Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and all rights belong to J.K Rowling and all rights to Vampire: The Masquerade and The World of Darkness belong to White Wolf publishing.

Trigger Warnings: This is a sequel. Blood & mild Gore. Slow Burn. Religious Symbolism/imagery. Some sprinkling of cringe here and there + Bad Poetry. (In dialogue)

Hey, if you didn't read the first part, now would be an excellent time to do so as this fic is a direct continuation of the previous one in the same series. This fic is a semi-crack fic with some gory and dark undertones. Please don't be afraid to leave criticism as this is (was) my first fanfic, and I want to improve. I hope you like it. :)

P.S: No prior knowledge about the Vampire: The Masquerade series is required to understand this fic.


Spinner's End, Cokeworth, June 23rd, 1991

A week can turn into a month or two, and it can also become years if one feels peace when they are in the right place. When Petunia and Dudley were together again, a moment passed when they questioned their stay. Severus only wanted Harry to stay. Petunia was anxious to leave, and Harry wanted to eat another chocolate frog. And Dudley… well, the boy was behaving like an average child for the most part. Severus still had to keep the toothpaste out of reach from the boy, lest he devours the tube.

Vernon was apprehensive and somewhat resigned to his armchair at 4 Privet Drive, but with the 'freak police' patrolling the streets, there was no way he was staying there. After Dudley was taken from him, he resigned to a life of dog slobber and his sister's aggravating voice.

But three years had passed. And the dust had settled.

"Boy!" Severus snarled.

"Wot?" Dudley responded. It sounded like the squeal of a dying pig.

Harry was fiddling with buttons on his new coat on the other side of the room. They were getting ready for Dudley's big day.

"What do you mean 'wot?' Get up, you great big lug!" Severus pushed the curtains aside, and Dudley screeched in agony as the sunlight hit his face. Harry giggled before trotting off downstairs. The little devil. Severus swore never to let the boy out of his sight after the scissor incident. Severus shuddered quietly as the thoughts passed him.

To Harry and Petunia's surprise, Dudley wasn't 'big' anymore, and Severus couldn't care less, but he had to admit it. The boy was getting in shape, with a bit of baby fat still clinging to him. Dudley would eat anything, and when Petunia tested that theory, she was ecstatic when Dudley annihilated an entire carrot in record time. Harry was also much healthier; His growth accentuated his bright exterior over time, and he grew taller than he would have been from his progress a couple of years ago. To Severus, this was a weakness as the boy was a tiny version of Lily with a cruel, manipulative streak, and he could not say no to the boy.

When Harry came into the room, Petunia was making breakfast for them. She greeted him with a small nod.

"Good morning Aunt Petunia. How are you doing this fine sunrise?" Harry questioned.

Petunia's lips raised slightly at his usual politeness. Harry never expressed himself as much in Privet Drive. "I am well, thank you. Would you like to help me with the bacon?"

At his endorsing motion, she moved aside to let him near the stove, carefully tying a folded apron around his lithe form. "Watch out for the fire, don't burn yourself."

"Of course, I won't, aunt Petunia. You know me, I'm practically fireproof." Harry said genially as he flipped a piece of bacon with a spatula under Petunia's watchful gaze.

Severus dragged the now clean and showered birthday boy down the stairs, who looked like he was about to throw a conniption fit.

"Calm yourself, you Merlin-forsaken child," Severus says as he steadies Dudley as the boy tries to rush downstairs, nearly tripping.

Dudley was not used to waking up early, and he hated it so much that Petunia started homeschooling the boy. Harry also joined in halfway through after witnessing Severus's grouchy behaviour every morning. Severus was still working at Hogwarts, so he was absent on Weekdays and Saturday afternoons.

'Office hours.' He explained one time while trying to lull Dudley to sleep. He was always going on about 'that Weasley' and some other student; Petunia and Harry never remembered the name—they were the main burden on Severus's shoulder.

"So bitter. And for what? I just wanted to see how many gifts I got." Dudley grumbles as they make their way to the kitchen. Dudley kissed his mother's cheek and received one in return on top of his ruffled blonde hair. Harry's lips soured at that.

"Six, Duds. One more from last year," Harry said as he brought over freshly cooked bacon and some toast to the table and helped himself to a chocolate frog.

"Those things are absolutely horrendous and full of sugar. I don't know how you're not obese, boy." Petunia said over her mug of coffee. And wasn't that intriguing? Harry was so tiny even though he consumed at least fifty of those things each day.

"Oh, it's because I don't eat them. I maim the destitute things for practice." Harry replied.

Severus picked up his mug and invited Harry to elucidate with a raised eyebrow.

"Mnm." Harry nodded over another nibble of his frog.

Severus started sipping his tea.

"It's for when I do the real thing," Harry said as the frog tried to escape his predatory mouth. Petunia nodded if that made perfect sense.

Severus stifled a cough, and Dudley pulled his plate away.

After learning more about Hogwarts, Harry rifled through Severus's personal library and the public one in 'Hexagon Alley' where Severus goes to get his haircuts. Harry does this under the justification of protection and awareness against Greyback, who is still on the run. Severus's house was guarded by the Fidelius Charm. And Petunia was the secret keeper. So, she made her opinion known that Greyback had no clue where Harry was. And more importantly, she alluded to Severus's former Death Eater status subliminally to get the gears turning. They might try to recoup with Snape, but they don't know where it is.

Harry picked up on it immediately, somehow scarily aware of every little tidbit of information surrounding the Dark Lord. Petunia couldn't blame the boy for a craving to avenge his mother and father.

Petunia stared at the man, unimpressed. Snape caught on to her judgemental glance.

"Goggling at me again? Some might think you obsessed, Dursley."

Petunia had heard enough and stood. "No, I was just wondering what effects that beak you call a nose has on your love life." She smiled crookedly as she took her dishes to the sink.

"Oh, I know! The larger the man's nose, the weaker their brain capacity." Harry said proudly.

Well, that was not how it went. Petunia smirked teasingly as Snape caught on. And, of course, she knew that there was some truth to the original statement. Lily told her everything from that little stint she and Severus had.

"That's a little rude." Dudley sputtered out indignantly. The boy was gravely offended as his nose was slightly larger than standard. "Just 'cause I'm a little different, it doesn't mean anything..."

"No. Harry, that's not exactly how it goes. And Dudley, sweetness, your attention disorder doesn't make you smarter or less than; your intelligence is based on your own merits and actions."

"I guess..." Dudley was put out but returned as he busied himself with his bacon and eggs.

After breakfast, they sat around the living room, watching Dudley unpack his presents. He received a gold wristwatch from his father, who Dudley never spoke about. Vernon only spends some days with Dudley in a month to go shopping or sit at a restaurant.

She spoke to him several times, and the man seemed to have considerably toned down his ways. He even looked a bit better. Harry still hated the man vehemently, and in ways, Petunia also had lost love for Vernon. Most people assumed they were high school sweethearts, but Petunia only started dating the man after getting sacked from Grunnings.

Severus gifted the boy a tonic of his own creation; it allows a muggle to use particular magic squibs can for a short while. Harry gave Dudley a toy wand which shot up sparks with a little bit of a push. It seems they had coordinated their gifts. Petunia did not know where Harry acquired the money to buy the toy, and when asked, the boy told her about how he swiped some galleons from his trust vault when Dumbledore took him to get his affairs sorted in the wizard bank.

Dudley was enjoying the sparks until he touched Petunia's gift. She spoke up as she opened it. "I know I've never answered your questions before, Popkin, but it's all there. My knowledge. If you're willing, that is..." Petunia said, unsure of herself.

Dudley held up Petunia's self-authored journal, and the plaque on the front read, 'An Introduction to the Arts of Blood Magic - By Petunia Evans,' she put together over the years while teaching Harry. In there was a beginner's guide to the magic she could use.

Severus already knew their abilities and silently supported their decisions, extrapolating from Lily's tendencies. That kind of magic was not really dark; it was in a more morally grey area between light and dark magic. Or so he thought. Severus never put much of any research into forbidden magic, even though his lord was the master of Soul Magic.

"I... I'm happy you want to teach me...but can I have some time to answer?" Dudley asked.

Petunia gently took the book from her son's hand and placed her palm on his hair. "Of course, you can, son." She means it; the Blood Arts were not meant to be forced on others. If her son was happy as a muggle, he should remain that way, not that there was any way to change that.

"Wait, there are more cards than just Agrippa?" Harry voiced suddenly.

"You've only obtained 'Agrippas' for the last three years?" Snape asked, bemused.

"Mhm. I got Dumbledore this time." Harry says as he puts the card in his shirt pocket.

It's been a long three years for them.

The bell rang, and Dudley perked up. After Petunia and Vernon's separation, Dudley somehow contacted Piers Polkiss, much to Harry's dismay. The boy clings to Harry like a koala on the right tree.

Piers was a lanky boy, far taller than Harry and even a bit taller than Dudley, even though he was younger. In the proper lighting, he could be passed off as a teenager.

"Right then, get your things ready; we're going." Petunia ushered them all to the new car Severus purchased. Quite frivolously, too, might she add. Severus was wearing muggle attire; the man stood out for his chiselled appearance, and the haircut boosted his looks drastically.

Before, one could have passed him off as a homeless man, but now, everyone sees him as a dastardly handsome man...lacking a few social skills.

Piers's mother left after saying her goodbyes. And the boy strategically inserted himself into the middle of the back seat so that Harry would have to sit next to him either way. Petunia sat in the driver's seat, and off they went to the zoo.

Severus coughed from the smoke trails from the open car window when a group of bikers went by on the road.

Harry piped up to make conversation. "I had a dream about a motorbike once."

"Yeah?" Piers asked.

"Yes. Polkiss. If you moved your head away from my person, I would be glad to inform you that it was no ordinary motorbike; it was a flying motorbike."

Severus choked, and Petunia had to stop on a sidewalk to give the man a water bottle.

"Muggle motorbikes do not fly." Severus spit out some water out of the window and into a sewer grate nearby.

But he knew of one that did.

"I'm sorry, Severus; it was just a dream..."

"Yeah, I don't get why it matters," Dudley asked.

"The heck is a muggle?" Piers said.

They all looked at him before they glanced at each other. They might as well make him forget.

A long and aggravating day awaits them, it seemed.


London Zoo, England, June 23rd, 1991

It wasn't his first time at a zoo. Severus was well acquainted with zoos from when he was a child. His mother would bring him to see the lions and tigers whenever they could escape his father.

Dudley and Harry reminded him of that childhood, not them, but the man who abused them. In different ways, Severus was projecting himself on the two boys; it wasn't a choice he made, but it was there. And it wasn't going anywhere either.

Severus detested Vernon Dursley with a passion. The walrus of a man reminded Severus of his disgraceful past. Vernon conducted something vile. Physical abuse to the wide-eyed boy walking beside Severus. Yet, allowing his son to grow obese and spoiled. Some may say that Vernon is not an abusive sycophant. But Severus knew that behind Vernon's greying hair were thoughts only for himself. The man was a narcissistic prune and neglected his son somehow, even while spending time with the boy. Severus looked at the boy now. Dudley had grown so much in the past three years. He wasn't as dependent on Petunia anymore—neither was he struggling with his weight.

So when Polkiss collided with the man, Severus steered the children behind him. No hesitation.

Vernon had lost weight. He had dark sacks under his eyes and held the hands of a young woman. Under a large floppy sunhat, she had blonde hair and glittery eyeshadow painted on her eyelids. Adding to the hollowness of her pale green eyes, making them pop. They told everyone that she was in charge.

"Da—"

As the boy tried to speak, the woman cut off Dudley, her teeth gritted. "Daddy, what's wrong? I said I was done looking at the animals. Now take me to Prada." She nudged against Vernon, pressing her clothed cleavage on the man's arm.

Petunia eyed her but didn't utter a word as they stood unmoving. Vernon looked like he wanted to explain. To get something out of this exchange. Petunia, in turn, ignored him and took Harry and Dudley's hands, dragging them away from the conflict. Brought to an abrupt end, the horrific standstill left Severus reeling.

Severus couldn't be more than happy to follow her lead and haul the Polkiss boy away from the sordid couple.

After fleeing from the previous exhibit, they were now standing in a private corner in the reptilian house. Severus cleared his throat and let the boys run free. Piers and Dudley were already off to see the snakes. Harry stuck around for a bit but went off towards the other boys after a nod from his aunt.

Turning to Petunia, Severus adhered to his cognizance to bear out what was bending the wrong way. "Are—are you, alright, Petunia," he said, not meeting her gaze.

"What? Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, biting on her puckered bottom lips.

"Alright."

"He can do what he wants—we're not together anymore."

"You know—" Adjusting his tie, Severus tried to come up with words. He let out a breath from his nose before moving towards a bench with Petunia. "You don't have to lie about it," he said.

"About what?"

"About how much it hurts," Severus paused but met Petunia's pale gaze, "Petunia." That was the first time the man had called her by her first name. She looked at him for a moment before a sigh left her.

"I don't know... Severus, I've always hidden the part that made me who I was, and I don't know who I am anymore." From illegal dark magic from a young age, Severus could relate to this woman. Petunia Dursley dabbled deeper into the Dark Arts than he ever could. A minor branch of it, but so much deeper, Severus knew. All dark magic users lose acuity over their identities at some point. Petunia would lose herself one day, but it was not his job to tell her how to live her life.

Petunia uncovered great things about blood magic in the three years they raised the boys. Yet, dragged into it, Severus had learned some concrete and stable uses of blood magic. Severus might be Dumbledore's man, but there's a reason he joined the Dark Lord, and it wasn't for status. The onyx-eyed professor usually let her do what she wanted in the basement. Petunia had turned the place into an office of sorts

He does not allow Lucius to visit anymore. Severus is but a soft man with a rigid exterior. So, he sometimes travels to Malfoy Manor to interact with his godson. Draco was comparable to Harry in curiosity. At that point, Severus handled it well from his godson with all his practice with Harry.

Antonin Dolohov was Draco's original Godfather. He was currently rotting away in Azkaban with the likes of Lestrange and that mutt. Lucius called to court and testified on the man's behalf in front of the Wizengamot. A dose of Veritaserum on Dolohov was enough to get the man incarcerated.

Greyback escaping Azkaban should have been Severus's first sign. That no matter what, he couldn't run from his former lord. But for Severus, Harry was his only priority. And the boy's safety relied on his happiness. Petunia and Dudley did that, so they became his priorities over time. In that span of three years, Severus let go of his subsiding unease, throwing caution to the wind. Much to his displeasure.

Severus sought the boys out with a hasty survey of the exhibit. He saw them walking along the trail of massive snakes behind glass—scales of military-green sliding over raucous mineral and Dracaena. Dudley and Piers were more enthusiastic than Harry as they followed the serpent. Standing beside Piers, Harry hissed at the Boa Constrictor. Piers, pulling Dudley to watch.

Piers Polkiss had a strange fixation with Harry, as Severus did with Lily. It wasn't infatuation, but not too far off from that either.

Severus's mind arrested as the snake nodded at a sharp hiss from the raven-haired child. Did the boy speak to the snake? The snake that was now slithering out of its glass confines vanished out of thin air.

Petunia shot him a glance, but he ignored it to stride over. Picking the snake up from the floor and back inside the cage, Severus granted the boy a crucifying look. Before any muggle could see, Severus waved his hand. The glass was back in its previous spot, spic and span.

Picking up Harry was a chore nowadays as the still frail and small boy was much bigger than he was before. Severus thanked Merlin that the boy was docile and polite the entire brief journey back to the bench. His face rivalled Lily's statue when he returned to the private corner of the reptilian house.

"Harry, were you speaking to the snake?" Severus said as he kneeled on one knee before the boy he placed on the bench. Petunia, inhaling as realization, kicked in. With pale eyes, she turned to stare at the boy.

"No...?" Harry said, averting his gaze to the other side of the room. His cheeks were soft and pink from growing embarrassment.

It didn't take him long to cave under Severus's sallow scrutiny.

"Yes?" the boy tried again, looking at his fiddling hands as they played with the ends of his shirt. Petunia placed an arm on the boy's shoulder and stared back at Severus. Dangerous presumptions were already forming in his head.

"What's the next exhibit called again?" Piers asked no one in particular as he plopped himself next to Harry. Dudley also returned and rested his head on Petunia's shoulder after slumping down on the bench.

Piers tried to do the same to Harry but toppled sideways. He fell into a fetal position on the bench as Harry jumped up frantically. "Penguins!" The boy proclaimed, his jade eyes twinkling with hysteria.

Severus cocked a grin and asked, "let me guess, their organs satiate a demon you harbour somewhere?" It came out more grim and dry than what he was going for. But Severus didn't realize it until Dudley snickered into his open hand.

Harry looked scandalized. "NO!" He struck Severus's leg like a wretched dog trying to bite its owner.

"What's wrong with you, Severus? They're friends, not offerings. I would only sacrifice the old ones. Promise." Harry pouted. As if that was the issue.

"My... apologies, Harry. I did not mean to upset you." Tired, Severus rubbed his eyes. "But that does not give you the right to hit someone..." Severus let out from closed teeth as the boy crumpled onto the bench. Elated, Piers beamed as he sat up straight to give Harry some space. The boy was towering over Harry, even though Piers was a couple of months younger.

Harry gave him an understanding smile. "You're right. I'm sorry, Severus, will you forgive me?" And Severus couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Of course, Harry."

After what looked like an epiphany splashed over his face, Piers grinned. "Actually, you know what this calls for?"

Before anyone could respond, Piers wrapped Harry—mostly—and Severus in a loose hug.

Seconds pass in awkward silence before Dudley joins in with a chuckle. With dignity, Petunia tried her best to maintain composure. She failed to do so as her son gave her the 'It's my birthday, feel bad for me' look.

Harry tugged at his sleeve. His look was more 'Save me. I am suffocating to death.' At least from Severus's point of view. Petunia put an arm around her boys. Severus didn't know what excuse he could use this time because he returned the hug.

"Okay, can we go see the penguins now?"

In hindsight, he should have seen this coming.


Author's Note: This fic and the one before both contained fragmented bits and pieces that I tied together. And the 3 fics after this were written in the span of 2-3 years, so altogether 7-9 years ago. So there are loads of mistakes for me to fix and edit. I hope you can bear with me through this because it gets worse before it gets better.