were official and he grinned at his new husband.
"I suppose it is. You're pleased about that?"
"Of course! Aren't you? You don't - you don't regret marrying me?"
"I'll never regret that, Harry. Never." The man glanced at him, his dark eyes
glimmering with something Harry had no name for, but it was the intensity of
the stare he felt and his heart beat a frantic tattoo against his ribs.
The drawing room floor was covered in wrapping paper, ribbons and tissue paper,
Harry began lifting some of the detritus from the floor and Severus grinned at
him. "Harry, what day is it?"
"Our wedding day?" he supplied.
"And?"
"My birthday. Oh," replied Harry as he took out his wand and cleaned up the
mess in no time at all. He'd forgotten he could do magic whenever he wanted to
now.
"I've one last present for you, Harry," said Severus standing up and going to
one of the side tables, where he gave Harry a small wrapped box. Undoing the
ribbon caused the paper to melt away. "This is a wedding gift."
Harry opened the lid of the box and removed the item within, a silver bangle
which had an etching of a snake all the way around. "It's charmed," said
Severus. "It lets you know if people around you are dangerous or that you are
in danger." Severus sat down on the sofa and wasn't looking at Harry.
"Thank you, Severus," said Harry, bending down to give him a small peck on the
cheek, feeling relieved when Severus didn't flinch from his touch. He knew it
was not going to be easy for either of them, but that sight had Harry believing
that one day they would both be able to accept each other in all aspects of
marriage, including the physical.
"Severus - um - if you want to talk about anything. About - about what happened
to you, I can listen."
"Thank you, Harry, but I don't really feel up to discussing it just yet. Not
tonight. It's our wedding night and no one else should have a place in our
marital bed tonight, don't you agree?"
Harry nodded just as his stomach growled and Severus' eyes shot up to his. He
stood up from the sofa and scooped Harry up in his arms.
"It's about time you started feeding, isn't it?"
 
Part 9
 
Severus Apparated them directly into the blue bedroom and lay Harry gently down
on the bed. Harry sat up, his heart pounding like surf in his ears as he
watched Severus remove his outer robe and began to undo the cuffs at his
wrists. The man was flushed pink and he was breathing heavily. Could it be, was
it arousing him? The thought of Harry feeding from him? Harry stifled a moan
and sank back against the headboard and pillows.
God, he was half-hard already and he hadn't even begun feeding yet. His
nostrils flared and it seemed like he could almost hear the pounding of his new
husband's heart as it pumped the blood all through his body. Shirt cuffs
undone, Severus continued unbuttoning the rest and tossed the shirt over a
chair. Harry stared at the man's pale, muscled chest, noticing again the scars
covering his upper torso.
Severus stood by the side of the bed and stared at Harry.
"W- where - " God, Harry's throat was so dry. "Where do you want me to bite
you?"
"The neck," said Severus, flushing an even deeper shade of red. He pulled his
hair back and tied it with a ribbon he'd conjured from thin air. Harry stared
at the pale column revealed, seeing the small hint of blue from the veins
beneath, Severus' skin was so thin there. The neck, he'd never even thought of
the neck. He'd thought maybe on the wrist, or the inside of the elbow, he'd
never even considered the neck. It seemed too intimate to suggest to the man,
but if Severus had suggested it, did that mean he wanted it that way?
"Are you sure, Severus?" For Harry would do nothing that the man didn't want,
feeding or not.
Severus nodded and climbed onto the bed, sitting up beside Harry and resting
his back against the pillows and headboard. He opened his arms and it took a
while for Harry to realise that the man wanted Harry to sit in his lap. It
would probably be the best position, considering the disparity in their
heights. Harry straddled Severus' legs, resting his legs either side of
Severus. Severus looked up at him and Harry felt his breath hitch in his throat
at how much trust the man was showing him. He would do his best not to betray
it, despite the slow arousal burning his skin from the inside.
Severus was nowhere near ready for sex yet and despite his body's desire, Harry
knew neither was he. It was a step they might take one day, but not tonight,
not yet. When they were both ready, when the demons from the past had been
exorcised, then they might consider it. He could feel Severus trembling beneath
him, was he scared? Or was he too feeling desire as the moment drew closer? A
few tears dripped from underneath Severus' closed lashes. Harry bent down and
licked them off. "Ssh, Severus. It's okay. I'm only going to feed, nothing
else, okay?"
Severus nodded and opened his eyes again, those dark pools drawing Harry in as
Harry bent his head to the man's neck. He licked the skin, feeling the pulse
flutter beneath his tongue and he couldn't help the groan at the thought of all
that blood, just there for his taking. Harry opened his mouth wide and lowered
his teeth, pricking the man's skin as effortlessly as if he'd been using a
sharp knife. Two small spots of crimson welled up as he watched, the sight of
so much red against the pale skin arousing him even further. Harry felt no
distaste at all now as he lowered his head again, clamping his mouth over the
wounds and sucked. Hard.
The blood was hot on his tongue, he hadn't expected that, sweet in his mouth as
he sucked and sucked, drawing the sustenance from his husband. Severus was
moaning and bucking beneath him, Harry could feel an echoing hardness against
his own and he did his best not to thrust against that welcome pressure even as
each time he swallowed blood his cock gave an answering throb in his trousers.
Severus' arms wrapped themselves around Harry's back, keeping him in place as
Harry fed, his hips arching up. Suddenly Severus gave a hoarse cry of "Harry!"
and came in his trousers, the wetness flooding against Harry's groin enough to
set him off too as he came uncontrollably, still swallowing Severus' blood.
Once the tremors had passed, he removed his teeth and licked the site of the
puncture marks; Severus had told him his saliva would be able to heal his
donor. Harry watched in awe as the wounds closed over and Severus skin was as
unmarked as it had been before Harry had fed.
"Severus, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to come, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Harry. I didn't mean to either, but I think the bond had other
ideas."
"Did I hurt you?" asked Harry, trailing his forefinger over the site where he'd
fed from.
"No, I didn't feel any pain at all. I wanted you to keep doing it; I've never
felt anything like it."
"Me neither," agreed Harry. "It was so - so - "
"Intense?" grinned Snape. "How did I taste?"
"Hot and sweet," said Harry. "Do you want to - do you want to taste it?"
Severus flushed again. "Would you mind?"
Harry shook his head. Before he'd done it, the thought of drinking human blood
had sort of upset him, but now that he'd done it, it wasn't disgusting at all
and Severus wanting to taste himself in Harry's mouth excited him, didn't
disturb him either. Their first kiss, how many times had Harry imagined that?
Too many to count, but tonight he would get the real thing.
Harry lowered his mouth to Severus' and pressed his lips gently against those
of his bond-mate, gradually increasing in pressure as Severus tangled his hands
in Harry's hair. It was a few moments later before Severus' tongue poked at his
lips, sliding along them until Harry opened his mouth and Severus' tongue slid
in. Severus sought out every corner of Harry's mouth, from his cheeks to his
palate, to his teeth. Harry moaned, hard again, his trousers sticky and
uncomfortable now but he didn't want to stop kissing long enough to do anything
about it. Severus pulled away, panting harshly, his mouth stained with the
blood from Harry's lips.
"I never thought I would find tasting my own blood arousing," said Severus,
leaning up to claim Harry's mouth in a kiss once more. Harry had no objections
to that, the man was a wonderful kisser, nipping, teasing, tasting and Harry
knew that much more of this and he was going to make another mess in his
trousers. He didn't know kissing could make him feel like this.
He'd never felt aroused when Cho had kissed him, he felt something more akin to
panic anytime the girl's lips were suddenly near his own, but this, this was
wonderful. Severus kissing him, caressing his hair, his back, Harry could get
lost in these sensations, as if hundreds of ants were scurrying just beneath
his skin. He felt alive, more alive than he'd felt in weeks. He was flying,
soaring high and almost before he knew it Harry felt the telltale tingle in his
balls and the pit of his stomach that warned him of his impending orgasm. He
yanked his mouth away from Severus' and groaned.
It was too late to stop; he'd long passed the point of no return. Harry cried
wordlessly as he spilled himself for the second time that night, still in his
trousers. He lay panting against Severus' shoulder as the man rubbed his back
while the aftershocks rippled through Harry's body.
"Sorry," he mumbled, both from embarrassment and from fearing that he'd pushed
things too far, that he'd pushed Severus into things that perhaps the man
wasn't ready for.
"Hush, Harry. Don't apologise for being excited. It's wonderful that you can
still feel desire after what they did to you. Don't ever be sorry for feeling
pleasure. There's nothing wrong with feeling pleasure. I know we said we
weren't going to rush into a physical relationship, but we can do things like
this again if you want. Kissing, touching, would you like that?"
Harry removed his head from its hidden spot on Severus neck.
"I would, Severus. If it's okay with you."
"Good, just one condition though."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Next time, do you think we can get rid of the clothes first?"
Harry laughed and kissed his husband on the forehead. "I can't help it if I'm a
bit quick off the mark; I had the sexiest man alive kissing me."
"You couldn't have had the sexiest man alive kissing you, Harry."
"I couldn't?"
"No, because he was kissing me," smiled Severus and drew Harry's head down for
another lingering kiss.
Harry pulled away and grimaced before casting a cleansing spell on both of
them. "There, that's better. Now you can kiss me all night if you want."
"Well, I think we'll have to get some sleep some time."
"Oh! I almost forgot," said Harry bounding from the bed and opening the drawer
in the dressing table. "I got you a wedding present too." Harry handed Severus
the wrapped parcel.
"When did you have time to get this? You've been at the Grange the whole time."
"Haven't you heard of mail order, Severus? I got it through Owl Post from
Flourish and Blotts."
Severus unwrapped the paper and stared from the gift to Harry, then to the gift
again. "You got this from Flourish and Blotts? That's impossible. This book has
been out of print for years."
"They have a new special ordering department now, for those hard to find items.
It took a while to find it."
"Harry, how long ago did you start looking for this? You didn't even know we
were getting married until a few weeks ago."
"I - um - I started looking after I'd looked into your Pensieve in fifth year."
"You've been looking for this book, for me, for almost two years?"
"Um, yes. I was going to give it to you as an apology for what I'd done, which
it is, but it's a wedding gift too."
"Harry, it's wonderful. No one has ever given me such a thoughtful gift before.
Thank you, Harry. Thank you."
"You're welcome. I never knew you'd be so enthused about a mouldy old Potions
book," Harry grinned as Severus perused the contents list of Ancient Potions of
Britain and Ireland: From Celt to Saxon.
"Yes you did, that's why you got it for me."
 
Part 10
It had been almost twenty years since the last time Severus had been in the
lower courtroom of the Wizengamot under the Ministry of Magic. That time he had
been chained and dragged to the chairs like a criminal, until Albus Dumbledore
had testified in his defence. Albus was here this time too, with a ready smile
and a handshake as he and Harry were led to their seats at the front of the
courtroom, but there was little time for talk.
This time it wasn't Severus' crimes the Court was interested in, but those of
the Death Eaters who'd been rounded up shortly after Voldemort's demise at
Harry's hands. Harry was shaking nervously and Severus had to consciously stop
himself from reaching out his hand to comfort the boy.
Harry, it'll be okay. They were both finding it easier than ever to share
thoughts now that they'd bonded and Harry had started feeding from him. He was
just glad Harry was able to heal the wounds afterwards. Granted, Severus did
normally wear high collars but they could only hide so much. He didn't fancy
trying to explain what the marks on his neck were, despite the fact that he
loved getting them.
Merlin, barely a week married and he felt as if he never wanted to leave
Harry's side. How were they going to manage once they were back at school?
I'm fine, Severus. I'm just worried for you.
I'll be fine too, Harry, he replied in his mind, just as a gong announced the
entrance of the judge and advocates. So far there had been no sign of the
defendants. Had they confessed then? Maybe none of them would be in the
courtroom at all. That would be a welcome relief.
The judge sat down at the desk, the two advocates bowing to him before taking
their seats on the benches near to him and Harry. They were both wearing the
bottle green robes of their profession, the defender's robes edged with white,
the prosecutor's edged in black.
"Bring in the first prisoner," called the judge. One of the many stewards
dotted about the courtroom opened the double doors wide and bellowed into the
corridor beyond. "The Court calls Lucius Malfoy!"
 
Severus' heart beat a frantic tattoo against his ribs. A few moments later,
Lucius Malfoy was escorted into the chamber, flanked by two Aurors, both his
wrists and ankles chained. The prisoner was indeed Lucius Malfoy, but Malfoy as
Severus had never seen him before. The normally impeccable man, he who would
never condescend to wear anything unless it had been tailored only for him, had
no choice but to wear the prison issued shapeless grey robes. The robes
themselves were filthy and stank of stale blood and urine. Next to him, Severus
heard Harry inhaling rapidly.
Harry? Are you all right?
The blood! It's made my teeth come out again!
Just try and concentrate, Harry. I don't think we'll be called to testify for a
while yet.
Okay. I'll try.
Severus turned his attention back to the man at the front of the courtroom,
still with half an eye on Harry too. Malfoy's hair was no longer shining in a
sliver curtain, but hung loose in greasy, matted strands around his face and
shoulders. His hair was so dirty it almost looked brown rather than blonde. His
eyes were grey and empty, staring round the courtroom, but not really seeming
to see it.
Before today, Severus had been scared. Frightened of going into that courtroom
and seeing the Death Eaters who'd raped and humiliated him. He'd been
frightened of this? Of this husk of a man? There was nothing left of the Lucius
Malfoy who'd raped Severus so viciously, the Dementors had already started
their work on Lucius Malfoy. One might almost feel sorry for the man. He
didn't. Lucius Malfoy deserved everything the court was going to throw at him.
The Aurors ushered Malfoy towards the chair sitting next to the judge's table,
but Lucius just stared at it as if not quite realising what chairs were for. He
just stood wherever the Aurors had left him. The judge sighed, obviously not
willing to wait around all day until Lucius finally figured out what his arse
was for. He was an elderly man, as bald as an egg and a face as wizened and
wrinkled as a prune.
"Prosecutor Jennings, you may begin. What are the charges brought against this
man?"
The prosecutor stood up from the bench and walked towards the judge's table,
unfurling and reading from a scroll as he went. "Lucius Malfoy you stand here
accused of numerous counts of murder, rape and torture, both of Muggles and
Magical folk. You are accused of using the Imperius curse, the Cruciatus curse
and the Killing Curse many times while you were a follower of the Dark Lord,
commonly called a Death Eater. Do you understand these charges?"
For the first time, something like life flickered in the man's grey eyes but it
disappeared so quickly that Severus wasn't sure whether or not he'd really seen
it. "I do," Malfoy said dully.
"Do you deny these charges?"
"No. I confess. I am guilty of them all."
"Do you know the penalty for your crimes?"
"I do."
"Father! No!" screamed a high pitched voice from the back of the room. Harry
and Severus turned to see Draco Malfoy clambering over the other witches and
wizards in his haste to reach his father. "Don't do it! Don't do it!" he begged
as he reached the bottom tier and tried to cross the room. Two Aurors held him
back and he twisted and flailed in their arms.
Merlin, what idiot had allowed the boy in to witness his father's trial? No
child should have to see that. It wasn't Draco's fault his father was a Death
Eater. The crimes were not the boy's.
"I'm sorry, Draco," said Lucius, before his eyes went blank once again.
The crowds chatter increased in pitch and volume as they watched the little
family saga unfold below. "Don't leave me!" cried Draco.
The judge banged his gavel on the desk. "Silence! Or I will have everyone
removed!"
The chatter ceased immediately, as if a switch had just been flicked. "Lucius
Malfoy," began the judge. "You are hereby found guilty of all charges against
you. In three days time you are sentenced to receive the Dementors' Kiss. Take
him - "
"NOOOO!!!" shrieked Draco, struggling to get free of the Aurors' grasps. "You
can't do this! It isn't fair! It's not fair!" Draco slumped against the arms
holding him and that's when the Aurors made their mistake. They thought Draco
had calmed down, he hadn't, it was a ruse and Severus knew it long before they
loosened their grip enough to allow Draco to make his escape.
Draco dashed towards the bench where he and Harry were sitting, managing to
punch Harry on the nose before the Aurors or Severus could prevent him. "It's
your fault!" Draco screamed at Harry as the Aurors pulled him off Harry with
their arms around his waist, as Draco kicked and screamed. "I'll get you for
this! Just you wait, Potter! I'll get you for this!"
Harry's nose was bubbling red fluid and his face was growing paler by the
second as Draco was led away and hopefully left to calm down by a short stint
in the holding cells. Severus handed Harry a handkerchief, but the blood didn't
seem to be stopping. He cast a spell, but that was having no effect either.
Shit! Was this something to do with Harry's vampirism? The blood was still
dripping, flowing in crimson torrents down Harry's mouth, chin and robes.
"Is there a Healer?" Severus cried out, just as Harry lurched forward and would
have toppled from the bench if Severus hadn't wrapped his arms around his
husband's waist, almost anticipating the very moment when he would faint.
Madam Pomfrey hurried to the front of the room and bent down to tend to Harry.
"Severus?" she gasped out. "How did this happen?" Her eyes glinted with
knowledge. Oh, God, she knew.
"Not here, Poppy. Please."
"Very well, let's get him to one of the first aid rooms. With your permission,
your honour?" she nodded to the judge after lifting Harry in her arms.
"Permission granted. This court is in recess for an hour."
Severus looked at the pale, bloodied face of his husband and knew that whatever
he felt before he'd entered the courtroom was nothing in comparison to what he
was feeling now. He'd thought he was scared before, he was absolutely terrified
now.
He was terrified of losing Harry.
 
Part 11
Harry slowly came to awareness, hearing voices whispering above him, but he
couldn't quite make out what they said. The voices dipped and rose in pitch,
like the ebb and flow of a tide as he drifted towards consciousness and had to
shut his eyes against the brightness of the room.
"Sev'rus?" he mumbled thickly, realising that one of the voices belonged to his
husband and he struggled to sit up.
"Stay right where you are, Mr. Potter," came another voice, that of Madam
Pomfrey, but glancing around the room, Harry knew they weren't at the Hogwarts
infirmary. Had Madam Pomfrey been at the trial? He hadn't seen her, but then
he'd been so worried about Severus that it wasn't surprising. "You're not to be
getting up just yet."
The room was white, white floor, white walls, white bed linens with no windows
or doors that Harry could see. It was a strange, dizzying sensation being
amongst all that white. Severus and Madam Pomfrey, both dressed in black robes
today looked like large crows standing on a snow drift.
"What happened?" asked Harry, wishing he could reach out and touch Severus, but
he couldn't. Not with the mediwitch there. "I remember Draco Malfoy punching me
on the nose."
"He did indeed," agreed Madam Pomfrey. "The bleeding took a while to stop and
you fainted. Don't worry, Severus, nosebleeds always look worse than they
actually are. Harry's fine for the moment. How often have you been feeding,
Harry?" she asked him then, hovering over the bed and tapping her wand against
her left palm.
"W - what?"
"Harry, I'm a qualified mediwitch, do you really think I don't know a case of
vampirism when I see it? It's the reason your nosebleed took a while to stop,
vampire blood doesn't clot so easily as non-vampire. You should have told me
about this as soon as you started school, it should have been on your medical
records. I can hardly bear to think of what might have happened to you because
we weren't aware of your condition."
"He didn't know, Poppy. We only found out a little while ago."
"How did you not know that you'd bitten a vampire, Harry?"
"I was five," said Harry. "I don't remember all of it though, Se -Professor
Snape thinks he must have obliviated me."
"Five?" she exclaimed, clucking her tongue. "Vampires are only supposed to feed
on those who have consented to it, and only from older wizards. A five year old
would not be strong enough to withstand the feeding. You're lucky you weren't
killed!"
"Th - that's what he wanted to do," replied Harry softly.
"Who?"
"The - the man who took me, he wanted to kill me, but I don't remember all of
it. You won't tell anyone, will you?"
"About what? You being vampire or you and Severus being bonded?" she grinned
down at him. "Don't look so shocked, Harry. I've no intention of telling anyone
anything. You and Severus are both adults and can do whatever you wish. It's no
one else's business and I certainly am not in the habit of betraying the
confidence of my patients."
It was true, Harry knew. The witch had never told anyone when he'd gone to her
the first term back at the start of his fourth year, one of the many times
Vernon and Dudley had raped him. He'd begged her not to tell anyone, too
ashamed to let anyone else know, but he needed the medical attention. She'd
kept her promise and Harry had no doubt she would keep these secrets too.
"How did you know we were bonded, Poppy? We told no one."
"Really, Severus, how long have I known you now? Almost thirty years, isn't it?
It's the way you two look at each other when you think no one else is looking.
I'd be careful of that, there is always someone looking. I suppose you're going
to have to hide your marriage until Harry leaves school?"
Severus nodded and leaned down to squeeze Harry's hand. "Don't worry, Harry.
It'll be okay. No one will separate us, I promise."
Harry wished he could let himself relax enough to believe him. A few more
minutes of lying flat on his back and Madam Pomfrey allowed him to sit up. He
was still a little light-headed, but after a glass of water was thrust into his
hand he was feeling a lot better. Severus sat down on the side of the bed and
traced the back of Harry's hands with his. They grinned at each other, hardly
aware of the matron in the room with them. Harry just wanted to go home and
curl up in Severus' arms.
He was glad that at least someone seemed happy for them and Madam Pomfrey did
not seem at all worried that he was a vampire; she didn't seem scared of him at
all. But would it be the same if his friends found out? Ron was always making
jokes about how Snape must be a vampire, with his greasy hair, living in the
dungeons and seeming to sneak up on people without them knowing. How would Ron
react when he discovered that it wasn't Snape who was the vampire, but Harry
himself?
"Here, drink this, Harry," said Madam Pomfrey, handing him a small vial of
potion.
"What is it?"
"Blood replenishing solution, it will help you for the time being, but I
recommend that you feed soon, tonight or tomorrow at the latest to keep your
strength up. Severus, you ought to have some as well and I'd recommend you take
some iron tablets too, just be on the safe side. Both of you need to remain
healthy."
"Thanks," said Harry handing her back the glass as Severus nodded that he'd
heard her instructions. Whether or not he was going to act on them was another
matter, Harry knew how stubborn his husband could be. "This isn't hurting
Severus, is it?" he asked worriedly. "I'm not making him sick, am I?"
"No, Harry. The human body can donate blood as long as not too much is taken at
once and that there is a rest period in between so that the volume in the body
can replenish itself. As long as you don't take too much, or too frequently,
you and Severus will both be fine."
Someone knocked on the door, Madam Pomfrey went to answer it. A couple of
moments later, she returned with the headmaster in tow. Severus shot off the
bed so fast it was a wonder he didn't rupture something, but they couldn't very
well let the headmaster see a professor and student be so intimate with one
another, even if they were married.
Dumbledore was wearing flowing purple robes today, decorated with silver moons
and stars, a pointed had perched crookedly on his head. He was the epitome of
wizard today, how Harry imagined wizards would look before he actually
discovered he was one.
"Albus, do they want us back in court?" asked Severus.
"No, the trial has been adjourned altogether. The other Death Eaters all
confessed and have been sentenced to receive the Dementors' Kiss. There's no
need for you and Harry to testify after all. And how are you, Harry my boy?"
Dumbledore smiled at him, blue eyes twinkling over the rim of his glasses.
"Quite a scare you gave us, there."
"Much better, thank you, sir. I don't - um - like the sight of blood," said
Harry, wracking his brains for any excuse as to why he'd fainted in the first
place. He hoped Dumbledore didn't realise he was lying, but it was very
difficult to fool the headmaster at the best of times.
"Good, good."
"All of them confessed?" asked Severus. "Even the Lestranges?"
His husband's voice was steadier than Harry would have expected it. He knew
that if Vernon and Dudley had been in the room, he would not have been able to
be so calm. Even now, just thinking of them made his hands clammy and sticky.
Harry rubbed them on the bed sheets, hoping no one noticed. How could Severus
be so calm discussing his rapists?
"Ah, yes. Bellatrix and Rodolphus did indeed confess, but Bellatrix was the
only one not sentenced to the Kiss. She's been sent to the high security wing
at St. Jude's."
"St. Jude's? What's that?" Harry leant forward on the bed, looking from wizard
to the other.
"St. Jude's is a high security prison and criminal psychiatric hospital, for
those who aren't considered sane enough to be responsible for their actions but
still pose a danger to wizarding society at large. So she is insane, then?"
"No doubt about it, Severus," replied Dumbledore. "The poor woman was ranting
and raving as they took her away, they had to get one of the Healers from St.
Mungo's to calm her, and she was hysterical."
"What was she saying?" asked Poppy as she scanned Harry with her wand and
nodded. "There, you're fine now, Harry."
"A load of nonsense mainly, not a lot of it made much sense."
"But some did?" persisted Severus.
"Well, I wouldn't say it made much sense exactly, but it was the only time she
seemed fairly lucid. St. Jude's is probably the best place for her for now.
They might transfer her to Azkaban afterwards, but she'll receive the best care
now that they know."
"Know what, Professor?" asked Harry, hopping down from the bed.
"Well, it was the reason she wasn't sentenced to the Kiss," explained the
headmaster. "She's six weeks pregnant."
 
Part 12
As soon as they Apparated home to the Grange, Severus locked himself away in
his lab and hadn't said a word to Harry. He'd somehow turned off the mind bond
they shared and although Harry tried to contact him this way, no answer was
forthcoming from his husband. Harry was worried, more than worried. He asked
Callie to remove any razors from the bathrooms, to get rid of any Potions
dotted about and to make sure the knives were locked away.
Harry helped the little elf, feeling so frustrated that he couldn't do more to
help. He had no idea if Severus was really going to do anything to harm
himself, but if Severus wouldn't talk to him, how could he convince him
otherwise?
"Will the Masters be wanting dinner, Master Harry?" asked Callie once they'd
finished with their task of making the house at least a little bit safer.
"Yes," said Harry firmly, determined to get Severus out of that lab for a meal
at least and it would give the elf something to do besides worry about her
other master. "Do you need some help?"
"Oh, no, Master Harry. I is knowing what to do. You is going to rest and get
strong. I is sending for you when dinner is being ready."
"Thank you, Callie," said Harry and wondered what on earth he could do to
occupy his mind for the next few hours. His wanderings took him to the library,
where he spent a while reading the first few pages of books before the worry
washed over him again, as if he'd just been doused in ice cold water. He didn't
understand why Severus was so upset, he wanted the man to confide in him, he
needed to confide in someone, but Harry knew how hard that was. He wasn't
exactly chatterbox of the year himself.
Half an hour before he judged Callie would have dinner ready, Harry made his
way downstairs to the lab. Much to his surprise, the door was standing wide
open and Severus was not brewing anything. All the fires were unlit, the
cauldrons were still against the walls or hanging from hooks on the ceiling,
all the ingredients were still on their shelves and all the worktables were
empty. A stool wasn't, Severus sat perched on it next to the empty fireplace
staring into nothing.
Harry almost sagged in relief. Severus was alive, not really okay, but alive.
"Severus," he said softly and his husband looked up at him, the relief in his
voice clearly evident.
He blushed a little. "Sorry, Harry. I just needed some time to myself, I didn't
mean to worry you."
"But you did," said Harry. It wasn't an accusation, but Harry needed the man to
know. "I get worried when you don't talk to me. I was worried that you might -
that you might try something again. I can't go on without you, Severus."
Severus stood up and wrapped Harry in a hug. "I am sorry, Harry. I didn't do
this to hurt you, I just needed some time to get my head around it."
"Around what? What's bothering you, Severus?" asked Harry, pressing his head
against Severus' chest, feeling soothed by the strong heartbeat beneath his
ear. Severus wasn't dead, he was very much alive.
"You mean you don't know? Do you remember what happened six weeks ago, Harry?"
Harry nodded; of course, he'd been there, hadn't he? He'd been made to watch as
the Death Eaters took their revenge on the traitor in their midst, one of them,
Bellatrix Lestrange. "Merlin! The baby could be yours?"
"It's a distinct possibility, yes."
"What are you going to do?"
"I've no idea, Harry. Up until this, I thought my preferences would preclude
children, now I find I might have a child by the woman who raped me. It's like
some sick sort of cosmic joke. I don't know what I should do, what I ought to
do. If she tells them who the father is, or if they do a paternity charm, I'll
be sent to Azkaban for adultery."
"What? But the woman raped you!" protested Harry. "It wasn't your fault! They
can't send you to Azkaban, they can't! I won't let them!"
"I'm afraid we may have no choice in the matter, Harry. Adultery is a criminal
offence, it won't matter that she raped me, she was married therefore I am
guilty of adultery, or at least that's how the Wizengamot will see it."
Harry could not believe he was hearing this. Could not believe that after
everything Severus had been through that they could still imprison him. It was
barbaric, that's what it was. "Do you really think they'd believe that a woman
could rape a man, Harry? The Advocate will probably twist it around so that it
was me who raped her."
"No, I was there. I know what happened, Severus. That woman raped you and I'll
testify to that. Can't they use Veritaserum to get the truth out of her?"
"You can't use it on a pregnant woman and it's never used in trials, some
people are strong willed enough to resist it, so you'd never be sure if you
were getting the truth anyway."
"I thought it was fool proof," said Harry.
"It's not. Merlin, Harry, what are we going to do? This just seems like some
nightmare and I just wish I could wake up soon."
"What'll happen to the baby once it's born?"
"I'm not sure, I suspect it will be put up for adoption, but since no prisoner
has ever been pregnant before, I'm not entirely sure. What are you thinking?"
"Maybe - maybe we could adopt the baby once it's born?"
"You'd be willing to do that, Harry?"
"The baby's innocent, Severus. It wasn't the baby's fault it was created that
way, was it? Are you saying you would hate it because of what happened? That
you'd blame the child for its mother's crimes?" Harry stepped away from his
husband, feeling anger swelling up from somewhere beneath his breastbone. "Like
you blamed me? For all that my father and his friends did to you?"
"Harry, that's different."
"How? How is it different? I was innocent of what my father did to you, all the
teasing, the humiliation but from the first day you treated me as if I was him!
I am not him, Severus and this baby won't be Bellatrix Lestrange either! You
can't go around blaming the children for what the parents did. Are you saying
you wouldn't be able to love the child because of what its mother did?"
"It's not that, Harry. I don't know if I could stand to be reminded every day
of what happened to me. Would I look at the child and see Bella, see all of
them and what they'd done? I'm not strong like you, Harry. I don't know if I
would be strong enough for this."
"You think I'm strong, Severus? I'm not. I still get nightmares all the time.
How can I be strong when I can't face what happened to me when I was five? He
may have obliviated me, but I'm hiding it from myself, aren't I? You've never
seen that full memory and neither have I. I didn't want to know what he did to
me. I can guess and that's enough."
"You are strong, Harry. What you said just proves it. Something terrible
happened to you, but you didn't wallow in self-pity over it."
"Forgetting isn't the same as being strong, I don't know what sort of nervous
wreck I'd be if I actually could remember all of it. Forget I said anything, we
don't have to adopt the baby, even if it is yours."
Harry sat down on one of the other stools and tried to will back the tears but
they would not be denied. The salt stung his eyes and he tried to wipe them
before Severus saw. He shouldn't have said anything. How would Harry have felt
if he'd been a girl and had been pregnant with Vernon or Dudley's child? There
was no way he could ever pretend that what Vernon and Dudley had done had never
happened. He knew he would not be able to cope, he was a fool to think that
Severus would be able to handle it any better than he had. And what about Harry
himself? Could he handle a baby, knowing that the baby would constantly remind
his husband of all the terrible things that had happened to him?
"I'm sorry, Severus, I shouldn't have said anything." Harry stood up to leave,
but Severus' arm on his wrist held him back.
"Harry, wait," Severus whispered, pulling Harry back into his arms. "You
shouldn't be worrying about this, about me."
"I can't help it, Severus. I love you, that's why I worry about you."
Severus stroked his hair, his back and whispered soothing nonsense words in his
ear until Harry's weeping gradually eased. "No one's ever worried about me
before," said Severus softly. "I - I like it," he admitted.
They stood for a while not speaking, just breathing the other in before Callie
called them for dinner. They ate in silence for the most part with the
occasional request to pass the salt or the jug of water, but neither of them
discussed what had been on their minds for the past hour. Should they adopt the
baby? Could they adopt the baby? And would Severus really get sent to prison
for something that he hadn't even done?
Harry pushed his steak away, his appetite fled as the thoughts churned his head
and stomach. Severus didn't mention it; maybe he wasn't feeling hungry either
for his plate was still half full as well when he'd finished. They both headed
to the blue bedroom and Harry wondered why Severus never took them to the
master bedroom in the house but always the guest room but it was just another
thing that he never asked about.
Harry almost fainted as he undressed; Severus wrapped his arms around him and
carried him to the bed. "You need to feed," he said and unbuttoned his shirt,
lowering it half way down his chest. Harry growled as his teeth extended and
pushed Severus back down on the bed, straddling the man's waist. His feeding
that night was frenzied, mindless, he was barely aware of the man beneath him,
only of the hot scarlet liquid soothing his mouth and throat as he drank more
and more and more and still it wasn't enough. He bit again, deeper this time as
he sucked and sucked, the life blood filling him, making him fly.
"Harry, stop," protested Severus weakly. "T - too much."
Harry reluctantly pulled his mouth away from the second wound, it wasn't
enough. He still wasn't sated, could feel the need still uncoiling in his belly
and he was about to lower his head again when he caught sight of himself in the
dresser mirror. His fangs were bared in a feral grimace, blood dripping from
his mouth and down his chin, staining his shirt. There was a glint of want in
his eyes that he had never seen before and he recoiled from the image and from
his damaged husband, scooting across the floor and resting against it, his
hands tucked around his knees as he sat there, trembling, but whether from fear
or want he wasn't sure.
Severus moaned from the bed and Harry realised he hadn't healed the man's
wounds. He made his way back and licked them clean, resisting the temptation
just to open them again and suck and suck. The wounds healed in a matter of
moments but Severus was still looking rather pale. Harry went into the bathroom
and got some blood replenishing solution from the cabinet, Madam Pomfrey had
given them a small supply until they were back at school.
Severus drank it gratefully and sank back down amongst the pillows. "Harry?
Aren't you coming to bed?"
"Weren't you scared of me? I almost killed you!"
"But you didn't, you heard me when I said stop."
"What if I don't hear you the next time? What if I can't stop? Oh, God,
Severus! I hate feeling like this! I want to be in control of this, not have it
control me! I don't want to hurt you; I don't want to hurt anyone."
Severus opened his arms and Harry let himself accept the offer of that comfort.
He'd had so little comfort growing up and he craved it almost as much as he
craved the blood. The connection, the safety, the idea that he wasn't alone.
"I don't want to be alone, Severus," he whispered.
"You won't be, Harry. Never," replied Severus as he kissed his hair.
 
Part 13
"Lemon drop?" asked Dumbledore, waving the little crystal dish of candies in
Severus' face. He shook his head; the headmaster knew full well that he had no
patience for either the man's sweets or his small talk. Severus just wished the
man would get on with it. It was the same every year after all. The day before
the autumn term, Dumbledore would summon Severus to his office and eventually
tell him the oh so delightful new of which incompetent he'd hired this year to
teach Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"I suppose you're wondering why I sent for you," said Dumbledore, his hands
steepled in front of his face. These words too were the same, words he'd heard
every year, far too many years to count and Severus didn't even bother to
reply. He didn't feel the least bit curious anymore, he just wanted the
interview over with so that he could get back to Harry, the last time they'd be
able to be alone for a while. Hogwarts would not be as welcoming of their
marriage if it was ever discovered.
Harry had gone to see Madam Pomfrey as soon as they'd returned to school, he
was still worried about the night he'd lost control, even though it hadn't
happened since. Severus hoped Harry was okay, he would be going down to the
dungeons after his visit to Madam Pomfrey. The headmaster of course thought
that tonight Harry would be safely tucked up in his dormitory bed before the
other children arrived tomorrow. He would indeed be tucked up in bed tonight,
but it would be a bed with Severus in it and his groin tightened in
anticipation. Severus shifted in his chair, grateful that his teaching robes
were so concealing.
"I wanted to offer you the Defence position," said Dumbledore. It took a few
moments for his brain to process the words.
"I'm sorry, headmaster; I thought you just said you wanted to offer me the
Defence position."
"I certainly did, Severus. You are certainly the most qualified, you know I
couldn't offer it to you while you were still in Voldemort's circle, he would
have expected too much of you. It would have been all too easy to hex Harry in
DADA classes and claim it was an accident, something Voldemort might have
requested from you."
This was indeed true and it was the reason Dumbledore had given him every year
when Severus had applied for the position, again, that was on Voldemort's
orders for exactly the reasons the headmaster described. It had come to be
something of a routine for them now, Severus would apply, Dumbledore would turn
him down. This year was the only year he'd never applied for the position, he
wasn't beholden to Voldemort anymore and he wasn't entirely sure that he still
wanted the job.
"You can't really expect to me to accept the position on the day before term
starts! What about preparations, lesson plans? What about Potions? It's
impossible headmaster, it cannot be done."
"It could if you had a teaching assistant, either for Potions or Defence, or
maybe both. Your first DADA class isn't until Thursday, plenty of time to
prepare. There's no reason for you not to be able to do both if you want,
Severus."
"Teaching assistant?" he queried, his mind immediately going to Harry. If Harry
was one of his teaching assistants, he would have plenty of time to spend with
him legitimately, going over lesson plans and such. He wouldn't have to resort
to giving him detentions or the ruse of Remedial Potions this time.
"I thought perhaps Miss Granger for Potions and Harry Potter for Defence,"
suggested Dumbledore. "They are both top in their class in those subjects and
of course it's always something that will look well on their job or university
applications, it's just a pity we don't have enough teachers to let every
student become a teaching assistant. You and Harry both got on well over the
summer, did you?"
"It was ... tolerable," said Severus carefully, no point in seeming too eager
to have Harry as his assistant if they were trying to keep things secret. "He
is not bad company when he hasn't got a crazy megalomaniac out for his blood.
If you think they would be the best candidates, headmaster, I'll accept your
suggestions."
"I do, excellent, excellent. So that means you accept the post as well?"
"I suppose it does." Severus could hardly wait to get out of the office and
share the good news with Harry. "Will that be all, Albus?"
"Yes, yes, off you go," Albus waved his hand absently, already engrossed in a
scroll on his desk. Fawkes gave a little squawk goodbye as Severus departed.
He found Harry already in bed, propped up against three very fluffy looking
pillows; he must have charmed them to be like that because all of Severus
pillows were a lot firmer to support his neck. Harry was wearing a light blue
t-shirt, which seemed a little tight across the chest but Severus had been
informed that it was the fashion to wear them tight like that, it accentuated
the chest. It did indeed do that and Severus found his gaze drawn there again
and again as he watched Harry read his Potions textbook.
Harry looked up and the smile he bestowed on Severus had his heart jumping into
his throat. It was as if he'd suddenly seen the sun after decades of nothing
but ice and snow. Harry looked as if he'd never belonged anywhere else but in
Severus' bed. How could either of them give this up? Ever?
"You might want to have a look at your Defence book next," said Severus with a
small quirk of his lips.
"Oh? You know who our new DADA teacher is this term?"
"You could say that," replied Severus. "You're looking at him."
Harry squealed in delight, tossing his book aside and scrambling from under the
blankets to launch himself into Severus' arms and pepper his face with tiny
kisses. "Severus! That's wonderful! You must be so pleased."
"I am, but that's not all, Harry. The headmaster thinks teaching assistants
will help me spread the load to do Potions and Defence. I was going to ask Miss
Granger if she'd like to be my assistant for Potions. Do you think she'd be
interested?"
"Interested? She'd take your arm off," Harry chuckled. "She's great at Potions,
she'll be a great help for you."
"The headmaster also suggested I take on an assistant for Defence. He suggested
you, would you be interested?"
"Does it mean I get to spend more time with you? Officially?"
"It does indeed," drawled Snape as he bent down to lick Harry's neck, feeling
the boy shudder against him. "Of course, after work, I'm sure we might find
some time for ... play," Severus nipped his shoulder gently, careful not to
break the skin. "If you'd like to."
"I'd love to, Severus!" exclaimed Harry. "Count me in!" He wrapped his arms
around Severus' neck and pulled him down for a long, lingering kiss.
"How did your visit with Madam Pomfrey go?" asked Severus once they'd both
surfaced for air again. "Does she have any ideas why you couldn't seem to
control it that night?"
"Um, yes, Severus. It was because you'd closed off your bond to me, we were
both so upset about Bella and the baby and everything, I wasn't connected to
you that night. Normally I can sense your moods, your health, the bond helps me
to control the feeding, I'm as aware of you as I am of myself."
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I had no idea the bond worked in that way."
"Neither did I until Madam Pomfrey told me about it, it's one of the reasons
they recommend vampires and their donors are bonded."
"So I see. I won't close it again," said Severus. "Harry, how are you? Do you
need to feed tonight?"
"No, I'm fine for another few days."
"Oh," Severus tried hard to hide his disappointment, he'd been looking forward
to it, feeling Harry's mouth on him, suckling from him, but maybe that was part
of the bond a donor shared with their vampire.
"But - um - Severus, I was wondering if we could - you know, do some things
even if I'm not feeding. Um, touching and kissing. Only if you want," he added
quickly.
Severus pulled back a little so that he could gaze into Harry's face. Harry had
never suggested it before; in fact their only intimacies besides the odd kiss
or two only happened when Harry was feeding. There wasn't a lot of choice
there, it was a natural reaction to the vampire bond, but this, Harry was
asking for something shared that didn't come from feeding.
"Do you really want to, Harry? I don't want you to feel you have to do certain
things, there's no rush."
"I know, I just thought you might like to. I - I'd like to."
There, just what Severus had been waiting for; he wouldn't have considered
doing anything if Harry hadn't wanted it too.
"I think we're both a tad overdressed, don't you?" said Severus, grinning as he
said a charm which had them both naked in moments. Harry gasped and looked up
at him, eyes wide behind his glasses. Severus wrapped his arms around Harry's
waist and toppled him to the bed, so he landed lying almost the full length of
him and began kissing him. Slowly at first, but gradually becoming more heated.
He felt Harry's cock burgeon against his thigh as the two of them kissed and
kissed, tangling their legs with each other as they caressed skin to skin for
the first time. They'd never been completely naked with each other before and
Severus wondered why they'd never tried it before.
His whole body was one large nerve, feeling everything at once, the sparse
hairs on Harry's legs tickling him, the damp trail of precome from both of them
sliding over skin, the smoothness of Harry's face against his own bristles, the
low moans from both of them, the sweat trickling down his back, Harry's hands
clawing at his back, tugging him closer and closer to his own body.
Severus left off kissing Harry's lips to trail a small necklace of kisses along
his neck and throat and was gratified to hear the long moans coming from his
husband's mouth. Harry was enjoying this, eyes closed, dark lashes brushing his
cheeks, which were flushed with arousal, bucking up on the bed. When Severus
turned his attention to Harry's nipples, he arched almost completely off the
bed and would probably have succeeded if Severus hadn't been holding his hips.
Severus skimmed Harry's stomach, pressing his index finger in and out of his
navel, loving the little mewling sounds emerging from his throat. Harry's prick
was almost sticking vertically up from the thatch of dark hair at his groin;
his hands fisted the bed clothes as he humped the air. Severus lowered his
hand, taking Harry's erection in a firm grip and rubbing up and down. Harry
howled, "Severus!" and his eyes snapped open, orbs of emerald almost completely
obscured by the dilated pupils.
Severus bent his head and licked the tip, Harry tasted how he'd always
imagined, sweet with a tang of innocence despite all that had happened to him.
"Is this okay? Would you like me to?" Severus asked, careful not to push too
far tonight.
"Please," said Harry breathlessly and Severus bent once again to his task. He'd
no idea if Harry had ever done this before or had it done to him, so he took
his time, licking all around the base, then from root to tip before swallowing
the head of Harry's cock and sucking. His own cock twitched in time with the
sucking motions he was bestowing upon Harry and from the way Harry hardened in
his mouth, he knew the boy was not going to last too long.
"Severus! Oh God, Severus! Don't stop! Please don't stop!" begged Harry as his
hips writhed on the bed. Severus sucked harder, wanting to feel all of him,
wanting to taste all of him. He relaxed the back of his throat and let Harry's
prick touch the back of his throat. Harry wailed wordlessly, his cock seeming
to expand to twice its normal size as he spent himself in Severus' mouth.
Severus kept sucking, kept swallowing as if the semen was nectar and he was
Zeus himself accepting offerings from his mortals.
Harry's hands relinquished their death grip on the bedclothes and came down to
pet Severus' hair instead. "Oh God, Severus, that was wonderful. I've never
done that before."
Severus had guessed as much from the short time it had taken Harry to come. "Is
this how you feel when I feed from you?"
"Maybe," agreed Severus. He licked around Harry's cock, getting all the loose
threads of ejaculate and was amused to find Harry quickening once again at his
attentions. Severus slid up the bed and paused a moment or two before kissing
Harry, if he'd never done this before, maybe he didn't want to be kissed until
Severus had brushed his teeth or rinsed out his mouth, but Harry decided for
him, tugging Severus' face and claiming his mouth in an eager kiss. Harry
groaned and bucked up towards Severus, wrapping his limbs around him, his arms
around Severus' neck and his legs wrapped around his waist as he rutted against
his husband's body.
Harry's eager rubbing soon had Severus rubbing equally frenzied against him and
it was barely no time at all before they made their stomachs sticky. Severus
pressed a passionate kiss on Harry's lips as he felt the first tremors of his
orgasm, kept on kissing him until he was fully spent and could barely breathe.
It didn't matter, he could breathe Harry from now on, he didn't need air. His
lungs seemed to think otherwise and they parted, resting their foreheads
against one another.
"I wish I didn't have to sleep in the dorms," sighed Harry. "I want to stay
here with you."
"You can for tonight, Harry."
It wasn't enough, they both knew it, but it was only practical once the school
was full with staff and students. It would be hard enough to keep their
relationship secret without Harry's friends wondering where he disappeared to
at night. News of that nature would not stay out of the headmaster's ears for
long.
Severus accioed a nightshirt from the drawer but Harry took it out of his hand
and dropped it on the floor beside the bed. "Oops," chuckled Harry. "I guess
that means we'll have to sleep naked tonight."
Severus had no objections to that.
 
Part 14
"You look well, Harry," commented Hermione as she helped herself to some more
mashed potato. "Did you have a good summer?"
"Er, yeah. It was fine."
"Fine? Rather you than me mate," said Ron. "Imagine! A whole two months with
Snape! Why did you have to stay with him anyway? You never did say."
Harry just shrugged, he couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't an
outright lie. "Professor Snape isn't too bad once you get to know him," said
Hermione. "He was spying all those years, Ron, he had to pretend to be like
that so that the Death Eaters' children wouldn't realise he was. He's asked me
to be a teaching assistant this year for Potions."
"Me too," smiled Harry, eager to share at least some honest news with his two
best friends.
"Er, Harry, you Potions marks haven't been the best lately..."
"I know, not for Potions. For Defence."
"What?" gaped Ron. "You don't mean Dumbledore's gone and given the greasy git
the Defence position after all this time? I thought I'd got rid of him now that
I'm not taking Potions anymore."
Harry bristled inwardly at his husband being called a greasy git by Ron. "He's
not greasy, Ron," Harry muttered. "It's all those Potions fumes make his hair
like that." He earned a bemused stare from Ron.
"Not greasy? Are you blind, Harry? Look at him, go on look," insisted Ron when
Harry made no move to obey him. "His hair's so greasy you could fry an egg in
it, mind you that might be an improvement. God, he's an ugly bastard, isn't
he?"
"Ron! You shouldn't talk about your teachers like that," scolded Hermione, but
Ron had only just started on his tirade against Snape. "God, that nose, you
can't miss it, can you? You'd think he'd do something to fix it, him being a
wizard and all. Have you seen his teeth? They're disgusting, all yellow and
crooked. God, imagine someone having to kiss that. His hands are always dirty
too, they're all stained, I bet he never even washes and - "
"Ron," protested Hermione again. Harry had to physically restrain himself from
reaching across the table and punching Ron's lights out.
"Ron, shut the fuck up!" roared Harry beyond endurance at hearing his husband,
the man he loved, belittled in such a way. "You haven't a clue what you're
talking about! You have no idea what that man went through spying for our side,
none! So don't just sit there and complain about what he looks like!" With
that, Harry clambered over the bench and left the Great Hall, a terrible
silence in his wake. His outburst had been witnessed by the whole school,
including Snape and the other staff.
Good one, Harry. What was that about keeping things secret?
Shut up! Harry said to himself and stalked angrily back to the now empty
Gryffindor Tower. He'd miss dessert and Dumbledore's speeches, but at the
moment he didn't care. He just couldn't stay there next to Ron any longer.
Severus had been through hell and back due to his work for the light and Ron
was still so childish, despite being a few months older than Harry, that he
couldn't see beyond the persona they'd invented for Snape in their first year.
That of greasy git and overgrown bat, the ugly duckling of Hogwarts. In Harry's
mind, somewhere along the line Snape had turned from ugly duckling into swan.
Harry flopped down on his bed, not even bothering to remove his shoes. There
was no denying that yes, sometimes the man's hair was greasy, due to all the
Potion fumes when he spent most days teaching ungrateful little sods like Ron.
Yes his nose was large and hooked, as if it had been broken so many times that
it was unable to be fixed properly even with magic. Having seen in visions what
Voldemort did to his followers and prisoners, Harry didn't doubt that may well
have been the case. His teeth were indeed yellow and crooked, his fingers
stained from handling so many Potions ingredients over the years. Taken
separately, all these elements could indeed become things of disgust or
ridicule, but together they made a whole. They made Severus and Harry found
nothing disgusting about his husband.
Harry thought the man was beautiful because he could see into the man's heart
and soul, into his mind too due to the bond. Physical beauty faded anyway, it
never lasted. Harry remembered the Veela at the Quidditch World Cup and how
they turned ugly when they didn't get their way. Voldemort in his earlier
incarnation had been a handsome man, but hid such an evil soul. Severus' inner
beauty would never fade no matter how he aged. It had been a long time since
Harry had thought the man ugly.
Yes, when he'd been younger, he'd agreed with Ron on the man's appearance but
he'd grown up a lot in the past few years, he had no choice. His childhood had
disappeared when he was eleven and Voldemort had tried to kill him in the
Forest. Ron's words about Snape had hurt him, deep down in his chest and
stomach, for they were so reminiscent of the horrible things the Dursleys had
always said about Harry. Normally just before he got a good thrashing.
He and Severus had intended to announce their bonding as soon as Harry was no
longer a student, but is this what they would have to put up with? Everyone
berating his choice of partner? Not accepting that he could find love and
happiness with an ex-Death Eater? An ugly ex-Death Eater so much older than
him? It was not going to be easy.
Harry heard footsteps on the stairs to the boys' dormitory and yanked his
hangings shut.
***
Severus had been expecting Harry after dinner to go over their lesson plans for
the first Defence class, what he hadn't expected was for Harry to arrive a few
minutes to midnight, well beyond curfew beneath his invisibility cloak and
crying so hard that he was barely coherent. Severus could make out a few words.
Ron, argument and Dursleys but by that time Harry was sobbing so hard that he
could barely keep his feet. Severus scooped his husband up on his arms and
settled them both on the sofa.
Harry wept against his shoulder; Severus could feel the trickle of Harry's
tears against the collar of his robes. He wrapped both hands around Harry and
rocked him until he calmed, just mumbling a few soothing whispers every now and
then. Harry's hands gripped the front of Severus' robe, as if he was afraid the
man might suddenly disappear if he wasn't holding on to him.
"Harry? Do you want to talk about it?" Severus asked when Harry's crying had
stopped for a while.
"I - I had an argument with Ron earlier," said Harry.
"I know, I think the whole school heard that one."
"When Ron came back to the dorms he still wanted to argue, wanting to know why
I'd defended you and he said - he said he wished I'd gone back to the Dursleys'
instead. I never came back from there as if I was someone else. Someone he
didn't like. Then - then when I went to sleep, I had a nightmare about them.
About the Dursleys. I was back there and I couldn't escape. I couldn't get
away, Severus. I'm sorry, I know we weren't supposed to see each other this
late. I'll go." Harry made as if to move.
"Hush, Harry," Severus tightened his grip on Harry's waist. "You can come and
see me anytime you have a nightmare, Harry. Please don't feel you have to
bottle all these things up. You've never talked about it, have you?"
"About what?"
"The Dursleys. What they did to you?" He felt Harry tense in his arms and a few
more tears trickled along his neck. "Ssh, Harry, I'm sorry. You don't have to
talk about it if you don't want to."
"You - you would listen?" asked Harry, removing his head from Severus' shoulder
and peering at him, Harry's tears magnified through his glasses.
"If you wanted me too," said Severus.
"Severus - I - I don't know, no one's ever asked me about it before. It's
difficult to talk about."
"I know, Harry. There's no rush. It's late; we'd better get you to bed."
Harry's face seemed to crumple in on itself. "Please, Severus! Please don't
make me go back to the dorm tonight!"
"I had no intention of it, Harry. I'll wake you early so you can get back
before your dorm mates wake up."
Harry flung his arms around Severus neck and sobbed his thanks on his shoulder.
Severus carded his fingers through Harry's messy hair before carrying him to
the bedroom. Harry was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow, exhausted
from his nightmares and crying.
God, what had the Dursleys done to him that he was so grateful for even a
little scrap of affection?
Severus was determined that one day he would find out.
Part 15
Harry sighed and put down the latest essay from the pile of third year
Hufflepuffs. Yet another one who had no idea what vampires actually were.
"Severus, we've got to get some different Defence textbooks, Lockhart's are
hopeless and the rest are really outdated. They aren't learning anything
useful."
In the past month and a half, Harry had really enjoyed being Severus' teaching
assistant. He didn't do much class work, as he had to go to his own NEWT
classes, but he helped with the lesson plans, marking and at the weekends
assisted Severus with the Duelling Club too. They were finding it more and more
difficult to find any time alone together that didn't involve work of some sort
and Harry was looking forward to the half-term break at Halloween, only two
weeks away now.
"I couldn't agree more, unfortunately, it's the governors who decide on the
curriculum. We can't ask the students to buy even more books now that terms
started; those were expensive enough as it is."
"I know. Maybe I could use some of my inheritance to get us some new ones? At
least for the fifth and seventh years, I can't believe any of us managed to
pass our OWLs with some of the books we had to study."
"Harry it's not up to you to ensure that Hogwarts is equipped with all the
latest textbooks. We'll manage, with your notes and Miss Granger's, the two of
you could probably write a textbook yourselves."
"Really? You think my notes are that good?" asked Harry. He'd never given much
thought to having his course notes published.
"I do, I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise." A bell rang a few floors above
them.
"Dinner," smiled Harry and began to disrobe.
***
Very flushed, but only a little late, they managed to make it to the Great Hall
just as the main course was being served. No one batted an eyelid at him and
Severus arriving together, they all knew that Harry was one of his teaching
assistants. Some nights Snape arrived in the Hall with Hermione and no one paid
any attention then either. Mind you, Harry didn't remember either of them being
flushed pink when Hermione spent the evening with his husband.
Harry's limbs were still a little shaky after his feeding session. He could
still taste the hot, metallic flavour of his husband's blood at the back of his
throat. His groin twitched and Harry bit back a moan of desire. In the back of
his mind, he could feel Severus' desire too as his husband prodded his food on
the top table.
"Harry, can you pass the vegetables please?" asked Hermione.
"What?" Harry was miles away, remembering Severus' mouth on his cock after he'd
finished feeding. God, he could almost feel that warm, wet mouth on him,
sucking him. He was hard again, his erection pressing against the zip of his
trousers.
"Vegetables?" prompted Hermione and Harry handed her the salt.
Ron snorted a few seats away. They still hadn't made up, but Harry was not
going to be the one to apologise this time. It was about time Ron grew up.
"He's Confunded you, both of you," said Ron, his gaze raking over both Harry
and Hermione. "Honestly, am I the only one to see him for what he is?"
"And what's that Ron?" demanded Hermione, her arms crossed over in front of
her. "A good teacher? A great spy?"
"Hmph," snapped Ron. "A spy, yes he was a spy for You-Know-Who, wasn't he? Long
before he was a spy for our side. He was a double agent, a traitor. He should
be in Azkaban, wondered what he did to bribe the Aurors?"
"He didn't bribe anyone," said Harry slowly.
"No? How do you know?"
"Because in case you'd forgotten, Ron, I was there. Snape never spied for
Voldemort. Voldemort wouldn't have..." Voldemort would never have ordered his
Death Eaters to rape and torture Snape if there had been any doubt that he was
a spy for the Light. Harry clambered over the bench, unwilling to argue any
more with Ron. They just went over and over the same old ground and he was
heartily sick of it. Nothing he said seemed to make much difference anyway.
Ron's mind wouldn't change no matter what Harry said.
He tugged his robe tighter against himself, trying to hide his erection, it
still hadn't diminished and he hoped to see Severus soon. Harry left the Great
Hall and a few moments later, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned, his
face flushing when he saw his husband's eyes glinting with hunger of a
different sort. Neither of them had eaten much dinner.
They didn't make it back to the dungeons, Severus pulled him into an empty
classroom on the ground floor, but he at least had the presence of mind to ward
the door and cast silencing charms on the room. Severus shoved Harry back
against the wood, pinning Harry's hands high above his head before proceeding
to kiss him breathless. The kiss was frantic, hungry and Harry moaned deep in
his throat as Severus pushed his tongue inside his mouth and licked Harry
everywhere he could reach.
Severus rocked against Harry's hips and Harry could feel an echoing hardness
against his own. "What did Ron say?" asked Snape as he pulled back a little
from Harry's mouth, breathing heavily, his face flushed apple red.
"It doesn't matter. I don't want to talk about him. I want to feel you - oh!"
Harry's words ended in a groan as Severus bent his head and began to suck at
the hollow of Harry's throat, just above his shirt collar and loosened tie.
"Please, Severus! Please!" pleaded Harry, his cock so hard and twitching that
he was sure he was going to explode in his trousers at any minute.
"Is this what you want, Harry?" whispered Severus as he let go of Harry's hands
and cupped Harry's cloth covered erection. Harry whimpered. "You want me to
touch you, to suck you? You want to feel my mouth wrapped around your length,
swallowing you whole? Is that what you want?"
"Yes, God, yes!" wailed Harry, arching against Severus' hands. Severus dropped
to his knees and began to unzip Harry's school trousers, before yanking them
down along with his underwear and they lay bunched up just above his ankles.
Severus' hands reached up to begin unbuttoning Harry's shirt. "No, please! Just
do it," Harry begged, banging his head back against the door. "I'm desperate."
Without another word, Severus wrapped his lips around Harry's prick, hollowing
his cheeks and sucking as if Harry was the most delicious sweet in the world.
God, Severus' mouth was so warm, so wet and Harry had to struggle not to thrust
too hard into that welcome heat, he remembered only too well how this act had
been forced upon Severus, but the man was moaning around Harry's cock, he was
enjoying this too. Harry glanced down and saw that Severus was rubbing himself
through his robes, his hand working at a frenzied pace.
The sight sent shockwaves through Harry's groin. All too soon Harry felt the
tell tale signs, the delicious ache low down in his stomach and balls, his cock
throbbing and getting even harder. He shrieked as Severus tore the orgasm from
him, spurt after spurt of his seed splashing the man's tongue and throat.
Severus let go of Harry's cock as it started to soften and pressed a hand
against his own groin, moaning ecstatically as he brought himself off almost at
once and Harry saw the spreading damp stain on the front of the man's robes.
Severus looked up at him. "Merlin, Harry. I felt you, in my head. I could feel
everything you felt. Sorry," he gestured to his groin. "I couldn't wait. I
haven't felt this out of control since I was a teenager." He flushed again.
Harry knelt down a little awkwardly; his clothes still around his ankles and
kissed Severus, long and hard. He knew he would have to go back to the dorm
soon, but he didn't want to. He wanted to stay with Severus all night.
Severus knew what he was thinking; he wrapped his arms around Harry and rocked
him as they continued to kiss for a while longer.
"I love you," said Harry once they came back up for air. Severus cast a
cleaning charm over both of them.
"I love you too, Harry," he whispered and Harry could have danced for joy. He'd
said it, Severus had finally said it. "You'd better get back."
"Don't want to," said Harry, stubbornly clinging to the man's waist. He wanted
to lie wrapped up in the man's arms and forget that there was a world outside
the two of them. "I want to stay with you."
"I know, Harry, but you know you can't keep disappearing from your dorm, people
will begin to suspect something."
Harry nodded, determined he wouldn't cry. It was for the best, they both knew
it, but it didn't make it any easier to bear to be parted from his bond-mate.
Harry stood up on shaky legs and put his clothes to rights again before heading
back to his dormitory. He didn't say goodnight, knowing that his voice would
break if he did.
***
Ron couldn't sleep. He punched his pillows a few times, feeling righteous anger
in his chest. It was so simple really, why hadn't he thought of it before?
Hermione was very smart, so was Snape. Hermione was spending a lot of time with
the professor now that she was his assistant. She spent more time now with
Snape than she did with Ron and he was meant to be her boyfriend! He couldn't
remember the last time they'd been alone together, although he remembered the
outcome really well. He'd wanted to have sex; she didn't, saying she had too
much work to do.
It wasn't a Confundus spell after all, it was something much worse.
Hermione was having an affair with Professor Snape and Ron was sure Dumbledore
would like to know about it.
 
Part 16
Severus paused at the door to the Defence classroom, feeling a headache coming
on. Seventh year Slytherin and Gryffindor. Why on earth did Albus insist on
those two Houses sharing classes? Granted, Draco Malfoy seemed to have calmed
down a little since Lucius had received the Kiss, but more often than not, he
still caught both Houses trying to outdo the other with hexes and curses being
thrown whenever his or Harry's back were turned. The seventh year class was the
only one where Harry actually assisted within the classroom. He knew more than
what was on the curriculum already, with all his secret training over the
years.
"Who did it?" Severus heard Harry's voice demand. "Who did it?" he asked again,
hissing his words.
Severus flung the door open; everyone in the room silenced themselves at once.
Harry's jade gaze looked at his husband in alarm, as if he'd been a rabbit
caught in a wand light. The whole room was silent, bating its breath. Severus'
eyes were drawn to the front of the room and the chalk caricatures drawn on the
blackboard.
The drawings were crudely rendered, but there was no mistaking what they were.
Himself, being pounded into by various robed and hooded figures. Across the
bottom of the pictures the words, Death Eater Whore were scrawled in yellow
chalk. Severus didn't know how he remained so calm. He walked to the blackboard
and lifted the eraser, before turning to face the class.
Every one of them looked guilty, even Harry, but Severus knew his husband's
hands had been nowhere near this artwork. "It seems we might have to send some
of you to a remedial English class," said Snape as he hefted the eraser for a
few moments. He replaced it and lifted up a piece of chalk. "A whore, or
prostitute is someone who accepts sexual favours for money. I see no money in
this picture." Severus quickly drew in a few round coins at the edge of the
drawing. "However, the artist lacks skill, edges are too rough and they have no
idea of human anatomy whatsoever. Some of these positions aren't remotely
possible. I'm afraid if I was marking this drawing, I would have to award a D
for Dreadful."
The class behind giggled at the artist's expense, not at Severus. He rubbed the
drawings away and turned to face Harry. "Mr. Potter, please hand out last
week's homework assignments. We will be discussing the poor effort of this
class in a moment. Yours and Miss Granger's essay were the only two to
accurately describe the effects of the Cruciatus Curse in combination with the
Imperius. It does not, Mr. Longbottom, render the recipient unable to feel the
pain being inflicted upon them."
Harry lifted the stack of parchments and began to hand them out. When he
reached Ron's desk, Severus heard Harry's former best friend mutter. "Arse
licker." Severus gaped at them, before realising that Weasley was in fact
talking to his seated companion, Hermione Granger and not to Harry at all. "I
know why you're getting good marks, Hermione," Ron hissed, loud enough for the
whole class to hear.
Harry moved on until everyone had received their essays back. Severus kept an
eye on Weasley for the rest of the lesson. He could almost smell trouble. What
did he think? That Hermione Granger was getting good grades because she was his
assistant or had his sordid little mind come up with another idea? That
something was going on between the two of them? It was only a small jump from
there to wonder about Harry too, especially since the boy knew Harry was gay.
Severus resolved to keep an eye on Mr. Weasley.
***
Harry woke up slowly, it was the day after Halloween and Severus had allowed
him to stay with him that evening after the feast as long as he could get back
to the dorms before six. It was so good to wake up in his arms. They'd fallen
asleep face to face; Harry's legs entwined with his husband's, their arms
draped across each other's waist.
Severus looked so much younger when he was asleep, the worry lines on his face
eased, all the cares washed away as he slept. Inky eyelashes dusted his cheeks
and Harry wondered if he kissed the man's closed lid would he wake up? Harry
glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was nearing a quarter to six and
he really had to go soon, no matter how much he wanted to stay.
Harry leant over and gave Severus a kiss on each eyelid, then his nose and
finally a soft peck on his lips. Severus mumbled something, but he didn't wake
up. Harry gently disentangled himself from his husband's embrace and got
dressed as quickly as he could. He found a spare bit of parchment on Severus'
desk and quickly drew three hearts and three kisses on it before leaving it on
the pillow, signing All my love, H at the bottom. Severus would see it when he
woke up.
Harry smiled as he donned his invisibility cloak and made his way back to the
dorms. He was still reminiscing about their night together as he made his way
up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Even when he wasn't feeding, his cravings
had settled down to about three times a week, they still enjoyed the kissing
and the touching. Severus was really good at blow-jobs, but Harry had yet to
try. Severus just seemed so big that it seemed a bit daunting, but he would try
it one day. He wanted to make Severus feel as good as Severus made him.
Harry's grin faded when he entered the dorm and discovered Ron's bed was empty.
Oh, shit! Had Ron followed him? Had he seen where he'd gone?
Severus! Harry called urgently in his mind, willing the man to wake up. This
didn't bode well.
***
Severus didn't know whether it was Harry's frantic voice in his head or the
pounding of his outer door which woke him up. But next thing he knew, he heard
Minerva McGonagall's voice screeching outside.
"Severus Snape! Open this door at once!"
What the - ? Severus scrambled out of bed, pulling on some underwear and a
dressing gown; he always slept naked when Harry was here. Thank goodness Harry
was nowhere in evidence. He must have gone back to Gryffindor Tower already.
Severus opened the door and was confronted with the Head of Gryffindor House
along with one of her charges.
Weasley. He might have known.
"Where is she, Severus?" demanded Minerva without preamble.
"Where is who, Minerva? Do you know what time it is?"
"Hermione Granger! She isn't in her dorm and Mr. Weasley thinks he knows where
she is."
"Oh, do enlighten me," snapped Snape. "How would I know where she is?"
"In your quarters, sir," said Weasley, but it wasn't as a term of respect. Oh,
this was too laughable for words.
"You think Hermione Granger is in my quarters?" Severus opened the door wide.
"You are quite welcome to check if you wish, Minerva. This is ridiculous."
As McGonagall made to enter his chambers, Weasley made to follow her. "I did
not invite you, Mr. Weasley. You have no business here."
"No business here?" spluttered Ron. "I have so if you're having an affair with
my girlfriend!"
"Mr. Weasley," said Minerva calmly from inside Severus' living room. "What have
I said to you about unfounded accusations?"
Ron just glared, but he was dealing with a master here and he soon quailed
under the scrutiny of Severus. Severus closed the door and watched as Minerva
took in his modest furniture and the open bedroom door. "May I?" she queried.
"You may," said Severus, confident in the knowledge that Hermione Granger was
lurking nowhere in his rooms. She'd probably fallen asleep in the library over
a book or something. He felt the relief again that Harry had already left.
Minerva emerged with a piece of parchment clutched in her fist, tight-lipped,
her face flushed purple.
"Well," she said.
"Well what?"
"I'm afraid I have no choice but to refer this matter to the headmaster,
Severus. I must say I am very surprised at you, very surprised indeed. I
thought you had more ethics than this. An affair with one of your students,
Severus? And I really thought I knew you. Miss Granger's parents will have to
be informed of course. The governors might be lenient considering how good a
student she is and may let her continue her education up until her NEWTs."
"Minerva, how many times do I have to tell you? I am not, nor have I ever been
having an affair with Miss Granger! Good God woman, how can you be so dense?"
"What's this then?" Minerva waved the parchment in front of his face. Red
hearts and kisses, signed H. Harry must have left it before he went. But he
couldn't very well say that, could he? "You have a lot of people leaving love
notes on your pillow, do you?"
Minerva fire-called the headmaster, using his own Floo powder and a few moments
later, Dumbledore stepped into Severus' quarters and looked from one to the
other. "Mr. Weasley has made an allegation of misconduct against Severus," she
began even before the greetings were over with.
"Misconduct? And where is Mr. Weasley?"
"Outside, shall I bring him in?" McGonagall was almost hopping in her
excitement.
"Of course," said Dumbledore as he stared at Severus. Severus quickly Occluded
his mind, but he had a feeling things were just about to get worse.
Weasley's face was red as he came in and it was clear that he thought he had
one over on Severus now that the headmaster was here.
"Mr. Weasley, what is this about?"
"Ask him!" said Ron sullenly.
"Severus?"
"Headmaster, the boy is under the impression that I am having an illicit affair
with Hermione Granger."
Albus chuckled. "Ron, dear boy, I think you are very much mistaken."
"In case you were not aware, Mr. Weasley, I do not seek out the company of
women. Never have and never will."
"But Albus, there was a note," said Minerva showing it to him.
"And I have proof," said Ron, rummaging about in his robe pocket. He placed a
small cube on the coffee table in front of Severus' fireplace.
Severus thought he might be sick. He knew what that cube was.
 
Part 17
"Where did you get that device, Mr. Weasley?" said McGonagall severely. "Their
use is strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic and they are banned
altogether from Hogwarts."
Ron's face flushed so red that it almost rivalled his hair for colour, but he
didn't reply, no doubt trying to protect the fool who'd given him the device in
the first place. The cube itself resembled metal, a cobalt blue in colour, and
each face was six inches in diameter. Severus had seen one before, when he'd
been a previous guest at the Ministry himself.
It was a calumnia pensieve similar in intent to an ordinary pensieve, but
whereas a pensieve recorded a person's thoughts and emotions, the calumnia
recorded their actions, it was all very objective. It could penetrate any
material, cloth, wood, metal or stone. Once it was encoded with the subject's
magical signature, the device would record everything that person did no matter
where it was or how far away from the device the subject was. It recorded until
the person who cast the spell had stopped it. Severus would never have believed
that Ron Weasley knew what a calumnia was, never mind knew the spells to make
it work.
"I'm waiting, Mr. Weasley," said McGonagall impatiently.
"I - I got it through mail order. From a magazine," he admitted.
"What magazine? Was this magazine also on the banned items list?"
"Yes, ma'am," sighed Ron, not looking any of them in the eye. "Play Wizard."
"Play Wizard? Well, you aren't the first boy who has sneaked that filth into
the school, Weasley, but I am very disappointed in you, very disappointed
indeed."
"What did you do with the cube?" asked Dumbledore calmly, but his eyes had lost
their twinkle and he looked rather disappointed in the boy too.
"I - I set it to follow Hermione, to record what she did."
"You set this thing to spy on one of your fellow students?" exclaimed
McGonagall, appalled. She turned to the headmaster. "Albus, we cannot in good
conscience allow ourselves to watch what has been recorded, not without Miss
Granger's permission or her presence."
"No!" yelled Ron. "Then she'll know I've been spying on her!"
"You should have thought of that before you spied on her," snarled Severus.
"I have to agree with Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape on this one, Mr.
Weasley. You should not have been spying on Miss Granger in the first place.
Minerva, please bring Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger to my office after breakfast
while we sort this out. You too, Severus."
"Of course, headmaster," he replied as he ushered them all out of his chambers.
Severus closed his eyes and sought out the presence of his husband in his mind.
Harry?
Severus? Are you okay? What happened? Ron wasn't here and I think he knows,
Severus! He knows! Oh, God, what are we going to do?
Hush, Harry. It's all right. Mr. Weasley was indeed at my quarters this
morning, along with Dumbledore and McGonagall. It seems he's got it into his
head that I am having an affair with Hermione Granger. He set a calumnia on
her.
He was spying on her? His own girlfriend?
So it appears. I have a meeting after breakfast along with both of them.
Hermione won't be able to forgive him this, she really values her privacy.
As do we all, Harry.
What do we do, Severus?
We just carry on as normal. You still need to feed, but we just have to be more
careful in future.
Okay, Severus. Good luck, I love you.
Harry's mind left his and Severus felt strangely bereft. He took a quick
shower, donned his clothes and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast, even
though he wasn't remotely hungry. Trying not to let his gaze linger overlong at
the Gryffindor table, he mutilated his toast rather than buttering it so there
was nothing but crumbs left on his plate. Harry wasn't eating much either, but
then he never did. Hermione was sitting next to him and her appetite seemed
perfectly normal. Obviously she didn't know what the meeting was about yet. She
soon would.
***
"You spied on me?" the girl was shaking with rage as Dumbledore turned the
recording off when it was clear that it was about to show her having a bath.
"How could you?!!!" she shrieked. "How could you?!!!"
"Hermione..."
"Don't you Hermione me, Ronald Weasley! I'm ashamed of you!"
"And you're not ashamed? Sleeping with him?" Ron jabbed a finger in Severus'
direction.
"What? What planet are you on, Ron? I have never been with Professor Snape like
that! I would never do that with a teacher! And your spying should have told
you that already!"
It was true, there was nothing on the recording to indicate that Hermione
Granger did anything more than mark essays or write lesson plans when she was
with Severus of an evening.
"So where you last night then, eh?" demanded Ron. "You weren't in your dorm."
"For your information, Ronald Weasley, not that it's any of your business, I
was in the infirmary!"
"What? Are you okay, Hermione?"
"Fat lot you care!" Hermione turned to her Head of House. "Professor
McGonagall, may I go? I don't want to be late for Ancient Runes."
"Yes, thank you, Miss Granger. We'll have no more need of you today."
"Thank you. Good morning, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor
Snape."
"Hermione..." but she ignored the red-head and left the office, Severus was
quite impressed at her restraint.
"May I go, Professor?" Ron asked hesitantly.
"No, you may not, Mr. Weasley! Sit down!" barked Minerva. "I cannot believe
that someone from my own House has done something so shameful! Not only have
you violated that girl's privacy, you have cast aspersions both on her
character and one of the teachers of this school. Do you know how much trouble
you could get into for making unfounded allegations? Make no doubt about it,
Mr. Weasley, if this had not been your NEWT year I would have no qualms
expelling you!"
"Expelled?" the boy turned so pale his freckles disappeared.
"As it is, you are suspended from all extracurricular activates until further
notice. No Quidditch, playing or spectating, no Hogsmeade visits. Your
privileges as a prefect are also revoked, your badge please, Mr. Weasley,"
Minerva held out her hand. Ron unpinned his prefect badge and placed it in her
upturned palm. "You will also receive two months detention with Mr. Filch,
maybe that will help keep you out of trouble! I'm afraid I have no option but
to remove a hundred points from Gryffindor and you Mr. Weasley will explain to
your classmates why they have suddenly lost them, are we clear?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Very well, get to class," she snapped, unable to look at him any longer. Ron
quickly departed without even saying goodbye to any of them.
"Oh, I'm sorry, headmaster; did you want to add anything to the punishments?"
"No, Minerva, you seem to have it well in hand."
"You were far too lenient on the boy," said Severus. "I would have expelled
him."
"I will of course be writing to his mother," said Minerva with a small smile.
Severus returned it. Oh, not that lenient after all.
***
The Gryffindors had sent Ron to Coventry; no one was speaking to him after they
discovered what he had done to Hermione, not to mention the loss of points. All
the girls glared at him every time he walked past and they huddled round
Hermione as though to protect her from Ron. The boys just ignored him
completely.
Ron received not one, not two, but six Howlers. One from his parents, Bill,
Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, who didn't mince words about how awful he'd
been to Hermione. Even Ginny was finding excuses to distance herself as much as
possible from him.
Ron was hidden behind his bed curtains at night when Harry went to bed and he
was always first up in the mornings so that he avoided the other seventh years.
Unfortunately, it meant that Harry was finding it more and more difficult to
sneak off, even with his invisibility cloak. It had been four days since the
meeting and he needed to feed. His fangs had almost appeared during a Care of
Magical Creatures lesson and Harry was desperate. He'd forgotten to use the
darkening charm on his glasses and by the end of the lesson his eyes were red
rimmed and streaming. He needed to see Severus and soon.
He deliberately caused an explosion in Potions, the last class of the day and
almost sighed in relief when Severus glared at him.
"Stay behind, Potter. You will not leave this room until your mess is cleaned
up, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," he said, trying not to smile.
At long last the bell rang and the classroom emptied. Severus warded and locked
the door, then Harry was yanked roughly from his seat, his torso crushed
against Snape's as the man kissed him, hard, his tongue shoved so far in
Harry's mouth it was almost in his throat. Harry groaned and clung to the man's
neck. "Se - Severus - " he panted as their lips parted. "I have to feed."
"I know, I could sense it through the bond, here or in our rooms?"
"Here, everyone knows I have detention with you."
Severus sat down on one of the chairs and pulled Harry onto his lap. Harry
straddled him and groaned again as their erections came into contact.
Severus nodded and began to undo the collar of his shirt, but Harry batted his
hands away, he wanted to do it, to undress him, to tease him. He could hear
Severus breathing rapidly as Harry finished undoing his shirt. He pushed the
material away from his husband's neck, not bothering to remove it before
allowing his fangs to emerge. Harry bent down and bit softly, his teeth going
through the pale skin like a hot knife through butter. Severus moaned and
wrapped his arms around Harry's waist, keeping him in place. He needn't have
worried; Harry had no intention of going anywhere else.
The, hot sweet taste had him aching and even harder in moments. He rocked
against Severus, feeling the blood warm in his mouth, in the back of his
throat, the throbbing of Severus' heart against his chest. Once he'd finished
feeding, Harry licked the wounds clean and then Severus was tugging his face
down toward his, kissing and tasting himself on Harry's tongue. It didn't take
long for either of them to come after that, trousers sticky and damp.
"Um, sorry," said Harry, glancing down at their stained groins. He always
forgot how intense it was when he fed, that if they didn't undress beforehand,
they would not feel like doing it in the middle of his feeding, the bond
working its magic on both of them until they were sated.
"That's okay, feeling better now?" Severus asked, kissing Harry's forehead,
although he was still breathing a bit heavily.
"Much, thanks." Harry cast a wandless cleaning charm over both of them, it
would have been nice maybe to take a shower or bath together but he knew they
didn't really have time for that. "I'd better get to dinner before I'm missed,"
he said, for Harry was sure that Ron still suspected Severus was up to
something.
Severus stood up; Harry still clasped in his arms and set him on the floor.
"I'll see you later?" Harry asked hopefully.
"We'd better not, Harry. Not for another few days at least."
"Oh," he swallowed his disappointment, but he knew it was for the best. He
reached up on tiptoes and gave Severus a soft kiss before leaving.
He could hardly wait for the day he graduated and the knowledge that they would
never have to spend another night apart.
 
Part 18
As time wore on, Harry started to notice that his senses were becoming a lot
sharper. He could see as well in the dark as he could in daylight, his hearing
was now so acute that he could hear what was being said far away from him. It
was like being tuned into lots of different radio stations at once and he had
no idea how to switch them off.
His sense of smell had expanded way beyond the human range now. He could tell
which people were already having sex, which couples hadn't but wanted to and
who fancied who just by their scent. He could smell their desire. Neville had a
crush on Lavender Brown, but she in turn fancied Dean Thomas and Harry's nose
was proved right when Lavender and Dean announced their first 'official' date
one Hogsmeade weekend.
His new sense of smell made Harry hyper aware of all the girls in the castle
and when they had their periods. He tried to avoid them as much as possible
during it, the smell of blood was playing havoc with his fangs and he had to
consciously keep them retracted by sheer force of will. He knew all the seventh
year Gryffindor girls' cycles after a while, which was rather disconcerting to
say the least. Parvati was as regular as the moon, every twenty eight days;
Lavender's varied from between thirty three to thirty five days. Hermione's was
thirty days exactly, but ever since the day she discovered that Ron had been
spying on her, she hadn't had one.
Harry didn't want to come right out and ask her if she was pregnant, but he
suspected that might be the case. He watched her and noticed she was paler than
normal these days except for the dark circles under her eyes. Hermione always
seemed to be coming down later and later for breakfast, was she suffering from
morning sickness?
Potions was the last class before the Christmas break and they were brewing a
Calming Draught today, one of the main ingredients was aniseed and the scent
was rather pungent. The class began with Severus taking twenty points from
Slytherin because Malfoy hadn't turned up. Hermione turned a rather sickly
shade of grey as she raised her hand and asked to be excused. Severus must have
thought she looked awful too, for he let her go, normally he would not allow
anyone to leave class until the bell rung.
Harry could hear Hermione's footsteps as she ran along the corridor outside the
classroom, probably hurrying to get to a bathroom, then her footsteps slid to a
halt.
"Well, well, if it isn't the little Mudblood," Harry heard Malfoy drawl.
"Where's your pet Weasel, these days, Granger?"
"Stop calling him that!"
"Oh, so the two lovebirds have made up, have they?"
"None of your business," said Hermione. "Get out of my way, Malfoy."
Harry could almost feel Hermione's distress just from her voice.
"Going somewhere, are you? Well, don't let me stop you."
Hermione's footsteps came again, a slightly different pattern and Harry
realised she was walking upstairs. He turned back to his Potions, when he heard
a thud and a loud scream from Hermione.
"Hermione!" yelled Harry, knocking over his stool in his haste to get up and
yank the classroom door open.
"Mr. Potter!" Snape called after him and Harry had no choice but to answer in
his mind.
It's Hermione, Severus. She's hurt!
He found Hermione lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the steps leading
to the ground floor; Malfoy was standing half-way up, his arms folded and a
smirk on his face. "Oh, look, Potter, your little Mudblood tripped and fell."
"You pushed me!" said Hermione as she struggled to right herself.
"Stay still, Hermione, you might have broken something," said Harry.
"Mr. Malfoy, please go and wait for me in the headmaster's office," said
Severus as he rounded the corner and took in the tableau the three of them
made. Malfoy grumbled under his breath, but he walked away, whether or not he
would really go to Dumbledore's office, Harry didn't know. Severus shot
something slivery out of his wand, before bending down and scanning Hermione
with it. Harry had forgotten that Severus had mediwizardry training in order to
become a Potions Master.
"No broken bones, Miss Granger, but you have sprained your wrist," said
Severus, though he made no move to heal the sprain.
"Sir - sir," she whispered desperately, glancing at Harry.
Harry moved away around the corner, but he could still hear what was being said
anyway.
"Sir, the baby? Is it all right?"
"Did you know you were pregnant, Miss Granger?"
"Yes, sir."
"You should have let me know, some of the Potions ingredients can affect you or
the baby. It does not seem any the worse for your fall, but you should let
Madam Pomfrey check you over just in case."
"Yes, sir," said Hermione just as Harry heard the matron's footsteps going down
the stairs. Severus turned the corner a few moments later and ran into Harry.
"Did you see what happened, Harry? Did she fall?"
"She said Malfoy pushed her down the stairs."
"Did you see him do it?"
"No, Hermione was already on the ground when I got there."
"And where was Malfoy?"
"Halfway up the steps."
"So it is a possibility that he pushed her? Why?"
"I don't know, sir," replied Harry, conscious of the fact that anyone could
come along at any moment and would wonder why he might be calling his teacher
Severus.
"Did you know she was pregnant? Had she confided in you?"
"No, but I suspected it. Um - I can tell when girls are having their period and
I know she hasn't had one for a while."
"Hmm, that's not something you should advertise around the school, Harry. Can
you look after the class? I have to see the headmaster about Draco. If he did
push her, there may be no choice; he's going to be expelled."
"Make sure to take some Veritaserum," said Harry.
"I had no intention of going without," replied Severus.
***
The rumours were flying round the school less than an hour later, most of them
completely false of course. Hermione had miscarried Draco's baby, then it was
Snape's, then Professor Flitwick's and Draco had been expelled because he'd
pushed her down the stairs. The last was in fact true, Draco had admitted it
under Veritaserum to Severus and the headmaster as he told Harry later that
evening. Hermione hadn't miscarried, but she was pregnant and all the
Gryffindors knew in fact that the baby was Ron's.
He hadn't known about it, Hermione hadn't told him, but the shock seemed to
have knocked some sense into him and he spent the rest of the day by Hermione's
side in the infirmary before the carriages were due to take those students
going home for the holidays. Ron was still there when Harry went to visit her.
"God, I'm sorry, Hermione, I've been such an idiot," Ron said to her, neither
of them had seen Harry enter the ward yet. "Can you forgive me?"
"Ron, I'm going to have your baby, I think that might be able to be arranged,
don't you?" Hermione smiled down at him and patted his head. "Harry!" she
exclaimed when she saw him.
Ron looked up at Harry, got up from Hermione's bedside and wrapped Harry up in
a firm hug. "Merlin, Harry! I've been a prat, can we be friends again?"
Harry had been so worried when he'd seen Hermione lying by those stairs, afraid
that she had indeed miscarried and he guessed long ago that the baby had been
Ron's, who else? He couldn't imagine how terrible such a loss like that might
feel and he realised that life was far too short to bear grudges, who knew what
was around the next corner? They may never get a second chance.
"Of course, Ron, but lay off on the Snape bashing, okay?"
"Done!" said Ron, smiling.
"Are you staying at Hogwarts over Christmas, Hermione?" asked Harry.
"No, Ron's parents have invited me to the Burrow; we thought it would be better
if we told them together about the baby."
"Mum's going to kill me," said Ron. "She'll probably make us get married."
"And is there a problem with that, Ronald Weasley?"
"No, no, of course not!" he said quickly and Harry left them to it, smiling to
himself. Ron and Hermione were back to normal
There were no other seventh years staying over the break, so he and Severus
would be able to spend some time together and Harry now knew what gift he
wanted to give his husband.
Life was too short to waste.
 
Part 19
Harry arranged the last garland of tinsel around the seven foot evergreen tree
he'd conjured and stood back to admire his handiwork. He'd never seen a
Christmas tree properly until he'd come to Hogwarts, only a brief glimpse of
Aunt Petunia's ugly plastic affair, covered in even uglier baubles. He'd always
wanted to have a normal family Christmas, even knowing when he was young that
being locked in a cupboard by his relatives was not normal.
Harry swallowed his distress, he'd promised himself that he wouldn't think of
them, not now when he was about to get his wish of a wonderful Christmas with
his husband, with Severus, his family. "Harry, it's beautiful," breathed
Severus from behind him. "Did you do all this?" For not only had Harry
decorated the large tree in the corner; the baubles were all blown glass,
etched with silver and gold winter scenes, but there wasn't an inch of the
dungeon living room that wasn't draped in greenery; holly, mistletoe and
poinsettias covered the walls and a garland of thick silver tinsel lay across
the mantelpiece.
Small multicoloured lights dotted everywhere illuminated the room along with
the fire; they wouldn't need torches or lanterns tonight. Harry removed the
green and silver wrapped present from beneath the tree and handed it to
Severus. It was the only one accented with silver; all the others were mostly
red and green or white. Severus stared at the present in his hand, as though
not quite sure what to do with it. "Open it, then," urged Harry, his heart
fluttering as if a snitch had got lodged in his chest cavity.
Severus unwrapped the gift and stared at the bottle green jar in his hand.
"Harry, what is this?"
"What does it look like? It's a gift from me to you."
"Christmas is tomorrow, Harry."
"I know, but tonight I want to give you this."
Severus stared at the jar of lubricant for such a long time that Harry thought
he'd made a terrible mistake. Maybe he was ready, but perhaps Severus wasn't
and Harry had just made things worse by assuming.
"I'm sorry," said Harry, reaching out as if to take the jar back, but Severus
held it out of his reach. "We don't have to. I just thought..."
"I haven't said no, Harry," said Severus, his fist closing on the jar. "Are you
sure you want to do this? Are you really ready for this? For I don't want you
thinking that we have to do certain things."
"I'm ready, Severus. I've been thinking about this for a while now. I - I don't
want my memories of this act to be tainted by what they did to me any longer. I
want some new memories, Severus. Memories of me and you. I want you to make
love to me."
"We do make love, Harry."
"I know, Severus and everything we do is wonderful. I - I would like more, but
only if you want it too."
Severus' answer wasn't verbal. He stood behind Harry, wrapping his arms around
him and began kissing all along Harry's neck. Harry moaned, his knees
threatening to give way beneath him. His hands grasped at air, even as he tried
to breathe some in. "I've been waiting, Harry," Severus said softly, close to
his ear, before licking the shell and Harry was almost writhing in the man's
arms. "I've been waiting for you to come to me when you were ready."
Harry shivered with desire at the thought that his husband wanted this too.
"Bed?" suggested Severus in a breathy whisper; Harry could feel the man's
erection pressing into the small of his back.
"Can we - can we stay here?" asked Harry, angling his head round so that he was
staring into the dark depths of his husband's eyes. How could Harry explain why
he wanted to stay out here, with the fire, the lights, the tree? But Severus
seemed to know already as his eyes took in all of Harry's decorations. "Of
course," he peppered kisses along Harry's upturned jaw. "With a few additions,"
Severus waved his hand and a few moments later a pile of velvet cushions
appeared in front of the fire along with an ebony sheepskin rug.
Another wave and Severus had conjured up plates of food for them, all small and
light, things they could feed to each other. A bubbling pot of chocolate sauce
had strawberries, marshmallows and grapes on skewers, ready to be dipped. There
were small bite sized sandwiches, slices of apple and melon, oranges already
peeled and divided into segments.
"I think we're a tad over dressed, don't you?" said Severus. "After all, we
don't want to get chocolate sauce all over our clothes, now do we?"
"No," agreed Harry, smiling up at him. He stood on one foot, trying to undo the
laces on his trainers, but his whole body was shaking so much that it was an
impossible task. His cock was straining against the zip of his trousers and he
groaned in frustration, much to Severus' delight, if his small chuckle was
anything to go by.
"Calm down, Harry, there's no rush. We have all night," Severus smiled against
his hair. Harry turned in his arms, standing on tip toe so that he could bestow
a hungry kiss on Severus' mouth. Severus grabbed Harry by the waist and pulled
him tight against his body as they devoured each other, strawberries and
chocolate sauce forgotten for the moment.
There was a moan, but it was impossible to tell which one of them made it.
Harry thrust his tongue into Severus' mouth, feeling as if he was flying when
they connected. He was rocking against Severus now, his cock throbbing and
eager for any friction it could get. His thighs were quivering, both from the
desire coursing through his veins and from standing on tip toe for so long.
Breathing was secondary to having Severus' mouth on his, Harry wrapped his arms
around Severus' neck and carded his fingers through his husband's hair.
Still not breaking their kiss, Severus hoisted Harry up; Harry's legs wrapped
around his waist and carried him over to the cushions and the fluffy rug. As he
lowered him down, Harry realised that somewhere in the meantime, Severus had
cast a silent spell and they were both naked. Severus broke the kiss and sat
up. Harry whimpered at the loss of all that hard flesh leaving his body, but
Severus soon returned, this time armed with a chocolate covered strawberry in
his fingers, the sauce dripping down his arm.
He lowered the fruit to Harry's mouth, he opened eagerly, taking the strawberry
and licking Severus' fingers free of the sauce, gratified to hear the hoarse
moan from the man above him. Harry bit into the strawberry, the fruit exploding
in a burst of flavour on his tongue; he quickly pulled Severus down on top of
him, pushing the fruit into his husband's mouth, sharing the taste with him.
They pushed the strawberry back and forth with their tongues, like some weird
game of tongue football before there was no more left, but they continued
kissing and stroking, savouring the taste of each other.
Severus' hands skimmed down Harry's sides, he was normally so ticklish there,
but not tonight. Tonight he was too aroused to be ticklish and he arched up
against the man above him, feeling his cock leave a damp trail along Severus'
stomach. "Severus! Please!" gasped Harry once he'd finally moved his mouth away
from their kiss. Severus glanced down at him, his eyes hungry and then he
kissed his way down Harry's chest, stopping to play with his nipples, making
them stand up in little peaks as his mouth continued its journey south.
A tongue darting in and out of his belly button, a frantic hint of what might
be happening later and Harry howled, not sure whether he was feeling agony or
ecstasy. Severus gave him a wicked grin before bypassing his cock altogether
and pressing soft kisses along Harry's inner thighs. Harry's legs widened
almost of their own accord as he succumbed to his husband's talented mouth. The
kisses got closer and closer to his buttocks and Harry held his breath, feeling
a strange sensation low down in his belly and even lower, he was twitching,
yearning, wanting something to be touched there and a few moments later, his
husband obliged, but not with his fingers. Thank God he'd already had a very
thorough bath.
Severus pushed Harry's legs back towards his chest, exposing Harry to his
hungry gaze, holding Harry underneath by his knees. When that tongue licked all
along the crease of his arse, Harry howled, he'd never felt anything like it.
The man seemed to be everywhere at once. The tongue teased softly around his
entrance long before Severus made any move to penetrate him. Harry was bucking
on the rug, clutching it so tightly in his fists that he yanked out a few ebony
strands.
"Oh God! Severus!" he moaned and the man finally took pity on him, darting his
tongue, that wonderful, wonderful tongue inside him as far as it would go.
Harry thought he surely must have died, for nothing on earth could feel this
good. Then the tongue moved and Harry screamed in bliss.
Severus licked and nibbled, nibbled and licked until Harry was nothing but a
bundle of nerves feeling every movement of the man's tongue, every breath on
him. His prick was so hard and he wondered would it be really bad etiquette if
he touched it, just to try and ease the tension a little.
He didn't get the chance, someone knocked loudly on the door and Harry exploded
all over his chest and stomach without even touching himself. "Oh fuck!" he
shrieked as he spilled himself in ecstatic pulses, his whole body shuddering
with release.
Severus gave him a final lick and kiss, then he looked from Harry to the door.
"I'll hide," said Harry, before Severus could suggest it. It felt easier than
having Severus say it to him. Harry ducked into the bedroom, his legs still
shaking, casting a cleaning charm on himself as he went and hid beneath his
invisibility cloak. At least Severus was on the ball, a couple of spells and he
had removed Harry's clothes along with the cushions, rug and food from the
floor and he himself was fully dressed before he opened his chamber door.
"Ah, Severus, you are here," said McGonagall. "The staff were wondering if
you'd like to join us for a light supper in the staff room."
"No, thank you, Minerva. I've already eaten." Harry had to stifle a giggle as
he remembered the little bites his husband had given him.
"Well, you know you're always welcome if you change your mind."
"Goodnight, Minerva," said Severus, closing the door slightly so that she had
no choice but to retreat.
"Goodnight, Severus," she said as the door was closed with a loud thud. Severus
locked it, warded it, cast one of the strongest silencing charms on it Harry
had ever seen. Severus turned, his eyes going unerringly to Harry hovering by
the door of the bedroom, still hidden by the cloak.
"Now, where were we?"
 
Part 20
Severus wasn't sure how they managed to get from the bedroom door back to the
cushions by the fire, but that's where they were now and he was enjoying
himself just staring at Harry laid out so temptingly before him. The boy was a
lot more tempting than any of the food he'd conjured earlier. His erection was
back with a vengeance, after wilting somewhat when Minerva had been at the
door.
Harry was covered in a light sheen of sweat, his skin sparkled as the lights
caught on the moisture covering his body and Severus wanted to lick it all off,
slowly and sweetly until he had Harry writhing and begging beneath him. He
didn't have to wait for that, Harry was thrusting his hips into thin air, his
cock angry and swollen as he moaned. "Severus! Please! Oh, please! Touch me!"
begged Harry, his eyes glazed with lust as he stared at his husband.
"You want that, Harry? You want me to touch you? You want my hands on you,
touching you everywhere? My mouth on your cock, sucking you, swallowing you? My
fingers inside you, spreading you wide, getting you ready, so ready that you'll
hardly know your own name when I shove my cock inside your arse? Is that what
you want, Harry? Is it?" Severus was surprised his own words were so coherent;
his cock was hard and aching with want. He wanted to be buried inside that
tight heat, wanted Harry to come while he was inside him.
Severus knelt over Harry, straddling the boy's hips, which jerked against him,
and kissed his neck. Harry's whimpered "yes" was all the permission Severus
needed. He took Harry into his mouth, relishing the taste of precome already
leaking from the tip, the hard length as he pressed his tongue against it.
Harry's soft breathy moans and little mewling sounds were causing havoc with
his own arousal and he yanked hard on his sac, staving off his orgasm for now.
Once he guessed Harry was more relaxed, he dipped his fingers in the lubricant
and smeared it around Harry's puckered hole, still sucking Harry's cock. He
pressed his index finger forward, he was met with a little resistance, he
sucked harder on Harry's prick and felt the muscles give and his finger was
sucked inside Harry's body. God, Harry was so tight, muscles clamping round the
invader as Harry rocked backwards and forwards on it. "Severus!" wailed Harry
as his hips thrust frantically. Severus knew he was close, he added two more
fingers stretching Harry as much as he could, there was no reason it should be
painful if they were careful. Severus angled his fingers, searching for the
little nub, ah, there, he pushed against it. Harry screamed and came in creamy
spurts down Severus' throat. Severus could feel Harry's anal muscles clenching
around his fingers and he groaned as he imagined how they would feel clasped
around his cock.
He swallowed every drop of Harry's nectar, like a man dying of thirst draining
a water bottle until Harry's cock softened in his mouth and he released it with
a small pop.
"Severus! Oh God, Severus! In me, please!"
Severus glanced up at the flushed and eager face of his husband, his lover, and
felt his heart clench uncomfortably in his chest. Harry wanted this, Harry
enjoyed this and Severus knew from this moment that he would never be able to
deny him anything. Harry's chest was heaving with unsteady breaths and he
tangled his fingers in Severus hair, his hips still rocking on Severus'
fingers. Severus slid up the rug until he was level with Harry's mouth and
kissed him frantically, sharing a little of Harry's taste with him, his
erection digging into Harry's hip. It would be so easy just to come like this,
kissing Harry, rutting against him, but Severus wanted what Harry was offering.
He gave Harry a deep kiss as he removed his fingers. Harry whined in protest
when Severus removed his mouth, but he needed his concentration to enter him
and kissing Harry did not do wonders for concentration. It was so easy to get
lost in the swell of his lips, the taste of his tongue.
Severus moved one of the cushions and pushed it underneath Harry's hips,
changing the angle slightly. Harry had his knees bent, his thighs wide as he
waited, a few moans emerging as he saw Severus staring at him, so exposed, so
wanton. After coating his cock in a liberal amount of the oil, Severus lined
his body up with Harry's, holding his cock with his hand and aiming it
correctly as he pressed forward. He felt Harry tense as Severus' cock first
breached him; Severus trailed a finger around the entrance, teasing him and
helping Harry to relax more. Harry bit his lip as Severus slowly pushed his way
in until he was fully seated, his balls right up against Harry's arse.
"Okay, Harry?" asked Severus, breathing heavily as he struggled to absorb the
fact that he was ensconced in the body of his husband. The boy nodded. Harry
was so tight, that he was afraid to move, afraid both of hurting Harry and
finishing before they'd even begun. He could feel sweat trickling down his
back, his forehead. Harry's hand reached up to wipe the perspiration away from
his brow, then he licked it from his fingers. Severus groaned and lowered his
head to Harry's shoulder. Harry began kissing his neck and he could feel
Harry's renewed erection against his stomach. Severus began to rock softly,
thrusting in and out at a fairly steady pace. Harry's breath was hot against
his neck and ear.
"Bite me," Severus whispered, the thought sending shockwaves straight to his
groin.
"What?"
"Bite me. Feed from me while I'm inside you. Please," he begged, struggling to
keep himself composed.
Harry growled low in his throat and Severus knew from the bond that Harry
wanted that too. He felt the sharp nip of Harry's fangs as they slid into his
neck and then Harry's mouth was clamped to the junction of neck and shoulder
and he sucked. Hard. The blood loss and the lust was making him dizzy, Severus'
hips plunged in and out of Harry faster and faster in a ragged rhythm of need
as he felt the orgasm draw nearer and nearer. Harry was moaning as he was
suckling Severus' blood from him, Severus could feel Harry's cock pulsing
against his body as they both strived for the peak. The familiar ache low down
in his belly and balls, Harry's muscles spasming around him as Harry shot his
release over their chests and stomach and it was all Severus needed. Suddenly
he was there, spilling himself deep inside Harry in ecstatic pulses as he came
and came and came, his blood gushing out at the same time as his seed and he
didn't want either of them to stop.
"Harry! Harry!" he screamed as he felt himself torn inside out with pleasure so
severe it felt like pain. Harry's fangs were carefully removed from his
shoulder and a few moments later, he felt the soothing motion of Harry's tongue
healing the wounds with his saliva. Severus rolled off his husband before
collapsing in a heap on the scattered cushions, they'd been so rough in their
lovemaking that most of the cushions had migrated across the floor.
Severus lay panting heavily, the room still spinning as the aftershocks tore
through him. Harry lay down next to him, placing his arm across Severus' chest
and snuggling up to his neck. "Severus? Are you okay? Did I take too much
blood?"
"No, Harry. I'm fine. Just a little out of breath after our exercises," Severus
reached over and pushed a lock of Harry's hair out of his eyes. He smiled on
seeing that Harry still had his glasses on, they'd given no thought to removing
them.
"I think we could do with a shower, don't you?" smirked Severus, as his eyes
raked over both their sticky bodies. "We shouldn't go to bed like this."
"Bed? You mean...?" The joy on Harry's face had Severus' breath hitching.
"Yes, Harry. I want you to spend the night."
***
Severus didn't know what woke him, but he'd always been a light sleeper ever
since his days as a spy. Harry's side of the bed was empty and the sheets
chilled. He'd been gone for some time. The bathroom door was shut fast but
there was a small sliver of light edging into the bedroom from the living room
door. Severus got up and draped a robe around him tying the sash as he pushed
open the door.
Harry too was wearing one of Severus' bathrobes, the sleeves far too long for
him; he hadn't used magic to resize them, just rolled the sleeves up a few
times. The boy was sitting on the floor with his back resting against the sofa
and hugging his knees, his eyes staring at the dying embers of the fire.
"Harry?" Severus called softly. "Are you all right?"
Harry turned and Severus saw the glimmer of tears beneath his glasses,
reflected in the coloured lights in the room.
"I had a nightmare," said Harry hoarsely.
"You should have woken me."
"I didn't want to bother you," replied Harry, turning and staring at the fire
once more.
"It wouldn't be a bother, Harry." Severus knelt down beside Harry but made no
move to touch him. Not yet. He had a fair idea of what the nightmare had been
about. Harry's uncle and his cousin. Had they rushed things tonight?
"Do you want to talk about it?" Severus asked him gently, giving Harry the
choice of what he wanted to do.
Harry turned to face him, then burrowed his face in the folds of Severus'
bathrobe, sobbing as if his heart was breaking, clutching at Severus' clothes
as if they were the only thing keeping him sane. "Please, Severus," Harry wept.
"Please don't be angry with me."
"Ssh, Harry," Severus stroked his back. "I'm not angry at you, Harry. Never at
you. The nightmare was it about - was it about your uncle and your cousin?"
Harry's head nodded against his clothes and Harry finally looked up at him. His
eyes were red rimmed, they must be so sore, how long had he been crying out
here alone? Didn't he know that he never had to hide this? That he would never
have to hide anything from Severus ever again?
Harry stood up, looking down at Severus, his face a little calmer, but his
hands shook as he untied the sash holding the robe shut.
"This is just one of the things they did to me," said Harry as the robe dropped
to the floor.
 
Part 21
 
Severus hadn't known that Harry had been using a glamour to hide his body, not
once had he sensed it. Harry's magic must have been so powerful to keep the
glamour undetected for so many years at a magical school. When Harry removed
the glamour, Severus tried to keep his face impassive, to let Harry know
without words that he wasn't being judged.
Oh, but those who'd done this to his Harry, they were being judged and found
wanting. Harry's body was not smooth and unmarked as would be expected of a
seventeen year old. Some of Harry's skin was puckered, burn scars that had not
been healed properly. There were other scars too, from deep cuts, covering his
torso, his legs, his back and his arms. At first Severus thought they were just
random slashes but then he realised that the patterns on Harry's skin were
forming words.
Severus stared at the word whore carved raggedly across his husband's lower
belly. "Harry?" Severus asked hesitantly, unsure whether he really wanted to
know the history behind it. "That was for the third time they caught me
masturbating," Harry said in a dull voice. "Aunt Petunia had opened my cupboard
to call me to make breakfast and she caught me with my hands down my shorts.
She dragged me out, still dressed only in my underwear and shoved me into the
kitchen, where Vernon was sitting, ready for his breakfast. 'Do you know what I
caught this filthy freak doing, do you, Vernon?' said my aunt, she pushed me so
hard I fell over." Harry shuddered as he finished speaking, but he hadn't
finished his tale, not yet. "She was yelling at me, calling me every filthy
name under the sun, I didn't even know what half of them were."
"How old were you?"
"Ten, I was ten years old, Severus and they made me feel as if what I'd been
doing had been so wrong, so shameful. Petunia pulled down my underwear and took
my hand, pressing it against my cock. 'Go on, do it, show your uncle what a
dirty whore you are.'"
Harry cast a spell on him, but Severus had never taught it to Harry, he
wondered briefly who had before he was whisked inside Harry's mind and was
immersed in Harry's memories. It was like both watching a pensieve memory and
actually being there at the same time.
Severus was standing in a kitchen; Harry was kneeling on all fours, dressed
only in a pair of overlarge underpants which were slipping down the boy's waist
even as he watched the memory Harry. “Vernon!" Petunia shrieked loudly, even
though the mountain of a man was already heaving himself out of his chair and
glaring down at the prone form of his nephew. "Vernon, he was doing it again! I
caught him, his hands stuffed down his underwear! Go on, show him, show him
what a dirty whore you are!"
"What have we told you about that, boy?" demanded Vernon, his moustache
quivering like a slug on his upper lip.
"That it's dirty, uncle Vernon." Harry hadn't moved from the floor and Severus
wanted to go and lift Harry up, away from these people before they did what he
knew they were going to do now. Severus could see the word "Freak" carved into
Harry's back, the word "Pervert" along the back of his thigh. This was not the
first time they had done this.
"Just like you. What are you, boy?"
"A dirty disgusting freak," said Harry, his voice catching on sobs.
"That's right," added Petunia, her nose in the air as if Harry was something
she wouldn't want on the soles of her oh so pretty shoes. "And you still do it,
even after the beatings Vernon gave you last time. Do you want him to beat you
again? Well, do you?" Petunia kicked Harry's legs and he tried crawling away on
all fours, but Vernon reached down and yanked him up by the waist. Harry was
kicking and screaming, crying, sobbing as he struggled to get out of Vernon's
grasp. The man was enormous and the small underfed boy had no chance against
the man's bulk. Harry didn't know he could do magic yet.
Vernon was about to lay him down on the table when Petunia shook her head. "Not
on the table, Vernon. We have to eat there. Put him on the floor like the
filthy animal he is." Petunia hunted in some cupboards and emerged holding a
dog collar and a leash, the word "Ripper" etched on the leather of the collar.
Harry screamed as soon as he saw it, bucking and kicking, his heels drumming
against the floor. Severus had the impression this was not the first time Harry
had seen the collar, nor the first time that it would be placed around his
neck.
Vernon held Harry steady while Petunia tied Harry's wrists together with parcel
tape, before placing the collar over his neck and tying him up to one of the
cupboard door handles. Harry's back was against the door, his wrists bound
behind him, his legs stretched out in front of him. "Hold his legs, Petunia. I
don't want the brat kicking me like last time."
Petunia did as she was bid, kneeling down and holding onto Harry's legs. He
struggled, oh, how he struggled but Petunia was stronger than she looked and
Harry could barely lift his feet an inch off the floor. Vernon knelt down, a
knife in his hand; Harry screamed again and renewed his efforts to get free.
Vernon backhanded him with his left hand. "Shut the fuck up! You ungrateful
brat! This is your own fault, all of it!" Vernon tugged Harry's underpants down
below his waist, but didn't expose his genitals; just the lower tummy and
Severus knew what word he was going to carve into Harry's belly, for he'd seen
the scar already.
Severus couldn't look, he didn't want to look, but he had no choice, whatever
spell Harry had cast he could only look at what was happening to Harry. If he
looked away, he would be greeted with the scene again, Harry screaming, Harry
bleeding, Vernon shouting abuse even as he cut into the boy's skin.
Then as suddenly as he was in Harry's mind, he was out of it, staring at the
young man in front of him who'd been that abused young boy. "Harry, oh God,
Harry. I'm so sorry." Severus opened his arms, surprised but relieved when
Harry ran into them, his tears had long since dried but he was still shaking,
still trembling.
"I - I was twelve when Dudley first raped me," Harry whispered to Severus’
chest and Severus listened to the young man's tale, holding him, rocking him as
Harry relived the horror of what had happened to him. He'd been in bed after
the fiasco with Dobby and the dessert over Mrs. Mason, Harry's door was locked
on the outside, he couldn't lock it from inside. Only the Dursleys could let
him in or out.
Dudley had come in, gloating that Harry was going to be in for the worst hiding
ever the next day, his parents were livid over what had happened with the
Masons. Dudley bounced up and down on Harry's bed, grinning madly and getting
more and more excited at the thought of Harry being punished. "I know what you
do at that freaky school," Dudley had whispered in his ear. "You take it up the
arse, don't you? Sick pervert! I bet you like that, don't you? Having something
shoved up there? I bet it hurts. I bet you scream like a girl when they fuck
you."
Dudley obviously had some of his parents' genes, for he tied Harry up before he
did anything, stuffing Harry's socks in his mouth to stop him screaming out
loud. Harry didn't know how long he endured his cousin raping him before the
door was flung open and his uncle Vernon entered the room.
"I thought I was saved. I thought he was going to stop Dudley, but he just
waited there, watching while Dudley finished before taking his turn with me. He
was so heavy, I thought I was going to die, I could hardly breathe and I just
wanted it all to stop. I wanted it to stop!" Harry was crying again now, great
wracking sobs that had his whole body shaking and he was barely able to keep
himself upright. Severus scooped Harry up in his arms and sat down on the sofa,
conjuring a blanket to drape over Harry's bare form.
"It happened every summer after that," said Harry. "Both of them would take
turns. I'd started using a glamour to hide the scars at school, but I couldn't
at the Dursleys' in case I was expelled. Dudley saw the scars and he wanted to
cut me too. Vernon let him. Vernon watched while Dudley cut me," Harry twisted
his shoulder and showed Severus the scar, "Homo" along his left side. "Vernon
watched and he - and he - touched himself and came all over me while Dudley was
cutting me."
Harry rested his head against Severus' shoulder, as if he couldn't go on any
further. But he hadn't finished, not by a long way. Severus heard of how Harry
was kept in a cupboard until he was eleven; the whippings and beatings he would
receive just for being Harry; how they starved him; the mental cruelty they
inflicted upon him; the rape and sexual abuse; the cuttings; the deliberate
scalding when he was first starting to cook. "Severus," Harry whispered
hoarsely. "I'm so sorry I let them do that to me."
"Harry, stop right there. You did not let them do anything. They were your
relatives, your caretakers. They were supposed to look after you and they
betrayed your trust. You are not to blame for any of this. If I sound angry,
it's because I am, but not at you. At them and for all they've put you through
over the years. I am not angry with you, Harry. Never."
Severus had been raped, but he had almost expected it, he knew what happened to
traitors in Voldemort's service, but what Harry had endured, that seemed much
worse to Severus, for it was the people who should have kept Harry safe were
the ones who had done such terrible things to him. How had Harry endured it
year after year and not told anyone? How did he remain sane?
He saw the words, "I must not tell lies," etched on Harry's right hand. "Did
they do that too?"
"No, that was Umbridge," said Harry bitterly and Severus remembered how wild,
how angry Harry had been that year. It made a lot more sense now. What Umbridge
had been doing to him was so reminiscent of the abuse he had suffered at the
Dursleys' hands. No wonder he had been so upset.
Harry was quiet now, too quiet. Severus glanced down at him and realised Harry
had fallen asleep, curled up on his chest, looking so much younger than he
actually was. The blame for that lay squarely at the Dursleys' door. If Harry
hadn't been so mistreated, he probably would have grown to his full potential.
He was like a sun worshipping plant that had its growth stunted by being left
in the dark.
Severus carried Harry to bed and vowed that the Dursleys would pay for what
they had done. He would not let them get away with it.
 
Part 22
 
Draco rolled over, tugging the blankets over his head, but the house elf was
having none of that and he whipped the bedclothes completely off the bed,
squealing madly that if Master Draco did not get up Lindy would be punished.
Draco growled down at the creature, what did he care if the elf got punished?
If it didn't get out of his room, he'd show it what punishment really meant.
His mother was going to visit Aunt Bella again in that madhouse and this time
she wanted Draco to come along. It was another two weeks before he started
Durmstrang to complete his NEWTs and she wanted him to do something productive
with his time. Hmph! As of going to visit Aunt Bella was productive, the mad
bitch probably wouldn't even know they were there. He rubbed his head,
remembering the slap he'd received the day before when saying that out loud in
his mother's hearing. His mother would not allow anyone to say one word against
her sister.
Thinking about his enforced free time, turned Draco's thoughts to Hogwarts and
to Severus Snape, the traitor. Draco couldn't care less about Voldemort's
betrayal, no, it was the betrayal of him; that rankled. How could Severus
Snape, a man who was like an uncle in all but blood betray him? Just stand
there and let Dumbledore expel him? Over a fucking mud-blood? Severus hadn't
spoken one word in Draco's defence, just went on and on how disappointed he was
in Draco before leading him to the gates.
Draco was not going to let him get away with it. He would have the perfect
revenge, both against Severus and Potter. Did they think they could just
condemn his father to the Dementors and he would forget about it? It was an
idea that had been in the back of his mind for a while now, but it was the
Weasley brat who'd originally done something about it. Draco almost jumped from
the bed in his haste to find parchment and quill.
***
The postman stared at the ruined castle in front of him and then again at the
address on the front of the letter. A long white one with a little clear
plastic window at the front. It was official whatever it was, but there was no
return address. Typed, the address was visible through the window, Hogwarts
Castle. A graffitied sign indicated that the ruin was unsafe, but there on a
fallen tower was a small sign from Scottish Heritage proclaiming that yes, this
was indeed Hogwarts Castle.
He'd never heard of it, nor even seen it before, but what was more
disconcerting was the small red box standing on a pillar, painted with
curlicued lettering, Letters which had a slot in the top. This box, unlike the
rest of the ruin looked in perfect condition and as if it was still in use. Was
there a hermit up here or something? You got all sorts up in the mountains.
He shook his head and deposited the letter in its slot before making his way
back down to the road. The van was parked on the verge where he left it. He was
whistling out of tune by the time he drove off and a few moments later he'd
forgotten he'd ever been anywhere near a place called Hogwarts.
***
Harry lay almost horizontal on the broom as he turned the Firebolt into a dive,
his arm outstretched, feeling the wind whip past his face. It was the middle of
February, the air crisp with threatened snow and the sky almost black. Harry
could see perfectly well in the dim light, even with his glasses darkened. His
hand grabbed the Snitch and the Gryffindor stands erupted into cheers and
applause as his fingers curled around the little golden ball, the wings
fluttering uselessly against his gloved palm.
Ron clapped him on the back as the two of them flew down, both of them being
giving hearty handshakes and back slaps by the rest of the team. Ron had only
let in two goals during the whole match. Hermione came over to them, giving Ron
a peck on the check and Harry a hug before waddling back to the castle. She was
getting big now and was a little self-conscious, even though most people had
been very supportive. She and Ron were getting married once out of school and
after the baby was born.
It started snowing as they made their way to the changing rooms, but Harry
barely felt it. He didn't notice the cold anymore, but his eyes were still very
sensitive to sunlight, no matter how muted.
"Harry, how can you see with that spell?" asked Ron, jabbing his thumb towards
Harry's eyes and the darkened glasses. "It's almost dark and you're going about
as if it's the height of summer!"
"You've seen what my eyes are like when I forget to do it, Ron," said Harry.
The streaming, the redness, the itchiness that just couldn't be relieved until
he could curl up in a dark corner somewhere.
"I know, but why are you eyes like that?"
"I don't know, maybe I have an infection or something," Harry lied.
"Maybe," agreed Ron and seemed satisfied at that.
***
Harry made his way back to the common room after his shower; he wasn't really
feeling hungry for food and decided to skip dinner so that he could catch up on
some of his homework. He'd been with Severus for detention the night before and
still hadn't caught up. There was a lot more work now that the exams were
drawing nearer and he and Severus had decided that it was best if Harry only
came to him when he needed to feed. They'd tried cutting the feeding down from
three times to once a week, but that wasn't enough. Harry fainting in Potions
had Severus almost ordering him to come down twice a week. Mondays and
Thursdays were feeding days and every day in between was Harry wanking and
thinking about how much nicer it was to have someone to cuddle up to
afterwards. Not that it stopped him doing it, especially when Severus was in
his mind every night talking him through it and jerking himself off at the same
time Harry was.
God, the thought of it was getting him hard again and Harry willed his erection
away as he tried to concentrate on his Transfiguration essay. He seemed to be
in a state of permanent arousal these days and it was driving him up the wall.
Was there something wrong with his hormones or something? But he couldn't very
well imagine asking Madam Pomfrey about this! He'd searched through all the
books on vampires in the library, even got Severus to give him a pass to the
Restricted Section, but there was nothing in there about vampire arousals
except about when they fed.
The common room started to fill up again after dinner and Harry still hadn't
written more than a sentence or two and the noise did little to help his
concentration. Professor McGonagall entered the portrait hole after Ron and her
eyes raked the room, falling on Harry at once. "Potter, the headmaster wishes
to see you."
"Now, ma'am?"
"Yes, now. Leave those," said McGonagall as Harry was trying to tidy his books
back into his bag and she held the portrait open for him. McGonagall’s tone was
curt with him, almost clipped and Harry wondered what he'd done to bring down
the wrath of both his Head of House and the headmaster.
She whispered the password to the gargoyle and Harry stepped onto the moving
staircase, feeling rather faint. There was only one thing he could think of
that he'd done wrong. They knew. They knew about him and Snape. Oh, God. He was
going to be expelled. Snape was going to be fired and get sent to Azkaban.
Spots danced in front of his eyes and he clawed the walls, trying to breathe,
but it was no use. There was no air; he was going to die here, right on the
staircase in front of McGonagall. The world around him swayed and went black.
"Harry? Harry, are you all right, dear boy?" asked the headmaster. Harry was
lying supported on two chairs in the man's office, Fawkes squawking as Harry
struggled to sit up. He was still a little dizzy, a glass of potion was thrust
into his hand by Madam Pomfrey and he felt his heart constrict, feeling the
panic well up again. There were two other men in the room, one dressed in the
scarlet robes of an Auror, the other in a simple blue robe.
"Harry, this is Mr. Marchbanks," said Dumbledore, indicating the man in the
blue robe. "He's a school governor. And you know Auror Shacklebolt of course."
A governor! They knew! They knew!
"Harry, a complaint has been made about you and Professor Snape," said Mr.
Marchbanks. "This is the second complaint of this nature that has been levelled
against him."
"Where is Professor Snape?" asked Harry, feeling queasy. Severus wasn't here to
defend himself and he would never utter a thing against the man. They could
dose him with Veritaserum and still he wouldn't talk. He promised it to
himself.
"Under the circumstances we thought it best that Professor Snape be suspended
from duties until the allegations are investigated." The headmaster's voice was
grave, but he did not reveal Severus' whereabouts. Harry looked desperately
towards Madam Pomfrey. Harry would need to feed again soon. "Harry, you are not
yet eighteen, a legal adult in the eyes of the Muggle world."
"I don't understand," protested Harry. What had Muggle law got to do with any
of it?
"In the Muggle world, you are not considered an adult until you are eighteen
and the Dursleys have every right to remove you from the school if they so
desire."
"What?" gasped Harry, sitting up so fast the floor spun again.
"It was the Dursleys who made the compliant, Harry," said Dumbledore, lifting
an envelope from his desk and waving it at them. "Through a lawyer. They are
threatening to sue the school if you are not removed from here and Severus'
undue influences."
Undue influences? Severus was an undue influence? That was rich, coming from
them. "You are still under their guardianship until you are eighteen, Harry,"
said Dumbledore sadly.
But he was married to Severus! How could he still be sent back to the
Dursleys'? It was unthinkable, undoable and Harry was not going to do it.
"No! I won't go!" screamed Harry. "You can't make me go back there!"
"It's only for a few weeks, Harry, while the investigation takes place."
"Albus, I cannot allow this. I will not countenance Harry being sent back to
those people. He is a patient under my care and he won't get the treatment he
needs from Muggles."
"Harry? What's wrong?" asked Shacklebolt, the only one besides Madam Pomfrey
who seemed concerned for his welfare.
"That is between Harry and myself," sniffed Madam Pomfrey.
"Poppy? What are you suggesting?" asked Dumbledore.
"I have some time owing to me, if you can get a replacement, I will look after
him for those few weeks. There is no need for him to go back to that house."
Harry wondered how much the matron knew about what had happened at number four,
Privet Drive.
"Very well," sighed Dumbledore. "Harry, you will be staying with Madam Pomfrey
for the next two weeks, you are suspended from school until everything is
cleared up. The governors will talk to you at Madam Pomfrey's cottage
tomorrow."
"Thank you, sir," said Harry as he tried not to look any of them in the eye.
He made it to the door before he almost fainted again.
 
Part 23
Severus paced the small living room of Madam Pomfrey's cottage in Hogsmeade,
feeling as if his whole world was about to shatter into a million tiny pieces.
He didn't care if they fired him, it was only a job after all, but what if they
sent him to Azkaban? Wizards had been imprisoned for less. Harry needed to feed
regularly and a vampire could only have one bonded mate. Harry would die if
Severus spent an extended time away from him. Merlin, how had it come to this?
Who had betrayed them? Or had they betrayed themselves? A glance too long or
lingering? A touch when there should have been none? Was it their eyes? Were
their feelings written on their faces for everyone to see? He thought they'd
been so careful. Who had watched? Who had noticed? Who had accused?
Dumbledore hadn't told him, just suggested that Severus remove himself from
Hogwarts until the investigations were concluded. He had not been suspended
over the Granger incident and the only reason he could think of for his
suspension now was unlike with Hermione Granger, Dumbledore suspected these
allegations were true.
His thoughts were interrupted as the Floo flared into life, out popped Madam
Pomfrey clutching a pale Harry by her side. Harry looked like a wraith, his
skin almost so translucent that he could see the veins and bones underneath. As
soon as he saw his husband, Harry was out of Poppy's arms and info his, sobbing
his relief onto his chest.
"Severus! You're okay! You're okay!"
"I'm fine, Harry," said Severus, not caring that Poppy could see the two of
them. She knew they were married, was she really going to complain about him
comforting Harry? "How are you, Harry?"
Harry mumbled something, but Severus could only hear something about Muggles.
"The Dursleys threatened to sue the school if Harry is not returned to their
guardianship," explained Poppy.
Severus' hands tightened on Harry's waist. "Harry, I promise you, you will
never have to see those people again."
"Um, Severus," began Poppy, glancing at Harry as if unsure to continue with
Harry in the room.
"Harry, why don't you go and have a lie down?" suggested Severus, knowing even
before he'd finished speaking the words that Harry would never agree to it.
"No! I'm not a child! I'm not going to hide while you discuss this behind my
back! It affects me and just because I'm not eighteen, the Dursleys think I
have no choice, no right to decide!" Harry removed himself from Severus'
embrace and stood in front of both of them, his hands folded over his chest.
There were no hint of the earlier tears and Severus felt a shiver of pride that
Harry felt strong enough to do this. "I'm married to Severus, they can't make
me go back there," said Harry defiantly.
"Harry, Muggles don't accept same sex marriages as legally binding. There is
also the fact that you were married to Severus before you were eighteen without
their consent. They are perfectly within their legal rights to separate you two
if they wish."
"And what about their rights and responsibilities towards me? They were
supposed to look after me; they were supposed to love me. But they didn't. If a
child was betrayed by those he trusted, if he received cruelty rather than
food, would they still expect that child to return? Is that child expected to
put up with anything just because some piece of paper says they are the child's
guardians?"
Poppy paled, her face even whiter than Harry's now as she clasped a hand over
her mouth in distress. "Harry, oh, Merlin, Harry. What did they do to you?"
Harry glanced towards Severus, his face remarkably free from tears and Severus
nodded that it was okay, that Poppy could be trusted with this. Harry tugged
the robe from his shoulders and unbuttoned his shirt, removing the glamour from
his body. Poppy gasped. "Harry, there is now way in hell anyone will make you
go back there after this. You should take them to court. Show the world what
they did."
"I can't," said Harry. "I can't do that. I don't want everyone to know what
they did. How I couldn't stand up to them."
"Harry, you have nothing to be ashamed of. The Dursleys abused you, you were a
child entrusted to their care and they abused that trust time and time again.
Do you want them to get away with it? They'd go to prison for something like
this and Muggle prisons are not the best place for child abusers."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"Even other criminals will be against them, Harry. It would not be easy for
them in prison."
"Prison?" mused Harry. "And the court case would be in the papers, wouldn't it?
They'd hate that, all their neighbours knowing what they've done."
Severus nodded, in one way it would be the perfect revenge against the
Dursleys, but it would only be the start. Being in a Muggle prison would not
protect them from Severus. Metal bars and cages were no deterrent for a
determined wizard and Severus was nothing if not determined.
"But what about me and Severus? What if they use Veritaserum?" continued Harry.
"It wouldn't matter, Harry," replied Poppy. "You are a vampire and Severus is
your bonded mate. The bond will not allow either of you to harm the other. If
you have to lie to protect the other, the bond will allow it to happen, no
matter how much Veritaserum you might be dosed with. The bond will not allow
harm to come to you from the other, it doesn't work like that."
"So I can lie if it protects Severus?"
"Yes, and he can do the same for you. This will all blow over, Harry and all
you two need to do is be more careful until June. Do you think you can both
manage that?"
Severus and Harry both nodded. "I'd like to know who complained to the
governors in the first place," said Harry. "It couldn't have been the Dursleys
first of all; they wouldn't even know who the governors were."
"No," agreed Severus, but he knew of a person who would know exactly who the
remaining governors were. After all, his father had been one for years. Draco
Malfoy.
***
Later that night, Harry fed frantically from Severus and tried not to worry
about the questioning tomorrow. Madam Pomfrey's words had eased his mind
somewhat, but he was still afraid that he would give something away, that he
would get Severus into trouble and that was the last thing he wanted. He sucked
one last time, his orgasm making him dizzy. Harry closed the wounds on Severus'
neck and tried to ignore the thought that they would be separated. Severus
hadn't come, he wasn't even hard. Harry reached down and tried to touch him
with his hands, but Severus pushed him away. "Sorry, Harry. I'm not in the
mood."
Harry stopped, unwilling to push.
"Where are you supposed to be?" asked Harry, knowing that the two of them were
not expected to be both staying at Madam Pomfrey's cottage.
"I have a room booked at the Three Broomsticks; I'll have to go soon, Harry, in
case they check up."
Harry nodded, knowing that it was a distinct possibility but he didn't want
Severus to leave him. Four more months. That's what they had to keep telling
themselves. They could keep it secret for four more months and then it didn't
matter if the whole world knew. It would be a shame to get caught now just
because Harry was being selfish.
"I'm not going back to the Dursleys'," said Harry. "Ever."
"I know, Harry and no one is going to make you. We'll run away together first."
"You'd do that? Run away with me?" Harry sat up, propping one hand underneath
his chin as he stared down at his husband.
"If you wanted me to. We might have to do it one day."
"Maybe," sighed Harry. "Severus, I don't know what to do."
"Just talk to the governors tomorrow and take each day as it comes. It's all we
can do." Severus got up, hunting for his clothes. Harry stood up and kissed
him, hard, desperately, fearing that it was the last time they'd ever be
allowed to do it. He couldn't find his voice to say goodbye when Severus
Apparated away.
***
"Can I get you anything to drink, Mr. Marchbanks?" asked Madam Pomfrey,
hovering by the kitchen door.
"Oh, a cup of tea would be lovely, thank you," he said with a smile as he
turned back to Harry. "Now, Harry, I want to assure you that you aren't in
trouble. If Professor Snape did something to you, it was not your fault. You
were a student and as such you were supposed to be under his protection. Now,
can you tell me how you and Professor Snape get on?"
"Um," Harry wondered how lucky it could get. The man hadn't even attempted to
give him any Veritaserum. "Well, when I first started school, not too good
really. He didn't get on with my father and was taking it out on me."
"So he was unfair on you? Bullying you?"
"I thought so at the time, but I now realise he was protecting me."
"Protecting you? How?"
"Did you know he was spying for our side against Voldemort?"
The governor's body trembled at hearing the name, but he nodded. "Yes, indeed.
We all know that now."
"Well, there were children of Death Eaters at school and he had to pretend to
be nasty to me so that tales weren't told to Voldemort of how nice he was being
to me. He couldn't be nice or his cover would be blown."
"I see, I suppose that does make a bit of sense. And after you defeated You-
Know-Who? He became friendlier?"
"I wouldn't say we were friends," said Harry and it wasn't a lie. They were
husbands, lovers, not exactly friends. "But he wasn't so unfair on me in class
and I'm even one of his teaching assistants."
Mr. Marchbanks glanced at the file on his lap. "Indeed. And, Harry, had
Professor Snape acted in any way that you considered inappropriate? That made
you uncomfortable?"
"No, sir," replied Harry, for it wasn't inappropriate for his husband to touch
him in any way.
Madam Pomfrey returned with a tray of tea and biscuits.
"Well, Harry, between you and me, I think this whole thing is a hoax, designed
to undermine Professor Snape's authority at the school. As you've said, he was
spying for Professor Dumbledore and there are some people still at large who
are not pleased at this as you can imagine. My colleague is talking to
Professor Snape as we speak, but I think it won't be too long before both of
you are back at school. Might I suggest that you always have another student or
member of staff with you when you are helping out Professor Snape in the
evenings so that these unfounded accusations will not be levelled again? Gossip
breeds in schools, even when there is not an inkling of truth to it."
"Thank you, sir, I will."
Mr. Marchbanks sipped his tea and munched on one of the chocolate biscuits,
smiling at both of them. Harry felt for the first time in months that perhaps
things were going to work out after all.
"I've always had a soft spot for Professor Snape," said Mr. Marchbanks. "His
work on the Wolfsbane Potion is amazing, I've never been much good at Potions,
but I always try and keep up with his work in the journals. Did you know he
turned down the Gosford Prize?" He asked the room at large.
"No, what's that, sir?"
"Just the wizarding equivalent of the Nobel Prize, Harry! Given to those
wizards who have made a magical contribution to wizarding society. It was for
his work on Veritaserum, you do know Professor Snape invented that?"
Harry shook his head. There were so many thinks he hadn't known about Severus
and it was interesting to see how he was considered by someone outside of
Harry's circle. Mr. Marchbanks truly seemed to like him and Harry was pleased
on Severus' behalf.
Mr. Marchbanks set his tea cup down on the coffee table. "Thanks very much,
Madam Pomfrey. Now I really must be off. You'll receive the results of our
enquiries in about two weeks, Harry, but I shouldn't worry. You'll be back at
school before you know it."
"Thank you," said Harry as Madam Pomfrey led him to the door.
His hands were shaking with relief. That seemed to have gone well, he just
hoped whoever was questioning Severus was as nice as Mr. Marchbanks had been to
him.
 
Part 24
Almost two weeks to the day when they'd been suspended, both Severus and Harry
were back at school, along with an apologetic note from Mr. Marchbanks and the
rest of the governors. They were both in Dumbledore's office, Harry feeling
decidedly guilty, for he knew that what they'd been accused of was actually
true.
"Severus, you may begin teaching classes again as soon as you can, Harry you
may return to school but I must ask that if you continue to be one of Professor
Snape's teaching assistants that you are chaperoned, either by another student
or by one of the teachers if they are free. Accusations like this damage the
reputation of the school, whether or not they are unfounded." He paused and
Harry felt his heart battering his chest. Dumbledore knew, he must know and his
next words confirmed it.
"I don't know what it is you said to the governors to have them believing that
nothing is going on between you two, but you have not fooled me for an instant.
Did you really think I wouldn't know? I am old, not senile. I know everything
that goes on in this castle. I must insist that you do not continue an intimate
relationship with each other until school ends. After that, I don't care and
neither should anyone else. What was so urgent that it couldn't waited until
you've left school, eh, Harry? I know you sometimes rush into things but this
is ridiculous, even for you."
"Sir, I'm sorry," said Harry. "But we can't do as you've asked, we have to be
together."
"Have to be? You're young and passionate, Harry, it just seems like that now.
Four months will fly by."
We have to tell him, Severus, what I am.
Yes, we do.
"Headmaster," said Severus formally. "The reason we have been together is
simple. Harry is a vampire and I am his bonded mate. If he cannot feed
regularly he will die, it is as simple as that. You know what the bond entails,
the intimacy required for it to continue working."
"Bonded? Legally bonded?" he asked, staring from one to the other. Harry didn't
know whether he wanted to flee from the room, curl up to hide somewhere or to
fling himself in Severus' arms.
"Yes, on Harry's seventeenth birthday. The New Zealand Ministry will have a
record of it."
Dumbledore burst out laughing, Harry and Severus exchanged confused looks. "My
dear boys, why didn't you say so? There are no rules against bonded couples at
school as long as the student was of age when the bonding took place."
"But he is still my teacher," said Harry, unsure where this was going.
"Yes, but your bonding takes precedence over any other relationship. Dear me,
if you'd only told me this sooner all of this could have been avoided. Now,
there is nothing wrong with the two of you being together at school every so
often, as long as you are discreet about it. No point in worrying the younger
students or their parents, some people still wouldn't approve whether you are
bonded or not. Will you mind having to hide your status for just a bit longer?"
It was more than either of them could have hoped for. Harry had his trunk all
packed, ready in case he'd been expelled and now Dumbledore was telling them
that it was all right? That it was okay for them to be together? He could
hardly believe it. Was it a dream or was it really happening?
"Thank you, headmaster, I think we can manage for a few more months, don't you,
Harry?"
Harry nodded at Severus before turning back to Dumbledore. "Thank you, sir,
you've been very understanding."
"Harry, I was young and in love myself once, I haven't forgotten and there is
also the fact of your vampirism. I would rather know that you were able to feed
regularly from Severus than wonder if you would get sick or ..."
He didn't need to say anymore. Harry knew what was worrying the headmaster,
what would worry everyone else if they knew. Was Harry going to prey on the
other students in order to get blood?
"I wouldn't do that, sir," said Harry firmly. "Um, sir, do we still need to be
chaperoned?"
"Under the circumstances, I think not, but as I said, you need to be discreet."
"Yes, sir, thank you, sir," replied Harry.
"Before you go, Harry, there is one other thing."
"Sir?"
"Madam Pomfrey told me some of what happened to you at the Dursleys and I
wanted to ask you first, did you want them sent to Azkaban?"
"Azkaban? But they're Muggles, sir. Wouldn't they be sent to Muggle prisons?"
"Not in this instance, Harry. Their crimes were against you, a young wizard
entrusted to their care. You would not have to testify, Harry. The Wizengamot
does not need child abuse victims to testify, they will use Legilimency on them
to get to the truth. If found guilty they would be imprisoned."
"So - so I wouldn't have to see them? Talk to them?" For Harry couldn't imagine
seeing them without wanting to do something to harm them.
"No, Harry. You would not be required to go through that."
"Then yes, please let them be arrested."
Dumbledore nodded. "Very well, Harry. I will get the Aurors on it
straightaway."
***
Harry made his way back to Gryffindor Tower as Severus went back to his
dungeons. They couldn't see each other tonight; it was too risky being their
first night back and everything. Dumbledore may have approved in his way but
not if the whole school were to find out. The school's reputation was
everything to him, how could it not be with him being the headmaster for so
long?
Harry climbed through the portrait hole to an empty common room. It was Monday
and classes were nearly over. Soon he would be at the mercy of his year mates
and their questions. He wasn't looking forward to it, to lying to them, but
what else could he do? Harry sat down on one of the window seats and gazed out
over the silver waters of the lake.
Severus? His mind sought out that of his mate.
Harry? What's wrong?
Nothing. I just wanted to feel you. Know you're there.
I'll always be there for you, I promised, didn't I?
You did.
I have to go, Harry. My snakes are returning.
Okay. See you tomorrow. And with those words, his husband was gone and Harry
was left alone again, but not for long. The portrait hole opened and in trooped
Gryffindors loosed from their lessons, the noise soon distracting Harry from
missing Severus.
"Harry! You're back!" squealed Hermione as she waddled her way over to him,
closely followed by the seventh year boys.
"Great to see you mate," said Dean. "God, imagine if Snape really was going
after one of us." He gave dramatic shiver and Harry felt a fleeting urge to
blurt out the whole truth and watch their faces fall. Hermione sat down on the
sofa below Harry's window, panting a little. Ron sat down beside her. "Yeah,
good to have you back," said Ron and for once he wasn't complaining about
Snape. Had Harry's words finally sunk in?
"You did study while you were away, didn't you, Harry? The NEWTs aren't that
far away now."
"Yes, Mum," grinned Harry to Hermione and the others burst out laughing. "Madam
Pomfrey made sure of that. Who took over for her anyway?"
"My mum," said Ron, red faced. "She's a qualified mediwitch. Used to work in
St. Mungo's before she had us lot. She's thinking of going back now that we're
a bit older and there's no You-Know-Who anymore."
"That's great, Ron," said Harry, meaning it. He couldn't imagine anyone better
suited to the healing profession than Molly Weasley. She had enough care for
the world. The bell rang for dinner. "I'm not really hungry," said Harry when
the three of them were the only ones left in the common room.
"I don't feel like eating in the Hall tonight, either," said Hermione. "Can you
bring me something back later, Ron?"
"Sure, Hermione," he gave her a peck on the cheek before clambering out of the
room.
Hermione turned to Harry, her eyes wise. "Harry, Ron may be dense about these
things, but I'm not. This thing about you and Professor Snape, it's true isn't
it? You're a vampire and he's your bonded, isn't he?"
"How did you - "
"Never mind how I know, the problem is, how are we going to keep it from Ron?"
"You think he'd freak out because I'm a vampire?"
"No, he'd freak out because you're with Snape. He'd freak out about whatever
man you're with, Harry."
"But he was fine with me being gay," said Harry, remembering the middle of
sixth year when he'd come out to both of them. Ron had been fine, supportive
even as long as Harry spared him the details.
"He was fine when you didn't have a boyfriend or a husband, so he didn't have
to imagine you doing - doing things with them. Now that you have, I don't think
he can handle it, Harry. Not from what he said."
"What did he say?" asked Harry angrily. Ron was being fine to his face but
talking behind his back? Was that it?
"Nothing specific, and nothing about you. But he's been saying a lot of
uncomplimentary things about Professor Snape to me and anyone else who'd
listen."
"And you just let him say anything he likes about Snape, do you?"
"Of course I don't, Harry! I like Professor Snape, I defend him and Ron eases
up for a few days, but then he starts ranting again. It's like he has this
block or something when it comes to Snape, he can't see what Snape has done,
the nice things."
"I don't think Snape was ever nice," said Harry.
"Well, maybe not," agreed Hermione. "But he has done good things, made
sacrifices, but Ron doesn't see that."
"He has, Hermione. More than even anyone knows about and most of them to
protect me." Harry had to close his eyes as the vision of Severus being raped
in front of him swum in the air before him. None of them knew all that man had
endured and yet they still treated him like dirt. It wasn't fair.
"You love him," said Hermione. It wasn't a question.
"I do, Hermione. I do."
***
Harry sighed and closed his book with a snap, causing Severus to glance over
from the essay he was marking. His young husband was rubbing his eyes and
pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Harry? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just a headache."
"There's some potion in the bathroom."
"Okay. Thanks." Harry went to fetch it and he stayed away for a long time.
Severus glanced over at the book Harry had been studying. It was one that
wasn't on any of his book lists. Pregnancy and Birth: A Witch's Guide. Severus
had noticed Harry was becoming fascinated by Hermione Granger's pregnancy, but
this was getting a little odd. Why was he so interested? Was this something to
do with Bella? No more had been heard, but he knew the baby must have been due
soon.
Harry came back, his face wet, as if he'd been crying and had splashed water on
his face to hide it.
There was something more to this than a simple headache, Severus was sure of
that. He knew Harry's moods almost as well as he knew his own now.
"Harry?" he prompted. Harry sat down on the sofa and stared at his knees.
"I - I was just thinking," said Harry so low Severus struggled to make out the
words. Unlike Harry, he didn't have vampire senses.
"Now, there's words to strike fear into my heart," smiled Severus, trying for
levity, but only seeming to make Harry more miserable as he stared back at him
with a wounded pout.
"Do - do you sometimes think it's wrong?"
"What, Harry?"
"What we do. Sex," Harry admitted.
"Why would it be wrong, Harry?" Severus asked, sinking down to his haunches and
glancing up at Harry.
"Because - because we can't make a baby. That it's unnatural."
Those sounded like the Dursleys' words, not Harry's. The week previously, all
three of them had been imprisoned in Azkaban for life, yet still they were
still able to haunt Harry's life. "You think what we do is unnatural, Harry? To
Muggles, everything we do is unnatural. Flying on broomsticks, Apparating,
casting spells. But you don't feel guilty about them, do you?"
"No, Severus. Just - just the sex."
"What did they say to you, Harry?"
"That I was a freak, unnatural that I'd go to hell for what I was doing."
"They were religious then?"
"No, they never went to church or anything, never mentioned it except when they
were punishing me."
"They were the ones who were unnatural, Harry. Abusing you, raping you, do you
think that's natural?"
"No." Harry looked away, but not before Severus could see the glimmer of tears
behind his glasses.
"Harry, why do you feel guilty about it? They told you it's unnatural to like
boys, did they?"
Harry nodded.
"Did you know that homosexuality happens in nature? Along with masturbation and
every other sexual practice. It isn't confined to humans, whether wizard or
Muggle."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Severus - I feel guilty because I enjoy what we do. I feel I shouldn't, after
- after what happened to me and to you. How could I enjoy it? I can't help
thinking sometimes of what they've said, what they did."
Severus knelt up and wrapped Harry in an awkward hug. "I promise you, Harry.
They are never going to hurt you ever again," Severus whispered fiercely to his
hair.
***
The potion took only two hours to brew, Severus started on it as soon as Harry
had returned to his dorm after feeding. His neck was still a little sore after
Harry had healed it; he had fed rather frantically again but thankfully knew
when to stop. As long as the Dursleys were alive, they had power to hurt his
young husband.
Harry was no longer a boy, but a young man and Severus had only recently
started to notice. Harry would never be tall, the Dursleys so-called care had
seen to that, but now that he'd been eating regularly again, he had filled out
a little and his face had lost the softness of childhood. His jaw was more
angular, he would even need to start shaving soon as well. The Dursleys had
turned him from the confident young man he should have been into someone who
was scared of his own body, its sexual responses and they were going to pay.
The potion finished, Severus decanted it into a glass bottle and walked to the
edge of the anti-Apparation wards. It didn't take him long to arrive on the
island housing Azkaban Prison. He needed to use his Patronus charm a few times
to get past the Dementors, but they had so many prisoners to feed from that
they left him alone for the most part.
The Dursleys were in the one cell, all three of them totally mindless from
whatever horrors the Dementors had made them relive. What could be so horrific
to people who had abused a child so terribly? They didn't notice Severus enter
the cell, nor did they protest when he tipped the potion into their mouths and
they swallowed it, beyond caring by that point.
They would care soon enough. They may have been mindless, but they could still
feel pain.
***
Harry wandered down to breakfast, feeling a little better after his talk with
Severus last night. He'd asked Hermione about it too and discovered, yes, that
indeed there had been cases of animals engaging in homosexual activity and
Muggle scientists were pondering this, after so many years thinking that the
sex drive came from the need to reproduce the genes.
Ron gave him an uneasy smile and Harry wondered if Ron would still be smiling
at him if they knew what he and Snape had done last night. How Harry had
Snape's cock stuffed inside his arse so far that he could almost feel it in his
throat. Neither Severus or Dumbledore were at their usual spots.
As Harry sat down, he noticed Hermione stuffing her Daily Prophet under the
table on an empty space beside her.
"Hermione? What's in there?"
But before Hermione could even answer, Professor McGonagall had stopped beside
Harry.
"Harry, can you come with me for a moment please?" she asked.
Harry's worry increased a notch. She hardly ever called him Harry. He stood up
and followed the woman to an empty classroom as muted conversation followed in
their wake.
"Harry, I am afraid I have some grave news."
Harry's knees buckled beneath him and he held onto a desk to steady himself.
Severus. Oh, God, something had happened to Severus. That's why he wasn't at
breakfast.
"Last night, Harry, your relatives died last night."
"How? How did they die?"
"There's no need for details, Harry. It wasn't pleasant, nor an easy death for
any of them."
"Good," said Harry, feeling the relief wash over him in waves. It was the
Dursleys, not Severus at all.
"Good? Aren't you upset? They were your only remaining relatives, Harry."
"I'm glad they're dead," said Harry. "After what they did to me, they deserved
it."
"Harry, that is not the attitude to take. Do you wish to walk a Dark path, for
feeling like this, this is where you are headed. To take a life is wrong, to
feel joy in death is wrong, no matter whom it is."
"Oh? Like Voldemort?" spat Harry. "You all took joy in that, didn't you?"
"That was different. He was Dark wizard," she protested.
"The Dursleys may not have been wizards but what they did to me was just as
Dark," said Harry defiantly. "I won't feel guilty or sad about their death, I'm
sorry if that's how everyone thinks I should be reacting, but I can't help how
I feel."
"No. And that's what worries me," sighed McGonagall. "Go on, Harry, you'd
better get to class."
"Yes, ma'am," said Harry and fled her censure. How could any of them expect him
to be sad at the Dursleys’ demise? Hadn't he thought of this moment himself for
years? How they could never hurt him again if they were dead? He caught up with
Ron and Hermione as they exited the Great Hall.
"I'm telling you, Hermione. He's gone to gather up the remaining Death Eaters.
Just you wait; he'll be the next Dark Lord."
"Ron, you haven't a clue what you're talking about!"
"What's up?" asked Harry. Hermione's face creased in a worried frown.
"Hermione? What is it?"
"Harry - I - it's Professor Snape, Harry."
"What? What's happened to him?"
"No one knows, Harry. He's been missing since last night."
 
Part 25
Harry felt as if he'd just taken a bludger to the gut; all the breath left his
body for a few seconds and he thought he might pass out. Black dots danced on
the edge of his vision, but he couldn't afford to faint now. They should have
known that Draco would try something after his ploy of having Severus fired
failed. What Draco didn't know was that Harry was a vampire and Severus was his
bonded mate. Draco had just made a fatal mistake. No one messed with a
vampire's mate if they wanted to stay alive.
No one.
***
Severus groaned as he returned to consciousness, his head throbbing as if a
mountain troll had been having a party in there and had brought fifty of his
friends along for the fun. His whole body ached from hours enduring the
Cruciatus curse, but at least the bleeding from his ears and nose had stopped
now. He was stupid; he had no qualms admitting it. Draco had been the last
person on his mind yesterday as he came out of Flourish and Blotts, the book
he'd bought for Harry landing in the mud as soon as Draco had stunned him and
brought him here.
Severus had been in the Malfoy dungeons before, but not as a prisoner until
now. His wand was gone and he was not as adept at Harry at casting wandless
spells. His cloak, robes, trousers, socks and shoes were gone, leaving him only
in his underwear and shirt to combat the chill, and they weren't up to the
task. The stone floor was chilly on his bare legs, he struggled upright, his
muscles feeling like soggy spaghetti after the curses and paced the room to try
and keep himself warm. Ten paces square, that was the size of his cell.
The walls were bare grey stone, some patches so damp that moss grew in the
cracks between each layer. There was a stout wooden door with a closed metal
grille at eye level, but other than that, nothing. There wasn't a bed nor a
blanket, or even a bucket. The lack of facilities and the cold were having an
effect on his bladder, but Severus had endured worse. He would not give Draco
the satisfaction of using the floor like an animal. He could endure this.
He wondered if Narcissa knew that her son was keeping prisoners in the cellars
of the Manor. Severus had heard other voices down here and guessed he wasn't
the only one. Draco may not have been Marked, but he certainly knew how to use
the Unforgivables and plenty of other Dark curses, as he'd been keen to
demonstrate to Severus last night.
Narcissa may have been born a Black and married to a Malfoy, but in all the
years he'd known her, Severus had never seen her express an interest in the
Dark Arts, or even giving any indication that she knew what her husband's
activities actually were. She'd been silent at the trial, her face an
expressionless mask, it was Draco who had attacked Harry and voiced his
opinions for everyone to hear.
Footsteps outside had Severus itching for his wand so that he could hex the
little bastard into next week. How could he ever have thought that Draco was
worth saving from Voldemort? The boy's mind had been poisoned long before now
and there was no way of getting through to him. Not now. Was Bella's madness
catching?
The outside grille slid open and Draco's pointed face peered in.
"Sleep well, Snape?" he asked as if he was nothing more than a cordial host
worried for his guest's welfare. Severus didn't bother to reply, what was the
point? "It doesn't matter, soon it'll not matter. You'll sleep plenty in
Azkaban, if you get that far." Draco leant in. "Potter took everything from
me!" he hissed. "He threw my offer of friendship back in my face; he stole the
Quidditch cup from me year after year. He took the glory during the Tri-Wizard
Tournament. He killed my father. He killed the Dark Lord before I could be
marked and take my rightful place at his side."
"You're delusional," said Severus calmly. "Voldemort killed your father."
"I'm not the mad one in the family, Snape. That honour belongs solely to Aunt
Bella. Do you know what she's saying now?"
Severus couldn't answer. Didn't want to answer.
"That the baby she's carrying is yours," Malfoy grinned, the smile of a
predator toying with his prey.
"Don't be ridiculous," snapped Snape, willing himself not to lose it.
"Oh, I don't think it's that far-fetched, Snape. Not considering what my father
told me before he was Kissed. Wanted to get it all of his chest I think. How
you were their whore while Potter watched. Tell me, what's it like to be raped
by a woman? Did you enjoy it?"
Severus' hand shot up to the grille, but Malfoy had already stepped back.
"Now, now, there’s no need for violence. At least not yet. It's Potter's own
fault, really, so I shouldn't feel too guilty if I were you. He's got this
saving people thing you see. Too bad I couldn't get the mud-blood or the
weasel, but they weren't foolish enough to leave the protection of Hogwarts
wards in the dark. He would have come after them no problem, but I'm not so
sure about you. Pity my little letter to the governors wasn't true, he'd
definitely come after a lover, wouldn't he?"
"Draco, what have you done?" Severus felt his face pale.
"Oh, just left Harry a little note. Hadn't you realised yet, Severus? You're
bait."
***
It took over an hour to persuade the headmaster to allow Harry to leave
Hogwarts and search for Snape, but only on the condition that twenty Aurors
were to accompany him to the edge of the Malfoy Manor wards. Harry would have
agreed to anything by that point just to get away. Draco's note had been
useful, but it wouldn't have mattered. Due to their bond, Harry knew exactly
where Severus was, down to the very cell.
He had his new wand, his old wand lost sometime during the time he'd been kept
by Lucius Malfoy and Voldemort before. Even if Draco disarmed him, he wouldn't
worry. Draco didn't know how adept he was at wandless magic now. Harry closed
his eyes and Apparated into the ballroom of the Manor, the wards no match for a
vampire bond. A trap door in the middle of the floor led down to the dungeons,
he remembered that from before. Harry tucked his wand between his teeth and
began the climb down to rescue his mate.
***
"I have a little surprise for you, Severus," said Draco, but he hadn't come any
closer again. He cast a spell which had Severus landing flat on his back and
immobile from the neck down. He could barely even turn his head. "I've got
another prisoner down here. I've been keeping him hungry and under Imperius for
the past month. I could of course let him loose on Potter, but where's the
poetry in that? No, I want him to turn you," said Draco. "And won't poor Potter
be surprised when he comes to rescue you and you attack him, kill him. They'll
lynch you for killing their golden boy, you'll be lucky to get to Azkaban and
I'll be rid of both of you. The vampire rumours about you will finally be
true."
Severus let Draco ramble on, there was nothing he could say would change the
boy's mind, but there was also the fact that Harry himself was a vampire. Best
to leave that to the element of surprise, for Severus had not doubt that Harry
was on his way, he could feel his presence in the back of his mind and Harry
was angry. Very angry.
The door to the cell swung open, Severus couldn't see who entered, but he could
hear two sets of footsteps.
"Didn't I promise you a feast?" said Draco.
"This?" came a hoarse voice. "He's so scrawny and he's old. You know I like
them young."
"Turn him," said Draco, urging the vampire on with Imperius. The creature
stalked to the middle of the room, Severus could see him out of the corner of
his eye, but he stopped about two feet away and held his head, groaning.
"Turn him!" insisted Draco. "You have to obey me!"
"I can't!"
"What do you mean you can't? You're under Imperius for fuck's sake! Now turn
him!"
"He's bonded to another vampire! I can't touch him!"
"You've got to be joking," said Draco, coming into the room. Severus tried to
issue a warning, but it was far too late for that. The vampire was upon Draco
before the boy knew what hit him. Severus heard the slurping as the vampire fed
and he knew that this time, the vampire would not stop until he'd drained Draco
dry. He'd been left hungry for too long. The spell binding Severus released as
soon as Draco breathed his last and Severus stood up on shaky legs.
The vampire hurled Draco's body to the floor and eyed Severus hungrily, but he
could not do anything to harm him.
"Who is your mate?" he enquired.
"That would be me!" snarled Harry, kneeing the other vampire in the back and
throwing him to the floor.
The vampire turned his head to look at his attacker. Severus saw Harry's eyes
grow wide as he stared at the vampire.
"You!" exclaimed Harry.
 
Part 26
Harry forgot he was a wizard, forgot he had a wand that could cast spells and
ensure the vampire on the floor could writhe in agony for eternity. The rage
coursing through his blood would not be assuaged by the casting of spells; he
needed to hurt the man physically for what he'd done to Harry. The fear his
five year old self had felt, for the vampire on the floor was the one who had
turned him into this. Into a creature who craved blood, needed blood to
survive.
Harry yanked the man's head back by his hair and then began to pound it
backwards and forwards on the floor. Thud. Thud. Thud. Harry was possessed, he
was barely aware of anything except the need to see the vampire hurt as much as
he'd been hurt. He was seeing things through a red haze, blood was dripping
down the vampire's nose, from his ears, from cuts on his face and still Harry
kept pounding and pounding his head until the man's screams grew silent.
"Harry! Stop!" screamed Severus as he tried to yank Harry away. Harry turned to
his mate and bared his fangs, hissing, watching Severus' eyes widen briefly in
fear as he took a few steps away from him. The vampire's blood on the floor was
making Harry's craving worse, but he would not get any sustenance from a
vampire's blood. He needed his mate and Harry prowled towards Severus, who
backed up against one of the cell walls. He'd only fed last night, Severus
would not have recovered yet, but Harry's craving was beyond that now.
The cell stank of blood and fear and both were having an effect on him. He was
so hard, even before he'd even touched Severus.
"Harry, stop," begged Severus, but his voice was steady. "It's too soon. Fight
it. Fight it."
"I need it," said Harry, running his tongue along his fangs.
"No, you don't. You fed last night, Harry. You're fine for a few more days. You
know you are. Fight it; it's just the smell of the blood affecting you. You
don't need it, not yet. Please, Harry. Don't do this."
"Stupefy!" the stunning spell from behind him threw Harry to the ground and he
stayed there, immobile, but still craving.
"Lupin!" gasped Severus and Harry realised he'd just been stunned by his ex-
professor.
"What on earth is going on?" asked Lupin, coming round to stare down at Harry,
twenty Aurors at his back. "Harry? Did I just see you about to attack Severus?"
"It's a long story, Lupin," said Severus. "One we can discuss once we're back
at Hogwarts."
Lupin banished the blood on the floor and bent down to check both Draco and the
vampire. "Malfoy's dead. This one's still breathing," said Lupin as he pushed
the vampire's head aside with his hand. "Shit! This was the vampire who turned
Harry?" asked Lupin, turning back round. "Everyone thought he was dead."
"Obviously not," drawled Snape. "He'd been hiding amongst the Muggles. Good
ploy, ensured none of Voldemort's spies would find out he was still breathing."
Who was he? It sounded like Severus and Lupin both knew him, but it also
sounded like they weren't going to tell Harry who it was.
"You knew Harry was a vampire?" asked Severus
Harry wished they would stop talking about him as if he wasn't there. He may
not have been able to move or speak, but he could still hear.
"Werewolf senses, of course I knew. I just never mentioned it to anyone."
A small moan managed to make itself known from Harry's closed lips and Lupin
hurried to release the binding spell.
"Sorry, Harry. I just didn't want you attacking Severus in that state. We'll
have to think of getting you bonded soon, now that you're of age and
everything. It will be easier to control after that."
"Actually, Remus," said Harry, tugging up the sleeve of his robe and showing
Remus the bracelet enclosing his wrist. "I'm already bonded. To Severus."
***
Harry lay staring at the ceiling, guilt and shame warring inside him. He'd
almost killed Severus in his lust for blood and at the time he hadn't cared. It
was all over the school now, how he was a vampire and was bonded to Professor
Snape. Madam Pomfrey had placed him in a private room just off the infirmary.
Madam Pomfrey and Lupin were the only two who'd been in to visit him. Severus
hadn't come in and Harry could hardly blame him.
Shouldn't the bond have stopped him from hurting Severus like that? Was it
broken? He didn't know and he didn't know who he could ask. Who at Hogwarts was
an expert on vampire physiology?
Madam Pomfrey entered the room and warded the door behind her, a bottle of
blood replenishing solution in her hand.
It had been three days since they came back from Malfoy Manor, and two of those
he'd been under sedation from Madam Pomfrey. Severus still wasn't well enough
for Harry to feed from him. He was in another private room, somewhere away from
Harry's, still being tended to after so many hours of Cruciatus. The blood
replenishing solution wasn't ideal, but it would have to do, for there was no
way Harry was going to feed from Severus ever again. He couldn't risk it; he
would not risk hurting him again. Ever.
Harry knew that the blood replenishing solution would only keep him alive for a
few weeks at the most, it was a temporary measure, but he would rather that
than kill Severus in his blood madness. He had been right in the beginning when
he discovered his condition. He was a monster and he should be put down before
he could hurt anyone else.
"Harry, you're brooding again," admonished Madam Pomfrey as she poured him the
dose in a small glass. Harry swallowed the bitter liquid, not speaking. "It
doesn't do to brood, Harry. Severus will be fine before you know it and then
you two can get back to normal."
Harry gripped the bedclothes so tight his knuckles turned white. "No," he said.
"I'll never be normal. I'm a monster and Severus would be better off without
me."
I think I'll be the judge of that. said Severus in his mind and no matter how
much he didn't want to hurt Severus, Harry didn't want to close off this bond
with him either, so he hadn't done it.
I almost killed you!
But you didn't.
Only because Remus stopped me.
Harry, once you would have started feeding from me, the bond would have kicked
in and you would not have been able to kill me. You were distraught because of
all the blood. You wouldn't have killed me. I know it and so do you.
But I don't, Severus! That's what worries me! What if I can't control the
cravings?
How have they been since you've been back?
Harry paused, thinking. He couldn't actually remember the last time he'd had a
craving, the intense need. Surely he should be feeling something like that
since he hadn't fed properly for a few days now?
I - I haven't had any cravings.
It's working then.
What is, Severus?
I modified the blood replenishing solution, I added a few drops of my blood to
each batch.
You're not well!
Well enough for that, it only needed a few pin pricks of blood. If you keep
taking the solution every day, the cravings will diminish. You'll still need to
feed from me every few days to stay healthy, but by taking the blood
replenishing potion as well every day, you will no longer have the
uncontrollable cravings. You can decide when you need to feed, not your
craving.
Severus, I wish you were here.
Why?
So I could kiss you, you wonderful, stubborn, man! Thank you, Severus, thank
you!
You're welcome. Now get some rest.
Only if you do.
Fine. Go.
"Harry, dear, are you all right? You've been awfully quiet."
Oh, Harry had forgotten Madam Pomfrey was still in the room with him. "I’m
fine, Madam Pomfrey. Do you know what happened? After we got away from Malfoy
Manor?"
"Remus or Severus didn't tell you?"
Harry shook his head. "Well, the Aurors took that vampire into custody, you
know, the one who turned you? It turns out he'd been living in the Muggle world
for years, he wasn't registered nor did he have a bonded donor. He preyed on
Muggle children, he - he..." she paused then, unsure of whether to continue.
"I know, Madam Pomfrey. He was a paedophile; he abused them before he killed
them."
"Oh, Harry. You as well?"
Harry nodded. "I only remember pieces of it, I think I must have repressed it
or he Obliviated me, I'm not sure. The last thing I remember is him having me
in the bath and touching me. That was enough." Harry didn't want to think about
it anymore than that.
"Well, as you know, Harry, only wizards can become infected with vampirism, not
Muggles. He didn't know you were a wizard, didn't even know your name, so when
you bit him and escaped, he thought nothing of it. Didn't know he'd just added
another vampire to the population. You were the one who got away from him, the
only one."
"He's not dead, is he?" asked Harry, wondering how he felt about that. He might
have killed him that day, he was certainly angry enough.
"No, he's in Azkaban as we speak, but he's been sentenced to the Kiss,
unanimous vote."
"What are they going to do to me?"
"Do to you, Harry? What do you mean?"
"Well, if they sent him to Azkaban for being a vampire, they'll send me, won't
they?"
"Harry, dear, he wasn't sent to Azkaban because he was a vampire. He was sent
to Azkaban for the murder and rape of all those children he preyed upon. It
wouldn't matter whether he was a vampire or the man in the moon. It wasn't
because of what he was; it was because of what he chose to do."
"Will I be allowed to go back to school?"
"Of course, dear. Some of the younger students were a little frightened when
they heard that you were a vampire, but Professor Lupin has been having a talk
with them all and explaining things. He's taken over Professor Snape's classes
while he recovers. There's a lot of prejudice against vampires like werewolves,
but most people are very accepting, Harry. Universal popularity is probably
going to be a bit of a long shot."
"I never wanted to be popular anyway," said Harry.
Madam Pomfrey patted the bed. "I have two Gryffindors outside just begging to
see you, shall I let them in?"
"Yes, thanks. Um, Madam Pomfrey, did they ever find out who the vampire was?
His name I mean?" he was hoping that Remus or Severus hadn't told her that he
was to be kept in the dark about his identity. He needed to know, needed that
closure.
"Oh, I thought you knew, Harry. It was Regulus Black, your godfather's
brother."
 
Part 27
Regulus Black, the brother Sirius thought had been murdered by Death Eaters.
That's who had abducted him? Who had turned him into a vampire? Harry was just
glad that Sirius hadn't lived to see it. To know what his brother was what he
had done to Harry. For if Sirius had still been alive and had found out, then
Harry had no doubt that Sirius would be straight back in Azkaban for killing
his brother.
The door opened and Ron popped his head round. "Okay if we come in, Harry?
Madam Pomfrey said it was all right."
"Sure," said Harry, pushing the thoughts aside.
Hermione sat down on the chair by Harry's bed and Ron stood to one side of it
.She had her engagement on a chain around her neck and noticed Harry staring at
it. "My fingers were swelling too much," she explained, smiling. "I'll be glad
when this baby finally decides to arrive."
"How are you feeling?" asked Harry, Hermione looked tired with purple shadows
under her eyes.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing," she laughed, Ron joining in.
"A vampire, mate," said Ron. "Always knew there was something different about
you." He squeezed Harry's hand and grinned down at him. "So, this vampirism,
does it always affect the brain?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you must be mental mate, getting bonded to Snape. Who in their right
mind would want to - " Ron trailed off on seeing Harry's glare. "Er, sorry,
Harry. I was just joking. I don't care who you're married to as long as you’re
happy. You are happy with him, right?"
"I am, Ron. I am. You're really okay with everything?"
"Of course, I've been a prat about it, but I've been seeing Madam Pomfrey about
it. Counselling."
"Counselling?" asked Harry, looking from Ron to Hermione. "Ron, what's wrong?"
"I'll leave you two to it," said Hermione, patting Harry's hand and giving Ron
a quick kiss on the cheek.
Ron sat down on the chair Hermione had vacated and stared at his hands. He
didn't look like he was about to talk anytime soon.
"Ron?" Harry prompted, curious despite himself.
"I freaked out, Harry. Last year, when you told me you were gay. I told you I
was fine with it, but I wasn't, it really threw me and I couldn't understand
why. I - I kept having these dreams, Harry. Nightmares really and after we
found out about you being taken by the vampire I went to see Madam Pomfrey
about it. The dreams weren't mine, Harry."
"Not yours? How was that possible?"
"I don't know, neither does Madam Pomfrey, but she thinks it might be because
we're good friends and we spent a lot of time together. Harry, the dreams
weren't mine. They were yours."
"What?" Harry leaned back against his pillow, the room swaying around him. He
closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
"Harry? Are you okay? Do you want me to fetch Madam Pomfrey?"
"No thanks, Ron. I'm fine. Just a little dizzy. What do you mean they were my
dreams?"
"Well, I think they were more memories than dreams. I dreamed of what happened
to you when the vampire took you, what he did to you. Of course, I only know
that now, I didn't when I was having the dreams."
Harry barely made it to the side of the bed before he threw up over it, his
stomach aching with the effort. Ron knew. Ron saw. Ron banished the vomit and
then poured Harry a glass of water to wash the taste away.
"Please, Ron, I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
"It's okay, I'm okay. It happened a long time ago. So the counselling is
helping you?" Harry asked, playing with a thread on the coverlet, wondering if
he would ever have the courage to do something like that.
"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey is really good. I know it didn't happen to me, Harry, but
afterwards, after the nightmares, it felt as if it had and I needed someone to
talk to. They've stopped now, though."
"When did they stop?" asked Harry.
"Funny that, I've never had one since your birthday, when you were seventeen."
Harry nodded, he'd expected as much. That was the day he'd been bonded to
Severus.
 
***
The Easter holidays were a frantic flurry of studying and revision, most of the
seventh year students had stayed at Hogwarts in order to get in as much study
as possible. The NEWTs were barely two months away and panic was beginning to
set in, even with those who were normally so calm. Ron had gone back to the
Burrow, taking Hermione with him so Harry spent most of his time with Severus.
Not that it was a hardship
Harry closed his Charms textbook with a snap. He couldn't concentrate, his
renewed erection saw to that. God, it felt like he'd been aroused for days. His
libido was playing havoc with him lately. Severus was in the Potions lab again,
he'd been brewing something for the past few days but Harry's questions about
what new Potion the man might be inventing were met with a quirked eyebrow and
comments that it was a surprise for him.
Harry absently fingered the bracelet on his wrist, thinking about his husband
and what they'd been doing last night. Harry had fed from him and afterwards,
Severus had made love to him almost all night long. He'd had five orgasms in
the space of three hours and he'd never felt so connected to Severus as he had
then. Even the memory had him hard again, although he wasn't sure he would be
able to come again after their marathon the night before.
Severus coughed from the doorway to the lab and Harry looked up, only to get
lost in that dark, hungry gaze. A few strides and Severus covered the room,
stooping down to press his lips hard against Harry's. The kiss was fierce,
demanding, devouring and Harry didn't want it to end. He moaned and wrapped his
arms around Severus' neck, caressing the soft skin there and enjoying Severus'
hiss in response.
Severus nibbled Harry's lips, then soothed the bites with a soft swipe of
tongue. "I felt you," Severus whispered against his mouth. "How hard you were."
Harry groaned and his legs widened, the zip of his jeans pressing uncomfortably
against his erection. Severus' hands moved between them and he unzipped Harry's
trousers as deftly as any maid. He sucked on Harry's neck, on that sensitive
spot where Harry's neck and shoulder met and he whimpered as the desire flowed
through him like molten metal. "Please," he begged. "Please."
"Like this?" asked Severus as he gripped Harry's leaking cock in his fist and
stroked, the rhythm tantalisingly slow.
"In me. I want you in me," breathed Harry. He felt so empty.
Severus paused in his ministrations to Harry's cock and looked at him sadly.
"Much as I'd love to oblige, Harry, I can't. Not after last night. I'm not as
young as you."
"Oh," said Harry. "Your fingers then, please."
Severus gave him a soft kiss and nodded before summoning a jar of oil from the
bedroom. Harry undid his jeans the rest of the way, then pushed them and his
underwear down his legs and stepped out of them. He didn't even bother
unbuttoning his whole shirt, just the top two and then yanked it over his head.
Harry settled down on the soft rug in front of the fire, Severus had never
banished it since the day he'd conjured it. Even the memory of what they'd been
doing on it then had Harry anxiously craving his husband's hands on his body.
Severus coated his fingers, both hands until they were glistening and Harry
panicked a little, surely he wouldn't stretch enough for that? But then Severus
started stroking his chest, paying particular attention to his scars. "Severus?
What are you doing?" he asked. The oil was warm and made his skin tingle, as if
butterflies kept fluttering close to his skin.
"It's working, Harry," said Severus as he continued stroking and stroking.
"What is?"
"It's the potion I've been working on for you. It's removing the scars. All of
them," Severus lifted up Harry's right hand and smoothed the oil over the back
of it, rubbing it in slow soft circles with his thumbs. When he'd finished,
Harry looked at the skin there. Unblemished but for a few freckles. The scar
from Umbridge was totally gone. Harry felt tears squeeze from the corners of
his eyes and he blinked them back. He couldn't see down his chest from his
prone position on the floor, but he guessed those scars were diminishing too.
Severus had done this for him, created this potion for him? He didn't know how
he could ever thank the man.
It was so soothing, so relaxing as Severus continued to massage him that if it
hadn't been for Harry's erection which was desperate for any attention, he
probably would have fallen asleep. Severus' hands ghosted over his inner thighs
and Harry wailed in frustration, for Severus had ventured nowhere near his cock
or his entrance yet. "Severus! Please!"
Severus chuckled, low and deep throated as he watched Harry writhe on the rug.
"Are parts of you feeling neglected, my Harry?"
"You know they are," pouted Harry.
"You're adorable when you pout," said Severus as he bent over and sucked on
Harry's bottom lip. Harry bucked up against him, moaning into his mouth.
Severus' hands skimmed down Harry's chest, tweaking both nipples on his way
before he finally, finally, settled his index finger at that secret place
between his legs and Harry almost sighed with the relief he felt as the invader
pushed its way inside.
Severus knew his body so well now and it didn't take him long to find Harry's
prostate and massage it with as much care as he'd massaged the rest of Harry's
body earlier. With his other hand, Severus stroked Harry's cock in tandem with
his fingers easing in and out of him. Harry pistoned his hips up and down,
feeling so full, so complete. His whole body was thrumming with pleasure and he
knew it would not take him long; he'd been teased for too long. The room spun
around him, he closed his eyes, arching up as the first tremors took him,
bathing Severus' hands in drops of pearl as he came, more of a dribble rather
than a spurt but still strong for all that. He wasn't seeing stars, he was
seeing entire galaxies as the colours flashed behind his eyelids and Severus
tried to gently ease his fingers out. Harry's arse twitched, not ready for them
to be gone just yet.
"Stay," he pleaded as Severus lay down beside him and kept his fingers inside
Harry. Severus kissed him and then he softly moved his fingers inside him
again. It sent a strange sensation to Harry's groin; not quite an arousal but
it made his damp cock jerk a little.
"Am I hurting you?" asked Severus, as he watched Harry's cock with interest as
well.
"No, it feels, good," mumbled Harry. "You feel good inside me. Thank you,
Severus. For the potion."
"You're welcome," Severus kissed his forehead. "You should get some sleep."
Harry smiled in reminiscence. "Ah, so should you. From what I remember neither
of us got much sleep last night."
"No, you're too tempting," said Severus, licking Harry's ear. "Sleep, brat."
"Yes, git," smiled Harry as he drifted off, Severus' fingers still inside him.
 
Part 28
Harry whimpered in his sleep and turned away from Severus, untucking the covers
from him as he did so. Severus stroked Harry's back and kissed his hair. Harry
stilled and his breathing evened out once more. It was the night before his
last exam, Potions and every night since they'd started Harry had been having
nightmares.
The truth about their relationship had graced the pages of the Daily Prophet
when they'd returned from Malfoy Manor and even Dumbledore had agreed that it
was stupid to keep it secret at school now and they had shared quarters ever
since.
They'd both had plenty of Howlers about it of course, both from people
complaining about a vampire being allowed to roam free round the school to prey
on those poor defenceless children and then in the next breath, they were
ranting at Severus for taking advantage of one of his students (the
aforementioned vampire.) They couldn't win no matter what they did, so they
just decided to please themselves and the rest of the Wizarding world could
just sod off.
Bella had given a birth to a baby boy in April; the announcement had been in
the prophet, as had the adoption announcement. Narcissa was going to raise her
sister's child and Severus and Harry both were relieved when the birth
announcement gave the father as Rodolphus Lestrange. Either Bella had told them
that's who the father was or that a paternity charm had revealed the baby's
father. Severus was just pleased that it wasn't him; he wasn't sure how he
would have coped if the child had been his.
Thinking about it again had him remembering the conversation he'd had with
Harry afterwards. Harry had been so interested in both Hermione's and Bella's
pregnancy for the same reason. He'd always wanted a family of his own, as he'd
said to Severus that night, curled up in Severus' lap. Severus could understand
the reasoning behind it, Harry's family had been such a disappointment that it
seemed he wanted to give a child all the love and care he'd been denied. They
may have been wizards, but even they couldn't change nature that much. Neither
one of them could get pregnant, but there were other options, something Severus
was going to discuss with Harry once his exams were over.
He smiled in the dark, kissing his husband's head again before he fell back
asleep.
***
"You will have three hours to complete the practical part of your exam and two
hours for the written theory. All the equipment you need will be in the store
cupboards, you need to decide on your own equipment and ingredients."
The examiner stopped speaking and handed out scrolls of parchment to the few
students who were taking the Potions NEWT. It was so strange to be in the
Potions classroom without Severus in it. Harry stared at the desk, as if he
could conjure his husband there by sheer will alone. Hermione wasn't here, she
was taking her exam in the infirmary under the watchful eye of Madam Pomfrey
and another examiner, Madam Pomfrey wanted to make sure nothing they might be
brewing could harm Hermione or her baby.
Finished with the scrolls, the examiner walked back to the desk and turned the
hourglass half way. "You may begin," he said, settling it upside down and the
sands started drifting into the bottom. Harry glanced down at his first scroll,
the practical. They had to brew three Potions from a choice of six. Harry let
out a relieved sigh. He'd done all of them before and had got them right. He
smiled to himself and made his way to the store cupboard to get out his knives
and cauldron. This was going to be easy.
***
Severus paced the living room, trying not to give in to the urge to bite his
nails. He hadn't done that since he was a first year, but he was still a little
nervous on Harry's behalf. Harry had never done as well as he could have done
in Potions and even Severus was surprised when his husband had passed his OWLs,
but the NEWTs were always that little bit more difficult and time consuming.
Marks were taken off if you hadn't finished in time, even if there were
spelling mistakes on the parchment of the written part. Would Harry do well
enough?
That wasn't all he was nervous about; Severus wondered how Harry would feel
about the surprise. Well, two surprises really. Only Hermione Granger knew
about either of them, as he'd needed her help with the first one and her advice
for the second.
The clock on the mantel chimed three and he sank down on the sofa feeling as if
he was a puppet who'd just had his strings cut. Three o'clock. The final exam
was over and any minute now Harry was going to come charging in that door with
either a big grin or a disappointed pout.
At almost exactly five past, the outer door opened and Harry came in. His face
was drawn and he looked almost as pale as one of the ghosts.
"Harry?"
"I mucked it up," said Harry, his voice hoarse as if he was trying not to cry.
"I knew you shouldn't have used a silver cauldron if dragon blood was one of
your ingredients. I knew it!"
"What happened? Did it explode?" Severus asked gently. He was disappointed, he
knew it, but it wouldn't do to berate Harry about it now, the boy was probably
feeling bad enough.
Harry looked up and smiled at him. "Gotcha!"
"What?"
"It was a joke, Severus. I knew not to use a silver cauldron, so I didn't. I
think I passed."
"You!" exclaimed Severus before wrapping him in a hug and kissing him
passionately. "Congratulations. I've got a surprise for you."
"Oh, what? You know I love surprises! It's not my birthday yet, though."
"Think of it as a present for acing your NEWTs."
"We don't get the results till July, Severus."
"I know you; I know how hard you've worked. You've aced them," said Severus,
disentangling himself from Harry's embrace and reaching for the parcel on the
coffee table. It was wrapped in brown paper and string.
Harry undid the string with a spell and then unwrapped what was underneath.
Harry stared at the book, then at Severus, then at the book again. He couldn't
seem to form words. "Severus? What? How?" Harry gazed down at the book in his
hands and ran his fingers over the words embossed on the cover.
The Art of Defence: Vol.1-7
by H. J. Potter
Edited by H. Granger
"Remember I told you your notes would be suitable as a textbook? Miss Granger
helped me get them in some semblance of order and ready for publication. We've
already contacted several wizarding schools and they are keen to use them as
their text for Defence Against the Dark Arts. This book contains volumes one to
seven, suitable for first years through to seventh years; they'll only ever
need the one Defence book, this one."
"Wow," said Harry. "I don't know what to say. Thank you, Severus. This means so
much to me."
"You're very welcome, Harry. I thought I might take the famous author out to
dinner this evening, I've made reservations at Luigi's in London."
"Luigi's? Can we afford that?"
"You can," said Severus, opening Harry's book and pointing to the slip of paper
inside it. "Your first royalty cheque."
Harry grinned. "In that case, I'd love to treat you to dinner, Severus."
"Yes, there are a few more things we have to discuss," said Severus, handing
him an envelope.
"More surprises?" asked Harry, slipping his thumb under the seal and removing
the contents. "Adoption agencies?"
"A good surprise, I hope?"
"God, Severus! Yes!" Harry flung his arms around Severus' neck and kissed him
soundly. Severus could feel Harry's tears drip into his mouth. Happy tears for
a change. He hoped he would see more of them in the future.
Part 29 Epilogue : Five Years Later
The Grange was a madhouse on Nathan's fourth birthday party, screaming kids
everywhere you looked and Harry wouldn't have wanted it any other way. "David!
Give that present back to Nathan at once!" shrieked Hermione to their eldest
child, who was also Harry and Severus' godson. "It's not your birthday!" David
reluctantly parted with the gaily wrapped present and pouted at his mother, who
had long since grown immune to such tactics. "Don't you pull that face with me
young man," said Hermione. "If you're not going to play properly you're going
to have a nap."
"Not tired," he said sullenly. "I don't have to go to sleep, do I Uncle Harry?"
Harry tried not to laugh, the kids were getting so good at manipulating him,
and he knew he was far too soft on them but he couldn't help it. "No, David,
you don't."
Molly grinned at Harry. "You spoil them, Harry."
He shrugged, better they were spoilt than locked in a cupboard for ten years
and he was not going to apologise for it.
As Severus brought in the birthday cake, all the children sat up round the
table and waited patiently for their slice, the first time they'd been quiet
all day.
As Severus handed out the pieces of cake to the children, the doorbell rang.
They weren't expecting anyone. All the Weasley children were already here, Ron
and Hermione's two, Bill and Fleur's three and one child each belonging to Fred
and George.
Severus arched an eyebrow at Harry. "Are you expecting anyone?"
Harry shook his head and went to answer the front door. What he found there was
a child around five years old with an envelope clutched in his hand, with Harry
and Severus' names scratched on the front.
"Aunt Narcissa said I had to give this to you," said the boy, handing Harry the
envelope. Harry knew then who it was; this must be Bella's son. He looked
nothing like his mother, with dark curly hair and bright blue eyes. There was
nothing of the Malfoys in him either.
Harry's hand shook as he took the envelope, just as Severus came to the door to
see what was keeping Harry.
"Harry, what - ?" Severus stopped and stared at the child on their doorstep.
"You must be Andrew," said Severus, sounding calmer than Harry felt. Where was
Narcissa? Why wasn't she with the boy?
"Hello, Uncle Severus," said Andrew staring up at him, unblinking. "Uncle
Harry." The eyes looked far older than that of a five year old child. Harry
removed the seal and read the note within with a sinking feeling in his chest.
Dear Harry and Severus,
I know you have no love for me or my family, but I beg you, please look after
Andrew. He needs a good nurturing home and that is something I cannot give him.
The Manor is too full of ghosts and grief and I cannot cope with him any
longer. There is a vault at Gringotts filled with enough gold to see to
Andrew's necessities until he comes of age. Please, please show him all the
love you show your son and maybe this time things will work out differently.
Narcissa Black Malfoy.
Harry glanced down at the child who stood as poised as any adult, not the five
year old child he actually was. It was quite a contrast to the children running
round playing hide and seek in the Grange, their squeals of delight audible
even from out here.
Harry handed the envelope to Severus, not sure what to think, what to feel. Why
couldn't Narcissa cope? And why on earth did she think Harry and Severus were
the best option to look after the boy considering what his parents had done to
Severus? Harry looked to Severus for some clue as to what he wanted to do.
"Come in, Andrew," said Severus, holding the door open. As Andrew entered the
house, he turned and gave Harry a small knowing smile over his shoulder.
For just a second, instead of the bright blue eyes, Harry was sure he saw the
glimmer of red.
The End
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