Once they had all been fed Severus led Harry once more towards the Dungeons and his quarters, not really bothered by the fact that he had a small bright eyed shadow. Harry was blindsided by his anchor the moment the portrait door to their quarters closed, triggering his vampire instincts and initiating a vicious scuffle that ended with Snape pinned beneath his green-eyed vampire. Harry was snarling as the Damphyr finally went limp and reluctantly bared his throat, acknowledging the smaller male's superiority.
"Why?" Harry demanded. "I could have killed you and nearly did!"
"Imagine that you had all of your new vampire instincts and had claimed me by the time I was a first year. Now imagine how you would feel to find out that for years you had put your all into protecting that scrawny first year only to find that you had failed spectacularly and never knew it," Severus said despondently while his limp muscles and position practically screamed both submission and emotional pain. "I have lived with these instincts all my life and the night your parents died my vampire half claimed you when I swore to protect you before the old goat practically dragged you from my arms. He kept me on a tight leash after that and I didn't see you until the night of your sorting. Even if you hadn't chosen me as your anchor..."
"You had already established a protective bond to me and I needed to dominate you to remind you and your instincts that I am in charge now. That I now protect you and am no longer a child," Harry finished with a mutter of self disgust. He had enjoyed the fight and nearly lost control. Even if Severus had assured him that the Vampire-Anchor relationship often included a sexual aspect Harry would be damned if he didn't get permission first before taking the obsidian-eyed male trembling underneath him.
Oh, it wasn't like this situation was as unusual as one might think. The issue had been present long enough in Vampire society that the social protocols that had first been established to deal with the problem had become part of the information package and half remembered instinct. Which was why Harry had found himself jumped the moment they walked into an area that Severus had deemed "safe" and had to be subdued by his Little Vampire.
The Gryffindor knew that he was well within his rights to punish Severus and claim him fully whether the potion master objected or not. Harry, however, was not willing to brutalize his anchor just because the man needed help shifting his mind-set from protector to protected or for any other reason, thank you very much. He wracked his brains trying to figure out a safe place inside the castle to establish a nest of sorts and more gently reinforce his position than the close to brutal response Snape had tried to trigger. While he could come up with plenty of knooks and crannies there were only two places that he felt could possibly meet their needs. One was now too well known and the other needed work not to mention he'd promised to give tours of the place to the Slytherins.
Harry silently snarled and scraped his teeth lightly along Severus' bobbing adam's apple to help keep him quiet and submissive. He didn't feel safe here even if his anchor did and he hadn't had a chance to build even a temporary nest for them to retreat to. He supposed that he could drag his naughty Damphyr into the bedroom and barricade them in there for a day or two to sort this out but he wasn't sure that would send the right message.
"I am not happy with you. Once I figure out where we can make a temporary nest you and I are going to have a very long talk about telling me when something is bothering you so that I can fix it. That said, I get it but don't you ever try to push me to force you in anything like the shit you just pulled," Harry told him bluntly, clearly unhappy.
Severus made a noise in the back of his throat and relaxed minutely before staring directly at a dark heavy door to their left that Harry presumed led to the bedroom. He took a moment to actually examine their surroundings now that he wasn't fighting to subdue his naughty anchor and found himself liking the simple yet homey style that Snape had chosen for his rooms. He hadn't even noticed the thick dark brown rug that he had pinned the other man to until that moment. Everything was in shades of black and rich dark browns, made of solid hard wood and dark leather with random throw blankets or rugs tossed everywhere. That's when he noticed his own Firebolt leaning by the entryway.
"So, I'm supposed to move in with you," Harry said with a low rumbled of displeasure at the implication that he couldn't take care of his anchor and would actually be subservient too the other man. "Move and it will be the worse for you."
Severus took Harry's warning to heart and stayed perfectly still as the agitated Vampire rose and stalked about the suite of rooms, examining everything and judging whether the location was an acceptable nest. The low rumbles of approval and interest had him breathing a sigh of relief at the tacit acceptance even as Severus wondered exactly how his former student would decide to punish him. He knew that he was going to be punished, there was no getting around it after what he'd done but it did worry him a bit and would tell him if he had chosen his Vampire master well or poorly despite how binding the decision already was. Leaving Harry simply wasn't an option and hadn't been the moment the younger male had tasted his blood, choosing not to kill him.
"You know I'll need to punish you. Shall I take this pillow and whip your backside with it?" Harry asked in amusement as he waved a throw pillow mockingly at Severus only to realize that he was now trembling in terror and seemed to be focused on the word "whip". Harry briefly wondered what past experience had caused that reaction before he was across the room in a flash and pulling the trembling man into his arms, rocking him soothingly for the next hour before Severus was calm enough to explain.
"I... my father used to use the belt," Severus explained haltingly, refusing to meet Harry's eyes that now glowed in fury.
"Is he dead?" Harry demanded. Severus nodded tightly, still looking away in shame. "Good. You get punished only by me or my mate. Anyone else who touches you dies."
"Thank you," Severus breathed in relief as he slumped bonelessly in Harry's arms only to be picked up and carried to the bedroom and gently placed on the queen sized green clad canopy bed. Harry waited only long enough to toss their shoes next to the bed before climbing in next to him and wrapping himself tightly around Severus. They lay there cuddling long past supper time until Severus' tattoo abruptly decided to interrupt.
"~Speaker, I have a message for you. I am to give it to you when next I saw you.~" The little inked snake hissed, drawing both their attention.
"~What's the message?~" Harry asked curiously before deciding to nibble a bit on Severus' neck, making the man groan quietly.
"~The other speaker suggests that you meet at the end of your travel by the... train? I do not understand the word.~" The snake hissed unhappily.
"~I know what it means, go on.~" Harry encouraged, before deciding that he wanted to give Severus' adam's apple a long slow lick, pleasantly torturing the man he was wrapped around.
"~He says that he will not call my bearer so that you may have a way to contact him and that you should ignore the dreams of the long corridor he has been sending you if they continue. It will be discussed at the meeting so that you may come to an agreement. You are to go with my bearer after the... train arrives and that the others who wish to be part of the meeting must be prepared in case he keeps one or more of you as part of the... truce? Safe arrival is promised as well as safe talks. He wants to know why my connection has changed and how my bearer got hurt before... Easter holidays? Apparently I was not... designed to be able to do this.~" The snake admitted. "~Sometimes there is a mark underneath me that is strange and I would also like to know about it.~"
"~The wha...~" Harry started to ask before watching in amazement as a lighting bolt mark nearly identical to the one on his own forehead faded into view "Shit. ~Uh, we're not sure but its probably a side effect of the ritual he got hurt stopping that also changed me. Tell him its part of our bargaining chips to give him more when we see him and that he'll just have to wait. Please remind him that most of the people at the school are not only innocent but children and thus are our future.~"
"~Very well. I will deliver your return message.~" The snake said unhappily before retreating into the ink skull to deliver its message.
"And what were you cursing about?" Severus asked cautiously, remembering that he was already on thin ice.
"You've developed your very own lighting bolt scar, or something like it under the dark mark," Harry said mirthlessly. "Apparently it affected the mark, making it more alive and able to deliver messages, Voldy noticed. He wanted to know what happened to cause the change. Oh, and the meeting is after the train arrives at Kings Cross. He'll summon you and we'll all go with you. He's promised safety to and during the meeting but the snake didn't say anything about after and the wording didn't cover it. He's also apparently the reason I've been dreaming about that weird ass corridor in the Department of Mysteries and has very firmly said we'll discuss it at the meeting. I think he's going to ask that I be his guest or something nearly as binding to make everyone play nice but I'm not sure. I wouldn't mind so much if it buys protection for the school and he doesn't keep me locked away in a dungeon or something but that was before I had you to worry about. There is absolutely no way we can hide your anchor status and I don't have anything to bargain with to get you free of him much less get him to stop trying to kill me. After all if he could just be paid to go away he never would have killed my parents."
Severus took a moment to digest this and decided that maybe he should distract Harry's attention by tripping another of the vampire instincts. He mentally winced at the rapid increase he was inflicting on whatever Harry finally decided was going to be his punishment but he didn't think it could be helped. It wasn't like he knew what the boundaries were yet and it was natural for an anchor to push the boundaries at first in any case. Mentally shrugging he struggled to get out of Harry's instinctively tightening grip until he was nearly thrashing only to instantly come up short, freezing in place, at the low growl that Harry finally gave next to his ear.
"Oh, you did not just do that," Harry said dangerously, having suddenly moved from being wrapped around the Damphyr to bodily pinning him down. Severus let out a low instinctive whine before forcefully stifling it much to Harry's displeasure.
"I have my reasons for not fucking you earlier. If you want it you have to ask for it, not that it will get you out of the punishment you've earned so far," Harry said softly, his tone dangerously sweet and sending a shiver of desire down Severus' spine as it drew another low moan out of him.
Harry chuckled darkly, trying to decide if he was going to tease the larger man into wanton begging before agreeing or if he wasn't going to offer any incentive at all at first. He wasn't quite the virgin that everyone thought he was after all. Sirius had seen to that when he'd gone to the goblins and adopted Harry with the help (and participation) of the Weasleys, making him both a Black and a Weasley. In fact one of the reasons he wasn't completely clueless in what to do was because of a little marauder sponsored side trip at the time. Admittedly, he had only been introduced to the prevalent ideas during the three hour overview of different sexual practices before loosing his virginity but it had been a godsend to his control when he woke up changed.
"Give me one good reason not to turn you over my knee and spank you before making you stand in the corner with your pants down and robe off like a toddler. I might even take pictures," Harry told him, mirth dancing unseen in his emerald eyes. Severus blushed in a combination of mortification and complete embarrassed horror at the idea.
"I have to be able to navigate the balance between Dumbledore, the Ministry, and the Death Eaters while keeping you safe if I am to be of any use to you," Severus said softly, refusing to meet Harry's eyes and failing to see the mirth fade from them as the smaller male considered his answer seriously.
"You said it yourself, you belong to me. Neither Dumbledore nor the Ministry have a say in the matter. Voldy has a stronger claim than them because this mark," Harry tapped the dark mark, earning an indignant hiss from the inked snake as he spoke. "Says you probably first joined him willingly. What I'm hearing you tell me is that you feel you need to make yourself invaluable so that I don't go back on my promise. It doesn't work like that and if I have to lock you up somewhere for years, treating you like a treasured pet to get that point across I will. You're mine and my responsibility. You don't owe them anything anymore and I bet if the Slytherins knew how much you're obviously hurting yourself to keep them safe they wouldn't begrudge you walking away or a bit of happiness. Or at least the older years wouldn't, the youngers aren't old enough to understand it yet."
"My snakes?" Severus asked apprehensively, knowing that some people would gladly use his students against him as punishment if they were in Harry's position.
"No, you have nothing to worry about from me on that front," Harry said softly as he eased his grip and nipped the other man's throat playfully. "I meant what I said to them. I know you see them as your kids and I will honor that by giving them help if they ask for it. I also won't diminish their respect for you by purposefully telling them how I plan to punish you."
Severus breathed a sigh of relief and immediately relaxed fully, shifting only just enough to find a more comfortable position and in no way expecting to be let up any time soon. Harry pursed his lips as he considered his suddenly relaxed Damphyr thoughtfully. The idea that he would have hurt the Slytherins to punish Snape must have really been bothering the man, enough that he took a risk and pushed to find out for certain. Harry could understand that, he'd done it enough times at the Dursleys and with a number of teachers over the years with only Severus actually calling him on it and keeping his word. It was actually something that soothed his protective instincts because he knew that Severus wouldn't try to run away or otherwise escape him.
The man was a gold mine in so many ways it wasn't even funny and if another vampire found out they would try to take him away. If Harry couldn't display a proper control over his anchor and successfully defend him then they would be separated and Harry would be killed. He would, however, not die before being forced to watch as Severus was raped and branded by his new vampiric owner.
They had a grace period as Harry adjusted and had a certain amount of extra leeway as a founder of a new line before someone could challenge for Severus, forcing Harry to fight in his defense. One thing he knew if anyone challenged him for the man was that Harry would fight to the death to keep him, being as brutal as he could come up with at the time to discourage anyone else who had similar ideas about taking him away. All of that was entirely beside the fact that Harry needed him to survive, which Harry honestly considered to only be a minor concern though Severus might not agree.
"I don't think you realize exactly how valuable you are or how amazing," Harry said solemnly as he gently made Snape look at him. "Even if I thought I could control you that way I wouldn't and if anyone challenges me for you I will fight to keep you. If my mate says to get rid of you, whoever it is will have a fight on their hands. Do you understand?"
