DISCLAIMER: Adopted from the original works of J.K

Thirst

"…he hasn't left his room for two days now…" a whinny voice slowly penetrated the darkness cocooning Harry.

"…the boy's been giving us attitude ever since that letter…" It was a man who spoke this time, his voice making Harry prickle with annoyance, pulling him further out of the shadows. "A lot of nerve he has to actually threaten us with that murderer Black when the bloke's been dead all…"

So thirsty…

Harry opened his eyes to the bright, cheerful morning sunlight, feeling strangely detached from his surroundings, as if the room and the voices coming from somewhere below him seemed familiar but at the same time he couldn't quite place them in his memories. Another lifetime perhaps…?

He sniffed the air like a ravenous beast, physically shuddering when the most tantalizing smells wafted up to his nostrils, making them flare with desire.

Prey…three of them

Stepping out of bed to pay them a visit, not sparing his glasses any thought, he moved with an almost alien fluidity and gracefulness that had definitely not existed in his previous life. Standing tall, he flexed his stiff muscles and opened the door to his room with a single thought overriding all others in his mind, 'Breakfast.'

He was no longer a person but a single desire as he made his way down the staircase with a relaxed, predatory gait that brought him closer and closer to the three people whose presence he had sensed from his room.

"Finally!" A spindly woman standing with her back to him, turned around with an exaggerated sigh which died away rather abruptly on her lips when she laid eyes on the other worldly creature standing nonchalantly before her. Her eyes seemed to bug out of her skull, giving her an air of being completely flummoxed as she placed a skeletal thin hand over her gaping mouth.

The Harry of two days ago no longer existed and in his place now stood a young man of such devastating beauty that it almost hurt to look directly at him. His trademark, unkempt hair now suddenly seemed strangely sexy in its rumpled state, his scrawny body had grown to become tall, lean and well-proportioned overnight and he radiated an almost frightening aura of absolute power as he absently noted the infinitesimally small tremors of shock that racked her paralyzed body.

'Too bloody thin' Harry's one track mind thought dismissively as he eyed her beanpole figure and then scanning the room for better prospects, he was instantly distracted when he spotted a rotund, red faced, scowling man, whose magnificent walrus mustache seemed to twitch with irritation.

'I know him' Harry thought distantly as the hazy images inside his head became clearer and clearer. He sauntered over to the obese man trying to decipher why he seemed so familiar and was studying him closely with his haunting green eyes when he took a giant step away from him, smelling something horribly foul and perverse about him.

"You sicken me for some reason" he stated mildly after a small gap of silence making the man sputter in indignation while Petunia felt chills from the sound of his smooth, darkly rich voice. "Your blood, it smells tainted somehow but I'm feeling terribly thirsty right now so you'll just have to do."

Vernon Dursley finally realizing that something was off with his nephew quickly pried his fat bottom off of the narrow chair and ended up knocking it over in his haste. "Wha…what are you babbling about you freak!" He roared, livid at being spoken down to. "And how dare you gawk at me so impudently? Get back your room this instant and wait there until you've learnt some manners!"

Harry didn't appreciate the condescending tone in his voice so he caught the man's neck in a vice like grip and before Vernon could register anything, he found himself being pushed back with such frightening ferocity and strength that when his head collided with cupboard below the staircase behind him, it made a spectacularly, loud, thudding sound and he literally saw stars.

"So hostile" Harry tutted, wondering why this particular man made him feel so uncontrollably angry, so filled with hate, his every word making him want to rip him from limb to limb.

"You have a choice" Harry said softly, reveling in his control over him. "You can either choose to die by my hands or you can choose to willingly give me your blood" Harry tilted his face slowly, deliberately, savoring the fear that was now being openly displayed to the world.

"What are you…let me go…help! Someone help me!" Vernon choked out helplessly but Harry cruelly ignoring his plea, remained unmoving even when the pinched woman from before and what looked like their obese offspring came to the scum's defense, trying desperately to pull him away to safety but to no avail.

Holding out his free hand, he detangled the shrieking woman's claws from his arm and pushed her away disdainfully from his person, not caring when she fell with a loud "Uff!" against the wall that was her son, all the while screaming obscenities at him.

Turning his attention back to the now freely perspiring victim, he forced the man to look into his eyes and made sure that he caught a glimpse of his intent before knocking his head to side and exposing his thick, pudgy neck. "What will it be then?" Harry watched the man's eyes flicker with indecision before he whispered pitifully "Not death, please not death."

Harry then bent his head swiftly over the erratic pulse and pierced his skin with razor sharp canines making sure not to give the wanker any pleasure, only pain, as he slowly drained him of his life essence.

The blood was nothing special to taste but there was a lot of it, filling him up with its sheer volume and giving him a strange sensation of accomplishment. When he felt the huge man sag with exhaustion, he let him go instantly and watched dispassionately as he crumpled to the floor in a flood of unmanly tears, while woman and child crawled over to him weeping from pure relief.

Harry felt no sympathy for these people. There was something about them that irked him in every possible way and he was about to continue quenching his bottomless thirst with the meaty son when there was a sudden crash at the entrance and a man came barreling into the room, glowering angrily at all its occupants and startling them with his sudden intrusion.

"What the fucks going on here?" He shouted, brandishing a wand threateningly at them. "Why the hell do I smell a vampire in here?" he perused the room once again and then fell back in utter shock when he saw a placid looking Harry stare back at him while a single trickle of blood slowly ran down his chin.

Remus Lupin had successfully avoided guard duty at Privet drive until today. He hadn't even responded to a single one of Harry's letters that had screamed of guilt and pain because he had found himself completely stumped by them. How could he reassure Harry when he himself felt like such a mess?

Sighing resignedly, he turned his gaze to the ordinary house in which Harry lived and saw Vernon Dursley pick up the morning's newspaper in his short, striped pajamas glaring all the while at the neighbor's house before retreating back inside.

'Harry probably thinks I blame him' Lupin knew the nature of his best friend's son all too well by now. 'I should probably tell him that that is the furthest thing from the truth' he rubbed his face tiredly.

He had witnessed Black's gradual down spiral into depression last year and had tried to argue with Dumbledore on his behalf but in the end it was Sirius himself who had asked him to back down because he simply couldn't fault Dumbledore's logical explanation of how Harry would feel if he lost his Godfather a second time.

Remus at that time had almost been envious of the deep bond that was slowly being forged between Godfather and Godson but at the same time, he couldn't have been happier for the two of them since they both really deserved some respite from their crazy lives.

'Maybe today I'll talk to him' Lupin resolutely decided and was about to go back to reclining against a tree behind him when he smelt something unusual in the air. His werewolf instincts kicked in and he found himself growling at the unwelcome smell of a Vampire.

Ever hair on his body stood up in attention and his stance became that of a hunter's while his mind screamed 'Intruder!'

Leaping over the low front gate, he bounded up the porch steps and his eyes became feral when he smelt the blood. Not waiting to knock, he threw himself bodily against the door and almost landed on his face when it crashed open. Rushing towards the source of the smell, he quickly calculated four people standing in the room and wondered where the smell was coming from.

"What the fucks going on here?" He shouted, pulling out his wand simultaneously "Why the hell do I smell a vampire in here?"

It was then that his entire world came crashing down on him when he saw a calm and rivetingly handsome Harry Potter looking unperturbedly at him as a single trickle of blood slid down his chin.

"Harry?" he staggered up to him, cringing as the telltale scent grew stronger and stronger "Why are you..? What happened to you?" he asked him uselessly, not even bothering to spare a second glance at his relatives who were sitting huddled on the floor.

Harry watched the new stranger approach him cautiously and he knitted his eyebrows in confusion. A faint, faraway memory started niggling away at him and he clutched his head as the buzzing noise in his head increased tenfold.

All the bits and pieces of his past life began to piece themselves together again and the effort made him cry out in pain as it all became too much to bear and he felt himself falling, falling down into a deep abyss and he passed out into the werewolf's waiting arms thinking 'Please don't look at me like that Remus' his fading vision recognized the sadness on his face' It's the same expression you wore when Sirius passed through the veil but I'm still here aren't I?'

Remus clutched the still body closer to chest with an overwhelming sadness and incomprehension, feeling entirely unprepared for the magnitude of the situation when he heard the strangest sounds come from within the boy's body.

Was that a heartbeat? He pressed his ear to Harry's chest and heard the faint rhythmic beat that was unmistakably that of a beating heart and felt utterly flabbergasted at the implications. How could this be? He definitely smelt like a typical vampire and looking at Vernon Dursley's current state, he seemed to behave like one too. But they were usually dead so what the hell was happening now?

Cleaning up the mess that were the Dursley's and wiping their memories clean, he looked down at his now peacefully resting sixteen year old charge and came to a quick decision. Never again was he going to leave him alone, he'd find out what was happening and protect him at all costs this time. Even from the meddling Dumbledore if he had to.

'I'll take him to Girmmauld's for now' he thought 'Since It now belongs to Harry anyway and since they're no longer using it for the Order's meetings, it's our safest bet. Good thing Sirius left me with the password as well or I'd have been a bloody sitting duck by now' he stood up determinedly and hurriedly went to pack up Harry's stuff before writing a short note to Dumbledore informing him about their whereabouts but not divulging any information about the boy's present condition.

'I'll be there for you from now on' he vowed silently, lifting up Harry's limp body just as Vernon began stirring from his position on the floor. "This time I'll save us" Lupin muttered and in the next instant he, Harry, Hedwig and Harry's trunk disappeared from the room with a resounding 'Pop!'

Harry and Remus had been living in the Black house for a little over two weeks now and though their stay hadn't been entirely smooth, it was still the happiest that Harry had felt in a long, long time.

The first few days had been terribly difficult for the two of them, with Harry constantly battling bouts of depression after learning the truth of what he had become. His memories were also slowly starting to return and with them came the desolation and loss that he had felt all summer so he didn't bother contacting any of his friends or Dumbledore, preferring his time alone with the person whom he was starting to consider as his greatest ally and good friend.

It had been two days into their arrival at the Grimmauld house when Harry had started feeling strangely parched and like an irritable itch, he simply couldn't make the feeling disappear. He was still able to eat and appreciate normal food like a normal wizard which Remus had attributed to the miracle of him being a very alive Vampire, a mystery they still couldn't figure out, but it slowly started to dawn on them that his need for blood was something that would never go away, that he would need at least small quantities of it now and again to keep him going.

At first Remus had offered to give him his own blood but when he had bitten him out of desperation, he had somehow felt utterly repulsed by the taste of it and had vomited out whatever little he had managed to consume. It was the werewolf in Remus and the Vampire in Harry who had strongly rejected such an intimate exchange so they could do absolutely nothing about it.

In the end, after he'd had to resort to extreme measure of physically restraining Harry from going after people recklessly, Remus finally came to the conclusion that something had to be done about the problem since he couldn't watch him struggle against his bonds anymore so he braved the outside world with him for a few minutes, twice a week and let him feed on random strangers under his watchful eye so he would not give in to madness from complete deprivation.

Harry had thought in the beginning that he would feel grossed out by this sudden new desire to go around biting people but the act had come so naturally to him and the blood had felt so relieving, so wonderful, that he no longer pretended to struggle against his basic instinct.

Initially he had almost attacked Remus when the man had tried to pull him away from his prey but gradually his control grew and now when he took from them, he made sure that his prey never felt even a frission of pain from his actions and he also never succumbed to the blood lust either and was finally able to let go of them easily after taking the minimal amount of blood from them.

The best thing that had come out of all of this was that he now enjoyed a sense of heightened perception, strength, beauty and most importantly, his magic had grown to a bursting point so much so he could feel it wrap itself around him in a protective shield making him impatient with the desire of testing out his new found abilities.

The two of them, Remus and Harry, had fallen into a happy routine of sorts, and what with Remus having faced similar experiences in his own life, he had become uncannily attuned to Harry, understanding that he needed support and love but at the same time was not to be smothered by it.

Remus gradually drew him out of his self-imposed isolation bit by bit, by sharing with him stories of his own struggles and in turn listening to Harry's thoughts as if his every word mattered. He spoke of the Marauders at length, smiling fondly when he saw his young charge hang on to his every word with rapt attention and regaled him with tales of the once promising, brilliant boy that his Godfather had once been, unaware that were both starting to shed the emotional burden that they'd been lugging around with them all this time.

Listening to his calming voice day after day finally brought Harry some measure of peace and he was slowly and steadily able to let some of his guilt go and with time, he knew that he would also come to accept the person, vampire or whatever it was that he had become.

Five days left of the holidays and an owl from Hogwarts promptly came to deliver the yearly letter to him. This time however, he was seriously considering not going because one, he still needed to drink blood and a school full of prey would be an irresistible temptation. Two, he wasn't sure if he was ever going to be ready to face the other's again not after the terrible fiasco that had nearly gotten them all killed.

Unfortunately for him, Remus the sly wolf that he was had left the decision entirely up to him saying that the first problem was something he would try to help him with but the second, was something he'd have to figure out himself.

'I want to see them' he reasoned, lying down on his bed 'and Remus has already said that he would have to return to his duties in the Order soon so I'll have live alone anyway' he remembered the last time he'd seen his closest friends, looking so battered and bruised after their fight in the Ministry 'what if they don't want to see me?' he closed his eyes feeling that sinking sensation of shame before he got a firm grip on his emotions and shook himself mentally 'Or maybe Remus is right and I should stop thinking for others and face them like I normally would. I guess I have been acting a like a selfish brat and they so do not deserve that, especially after what they've done for me.' Admitting his own rebellious behavior off late was a difficult thing to do but Harry looking up at the dark ceiling gritted his teeth and made up his mind then and there that he would never run away again, this time he do his best to protect what was most important him.

During breakfast, Harry told Remus of his decision to return and the man grinned at him happily, ruffling his now stunning hair with a proud expression pulling out a piece of parchment from within his robes and handing it him with a triumphant expression.

"Wha…?" Harry took the paper and read its contents with a slowly growing smile of happiness on his face. "You did it!" He beamed "I can't believe that such a place would actually exist but this is amazing!"

"I know" Remus laughed biting into a warm piece of toast "Apparently it's something that most Vampire's opt for and given the fact that they don't ask for your identity apart for your magical signature this is really godsend!"

"Maybe we can go today when we go to pick up my stuff from Diagon alley?" Harry asked him, reading the letter that held the answer to his blood sucking issues once again.

It was about a pub in Knockturn alley that supplied Vamipres with freely donated glasses of blood in a similar fashion that most other normal wizarding pubs supplied alcohol to wizards. All that was required of Harry, if he was to believe them, was to sign a contract with them and then paying them monthly for instant supplies of blood, if he should ever require it, with the aid of a simple conjuring spell.

"We can't just go without informing Dumbledore about the shopping plan" Remus said thoughtfully lessening Harry's elation somewhat. "He'll definitely want you to have maximum security if we are to go today."

"No" Harry bit out angrily "I'm not doing that anymore" he scowled stubbornly. "If you're really worried about it then I'll follow you under the invisibility cloak and since the pub requires my signature, I'll even agree to wear glamour and come out only for that."

Remus knew that there was no arguing with the boy and gave in reluctantly, deciding that their trip would be the shortest and fastest one they'd ever make.

Happy to be out in the open, albeit under the guise of his glamor and invisibility cloak, Harry now only felt small twinges of thirst when he walked past people so their trip to Diagon alley had been blissfully mundane with nothing out of the ordinary happening except that the crowds were far thinner than the last time and people now looked perpetually wary and moved around in groups of twos and threes with the looming threat of Voldemort hanging over their heads.

It was only after they'd finished bargaining with the owners of the pub in Knockturn alley, paying them a neat lumpsome for a year's supply of blood and making out an ironclad contract with them that clearly stated there would be no breech in anonymity and that any foul play would imply their own instant death, did something finally happen to them that forever changed Harry's life after that.

Harry stumbled over his feet rather clumsily which hadn't happened to him ever since he'd been bitten and he found himself clutching the dank wall in the narrow alley desperate for some sort of support as wave after wave of the most glorious, mouth-watering scent assaulted his senses, leaving him panting from the effort of not chasing after it blindly.

"Re…Remus" he called out softly, knowing that the Werewolf couldn't see him under his cloak "I can't…there's something I need to…"

"Harry?" Remus was instantly at his side, pulling him into a dark corner on the street after making sure that it was free of other people. "Are you okay? What's happening? Talk to me" his brow was furrowed with worry and he stared down at the troubled boy feeling out of his depth when Harry's body suddenly stiffened and he sat up fully alert with a snarl on his lips, startling Remus as his suddenly glamour evaporated, revealing his own face sporting his deadly canines.

"He can't" he whispered looking at something that wasn't there and then stood up so quickly that Remus had difficulty following his movement with his bare eyes. "If he touches him, lays one filthy finger on him then I'll destroy him" he growled so threateningly that even his guardian took a step away from him in fear.

"Harry…" Remus begged him to snap out of his current state but Harry pushing him away gently took off towards whatever demons he had sensed with such speed that he literally disappeared from sight, leaving a rather awestruck werewolf behind.

The world around him had melted into one singular focus and all his mind could now comprehend was getting to the person whose blood called out to him with such a terrifying intensity, that all else was forgotten in its wake. His own blood flowing and pulsing with a new, burning vigor and a vying thirst that was so great, he thought he would simply die from it.

What was making him run like a mad man however was the arrival of another person's scent, so close to the first, almost mingling with it and filled with such malice and bad intent, that it left him reeling with a sudden overpowering protectiveness that seemed to come out of nowhere.

'Almost there' he thought and his eyes blazed with fury when he saw a dark creature that resembled a werewolf slowly corner someone whom he felt inexplicably connected to, someone important to him when the drooling beast growled and snapped at his prey bringing Harry out of his short reverie abruptly.

The werewolf suddenly spoke to the figure pressed against the wall in fear, partially hidden by the shadows and his breath making Harry hiss in revulsion, "You have nowhere to hide anymore you filthy traitor" the half wolf, half man said softly, with amusement lacing his voice.

"Daddy's stuck prison right now and Mummy dearest is dead so there's no one left to protect you anymore" he sniggered, looking as if he thoroughly enjoyed hearing his prey whimpers.

"Either you come back quietly with me now and accept the mark or you'll give me no choice but to feast on your beautiful little body. In fact I'd prefer it if you chose the latter" he now stood almost face to face with his captor and Harry felt something break inside of him making him lose all control over his sanity as he charged without another thought towards the predator.

He slammed into the beast with such force that the sick creature was blown right through the wall beside him, making a clean hole with his body as he fell unconscious on the rubble below him.

Harry still blinded by anger and hate, stalked the unmoving creature that had transformed back into the body of a man and lifted him up with inhuman strength by his collar and slammed him once again against the portion of the wall that remaining and was about to take a huge bite out of his throat when Remus came running up towards them, panting and heaving as he pulled Harry away from his kill, fighting with him till he'd settled down and come back to his senses.

"You are not a killer Harry" he held the boy firmly and rocked him "This guy's called Fenrir Greyback and he's a wanted criminal by the Ministry. I will personally see that he's given to them and I'll make sure that the worst punishment is meted out to him but please…please don't ever do that again. I beg you.." Remus shook from the after effects of his fright and finally let him go when Harry started pushing him away and crawling towards the now trembling, cloaked figure of the person he's just rescued.

His anger, desire, fear all collided together making him feel weak and vulnerable as he slowly lifted the hood of the victim and fell back in shock when he saw Draco Malfoy underneath it!

Draco looked up at him then and immediately scrambled away from his bloody, injured face, looking fearful of his exposed fangs and held up his hand in a gesture as if saying 'Keep away.'

"Harry…Harry Potter?" he whispered after a moments silence, pressing himself closer into the dead end behind him and flinching as Harry made a move to come closer to him.

"Stay…stay away from you bastard!" He stuttered frantically, still holding out his hand in the universal stop sign. "I don't know why you're here now or why you look like…like this or even what you want from me, but just…just stay the fuck away from me!" He snapped with a hint of his former slytherin personality shining through the mask of his earlier terror.

"Please let me help you" Harry couldn't think straight anymore as that overwhelming scent once again took over his faculties "I only need you to…"

"You want to help me?" Draco shrieked hysterically and then laughed so manically that Harry felt his pain slice through his own mind.

"Help me?" the blond boy repeated shaking with anger now "It's because of you, you stupid bastard that my father's in jail and my mother's now dead! It's because of you that the Dark Lord suddenly feels as if I owe him my allegiance and it's because of what you did that I'm now on the run because I don't want to wear the mark of my mum's murderer!"

Harry looked as if he'd been slapped on the face and the guilt came back to haunt him with full force. "Your father tried to kill me" he said quietly trying to swallow his sudden tears "I was only…"

"Then you should have died!" Draco screamed and hit Harry across his face. Feeling encouraged by the sight of his split lip, he raised his hand once again and hit him once more before Remus began pulling him away only to find Harry growling at him for touching the boy.

"I won't pretend to understand your pain" Harry said finally when they'd all calmed down somewhat "but I won't apologize for what happened to your father because it was his and your aunt's fault that my godfather died so they deserve their punishment fully and even you know it."

Draco turned away from him then and covered his grimy face with equally dirty hands saying "I've been on the run for three weeks now" he said brokenly "three bloody weeks with this monster chasing me, threatening me at every single turn" he pointed at Fenrir's prone body with a shaking finger "I have nowhere to go or no one to turn to because even if my friends want to help me, they can't. Because the Dark Lord will kill them if he finds out they've helped a traitor so you tell me then what I should do now saint Potter?" he looked at him defiantly and all Harry saw in that moment was the pride and honor he'd come out with from his struggle and he felt the sudden all-consuming need to protect him once again.

Inching towards him, he gently rested his hands on those thin shoulders ignoring the pounding within his own veins and looked deeply into those stubborn grey eyes with a fervor that made Draco shiver from the sudden seriousness.

It was as if the world around them had become a long forgotten dream and Draco found himself being inexorably drawn closer and closer towards Harry, uncontrollably and against his wishes, like a moth to a flame as all voices around him were drowned out one by one. All, that is, except for one.

"Rest for now" Harry's soothing voice spoke to something deep inside of him "Go to sleep and I promise you that it will all get better tomorrow" he assured him in that same hypnotic, dizzying voice that was pushing Draco into compliance, making him drowsy, willing, and then he closed his eyes and fell against Harry, fast asleep.

Lupin raised his eyebrows at Harry looking a tiny bit troubled at the open display of his vampire's thrall and the effect it had on a person trapped under it. But then he saw the utter peace that now surrounded them and he let it go. Later on, he would lecture the boy about using it so casually on people but now was obviously not the time to get into that.

AFLlover: me too! me too!

Charmed Forever Fan: Thank you and I hope you enjoyed this one as well : )

Rodacoma: Thank you! Thank you! And thank you : )