Warning - This will have mpreg, so naturally you can count on some boy love action. Don't like it? I'm not forcing you to read it.
Author Note – Thank you everyone who reviewed. Every time someone reviews I send him or her back a personal response back. So, send me more reviews! I'm sorry this chapter took so long. My original one-shot, that is almost done, sidetracked me. This chapter was not edited by my beta because I wanted to get it up asap.
Twisted Knots
Under the Stairs
"I trust from your appearances that this is a rather important, unexpected, visit. Lemon drop?" Both Malfoys' declined the offer and Malfoy senior carefully sat down on one of the chairs in front of the headmaster's desk. The old man was reclined back with a jar of lemon drops in one hand and the other resting on his beard as he sucked on one of his infamous lemon drops. He looked quite ridiculous.
"Draco has inherited my Seraph blood and has gone through the change as of his inheritance last night." Even without a shirt on Lucius Malfoy still looked every part the elite social king he was. Draco stood awkwardly behind and to the side of his father. He couldn't bring himself to sit down.
"I guess that means I should get the house elves to reopen the first floor guest apartment. I'm sure you remember it from your own seventh year at Hogwarts." Lucius nodded once and Draco stepped forward.
"I have to move out of the Slytherin dorms?" Dumbledore turned his attention to the youngest Malfoy. The old headmaster nodded his head with a smile.
"It is only natural seeing as how you will need your privacy in the near future." Draco looked from the headmaster to his father who just looked straight back at him.
"What does he mean by that?" Lucius took a deep breath.
"Most magical creatures have mates, Seraph are no exception. For the first two months you will be experiencing what our people call "the hunt" or until you find your mate." Draco looked confused.
"In that time you will experience a kind of pull that will try to make you find your mate." At this Draco sat on the edge of the chair next to his father. His wings seemed to shiver at the mention of a mate.
"So, how do we feel the pull?" Draco couldn't feel any kind of pull. Really all he could feel was a slight pain where his wings were attached to his back and a slight pressure that was strongest at his belly button.
"Well, you are newly changed. It may be a day or two before your body is fully adjusted to the changes." Lucius gave his son a small smile.
"You also seem to have a rather exceptional alteration to your wings to mine as you should have already noticed." At this the headmaster seemed to listen in more closely.
"I had noticed I seem to have quite a few more wings then you, Father. Why is that?" The four sets of wings in question lifted and spread out in a show of just what they looked like. With the paleness of Draco's hair and the silver of the feathers that framed his whole body in eight separate wings, he looked truly ethereal. The elder Malfoy gave a bit of a wondering sigh.
"Well, I've never known a case of a Seraph having eight wings, but usually the more wings a Seraph possesses the stronger and more dominant he is. Obviously I am a "Submissive Seraph" because of the fact I only have one pair of wings. This is also why I bore you and that Serverus is my mate." Draco listened with intrigue.
"If my mate is male, will he bare my children?" Lucius shook his head.
"Only Submissive Seraph's have been able to become pregnant in the past." Draco frowned at this news. He had always fancied males as apposed to the opposite sex. He couldn't see his mate some how turning out to be female.
"Dominant Seraph's can't become pregnant either?" Lucius shook her head again.
"Do you think your mate is male, Draco?" The young Seraph nodded his head. Lucius tried to not make it appear that he was upset. It looked as if the Malfoy line was going to end at his son. He was happy that his son would have a life partner but he wished for grandchildren and heirs to the Malfoy family. Draco couldn't bring himself to say anything. He knew that the end had come to the bloodline and he knew he could only blame himself.
"Draco," The younger Seraph still did not look up or make a sound. Lucius put a finger under his son's chin and lifted the blue eyes that matched his own to look at him.
"It will be fine. As long as you are happy and are mated to your true mate, I will be happy and so will Serverus be. We only wish for your safety and happiness. That is more important than continuing the Malfoy family tree." Draco could only give a sharp nod. Dumbledore, the lost party member in the conversation that had seemed to turn more private, cleared his throat and smiled as the two blonds looked at him.
"Well, shall we go to the first floor to your new accommodation? I'm sure, Lucius, that you can stay in your son's apartment or perhaps you'd rather lodge with your mate?" The longhaired man did not answer the headmaster but rather looked to his son.
"Which would you rather?" Draco smiled at his father. He knew that he loved him and all of that mushy nonsense but he had been away from his mate for years, of course he would want to stay with his mate.
"Stay with Serverus, Father. I know that is what you truly want to do." With a smile, Lucius planted a kiss on Draco's forehead.
"Right you are my son. We will not be far apart though, so I'll be in helping distance if you need me. Severus's quarters are on the first floor as well, in the dungeons as you well remember." Draco nodded as the two Malfoy's stood from their chairs to follow the headmaster to Draco's new apartment within Hogwarts' walls.
(Meanwhile at Number 4 Private Drive)
"Boy! I don't care if you are the Queen of England! Go to your true room, you have lost all rights to staying in Dudley's second bedroom! He needs it more than you. Selfish ingrate." Harry was held by his slender arms, which were black and blue with bruises by this point, and swung into the cupboard that he had not been forced to sleep in since he was eleven. He felt his head collide with the wood of the ceiling that was really the underside of the stairs. Stars danced in the blackness that left him dizzy and breathless.
How had he gotten back to this point?
It all started with a note from Dumbledore. He was reminding Harry to stay out of trouble this summer because with one more summer mess up Dumbledore wasn't sure he could get him out of trouble again. Unfortunately, his uncle had gotten to the letter before Harry had. This gave the older heavier man all the proof he needed that Harry would have to stay in line this summer. This had led to Harry's new room to be taken away, triple the chores were set on his shoulders almost as if to make up for lost time, and beatings had started to get rougher with every passing day.
"You are not to come out until tomorrow morning." The sound of a lock clicking in place had Harry letting out a whimper. He hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day and it was currently early morning. He had nearly forgotten what it felt like to starve. He found he still disliked the feeling as much as he did when he was younger. Being back in his own personal Hell he could only close his eyes and count backwards from ten to calm him and his wild magic down.
Opening his eyes again he looked up to find the light switch that would give him better visibility than the cracks between the stairs and the little light that was creeping in from around the locked door. The closet's small size was only exaggerated more in full light. The floor was covered in a broken mattress and the "walls" were broken shelves that had broken toys from his childhood and all of a sudden he realized just how broken his early years were. He had blocked out most of his memories with the good ones from Hogwarts.
He curled up on the mattress, to fit comfortably, and faced the door. It was only about fifteen days into summer break and he could tell the remaining two and a half months were going to be insanely hard. Knowing that there was nothing left for him to do he went back to sleep in hopes that he woke up and it was all just a really bad dream.
(July 31 – Hogwarts)
Draco woke up sweating, lying on his stomach, and feeling like someone was suffocating him. His wings were closed and resting against his back as he sat up. His hand went to his throat and he could feel the tightness of the muscles under his hand. He stumbled out of the bed and to the bathroom and tried to drink of water but couldn't swallow. Feeling himself panicking he forced himself to close his eyes and calm down. He walked out of his rooms, bare foot and only in his boxers, to his fathers' rooms and knocked on the door before they opened on their own. Walking in he went straight to the bed room were Lucius was sitting up already with a look of concern.
"Draco? What's wrong?" Draco walked closer while pointing to his throat. He tried to say something but nothing came out. Lucius nodded his head and after fishing his underwear over the side of the bed and putting them on under the covers he got out of bed and threw on a robe. Severus was still lying in bed but looking at Draco in concern.
"Lucius, is that like-" The longhaired blond nodded fiercely.
"Draco. Your mate is in trouble." At these words Draco bristled up and a growl escaped from his throat. Draco had been listening to his instincts and "the hunt" for the past couple of months but something seemed to be blocking him from finding his mate. It was frustrating and he always ended up breaking something in his rage.
"We have to find your mate. Now." Draco nodded his head. Like so many times before he closed his eyes and focused on the weak bond that he had with his mate already (just from the built up time of "the hunt"). This time he could feel a physical tug in his lower abdomen. His eyes flew open; he knew where his mate was. He ran from the room back to his and put whatever clothes he could find on (not caring if they were clean or not, which for Draco was amazing). He then raced out of Hogwarts, his wings helping him go faster. He hadn't mastered flying yet but he was close to. Lucius and Severus came bursting through the main doors after Draco soon after. As he reached the gates he jumped over them and before he could hit the ground apparated to where ever his mate was. He found himself in front of Number Four Private Drive.
A look of fury on his face he glided to the front door and busted it down. Vernon raced into the room with a gun in his hands and started yelling before he saw who, more like what, was at the door. He dropped the gun and looked at Draco in amazement.
"An angel?" Being closer to his mate seemed to help with Draco's throat, but not his temper.
"Where is he?" Only three words, but enough to send ice down Vernon's back and fear into the pit of his soul.
"W-wh-o?" Draco yelled out a growl and a scream at the same time, shaking the house.
"Tell me." Vernon could only guess that this angelic looking demon was after Harry so he pointed to the room under the staircase, which really wasn't a room at all. The angered Seraph glided to the door and tore off the latch and then the door itself off its hinges. At what he saw his anger only grew.
Harry Potter, his mate, was huddled in a ball in the middle of a pathetic excuse for a mattress. He was little more than skin and bones. Draco turned back to Vernon his eyes flashing white and his fangs bore. His claws were already sharpening and he looked ready to kill. Before the other man could blink the Seraph was gripping his throat in his hand. This is what Lucius and Severus came in the house to see. It took Lucius holding Draco from behind and Severus helping loosening his hand to save the fat man's life. Draco still looked like he was going to kill the muggle.
"Why is my mate is such conditions!" Vernon gulped and tasted blood.
"It is his room. I'm in my rights as his guardian to put him in his room for being bad!" Draco let out a roaring sarcastic laugh.
"What did he do to make you starve him and why is his body covered in bruises?!" Lucius looked at the man with a new level of disgust. Severus looked shocked as he walked to the closet that the door was broken off to look inside. The Boy-who-lived was huddled in a ball and looked sicker than he had ever seen anyone in person. The already skin boy had been reduced to nothing and black, blue, and purple bruising covered his body. The potions master bent down and picked up the trembling teen. He flinched and hid his face in his thin frail arms.
"P-please…stop…sorry…" He could barely speak his voice was so hoarse and Severus could tell the boy had made these pleads time and time again.
"Discipline." Vernon spit out. With that one word response Lucius he knew he would have to get Draco out of there, with his mate, if he wanted to make sure that his son didn't kill anybody.
"Draco. Calm. We have your mate and we are going to leave. He needs medical help. Come with us so that you can help him." He still was hold his son to his chest, using all of his strength to hold him back. His words seemed to get through to him because the young Seraph's fight seemed to stop.
"You are right father." He pinned Vernon with a look.
"This is not over. I am going to come after you. Don't worry, I won't forget." With that he ripped himself out of his father's arms and took Harry out of Severus'. Harry leaned into Draco's arms, feeling comfort from them. With a pop Draco and Harry disappeared and were once again in front of Hogwarts. Harry felt dizzy and hot all over. Lucius and Severus appeared right behind the two boys. Draco's cool hand touched Harry's forehead.
"He is feverish." The Seraph's wings slowly slipped back under his skin for the first time since they had appeared. Severus put a hand on his shoulder.
"The reason you woke up like you couldn't breathe this morning is because your mate was in trouble. From Potter's appearance it looks like he is malnourished, suffered beatings, and has a lowered immune system that has made him ill." Lucius moved to stand in front of Draco.
"It happened to me when Severus was almost killed by the Dark Lord, long ago. It only happens when your mate is on the edge between life and death." Draco's jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. Walking around his father and jerking away from the hand on his shoulder he stormed into Hogwarts and up to the fourth floor and through the infirmary's doors. Madame Pomfrey looked up from her desk and frowned at the sight of the dark haired boy in the Seraph's arms.
"Mr. Malfoy?" He ignored her question and placed Harry on a bed. He pushed the boy's bangs out of his eyes and noticed that he was missing his glasses. His head was sticky with sweat from the fever and his chest was just barely rising and falling.
"He needs help. Now." His eyes flashed white as he looked at the nurse. Pomfrey took one look at the frail figure and nodded her head in agreement. Immediately she started casting status analyzing spells and reading all of the symptoms before giving him anything. Seeing where the sick stood she went into her office and started making a concoction of vitamins and minerals mixed with water and, of course, magic. She brought it back out in a cup.
"Mr. Malfoy, I need you to get him to drink all of this. By rubbing Mr. Potter's throat he should swallow automatically." The Seraph nodded and took the cup from her. He lifted up Harry's head with one hand and moved under Harry's upper body, so that his head was resting in Draco's lap. Making sure they were both comfortable he opened Harry's mouth a little bit and poured only a sips worth in. He genteelly rubbed the thin neck that he now noticed had hand like bruises around it. He felt the growl coming out of the back of his throat but he made no move to stop it.
He helped his mate drink the potion and by the end of the cup Harry's skin looked less pale, his body was still deathly thin, but his breathing was coming a little more normally. Pomfrey cast a couple spells that made the bruises lighter and fixed a couple broken ribs that had healed wrong. Draco sat with his mate sleeping in his lap and focused on how he felt exactly about it all; and by all meaning that his mate was Harry Potter.
He knew he loved his mate, because he wouldn't be his mate if he didn't. He knew he had always been attracted to Harry and had even wanted to be friends back in first year; however, Harry's refusal of his offer of friendship had made him bitter towards the dark haired boy. He shuttered to think of what was going to happen when his mate woke up. He had after all been enemies with him their entire Hogwarts schooling. He just hopped the boy-who-lived would at least hear him out before rejecting him. A new fear popped up; what happens when a Seraph is rejected by their mate?
"Mr. Malfoy?" He looked up to see Madame Pomfrey smiling at him.
"I assume Harry Potter is your mate?" He nodded.
"I believe you two will be happy together. I always thought you two, no matter how much you fought, would end up together." The young Seraph smiled.
"Thank you Madame Pomfrey. I only hope he agrees with you."
