And we're back!

-YDHP-

Given the details he had about his 'blank time', few as they yet were, Vlad wasn't surprised Narcissa was wary of him.

"Harry?"

"He's... it's Vlad. For real. We just want to make sure he's alright before re-introducing him to the public."

Vlad held his hands up, trying to appear unthreatening. Apparition was thankfully as easy as it ever was.

"I don't really remember what I was like the past... however long, but it wasn't me. I have my mind back now, and I'd rather Harry ash me than ever let me hurt you or Amara."

Amara, it turned out, was already mobile. He wasn't quite walking unaided, but he pulled himself up on the sides of his little playpen and smiled up at Vlad.

"Hi!"

Vlad was relieved to find his urge to hurt them relatively minor, and he put it down to being ravenously thirsty. There was bagged human blood in the tent though, and once he slurped down a few bags Vlad felt much more like himself. Bertrand hovered warily, watching.

"Better?"

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna try and get some rest, work on fixing myself tomorrow. Tonight. Whichever."

"Very well. I will return when necessary."

"Thanks."

Leaving by portkey, Bertrand vanished. Harry waited for Vlad to kick off his boots and throw off the shirt he had on, running his hand over his chest with scars old and new.

"Will that ever fade?"

"The staking? No idea. I don't think many have survived them. Bertrand has a couple of old scars from wood laced with stuff that leaves a reaction, and I'm sure several biters have been staked places besides the chest which makes it harder to actually slay us... but I guess we'll find out."

Harry immediately got into bed with Vlad, scent and feel of his mate dulled but not ineffective in relaxing Vlad. Their bond was broken when he was ashed, but Harry had obviously taken such close care of him while Vlad was... not himself, that the connection had strengthened itself that way. Physically restoring it could come later, when he was rested and his mind had calmed a little - Vlad didn't want to risk hurting his mate, and sex had always been a little wild, much harder to control himself in the heat of the moment with Harry.

"You sure you feel alright?"

"Yeah. Tired, mostly. And nervous about going back to civilsation. And that isn't even including dealing with my dad and this new brother I apparently have."

Nodding, Harry ran fingers over Vlad's side, the touch leaving tingles in its wake. They laid together for a while, Harry drifting off first and his rhythmic breathing enough of a lullaby for Vlad to finally dare rest. He'd been worried if he slept that it would let his reflections out for so long, the nerves still lingered now.

But he woke next to Harry, who remained unbitten and sound asleep, warmer than Vlad and lovely to cuddle with. He couldn't imagine what his mate must have gone through to deal with that Vlad before, and even with eternity to try Vlad doubted he would manage to ever repay Harry for it.

Harry began to stir soon after Vlad woke, immediately seeking him out with a soft smile.

"Hey. Still with me?"

"Always. Sleep alright?"

"Mmm."

He left for the bathroom quickly, but returned and slid back into bed with Vlad for a quiet few minutes of nothing but tactile contact. It was incredible, and Vlad completely felt like himself at last.

"We should get you fed and then get in touch with Bertrand. The sooner you feel safe again, the better."

"Guess so. How long have we even been out here?"

"Uh, a good few weeks now, I'm not actually sure."

Vlad rolled onto his back, Harry following him instinctively to lay his head on Vlad's chest.

"What about Sally and George?"

"Ingrid looked in on them, told them you were hurt and having trouble with vamp stuff. They want to see you, but we agreed you weren't safe."

They'd been protecting his family from him, and Vlad hadn't even known.

"Thank you. I have no idea how you managed to... cope, all this time."

Harry sat up, looking down at Vlad with a stern determination writ across his face.

"I knew you were in there somewhere, and I was coming to get you whether you liked it or not. It was worth it, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

After he'd downed some blood, they headed out so Harry could eat while Vlad scribbled a note through the two-way books they owned, which had Bertrand being delivered to the tent by phoenix only a few minutes later.

"How are you feeling Vlad?"

"Like me still. Just need to work out the little bugs really. So, shall we get started?"

Vlad hated meditation as much as he always had, but it was imperative - as Bertrand always said - that Vlad master himself, and learn to maintain control or else the little attempts his darker side had made so far to eek out could become huge fights for control. Vlad was powerful, but he also had to be strong with himself, and he wasn't invincible. Nor were the people around him, and that was the real risk - Vlad's dark side wouldn't hurt him, but it could certainly hurt others.

With a lack of other things to use as tests, Bertrand tried offering Vlad soya blood again. He reached for the bottle, felt his hand shaking, twitching, grit his teeth and forced his fingers to close around the bottle.

It shattered as his fist clenched tight, soya and vampire blood dripping to the floor from his hand full of broken glass. Sighing, he cleaned the mess and healed himself, glad to see his magic still responded as expected.

"Do you feel more powerful?"

"Not particularly, but I haven't done anything to really push a limit with it to be sure. I'm sure someone will pick a fight with me and we can find out eventually."

"You do appear to have a talent for trouble."

"I don't go looking for it."

"It just finds us."

Harry sat down next to him, leant against Vlad and sighed softly in contentment. Their reconnection was already strengthening, clear in the way their magic and emotions responded to such simple touch.

"Precisely. And in our defence, we've dealt with every trouble so far. Mostly."

Fed and in need of a little movement after his attempts at meditation, Vlad got up to follow Harry to the kitchen so his mate could eat. Narcissa and Bertrand were their typical cordial selves to one another while Harry wolfed down at least three full portions of breakfast, followed by a slice of cake that was keeping under a charm.

"Better?"

"Mhmm!"

Harry answered, mouth still full before he washed the cake down with tea.

"I will return this evening to work with you again, try not to over-exert yourself mentally for the while. I need you in peak concentration tonight."

"I will, and thanks Bertrand. Take the portkey so Fawkes won't have to keep playing taxi."

After he left, Vlad looked up from his cup of tea to see Narcissa still regarding him warily as she supervised Amara making his way through a bowl of mushy food. He was a smiley thing, which might never have stopped surprising Vlad.

"I know you're nervous, and it's fine. Once we know I'm in control, you'll be free. This was never meant to be such a permanent solution."

She nodded after a minute.

"I think I shall almost miss the mountains."

"Well, you can always visit them again."

"True."

Harry finished his second cup of tea before he spoke again.

"Draco said they're working on untangling the financial mess Riddle left behind, because he had fingers in a lot of old family pies. But his legal agreement with you still stands Narcissa, so you won't be financially dependent on anyone, or stuck in any one place."

Draco knew his mother was alive, that she wasn't... evil, but Vlad still thought there would be a great rift to heal, and the two might not reconcile immediately. They mightn't even be able to live together.

"And what of the two of you?"

"Well, we... actually, did we decide to go looking for her?"

Harry shrugged.

"I figured we would, I know you want to and you said it would be better to do before you're closing in on eighteen, because of your title."

"Looking for who?"

"The dragon mother.."

Narcissa cocked her head, confused.

"That's a myth."

Vlad hummed.

"Most myths have their roots in truth, and as I was able to communicate with a dragon with no prior knowledge how, it feels like there's a degree of truth already to the idea that we came from the same bloodline. My surname does translate to dragon."

"What of Amara?"

He shared a look with his mate, who nodded.

"He's coming with us. He's not safe away from us, not with who his parents are. I know you want to be in his life, but I hardly imagine you want to be dragged along on our trip."

Narcissa stayed quiet, looking between he and Amara a few times before turning away. Harry didn't let it linger.

"If you want to come, you can, but wouldn't it be better for you to start readjusting to normal life? We can always check in, visit with him. It's not like we're stuck for transport with the phoenix vampire over there."

"Perhaps."

They left it at that - her voice had shook a little on the end, and it was clear the sheer amount of time she'd spent freely bonding with the boy had taken a toll on the idea they'd be seperated. He doubted caring for a small child would be easy on the road, as it were, but between magic and will, they ought to manage.

"We're not leaving right away anyway, you need to spend time with the humans and I think Ingrid would skin us alive if you came back and vanished right away again after she's worried about you so long."

"Probably, but don't ever let her hear you say that."

Harry laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Good point."

Packing up the tent in their little cave space felt surreal - they'd been there months now, really, months of war and terror and hiding, recovering.

Bertrand's sessions with Vlad had been helpful, but they'd found a speedier way to ground Vlad's control - Harry. It took the vampire a few days to feel comfortable initiating physicality with Harry, wary of being too strong or losing control in a bad way, but it had been oh so worth the wait.

He could still feel Vlad's hands clutch at his shoulders, remembered the way pale thighs squeezed at stocky hips as Harry leant over him, almost mindless with the finally, at last feeling of their bodies connecting again. The magic of their bond clicking back into place had been more powerful than any skin-deep pleasure, but that didn't stop them pushing for that too. His hand laced with Vlad's at the side of the vampires head, Harry's free hand supporting his weight as Vlad's roamed his chest, his back, re-learning the contours of his muscles.

They should have been sloppy, clumsy, but it turned out that instinct and familiarity had never left as Harry pressed deeper into Vlad, watching him, feeling drunk on the responsiveness of shaking muscles and low, needy whines.

And once they started? It took quite a while to stop. Both of them were tired, but beaming and tactile and affectionate. Vlad was even drinking soya blood, no violence against it in sight. If sex kept him in check, it was a service Harry was more than happy to provide.

Vlad shouldered his backpack, Harry picked up Amara, and Narcissa took Vlad's other hand when they were ready to go.

"Ok. Here we go."

There was the soft, warm sensation that often accompanied being popped from place to place via phoenix magic, the caves around them gone to be replaced by the less-familiar walls of Malfoy Manor. Clearly, Draco had been redecorating. He must have needed a hobby while they were all effectively in hiding.

"Harry!"

He was spotted first by an excitable little whirlwind, Raven rushing over as fast as a toddler could to get to him and hug his leg. Vlad took Amara so Harry could reach down and pick Raven up, breathing in her unique scent and feeling his heart lift at her joyful, giggly greetings.

"Did I hear- Harry! Vlad! You're back!"

From Draco's angle at the doorway, he'd not spotted the shorter woman behind them, but as soon as he took a few steps toward them, he caught sight of Narcissa and stopped dead.

"Mother."

He saw Narcissa shake from the corner of his eye, but she pulled herself together and the tremor in her voice was barely detectable.

"Draco."

"Who that?"

Raven had no time for adult tension - she was intrigued by Amara.

"This is Amara. He's... someone Vlad and I will be taking care of."

"Oh. Hi!"

Amara surveyed her with his oddly keen stare, gnawing on his fist in the meantime. Others had been summoned by the noise to see them stood there, a spectacle holding infants and a sign the fight really was over at last - both against Riddle and against Vlad's reflections. There were hugs and greetings and Draco took the opportunity to avoid the confrontation with his mother by dashing off to contact the Weasleys.

"You guys have the same rooms!"

Draco called out behind him, and Vlad turned to Harry.

"We should go unpack Amara's stuff, at the very least."

"Yeah, good idea."

Narcissa followed silently, and Harry didn't blame her - everyone was looking. Knowing she wasn't evil and knowing it were two different things. But if Draco was ready to invite the Weasleys over right away, he obviously didn't actually consider his mother to be a threat.

Their timing was fortuitous, as Amara needed to be changed just in time as he was laid on the big bed, stretching his legs out and giggling joyfully. Harry offered to take diaper duty since it was something they'd have to get used to doing anyway, while Vlad made sure they had something for the small boy to eat and drink. They'd not been up there all that long when Vlad straightened up, sensing the shifts in magic as others joined them in the Manor.

"I know you don't want to do this, but if we explain about you properly to everyone all at once, then we only have to do it once. And I get the feeling Draco wants an explanation more than anyone, so lets just get it over with?"

Vlad asked Narcissa, who eventually nodded but reached for Amara. Harry handed him over, letting her feel bolstered by the solid weight of he who had needed her recently. Draco might have needed her before, when she couldn't be there, but he was grown almost to manhood by then and had a new family of sorts, new people to rely on. Harry knew there was enough there for them to rebuild, given time, but they really did have to start at the beginning.

"Ok. Ready?"

They headed down the stairs, Narcissa taking her surroundings in a little more now. It must have looked fairly different, infused with a new flavour of life after so many had been in and out of there.

"Vladdo! Harry!"

The Weasley twins leapt on them eagerly, and they were soon passed around for hugs and scolding and "we were worried!", then exclamations of joy to see them again. And then everyone noticed Narcissa and Amara, and Vlad drew in a deep breath at Harry's side.

"We'll explain, but you have to hear us out, alright?"

Shuffled toward a bigger room suited to seating them all, food and drinks appeared all around them courtesy of elves, who seemed to melt away but Harry would have bet anything they were listening in, curious about the return of the Malfoy matriarch after so long.

"Alright. I guess we start from the beginning, when we left to 'join' Riddle..."

-YDHP-

I know it's been a while, I know you've all been really patient, and I appreciate it a lot.