Preface
A Serpents Bite.Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/1105093.
Rating:
Explicit
Archive Warning:
Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category:
M/M
Fandom:
Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Relationship:
Harry Potter/Severus Snape, Neville Longbottom/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley/George Weasley, Lucius Malfoy/Tom Riddle, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Character:
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Ghost Lily Evans Potter - Character, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Lucius Malfoy, Remus Lupin, Tom Riddle, Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Sirius Black, many other
Additional Tags:
Romance, creature - Freeform, wing - Freeform, Violence, Alternate Universe, Dark!Harry, Good!Tom Riddle, bad!Dumbledore, m-preg
Series:
Part 1 of
A new beginning
Stats:
Published: 2013-12-27 Updated: 2014-10-02 Chapters: 11/? Words: 32688
A Serpents Bite.
by TanakaKira
Summary
"Tonight would be the first night of their new lives…tonight they would rise from the ashes like a phoenix - soon they would find the serpent and their family would be complete."
Ever wondered why they say "Don't let power go to your head?" Well Albus Dumbledore is about to find out.
Currently under-going editing (Not on hiatus, I'll be adding chapters as well as editing)
Notes
Disclaimer - I do not own the Harry Potter world, that pleasure belongs to JK Rowling, anything not canon belongs to me everything else is hers.
AN - This is my first ever fan-fiction...the first time I have ever shared my writing outside or role-play I am nervous...please let me know if you enjoy it and want me to write more, also I would love ideas and will give full credit if any of your ideas reach the pages of this little project of mine.
No Beta...all mistakes are mine.
Time to wake up.
Just an hour longer, just one more hour and he would be free from this place forever. He had been dreaming about this for so long and soon it would be here, all he had to do was hold on for a little longer, just think about something else and wait. With eyes closed he let himself fall into a semi-relaxed state and with a little effort he managed to push the thoughts of what was going to happen to the back of his mind.
Darkness had already settled about number 4, and it had brought with it a sense of impatience that Harry had never felt before - on no other birthday had he felt this all-encompassing need for the minutes to tick by faster and this was the first time he had believed something special was about to happen.
This had been the longest summer to date and also the harshest, it was as if the closer he got too leaving this hell on earth - the more his uncle seemed intent on making his life unbearable. From the moment he had stepped off the platform and seen his uncle for the first time that summer he had known it was coming. The pain, the torture and starvation were written in that man's eyes - nothing would save him.
Day after day he had followed the same routine…
Wake up at five in the morning, wash quickly using only cold water and rough soap - dress in a pair of his cousins old cast off sweat pants (that fell down if he didn't tie them tight enough) and a scratchy woollen jumper that was near on three sizes too big. He would then trudge down stairs to start breakfast; a breakfast he himself would not be allowed to partake of. His aunt would get up at half six, take her place at the table; she would point to the table and he would serve her with all the grace of a well-trained footman before stepping back and waiting for his uncle and cousin who would wake up at seven.
After breakfast his day truly began and he would start his chores - cleaning the entire house from top to bottom, care for the garden, get the shopping and of course make lunch and dinner before returning to his room at eight. The only changes from last year were this year his uncle had started to become vicious with the beatings and instead of just a slap when he did not complete his chores he was now being punched, kicked and on one occasion even whipped. It was only ever is uncle, it had only ever been his uncle and sometimes when things got too much his aunt would sneak into his room and care of the wounds…once during this summer his uncle had gotten to the point where he almost broke; he had been so close to the edge and somehow she had known it, it had only happened the once but he remembered her holding him and whispering that soon it would be ok.
Tonight would be the last night he ever had to deal with the horrors of this house, but it would also be the last night he would ever see his aunt or cousin who had started to shed their years of hatred.
It was these thoughts that saw him through the hour; he had become so engrossed in the thoughts of losing his family completely that he barely noticed the ticking by of the seconds…and before long his body alarm told him it was midnight.
"Happy Birth…" Pain sealed his throat shut and choked off his words before they even left his mouth.
Agonizing screams ripped from him as he fell onto the floor. Unable to stop himself he screamed out for aunt, hoping that she would have the strength to fight his uncle and to get him a doctor, it was a small hope but still…he didn't know how long he could last like this. It felt like his skin was being burnt from his muscles which in turn were being ripped from his bones.
It was a truth known by all who had ever seen them interact that Severus Snape and Harry Potter were not on the best of terms - most believed it was because of Harry's father, and a few even believed it was simply that Severus took an instant dislike to the 'famous Harry Potter' but they were wrong…
Severus didn't detest Harry, not even a little bit - each year he had been forced to wear a mask by his master and so he was never once allowed to express his emotions. It left a bitter taste in his mouth that he had to treat Harry the way he did but there was nothing he could do about it, not now that Harry truly believed the worst of him.
"Severus? Are you in there?"
Shivers ran up his spine and Severus knew who's voice it was instantly; there was only one voice that could pull such a reaction from him and it belonged to the only person he had ever thought of as a friend.
"Yes, I am here."
He heard the sigh of relief that the other male gave and moved to kneel in front of the fireplace. Floo calls always made him nervous, it was just so disconcerting to see a floating head made of fire.
"Severus, I need you to come here…I am not feeling myself."
Worry laced the voice of his friend; Severus had never heard him sound like this before, it was a little unnerving to hear it now and so instead of speaking he just gave the other a nod and motioned that he should step back.
Tears that felt like ice had gathered in his eyes and his hands were shaking uncontrollably; Harry was in a state by the time his aunt finally arrived. Blood covered the floor along with vomit and what smelt suspiciously like urine, it was not a pleasant sight…but what made it worse was the shivering form of Harry laying in the middle of it all.
"Oh, Oh Harry."
Uncaring of the mess on the floor Petunia Dursley ran to her nephew's side and wrapped her arms about him, holding him against her chest the way she had done with her son on numerous occasions.
"It…It hurts."
His voice was so horse that his aunt had to lean in closer to hear it, and the look in those emerald eyes broke her heart. He looked like his world had come crashing down around him and there was no hope of ever rebuilding it. She wanted so much to sooth him and to tell him it would be ok, but the cruel slashes across his back made her hold her tongue…she could not promise a happy ending when she herself believed that he would be meeting his end this night, all she could do was hold him and let him know that he was no alone.
"I know, I know my sweet boy."
It felt so strange to be comforting a boy she had spent sixteen years hating, but this year had been full of strange things happening. At first it had just been that she had been thinking about Harry in a kinder light, wishing she could go back and change her actions…but then slowly it had become a lot stranger…so strange in fact that she had taken to avoiding her husband and spending more time alone.
Both her and her son had never shown any magical talent, something she had been both pleased and angry about - but this year weird things kept happening around them. One day she had been in the kitchen and had wanted the sauce that was across the counter, reaching out for it even though she knew she would be a little short she had tried to grab it…but before her hand was even half way the jar had hit her palm - and that wasn't the only time something like that had happened.
"Make it stop."
The sound of her small nephews pain filled voice broke her from her thoughts and she was once again brushing a hand through his sweat slick hair.
"Hush, try and sleep."
Her heart broke seeing him like this but there was simply nothing she could do for him, and so she started to hum a lullaby her mother had sung to her and she in turn had sung to her boy Dudley. The room was so dark and dank and it made her chest tighten to know that she was the reason Harry had been forced to live like this - she had meant to care for him, had been given responsibility for another small child and instead of doing right by her sister she had let this boy suffer.
A gentle knock was what brought her out of her thoughts this time and stood in the doorway was her son, it was at that moment she made up her mind.
"Mum?"
"Dudley, go a pack a suitcase…we are leaving."
"What about dad?"
"Duddykins, just go."
She may have done wrong by Harry but she would see her boy grow up away from the tyrant that was Vernon Dursley.
"I wish I had been stronger."
"How do you expect me to help if you do not even know what is wrong?"
The ever present sneer was firmly in place, even in front of his friend he refused to drop his mask - it had been there too long. There was only ever going to be one person who would ever see his true self that that would be his mate when he found them…if he found them, it had already been thirty-eight years and he had yet to feel anything.
"Severus, remember to whom you speak."
"How can I forget? Have you looked in a mirror of late?"
Only he could get away with speaking like this to the male and for that Severus was grateful, it was only here in their privet study that either man felt free to be themselves, at least in part.
"Oh how I love your wit, now hel…"
He didn't know how or when it had happened but the air in the room seemed to become thick with power, a surge of enormous proportions. Oxygen felt like lead in his throat and he was down on his knees, following his friend to the floor…neither could see the other all they could do was ride the tidal wave of magic that washed over them time and time again.
In a castle tower, miles away from where one man fought for his life and two men were at this moment drowning in power - Dumbledore stood gritting his teeth and cursing fates. He had believed he had done everything to stop this from happening! The boy was meant to be powerless, almost a squib!
So how was it that he was at this moment the brat was getting his inheritance? He had sealed that woman and her spawns magic, had rid them of memories and cursed them to hate the boy…they were meant to be beating him until he was pliant and passive…and now here the boy was getting all the power that was meant to belong to him, it wasn't fair and he would put a stop to it!
"Harry!"
Another scream had been yanked from him, and his body felt like it was on fire. He knew his aunt was with him, could somehow sense her through the pain and it made him feel slightly more at ease but it didn't stop the pain that was at that moment pushing him over the brink and into madness. No longer did he believe he had a hope of making it out of this alive.
Hush child, let us work…we would see you free.
'Great'
Emerald eyes slid shut as the agony and confusion dragged him over hot coals…or at least it felt like they were…but now not a single sound left the boy who clung tighter to his aunt. Something deep inside him had awoken, something primal and instinctive and it was pissed.
Silence rang through the room like a bell, heavy and all encompassing, it was frightening and constricting as it wrapped about the two people who were at that moment lost to the outside world.
Petunia had no idea what was happening, one moment her nephew was screaming his throat raw and then suddenly he…wasn't. She didn't want to admit it was the end, didn't want to see the light drain from the boys eyes and yet she couldn't let go…not even when the whale that was her husband stormed into the room.
"Put that filth down!"
"Oh, shut up! For gods sake Vernon…just be quiet."
Tears had built in her eyes as she just stared down at the boy she knew was dying. She didn't care what her husband said, no longer would she sit back and watch as he ruled their lives…she would take her son and together they would atone for their parts in the mistreatment of this boy.
"Don't you dare! You disgusting bitch!"
A meaty fist was on its way to her face but she had given up, truly given up…let him hit her! Let him prove that he was a monster; she would go to the police and…and with Harry's body she would claim that this man had killed her nephew and had battered her.
Vernon Dursley would pay.
"Leave her alone!"
Her son's voice called her from her plans and she looked up in time to see her boy standing in front of her with his arms stretched out, hiding her from the vision of murder that was her husband.
"Duddy, Duddy…listen to mummy…go, get out of this house and wait for me at your favourite place."
She reached out and coupled her begging tone with a hand on her boys back…her wonderful little boy.
We must save him!
Quiet! I am working.
Tailly is doing all she can…
Taliyah, promise you will save him - please promise…
I will do all that is in my power.
_
Down on his knees Severus could not seem to stop the images that flashed in front of his eyes, images of a smiling boy gazing with adoration up at him from one of the house tables…pictures of what should have been.
"Sev…Severus."
Long skeletal fingers reached out and grasped hold of his own slightly yellowed ones but still Severus could not pull himself from the pictures and in that moment of time he knew why.
"HARRY!"
A shrike that would of made a banshee proud was dragged from his lungs as his hand shot out to somehow grab the boy that was miles away…he needed to get to Harry, needed to be with him…if only he could move.
For the first time in his thirty eight years of life he felt that tug about his heart; the dark call of one of his own being born…and with it came the hunger the -need- to be with someone…
"No…"
Gasping for breath he tried to push himself up, tried to fight the power that continued to pound down around him…he had to get to Harry….had to get to his mate.
Harry had no idea what was going on around him, had no idea of the war his aunt was fighting for him all he knew was that slowly the pain was being eaten away and the relief it brought.
Music gentle and loving wrapped about him and a smile fell over his lips as he listened to it…and then the voice started and he knew why it made him so happy. The smooth baritone sounded like home and some inner part of him knew it as his 'mates' and all he could think was 'mine'.
He was lost in the voice and the music, unaware that the shadows were being called to him…unaware that his aunt was at that moment screaming for him.
We are here little one, we are here and we welcome you…
Darkness pulled him from his aunts arms, raised him so high that his nose touched the ceiling. No one could see through the dense shadows that had wrapped about him like a blanket…no one saw as the blackest wings shot through the slits in his back and no one heard the sigh of pleasure as his inner creature was at last set free.
Is this what love feels like? Is this what home feels like?
Happiness curled about him like a puppy, licking at his face and dragging out small giggles of pleasure. It was like being in heaven only better…. if this is death, I think I like it.
A gentle chuckle filled his mind and when he opened his eyes he caught his first glimpse of his mother…and he knew why he felt so at home in this darkness.
"Mummy…"
"Yes, baby. It's me."
Again she chuckled and they were racing towards each other, reaching out to curl their arms about each other.
"Oh, my boy! My sweet, sweet boy!"
"Mum, I…I missed you."
"I missed you as well my precious one…"
Tears of joy filled their eyes and they both gave a watery chuckle before grasping hold of each other tighter.
"I don't have much time, Taliyah only has enough energy to keep me here for another few moments."
"Yo…You are going to leave me?"
"Not because I want to…"
Sighing his mother pulled back and held him at arm's length. Emerald eyes gazed into emerald eyes and tried to convey nothing but love, neither looked away they just drank in each other and tried to drown in the utter perfection of their love.
"Baby, I don't have a lot of time so just listen. For the last fifteen years I have been fighting for you, on the day of your birth I knew you would be special so I worked hard to hide you from the world…but not because of what Dumbledore nor 'Potter' said."
The way she said his father's name brought to mind images of something beyond disgusting, it made him think of slugs and shit…not how one madly in love would talk about their partner.
"Those fools knew nothing! My sisters and myself, we knew that you would save the world…together with your uncle you would achieve great things. Now, my love listen…Tom is not your enemy…he…he has been hurt by Dumbledore, driven to madness but he is not evil. Harry you must find the pieces of his soul and you must return them…please Harry, promise me you will save my big brother."
The love in his mother's voice as she spoke of her brother was enough to make him believe that his 'uncle' was a very special person to her…and it made him determined to save the male – after all if his mother thought so highly of him then surely he was worth saving.
"When you wake up you will receive four owls, one from Gringotts detailing the list of your inheritance and offering the assistance of the goblins - accept their help they will be great allies in the coming years. The next owl will be from myself. I wrote it on the day of my death and I want you to know every word is true, every single word…the next two letters, I want you to burn them without reading them."
Again she waited until he nodded.
"You will not be the only one receiving letters, your uncle will as well…as will my dearest friend. I love you Harry…"
On that note she began to fade and with her went the feeling of joy…
During the time Harry had become trapped in the darkness so had his aunt and cousin, time had stopped and left number 4 frozen in that split second. It had happened just as his uncle had been about to slam a fist into Petunia's face and just as Dudley had been packing in his room…Harry wasn't the only one to receive a vision that night…both Petunia and Dudley got one at the same time.
Lilly informed her sister that she was sorry, sorry she had never seen what Dumbledore had done to her and she begged for forgiveness and in the same likeness Petunia had had pleaded to be forgiven for her treatment of Harry. It took some time but by the end both sisters had embraced and all was finally laid to rest…at the same time memories had begun to flow back into the older of the two, memories of a brother she had no recollection of forgetting.
"Tom…"
Both sisters had spent moments planning, planning for Harry and for Dudley…
In Dudley's vision he got to meet the aunt he had never known and was told that his atonement would come in the form of protecting Harry. From this day forward until the end he would stand by Harry's side and protect him from the world.
When Lily was done with them she finally went to meet with Tom…she would stay with him until Harry could find him, would protect him and lead him to the right path.
Four hours, four long hours was what it took for the transformation to be complete and when he Harry finally settled back into his aunt's arms and the darkness had dissipated he opened his eyes.
Fast than lightening and with all the grace of a feline Harry sprung from his aunt's arms and caught his tormentor's fist in his hand. The anger he felt towards the beast burned in his eyes and turned them from emerald green to pitch black pits that radiated violence.
"Vernon Dursley, you will not harm my family ever again."
His voice more of a growl and his eyes holded a gleam of what could only be called vengeance; - in an instance he was pushing the creatures backwards towards to wall, no longer caring about what was good and what was evil…he had every right to tear this demon apart and so with a strength that was inhuman he started ripping into him over and over again. Blood poured from the gashes he had made in the pigs stomach, hair and skin clung to his nails that had become claws.
"I hate you!"
He was screaming and didn't care as he went to town on the creature that had for so long terrified him. Organs spilled from wide wounds, a kidney splattered against a wall, an eyeball stuck to a window…and then at last he was done and all that was left was a mess.
"Harry…"
A soft voice broke through his haze of violence and stroked down his spine in the way only a loving family members voice could.
"I am sorry…but I think…I think I'm going to faint..."
Five seconds after the statement had Harry folding in on himself and the last thing he saw or heard was his aunt and cousin smiling and promising to be there when he woke up.
"Dudley, we are leaving…you carry Harry to the car and I will pack."
Tonight would be the first night of their new lives…tonight they would rise from the ashes like a phoenix - soon they would find the serpent and their family would be complete.
Here come the owls
Chapter Notes
AN - Sooo...I wanted to get this out, its not that great and I'm pretty sure I have forgotten something so if you see something that is either A: confusing or B: wrong please let me know and I will do my best to explain!
"Are we there yet?"
"If you ask that one more time." Petunia was getting exasperated by her son's constant childish behaviour; he could see they weren't there, yet he kept on asking and if he kept talking then he was going to wake up Harry.
Turning her head slightly she took in a breath and was just about to tell her son to stay quiet but just as she opened her mouth she heard a slight groan from the backseat. "Harry! You're awake."
They had been driving for three hours by this point and Petunia had almost given up hope that Harry would wake up by the time they reached the cottage. She knew he must need the sleep, but still it had worried her and every now and then she had turned her head to look at him through the mirror.
Though she knew it now to be false; that she had in fact known many such people as Harry…it was still hard to think of her true memories as her own, so seeing her nephew with what had to be the most beautiful wings adorning his back…well it was a shock to say the least.
"Ye…Yeah."
His voice sounded rough, as if he had been swallowing gravel for the last three years. He sounded so weak and vulnerable, it made her want to pull over and hold him against her chest. Since leaving the house she had been pulling back her instincts which screamed at her to smoother him, to lavish him with all the attention which should have always been his from his birth. It was hard to gaze upon him and see the blood, sweat and other bodily fluids…but she just couldn't turn her eyes away from the sight of her only connection to her dear little sister.
"We will be at the cottage in a few minutes, try and get a bit more rest."
"I'll cover you back up."
A smile bloomed on her lips as she listened to her son being truly caring for another…for Harry. If only to herself she had to admit that it had been a worry of hers, what if Vernon had gotten his claws too deeply into her boy? Did she have the strength to give him up? But it seemed her fears were unfounded and so she never had to worry about which child to choose.
Dudley had never hated Harry, hadn't even disliked him…he just didn't want to rock the boat. Everyone expected him to bully Harry, every expect him to be 'Big D'…but all he had ever felt like was a big D, I giant D a humongous D and on a few occasions he had felt a bit like a C.U.N.T….now he could make up for everything and he would not let this chance slip away.
He watched as Harry nodded and once his cousin was again laying down with his face on the cushion they had grabbed from the living room; he covered him with a blanket and tucked him in. No one would be hurting his cousin ever again, not if he had any say in the matter.
"Mum…"
"I know, I know."
Neither of them had to say it - from this day forward they lived only to look after their family.
No one would mess with them ever again…
Dumbledore was - screwed.
Warm, soft and comfortable - those were the first thought Harry had upon waking for the second time. He really didn't want to open his eyes in case it had all been a dream; he wouldn't be able to cope if all of that had been a dream and instead of a loving family he was still stuck being everyone's bitch.
Sighing a little he finally gave in and opened his eyes…
"Wow…"
Emerald eyes newly opened and still heavy with sleep danced from one object to another, taking in everything from the beautiful mahogany bed with its intricate carvings of woodland animals to the matching desk that sat under the window. This room was beautiful, painted in silver and green…which he had to be honest were his two favourite colours.
The bed had to be an antique, but its condition was almost brand new - not a single scuff or dent. Silks and satins decorated it and gave it a warm welcoming feeling. Spreading his arms out and pulling a pillow in close Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the captivating elegance of the place. The Hogwarts dorms were nice, but this was something else altogether and he loved it.
Shifting a little he slipped his legs out of the bed…and it was then that he noticed someone had dressed him in a pair of sleeping trousers that must have cost a small fortune. Silky and soft they felt good on his flesh and felt cool against his slightly fevered skin.
"I hope you like it, your mother wanted to bring you here…she decorated that room herself."
Harry spun around on the bed, wand in hand and emerald eyes blazing like a deadly fire that threatened to consume anyone who dared to hurt him. He wasn't sure what he had expected but it certainly wasn't his aunt standing there and looking at him as if he were someone special.
"Ho…How do you know that?"
His aunt appearing out of nowhere had given him a bit of a surprise, wasn't she meant to hate him? Yet there she stood, smile on her face and arms open for…was she waiting for a hug?
"I remember now, I remember her bringing me here and asking me what colour would look best…I remember loving my sister and my adorable nephew!"
One moment he had been stood there just staring at his aunt and now he had his arms full of crying woman…he didn't know what to do and it scared him a little so he just patted her back and looked around for the candid camera's that were surely about to pounce.
"She has been doing that all morning."
A scoff and then his aunt was gone from his arms and was instead being cradled by her son, who was looking at Harry as if Harry were his best mate and they held a great secret together. This was all very strange and Harry was beginning to think maybe he hadn't woken up and this was all just a dream…but then Petunia was speaking again and his mouth fell open in shock.
"The owls, they arrived this morning…"
It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a fantasy! He really had seen his mother and she really had sent the owls like she said she would…
Racing away from the two who were smiling lovingly at him he ran towards the kitchen (how he knew where it was he would never be able to say; he just did) and towards the words his mother had always meant for him to hear.
It took less to no time to reach the kitchen and what he saw made his heart jump to his throat. Sat perched on the back of four different chairs were four different owls.
A common barn owl, a beautiful one…snow white front and tortoise shell wings, truly it was a very handsome bird. In its beak it held an envelope with the Gringotts wax seal.
"I…I'll go in order."
Smiling he took the letter from the owls' beak and stroked down its back in thanks before settling down to read…
Dear Mister Harold James Potter
We are writing to inform you that we at Gringotts bank wish to offer you our hand in friendship. Your mother and her kind have always been allies to us and we wish to continue this alliance for the benefit of both our races. It has long been common place that when a newly hatched Noir Veela is revealed all those that wish to offer guidance and protection to the child do so on their seventeenth year.
Now that we have gotten past the personal note, we would like for you to come in so that we may give you a tour of our vaults.
Head Goblin Hockwood
It was a very short letter but there were also five or six documents that detailed property he owned, business he held…and there was also a list of every object stored in the four vaults he owned. Harry had known he wasn't poor but…this…this was a bit much.
"Guess I'll be on the cover of a few magazines…"
Snorting he put the documents and letter down before reaching out and taking his mother's…pretty sure it would explain everything that was happening to him, and if it didn't…well then it would be time to have a panic attack.
Dear Harry
First off…DON'T PANIC! I have always wanted to do that joke.
He could practically hear her laughing as she wrote those words down and though he didn't understand the joke he felt his heart warming that his mother had had such a sense of humour that not even the dark times she had been living in had stopped her from laughing.
What is happening to you and your body is perfectly normal so don't worry. It happened to me, I had my mother to see me through the change…and if you are reading this then you don't.
Right let's get to get down to brass tacks, you aren't human - I know shocker! Baby…I was born Lailah Jane Riddle…and I was the sister of - you guessed it Tom Riddle.
At that revelation Harry had to put the letter down for a moment and even after rubbing his eyes and rereading it, it had still said the same thing. Harry was related to the man he was meant to kill…Lord Voldemort was his uncle…trusting his mother to answer his questions he picked the letter back up and went back to reading.
We were many years apart, many…many years apart but both Petunia and I loved our brother. To the rest of the world he was cruel and 'evil' but with us he was always so gentle and loving. Tom was not a kind man, but he was honourable…until that man got his claws into our family and pulled us apart.
The true evil is Dumbledore! That man pulled us apart, ripped both myself and Penny from our brother, stuck us with some muggles named Evens and changed our memories…it wasn't until my inheritance that I learnt all of this, and it was then that my mother found me…it broke her heart to leave Penny behind but she could not risk it to take both of us. The Evens were a good family and would care for Penny, none of us knew that Penny was not a squib, none of us knew she had magic - I only found out a few days ago.
Sighing a little Harry looked up from the letter and stared at his Aunt, though the pain of neglect was still there his mother's revelation allowed him to see things from his Aunts prospective…it must have been hard to have her sister stripped from her…it must have been hard to be 'normal' when her sister was so 'special'.
So not only had Dumbledore taken us from our home and our family, driven our brother mad….he had taken my sisters magic from her. Is it really any wonder that Penny was so angry? I love Penny and I always will…I hope that she feels the same, but she most likely feels like I had abandoned her and for that I am going to be forever sorry.
It would take time for Harry to forgive his family for the pain they had put him through but he was at least going to try, for his mother he would try and put aside old hurts and work towards becoming a true family unit.
Harry, my sweet little boy…there is so much I want to tell you…but I don't have time so here is the big stuff.
1. I did NOT love your father, he was a prick…sorry to use such language but he was. You may ask why I married him if I didn't love him…well the answer is simple, it was part of the plan. The day my mother came and got me she told me that it Dumbledore needed to pay, we were going to ruin him from the inside. Marrying Potter secured my seat in the Order, it made me look like I was the perfect little puppet I was meant to be…the only good thing to come from that marriage was you.
Though Harry knew his mother hadn't loved his father; the vision of her had been pretty clear on that fact – it was still hard to have it put in writing…it made it real and Harry wasn't really sure he was ready to deal with the amount of lies he had been told…
2. Severus is a good guy, I know he is abrasive and sometimes he can come across as cold…but he built up that mask because of Potter…I lost my best friend because Potter couldn't keep his mouth shut and the world lost a good man and in his place a cruel man took place…but trust me when I say he is a good man and will understand what you are going through - I won't share his secretes but believe me he will understand.
Harry trusted his mother…but it was a little difficult to see Snape as anything other than a snarky bastard who enjoyed tormenting him. Sure during nearly every year he had been at the school Snape had saved his life…and sure Snape treated him as just another student and didn't give him special treatment…and yeah he had to admit he would find it hard if he had to deal with someone who looked exactly like the person who had tormented him during school...great, Snape was practically a saint for not murdering him.
3. Sirius and Remus were MY friends, not Potters. Both of those men were working with me to take Dumbledore down…trust them.
Finally some good news, at least he didn't have to lose the two adults that meant the world to him – he didn't want to think about what would happen if he had lost them.
4. Now we are getting to the really important bit. This letter is to come to you the day after your seventeenth birthday and as I know you will receive the inheritance of Noir blood….I know that you are most likely in shock.
Shock was an understatement, Harry was about three seconds from a panic attack…all the information he had just been given paled in comparison to being told he was no longer human.
Noir are a breed of Veela, a very rare and very powerful breed of Veela. Unlike our cousins Jour Veela we control the elements, we fest on blood (yeah like vampires) and we mate for life. Noir Veela are secretive by nature, and more primal…in the next few months you will find yourself acting more and more like the creature you are DO NOT FIGHT IT! Being a Noir Veela is a great blessing, never be ashamed of who and what you are…but never let the Ministry find out or they will tag you and label you a 'dark' creature - they always fear those with more power than them.
Now, Noir as I have said are more primal than normal Veela and they go through more changes….here is a list of what to expect.
1. You most likely got these already but - Wings. These Wings are not just for show, baby you can use you wings to escape, to poison (I'll explain this later) and when you find your mate, you will use these wings as part of a courting ritual.
2. Fangs…feline like fangs…not much to say about these. You won't start needing blood until you mate as that is the only blood a Noir needs.
3. For a time it will feel like there are two of you, like there is the human and the Noir…this will calm down so don't worry. Just remember what I said, don't fight it.
4. Your feathers are coated with a poisons dust, at first it isn't potent and won't do much other than send people to sleep, but the older the Noir get the stronger the poison. Now don't start stressing over it, this dust will only ever leave your wings when you are scared and it never effects other Noir.
5. This could be a little hard for you to accept, but Male Noir who are submissive….well they can carry babies. This will only effect you if you are a submissive, but its ok, its normal for us.
I love you my sweet one, love you so much. Dumbledore stripped our family apart, made Tom forget who we were (can you believe Dumbledore actually implanted false memories into someone as strong as Tom? Give him hell about that when you find him!) And worst of all he stopped me being with you…Harry I never found my mate…but you were the light of my life and you will continue to be in my death.
There are some books on the Noir in the vaults…your grandmother and grandfather are dead, but that made sure that before they went they would be able to look after you from the grave…
I miss you my little one.
Love Mummy.
Shock was the only way he could explain how he was feeling, after waking up with wings he had guessed that he was some sort of creature - Hermione had told him that this could happen and yet he had always thought it wouldn't…being a creature didn't scare him; he could accept it. But here it was in writing that he was a 'rare breed'.
Wings he could accept.
Fangs he could deal with.
Being a psycho animal would be harder but not impossible.
But he could have children? Could get up the duff? That seemed like something straight out of fantasy.
He had accepted that he was gay and had gotten over the fact he would never have kids…but now he was being told there was a chance, a good chance he could have kids (after a little experimentation he had found out he liked being full instead of inside). This was all a little too much to bare and so he pushed it to the side; he might not ever even find his mate - his mum hadn't.
Pushing up from the chair he had fallen into he took the last two letters and like he had been told he burnt them without reading them first.
Tomorrow he would try and deal with this - tomorrow he would face these problems but for now he needed to spend some time getting to know his aunt and write a few letters of his own…
Time to find out who was loyal to him and who wasn't.
Severus's and Tom's Turn
Chapter three Severus's and Tom's turn
Cold, hard and uncomfortable; Severus felt like he was suffering from a hangover of extreme propositions. His head was pounding and his mouth felt like he had spent the night licking at a badgers arse; he couldn't remember what had happened and it left him with a spinning sensation whenever he tried to think too hard about something his brain clearly didn't want him to be thinking about.
"Did I drink last night?"
Coal black eyes danced from object to object as he looked for the tale-tale sign's that he and his friend had spent the night in one of their favourite past times – downing vast quantities of firewhiskey and calling Dumbledore as many foul names as they could think of. He often found himself waking up on the floor surrounded by bottles…but the lack of bottles and the lack of the smell of smoke indicated that last night he had not been drinking.
"Oh god, my head feels like it's about to explode."
Holding his head in his hands as if to stop it from doing just that – he slowly walked to the bottom of the stairs and called out in a rough voice, clearly his friend had left him on the floor and clearly he had been in his friends company so he might as well find out what happened right from the horse's mouth.
"Thanks ever so much for just leaving me on the floor!"
It hurt to yell but there was no way in hell he was climbing those stairs; he already felt like he was going to fall over any moment – he didn't need to add a concussion to his list of injuries.
In reply to his yelling he got a dark chuckle of the kind that most call evil. Sometimes he hated the fact that his only friend was a dark lord and other times it came in handy…this was one of those times where he wanted to shove a dirty sock in his friend's mouth and shove his head down the loo.
"Yes, yes. Very funny." He paused to take a breath before continuing in his smooth baritone voice. "What in all nine levels of hell happened last night?"
That stopped the chuckling and he knew that whatever had happened was something he most likely wanted to forget…but something inside him was telling him he had to remember. There was something important that he had to remember and he had to remember it now!
"I believe…we felt a…Noir hatching."
Just as soon as he heard those words he was overcome with images of the night before, filled to the brim with memories and emotions that he had somehow forgotten about.
Harry. Harry Potter was a Noir. Harry Potter was his mate.
All these emotions were making his head spin so he sat down on the bottom step and just stared at the fire through the open door.
How could Harry Potter be his mate? Harry was so kind and wonderful, sweet and innocent…he deserved a mate that was equally as sweet…and as he knew he was a dominate mate that meant Harry was a submissive – how was he going to look after a submissive? His world was messed up.
"I…I need to get back to Hogwarts." His voice shook a bit but he somehow managed to keep it together enough to stand up and head towards the parlour.
"Don't let Dumbledork hurt you. I would hate to have to find a new servant."
A smile bloomed on his Severus's thin lips when he heard those words, others might think them cruel and heartless but he knew that his friend was worried and to him that was as good as saying 'Stay safe'.
"I shall be careful, do not die before I return. I would hate to have to find a new dark lord."
He didn't wait for a reply instead he grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the flames before calling out 'Hogwarts – Severus Snape's person rooms."
Harry couldn't remember the last time he had had anyone make him breakfast during a summer holiday and so it was a little scary when his aunt gently pushed him aside and started on the fry up. Watching her with a nervous eye Harry had taken a seat at the table and re-read his letters.
"You said my Mother brought you here, said you loved me…but my mum even says here that you were angry with her." Questions were bubbling to the surface of his mind and he just had to have the answers or he would burst.
"You can be angry with someone and still love them, Harry…I am so sor.."
Just as she was about to say sorry Harry put up his hand and stopped her. He wasn't ready to hear it, wasn't ready to accept their apologies. For years he had been treated like a freak and an outcast, and just saying sorry wasn't going to wipe away the pain for him so he just shook his head and looked at her with eyes that had seen too much in their short time.
"I am not ready to hear it."
Aunt Petunia nodded and he settled back in his chair. One day he would hear her say it and he would forgive her but he just wasn't ready to forgive, not yet.
Snape tumbled through the fireplace and landed in a very undignified heap of limbs and fabric not that he really gave a damn. Lying there with his head buried into the soft fur of his Ursula rug, he couldn't think straight, couldn't even groan in pain because he was just too tired.
Tea.
His brain was fuzzy, and clearly his ears had been effected to as he could of sworn he heard a female voice whispering the word 'Tea'…though now he thought about it a cup of tea would be nice and it would sort him out until he could get some sleep.
Having decided on a course of action he pushed up from floor and padded towards the small kitchenette. Soon he was lost in the almost therapeutic normalcy of making himself a cup of tea; first take the cup out of the cupboard above the kettle, start to boil the water, drop the tea bag in and get out the spoon, milk and sugar. Everything in Snape's quarters was in perfect order, not even a single dust particle was allowed in his domain, it was how he stayed sane.
"I should check my post."
Leaving the kettle to boil Severus made his way into his study to see what Karam had brought him that morning. Just like everything else in his life Severus owl was well ordered and had been trained to simply leave his letters on his desk, it stopped Dumbledore being able to see his personal letters and he never had to worry about them being intercepted seeing as Karam had been known to rip out a man's eyes if they tried to read his masters letters.
Six or seven strides had him stood outside his study door and he wasted no time in pushing it open. It was dark in his study, clearly the house elves had not been there yet and so he flicked his wand and cast a quick lighting spell that would have the torches on the walls coming to life. Soon light was filling the room and it was then that he noticed the Gringotts owl sat on the back of this chair.
"I was not expecting anything from the goblins."
Stepping over to the bird he took the letter out of his beak and instantly froze. The handwriting was one he had thought he would never see again. Lily. His heart squeezed and his eyes stung but he would not cry; for years he had been crying over her and still it wasn't enough. He missed her with a passion…and now this? Was it some kind of sick joke? Well there was only one way to tell.
Dropping down into his wing back chair he slipped his finger under the wax seal and opened the letter –
Hey Sevvie
Bet you didn't expect to get this…Sevvie I am so sorry I left you alone to deal with it all. I'm sorry I didn't kick Potter in the dick and rip him apart; you were and are twice the man he will ever be. God I can't even find the words, I guess I'll just get straight to the point.
Sevvie, my little Harry is a Noir like us. If you are getting this letter that means I have passed away and so I ask you to please help him…train him and be there for him during this time in his life. Being a newly hatched Noir is hard enough without adding the fact he doesn't have a teacher.
You are the only one I can trust to guide him, you are my best friend so I ask you…please watch over my boy and make sure that man does not get his claws into him.
I know where your loyalties lay and I want you to know my loyalties lay there as well. Sevvie, god Sevvie to think I will never see you again, it's hard to imagine…I want you to know I forgive you and that no matter what you are still my best friend and I love you with all my heart.
Be happy.
Unshed tears began to fall and some of the ink began to run…but he kept rereading his last note from his best friend. He had to get to Harry.
~ Masster, masster. It'ss times to be wakingss up.~
Tom heard Nagini's soft whispers but still he did not want to wake up, instead he rolled over and pulled the pillow closest to him over his grey skull – it wasn't until he was pushed off the bed and had hit the floor the he woke up and with a growl shot to his feet to yell at whoever it was daring to interrupt his peaceful slumber.
"Now, now Tom, no need to go all evil lord. Its only me."
The smooth drawl of Lucius Malfoy curled about his spine and pulled him closer to man of his dreams. He knew he would never be allowed Lucius, could never be allowed such perfection but still the hunger was there and he cursed his snake like body and his ugly face for ruining any chance he had with the man. He didn't care about the others marriage, after all when you could kill with the click of your fingers what woman wouldn't willingly give up their husband…but he would never force Lucius to be with him while he was hideous.
"You would do well to remember that I am an evil lord."
A flick of the wrist and his walking wet dream was on the floor writhing in agony, no one was safe from his wand – not even those he had emotions for.
He kept the blonde under the charm for three or four minutes before pulling his hand away and staring down into cold grey eyes.
"Why did you wake me?"
It was a command and he saw how quickly his fantasy moved to comply with the unspoken command.
"You have a letter my lord." As Lucius spoke he reached into the pocket of his silver robes and pulled out a letter before handing it over and then quickly turning on his heels and leaving his master in peace.
~Youss wills never gets himss if youss keep actingss like thatss.~
~What do you expect me to do? I cannot have him knowing how I feel for him.~
~Whyss notss? He wants youss.~
Letter forgotten Tom Riddle began to pace his bedroom; he felt horrid for holding Lucius under Crucio spell…but what else was he meant to do? Just let Lucius go without punishment? No the other death eaters would notice, Lucius would notice and then he would be ridiculed. No he had to remain the evil lord they all thought he was and that was the end of it.
~Leave me.~
He didn't bother to watch as his familiar slipped out of the room, instead he opened the letter and took a seat on his bed. He would distract himself from all thoughts of Lucius Malfoy.
Dear Tom.
Dumbledore won't hurt you ever again, I will end that fucker.
Love, your sister Lily
It took a moment for the words to sink in and then he started to chuckle. This must be some kind of joke – he didn't have a sister.
Lily smiled from her place behind her brother. He wasn't the man she remembered but he was still her older brother and she would do anything for him…but for now all she could do was return his memories and keep him on the right track until her boy could come and save him
You must be quick.
You must no delay
You must save him
Her sisters whispered in her ear and she placed her hands on either side of his head, taking in a deep breath she concentrated on pushing past the barriers and unravelling the spells that were keeping his brothers memories from him.
One by one she saw the threads snap, one by one she watched them as they fell useless by the floor and she couldn't help but to give a chuckle. Dumbledore would stand no chance once her boys were together and then she and her sisters could return.
Four days after receiving the letter and still Tom could not be woken. It seemed that something had happened that day and no one knew what…all they could do was care for their master and hope that he woke soon.
It took another day and a half before Tom finally woke up and when he did it was with a cry.
"Lily!"
With all his memories in place he remembered his sisters, remembered promising to love them and protect them…and then he remembered killing his sweet Lily…he remembered her begging him not to, begging him to see sense but he hadn't and now she was dead.
"I'll kill him, I promise."
Now he had a new reason to fight, not just for the wizarding world but for his family…once destroyed and now whole – together the Riddles would fix what should never of been broken.
Time to find each other
Chapter Notes
Hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks to everyone who has commented! I truly appreciate it.
"What do you mean you don't know where he is?!"
Voldemorts voice rang through the manor and it had all by one of his death eaters cowering on the floor and trying to make themselves as small as they possibly could. Anger was radiating off him and he couldn't seem to control his magic as random objects exploded.
Ever since he had received that letter he had been trying to find his nephew and other sister. With his memories returned he was determined to find them and rule the world with them, to destroy the light with his family and to wage a war like no one had ever seen. The streets would run red with the blood of the innocent and darkness would reign supreme…oh yes; all he needed was his sister and nephew by his side and he would crush all those that opposed him.
"My Lord." Severus's voice was as always calm and soothing to his rattled nerves; it stroked down his spine and eased the tension building in his head. He could trust Severus completely and so he rarely had to punish him…but if he didn't come up with a plan this time then even Severus would not be safe and soon the room would be full of his screams.
"My loyal one, my darling Severus; tell me you have a plan." Red eyes bore into black and promised untold amounts of pain if his servant and friend disappointed him. Severus gave that quirk of the lip that signified he did indeed have a plan and his heart soared, at last he would be with his family again and no longer would Dumbledore be a danger to them.
"My Lord, I believe it best if I were to 'visit' Potter at his relatives house; from there I can use a tracking spell to find the boy."
"Do you think we haven't tried that?" Bellatrix hissed from across the hall and glared daggers at Severus; she had always been jealous of how close he was to their lord and often it was her who tried to convince Voldemort that Severus was a spy – not that he believed her for even a moment, Severus had proved his loyalty in a way none of others had and they never would.
"Severus?" A quirk of his brow and slight upturn of the lip, Voldemort knew that his friend did not overly like Bellatrix and enjoyed any and all chances to make her look like a fool in front of the rest of the group…now would be no different.
"Unlike -you-" He put as much disgust into the word 'you' as he could before carrying on. "I have ways and means at my disposal." Only he knew that Severus was a Noir and so he knew exactly what Severus was contemplating doing…it was risky but they had to find the boy and soon or Dumbledore would and then all his plans would be for nought.
"Do it, but…be careful. We do not want to tip of the old fool." He waited for Severus to nod and leave the room before he even looked at his other servants, while Severus was busy he might as well prepare the place for his family's arrival. "I shall be expecting guests very soon, Bellatrix you are to clear out the dungeons of all our other 'guests'." That should keep the troublesome woman out of his way while he sent the rest of his death eaters out into the world to gather certain people…during his time hunting Harry Potter he had noticed how close he was to his friends, if he had any hope of gaining his trust he had to first gain theirs.
"Yaxley, you are to fetch a Miss Luna Lovegood – do not harm her or there will be a very harsh punishment waiting for you." He waved the man off before turning to Rookwood. "The Longbottom boy is yours to collect; again no harm is to come to him." Once he saw that his orders had been accepted he stepped down from his platform and glided towards the doors that would lead him into his study but before he got a few steps he heard the smooth drawl of Lucius…
"What about the Weasley boy and the Mudblood?" He could hear the confusion in his loves voice but he ignored it and instead turned and with a cold glare and wicked smirk he raised a boney finger and pointed at the man who haunted his thoughts both day and night.
"I leave their capture to you, if you think you can get them from the fools bosom." With that said he turned and retreated into his sanctuary for a well-earned drink – being a dark lord was so tiring.
The breeze felt good against his skin, soothing and gentle as it brushed so tenderly against his flesh. Ever since his birthday and the strange events that had happened then he had found he enjoyed the outdoors more and more. It had become a regular thing for him to slip out of the cottage at about eight in the morning and walk to the stream that twisted through the back of the garden – it was his sanctuary.
Laying on his front with his head resting on his folded arms he tried to think about everything that had happened in the last few days and his mind just kept coming back to one thing – Severus Snape. Last year he had gotten over his mistrust of the man and had even started to respect him, but now he just couldn't seem to get him off his mind and had started to fantasise about him walking up the path and knocking on the door.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Dudley walked around from behind the bush that hide the stream from view, during the last couple of days they had sort of made a truce and were slowly working towards a friendship though it would be a long time before Harry truly forgave him…but Dudley really did seem to want to make it up to him and he had to admit it would be nice to have family that cared about him.
"Just thinking about everything that's happened, like these stupid wings." As if his wings had a mind of their own they fluttered and then went back to lying against his back.
"I think they are kinda cool."
"Try walking around with them, I swear I can't go one day without falling over."
A rustle of movement and Harry knew that Dudley had taken a seat next to him, just out of reaching distance – Harry had found that he didn't like others touching him, it made his skin itch and made him feel like he was going to vomit.
"Sorry mate."
Pain shot up through his spine and lanced through his brain, crippling in its intensity. His hands shot to his head and held it as something inside of him screamed to be let loose so that it could hurt Dudley – how dare he call him mate! How dare he! - He was not his mate, only one person could call him mate and it was not this human boy.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
He couldn't stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth or the way his wings curled around him as he shot up to his feet and glared daggers at the boy in front of him. This had never happened before…Dudley had called him mate before, Ron had called him mate…but now it felt wrong for anyone else to call him that – it just felt so wrong for anyone to call him mate.
"Sor…Sorry." Dudley was shaking a little and holding out his hands as he tried to calm an irate Harry, but it didn't seem to be helping as Harry was still glaring and baring wicked sharp teeth that looked like they could rip through his throat at any moment.
"You aren't my mate! My mate is tall and…and…" Suddenly Harry's mind cleared and he couldn't remember what he was about to say, all his thoughts dried up and he was left staring at a scared Dudley. "Wha…What just happened?"
Dudley just shook his head and noticing that Harry seemed to be himself again just stood and stared – his mum had said that Harry wasn't like them, wasn't human but still, knowing and seeing are two different things and he wasn't sure what to do other than to stare. "I dunno…"
Feeling confused and with a stinking headache Harry just shook his head and closed his eyes before turning and walking back towards the cottage. "Lets go back…" He called over his shoulder without looking, for some reason he didn't want to be near his cousin.
Severus threw his death eater mask and cloak onto the back of his chair. It was all well and good saying he would visit Potter's relatives but he had to work out how to get Dumbledore to let him…somehow he had to make Dumbledore 'send' him to number 4 but as yet he had no idea how to do just that.
"Even when you aren't here you are still making trouble." His words lacked the air of irritation they usually had when he was talking about Potter, instead they were soft and almost amused….the bound was being formed and he knew it – there was no point in fighting it.
He had spent most of his life believing that he would never find his mate, that he would be alone forever just as Lily had been…just like most of their kind were – but somehow the fates had seen fit to deliver not only a mate but a young, handsome and intelligent mate – it had been years since he thought Harry thick. It had taken a bit of time to look past the 'Potter' name and the old hurts that it brought back but he had and now he and Harry had a sort of ceasefire.
"My life is so messed up." Grumbling Severus headed towards the cabinet that held his hard liquor and poured himself a large tumbler full of firewhiskey – a little hair of the dog before he went to see his tormentor.
Dumbledore as always had refused to give him the password to his office and so Severus was stood outside rattling through the many sweets that the old coot might have used as his password – in the end it turned out that the password had been "Pumpkin Pasty's" and the moment he said it the gargoyle had jumped out of the way and let him past with what he was sure was a smirk on its lips.
Ignoring the feeling of foreboding, Severus took the stairs two at the time. Reaching the top he knocked lightly at the oak door and waited for the summons to enter.
Dumbledore got some sort of sick pleasure out of making him wait, it made the older man feel in control…little did he know that soon his 'control' would start to slip through his fingers…but before then all the players had to be on the field and so Severus had to keep pretending to be the loyal little lap dog.
"Enter."
Pushing open the doors Severus strode into the room and right up to the desk. Just seeing the headmaster made his teeth itch and his claws beg to be let loose so they could dig into those damn twinkling eyes…but he refused to give into his base instincts instead he soothed them with promises of soon and the knowledge that they would soon get to see their sweet little Vixen.
"Severus, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Sugar dripped from Dumbledore's lips and coated the words thickly until they were disgustingly sweet. Severus hated hearing that voice, it meant that Dumbledore was planning something and it was something he wasn't going to like one bit.
"I have returned from a summons of The Dark Lord…he has given me a mission."
Taking his seat Severus folded his hands neatly on his knees and gave the headmaster a blank look…one of obedience so that he would not get hurt – unlike the dark lord who only punished those who had done something wrong of made a mistake, Dumbledore would punish someone for any small offence and sometimes he would punish just because he could.
"And what is this mission?" Again that sugary tone which often left him feeling as if he were going to expel everything he had eaten in the last week; he had to control his features so as not to gag or wrinkle his nose. God he hated these meeting.
"I am to find where Potter is and bring him before the Dark Lord." There really was no point in denying it, and if he made Dumbledore believe it had been his idea then he could continue to spy…if not then he would simply have to give the game away so to speak.
"Hm, interesting." He watched as Dumbledore linked his fingers together and rested his chin on them as if he were thinking…and maybe he was but Severus believed he wasn't he was just making him sweat it out for a little longer.
Five minutes passed like this, Severus just staring at the headmaster – refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing how annoyed he had become. He truly hated the old man, hated him with such a passion that it was making him increasingly more frustrated that he couldn't just end him right now…but he couldn't – this was about more than just getting vengeance, they had to get control of the wizarding world and then they would ruin this man completely.
"I believe our best course of action would be for you to do just that…go to number 4 and fetch him, take him to Voldemort and then when the time is right we will save him."
Severus had to grit his teeth when the headmaster finally gave his reply, how anyone could be so cruel it was beyond him…before this very moment he had believed that even after all he had done maybe Dumbledore did care for Harry…clearly he had been wrong. To know that this man had had so much control over his mate and to know that he could have protected his mate but hadn't…it caused his heart to constrict and it made his Noir hiss and spit at him, telling him he was a bad Drake and he didn't deserve such a good Vixen.
"Sir." He knew he had to do what the headmaster said, knew that this worked out best for him but still it made him angry. "Is that all?" It took all his effort not to lunge over the desk and start to beat the others head against the desk…but he managed and when he got the go ahead he stood up and walked calmly out of the room.
Walking slowly he made his way through the castle; he needed time to think and to form a plan and to decided what he would say to Harry when he finally found him. How did you tell the boy who thought you hated him that you were his mate and not only that but to that you were his dominant mate? His head was spinning by the time he got to his door, whispering the password he stepped inside and made his way towards his library.
"Maybe if I gave him a book?"
It was a long shot but maybe if he let Harry find out for himself and let the boy research for himself then everything would be ok…maybe he wouldn't have to have that awkward conversation.
Sitting with his quill over the parchment Harry tried to think how he could word this – he didn't want Dumbledore to know but he had to find out which of his friends were loyal to him and which weren't. He refused to ever again feel like he was being controlled; from now on he would be in control and if that meant losing a few friends then so be it.
"Maybe a spell…" It was worth a shot so he reached out and pulled a book towards him. On the last Hogsmead weekend Harry had seen this book and had felt a strong feeling that he just had to buy it, that it would hold something he would need…and so trusting his instincts he had brought 'Emotion and magic'.
Flicking through page after page of interesting but useless spells; Harry hunted the one spell that would help in his time of need…and then he found it! It was perfect, just perfect and so he took out his wand and muttered the spell that would have the parchment turn to ash if the recipient were disloyal or hated the sender…its main use was so that when sending love letters, if the boy didn't like the girl then the girl wouldn't be embarrassed but it would work just as well for what he wanted – with a bit of tweaking.
"Fidelitas Aperio"
Once the tweaked spell was cast he wove in the spell that would have it burning if it turned out that any of his friends were revealed to be disloyal…and then it was just down to writing the words.
Dear Hermione
Sorry I haven't written to you all summer but so much has happened, far too much for me to write about in a letter but I'll give you the bare bones of it. As you know it was my birthday a couple of days ago and…and well…something happened to me and at first I freaked out – still kinda freaking out as it is.
My uncle has been making this summer worse than all the others, and I was thinking about running away but then on my birthday well I came into some sort of 'creature inheritance' and now I am something called a Noir Veela, no clue what that is but I'm one of them…I got blinking WINGS! And…and I saw my mum.
I am sending you a copy of the letter my mum sent me…if you get this letter and are able to read it then it means you are loyal to me…anyone who touches the parchment who isn't loyal will find it turns to ash. I really hope you can read it.
From Harry.
After he was done writing out the letter he made a copy for each of his friends and a copy of his mother's letter before folding them up and placing them in Hedwigs beak.
"I trust you to make sure they get this…go to Hermione last, she doesn't have an owl."
He opened the window and watched as his familiar flew out into the world – soon he would find out who was loyal and then he would work on his promise to his mother.
It was dark by the time Severus reached number 4; he had wanted to leave sooner but had kept putting it off due to various reasons until finally he stopped with the excuses and walked out of the castle.
All of the houses looked the same to him, perfectly muggle and plan. To think that one of his kind had grown up in a neighbourhood like this, if anyone of the counsel or even one of the guards had known that a Vixen was living like this then they would have been disgusted. Vixens were meant to be lavished and protected…but unlike the Drake's they didn't hatch until they became adults and so it was very rare to find the Vixens born outside of the 'City' and the counsel's domain.
Shaking his head Severus walked up the gravel path to the front door and knocked. There were no lights on so he assumed everyone was asleep – when after ten minutes there was still no reply he knocked again, louder – but still there was no reply so he was left with no choice, whipping out his wand he pressed it against the lock and said in a firm voice " Alohomora" He waited until he heard the click and then strode through the door as if he had used a key to unlock it.
He knew Harry wasn't there straight away, and the stench of decay and death clawed at his throat so he knew that when Harry had hatched he had hatched angry and someone had paid the price of his anger.
Wanting to spend as little time there as he could he closed his eyes and called forward his Noir, if there was any chance of finding Harry then this was it. A Noir could find its mate no matter where they were, and no matter what spell they were under.
It had been years since the last time he had let his Noir out, last time had been in front of the counsel as he had explained what had happened to Lily and at that time he had had to defend his friend while at the same time trying to control the urge to kill him…this time he had no such emotions all he could think about was finding Harry and so his Noir was less likely to get out of control.
Taking in deep lungful's of air he called the shadows about himself and let them caress his skin, let them stroke his cheek and whisper their wants and desires. Noir were creatures of darkness and controllers of the shadows – to bring about a full transformation a Noir had to be in complete darkness and the only way to do that was to hide in the shadow realm.
Let me loose, let me find my mate
Come, come and take me to him
Severus hated talking to this side of himself, it was so animalistic and chaotic but there was no other choice he had to do this and so he called the Noir forward and let it take full possession of his body. Being a Noir was like being two sides of the same coin, his Noir was him and he was his Noir…but neither could be in control while the other was and so Severus let his logical and human mind sink deep into himself and locked it safely away until he would need it again.
Turning was a hard process, each cell in his body had to be modified – it felt strange as if his skin were uncomfortable. His hair went from 'greasy' to silky smooth and wavy, it was the kind that woman would kill for…he hated it – the next difference was his skin, gone were the yellowing stains and instead he was left with silvery perfection. The only part that remained the same were his eyes, still coal black and hiding a fire that would never be extinguished.
Already tall Severus grew another two inches and filled out with wiry muscles, looking at him was like looking at most woman's walking talking fantasy…he lost all his wrinkles and looked at least ten years younger. Noir were proud creatures, beautiful and majestic – it didn't matter what they looked like when they were in their 'human' skin, once a Noir was himself and no longer hiding then he was picture perfect in every way.
The full transformation took four or five minutes but felt like hours and when Severus finally let the shadows fall he felt very uncomfortable in his skin. "I truly dislike doing that." Muttering to himself he walked further into the house, decided to clear up for his little Vixen.
Darkness had descended and still Hedwig had not returned, not that Harry was sat waiting or anything. The hours of the day had ticked passed and still no replies, until he got at least one reply he would be nervous and he knew it – if he lost all of his friends he would be very upset, but he had to know if they were truly his friends.
Ten o'clock rolled around and still no post.
Eleven o'clock came and went and still no post.
Midnight – he thought for sure by this point that if they were going to reply it would be tomorrow and so he had curled up in bed, leaving the window open in case Hedwig came back for the night – he was just curling up with his pillows when he was suddenly inundated with owls and letters, one by one they dropped their load and flew out the window until only Hedwig was left staring at him with knowing eyes.
"Let's see…" He was nervous as he reached out and took hold of the letter on the top.
Hey Harry!
Guess I won't be the only creature at Hogwarts this year. God this is going to be such a strange year…you being a Noir Veela and me being a woodland elf. Gran went through the roof when my inheritance came in (literally, I grew a tree…in the middle of the house) it scared us shitless so I understand how you feel mate. I am here for you and always will be, we are in this together so don't go getting any strange ideas in your head that you are alone and have to deal with it all by yourself.
I won't write anything here about the letter your mum wrote, we need to talk about that in person…I get the feeling there is more to it than meets the eye but I support you no matter which 'side' you are on.
Loyally yours Neville
PS – You are going to get a shock when you see my ears.
Harry let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, at least he knew he had one friend still – it was a surprise to find out about Neville was an elf but not that he was a woodland one, guess it explained his skills with Herbology.
Shaking his head and smiling he put the letter from Neville down and reached out for the next one. Now that he knew he had at least one friend on his side he wasn't so nervous…though if he had stopped to think the amount of letters on his bed was proof he had more than just the one.
Luna's was the next one and it said pretty much the same as Neville's though without the woodland elf bit; she said she had always known Dumbledore was not all he seemed and that she was with him and that together they would save his uncle and Harry could start the family he had always wanted…she also said she wanted to be godmother to his first child…it was so completely her that it made Harry chuckle as he got to the end and added it to the pile.
Fred, George and Ginny all wrote a letter back as well saying how he was their brother and they were with him a hundred percent, Ginny said that no matter what –anyone- else said she loved him and was there for him (though she made it perfectly clear it was a purely sisterly love) and the twins said that they were with him and that they would prank anyone who stood in their way.
Hermione's was the last letter and it was bitter sweet; she said she loved him like a brother and was with him…but he knew in that moment that Ron wasn't – both Ginny and Hermione had said that no matter what –anyone- said they were with him and he knew that Ron had tried to talk them out of siding with him. It hurt to know that he was losing one of his best friends but at least he still had Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Luna and Neville – together they would overcome everything.
Severus was shocked by the mess his little mate had caused, shocked and a little turned on. It had taken longer than he thought to clear up the mess and by the time he left the house it was already two in the morning – he couldn't go to Harry at such an ungodly hour…but he could go to a hotel near Harry and wait until the morning...so that's what he did.
It was about three in the morning when he reached the New Forest and he got a nice room in a nice B , if the muggles thought it strange that a man appeared out of nowhere with no luggage and at such an odd time they said nothing about it instead they just gave him his key and let him go up to bed to sleep until a more reasonable time.
"Harry, Dudley – breakfast."
Groaning Harry pushed out of bed and trudged down the stairs with only a pair of black pjs on. He couldn't wear a top and so had been wearing just pj bottoms ever since his birthday – it was summer so he didn't get cold anyway.
"Morning Harry."
His aunts chipper voice was still a little unnerving but he was slowly getting used to it and so he smiled and said morning back before diving into his lovely cooked breakfast…
It was just as Harry was putting his last piece of bacon into his mouth that there was a knock on the door and for a moment the world stopped.
The plan
Chapter Notes
I am so sorry it took me so long, I had planned on a much longer one...but I have writers block at this moment in time so instead of making you wait I thought I would post what I got at the moment in a short chapter and do a long one next time! I hope you guys forgive me!
Thank you to every single one of you who has read this and reviewed and left Kudos, you guys are amazing!
Hermione still couldn't get over everything she had learned, it was as if her world were crumbling…but at the same time it felt as if a new…better world was taking its place and if she were being honest she was happy about it. Her parents had raised her believing that no one person should have too much power and since she had started Hogwarts they were often found saying – "Knowledge is more than just power, its responsibility – use your power wisely." She frequently told herself that she had to use her power to protect those she loved – Harry needed her now and so when she got his letter she didn't even pause for a moment to think.
"Mum, Dad – I'm sorry." Soft and quiet she whispered as she slipped into their room that night – though this was the right thing to do it still hurt that she was about to say goodbye for the last time and they weren't even going to be awake.
Tears had built in her eyes as she laid her note on her mother's bedside table –
I love you – but I am needed elsewhere, trust me – trust your daughter and how you raised her.
She placed a gentle kiss to each of their heads and then turned to leave, it was time to meet fate head on.
Neville was nervous; he had never done anything like this and he knew his Gran would be beyond angry when she found out – but at the same time he had to do it, for Harry. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and focused on the door to his Grandmothers room and whispered the words that were flowing through his mind.
"Come and grow, come and sprout – my sweet vines"
Placing his hand on the wooden door he called out with his magic and forced the once dead plant to begin to grow once more, spreading out and blocking the door from being opened. "Gran, I'm sorry." It was a whisper and he knew she couldn't hear him but he had to say it, had to tell her that he loved her and would be back for her when he could…but it was time he took an active role in this war and that role was to stand by Harry…and after reading that letter there was only one way to do that. People often wondered why Neville had been put in Gryffindor, well he was about to show them why. Sticking his hand into his pocket he pulled out the Galleon that they had used in DA he again looked at the time and place…time to get kidnapped.
They had been planning this for hours, had come up with the perfect excuse to get their parents out of the house and away from the three of them – everything now hinged on getting Ron out of the house and for that they relied on Seamus.
"Are you sure you don't mind?" It was the seventh time their mother had asked the same thing and it was starting to get frustrating but they just smiled and nodded. Fred and George had spent a pretty penny getting them good seats for one of the few wizarding plays being performed that month; they had also got Ron and Seamus tickets to see a Chudley Cannons practice match against the Holyhead Harpies.
"Ron, Seamus is here." Ginny was a bundle of nerves as she watched her older brother put on his scarf and coat, it wasn't until he was out of the house that she relaxed and was once again able to smile freely.
"Time to put…"
"Operation – interrogate snake-face into action." Fred and George were looking forward to this; she could see it in their eyes and in the way they seemed to almost glow with excitement - she on the other hand was a little nervous. When they had received Harry's letter they had instantly contacted Hermione and together with Luna and Neville had come up with a plan to get themselves kidnapped so that they could be their waiting for Harry.
"Do you really have to call it that?" Exasperated Ginny hit both her brothers around the back of the head before grabbing her coat and scarf. The hour of regret was over.
"Luna, where are you going?"
"To meet my death."
"Have fun."
"I will!"
Luna smiled for a moment before leaning over the back of the chair and pressing a kiss to her father's forehead, it would be the last time she ever saw him and she wanted to convey the love she held for him before it was too late.
"You chose the wrong path." She couldn't help but whisper into his thinning blonde locks. For so long she had known what her father had done, who he was loyal too and how it would ruin him but no matter how hard she tried…the claws were in too deep for her extract so she had to watch as the kind and loving father of her childhood slowly began to fade, becoming nothing more than a memory to sooth her wounds with.
"I know, but you will choose the right one. Go, go and meet your death." It broke her heart to see the once energetic man reduced to this snivelling creature. Placing a hand on his shoulder she gave one last squeeze before grabbing her suitcase and walking into the dark unknown.
Time had frozen and he was trapped in its cold hands with no escape. Harry was physically shaking and had been since he heard the knock three minutes ago…that knock and signified the beginning of something; he just wasn't sure what. Inside something that had been sleeping was starting to wake, taking notice of its surroundings and calling to something in the distance.
"Harry?"
His aunt's voice barely registered as he continued to gaze almost longingly at the door, something was waiting on the other side, something he both longed for and feared…all he had to do was stand and walk over to the door, open it and accept his destiny – but he couldn't find the strength to breath let alone stand.
"Harry…?"
A cold wet hand touched his shoulder and he looked up into the concerned face of his aunt. How could he tell her that on the other side of that door was his future? How do you tell someone that a single knock on the door had changed you completely both inside and out…? He couldn't find the words so he simply stood and offered a weak smile. If his future had come for him then he might as well meet it head on, no backing down now, no returning to what he had been. Time and time again he had begged for this, laying awake at night he had called out for someone to save him, for someone to hear him and come – well here they were. Closing his hand around the handle he took in a breath and bathed in the faint scent of Belladonna and power. His eyes closed as he let his senses push out surround the person, calling them to him…just a few more moments and he would have that scent imprinted on his mind for all time.
"Harry?"
Nothing mattered, nothing even came close to mattering when he had such a rich aroma caressing him and pulling him deeper into the darkness.
"My Drake…"
A smile bloomed on his lips and he was pulling the door open in only seconds. It took a while for his eyes to focus on the sight before him but once they did he got his first glimpse at the person who had been created to be his other half – his Drake had come.
"Does everyone know the plan?"She waited for everyone to nod and then she took a breath and moved to the center of the clearing. This was a foolish plan, an idiotic plan…a suicidal plan…it was so stupid it just had to work.
Hermione had spent all of three hours coming up with this gem of a plan and now that it came time to enact it she was shitting herself. So many things could go wrong; they could all die tonight and Harry would never know.
We will protect you.
The plan was foolish but something inside told her that they would see the dawn, something deep in her heart told her that tomorrow they would have not only the answers they wanted but finally they would be doing something worthwhile.
"Get ready, either I am right and they will just kidnap us…or we will have a fight on our hands."
Again she waited for the nods and then watched as her friends hid themselves. This had to work and for it to work she had to remain calm so she took a deep breath in through her nose before expelling it through her mouth. It was now or never, raising her wand into the air she said in a firm voice –
"Morsmordre!"
They still had a few seconds to escape, but they held firm and sent each other comforting smiles. They all knew how dangerous this was but it was for Harry and for Harry they would do anything so they held their wands in front of them and prayed that this worked out for the best.
Yaxley, Rookwood and Malfoy had each visited their intended targets homes and at each they had found a note.
Find the mark, find the mark and take us to him.
It wasn't signed and they had no idea who had written it…but seeing as it had been found at each place they had a strong feeling that the children were either hiding or were calling them out so that no one would get hurt.
"Got to hand it to them, it is pretty clever." Yaxley was smirking down at the note he had got from Luna's father…the chump had tried to fight him, had tried to use that damn necklace to call on the Order of the Phoenix - it hadn't taken him long to disarm (literally) and kill the man.
Rookwood snorted and walked out into the night, inside he was grinning, now it was getting fun. When his Master had first given him this task he had believed it beneath him (not that he would say that out loud, he didn't have a death wish) but now that the children were showing that they had a spine and that they wouldn't make it easy, well he couldn't help but be excited by it.
While Malfoy and Yaxley argued about where to search next Rookwood just leaned back against the building and stared out into the night. His mind kept wandering down different paths but they all leaded back to the same question – if they were hiding then why leave the note? It made no sense to basically call them out and then hide, unless…
"I know where they are."
"Oh really – well please enlighten the class." Malfoy's drawl was getting on his nerves but there was little he could do about it so he just sneered before pointing to the woods about ten or so miles to the south of the Lovegood home.
"They aren't hiding, they are drawing us into the open, they -want- to be caught."
He saw the sceptical looks on his fellow death eaters faces and shook his head, couldn't they for once just trust him?
"If I am wrong you can both Crucio me."
That got them to agree and so they all walked out of the building and spun on their heels. With a loud crack they were gone; the only evidence to say anyone had been there was the body of Xenophilius Lovegood, blood still oozing from where his arms had been severed from his body.
Severus felt his heart constrict as he took in beautiful features of his Vixen. Such delicacy, it forced his breath to turn to stone and he had to swallow twice before he finally was able to speak to the angel before him.
"Move aside Potter, we must talk."
Hermione took in a breath and shifted about on the rock she was perched on; they had been there for about two or three hours and it was getting cold…if their would be kidnappers didn't arrive soon then they would have to try again another night – not that they would have this convenient a time again.
"Hermione?" Fred's sweet tone washed over her and soothed the knots that had begun to build in her shoulders. Hermione knew she could never be what he wanted but she couldn't help the way her body instantly melted at his voice or the way she shifted to let him on the rock with her, just so they could be closer together.
"Yeah?" It was only a murmur; she didn't have enough breath in her body to speak louder and her nerves were too frayed for her to even contemplate trying to act confident.
"Me, well me and George wanted you to kno…" A loud crack broke off whatever it was Fred was about to say…they were here.
Almost there.
Chapter Summary
Beta - Snape_Lust, thank you so much for helping me!
Any mistakes that are left are mine!
There were times when Yaxley wished he had never met the Dark Lord, times when he wished that he was able to ignore the orders he received and then there were times when he knew he had made the right choice - this night was one of those times. Sitting there with hair fly away and eyes wide was someone he had thought he would never see again (or at least he thought it was), stepping forward he reached out with his hand and called out her name.
"Neive…"
His voice cracked but he didn't care - for seventeen years he had thought his wife dead, for seventeen long years he had thought his beautiful and intelligent wife had been killed by the order and there she sat looking just like she had the night she had walked out the door.
"Neive? I think you are mistaken - my name is Hermione Ganger."
Even her voice was the same, so soft and sweet that it soothed him in ways he had never thought possible. So lost in the impossible occurrence of seeing his angel before him he ignored the words and ran to her. Pushing aside the red haired lad he pulled her into his arms and buried his head into her hair…it was then he finally noticed that something was wrong.
Neive had always smelt of strawberries and rain but this woman smelt like old books and ink; it wasn't just her smell either - Neive had been just over four foot five inches but this almost exact copy of his wife was almost his height.
Pulling back he looked down at her and really looked this time. Brown eyes where once golden ones had gazed at him… A nose that had never once been broken instead of the slightly crooked one that Neive had gotten due to a Quidditch accident. No, this doppelganger may look almost exactly like his wife but it was clear she wasn't and so he stepped back and narrowed his eyes before raising his wand to her face and growling.
"I demand to know why you look like a dead woman." _
Hermione was taken aback when she was suddenly being held by a strange man, but that was nothing to the confusion she felt when said strange man then pointed his wand at her and demanded to know why she looked like…herself?
"Clearly I need to bring science to wizard kind. Its call genetics, I look like this because my mother clearly had the stronger genes."
There was a reason she was called the smartest witch of their generation - Hermione refused to ever let anyone get the better of her. A strong independent woman who stood her ground and gave as god as she got. Standing a little taller she narrowed her brown eyes upon the face of this man and with a twisted little grin she ran a hand over her body.
"As you can see she was a beauty."
Behind her she heard Fred and George snorting and couldn't help but laugh a little herself - here they where facing down death eaters and she was flirting? Well stranger things had happened (she couldn't think of an example but it was a big world).
"You…Your mother?"
Something about the stuttered reply unnerved Hermione but she didn't know what so she just nodded and then held up a hand to still any further talk of these things - she really didn't care and they had far more important things to discuses.
"Enough of this nonsense, are you going to kidnap us or are we going to have to 'persuade' you?"
From behind her Neville stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, beaming he leaned into his friend and waved a hand.
"What she is trying to say is - take us to your leader." _
He had no idea who the man at his door was but Harry felt a sense of 'oneness' and so with almost no hesitation he stepped back at the other request. Warmth brushed over his skin and stroked down his back as he lead his Drake through into the kitchen and offered him a cup of tea. There was something just so…right about being in this man presence and he truly hoped he never had to be out of it….that is until the man gave his name.
"I know I look a little different but surely you would know your potions professor when you see him."
The sound of his voice was what finally broke Harry out of the spell he had been under and with in seconds he held his wand to the mans throat and was hissing.
"I won't go back! I won't! Dumbledore can go fuck himself!"
For seventeen years Dumbledore had been controlling his life - or more exactly ruining it - and Harry was fed up of it. He didn't care who the old man sent or how many people he had to curse; he was done being a puppet and no one was going to drag him back into that life - not even Snape who for some reason made him want to submit.
"Oh? Sick of being the golden boy are you? Finally ready to grow some balls."
As he spoke Snape slipped from the chair he had been resting in and narrowed his gaze at Harry who for some reason felt the need to drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness. Sick of being forced into actions and situations he really didn't want to be in; Harry pushed down the slowly building urge to give into Snape and instead he stood taller and flared his wings to make himself look as intimidating as possible.
"Yes, and if you don't want to be the first person I curse purely for the hell of it; I would suggest backing up now."
Due to his fangs which had dropped his words were little more than a hiss as his emerald eyes watched each movement his 'mate' made. A barking laugh left Snape's lips, powerful and enthralling - just the sound of it sent shivers down his spine and caused heat to pool in his stomach in a way he wasn't quite sure he liked. Everything about the Snape in front of him seemed to be designed to frustrate him as well as turn him on - he didn't like it one bit.
"Let me ease your mind, I have no intention of taking you back there."
Harry snorted at that, clearly Snape was lying…why else would he be here if not under Dumbledore's orders? But even as these thoughts swam across his mind his instincts told him to trust Snape and because they rarely lead him astray he decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt and return his wand to his pocket.
"Why are you here then?"
He couldn't hide the suspicion he felt and if he were being honest he wanted Snape to know that he was not trusted - at all.
"Delivering on an old debt." _
Dark, dark was safe. Quiet, quiet was stable. Damp walls brushed over her scales as she slowly made her way through the underground passages of the house looking for mice (she hoped there were those nice big ones). Her master was busy doing 'human' things and so had sent her down here to hunt, not that she minded…oh no she loved it down here but still it was a little annoying that all he could think about at the moment was that boy.
Nagini had been trying to talk her Lord out of his destructive path; she had even told him that if it hadn't been for Harry then she would of still been in the tank at that zoo - but he didn't want to listen. Since his returned his mind had been full of the boy, even now all he could think about was getting Harry Potter under his wing. She just didn't understand it…but hers was not to judge but instead to follow commands.
:~:Nagini, Nagini come here.:~:
The nice one was back! If snakes could smile then she would have had the biggest of grins on her face…but they couldn't so instead she hissed happily and followed the sound of the nice ones voice. About a week ago Nagini had been haunting her normal places, looking for mice or death eaters to scare…but instead of finding them she had found the nice one. Inside a small den a tiny snake lived, not much bigger than a pencil and clearly harmless; she had no idea how it had gotten into the mansion but after speaking with it she found she didn't much care - it was good to have someone else to speak with and so she allowed it to stay in her territory so long as it didn't steal her food. Sliding across the floor she made her way closer to the snake hole, excitement rushed along her body as she got closer and closer - maybe she could talk the nice one into hunting with her. Slow and stead she pushed forward until she was right in front of the little snakes den…but they weren't there, instead there was a human shaped shadow. _
"Let me get this straight, you want us to kidnap you?" - Malfoy
"Yes." - Longbottom
"You know we are death eaters, right?" - Rookwood
"Yes." - Weasley One
"Evil, murderous, psychos." - Malfoy
"Yes, we are well aware of your short comings" - Granger
"Just making sure, so you are all actually ok with us kidnapping you?" - Rookwood
"Oh for the love of!"
Ginny couldn't take it anymore! They were getting no where and Rookwood kept looking at her funny. Whipping out her wand she went up to Malfoy (seeing as he seemed to be the leader), pushed her wand into his chest and said in a deceptively sweet voice."I can and will curse you where you stand." She fluttered her lashes before becoming serious again. "Yes we know what you three are, yes we understand the dangers and no we don't care. We are doing this for Harry."
She couldn't see it but she knew her friends and brothers were nodding their heads in agreement - For Harry they would take on Voldemort themselves if they had to. _
So strong, so independent…how had he been so lucky to get such a wonderful little Vixen? Normally Vixens were weak, needed to be protected and easily fell into the trap of just being the 'cute' little partner who raised the young and looked pretty - it was rare to find one that was able to push their instincts aside and push forward to get what they want.
He couldn't show it but Snape was falling more and more in love with his partner, soon he knew that he would be able to give the male everything he wanted but for now he just had to keep his mask in place.
"Before she died your mother made me promise to pass along a book."
It was a lie seeing as the book came from his own collection but still the look of surprise that spread across his partners face was enough to make him want to purr but instead he kept a tight rein on his emotions. He had no idea why this was so god damn hard…all he wanted to do was pull his beloved into his arms and keep him there - Dumbledore was going to pay for this.
"She did?"
Not trusting his voice Snape just took out a large leather bound book and handed it to his partner - it was now or never, if Harry was going to accept his path then he had to accept this book. _
Still in a state of shock Yaxley apparated first, leaving the others of the group to get the children to his Lords manor. His mind was a whirl of questions and possibilities…what if his wife were still alive? What if Dumbledore had simply taken her from him? What if he could get his family back? He had to find out and there was only one way he could do that.
"My Lord."
Walking into the study he stood in front of his Lord and waited, if he was to get what he wanted he had to keep his Lord on side. Folding his arms behind his back he watched as his Master put the papers down on the desk and turned those cold red eyes up to him.
"Yaxley."
It had taken him years to get use to the hiss of his masters voice but still it made him shake a little. Taking a deep breath Yaxley started to explain how when they had found the children they had been more than willing to be kidnapped and how he had been surprised that one had looked like an exact replica of his wife.
"My Lord, I seek permission to head into the muggle world and find this girls mother…if Neive is still alive…"
He couldn't finish, just the thought of his darling wife still being alive was enough to cause him to choke up - for so long he had wished for this and it was hard to believe that for once he would be getting his wish.
"Go, and if Neive is alive…bring her home."
He didn't have to be told twice the moment his Lord told him to find his wife he was out of that room and heading into London. _
Harry turned his bright emerald gaze up to Snapes onyx one, judging him to see if he was even a little trust worthy. The silence dragged on for what felt like hours as they just stared at each other; both of them lost in their own thoughts…it wasn't until Petunia put her hand on Harry's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze that they came out of their daze…and it was Petunia that spoke up first.
"Would either of you like a cup of tea?"
His aunts voice seemed to have the effect of comforting him - since they had arrived at the cottage she had been doing everything in her power to make up for her previous actions and since she had never once been violent towards him he was slowly learning to trust her and forgive her…they still had a long way to go but gradually they were becoming the family he had always wanted.
"My mother said nothing about this in her letter."
Looking up at his aunt he shook his head before turning back to Severus and folding his arms across his chest. He didn't take kindly to being lied to nor did he take kindly to being treated like an idiot.
"Your mother sent you a letter?"
Most people wouldn't be able to tell the emotion in Snapes voice but Harry knew it was surprise and he couldn't help the smirk that covered his lips as he pushed away from the table and stood up.
"I think I would prefer to go to Gringotts." _
Hermione was annoyed…correction she was pissed off to the max. Everything had gone to plan; Death Eaters had found them, Death eaters had kidnapped them, Death eaters hadn't killed them…but now they were stuck in a waiting room?! God if she could just get her hands on one of them she would kill them.
"Where are they?!"
The stress was getting to her and she was slowly losing her mind, all she wanted to do was get this meeting over with and go and find Harry, or at least form a plan for the next step. She could see it in all her friends faces that they were just as stressed as she was and she felt powerless - Harry was the leader of the group and yet now they were all looking to her to lead them forward. _
Fred and George could both see the uncertainty in Hermione; they knew she believed she wasn't a leader…but they knew better. To them Hermione was the strongest and most beautiful witch in the world, if only they could show her.
"Hermione."
Brown eyes rested on them and with in moments they were up with their arms surrounding the girl of their dreams. For so long they had wanted to do this, just hold this magnificent woman close and calm her when her mind started to whirl.
"Fred…George..?"
"Hush, just let us hold you."
In the gothic style room with its creepy paintings; they were living their fantasy…and it didn't even matter that their little sister was in the background giggling with Luna. Not even heaven would feel this good. _
:~:Nagini, do you love your master?:~:
What a strange question, of course she loved her master…he was her everything, raising up she tilted her head in a nod at the strange shadow that sounded so much like the kind one.
:~:I love him too, can you do something for me? The little snake I came in has passed away…Nagini I need you to find me a strong serpent.:~:
:~:Will you hurt my master?:~:
Like all of her kind Nagini could taste a lie and so when the shadow said it would never hurt her master and that it only wished to save him Nagini once more nodded before turning and slithering off to find the kind one a body of their own. _
Malfoy and Rookwood stood in front of their masters desk waiting for his decision. It had been a about ten or twenty minutes since they had brought the children into Riddle manor and they were waiting to find out what to do with them…but so far their master had just been staring out of the window with his arms folded and a heavy expression on his face. "Master?" It was Malfoy who spoke first, as the favourite he could get away with a lot more than most other Death eaters the only one who had more control was Severus.
"Bring them in and then leave us in peace."
A wave of the hand had Malfoy and Rookwood bowing and slipping from the room with grace.
"Do you think the children are in danger?"
Rookwood asked a little concerned that he could be the reason children could at the moment be in danger of being hurt…after all he was no monster.
"If our lord wished to hurt these children he would have had us kill them."
Malfoy had faith in his lord. They walked the rest of the way in silence, both thinking on different things. _
The vein above Snapes eye was twitching and Harry had to fight back laughter as he left the room and headed towards his bed room - if he was going out then he would have to get changed and quickly. _
"If you hurt my nephew I will have no problem with castrating you…just so you know."
With in seconds of Harry leaving the room Petunia had rounded on Snape and with bread knife in hand she was threatening him to with in an inch of his life - she failed once she would not do so again.
"As if I would be scared of a squib like you."
Snape shot to his feet and aimed his wand at the woman who dared to threaten him, as if a squib could do anything to him - the thought was laughable. Petunia was not scared; she held her ground and narrowed her eyes in a way that made her look just like Tom when he was angry, it was this look that had Snape taking a step back. Only Tom had ever been able to strike fear into his heart but at that moment he was actually scared of this woman…the Riddles were not ones to be messed with.
"If my mother doesn't end you, I will."
From out of no where Dudley slipped into the room and stared down Snape. It was clear that they were a strong family and would defend each other…or well these two would defend Harry. For once Harry had someone fighting his corner instead of it being him that has to defend others.
The open book
Chapter Notes
I am so so, so sorry! I meant to get this up a lot sooner but life grabbed me by the neck and shook me about a bit...only really had the energy to read. But anyway, here it is!
Dark clouds had surrounded the castle and the temperature had dropped to below freezing. Everywhere the staff went they could feel the headmasters displeasure and yet whenever they asked him what was wrong he simply smiled and said he was worried about Harry. It had been about a week since the boy had gone missing and no one could find him…they simply had to hope wherever he was he was ok.
"Headmaster?" Minerva McGonagall knocked softly on the door as she called out to her friend and employer. She was troubled by a few things she had heard and wanted to talk to him about it, after all as the leader of the light and the headmaster of the school he would know why it had been reported that all the 'dark' creatures were heading to a meeting.
Ten minutes passed and still he did not reply, worried Minerva pushed opened the door and with her wand out she headed into the office…what she saw stopped her in her tracks and she gasped aloud.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, leader of the order of the phoenix and headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in the middle of what could only be called a tantrum. Furniture lay broken as well as a few expensive antiques - but it wasn't the destruction that had caught her so off guard, it was what the headmaster was ranting about that had her holding her heart and ready to flee.
"It isn't fair! I was meant to have control! He was never meant to get his inheritance! That power belongs to me!"
Ducking behind the door and closing it slightly Minerva stood outside and listened as the headmaster continued to rant.
"He was meant to be my slave!"
Crash
"All that power was meant to be mine!"
Bang
"I was meant to rule the world! I was going to rid the world of all those disgusting creatures!"
Smash
"Now I'll have to come up with a new plan…"
Having heard enough Minerva turned on her heel and walked away - time for a staff meeting.
Dressed in a tunic that reached his knees and tight leather trousers (why his aunt had brought him these he didn't know) Harry walked down the stairs just as his family threatened to harm Snape should he do anything to him. It warmed his heart and went a long to helping him forgive his family for what they had put him through.
"Right, we all ready to go? We can get Aunt Petunia and Dudley theirs wands at the same time."
He couldn't keep the joy out of his voice - nor could he help the fact that every time he looked at his aunt and cousin he had the brightest smile on his lips. Of course he remembered the emotional pain the two had given him but his need to have a family that loved him overrode his need to punish them…at least at this moment in time.
"Just let me get my bag, Harry dear."
This time he accepted his aunt's hug and even returned it - if they could try for him then he could try for them. It took his aunt just under five minutes to grab her bag and then they were out the door and Snape was muttering about not wanting to drive in the 'damn muggle monstrosity'.
"How else do you expect to get to London?"
Snickering behind his hand Harry watched his Aunt round on Snape and wave her finger at him as if he were a small child, it was almost too funny to be real…and then it got better when Snape seemed to cower slightly in front of the woman.
"We could apparate?"
"Yes because me and Dudley know how to do that!"
It was clear they were both getting irate and no matter how funny it was Harry was in a hurry so he whistled to get their attention.
"Snape can apparate me and him and we will meet you outside the Leaky Cauldron when you get there."
Harry had thought it a good idea but by the looks of horror on his aunt and cousins face clearly he had been wrong and they then began to tell him just how wrong he was. "What if he takes you somewhere else? Or if he attacks you?"
At that Snape snorted and folded his arms over his chest and huffed a little before muttering "Yes because I plan on hurting my mate."
Harry shot him a look that was equal parts annoyed and commanding. With the bond not yet fully formed and with the Vixen angry at him Snape had no choice but to shut up and just watch as the family argued about travel arrangements…in the end it was decided that Snape would take Dudley first and then come back for Harry; Petunia would follow in the car and would call when she was outside the pub.
"Come on then Dursley." Harry could see how frustrated Snape was but at the same time he found it far to amusing to stop. Grinning wide he wiggled his fingers at Snape as he apparated with a loud crack…and then he was alone with Aunt Petunia who was looking at him with a fond smile on her lips.
Yaxley appeared outside a handsome little muggle house - neat lawn, cute little window boxes and clean red bricks…it was disgusting. If Neive was here then he would save her from this utter normalcy and take her back to their unique and wonderful home.
Striding up to the door with purpose he tried to form the words he wished to say; for years he had been thinking about what he would say to his wife if only he had the chance - and now that he did have the chance he found that nerves were getting the better of him and his mouth had gone dry.
"Relax - it might not be her."
He took a few calming breaths as he stood outside the door and just stared at the bright red paint work. It was now or never…reaching out he knocked on the door and waited for a reply.
It was like looking at himself when he had seen Diagon alley for the first time. Dudley's eyes were blown wide and he was practically drooling as he watched wizards and witches going about their daily business - Harry found it all very comical and couldn't help but laugh as his previously anti-magic cousin stumbled down the street.
"Is this for real?"
The awe in his voice had Harry breaking into another fit of chuckles and even Snape let out a snort of amusement.
"You haven't seen anything yet!"
For the first time in ages Harry was having fun during the summer holidays and he couldn't keep the smile off his face as he raced down the street, greeting everyone he passed and giving them the brightest of smiles. It no longer mattered that he had a madman (Dumbledore) after him or that his eternal partner was a man who had made his life a living hell…nothing really mattered at that moment other than the sheer joy of being free and finally knowing what he was. Inside he finally felt as if he were able to be himself - at last the restrains that had kept him tied down were gone.
So many witches and wizards stopped what they were doing to stare at the boy wonder as he skipped merrily down the street - Snape had to control his urge to growl at the few who looked to be checking his mate out, luckily they soon were entering the bank. Goblins all around stopped what they were doing and turned their heads towards him and it was enough to have Harry stumbling back a few steps; that is until one Goblin came forward and held out his hand.
"Mister Harold James Potter, I am Head Goblin Hockwood - if you and your companions could please follow me."
Harry shook the Goblins hand and numbly nodded before he began to follow after the small creature. It was all rather surreal - the Goblins were ignoring all the other customers and were instead bowing to him and whispering their greetings.
"What is this all about Minerva? And where is Albus, surely if we are having a staff meeting he should be here.."
All the others nodded along with Irma Pince and a few even looked like they were about to go and get the headmaster, sighing Minerva took out a pensive and placed it on the table.
"What you are about to see is very disturbing."
It was hard to keep her voice under control as her anger once more pushed to the foreground of her mind.
"As you all know there have been reports of many of the dark creatures and even a few light ones going to a meeting…well this morning I went to speak with Albus about it."
She had to stop for a moment to take a deep breath and stop herself from cursing Dumbledore's name.
"I'm sorry."
Unable to continue to speak on the matter she just put the memory into the pensive; the over whelming feeling of betrayal came back as she sat down and cast the spell that would allow the room to see what she had witnessed that morning. One by one the others in the room gasped and closed their eyes - everyone looked as if their world had been taken from them - it was Flitwick who spoke first.
"Something must be done."
Harry, Snape and Dudley followed behind the little goblin, confusion written on the two younger males faces while the older just looked tired. Snape knew what this was about and he knew that his little mate would not like it one bit...there was no stopping it though, after all Harry was who he was.
They were lead down a narrow hallway decorated in gold; everywhere their eyes landed they encountered glittering jewels and magnificent golden statues. Goblins were well known for their opulent buildings and vast wealth; the bank was no different. Wonderfully ornate metal work was met with masterfully carved marble and gave the place the feel of a palace; it was hard not to be impressed and both Harry and Severus could see the shocked look on the former muggles face.
"After you."
They had stopped outside an oak door that seemed to have been carved out of once piece of wood – golden ivy climbed the frame and in the very centre what looked to be the carving of forest. Ignoring the beauty for the moment Harry stepped into the office and waited as the Goblin soon followed along with Snape and Dudley.
"Please take a seat so we can discuss our business."
With a simple wave of his hand the goblin pulled three chairs forward and waited until the group had sat before he spoke once more to Harry.
"Mister Potter, your mother entrusted me with keeping her privet and family accounts in order. It was by her command that I have kept all those that sought access to your accounts from doing so. We here and Gringotts are pride ourselves on keeping thieves from touching what does not belong to them – especially if those valuables belong to our allies."
A smirk full of wicked sharp teeth spread across the goblins face as he leaned forward and placed a golden key upon the table.
"Your mother asked me to give this to you once you had hatched – it is time to know what you are and your place among our kind."
Harry couldn't get his head around everything the goblin had said, sure he knew he must have a large amount of gold and he knew that his mother had left a few books for him...but the way the creature was talking it was as if he had much more than that – but it wasn't time to be asking so he just nodded and took the key.
The moment his hand touched the cold metal an orange light began to circle about him, pulling him into a swirling vortex of light and power. Magic herself curled about him and held him in her embrace like a grandmother holding her first grandchild – wisdom stroked his hair and whispered how proud she was of him and then power stepped forward in all her glory; all three gave him a blessing and bestowed a gift upon him.
Still a bundle of nerves Yaxley took a few breaths and watched as the door slowly opened to reveal what he had feared and hoped for in equal measure – stood before him was his love. Looking no older than when he had lost her Nieve was smiling at him and asking him something.
"Hello, may I help you?"
Such a soft and perfect voice...god he had missed her and just the thought of what that old creature had done made him want to growl and rip something apart. Not only had Dumbledore taken his wife from him he had stripped him of his daughter as well.
"I have come to bring you home."
Reaching out he took her hand and pulled her close, never again would he let his wife go. Paying no attention to her struggling nor to her protests he marched her into the house, pushed her into a chair and stormed up the stairs to pack her some clothes.
Finally his life would be back to how it was meant to be; he would have his daughter and his wife...and then maybe later they would have other children – Hermione would love to have a little brother or sister to dote over. In his mind he was already planning for the future and already saw Hermione as his darling little daughter.Neither heaven nor hell would come between him and his family.From downstairs he could hear yelling and then pounding steps before a man came running into the room shouting the odds.
"Who are you! Why are you in my house and how dare you touch my wife!"
The muggles fate was sealed the moment he said the words 'my wife' – how dare a filthy muggle try and claim his beautiful Nieve.
"Neive has never been yours and once I set her mind straight she will fill sick at eve touching you."
A wicked smirk covered his lips as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the man's heart.
Hello, little one.
We are your aunts.
Well to be more exact we are your mother's sisters.
All will be explained.
Slowly the light began to fade and Harry was returned to real time...a strange feeling settling in his stomach as he returned to the waking world.
"What just happened?"
"You were visited by the sisters – it will all be explained in the book."
Out of nowhere a book appeared before the Goblin and he pushed it over to Harry. Still not completely sure what was going on Harry picked up the book and flicked it open to the front page.
At the beginning of time, before the world was created and filled with all manner of magical creatures; there were four sisters – Taliyah also known as Magic itself; Taliyah was the eldest of the four sisters and it was she who created the first magical creatures, among them were the Veela and the vampires...these later became known as the Royal breeds. Oriana known as wisdom was the second of the four sisters and it was she who created wizards and witches – they were meant to live in perfect harmony with her sisters creations and for awhile they did...but as time went on wizards began to become jealous of how much magic the magical creatures had and became greedy. Keilani also known as power saw how much pain her sisters were in and decided to create non-magical creatures, it was her intention to give the magical world something to care for. The weaker non-magical creatures were meant to be a source of common ground – Veela and vampires took to their role easily but wizards became more and more proud until finally they refused to have anything to do with non-magical creatures.
The three sisters became so angry with their creations that they turned their back on them...but the fourth sister Lily just couldn't. Known as love Lily pleaded with her sisters to allow her to enter the world and try and fix what had been broken – at first the sisters didn't want to let their baby sister go but once she promised to return to them upon her death they agreed.
No one knows what happened to Lily it is said that she still lives upon the earth not knowing her true nature and some say that even she gave up on the world in the end. Wizards have forgotten where they came from, but magical creatures still remember their beginnings. Veela, Noir Veela and Vampires still rule the creature community and still hold a place as royalty.
Harry stopped reading for a second and looked up at Snape and then the Goblin, eyes wide with shock and mouth hanging open slightly he kept looking between the pair before finally he took a breath and pointed at the book.
"So I am some kinda Royalty?" - Harry
"Yes, and as a Vixen you are held as higher than the highest." – Snape
"All magical creatures will bow to your will." – The goblin.
"Continue to read, Harry." – Snape.
Nodding his head a little Harry once more returned to the book, though this time he skipped the unimportant bits and went straight to the information on Noir Veela.
There are two types of Noir Veela – the Drake who is dominant and the Vixen who is submissive. Drakes are the most common Noir Veela though even they are rare, it is suggested that though Drakes are the most dominant it is actually the Vixen who are the most dangerous...though not much is actually known about Noir Veela as they are forbidden to write down anything about their strengths nor their weaknesses.
What is known about Noir Veela is that they mate for eternity – unlike witches and wizards when Noir bind they bind not only their minds and bodies but also their souls. A bound pair of Noir are one of the most powerful and magical beings in the magical world and when the Vixen becomes a mother they have even greater power...it is for this reason that the ministry has labelled Noir as dangerous and so the Noir hide themselves away from the prying eyes of the wizarding world.
The book went on to explain that Noir had wings and it even went into a few of the customs that were known about the creatures...it was all a bit much to take in but Harry tried hard to soak in all the information that he could.
Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Luna and Neville all stood in front of an oak desk. Books were scattered about the place and even screwed up pieces of parchment were thrown about the floor...it all looked so normal – apart from the reptilian looking male who sat behind the desk and was staring at them through cold crimson eyes
. "I hear you wanted an audience with me."
Lord Voldemort looked relaxed and at ease as he continued to simply stare – not even trying to break into their minds...after all he didn't want his family to be 'upset' with him.
"Yes, we have recently been informed by a very reliable source that not all is as it seems on the brighter side." – Ginny.
"During the Summer Harry received a letter from his mum, we came here because we are sick of being lied to and we want to know the truth about the dark." - Neville.
Hermione had threatened Fred and George to within an inch of their lives if they so much as opened their mouths so they simply nodded and let the others do the talking for them...after all Hermione was one scary witch.
Luna had a blissful smile on her lips and was humming a lullaby to herself as she studied the happenings of the group.
The only one out of the lot of them who seemed even slightly at ease was Hermione. After all the trouble they had been through to get to this point she was determined to make it worth while...and for Harry she would bring the world crashing down to its knees even if it meant following Voldemort.
"My Lord, please tell us your intentions with the wizarding world." Hermione kept her back straight and eyes forward.
The dark lord studied them all, taking in each of their characters and personalities – it was clear who the leader of the group was and so he turned his eyes back to the muggle born witch.
"I wish to see the wizarding world return to the old ways, I wish to see magic flourish and for us to remain detached from the muggles who seek only to use our power for their own reasons. I have nothing against muggle born children I simply wish for them to conform to our way of life and to stop forcing their views upon us."
It was clear that he spoke truth and so Hermione went down to her knees in front of him.
"I Hermione Jean Granger wish to offer my allegiance to the dark side."
The others quickly followed her lead, another faction had entered the war...one Dumbledore had no hope of defeating.
The big rant
Chapter Notes
So sorry it took so long to get this up - hectic few weeks and writers block - but here it is! I hope you enjoy it! And keep commenting and giving Kudos! Thank you all!
Lord Voldemort, the darkest most powerful wizard in the whole world was struck speechless by the small display made by six teenagers – if he had eyebrows they would be raised, as it was he didn't so he just stared at the young adults currently knelt at his feet.
"Just so we are clear, we are not your pawns – not your men. We belong to Harry and no one else, but until he can join we will follow your instruction." – Hermione.
"Don't think about asking us to kill or we will walk." – Ginny.
And just as he was staring to get use to the fact he hadn't needed to threaten them into joining him; they again decided to show their strength and it sort of made him proud. Unlike the snivelling death eaters who only followed him for power and unlike the purebloods who simply wanted to rid the world of muggleborn's...these young people had a strength of character that would actually lend creditability to his cause – if he played his cards right he may be able to get even more people on his side.
"The only thing I need you to do at this time is to undermine the old fools power, do you think you can do that?"
During their time in his presence they had proved themselves his allies so he treated them as such instead of as servants to do his bidding – they had earned his respect in a way only Severus had before.
" Oh please, do you know who you are talking to?" – A smirking Neville.
"We got this." – A slightly scary looking Ginny.
Oh yes, these were the type of people he wanted on his side. Strong, young and fearless...maybe he should have tried harder to recruit Gryffindor's.
"Very well, you have your orders – now leave."
Unable or unwilling to show them how 'proud' he was of them he dismissed the group and turned to lean back in his chair and think. It looked like his plans would be turning out well from now on, unlike the others these six would make sure their plans worked and without a drop of blood spilt – he didn't have much longer to wait.
Smiling a little to himself he closed his eyes and thought about all the possibilities that were now within his reach. He could become minister of magic, could take Hogwarts back and finally go home – all he had to do was wait a little longer and his future would be set.
~:Nagini.:~ - Voldemort
Wanting to share his good-mood with someone who actually mattered to him the dark lord called to his familiar – but when she entered the room she was not alone.
~:My Dark Lord, I have brought you a little friend.:~ - Nagini
The laughter was clear in the way she spoke and when she wrapped her body about his he could feel her shaking slightly...his little snake was up to something.
~:And who is this little friend you have brought me?:~ - Voldemort
~:Her name is...I never learnt her name, I just call her Nice One.:~ - Nagini
The 15 foot female Eunectes notaeus slowly made her way closer to him and his little snake, eyes of the deepest emerald green staring at him with an unnerving emotion behind them. Voldemort had never been afraid of snakes but he was of this one.
~:My name is Lily.:~ - Lily
Tensing slightly in his chair Voldemort waited with bated breath as the large reptile made her way closer to him. Nothing had scared him in so long that he had forgotten how fear felt and yet staring into those unearthly eyes he was starting to remember – a cold sweat beaded across his forehead and he found that he was biting on his bottom lip slightly.
~:Do not be afraid Tom, I'm here to help.:~ - Lily
Four hours, they had been in that room for four hours and still it felt like he didn't know enough, like he would never know enough. Sighing Harry put the book back on the table and closed his eyes just allowing the words to sink deep into his mind.
One moment he had been nothing but Harry, a wizard destined to kill an evil psycho dark lord and now he was being told he was some kind of creature Royalty and the evil psycho was his uncle...well things couldn't get any more strange...could they? For years he had believed that his destiny was written in stone and yet in one night things had flipped and he wasn't sure if he could take all these changes.
"Harry I know..." The sound of Snape's voice broke through his fuzzy mind. Anger speared through him as he turned to glare at the male who was about to say he understood how he was feeling, no one knew how he was feeling least of all the man who had tormented him for so long.
"You have no idea how I feel, no idea how this is affecting me so do me a favour and shut up." Gripping the arms of the chair hard he tried to control his breathing enough that he could speak with a clear voice and not insult the Goblin who had done nothing wrong – but his anger would not be contained and before he knew it things were breaking around him and the very air seemed to crackle with barely controlled power.
"I spent the first ten years of my life being told I was a freak, that I was nothing but a slave for my family and then I turned eleven and was whisked away...I thought I was being saved; I thought for once I would be able to be Harry but even that had fucking conditions! I had to save a bunch of people I didn't know. I. Was. Eleven! I was a baby and yet everyone was pinning their hopes on me!" During the middle of his rant Harry had stood up and now he was panting while magic herself whirled about him – angry on his behalf.
"Every year I had to fight a new problem because the fucking grownups wouldn't!" He turned to stare at Snape through eyes that burned with a hidden light. "The ones who were meant to protect me abandoned me and expect me to just deal with it! You were meant to be there, meant to keep me safe but instead you blamed me for things my ass of a father did! You blamed a child for his father's sins! Everyone hero worshiped me one moment and then condemned me the next and you were meant to shield me from that." Once he had started he just couldn't finish – he had so much to say and for once Snape would listen to him!
"I spent the last five years believing you hated me, cursing the fact there was nothing I could do that would get it through your thick skull I am not James Fucking Potter! I am a child who wanted just one person to look at him and see him – not even my godfather sees me he just sees Potter..." Tears were spilling down his cheeks as he screamed out his despair for the first time, letting the world know just how much they had hurt him.
"I tried so hard to be what everyone wanted, tried to be the hero you demanded I be and yet you all seemed to just want more! Well you know what? The wizarding world can go screw itself!" Slowly he was running out of steam and it was during this moment that he worked out what he was going to do.
"From now on I am protecting myself, my family and magical creatures. My uncle wants the wizarding world well he is going to get it - the wizarding world will learn why it shouldn't put its hopes on a child."
Gradually magic calmed and settled about him while the power that had almost choked Snape seemed to drape over his shoulders.
Ginny rubbed her hands together as she leaned back against the chair she was currently slouched in, today had been a good day and it was only going to get better – between her friends and the death eater they would have Dumbledore on his knees begging for mercy.
"So what evil little plan has your monster of a brain come up with?" – Fred.
"Brother dear, I believe you and George need to be returning to Hogwarts." Fire sparked in her eyes and Ginny almost laughed her fearless brother shivered and just nodded in agreement; she had a plan but she had to speak to Hermione about it before she let in the boys.
Pushing back from the chair she made her way over to Hermione who was at the moment in time trying to devour every book in the Riddle Library – it was like a bibliophiles wet dream and Hermione almost looked like she would orgasm.
"Hey." Ginny slipped into the seat next to her and smiled slightly as she noticed that Hermione was nose deep in a dark arts book.
"Hello, is there something you need?" Hermione sounded like she was working on auto pilot and her responses were all pre-recorded – if this wasn't such a serious situation it would be funny.
"Hermione, I have a plan." The only way to bring her friend out of a book stupor was to offer her a challenge and Ginny was pretty sure that this would do as a challenge.
The moment they had been dismissed Hermione had demanded to be shown to the Library; they had to come up with a plan and the only way she could do that was to do as much research as she could...and it was while she was doing this research that she had stumbled across a Dark arts book that described Noir Veela in a lot of detail – it was almost like it had been planted there for her to find.
Noir Veela may look like humans but they are different in many aspects – for instance humans have Male and Female, and only the female can carry the children unless the male wizard uses a potion and even then it is very hard to do but Noir Veela are not constrained by these same rules. A male Veela could be either Dominant or they could be Submissive and so can the female – Submissive Veela are the carriers and it doesn't matter what their sex is.
In this book I hope to describe the difference between Dominate and Submissive Veela – and I hope to shine a light on these mysterious creatures of the night.
Noir – Drakes.
Noir are split into two categories; the Dominant which is called the Drake and the Submissive which is called the Vixen and when they have children they are called Hatchlings. Now the Drakes and the vixen differ in many ways one of which is their wings.
Drakes are born with their wings fully formed and upon birth if they are born into none Noir families they are taken from them. Though it is rare for a Noir to be born into a non Noir family is has happened at times – if the child is born as a Drake this is not such a big problem as they can simply take the child and train it but if the child is a Vixen then they have no clue as Vixens show no signs until they hatch at seventeen.
The reason the Drakes are born with their wings fully formed is because they are the stronger of the hatchlings and must be trained to defend the Vixens and uphold the traditions of their kind. A lot of pressure is put on the Drakes to guard the future generations of Noir and to make sure they adhere to the millennia old traditions.
Among the Drakes there is an internal hierarchy – the dark the wing colour the more dominant the Drake another aspect of this is the length of the claws at the end of the wings. Unlike the Vixens the Drakes wings are not coated with a fine film of poison dust instead they have an acidic like oil that covers their wings (sometimes scales); this acid has no affect on Noir nor does it do much more than sting if you get it on your skin...but when combined with fire it will burn almost as hot as a furnace.
Another attribute to the Drakes wings is the pheromones that they produce; the main responsibility of the Drake is to protect the Vixen and...
"Hey." – Ginny
Hermione was so lost in finding out what her best friend had become that she almost ignored her other friend...but instead she just gave her a well rehearsed response but didn't look up from the book she was reading...that is until Ginny said something about a plan – it must be important if Ginny would risk Hermione cursing her and so she looked up and stared at the younger girl.
Sometimes Hermione was just plan scary...she was so glad that they had her on their side otherwise she was pretty sure that they would be destroyed in a matter of seconds. Shivering slightly Ginny got her words in order before she went into a detailed description of what she had planned.
"Right, so I was thinking that the best way to undermine Dumbledore is at Hogwarts so...we should go back. The twins have agreed to come with us and between us I think we can cause enough trouble to have the school shaking – but I think we should also work with the snakes."
Ginny waited for a reply...it was important to get this right – everything had to be perfect for the return of Harry.
A little closer
Chapter Notes
Sorry for the slow updates but I have a lot going on, I'll try not to let it be too long between updates. Thank you all so very much for reading and your comments - it means so much that you are enjoying my writing and it is encouraging me to keep at it! So please comment and leave a kudos!
-All mistakes are my own!
Yaxley could not keep the smile off his face as he stood over the stunned body of the muggle; the only thing that had saved the man from death had been the fact that his daughter had been brought up by this creature.
Turning on his heel he moved to Neive and knelt in front of her so he could look into those beautiful eyes of hers. Seeing his perfect wife again caused his heart to sore and once more he was swept into thoughts of the life they would be going back to and again he could see his darling wife round with child while he walked Hermione down the aisle...he would have his family back together if it killed him.
"It's ok Pumpkin; your magic man is here now."
He could see how scared his girl was and it angered him that someone had taken her love away from her...well he would be giving it back.
"Memoria Revenio."
Gently pressing the tip of his wand against his girls forehead he whispered the words that would return what had been stolen...at least if it was a general memory charm, if it was something more focused he would need to work a little harder – but nothing would stop him from getting his woman back.
--
The Noir inside of Snape was screaming to get out and comfort its mate, it was clawing at his insides and growling out its anger...but Snape kept it locked up tight, if there was one thing that Harry didn't need right at that moment was a clingy dominant who wished to carry him away from the world and hide him inside a cave somewhere.
"You are right."
His words were barely above a whisper as he looked down his long nose at his lap, gritting his teeth he worked to keep control of his emotions – it had never been this hard before and yet now that he was faced with what he had done first hand he couldn't help but feel the true horror of his betrayal...how could he have treated this wonderful male like that? How could he have let Harry be harmed in such a way?
"Mister Potter, we at Gringotts wish to once more offer you are allegiance." – Hockwood.
"I accept." – Harry.
Snape could simply stare at his lap as Harry once more took charge of his life and it wasn't until Harry himself placed a hand on his shoulder that he even bothered to look up and when he did he was treated to a slight smile from his destined mate.
"You have made a lot of mistakes but I am willing to let you make up for them. I won't give up my one chance at true happiness just because you are an idiot." – Harry
He should have been angry, should have been yelling at the brat but instead all Severus Snape could do was cling to the hope that maybe he hadn't messed up completely with his Vixen...maybe some time in the future he could get the boy into his arms.
"I believe your aunt is waiting outside." – Hockwood.
Never before had Snape hated a Goblin more.
--
Harry turned and gave the Goblin a smile before grabbing his cousin's arm and darting out of the office...he made it half way before he ran back and smiled a bit more brightly at the Goblin.
"I could do with one of those money bags." – Harry
"Of course, if you wait in the main part of the bank I shall get one for you." - Hockwood.
Harry was already tearing down the hallway as he yelled out his thanks to the smaller creature. Today had started off horrid but with any luck soon it would be getting better...and the moment he stepped into the marbled entrance hall of the bank the feeling of contentment he had been feeling after his outburst grew inside of him and he couldn't help but to throw his arms about his aunts boney shoulders.
"Did everything go ok?" – Petunia.
"Yeah." – Harry.
"You should of seen him mum! Man, I almost pissed myself." – Dudley.
Harry was blushing from head to toe; he hadn't meant to be scary, just everything had been building up and he had needed to let it out. For so long he had been playing the part that everyone expected him to play and now that he was finally free he wanted to make sure that it stayed that way.
Click.
Blinding light had Harry covering himself with his wings and hissing out a warning to whoever it was that had surprised him...what he hadn't expected was to see Colin Creevey backing away slowly with his camera still blocking his face from view. Sighing Harry let his wings return to their position on his back so he could stare the sneaky boy down – irritation burning in his eyes.
"Colin, what have we told you about taking pictures of me?" - Harry
Harry was exasperated with his self proclaimed 'biggest fan', all he wanted was to be normal and to have normal friends and yet each and every year since second year this little...let's call him a scamp, had pounced and managed to take his pictures – he could still remember taking a piss and having Colin capturing it on film...that had been embarrassing.
"I gotta ask first, and the bathroom is no place for a camera." – Colin.
Snape's bad habit of appearing just when you didn't want him to decided to kick in at that moment and he arrived just as Colin mentioned the no bathroom rule – Harry could see the thunder behind those onyx eyes and he couldn't help but melt a little...Snape was jealous and it was because of him – the Vixen in Harry was purring and it caused his wings to flutter a little but then Harry reminded it that Snape was in the dog house and would remain there until such a time as Harry saw he had changed.
--
Hermione leaned back in the chair and thought about her friends plan, it was a sound plan actually...get the school behind them and crumble it from the inside – the only problem with this plan was that the Snakes would never work with them, unless.
Pushing up from her spot Hermione left the room, ignoring the questioning looks that her...boyfriends? No, Partners? That Fred and George were giving her – she really didn't have time to explain her thought process.
The place was huge and she got lost a few times but eventually she found who she was looking for, mister tall pale and charming.
"Mr Malfoy, I need your help with a project I am working on for the Dark Lord."
Dark eyes bore into pale ones, threatening hell if he didn't do just as she asked and help – Lucius was no idiot and he knew which battles to fights...this was one of those 'Do as she says and avoid being bugged for the rest of his life' moments and so with a sigh he nodded to let her know she could continue.
"I need Draco to get the Snakes to work with us in bringing Dumbledore down."
Hermione could see the wheels in his head spinning and when they landed on the answer she wanted she smiled, nodding her head she turned and returned to her friends – they had plans to make.
--
Everyone was looking, everyone was judging and pointing fingers...but for once Harry could not care less about these bugs. Inside his chest a burning was stirring; a happiness he had always believed beyond his grasp was at that moment walking towards him and in its arms it held a emerald green cloak with black lining.
"Mister Pot..." – Snape
"Stop right there, we are meant to be 'destined mates' call me Harry." – Harry
"I do not believe it appropriate." – Snape
"You wanna get out of the dog house any time soon?" – Harry
The look on Snapes' face was priceless and Harry couldn't help but laugh a little at the wide eyed almost pouting expression on his Drake's face. If this was how things were going to be then Harry could easily get use to the idea of having Severus Snape as his partner – Harry had known he was gay for sometime so it wasn't really a shock that he would be spending his life with a guy.
"Ha...Harry, I believe this cloak would be most suitable to meet the council." – Snape
"I want to save my uncle first, the council will have to wait.."
Harry expected Snape to through a fit and demand that Harry head straight to the council...but Snape simply nodded his head and put the cloak down on the counter. With wide eyes Harry watched as Snape went up to the shop keeper and demanded that they bring him two sets of black jeans, three t-shirts of any colour and a black cotton cloak.
"If we will be traipsing around England then we will need suitable clothing." – Snape
Harry could have melted then and there at how thoughtful Snape was being to his wishes and before he knew it he was nodding and ordering his own set of clothing; six or so pairs of jeans and enough t-shirts to last a couple of weeks.
"You know that there is such a thing as a cleaning charm..." – Snape
"I know." – Harry
From the corner of his eye he could see Snape rolling his eyes and he couldn't help but to smirk a little; he was seeing Snape through different eyes and now he could see the others humor and how he showed his emotions in the little things he did. With a smile settled on his lips Harry moved away from Snape and headed deeper into the shop…after all there were somethings you didn't want others to know about.
--—
Petunia kept a close eye on her nephew and Snape; she had let him down so much in his short life and she refused to let that continue. Playing the part of the doting Aunt she offered to pay for Harry's clothes but he refused and instead began to pull her from the shop saying something about getting her a wand.
"Harry, maybe this isn't the best idea…" - Petunia
"Yeah, we don't know anything about magic." - Dudley
"You will learn! I'll get you a tutor and then we can be a proper magical family like we were always meant to be." - Harry
The slight catch in Harry's voice was what caused Petunia to stop arguing - if her little Harry wanted them to be a magical family then he was going to get one and she would do everything in her power to make it work.
"Mis…Harry, they will not be much use on the hunt. Would it not be better to send them to your uncle?" - Snape
Emerald eyes grew large and Petunia couldn't help but laugh a little at how adorable Harry looked in that moment in time, transported back in time she looked over a small bundle of perfection with her sister smiling brightly…it took all she had not to cry out for Lily and she had to bite down on her lip to hide the tears that were threatening to fall.
——Flash back——
"Isn't he adorable?" - Lily was beaming down at the little bundle of squirming baby.
"Simply perfect."- Petunia chuckled a little when baby Harry tried to grab hold of his mothers hair.
They had gone over the plan that day, but still it hurt that she couldn't contact her sister anymore…Dumbledore couldn't find out that Lily knew the truth and he definitely couldn't find out that the spell on them both had been broken - but still she couldn't help but be a little upset that poor little Dudders would never know his aunt and cousin.
"I wish you could leave that brute, I wish I could whisk us all away…" - Lily sighed as she leaned against her taller sister, tears were building in her eyes.
"One day, one day we will both be free of them and our boys will be happy." - Petunia promised her little sister a future but she didn't believe she would actually get it.
--—
Four weeks after they had met up, four short weeks was all it had taken for Dumbledore to find out about them both, suddenly Lily was dead and Petunia had lost all memory of forgiving her sister…Dumbledore took away her family and replaced it with hatred.
-End Flash back.-
"Aunt Petunia?"
It was Harry's concerned voice that finally brought her back to the present, after giving him a quick smile she looked up at the shop they had stopped in front…Ollivander's…it was really going to happen.
The wands.
Chapter Notes
Sorry it is so short but I thought it would be a good place to stop. Thank you for being so patient with me! I really hope you like this chapter! Keep commenting and kudoing as it makes me all happy! And gives me the kick up the bum I need to write sometimes! Love you all!
Lily gave a soft hiss as she curled tighter about her brothers' arm, smooth scales rubbing softly against grey flesh while she allowed herself the comfort of once more being in her brothers' presence even if he had no clue it was her.
~And how is a snake meant to help a wizard as powerful as me?~
The arrogance of her brother forced a soft hissing chuckle to escape from her, for so long she had been kept from the man who had always meant the world it her and now…now they were finally reunited and he had no clue – she couldn't wait for a time when she could use this egotism against her elder sibling.
~You should know better than most that not everything is as it appears.~ - Lily
~Masster, nice one is powerful.~ - Nagini
Crimson eyes showed just how much Tom knew the truth of those words, it almost broke her resolve not to let him know that she was there with him…but he could not know, not yet – no one could know that her sisters had allowed her to leave their presence and enter the world once more.
~I know, I have been a fool…~ - Lord Voldemort
The pain in those words touched her and brought out her mothering instincts – before she knew what she was doing she moved to rest her head against his cheek, comforting him as much as she could in this form.
~We all make mistakes, it is what we do after that matters.~ - Lily
The soft chiming of the bell announced their entrance and everyone inside the building turned to stare. Before finding out who he truly was Harry would not have known how to cope under all those painfully inquisitive stares but now…now he had a feeling of control and serenity that came from truly being at one with who and what he was – though it still made him uncomfortable to have all those eyes on him.
"Hello." Smooth and tender he wrapped the single word with as much venom as he could; if he was going to play down and dirty and help Voldemort take over the world then he might as well start with creating a darker image of himself. "My aunt and cousin are here to get their wand, piss off." Each word was delivered in such a poisonous tone that more than one person shivered and backed away from him…but there was one who didn't.
"Mister Potter, is that anyway to be speaking to these fine people?" Rufus Scrimgeour – world class asshat and current minister of magic moved to the front of the group and at his side stood a handsome blonde girl about the same age as Harry himself.
Angelic ringlets fell about what had to be the most perfectly symmetrical face in history…Helen of Troy would of seemed ugly compared to this picture of flawlessness. Standing at five foot six and weighing only eight stone she was petite and her white lace dress showed her body impeccably; it was clear that this girl was used to being stared at because she didn't flinch away as the young boys in the shop began to drool over her…in fact it seemed that those pink painted heart shaped lips pulled into a smirk that just made her look even more like a walking talking wet dream.
"Uncle, is this the boy who is going to save us?" Unlike Harry's tone the girl filled her words with joyful innocence and it just added to the aura of heavenly serenity that surrounded her.
"He is meant to…" Rufus Scrimgeour let his eyes drag over Harry's body and it made Harry very uncomfortable and he made it known with the soft growling noise that was dripping from his lips but Scrimgeour just ignored it and carried on with his evaluation.
Snape had placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and that was the one thing that was stopping him from darting forward and ripping those yellow eyes from their sockets – it infuriated him to see the flicker of disgust that flickered on the minister's face and it hated the way it made him almost doubt himself. Harry had been looked at with disgust all his life, his uncle had looked at him that way as had the kids at school…even his aunt and cousin before they had been forced to see the truth – every time he was faced with that look he was sent right back into the cupboard and forced to do chores simply because he was different.
——Flash back——
Eight years old and alone, sitting on his cot under the stairs a child tried to think about what he had done wrong this time – three hours he had been sat on the uncomfortable cot that was slightly stained from all the times he had accidently forgotten to put a towel down and had an accident during the night.
He could hear his cousin being praised for something and he wondered what it would be like to have someone say 'Well done Harry' and smile at him as if he mattered…he knew it would never happen, freaks weren't to be praised and he was lucky he wasn't beaten and still got food. Every day he was reminded of his place by his uncle; he was never allowed to forget that he was disgusting and unclean…the only person who ever made an effort to be kind was his aunt and even that was rare…but he lived for the days when she would smile at him and give him that little bit of hope that maybe someone actually cared about him even if it was only a small amount.
While thinking of his aunt he had started to smile and that smile only grew when outside the door he heard his aunt say in a quiet voice 'I will slip you some toast, just remain silent until they go to bed' and that was all it took to make him stop moving and even slow his breathing down until it looked as if he were nothing but a statue.
"Petunia, why are you near the freaks door?" His uncle sounded confused and that scared him…anger he could deal with, anger just got him thrown in his cupboard and starved for a couple of days...but confusion always brought pain as he was beaten until his uncle got the answer he wanted even if it wasn't the truth.
"I was telling him to be silent, I could hear him moving." Even he could tell his aunt was lying and he knew that soon he would be in pain and again he had no clue why.
"Don't cover for it dear, I know it was most likely begging for food…disgusting filth that is." Vernon sounded so full of hate and revulsion that Harry almost felt the same way about himself…it was very clear there was something wrong with him.
Sighing a little he waited for the door to open, waited for the belt to come and the pain that it would bring – every day it was the same and he was starting to believe the words. Eight years old and already knowing how it felt to wish you never existed.
-End Flash back.-
--
Seeing that look of repulsion on the minister's face made Severus glad that he used a silent glamour to hide the boys' wings. Young Noir found it hard to conceal the wings in the sacks on their backs…and being outside had reminded him that he still had to teach his young Vixen how to hide them.
"If you'll excuse us minister, Mister Potter and his relatives have come for a reason." He could see the argument that was brewing between his Vixen and the minister and he knew that he had to stop it…it wasn't time to give themselves away just yet.
"You are right." With an over exaggerated bow the minister took the girl by the hand and guided her out of the building…and with their defender gone everyone else followed until it was only Severus, Harry and the two ex-muggles.
"Harry it is far too soon to be giving away your switch in sides, keep your temper under control." – Snape
"I know, I know…but he gets under my skin…and did you see that tramp he was with?" – Harry
"I thought she was a rather well breed lady." – Snape
"You would, seeing as she was giving you the once over…what happened to your looks anyway? You look hot." – Harry.
Snape could see the pout forming on those kissable lips and had to control himself before he gave into the urge to kiss that pout from the boy's face. Being in his destined mates presence was causing Severus to lose all the self-control he built over his long life.
"I will tell you later, let us get your relatives their wands." Trying to get himself under control Severus moved away from the group and headed towards the counter so he could ring the bell and call for the shop keeper.
Ollivander limped towards the desk and scowled at Severus and Snape couldn't help the smirk that covered his lips when he saw the old Drake slump into a seat and glare at them as if he could get them out of the shop just by glaring.
"What do you want hatchling? I already gave you your wand." The ancient Drake turned his eyes back to Snape and with nothing more than a raise of a brow let him know that he had some explaining to do as to why Harry Potter was sporting wings (the glamour couldn't hide the wings from Noir).
A over exaggerated sigh left Severus as he explained to the Drake the story behind Harry's birth, only the council, the mate and family were meant to know that a Vixen had been born…but Snape was under no illusion that Dumbledore would have put a spell on Harry to let him know if he hatched or not.
The story wasn't a long one and the moment it came to an end the old Drake was off the chair and heading deeper into the building to grab two wands.
Dragon heartstring, Alder, 10 inches and springy – Snape watched as the elderly male made his way towards Dudley and slipped the wand into his hand. "I have been waiting for you, young protector this wand demands respect so use to wisely…the power in you will surmount all trials do not be afraid of your strength."
Abada horn, Applewood, 11 inches and firm – Next it was Petunia who got her wand and the moment it touched her hand it glowed faintly and gave off a gentle and calm warmth. "It is rare I find a home for Abada horn wands, these wands find homes with those who are instinctually motherly – treat this wand with gentle care…you will be blessed with many young to guide."
Ollivander smiled at them and Snape was reminded of the day he got his own wand, all Noir came to Ollivander for their wands seeing as he was the only one who would ever be able to match you perfectly to the wand.
"I will tell the council to expect you soon." - Ollivander
"We need to do something first…" – Harry
"Please tell the council that the Vixen is troubled." Snape gave Ollivander a look that spoke of their long-time friendship and trust and it was returned with a nod.
It wouldn't be long before they started their long journey, but before that it was time for a family reunion.
The reunion
Chapter Notes
Ok, I think it best if I let you all know that I update at random times but I will not be abbandoning this fic (even if it looks like I have). I am working towards getting all the characters in the correct places and then the chapters will start to get longer...so for now stick with it and I promise it will improve.
Ever since arriving back at the cottage Severus had started to notice more changes in Potter and not all of them were to do with the hatching. For so long he had only been shown the golden boy image and it had caused resentment to bubble in his heart – 'why had this creature lived? Why wasn't Lily here…?' – every time he had looked into those emerald eyes he had been reminded of her death. Dumbledore had once asked him 'After all this time?' and his only reply was 'Always'…no amount of time would sooth his heart. Lily had been his best friend, his sister in all but blood…maybe if Harry had looked more like her…maybe if he hadn't of seen Potter so clearly in the boy's image.
Shaking his head he pushed away the thoughts of things he could not change and instead tried to focus on the here and now. It seemed that the others had forgotten he was with him, which was fine by Severus as it allowed him time to observe them.
From the moment Petunia had returned to the little house he had noticed that she seemed wound tighter than a spring, jumping a little when one of the boys would ask a question and once he had seen her trying to fit her entire body under one of the beds because she just had to have the perfume that had rolled under. It was rather amusing to watch this woman struggling to keep it together enough to lead her boys into packing.
Dudley for his part seemed to be the most organised, all his clothes were packed and his suitcase was by the door – it seemed now though he was determined to follow Harry around and get in his way all the time. Poor Potter was battling the urge to simply yell at his cousin and Snape found it interesting to see that even when Dudley messed up Harry would just pat him on the shoulder and tell him it was ok.
Looking at these people one would think they were a happy family and that Harry had always been beloved by them, there was not even a hint at the neglect that had been so prevalent in his childhood…Snape had expect Harry to want revenge for the pain caused by his family but it seemed that the boys wish for a family outweighed that and he was willing to forgive so long as he got the chance to have a loving family that belonged solely to him.
--
"Harry, you taking all these books?" – Dudley
"Yes." - Harry
Without looking Harry knew that Dudley was trying to carry every single book that he owned and the crash that followed proved him right. It was getting frustrating and his packing was far behind his aunt and cousin simply because his cousin insisted on helping but he guessed it beat being berated and forced to do all the Dursley's packing.
"Sorry…" – Dudley
"Duddy-kins you need to be more careful, what if you had ripped one of Harry's books." - Petunia
The stern tone in his aunt's voice brought a soft smile to his lips and yet again Harry was reminded that his family actually cared…he was finally able to connect with his aunt and cousin.
"Its ok, Aunt Petunia, but Dudley…really I can do it myself." – Harry
Reaching out he placed a hand on his cousins arm and steered the other male out of the room so he could focus on his packing – with Dudley gone it wouldn't take much longer.
--
Hermione could not believe what was happening, here she sat in front of the Dark Lord and he seemed to actually wish for her input…normally people asked for her advice and then ignored it…but Voldemort seemed like he was actually going to agree.
"So, you believe that the way to get the younger generation is by…making us more 'fun'?" Even through the sneer Hermione could see that he was hiding a smile – this would be interesting.
"Yes, but I was thinking more along the lines of reaching out to their rebellious side. Teenagers have a voice, we have goals and ambitions…but at times it is like out parents simply want to make us into carbon copies of them." Standing up Hermione started to pace the office, since coming here to this house and seeing the freedom she now had Hermione had realised just how controlled she was before. "We are forever told we are to young, we don't know what the world is like…that we can't do the things we want simply because we haven't reached a certain age – you want this generation to follow you then give them their freedom, let them rebel and show you the power they have at their fingertips. Dumbledore tries to squash our imagination with magic…give us a chance to create spells and potions, we want to be the future not simply a reproduction of the past."
Brown eyes almost glowed as she stared down on of the most powerful wizards in the world and the hands on her hips tightened as she dared him to do what all the other 'adults' did and tell her she was nothing more than a child.
"Hm, I see your point." The fluid movement of Voldemort caught her eye and she was forced to take a few steps back before she got control of her emotions. "If the world is to truly step into the future then we must listen to the youth and find out what they want for this world…yes." It was a cruel smile that spread across his lips and Hermione found herself returning it when their eyes met…finally here stood a leader she could get behind.
--
It was already night by the time they had finished packing and Harry could clearly see the fear in his aunt's eyes and it made him wish to comfort her…but this had to be done. Reaching out he placed a hand on her shoulder ad offered a smile in the hops of soothing her enough that she wouldn't be a complete wreak when she got to Tom.
"Harry, I shall take your family to Riddle Manor – inform the Dark Lord of our plans and then return."
Severus's voice broke through his thoughts and he found himself looking up at his Drake, soon he would be spending all his time with this man…soon he would be living in a tent and fighting the good fight with what had been one of his tormentors. He wasn't completely sure he had the courage to see this through.
The Snape of the past was gone but the old hurts were still there and though he had said he would give the man a chance to make up for them he was starting to get nervous that there was too much water under the bridge.
"I'll see you soon guys, just remember that Tom is the good guy."
Stepping back from his family he watched as Severus placed a hand on each of their shoulders and took them away for who knows how long…
--
Trouble is brewing, my sisters we must act quickly.
Lily must not come to harm.
So it is decided then.
--
He couldn't remember the last time he had needed the comfort of another's touch; it had been decades since he had been himself and now that he had his mind back he was struggling to keep it. Memories of both lives battled inside his mind and warred with each other as if two rival factions bent on destroying him.
Since the moment his mind had been returned to him he had been finding it hard to control his raging emotions and it was humiliating to be acting like a teenage girl.
"My Lord, Severus has returned…he has brought you sister." So caught up in his own mind he didn't notice as one of his lower minions stepped into the room, turning his head slowly away from the window he set his red gaze on the young blonde who stood at the door.
"Did I give you permission to enter my room?" His voice dropped to a hiss as he let his wand drop into his fingers – everything from the way he stood to the way his aura felt made the other male shiver in fear and that made The Dark Lord almost smile.
"N…N…N."
The Death Eater didn't get a chance to finish his stuttered reply as Voldemort sent a curse flying in his direction. A blue light engulfed the poor dear and had him hitting the floor in agony as every bone in his body broke over and over again.
~Thomas Marvolo Riddle!~ - Lily
Huffing a little he released the death eater and sent him on his way with a growl before turning to his new 'guest'.
~I am allowed to punish my minions how I see fit!~ The only thing keeping him from cursing the snake was the fact that the death eater had not been able to hear it speaking…but that didn't give it the right to speak as if it had control of him. He was a Dark Lord!
~And will you act this way in front of your family?~ If he hadn't of known better he then he would of sworn to of seen the snake raise its brow in a very Snape like move.
~Of course not…they are family.~ It was stupid to be having this discussion, of course he would never hurt his family…family was everything to him and he would protect those of it that remained.
~Oh really, do you think that Harry would approve of this? That boy has a heart of gold and you know it. Know stop being a fool and lets go greet your sister.~ Frozen in place he watched as the large snake slithered out of the room after giving him a telling off…
--
The moment the spell had left his lips his girl had fallen into his arms, knocked unconscious while the spell worked its way through her mind and brought back her hidden memories. Yaxley was in heaven as he cradled the small woman against his chest and softly sung their song.
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.
Stroking his fingers through her bushy hair he remembered when they had first meet. It had been a bright sunny day and he had been outside with Malfoy watching the Ravenclaws practise – they would be having try-outs soon seeing as they had just lost their seeker Lucius and he were out there to find out who they would be facing that session.
It was to be their final year and they had wanted to make sure they would have a clear shot at beating the Lions…but he had never expect to see the most beautiful woman striding in with a broom thrown over her shoulder. Neive had been the light of his life the moment she had walked out onto that field and thrashed the all-male team.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).
No other woman could compare to the beauty of his girl and though many had tried to get him to look their way he had stayed steadfast; his love was hers completely.
Back when he had tried to court her she had told him that she wasn't all that pretty and he should turn his sights elsewhere…well actually her exact words were 'Sorry to disappoint mister caveman but I have a brain, go find a nice set of tits to drool over and leave me alone'.
No one had ever turned him down before and it had made him want her even more! A strong woman would only make the family stronger and give any children they had a fierce and protective mother.
I've got so much honey the bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.
The day she had agreed to be his had been the happiest day of his life and the day she had been taken had been the saddest. It had almost broken him when she hadn't returned to his side – but now that she was back he didn't have to think about it anymore…he would protect his girl from the world and no one would hurt his family again.
Carefully he slipped his arms more firmly around her waist and lifted her up so he could carry her bridal style out of the house. "Magic man is here now, let's go see our baby." Smiling down at the precious parcel in his arms he pressed the portkey against her chest and let it whisk them back to their Lords home. Severus Snape was not a very patient man at the best of times let alone when his Vixen was sat unguarded in a muggle cottage; so being forced to wait for his Lord to turn up was aggravating to say the least. He stood there tapping his toe and glaring at the door and on more than one occasion he had turned that glare on the two people next to him.
"Mum this place is kinda creepy…" – Dudley
"And it needs a good clean." – Petunia.
It took all his control not to roll his eyes at the pair of them, what did they imagine they would find? This was the home of an evil mad man bent on taking over the world! Luckily for them all Voldemort chose that moment to walk into the room in all his snake face glory.
He had no idea what he had been expecting to happen but it wasn't for Petunia to walk up to their Lord and slap him across his face.
"What have you done to yourself?!" – Petunia
Dudley had moved to try and hide behind…well anything though it was clear he was hiding from his mother and not the dark lord. The look in that woman's eye almost had him hiding as well – just like Lily she had a temper and now that the spells Dumbledore had placed on her were gone she was finally able to be herself.
"It was an accident, and I assure you I shall be fixing it." – Tom
Severus could see how hard it was for Tom not to curse his sister and he had to hide a chuckle as the woman gave a sharp nod and embraced that now very embarrassed Lord of all evil – reunions could be so much fun.
Afterword
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