Chapter One – Captivating Green
Thirteen Years Later:
"Come on Sweetie, you know that we have to leave now." The speaker was a beautiful young girl with soft chocolate curls framing an oval face. Her cinnamon eyes were locked on a young-looking boy with slitted emerald green eyes in a heart-shaped face that was framed by midnight black hair.
"I know we have to go, Rinie. It's just … we're never going to be coming back, are we?"
Rinie – known to the rest of the world as Hermione – nodded in understanding. "I know how you feel Harry, but don't you want to see your Remy and Siri?" The boy before her perked up and nodded. "Well come on, Sweetie. We have a long walk to the closest train station that will get us close to where they are. It should take us about six hours to get there – including breaks."
A soft glow settled around them and when it faded a red fox with cinnamon eyes and a tiny black kitten with green eyes were revealed before they ran in the direction of the city centre.
The kindly face of an elderly lady appeared in the window of the Figg Family Orphanage to watch them run out of sight. "Good speed, my children and stay safe."
The people in Kings Cross Station stared in surprise as a beautiful red fox appeared on the platform. In its jaws was a tiny black kitten that – to all appearances – was fast asleep. They watched as the animal leapt onto the train and vanished under one of the seats.
Hermione sighed in relief as she placed her burden lovingly on the floor before curling up around him. It had taken them longer than six hours to get to the station due to an unforseen chase involving her kit and a stray dog. Due to that, they'd had to rest for much longer as well as try to find their way back to the route they were taking. As it was, she'd had to carry her brother for the last half an hour to the station.
She admitted to herself that it would have been easier – if not entirely faster – in human form, but her kitten was less skittish in his cat form then his human one and the time was therefore more enjoyable for her. Smiling to herself, she wrapped herself tighter around her kitten and drifted off to sleep.
Remus laughed as his friend ran around him in his animagus form. He couldn't blame him for being excited. Harry and Hermione were finally coming to Hogwarts!
He sighed softly. The mission Moody had sent them on had lasted eleven years, but Remus thought that all the torture and murder he and Sirius had been forced to witness and participate in had been worth it to finally be able to put that group into Azkaban. He was just thankful that they hadn't played part in the multiple rapes that had occurred while they were there. He could admit that there were some problems that came about due to their experiences during that time.
The first was that both he and Sirius had to take a year's leave to recover from everything they had seen and needed to do in order to maintain their cover. To both of their surprise, they got the most help from Sirius' cousins – Narcissa and Bellatrix – Narcissa's husband – Lucius – their son, Draco and the most surprising of all – one Severus Snape. This was just as surprising to everyone who knew this group as the four older Slytherins had been the target of many Marauder pranks while they were at school. Now the six adults were the best of friends and Draco was always there if they needed a bit of fun in their lives. But even with the support of their new friends, both Sirius and he experienced nightmares that no one but the other could offer comfort and understanding for.
The second problem was the flashbacks that had started to occur the week they started back at work and they had both felt obliged to hand in their resignations to Moody's replacement before they got someone seriously hurt, or killed.
Thankfully, for them, once Albus had heard of what they had done and why they had done it, he had offered them both teaching positions at the school – Sirius in charms as the previous teacher had retired and himself for Defence against the Dark Arts. They had happily accepted the positions – after being assured that Narcissa and Bellatrix could cover them during the days of full moon so they could go to Malfoy Manor for his transformations.
The third – and most heartbreaking for both of them – had been that they hadn't been able to collect Harry from the Orphanage when he was younger. They had offered to take him last year, but he had declined, saying that he couldn't leave his Rinie there and he liked looking after the younger children. They had understood but it didn't mean that it hadn't hurt.
Remus was startled out of his thoughts by a large, shaggy black dog knocking him to the ground. "Sirius!" he half laughed, half yelled. "Get off me!"
The grinning black dog vanished, leaving Remus' best friend in its place. The grin on his face would have made any number of females swoon, and made many males shudder in fear of their safety. Remus just laughed, knowing that this was not a prank-related grin.
"Remy! He's coming! He's going to be staying with us! I'm so excited! Do you think he'll want to do pranks with us? Do you think he will get on with our friends?"
Remus chuckled harder. "Calm down, Siri. Remember this is Harry we are talking about, not James. Of course he will not want to do pranks with us, but he will sit down and plan the pranks out for us – like Lily used to do if we weren't going to use them on Sev. If I'm not mistaken, then Narcissa and Bellatrix will want to mother him, Lucius will finally have a decent person to debate wizarding and muggle law and history with – well, he will once Harry is comfortable in his presence – and Severus will be delighted that Harry inherited Lily's personality and intelligence – particularly when it comes to potions."
"What about Draco?"
Remus looked unsure. "That could go one of two ways. Harry will either see him as a protector, therefore treating him the same as he treats Hermione, or he sees him as a threat and hides from him. I think we should be prepared to save him from Hermione if the later comes to pass."
Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "You can say that again! I still remember the first time I transformed in front of them. I don't believe I have ever scared or startled him on purpose since that day. She's worse than a wolf protecting her cubs, the little vixen!"
Remus, who also remembered the day his friend had discovered just how vicious a fox daemon could be, curled up and laughed till his stomach muscles ached at the memories.
Hermione picked Harry up by the scruff of his neck and jumped onto the Platform. She didn't know where they were, but she trusted Remus when he'd said that she'd know where to go. Keeping a firm hold on Harry – who was struggling to get out of her grip – she ran to the closest dark space. Once there, she and Harry returned to human form.
"Rinie," Harry whined. "I'm hungry."
Hermione yawned and stretched. "I know Sweetie, I am too. The first eatery we come across that has an outside bin we will get something to eat, alright?" She smiled as he nodded and yawned. "We'd better start walking now, Sweetie. We will take breaks when we need them and we should arrive at the school by breakfast tomorrow at the latest. She was rewarded with a huge smile appearing on her kitten's face.
"Excuse me, Lass. I couldn't help but overhear you," a deep Scottish burr enveloped them, causing Harry to hide behind Hermione and Hermione to whirl to face the threat. A broad-shouldered man stood before them.
"I'm sorry Lassie; I didn't mean to startle either you or the Kit. Would I be correct in assuming you are looking for a specialist boarding school here in Scotland?"
Hermione and Harry relaxed slowly as they took in the man's easy stance and kindly eyes. "Yes Sir. Would you be able to point us in the right direction?"
The man chuckled. "I can go one better, Lass. I can take you and your Kit to the closest wizarding town and – if you wish – give you a tour of the township after your meal." The man smiled kindly. "My older sister is the Transfiguration professor and I'm on my way to Hogsmeade to pick up something to have with our customary weekly tea. I'm Duncan, by the way. Duncan McGonagall."
Hermione smiled. "I'm Hermione and this is my best friend and blood brother, Harry." She turned to the boy only to find him not there. Looking down, she giggled softly at the sight of a black kitten stalking the shoelaces of the man before her. She laughed when he pounced and missed. Giggling, she picked him up and tickled his stomach.
"I think we are ready to go, Mr McGonagall. Um … is there anywhere we can go to eat first? We kind of have not had anything to eat since breakfast yesterday," she blushed. "We had intended to eat yesterday, but we had a run in with a stray dog and we couldn't bring ourselves to eat anything for a while after that, and when we were ready to eat, we discovered that we had no money on us."
"Call me Duncan, Lass and I know the best place to eat, if you'll allow me to pay for you both."
Hermione smiled and blushed slightly. "Yes thankyou, that would be lovely. Once we get to Hogwarts we can give you back the money it cost you."
Duncan smiled. "No need to repay me for ensuring that I have some company for the day. It does get rather boring and lonely when you do everything by yourself." He placed his hand firmly on the back of Hermione's neck and then all three vanished.
Draco sat at his place at the Slytherin table and fought against the urge to hit his head on the table before him. Instead, he settled on groaning into his arms folded arms. The coffee-skinned teen beside him smirked.
"Having trouble Draco?"
Draco snarled at him. "I'm hungry! I need blood – not the bottled crap that's forced down my throat by Sev!"
Blaise grinned. "You're just pissed because your parents wouldn't allow you to leave school to look for your mate," he teased. Draco whimpered, causing Blaise to snigger.
Of all his friends, Blaise was the only one who understood what he was going through as they both had gained their inheritance within two weeks of the other – Blaise as a Dark Elf and himself as a Vampire. The only thing that he had to go through that Blaise didn't was the intense yearning for his mate.
"I fucking hate you Blaise," he muttered darkly into his arms.
Blaise smirked. "I can't help it if I'm more inclined on having a relationship in which both partners are equal in power."
"And I can't help it that I need my submissive to feed from rather than some stranger on the street!" Draco snapped, raising his head from his arms.
Blaise winced. He hadn't known how desperate his friend was. He wasn't supposed to get this bad unless his mate was nearby. Shrugging mentally, he had decided to go back to his own meal when the doors to the Great Hall were opened and two strangers stepped in.
Draco noticed the doors open but dismissed it as unimportant until he felt the gums at the base of his canine teeth begin to tingle. Looking towards the door, all he could see was a vibrant pair of emerald green eyes. Growling possessively only one thing ran through his mind. MINE!
Blaise was brought out of his shock by the possessive growl that came from Draco's throat. Glancing at his oldest friend, Blaise paled dramatically. The Vampire's eyes – which were normally clear grey – were now black and his canines were enlarging to their full size as fangs. He swore as he realised that his friend had just found his submissive.
Hermione and Harry stood outside the door to the Great Hall holding each other for comfort after being left there by Duncan, who had headed straight to his sister's rooms to get their supper set up.
"I'm scared, Rinie," Harry whispered.
"I know Sweetie. Just remember that I'll be with you every step of the way and Remy and Siri will be in view all the time as well."
Harry nodded and she knew that he was as ready as he'd ever be. Stepping forwards knowing her kit would follow closely; she opened the doors and stepped in. The slight rumble of conversation that had been present just a few moments before had vanished. The only thing that broke the silence was an annoying buzz in her ears. She felt rather than heard Harry move beside her so he could look around. At the sound of a possessive growl, she spun around defensively – only to find her kitten curiously moving towards the sound. Hearing his low purr of contentment, she realised what was happening.
She smiled and slowly followed him deeper into the room. She was happy he had found his dominant and would do all she could to make sure he knew he had her support.
Halfway to the table, a hand shot out and grabbed Harry's wrist, causing him to jump and back away, making the hand release him in the process. Now that his attention had been bought back to his surroundings, he could hear the whispers.
"Did you see their ears?"
"And their eyes?"
"Who are they?"
"Do you think they will stay long?"
"Are those tails?"
Harry was bought back to what was going on in front of him when the hand tried to grab him once again. Once more he took a few steps back.
"Come on Kitty, you know you want me," the boy who belonged to the hand smirked, ignoring the hisses of 'Zacharias' coming from the table around him.
Harry kept backing up slowly, fighting the urge to call for his Rinie. He did, however, hiss at him – even though it did nothing to deter the larger male.
Zacharias' smirk grew larger. "You will make a good bed warmer. True submissive's always are. The beauty of it is – once you have been claimed no one, not even your dominant, can break it. Now all I need to do is stake my claim." He lunged forward and several things happened at once.
The first was Hermione reaching her kit and slashing the Hufflepuff across his face with her now very sharp claws before hugging Harry to her as mist surrounded them. When it had cleared an enraged red fox was crouched over a tiny black kitten that was curled in a tight ball. The fox had its fur on end in a threatening display and everyone could tell that if it came to it, the fox would fight to protect the black ball of fluff.
The second was a large black dog leaping from the teacher's table, snarling in rage and hitting a magical barrier head first at the same time as four beams of light hit the same barrier. Luckily none of the spells hit the dog, but he was a little stunned by the collision. After shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness, he started to prowl around the outside, testing it to see if he could get in.
The third was that Zacharias Smith found himself being held in the air by a hand around his throat that was squeezing just hard enough that he was finding himself struggling slightly to breath. Looking down as he gasped for breath he found himself face-to-face with an enraged Draco Malfoy. A Draco Malfoy with blood-red eyes, black wings and large pointed canines. He quickly put two and two together.
'Oh Fuck!" he managed to think before the blonde Vampire hissed at him angrily.
"You dared to touch a submissive without the permission of him or his dominant. You dared to announce your intention to claim said submissive before his family while ignoring the laws of bonding. Do you have a mental disorder, or were you born stupid?" Draco hissed loud enough for his voice to echo around the once again silent hall so no one could interfere with this confrontation – not that anyone would, only someone suicidal would go against Draco when he was this enraged, and Zacharias had pissed everyone off enough that no one was willing to aid him after this spectacular performance of putting his foot in it.
"Since you were stopped before doing more than scare the submissive in question, I cannot punish you – but if I hear of you going near another submissive, let alone touch one, I will personally hunt you down and make you my contribution to Thanatos – The God of Death rather than my normal offering of poultry. Do I make myself clear?"
Zacharias forced a 'yes sir' between his lips and ran from the hall as soon as he had been dropped. When he was gone, the barrier around the small group disappeared, allowing a very worried Sirius and Remus to help their nephew.
"It's ok, Hermione. He's gone and no one is stupid enough to do anything else, now that they know that he is under the protection of our resident Vampire," Remus soothed.
"Anyone who does question it will not only be answering to Draco," the smooth cultured voice of Hogwarts resident Dark Elf caressed the hall's occupants. Many students shivered in fear. One of the Princes of Slytherin was bad enough, but having to deal with both? Not one of them wanted to risk their lives.
"Thank you for your assurances. I am Hermione, but 'Mione is fine," Hermione said, slowly raising up off the floor with the kitten now curled up in her arms.
Blaise extended his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Hermione. I am Blaise Zabini and ¾ Dark Elf." A dreamy expression passed over their faces when their hands touched. Draco raised an eyebrow in surprise. This was an interesting development.
Sirius knelt at Hermione's feet. "I swear I didn't know that was going to happen, 'Mione, you've got to believe me." He hid his face in his hands.
"Oh, Sirius," she sighed. "I know that you didn't because Harry means more to you than anything. Believe me when I say if I had thought you had known, what I did to you twelve years ago would have looked like a paper cut."
Remus looked at the ball of fluff held protectively in Hermione's arms. "How is our Kit?"
She smiled and uncurled him. "Come on Sweetie, you're safe now and Remy and Siri want to see you." She placed the kitten on the ground and watched over his transformation. Within seconds she had her arms full of teary-eyed cat-daemon. "Shh, Sweetie, it's okay. It's all over now and he'll never come near you again. You're safe here."
"He scared me, Rinie. He scared me real bad. Why'd he say what he said?" her kit sobbed into her shirt.
"Oh Sweetheart, he said those things because he was a bad person, but remember that there are people here who love you and will protect you from people like him and remember that I am always here as well," she softly ran her fingers across his palm, making him smile wetly.
"Siblings of spirit - now of blood. I remember Rinie." He snuggled into his sister's side.
"Hey Kit, don't we get a hug?" Remus teased gently. He was ready to catch the boy when he flung himself into the werewolf's arms.
As he was greeting his family and they were making sure he was all right, Draco had taken the opportunity to examine his mate. He was a full head shorter than Draco was and had black hair that reached mid-back and green eyes in a heart-shaped face. He was slim and had a slight feminine curve to his hips. He smelt like night air perfumed with orange zest, cinnamon, peppermint and just a hint of apple blossom. It was intoxicating to him. Then he came to the two cutest things about his mate: The little cat's ears on the top of his head and the adorable tail that seemed to have a mind of its own.
Harry was aware of the eyes watching him and to his surprise he didn't mind the attention. Once Remus and Sirius had finished hugging him – and making sure that he was unharmed – he quietly moved until he was standing before his Dominant. He giggled softly when he realised the Vampire was enthralled with his tail. He giggled again and caught the blonde's attention.
Draco refocused on his surroundings and found he was looking into the emerald pools that were his mate's eyes. He desperately fought off the urge to push his mate over the closest table and claim his lips with his own and so focused on the slitted pupils rather than the innocence in their depths.
"Thank you," Harry whispered shyly, not knowing the effect that his velvet soft voice was having on the Vampire. Slowly and deliberately he allowed his head to fall back, revealing his milky throat to the Dominant presence before him, showing his submission and acceptance. Just as slowly, he tilted his head to one side, inviting the blonde to drink and mark him as his mate.
The second his newly elongated fangs sank into Harry's flesh, Draco was in heaven. The taste was sweeter than honey and richer than pure dark chocolate. If it hadn't have been for the presence of Blaise, Remus, Sirius and now Severus close to him, he was sure he would have claimed his submissive there and then. As it was he was in for one hell of a hangover in the morning due to the richness of his mate's blood compared to that of the synthetic stuff he had been drinking, but he really didn't care about any of that. His mate was here, in his arms, and he was going to be staying close due to him being close to Remus and Sirius.
~~~eeeeeeeeeeee~~~
Sirius turned to face a gob smacked Remus and newly arrived Severus when Draco's fangs had pierced the skin of their nephew's throat. "I think you missed out a reaction, Mooney," he said simply before turning back to the new couple. "Can you believe that his mate turned out to be the son of my cousin and one of our friends?"
Remus shook his head and then started laughing at something that had just occurred to him. "Y- you do r-realise that th-this makes us all family now," he said in answer to the questioning looks he was receiving from both Severus and Sirius.
Sirius let a Marauder's grin spread across his face as he turned to face Severus. "How about it Sevvie? Ready to have a few lion's in the family?"
Severus shocked the students when he smiled at the two marauders. "I think it is a bit late for that, Mutt, since you seem to make it to every family event that is held, but it will be good for you to actually have a reason to be at them – something other than Narcissa and Bella being related to you, because they are now at the stage of denying that accusation."
Sirius and Remus laughed before a mischievous glint appeared deep in his storm-grey eyes. "Let's go inform our new in-laws!' he announced, before running out of the room, leaving Remus, Severus, Blaise and Hermione to try and remove Draco from his mate's throat.
