Disclaimer - I still don't own Harry Potter or Young Dracula. Sadly.

And so... here we are. Year Five!

Up front - this story is, as you may have noticed, rated M! Because... our boys are growing up and well, they misbehave. I will endeavour to put warnings in the authors note for any chapter containing such debauchery, but it is going to happen.

And this chapter does not start immediately after where Vlad and Harry's conversation was before, because that still would have been Year Four but you'll get answers. Maybe. Muahahaha.

I think that is everything.

On we go!

-YDHP-

It was only one day into summer, less than twenty four hours since Harry had last seen Vlad as they disembarked from the Hogwarts Express, sharing loaded looks as they were in too public a place to be affectionate

And it sucked.

Harry had had to resort to Dreamless Sleep just to drift off, missing the comforting presence of his boyfriend. He woke feeling off-balance, wondering how Vlad had turned Harry into somebody who couldn't sleep alone.

They had their charmed journals, and it meant they had talked until Vlad had to leave, to try and pacify his dad, intending to stop some kind of outing involving Vlad's 'first drink' despite the fact Vlad was fifteen, not sixteen and as such couldn't drink blood.

Harry had been too embarrassed of his clingy behaviour to ask, fingering his portkey necklace and unsure if it would even still work to take him to Stokely Castle where Vlad was with all the new wards in place. If he strained his senses, Harry could feel how Malfoy Manor hummed with magic.

But he knew - whatever he was feeling, Vlad would be getting ten times worse as there was an 'adjustment' period for separation with his mate. He wondered if the same ran true for Ingrid, or even Bertrand. Did Bertrand know? Harry remembered reading that bonds could be unreciprocated, though on a basic level, Harry couldn't see Ingrid Dracula ever having something as inane as boy trouble.

Of course, Bertrand's presumed homosexuality may be a sticking point. Then there was his boyfriend, and now his daughter. Harry found Raven was a child difficult not to enjoy the company of - she was quiet, but gifted both Harry and Draco with bright smiles when they talked to her.

Severus was at first, reticent to let Raven out of his sight, but Harry didn't blame him - raising a newborn alone while having Voldemort for a boss, demanding complicated potions and probably torturing him and threatening his little girl. But Raven was now effectively Harry and Draco's little sister - despite not a single biological parent in common between the three of them - and it became clear she flourished with company and interaction.

"How old is she now?"

"Seven months, give or take a week."

They didn't press the issue, but it became clear that the 'birth' had been traumatic on Severus' body - he still moved stiffly, and if anyone's hands got too close to his abdomen he recoiled. The man had been through an utterly awful year, and they knew it would take time for him to relax, to feel safe again. Bertrand was trying to juggle that and getting to know his daughter, meaning Draco and Harry spent much of their time with just each other.

"Cheer up brother dear. I miss Hermione too yanno."

Harry found himself smiling - not for the sentiment, but for the reminder of how the Draco they met in first year would never have dreamed of using abbreviations and slang words.

"Yeah, but her dad isn't Count Dracula, and it's a lot safer for your girlfriend to visit you at your home. Nobody is even meant to know I'm here."

"They'll be here for your birthday. That's only three more days."

"I know. Let's just get on with homework, impress the book worms we both landed."

They needed no prompting from the adults, throwing themselves into studies to pass the time, and so there would be no impediment to their time with their respective partners. There was zero doubt they would have done all their homework in no time flat.

"Explain how to transform a human into an animal"

"And why it is different to an Animagus transformation."

The two boys shared a grin, both with their usual stack of study snacks - Harry and Draco still shared the carnivorous appetites of their variant species, and Harry's sugar craving complimented Draco's chocolate addiction well. The house elves would scold them for having food in the library, and Draco would jokingly lament there was a time they wouldn't have looked cross-eyed at a Malfoy.

"What is it about having Vlad in our lives that makes everyone soft? He chased off my parents, rescued my godfather, indirectly or directly saved all three of the other Champions lives even though he almost died every single task... has Weasleys partying at Malfoy Manor and made Gryffindors and Slytherins friends. Even Ingrid's cheered up a bit the last two years."

Harry smiled fondly as he thought of his rather wonderful boyfriend, seeing amusement dance in Draco's amber-tinted eyes.

"I guess because he works so hard to be more than the expectation of evil vampire, and it's hard not to respond to that. Plus, he obviously values family and choice since he doesn't get much of one..."

Harry trailed off, hunting through his work pile for his Astronomy chart homework.

"Draco... when was your last dose of Wolfsbane?"

He didn't even look concerned, and Harry was confused.

"It's too late, it has to be taken all week. But I will take this one months hit to have Severus back. Don't bring it up with him, please? I don't want to make him feel bad for forgetting."

"He's going to notice when you have to be locked away."

"Nothing to be done. Let's just get this essay finished."

Harry nodded, turning back to his books. Raking over the issue wouldn't change that Draco was going to have to go through the transformation as nature cruelly intended, forced upon him as opposed to a birthright.

"Wait. You don't have to do it alone anymore."

"Harry, I will eat you alive under the moon."

"Not me. Well, not just me. Has Hermione not told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Ah. I'm in trouble."

"Told me what Harry? If you don't tell me now so help me Merlin-"

"We became animagi!"

Harry held his hands up in defence, warding off an irate werewolf in a bid to not find out if Harry's bulk would outweigh Draco's supernatural strength.

"You... what?"

"The last year or so. We've been training to become animagi. And... we did it."

"How did you hide that?"

Hoping he didn't get his boyfriend in trouble, Harry shrugged and watched the hackles on Draco slowly go down.

"Vlad. Gives an insight on werewolf senses to ensure you didn't sniff us out."

"Moron. Did anything go wrong?"

"No. And Vlad can't transform that way, so he always supervised our practices. The worst that happened was... no, Hermione can tell you about it. I promised to keep it secret, she's already gonna lynch me."

Draco's eyes tightened as he considered Harry's words, then his girlfriends formidable temper before relaxing.

"Fair enough."

They lapsed back into silence and Harry managed three lines on his essay - until Draco disturbed the scratch of his quill again.

"What's your form?"

"Not telling."

"Wait. I remember that day you reeked of birds. Is that it?"

Sighing, Harry realised his would-be brother was literally like a dog with a bone.

"Yes, and that's all you're getting out of me if you don't want to see my other side."

It took a second for the blond to click, then his eyes skated down to where Harry's basilisk bite scar remained. He gulped a little.

"Yeah, why don't we leave it at that."

Five minutes later they were asking the house elves for cake, animosity forgotten. When Harry went to bed that evening, he stared at the empty space all around him that Vlad should be filling. Only three days to go.

"Vladdy! Are you sure you must return to that stinking breather hole of a school?"

"Dad, we go over this every time."

"And yet, you continue to heartlessly abandon me Vladimir!"

"I thought you wanted me to be heartless dad?"

"Well yes but- what I meant was... Renfield, get the door will you? It's probably that old crone."

Vlad closed his eyes, counted to ten and thought of Harry's upcoming birthday to focus on something other than the dull ache in his back that would become a full on pain attack within the hour. He adjusted his cape, gritting his fangs as he prepared to 'present' to his grandparents. Ingrid watched, not bothering to even stand up like dogs on a showline with him.

At least he was getting it all done with. Dad, granny and grandpa... with any luck, he could spend more time with Harry over the summer. Since he hadn't yet found the nerve to ask Harry to portkey over at night, pathetically hoping Harry would ask and validate Vlad's missing him.

He knew Harry missed him to an extent, but perhaps not the same and he may well be enjoying the break from Vlad watching him sleep, from being around him all the time. So Vlad forced himself to be content with waiting for Harry's birthday, with talking through the journals until his dad would come in and demand his attention.

"Too much colour in your cheeks, do they make you spend time outside at that school?"

"I have classes outside, so... yes."

And so it begins. Vlad forced himself to stand up straight, itching to tear off the stifling leather and hasten away to Malfoy Manor.

The absolute micro-second Atilla and Krone flapped off, Vlad threw off his cape and sighed deeply. Ingrid watched with a hint of amusement as he did so, knowing Vlad had hated having to wear ghastly Champions outfits through the year and vampire attire was no better to him.

He really wished the VHC hadn't publicised Vlad's entry into the Triwizard Tournament, though they appeared to have missed out reporting his near death experiences in each task. The Sunblock had somehow gotten a picture from the award ceremony, an eerie unmoving image of Vlad holding his trophy next to the "breather magic minister" as it was worded.

It meant explaining himself, as he hadn't told his family about it and Vlad didn't want to go into details about the subsequent kidnap, which wasn't public but with his grandparents part of the VHC itself, they had heard about it.

"Well, that was an experience."

"An awful one."

Ingrid winked, tossed Vlad a chocolate frog from his own bag - though Ingrid stole his things frequently so he wasn't too surprised - and dropped down onto the chair in his room while he changed in the bathroom.

"How's your back doing?"

"Agonising, thanks for asking. It's as healed as it'll ever be, but my chest still hurts occasionally, even now so I'm not hopeful about this improving. Then there's this thing" Vlad pulled down his pyjama shirt collar, pointing at the Dark Mark "which itches. I think it's meant to hurt or burn, but I don't know how it responds to vampire magic."

"I'm the Slytherin and you're the death eater. Oh, the irony."

"I'm not a- I wish I hadn't told him to leave you alone. Ow!"

Ingrid shot a stinger at his leg, singeing his pyjama bottoms. Vlad repaired it, glaring.

"You deserved it."

"I did not!"

"Either way, get over it."

Wondering if it would be rude to hex his sister, Vlad folded his clothes up and piled the books for tomorrows homework on his desk, then quietly wondered how to get rid of Ingrid.

"Isn't it time you were in your coffin?"

"What's wrong? Time to cry into your pillow about missing your boyfriend?"

Vlad closed his eyes, fighting the sudden upsurge of anger and disconnect that reminder gave him. A bitter retort lingered on his tongue, but Vlad swallowed it down like bile rather than lash out at Ingrid.

"That was uncalled for."

"Hmm. Only a little. Vamp up Vlad, you're dead in a year."

Ingrid finally left, and Vlad made himself not stay mad at her - she always got angry, harsh when they were back in Stokely, when their dad made a huge fuss about Vlad and barely noticed Ingrid. Vlad hated attention and Ingrid reveled in it - it was a bad combination all around. At least Ingrid hadn't outed Vlad to their father about Harry...

Journal buzzing, Vlad smiled a little as he saw Harry's messy writing spread over the page. He sat down on his bed again, grabbed his pen and started writing. As the time wore on, the writing became less satisfying and he grew more desperate to see Harry, to touch him and hold him and breathe in the scent of his mate.

Chest aching with emptiness, Vlad saw Harry's hand slipping with sleepiness in slanted writing and forced himself to tell Harry to go to sleep.

"Alright. Love you."

"Love you too. Sleep now."

He put the journal down, flopped back on his bed and tried to ignore just how chronically lonely he was without Harry. His birthday was soon, and Vlad would go through his father's irritation a thousand times before he missed his mates birthday.

Sleep was yet again elusive, leaving Vlad lonely, pained and tired as he stumbled down to breakfast, bleary eyed and mildly nauseous.

"Vladdy my boy! I've been thinking, perhaps you should just finish with that ghastly school and I'll hire you some private tutors!"

"Dad, I'm not quitting Hogwarts. We've been over this. When I turn eighteen, I'm going to the Grand High Vampire. You're going to have to get used to the fact I won't always be around for your entertainment."

Irritable as he reached for the toast rack, Vlad didn't look at his father's angry face - he heard it in the thunderstorm suddenly building in late July. The sunlight at the windows dimmed, lightning crackled and Vlad continued to chew his toast.

"That's different. That's a noble honour bestowed on my wonderful son and-"

"And it'll be an embarrassment to my reputation if they think I couldn't handle seven years of breather school."

Vlad intended to keep his father in the dark about his role in keeping Harry alive and well to fight against Riddle for as long as possible. So he couldn't talk about saving the magical world from magical-blood supremacy. His father would probably sympathise with the movement, being a half-fang snob himself in general, and considering breathers as food.

He intended to keep his dad in the dark about his male mate and homosexuality even longer.

"I suppose you're right. Especially with her" he indicated Ingrid, who scowled "having already finished there."

"Dad... Ingrid doesn't graduate until next year."

"Close enough."

Hoping that was the end of the argument, Vlad made a start on his Charms essay, hands shaking when he realised he and Harry had swapped textbooks by accident. They were identical - except Harry's smelled like Harry, the scent of his mate sweet and tempting and enough to make Vlad's heart spasm in his chest.

Ingrid found him doing his work, somehow noticed and wrote him a note on scrap parchment before leaving, her laughter in the air.

Try not to fall asleep cuddling that book. Dad might burn it.

Vlad scowled after her, despite the fact she couldn't see that fact since she left. Ingrid did that - just turned up, annoyed him and left. Phantom mewled in annoyance as Ingrid had closed the door behind her, the little furball wanting to go exploring the castle. Or more specifically, to raid Renfields rat stash.

Abandoning his essay for five minutes, Vlad scooped up his familiar and was rewarded with a lick to the face. She still hadn't grown much since he got her, but was as fluffy and affectionate as she had ever been, batting his cheek with a paw and purring when Vlad smiled.

"Thanks girl, I did need cheering up."

Knowing she could quite expertly avoid his dad, Vlad let her out to wreak havoc in the castle as reward for putting a little joy back in his heart. He managed to finish his Charms essay, finding himself stroking the pages of Harry's book only twice before it was done. Rather than pathetically bask in it, Vlad made himself put the book away and set up for Transfiguration. That too, carried memories of Harry as the essay was two feet on animal-transfiguration versus Animagus transformations.

He had an insight to both - Viktor had used one in the Tournament, and Vlad had helped Harry and Hermione achieve their animagus transformations. Well, he had supervised them at the very least.

Heat tingled inside him, nudging Vlad to think harder about something he opted to ignore and he forced himself into the essay, halfway done before dinner. Dinner was stilted and silent, surprisingly tame with no Weasleys, werewolves and basilisks eating at the table.

The night before Harry's birthday, Vlad was twisting in his need to go to Malfoy Manor. He had packed, repacked, checked all his homework and spent far too long selecting an outfit to wear. And still there was time to be wasted before he could sleep away the hours to go.

"Already abandoning me, casting me aside like dust upon the earth..."

Count Dracula was putting on a dramatic show about Vlad's leaving, complaining about him being friends with breathers and ignoring Vlad's point about needing to study with Bertrand for his final Blood Test.

"I'm going dad. If you weren't so set on threatening everyone you meet, I could invite you along but I'm not putting my friends in danger."

"My thirst for blood is more important than your 'friends'!"

"Not to me."

Vlad went to bed early, changed into his pyjamas and curled up on his bed, waiting for Harry to be done spending time with Draco and Raven, maybe even Hermione - she could well already be there, having the portkey Vlad made her.

The night crawled on by, and Vlad leapt out of bed the second Phantom indicated it was close to acceptable times to be awake. His heart skipped every time Vlad thought about it - he was seeing Harry today!

"Try to look a little less thrilled, would you? You're happier than a werewolf in mud."

"That's pigs in muck Ingrid."

"Close enough."

Sticking his tongue out maturely, Vlad felt the bats in his stomach too excitable for even breakfast, sipping at a cup of tea until their father went to his coffin for the day, and Harry buzzed his journal to say he was up and awake.

"Grab your stuff, let's go before dad wakes up and chains me to my bedpost or something."

"It would be funny to see you two fight so you can get back to your-"

"Ingrid, shh. Grab the portkey would you?"

The jerk of magic transporting them barely registered, and it was good Vlad had directed portkey travel to the main foyer - so long as he had made it, of course. Else Ingrid would have been fried in the summer sunshine.

"Vlad!"

The voice had him turning around, feeling Harry's bulk slam into him beautifully as his mate embraced him, clutching him tight.

"Merlin, I missed you."

"Missed you more."

Satisfied that everyone in the Manor knew about them, Vlad kissed his boyfriend and felt the beast in his chest soothed, content again in the presence of his mate. Harry smiled broadly, even when Ingrid mimed vomiting and headed off to her room to settle in before undoubtedly demanding food from the elves. Some things never changed.

"Happy Birthday by the way."

"Thanks. How long are you staying?"

"As long as I can get away with?"

Harry beamed, already leading Vlad by the hand to the breakfast table, which was covered in copious amounts of food to pacify a vampire, a werewolf and a basilisk. The amount of humans in Malfoy Manor seemed to diminish every year. Basking in Harry's scent up close, Vlad knew it would probably never get easier to be away from him, but he didn't really mind spending all his time making Harry smile.

-YDHP-

Hello Year Five!

And you all know what Year Five brings?