disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
warning: none for this chapter
To DoroPhil: I know that Frisian horses only come in black, but it was the type of horse I wanted briefly in the story, and it is fanfic so I just made it white. The horses will probably never make a debut in the actual story except for that small paragraph.
To everyone else, thank you all for the reviews and I'm glad you're still enjoying this story like you did in the beginning :) I am getting to right the battle :o Its coming soon folks and I can't believe it, but it is no means the end of my story!
When Harry reached a spot far enough away from the castle, he erected a training circle much like the ones he used when working with Valerian or Morven. He turned to the two vampires and watched as the stiffened at feel of the magic going over them. Harry released his wings and let his magic flow freely making both vampires look away from him, recognizing who was more powerful.
"What I want to teach you is how to control shadows," he announced and watched confusion flicker over Severus's face while Lucius looked as though he was trying to remember something. "It is a power that vampires can use mostly for hunting, but can be useful while fighting. For example."
Harry quickly made the entire training area dark and smirked at the duals sounds of low hissing coming from Lucius and Severus. He quickly ran behind Severus, who was standing with his arms out trying to sense anything near him. Harry inched his way as close to Severus as he could without touching and lifted a small strand of hair. He silently stepped back as he watched Severus swipe back with a clawed hand with a snarl. The vampire moved his head back and forth hoping to see something in the complete darkness.
Harry decided to do the same to Lucius. On silent feet, he maneuvered to behind Lucius as well. He performed the same trick by lifting up a small strand of the pale blond hair his mate inherited. He stepped back when Lucius quickly turned, but his eyes widened when Lucius followed him. He stepped to the side to avoid the claws reaching out to him, but once again was followed. Harry kept moving out of the way to make Lucius chase after him, after a few steps however it was obvious that Lucius could not see Harry very well. He probably knew enough about the shadowing to lighten it, but not enough to control it. Harry flashed one of his wings in front of Lucius and when the vampire went for the bait, Harry quickly wrapped his arms around Lucius, pinning him.
Harry released the shadows, but did not release Lucius who was struggling in his arms. He looked across the circle at Severus who was poised for a fight at seeing Lucius in his current position. Lucius was trying to bite at Harry and attempting to break free. When Lucius managed to bite Harry, said man let out a low warning growl and poised his fangs at Lucius's neck. The vampire understood the command and bared his neck in submission. However it appeared that Severus did not like the idea of his fellow vampire submitting and ran forward. Harry pushed Lucius aside and met Severus in the center, where each man proceeded to attack. Harry placed himself behind Severus and before he could turn around, Harry wrapped his wings around Severus and pulled him into his chest, pinning him.
"I am alpha, and you will not question me when I ask for submission," Harry growled into Severus's ear. He bared his fangs towards Severus's neck and gave another growl in warning. When Severus finally bared his neck for Harry, he relaxed his hold on the vampire, but did not release him. "This was meant to be training. Not a question of authority."
"Then train," Severus snarled. He stumbled slightly when Harry pushed him away. "What was the point of this?"
"If you would listen and pay attention, you would already know. Instead you choose to be stubborn," Harry turned to Lucius. "You have an idea of what you're doing. You were able to lighten the shadows, but only just, so that enabled you to follow me," although it was a statement, Lucius still nodded. Harry waved him to go ahead and try.
Lucius looked around and spotted Harry's shadow on the ground. He concentrated on calling it forward, to gather around him. When the shadow only stretched forward a few inches, Lucius stepped forward putting more power into trying to gather the shadow. Lucius looked up in surprise upon hearing a warning growl and took a step back when he realized that he had walked closer to Harry and was almost nose to nose with him.
"Good try, its very good to start with an actual shadow to begin learning to manipulate. Keep trying whenever you can throughout each day" Harry said. He then turned to Severus. "Do you understand now?"
"Manipulating shadows making them bend to one's will," Severus said. He turned around facing away from Lucius and Harry. Lucius moved to see if there was anything wrong with his lover, but Harry stopped him. Suddenly Lucius and Harry looked around their feet as they watched shadows moving past them and gathering around Severus. Harry smiled as he watched the globe of shadows around Severus expand. He slowly walked up to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder, Severus startled and turned around to face Harry. When his concentration was lost, the shadows escaped his grasp.
"Excellent work Severus, let's go back inside to await the others," Harry said. He took down the training circle and walked back inside the castle. The training with Lucius and Severus went very well, and he was curious to know how the training went with Draco and Remus.
Sirius caught up to Draco as he made his way towards the woods. First he was just walking beside the blond hoping he would confide in Sirius, knowing that they were both submissives. When they had been walking for fifteen minutes, Sirius looked back at his mate for some help. All he got was a shrug of shoulders from the lazy wolf. Turning back to Draco, Sirius decided if he would not talk to a person maybe he would talk to an animal. Sirius carefully sifted to Padfoot, taking care not to jostle his growing pup. He walked up to the alpha's mate and nudged him with his muzzle. Draco startled and looked down at the shaggy black dog next to him and smiled.
"Hey Padfoot," Draco said softly. He found he was more comfortable talking to the man when he was in his animagus form. Draco turned around to see how close Remus was before he started talking and was happy to see the man had wandered from view to give Draco some space. "I'm sorry for sulking."
Padfoot nudged Draco again, causing the blond to laugh. "Thanks. I'm just confused about Harry. I know how I feel about him and I want to do all of these things for him, but what I don't understand is why he keeps trying to do things for me. I'm the submissive, am I not supposed to care for him and make sure he doesn't have to worry about me? He also seems to know what I want to do and doesn't allow me to voice myself. Like this morning when he needed to get dressed, I wanted to pick out his outfit for him to show I can care for him, but before I was able to do so he just ordered me to do it. And then telling me that I needed to go back to bed when I got upset. I'm just not sure how I should fit in with his life."
Padfoot gave a huff and nuzzled into Draco's hand once again. "I know. He's a dominant and an alpha on top of that, but what is my duty as an alpha's mate? This whole situation is confusing. I mean one minute, I'm just trying to survive the summer with Voldemort in my home and next thing I know I'm a werewolf who is mated to the Savior! Maybe I'm just going crazy from being cooped up in this castle with only five other people to keep me company. I have no idea. And then there's the full moon coming up and I'm getting anxious about it, its my first one after becoming a werewolf."
Draco became silent after this and continued his walk beside Padfoot. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming closer to them. He gave a small smile when he saw Remus come through.
"Shall we get started?" Remus asked calmly. He smiled at his mate as he transformed back into himself. Remus and Draco sat down on the ground in a small circle when Sirius sat down.
"Okay, for this to work Harry wanted me to bring you into the woods to help you connect to your other half. To begin, start with meditating. You both have learned Occlumency which will help. I want you to meditate and meld yourself with the nature around you. Let yourself join the woods as you were meant to be. You are predators, you are wolves," Sirius said as he watched over the two werewolves as they closed their eyes and began to meditate and concentrate on their surroundings. He let them continue with this for almost an hour before interrupting them.
"Now that you have done that, picture yourself running. Imagine you are running through the woods towards something. That something is a part of you, move closer to it. Notice its shape, its colors, its smell. Reach out and touch it, introduce yourself. Ask it to join you on your run. Imagine becoming one with it. This is your true self," Sirius said softly. He wanted to be careful not to encourage Remus and Draco into attempting to shift. Harry should be available to both of them when they would try to shift, in the event anything went wrong.
Sirius gasped when Remus's suddenly opened his eyes, but instead of the swirling hazel, he was looking at golden eyes that seemed to glow. He smiled at the sight, knowing exactly what happened. "Hello Moony."
"Mate. It is good to be free," came a deep rumbling voice. Once Remus became comfortable with his inner wolf, he had allowed Moony to step forward so speak with their mate. Sirius reached forward and placed a hand on Moony's cheek. "Go to den."
"We can't yet. Draco has not woken," Sirius tilted his head towards Draco. "He seems to be more conflicted."
"He will learn," Moony leaned forward and gave a small nip to the mating mark on Sirius's shoulder, growling in appreciation at the moan and shiver that went through his mate. "I will see you on the full moon."
Sirius watched in awe as the golden hue of Moony changed to the dark hazel of Remus. He reached forward and gave a chaste kiss to his mate's lips. "That was extraordinary," Remus said. "I think learning the shift will come easily."
"Of course it will, you're my mate," Sirius said with a light chuckle. He turned back to Draco who seemed to still be inside his mind. He hoped Draco would come out of it soon, any longer and Harry would come find them and wake Draco up before he was finished.
Draco walked forward. It was night time and the only light he saw was in front of him cast by the full moon. It shined down in a clearing. Draco stopped at the edge, staying in the darkness as he looked into the moonlight. A wolf was standing in the center watching him. The moonlight was behind the wolf casting a shadow over the mysterious creature. All Draco could make out was the glow Cerulean blue eyes. He shivered as he heard a quiet voice caress his mind.
"Come forward human," the voice seemed to be connected to the wolf figure standing in front of Draco. Remembering the instructions Sirius gave him before he entered this forest, he decided to listen to the command. He entered the clearing, crouched low to the ground in case there were any other animals here. "Do not be afraid. There is only us."
"Who are you?" Draco asked as he walked closer to the wolf. The closer he got, he realized how small it was. It seemed to be smaller than an average wolf.
"I do not have a name, but I know our mate's pack names their wolves. Maybe someday I will have one."
"Our mate?"
"Yes, our alpha. We are the same, human."
"We're the same? You have been guiding my instincts?"
"Yes."
"May I come closer?" Draco asked. When he received a nod from the wolf he approached and knelt before the animal. The fur was thick and surprisingly soft as Draco ran his hand through it. The wolf was a soft grey hue that was almost white. The tip of the tail and it's paws looked as if they were dipped in paint, being a dark grey it looked black in the low lighting. This wolf was beautiful and it was hard to imagine that this was him as well. "Why do you seem smaller than normal wolves?"
"We have not gone through the full moon yet. Once we do, we will grow," it said matter-of-factly.
"May I ask a question?"
"Yes."
"May we become one and surprise our mate? He would be so happy if we showed up in our true form?"
"It will hurt until it is complete, but do not fight it. Then we will find our mate."
Sirius and Remus stopped their conversation when they heard whimpering come from Draco. They looked over and saw the pained expression on the younger man's face and suddenly grew concerned. It seemed that Draco was trying to shift without any training or experience from the full moon. Harry had told them to wait to try until after the full moon, since it would be Remus's first one without the potion and Draco's first all together.
"Sirius, go back to the castle. I don't want you near him," Remus pulled Sirius to his feet and pushed him in the direction of the castle. When his mate stayed, he growled a warning to make his mate move. After Sirius turned to Padfoot and trotted away, Remus turned back to Draco. He waited with bated breath for the transformation to end. It was difficult listening to the howls of pain coming from Draco, causing ghost pain to skitter across his skin in memory at his own painful transformations. He watched as fur sprouted from skin and limbs turned into four legs and paws as the tail extended from his back side. Remus noticed that Draco was getting caught in his clothing and spelled away the shreds of clothes. He held his arms out in case he needed to catch the young wolf that was struggling to stand up. It was a lightly grey wolf with dark grey paws and tipped tail, it also appeared to be young judging by the size. His rational mind provided that it was smaller because this was Draco's first transformation.
"Hey Draco, calm down. You're going to be okay, Just lay down on the ground until the pain subsides," he calmly said to the wolf who was whimpering while trying to stand up. "Here let me carry you back."
Remus carefully walked up to the pup and slid his arms underneath Draco's belly. He cooed trying to calm Draco as he walked towards the castle. He was approaching the patio, Harry ran outside snarling in his wolf form. Remus placed Draco on the ground flinching when he heard Harry snarl at the whimper Draco released, and backed away. He had his head down and gaze averted as he walked in a large circle to go back inside. Remus closed the door and watched outside.
Harry quickly walked up to the small wolf that was laying down on the grass, still whimpering. He sniffed around the new wolf trying to discern who it was and why he felt the need to protect this pup so strongly he was willing to attack a pack member. He stopped suddenly when bright cerulean blue eyes looked up at him, almost pleading with him for something. And that was when he noticed this small wolf was Draco, his mate. Harry laid down next to his mate and began to groom him, while occasionally giving light nips to his mating mark, soothing him.
A/N: This chapter was a little hard for me to write. I hope the way things came out made sense :/ As Always R&R
Now for a brief look into our favorite vampire couple:
Lucius: I still do not know why you became upset earlier.
Severus: It did not feel right seeing you submit like that
Lucius: He is the alpha here, I must. It may not seem right to you because you are used to me being dominant.
Severus: Indeed.
Lucius: Severus, do not be like that
Severus:...
Lucius: You did an amazing job with training though
Severus: Of course I did
Lucius: Something like that should only be rewarded, correct?
Severus: And what would you have in mind?
Lucius: Bedroom. Now.
Severus: I have not had any dinner yet. I would like to hunt first
Lucius: You can feast on me. Now, go to the bedroom.
Severus: You are impossible
Lucius: Yes, impossible to resist. Do I need to make another command?
Severus: No I am going. Are you just going to follow behind me the whole way?
Lucius: If I asked to remove your clothes along the way, would you?
Severus...possibly