Tenshibabe: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I'm glad that you're all still sticking with me, and reading TTEOT
Summary: Time-Travel fic (cliché? Yes) non HBP or DH compliant, veela fic. Harry has come into his inheritance, more power and a mate? What will he do when he finds that his mate is in fact his enemy?
Pairing(s): HPTMR, RWHG OCs: DCJK
Special Thanks to Acatalepsycosmicity for beta'ing this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and everything associated with him belongs to J.K Rowling...I wouldn't mind keeping Tom though-no, oh...okay. ; _; (btw my OC's I do own)
A/N:
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Parseltongue"
Till the End of Time
Chapter 9: Royalty
Now I know that I need you here with me
From tonight until the end of time
You should know, everywhere I go
Always on my mind, in my heart, in my soul
~Chicago
Harry's POV
We trekked down a torch lit corridor which held no windows, towards what Julius considered to be a more 'private setting'. We walked in silence, the atmosphere too tense for any words, the silence only broken by Myurr's angry hissing. The irate prince kept glaring at Cresthaven who walked in front of us, next to Julius.
Myurr continued to hiss profanities and plot various plans of revenge that were so sadistic, even Tom began to shift uncomfortably as he listened in on the snakes' murmuring.
I swiftly pulled Tom closer to my side when Cresthaven suddenly stopped; I narrowed my eyes, noticing as the muscles in his back began twitching, shoulders shaking…as he started laughing darkly.
I raised a brow; not really understanding what was so funny considering that we've been walking in silence the entire time. Julius sighs, looking over his shoulder at his mate, seemingly more irritated at the hold up than the fact that his mate was acting loony.
Myurr hissed suddenly as Cresthaven turned to us, amusement washed over his face. "Ah," he hummed, "Harry, your snake seems to be quite imaginative," the red eyed magus stated lightly, a grin teasing his lips as he stared at Myurr, yet speaking to me.
I tensed, confusion plaguing my thoughts, yet my face remained blank. 'Does he know Parseltongue?'
I chanced a look at Tom, who was also looking at Cresthaven. A slight widening of his eyes was the only indication of his surprise.
"Can you understand what he's saying?" I asked carefully, noticing Julius's attention on the topic at hand. Myurr tensed, lifting his head to look more menacing.
Cresthaven grinned even wider, if that was even possible, and raised a hand to point at his temple. "I do not speak the snake language; however, I can sense what animals are feeling and generally understand what their intent is," he stated, pausing as if thinking over his words before continuing.
"I have strong elfin blood in my family, I am one of the three known Ignis Magus that can understand other animals—however, there has never been an Ignis Magus that could speak to snakes…a parselmouth is what wizards call them, correct?" Cresthaven asked, humming at my hesitant nod.
Tom glanced at me sideways; I acknowledged the look knowing that we were thinking along the same lines— I was an Ignis Magus and a parselmouth. Apparently, this was something rare, and once again I was the odd one.
Julius frowned, taking in the conversation, "Can you understand what he's saying, Moore?"
My face betrayed nothing, yet inwardly I cringed, I almost forgot about the other Magus. However, before I could come up with a suitable answer a tense, yet still refined voice joined in.
"As a descendent of Slytherin's line, I have the ability to converse with snakes and vice versa and I often share our conversations with my mate," Tom stated haughtily, "Does that answer your question Kensington?"
Julius frowned as he reluctantly stated, "I expected no less from you Riddle, as the exceptional wizard that you are...come along now, we are nearly there."
Tom's smirk reminded me that, yes, my mate had narcissistic tendencies, well at least his veela side.
I shook my head in amusement. Before long we approached the portrait of The Fallen, her dark gaze assessing each of us until she noticed Cresthaven standing aloof near Julius.
I was unable to hold back my surprise at the look she gave Cresthaven. Clearly even The Fallen, one of the most, dare I say snarkiest portraits in Hogwarts, was infatuated with Cresthaven. Tom furrowed his brow. I guess he didn't know of this portrait then, which was too bad since they would have gotten along well; she has quite the affinity for dark magic.
"Welcome back," The Fallen stated, her dark voice sending a chill down my spine. She held a smoldering stare with Cresthaven, to which he smirked back. I resisted the urge to gag—they were clearly flirting with Cresthaven's mate standing right there.
Speaking of which, turning to the other wizard, I noticed the glare he was sending the portrait, the three of them in a war that only ceased when Myurr hissed impatiently.
"Ah, it seems you have brought guests. Alas, I must ask for the password to let you enter," the portrait stated, turning her mischievous glare onto Kensington now.
Julius glared pointedly at his mate, whose grin seemed to stretch even wider. The password was uttered in a language I had never heard before. The words rolled off Cresthaven's tongue, in a sensuous tone that sent a shiver through my being.
As the door to the dark room swung open, I summoned all of my Gryffindor courage and entered the rooms with Tom at my side. Looking about the gloomy quarters, I frowned, a feeling of apprehension tingling within my chest. I felt Myurr tense upon my shoulders when Julius turned to us suddenly.
"Look, let's just get this over and done with. I have other, more important matters to attend to." The brunet stated scathingly, before stretching his hand out expectantly.
I looked at Tom momentarily. His nod was all the encouragement I needed to take the snarky git's hand.
There was a pause. His hand was warm, I noted, but I felt nothing like the influx of magic I received with Cresthaven. This felt rather... normal.
An annoyed huff had me looking up into the rather smug face of Julius Kensington.
"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised. Davlin, are you sure you weren't mistaken? This has been a spectacular waste of my time..." My irritation grew with every word that spilled forth from that bratty mouth.
I didn't notice and neither did Kensington, until it was too late.
The warm tingling of our hands had escalated, all too quickly it was beginning to become unbearable to hold on any longer, yet Kensington wouldn't let go.
Looking at the other Magus, I was annoyed to note a growing look of rage upon his face.
"Kensington! Release my hand this..." My voice faltered as flames started to engulf our joined hands, I hissed as my creature features emerged suddenly.
Glaring into the other Magus's purple eyes the urge to dominate rose within me. 'What the hell are you looking at?!' I all but snarled internally at Kensington. My fangs bit into my lip, as I suddenly pulled my arm back, and pushed my weight forward effectively toppling the, now not so arrogant, brunet to the floor.
All I remembered was the anger, the need to make Kensington submit, the heat and flames were scorching.
There were loud voices, tinged with anger and alarm. Yet, I couldn't hear a word that was being said, the heat all consuming and burning through my veins. My focus was solely on the confused and petrified brunet, who knelt before me.
Only, all his attention was directed to the marking on his hand, disbelief written blatantly across his face. I growled in irritation, making to lunge at the other male, the darker part of me clearly did not like to be ignored.
Then suddenly it all ended, and I was embraced by a blanket of snow white feathers, their touch quelling the flames around me. My body sagged, and leaning into his arms, I knew it was my mate, my Tom.
"Shhh, Harry, it is over now. No more," he whispered in my ear, over and over, until I came to myself.
I took a few calming breaths, nodding mutely as my mate continued to console me; his feathers soothing the burning rage that I knew still resided beneath the surface.
"Well that got real dangerous, real quick. I'll need to remember to evacuate your person next time you do that," Myurr complained, checking his human body for burns.
The atmosphere in the room took another turn for the worse as we all noticed Myurr had transformed in the midst of the room. Cresthaven advanced, eyes blazing gold in the dim lighting. "So you were here, I knew I felt your wayward magic in the vicinity," he growled, pointing his wand at the Prince.
Myurr regarded Cresthaven as he prepared himself for the impending attack. Julius, who seemed to return to his senses momentarily, turned to his mate, rage burning in his eyes.
"Davlin! What is the meaning of this!" the brunet seethed, exposing his palm for the room to see. Davlin sighed, turning away from the demon to meet the hard glare of his mate.
"It is what it looks like, my prince, it seems you have competition for the title of Dominus. Next time, it would do you well to figure this out on your own terms, instead of interrupting my work," Davlin grounded out, irritation clear in his voice as he admonished his mate.
"This demon has overstepped his bounds, coming to the earthly plains without permission. He must be dealt with," he finished, a hard tone in his voice.
Julius growled, humiliation burning on his face as he remembered they were in company. Why must he treat him as if he were a child, he was going to become the next Dominus, come hell or high water, and it did not matter what class this newcomer seemed to be of.
Fuming, Julius turned to Tom and Harry, the veela seemed to have calmed his mate sufficiently enough for the moment.
Harry gazed past his mate to meet the dark glare that Kensington was giving him.
"What is the Dominus and why is this mark so important?" It was Tom's inquisitive voice that broke through the tense silence in the room.
Davlin sighed once more, keeping Myurr in his line of sight. "The Dominus is the ruler of the Ignis Magus. He is considered to be the strongest magical alive, a physical embodiment of pure power and strength. Since the Ignis Magus are born to those of great magical power, it is obvious that the Dominus would be the strongest, made so by the ritual known as the Rebirth that would not only crown the next Dominus, but give him the power to rule over all the Ignis Magus," Davlin explained, much to the chagrin of his mate, who had become uncharacteristically silent.
Tom furrowed his brows as he filtered the information he was recently given. Looking towards Harry, he was not surprised to see the confusion that was written on his face as he watched the runes fade away from his palm. "Are you saying that I am the competition to Kensington to be ruler of the Ignis Magus?" Harry asked.
At the huff of annoyance from Julius and the nod from Davlin, Harry blinked.
"But, the mark that was on my hand was not the same as the one that Kensington just showed us, how is it decided who becomes the Dominus, or who is in the running? You said before that Kensington was the only candidate," Harry growled, his ire of not understanding the situation was feeding his previously calmed anger.
It was obvious that this was a sore spot for Kensington as he fixed his heated glare upon Harry at the mention of his name. The mark that showed up on Harry's palm depicted a hollow star of flames, which puzzled the dark-haired teen as he had not a clue what these symbols meant.
Surprisingly, it was Kensington who decided to explain. "I am of a class of elite magus that hold the power to become the next Dominus. Whilst not a direct descendant of the royal line, the elite have connections to the royal bloodline that proves sufficient enough to be in the running to become the next ruler. To answer your next question, one has to have the blood of the royal line in order to be a candidate to be the Dominus, which until recently," he sneered, gritting his teeth, "I was the only one."
The room was once again bathed in silence as the weight of the information suddenly hit home. Harry looked to Tom who was watching him with a guarded look, but he could see the concern shining in his eyes. Harry nodded, looking to Cresthaven, and then to Myurr who was standing off to the side of the room.
"Why are you trying to kill Myurr? He has done nothing dangerous since being here, and we have welcomed him as our guest, since he had been injured by you, apparently," Harry intoned, noticing that both males' tensed at his words.
"He is… your guest?" Davlin questioned, glaring at the smirking demon prince, as he seemed to have an internal argument with himself.
Myurr's smirk widened, "Ah, well played Harry, he cannot attack me if I am here with permission," the prince hissed, chuckling darkly at the warring emotions playing across the warrior's face, before returning back to his snake form.
Julius scoffed, regarding the group. The meeting had gone on too long, and he needed to inform his grandfather of these new developments immediately. "It seems Davlin, that your job is now over. If what is said is to be true, the demon is under the supervision of Moore. And whilst this meeting has been... riveting, it is getting late, and I have much to do." Turning to Tom and Harry, he dismissed them with a scathing glare, not surprised in the slightest when he received one in return.
Moving to collect the transformed snake, Harry paused to ask, "When is this ritual, anyways?"
Julius bristled mid-step as Davlin regarded the trio with an apathetic look.
"If you are worthy, you will be invited. That is all I am to say," Julius huffed, walking further into the rooms, clearly done with them.
Harry growled. He really did not like him. Feeling the gaze of the warrior on him, Harry nodded before leaving the rooms with his veela mate, the portrait closing behind them.
It was a few hours later, with their class done and dinner sorted, that Harry and Tom finally had a moment to process all the information they'd found out that day. Despite wanting to meet with the rest of his professors that evening, Tom wasn't able to catch anyone in their office by the time they left Creshaven's rooms.
Tom sat at one of the desks that was provided with their room, writing out detailed notes on the Ignis Magus and their customs that he knew of. He figured it would be best to have this information readily available just in case they needed to look back on it.
When they had arrived back to their rooms after dinner, they had Myurr go over what they had learned that afternoon in more detail. The demon was now lazily napping in front of the fireplace. Tom glanced at him absently, hoping he'd stay that way for the rest of the night.
Despite his usefulness, the prince was really a handful. Tom sighed.
"Hey, that looks like a lot. You really do have a perfect memory, huh?" Harry intoned from behind, making Tom twitch a bit.
"I didn't hear you leaving the bath…" Tom trailed off, closing the notebook with shaking hands.
Harry paused, noting the other teens' movements. Smiling slightly, he moved to pull the other male into an embrace. "You know we don't have to do this tonight, it may be hard, but I think the bond can wait another day if need be" Harry soothed, running his hands along his mate's back.
Tom shook his head, no it had to be tonight, he'd already made up his mind. If he waited any longer he was sure he'd lose his nerve. "No, I'm fine, I want this, truly," he said almost as if trying to convince himself.
Harry carded his other hand through Tom's long dark tresses, searching those intensely deep blue eyes for confirmation. Tom gasped as he was kissed suddenly, knees buckling when Harry pulled him in further, strong arms tightening around his waist.
Moaning quietly, Tom gripped his partner's shoulders as he was lifted easily. Never breaking their intense make out, Harry carried his lover to their bedroom, making sure to magically lock and ward the door.
Harry nipped and kissed along Tom's pale neck, leaving light bruises as he went, marking his way till he reached the bonding mark, which he teased as Tom shook in his arms.
"H-Harry... Ah," Tom keened, feeling his body heat up in reaction to his mate's attention. He absently noted his clothes being vanished when Harry pressed him into the sheets, not caring through his need for Harry in his arms.
Reaching up, he pulled the other boy closer, initiating another battle of the tongues between the two. Their magic rose in the air, charging their touches and heightening their senses. Harry groaned, eyes flickering between green and red, his Magus side warring for control.
"Tom... I don't, I can't hold it in," Harry gritted out, his clawed hands grabbed Tom's sides leaving marks that made the veela shiver in arousal.
"I know, it's f-fine, I can take it," Tom assured, pushing back Harry's fringe, his scar in full view. Intrigued, Tom leaned up, and pressed a chaste kiss against it. Harry froze in place momentarily, shocked red eyes locked with Tom's. He gasped when Harry's grip tightened further, nearly drawing blood.
Looking into glowing red eyes, Tom took a steadying breath before baring his neck, his claim mark turning red, and pulsing on his skin.
Harry wasted no time, elongated fangs latched onto the mark, and Tom shouted in surprise as he came suddenly at the feeling. His sensitive skin tingled, sending his nerve endings alight.
Tom's vision swam, the influx of magic making his senses overload. He held Harry closer, trembling as he basked in the overstimulation.
"Shi—it... too mu—ah!" Tom huffed out, grinding his hips into Harry's, unable to stop his body from shaking.
Releasing his skin, Harry licked a few times before pulling away slowly. "Turn around" he ground out, licking the blood off his lips as Tom shakily did as he was asked. Laying on his hand and knees with his chest pressed into the pillows, he turned to look back at Harry questioning if the position was alright.
Tom groaned at the completely feral look he was given, fighting against his human instincts that told him to run. Instead he let his veela side take over, a rumble in his throat bubbling up and before he knew it he was chirping as if beckoning Harry to take.
Harry bit back a growl at the display, clenching his fists. Despite what Tom said, he knew that his mate was scared. He held back his base instincts by sheer will, the being inside him that just wanted to take and dominate.
He slowly ran his fingers along his lover's flank, whispering the preparation spell and watching intently as Tom whimpered, burying his face into the bed.
Draping himself over the trembling pale back of Tom, Harry lined up and pushed in. Growling quietly, it took all his strength to keep himself from brutally thrusting into his mate's willing body. Panting in exertion, Harry whispered words of encouragement for Tom as the veela tensed underneath him.
"Go on, H-Harry," Tom gasped, gripping the bedding. He choked back a cry as Harry started to move.
He set a rapid pace, chasing his completion as the air continued to be saturated with their heavy magics. Tom held onto the pillows, biting his lips to stifle his cries as Harry thrust in and ground into his prostate.
He was close and could tell that Harry was nearly there as well. He shivered as he felt his mate's fangs trail along his nape once more. On a suddenly brutal thrust that had Tom scrabbling for purchase, Harry held him down as he came inside. Tom joined him moments later when Harry's fangs bit down into the marked flesh of his veela, completing their bonding as the runes seemed to burn in a spiral across Tom's collar and upper back.
Tom sniffed. It was painful, he wasn't going to lie. He knew Harry was holding back, but the bonding still hurt. They laid there still joined as Harry growled over him. Tom could feel the bonding mark like an itch as it seemed to tattoo across his upper back in swoops and swirls.
It didn't last long, yet the burning itch lingered.
"T-Tom… Are you alright?" Harry asked, voice raspy, eyes still glowing red, but managing to keep his creature side back for the moment.
Tom clenched the bedding in a death grip. He noted that the air in the room was still heavily saturated, electric with untamed magic. Nodding hesitantly, the veela in him basked in the closeness of their mate, and Tom tried to relax his sated body.
Harry looked him over assessing as he rolled them onto the side, pulling Tom into him closely. "Let me know if it gets too much, I can keep it in…I don't want to hurt you, Tom," Harry murmured, nosing against the healing claim markings.
Tom sighed, baring his neck and giving his mate more room. "I'm fine, Harry, it was just...intense and it did hurt in the moment, but it's fine right now," he finished, relaxing further into Harry's arms.
"Good."
They went on for a couple more rounds, until their exhausted bodies dragged the pair to sleep. The next morning, Harry woke to a flurry of white feathers surrounding him. He blinked his bleary eyes, attempting to process this turn of events with his barely awake mind.
"Hmm, Harry," Tom moaned, snuggling closer to Harry's side. The smaller teen clung to Harry's neck as his wings shivered in the spacious room.
"Tom, darling. Your wings are showing," Harry finally whispered into the sleeping veela's ear. Smiling, he watched as his mate furrowed his brow, before peeking his blue eyes at him sleepily.
"Oh…" was the short reply, as he took in the situation. "Are you bothered by them?" Tom asked, not seeming to be in the mood to retract the majestic appendages.
Harry smiled wider, running a hand along the feathers closest to him. "Not particularly, just thought to let you know. Merlin, they are truly beautiful aren't they," he intoned, chuckling when the wings shook and extended in his hands.
Tom propped up against Harry's chest, his newly extended bonding mark on display.
"It's much more detailed than Kensington's, it's like a necklace that goes right up your neck," Harry described poorly, to which Tom laughed.
"Yeah, I was surprised, but I'm glad that we did it. I feel much calmer now, Harry, our connection is much stronger now too," Tom observed, and Harry nodded, feeling Tom's presence much more deeply than before.
The couple laid in bed wrapped in each other's arms as the morning light slowly made its way into the room. A loud commotion from outside their door had Tom jolting out of his light doze.
Harry's eyes flashed red as he noted his mate's distress. "What the heck is going on out there?" he grumbled, sliding out of their bed.
Tom fought back the urge to pout at the loss of his mate's warmth, and quickly donned a dressing gown.
Following Harry out of the room, he was met with the scene of a frighteningly huge falcon circling to room and a clearly distressed demon prince hiding under the desk.
"Harry! This damn bird tried to eat me whilst I slept! How could you leave me alone?" Myurr accused upon seeing the couple emerge from their room.
Harry glared at the prince, before calling to the falcon who looked to have a letter attached to its leg. The bird circled once more before landing in front of Harry on the table and extending its leg.
Accepting the deep red envelope, Harry's eyes widened as the bird went up in flames. Tom came up to his side, and observed the envelope as well. They both chose to ignore the whining complaints from the demon about his hair.
"Is this what I think it is?"
"Yeah," Harry answered, opening the invitation to participate in the Rebirth Ritual located in the Flame Capitol.
Tenshibabe: I have a good idea where this story I going to go now. Hopefully, this helps me with completing chapters more often.