A/N: I'm hoping to get some of the more serious aspects of this story covered in the next few chapters, then I can move on to the actual romance. Usually I don't let it simmer this long, but I felt there was more important plot points than them just jumping into bed together lol.
-Xenia
Chapter Twenty-Four: Loss
Severus stood from his desk, eyes now locked on the guard at his door. "Did anyone let them in?" He inquired, folding his thin half moon reading glasses and setting them on the parchments littering the surface, and pushing in his chair as he made his way around it.
"No my liege, the lord had not gone through the proper channels to be granted admittance." The guard bowed low, waiting for his king's answer.
"Grant them entrance, and with five guards plus yourself, lead them to the throne room. They will kneel before me." Severus said, a twisted glee sparked in his eyes, not that anyone would be able to see it. The dark haired vampire left his study, using wandless wordless magic to lock the door behind himself, and clean any stray ink on his hands. The guard was close behind, being flanked by two others as they made their way down to the ground floor of the castle.
"Keep the Weasley's and Lady Granger away from us for the time being, I would hate for them to walk in on the mans castigation." This was said as the tall man separated from his guards, turning to the doors of the room he would meet the larger man in. Two women stood guard at the doors, and after a respectful nod towards the two while they opened the doors, Lord Prince made his way up towards his throne. Taking his seat, Severus had only waited a few minutes before the group of loud muggles made their way into his domain. Leading them was none other than Dursley and his grown son.
The two men were of a similar heavy build, the younger of the two only muscular where his father held a certain fatty bulk. Neither of them were truly lords, but they surely carried themselves as if they were. Sparing them nothing more than a vaguely condescending raise of his eyebrow, Severus bade them to speak.
"State your business." He said, silky voice rich with disdain towards the inconsequential loons. The elder Dursley balked at the lack of reverence in the vampires voice, as he had likely expected the man sitting before them to kowtow and praise their every breath. Unlikely, the vampire huffed to himself, highly unlikely.
Neither knew what to say, and after the elder Dursley's face turned a sickening shade of puce, he spoke. "My lord." It was said calmly, though disgust was written all over the mans face. He'd rather have his abominable nephew back in his life rather than show respect to this freak, and his castle full of other freaks and magic. But he had an objective, and if he didn't fulfill it, Petunia would likely have a conniption.
Severus merely looked down upon them past his distinct nose, waiting for one of the two dunderheads to get to the point of their pointless visit. He was silently intrigued about what they were there for, as he would surely never offer them refuge nor would he grant them funds of any kind. "My Lord," the seething man started again, "As my family and I are sure you are aware, we have no place to go if you should decide to displace us."
With a disinterested look the vampiric man rested his chin in the back of his left hand, elbow steady on the armrest of his throne. "Therefore I am here to officially request you court my son Lord Dudley Dursley." Here the man pushed his son forward, the middle aged cousin of Harry's was pale now, his eyes wide and screaming of surprised betrayal. Vernon and Petunia loved their only boy to death, but that certainly did not exempt the man from a political marriage. The way they saw it, he could off the blood drinker and they could undoubtedly bask in his new riches after a few years.
Dudley fell to his knees, horrified to be forced to kneel before a dangerous vampire, by his own father's doing. He was quite frankly scared shitless at the prospect of being bound to the bat for as long as he lived. Dudley certainly was not a homosexual, and the vampire sitting high above them would never be yo his liking. His hair was shoulder length, and wavy, his high cheekbones and distinguished nose did nothing to harm his overbearing masculinity. Not to mention his jawline was not smooth as a female's, and his body was muscled and firm like a mans. There was no way he could bed, or heavens forbid be beded, by this man and not wish to burn himself afterwards, and the vampire scum knew it.
His black soulless eyes-- according to Dudley-- glittered wildly at the prospect of his disgust, almost as if he knew Dudley would rather off himself than spend one night in his bed. And frankly Severus felt much the same. He felt no attraction when looking at the man, his heart and affection already set on the mans deceased cousin. His mate was infinitely more appealing than this oversized child in a mans body.
"Unfortunately," the 'for you' was heavily implied, "I am unable to fulfill your ill conceived planning Dursley. Quite the dilemma really, as I have long since begun courting someone of import." Lord Prince laughed darkly, standing from his seat. He was sorely tempted to have the guards usher the stupid man and his son back out of his home. He honestly had no time for this.
"Very well." The man said after a while, his son sighing out in relief, that is until his father finished his sentence. "Then I would like to request a challenge on your intended for the right to have my son court you."
The room went deathly silent, and Dudley went pale, very nearly fainting in his panic. Surely that could not be done? His father would not do this would he? He felt weak, and if he hadn't been kneeling this entire time he would have fallen onto his knees right then. As it were, he stayed in this submissive pose out of pure shock. Vernon said nothing further, instead passing a stack of papers over to a servant and forcing her to go where he would never-- straight to the vampire kings side.
It was the female servant from Severus' visit to Harry's estate, the one who announced his presence to the other lesser man. She trembled a bit, which was a given, though she held her own given the circumstances. And after a respectful curtsey, she told him that the parchments she held were the deeds to their estate and the taxes for the last twenty five years, along with the reimbursments for those under their care, and a relinquishment of all non personal property and servants.
Severus couldn't help bit chuckle as he pulled out his ebony wand with a flourish. He couldn't help the devious glint in his eyes as the two magic fearing men flinched harshly. Severus then scanned the paper for any magic before reading through the legally binding contracts.
Oh this could be fun he realized. Humiliate the family and allow Harry a bit of closure where his family was concerned.
Though of course he would not sign these here. He would use the desk within his study which could detect any untoward spells, curses, or jinxes on the parchments. Just because they were muggles who hated magic, it did not mean they would not stoop so low as to use it on him. He vanished the papers to his study where he would head back to after this blather.
Sweeping a glance over the humans in his presence, Severus smirked devilishly. "Very well Dursley. Allow me to accommodate your family while I take stock of my new belongings."
He steepled his fingers after he gestured for the servant woman to stay beside him for a moment longer. "Is this all of the servants from your household?" He asked daring the men in front of him to butt in or lie. He wanted the woman to answer, and everyone in the room knew it.
"No my lord," she started, "This is of or numbers, the last of us are currently packing lords and lady Dursley's belongings." She looked anywhere but in his intense gaze and Severus was trying his damndest not to laugh his ass off. Waving her away he took a moment to mind link a few of his coven to oversee the packing and nake sure there was no more than three trunks full of belongings for each family member. They would not have the space for more than that.
This added a bit more to his plate this month, and he would have to finish this long before Harry's debut, but Severus was extremely pleased by this turn of events.
"Dursley, you will be lodging in the servants housing on the edge of my estate, as I am sorry to admit there is no space left for you all within the main castle grounds." He lied smoothly, his coven laughing through his link which he'd left open for this last part of this impromptu meeting. "You may choose three of your staff to continue to serve you temporarily while your estate, staff, and belongings are expropriated and placed under my care." This caused a collective gasp from the servants who did not know that they too were being left to his so called care.
Did they wish to serve human monsters or a true monster, was the question. A monster you know, or one that could be than that?? Dursley did not give them a choice in the matter, choosing three of the most subservient maids to be at his family's beck and call.
"Forren, lead the Dursleys and their chosen servants to their new quarters. Anda, please find lodging for the new staff. And Kory, please organize my intended's room once again. I will be sending for him by the end of this week so we may begin the farce of a challenge." Severus said, and after each name a house elf would pop in, gain their assignment, and either take count of the muggles now under their care, in Forren and Anda's case, or to take care of the room for Harry, as in Kory's case.
This startled the muggles, as they had never seen a house elf, let alone heard the pop as they apparate in and out of rooms to faster perform their duties.
"Know this now muggles." Severus leveled them all with a withering glare which froze them in place by sheer will, "The house elves are now your colleagues and your betters and they shall be treated with the respect you wish to gain. They do not answer to you, and they are not your slaves. If you do well and treat them properly, you will be met with the same." This gave them all reason to breath out in relief, respect the little magical creatures? Easy enough right??
With those orders given, Severus turned towards the woman whom he had yet to release from his side and asked for her name. This was once again a shock to the servants, as the Dursleys had never asked for names, nor did they remember them at all.
"My name is Sybell Greycastle my lord." She said breathlessly, wondering why this scary man could want to know her name.
"Ms. Greycastle," another louder set of gasps as the rest of the muggles were being led out, "You will work alongside my house elves, in getting your colleagues acquainted with my castle, you will be in charge of reporting to me what they do and whom they speak of and to." He spoke quietly so only Sybell could hear. "Now, carry on with the others and find your new placement." With a nod and curtsey she rushed away towards the back of the group being led to their new quarters, the others asking her questions as they went.
Once this was completed, Severus stood, contacting his concern members to check the progress of the Dursleys move from Harry's estate to the slave quarters that hadn't been used in centuries. Sure he'd called them servants quarters but in all actuality the building was not real servants quarters. Two house elves had already gone to fix up the place as best as possible, and the Dursley's would find the walk to the main castle quite the workout. The king was glad he hadn't destroyed the buildings like he'd been meaning to do.
Standing from his throne, Severus made his way back to his study to send off a second letter to his little mate. He hoped that this would not be a set back or detriment to Harry's mental health.
Law states that in a duel for the right to override a courting, the challenger must be accommodated for the duration of the challenge, usually a few days to a week, and that both the challenger and challengee must abide by these simple rules:
To prove they are worthy of the title they seek, one must be a sufficient cook, fairly talented in any and all challenges or duties, have the ability to keep a household running, and most importantly gain or retain the favor of the third party in question. In this case Severus himself is the third party.
He will provide food and shelter to both the challenger and challengee, as well as any family and servants they may bring along during the duration of the challenge.
He puts all ox this within his letter, and also formally invites Harry's family to his castle. This should not be a problem any longer as Spinle and Harry can both pass through the plains, and bring the rest of his family alongside them.
From there they can find out if the others can pass back and forth on their own or I'd they will always need assistance. For now however, after he reads and signs the contracts before consulting Harry over what he wanted to keep and how he wanted to deal with his estates, severus needed to go for a long and overdue run.
Harry woke up that morning on his third day away from Severus feeling apprehensive. He had to speak to the elders today about his mate from the upperworld, along with updating Severus on his progress below ground. He had yet to find Iana, or his adoptive siblings, though he knew the elders were situated on the other side of the forest and if he left early enough he could likely find her and still be early for his meeting. Neither Albus Dumbledore nor Elder Gutknecht would mind him being late, as they had known him and befriended him only two years after his death.
Standing from his bed at first morning light, Harry went about his daily routine, cleaning himself, his room, and dressing for the day in a simple yet elegant cream colored gown with little pearls adorning the corset and a diadem with opals set inside the metal. He pulled on long gloves, and a pair of cream colored riding boots. He wore no crinoline under his dress, instead only two undershirts and his normal underwear. His holly wand was holstered to his forearm and put under a disillusionment charm, and he finished the look by conjuring up a white daffodils to weave into his now braided hair.
It was then when she saw a missive from her mate settled upon her desk, which she read twice in surprise over just how proud her mate was to have gotten her. So many events in her honor just to show his coven and other nobles who had captured his heart? It was quite romantic, and even more so when she realized he was asking her opinions on the matter. She responded with a few color palettes and flower arrangements that she loved, as well as the most opportune times for the debut ball and garden party. She hummed with joy for a bit before remembering her plans for the day.
She was finally done, and after eating a bit of breakfast with her family, Harriette made her way out of the house, along with Sirius to the stables. Her godfather was to be her guardian for the day, seeing as she was dragging feminine and thus would need an escort in order to deter criminals from passing her any mind.
They each saddled up their respective horse before jumping on and riding down the pathway from the front gardens of the estate, into the woods. Harry informed Sirius of his plans to look for Iana in the two hours before her meeting with the elders, and as they got to the clearing in which harry had died up above ground, a shiver passed over her as it usually did whenever she came this way.
Speaking parseltongue, Harriette dismounted her equine ride, and pushed ahead, going deeper and deeper into the dense forestry. Sirius following behind, his wand at the ready, waiting on bated breath to see if anything would happen. There was a slew of snakes answering to her calls until they realized to whom she had been calling, then conducted their own searches in order to help. Until one garden snake came along finally and said he could guide them to Iana. She had apparently moved in next to him and his own family, which Harriette told Sirius as they followed the snake.
"I think her old nest must have been occupied once she had gotten down here, and she needed to move." Harry explained to his godfather once they came upon an old tree stump that Iana was said to live past.
Switching back to parseltongue, Harriette called out to her reptilian friend once again, and only stopped when there was a rustle from displaced leaves as the elder snake made her way out.
[Iana? Mama are you there??] She called in desperation. She was so close to seeing her adoptive mother again, and she couldn't risk this being the wrong snake one more time. She had just remembered her time with Iana and if only she had tried to remember sooner she could have reconciled with the undead snake.
There was a snake like gasp and a tongue flickered in the distance, tasting the air for a scent. [Harry? My hatchling is that you??] She called out, pushing herself to slither faster towards her little one. She could not believe her eyes! Had her hatchling really found her after so long?
Upon seeing Harriette, Iana launched herself towards her child, and Harriette cradled her into her arms, a long sob escaping both of them, or as close to sobbing as Iana could get. Sirius stood back, not wanting to interrupt the scene, as he could tell by his goddaughters face that she had found the right snake at long last.
And said snake was a death adder! Trust Harriette to befriend a deadly snake. What would be next he wondered, a Burmese python, a Basilisk, or a Runespoor? Shaking his head of the thoughts, knowing that Harriette was almost mated to a Vampire King who was a lion animagus, he knew that the girl did nothing by halves.
After a quick introduction, the three made their way back towards the horses, Iana snuggly wrapped around Harriette's left wrist while they rode the rest of the way to the elders homebase.
The gate surrounding the base chimed at their appearance and the wards tickled their skin as they passed, documenting who came, and at what time they arrived and departed. Harriette smiled upon creating the hill and seeing the door open to the two elderly men, one a wizard and the other a muggle with experience in magic.
Once they were close enough, they dropped the horses off by the stables in order to graze, and ran towards her two grandfather figures, ready to impart upon them the wonderful news.
After reaching them Harriette hugged the two men and lay a kiss on each of their cheeks in greeting. They were her family, and she missed them dearly. "Albus, Elder, I have such wonderful news to tell you!" She laughed, her eyes alight with wonder that they had never truly seen. Sirius came running along after her and gave the elders a hug as well, looking frazzled.
It was clear to the older deceased men that Sirius had been running around after Harriette for a while, and they chuckled at his 'misfortune'. "And what, pray tell is this magnificent news you bring my girl?" Elder Gutknecht asks, his old bones shaking with every word, as he scratched the crack in his skull with one hand. The other was holding his cane, which kept his hunched over skeleton from falling, or tripping over his long beard.
"Come in, come in and tell us of this new development!" Albus spoke jubilantly. Albus was the more intact of the two, having died from the killing curse just after Harriette's own death. His magic kept him in the same state as he had died, whereas Elder Gutknecht had no magic to rescue his flesh from vacating his bones over his long stay in the underworld.
The four made their way inside the base, where Harriette began her story.
