Chapter 30 – Tom's Mistake

It had been a month since he had received a letter from his little Prince and Princess detailing the 'dates' that their mates had taken them on. Oh he had received other letters from his snakelings, but only one informing him on their courting.

Tom signed and looked at the letters he held in his hand, heavily debating whether or not to send them. IF he sent them, then Draco would be pushed to his very limit, but if he didn't send them, then he would need to re-think his tests. Shrugging, he attached the letters to the stork before him and let it go, telling it who to head to.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh Tom?" Nagini asked, now quite able to hide her amusement. "He has, after all, treated Harry with respect."

Tom grinned at his companion.

"I was debating whether to send it or not, but in the end I've put too much work into it to go to waste," he admitted. "Besides, I tested Blaise before we left; now it is Draco's turn."

Nagini raised a non-existent eyebrow at her travelling companion. She had discovered early on that he could be vicious when protecting what he thought belonged to him.

"And how much worse is Draco's test to the one you gave Blaise?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Only three times as worse," Tom said with a grin, "I'm waiting until Harry's birthday to pull the test that is tem times worse than the one Blaise did."

"Harry is going to murder you," Nagini stated. "He isn't even going to wait for you to go to sleep; He will just lull you into a false sense of security and then kill you without hesitation."

"Why do you say that?"

Nagini looked at Tom incredulously.

"You do realise that Harry and Draco are getting bonded on Harry's birthday don't you? You should do since you have whined about it to me several times already."

Tom paled and gulped slightly.

"If you cause Draco to be late by even an eighth of a second Harry will be very angry with you," she continued, inwardly smirking at his distress while not showing any sign of noticing it externally. "Weren't you the one to tell me the other day that he and Hermione changed the sex of a close family member because they were mildly annoyed with him?" It makes you wonder what they would do to someone they were really angry with."

"I … I think I will go and re-arrange my plans a little," Tom stuttered before almost running for the door.

Nagini smirked as soon as she heard the door close. While she understood Tom's over-protective behaviour towards the two siblings, she thought he was going overboard with his testing of Harry's mate. If she had her way, Tom would only test the poor boy once. Harry wouldn't be impressed if his ex-mentor turned his mate into a psychiatrist's wet dream after all.

~~~ohoTom'sintrouble~~~

Hermione, Sirius and Remus looked at each other with wide eyes as they took in just what Tom wanted them to do.

"Harry is going to kill us," Hermione gulped as she re-read the words on the page, hoping that she had misread them.

"He wants a copy of the memory of it happening as well," Remus gulped, "So we can't just say we did it and make up a result"

"He doesn't say we can't tell them," Sirius stated, "Nor that we can't tell everyone else."

"The Castle will never be the same again," Hermione said forlornly. "It was such a magnificent structure as well."

"I'm more worried over how this will affect Harry's new personality," Remus confessed

Hermione and Sirius both whimpered at the thought. Over the month since Draco had surprised Harry with a picnic with the entire populous of the Orphanage, Harry had continued to change from the defenceless kitten he had been to an independent almost-out-of-kitten hood adolescent. It had really shocked everyone who they had come in from their morning classes to find a cat that looked exactly like Harry's animal form, but almost five times the size, spread out across Harry's usual seat. Sirius had choked on his tongue when said cat had then transformed into Harry.

It was only his sense of smell – thanks to Mooney – that Remus didn't have the same reaction, while Hermione was caught between squealing with happiness and crying at how fast it was happening. In the end, she had only frozen for half a heartbeat in shock before gathering him in a hug and whispering her congratulations to him.

"We will have to get everyone here for next weekend," Remus stated with a slight agitation. "Full moon is in two days' time and I will need the weekend to recover from that –"

Thanks to the work that Harry had put into combining Remus and Mooney into one cohesive unit, the man no longer looked as though he had gone five rounds with the Whomping Willow after a warm-up round against Jack-the-Ripper after a full moon, but he was still exhausted afterwards. Silently he cursed the fact that the previous month had been one of the rare blue moon events.

"Not to mention that the Slytherins would raise Hell if we prevented their seeker from playing the first game of the season," Sirus stated dryly.

"I'm sure they'd live," Hermione responded dryly. "I'm sure that they would behave in an appropriate manner considering it is a matter of courting. If not, then it is easy enough to set Harry onto them. He will ensure they understand the delicate edge they stand on."

All three of them looked to the door when it opened, allowing a wave of excited student chatter into the rom.

"How were lessons?" Sirus asked as Hermione left to get a tea service prepared and lunch served.

"Long," Blaise and Draco moaned as they collapsed onto the lounge.

"Harry got called away an hour ago," Remus stated when he noticed Draco's nostrils flare. "He said one of Blaise' sisters have started to cough and sniffle and Nicholas just wants to make sure she doesn't give it to Willa."

Draco nodded his understanding as he relaxed into the seat a bit more as muscles he wasn't aware of being tense, relaxed.

"What are everyone's plans for this coming weekend?" Sirus asked as the fireplace turned green and Bellatrix stepped out.

"I'm going to be recovering from the full moon," Remus stated.

"Bella and I will be marking the surprise quiz we are giving our students, as well as the homework we collect," Narcissa responded.

"I'm taking Hermione on a picnic and doing homework the rest of the time."

"I have Quidditch on Saturday and a meeting at Gringotts on Sunday," Draco stated. "Harry is going to the orphanage on Saturday and he has Willa's appointment on Sunday. I'm taking him out for dinner on Sunday night."

"Why do you ask Sirius?" Lucius asked.

Remus and Hermione exchanged looks before they handed their letters to Blaise and Lucius. Sirius, who had handed his to Bellatrix, watched with hooded eyes and Draco – who was reading over Blaise' shoulder – paled drastically

"We are going to need everyone here next weekend to help," Remus stated. "We don't know how Harry will react to the catnip after ingesting it now that he is no longer a kitten."

"As you can tell, we will be unable to do anything to help Draco if anything goes bad for at least twelve hours," Hermione stated. "It is completely out of our hands at this point in time."

"We will need help with damage control afterwards," Remus stated firmly. "Best case scenario will be that he only becomes a bit hyperactive."

"Worst case scenario is he will go psychotic and destroy everything he comes in contact with," Sirius stated bluntly.

"He could have either, both or neither of those reactions," Hermione stated looking seriously at Draco. "It could be that it will only affect him in his animal form or it might affect him worse in his humanoid form. We just don't know."

"I'll be prepared," Draco stated, "if I have to be locked in a room with Harry while he is high on catnip, I better stock up on lots of water and headache potions. I also better take in the entire series we are going to read next – just in case."

"Now all we need to do is tell Harry," Remus sighed.

"Tell me what?"

Everyone jumped as Harry appeared from Lucius' shadow. He smiled softly at Blaise "Everyone is fine," he said soothingly to the suddenly tense male, "Carla just had the start of a head cold. All she needs is lots of vitamin C, water and rest. If she gets that tonight she will be running around tomorrow."

Blaise nodded his thanks as he relaxed into the hand that was now massaging his scalp.

Seeing that Hermione was busy, Remus handed Harry his copy of the letter Tom had sent. Harry read it through several times before looking up. The look in his eyes made Remus visibly flinch back.

"When you send your confirmation letter, tell him he will be lucky if I talk to him any time soon and if anything goes wrong, what Rinie and I did to Sirius on my eighth birthday will look like a grain of salt compared to what I will do to him."

Remus, Sirius and Hermione paled as they exchanged horrified looks.

"Harry, sweetie …" Hermione began, "What, exactly, can be worse that what we did to Sirius that day?"

Harry, who had been on his way to properly greet his mate stopped and turned.

"Rinie, my dear sister," he purred darkly, making everyone in the room shiver as cold fingers traced up their spine, "All you have to do is use your imagination."

Sirius and Remus whimpered at the gleam that crossed their kitten's eyes before he turned and returned to his normal, shy, adorable behaviour

"I almost feel sorry for Tom," Narcissa said, breaking the silence.

"Only 'almost' my dear?" Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Narcissa responded primly. "Almost. He is interfering with my son's only opportunity to give me grandchildren and while I was originally against being a grandmother so soon, I have decided that I would rather get them when I am young enough to do thigs with them rather than when I am bed-bound and crotchety."

"Good point," Lucius stated after several silent moments of contemplation. "The continuation of the Black and Malfoy names is at stake."

"Until you find a nice person to settle down and have young with, Draco is the future of the Black family," Bellatrix interrupted before an insulted Sirius could protest.

"So no more feeling sorry for Tom then?" Remus asked in amusement.

"Not from us," Narcissa stated.

"But fear of the wrath of our son-in-law is rising," Lucius added as he watched the boy snuggle into Draco just as the bell for the start of classes rang.

Everyone who heard him laughed in nervous agreement.

~~~Bewarethewrathofsoftfluffythings~~~

Harry and Hermione watched the sight before them with no little confusion.

"Tell me," Hermione murmured to Blaise, "just why this sport is popular enough to cause all the chaos of these last few days."

It was now Saturday morning and the two demons were attending their first Quidditch match. Needless to say, neither was impressed with what they were watching.

"To the magical community Quidditch is more important than eating," Blaise stated with a chuckle, ignoring the flabbergasted looks on the faces around them.

"There is something seriously wrong with the magical community," Harry deadpanned as he turned his eyes back to his mate. "I'd much rather enjoy a meal that was made with love for the purpose to be shared with family and friends myself."

"I'm with you there, Harry," Hermione stated as she returned to watching the game, wishing she had thought to bring a book with her.

She blinked as a muggle fantasy book appeared before her eyes. She took hold of it and smiled at her brother; he never failed to remember her favourite series and the Obernewyn series was one of her top five favourites. Without wasting a second, she moved until she was leaning against Blaise and opened the book to the first page with a poorly hidden anticipation. Within seconds she was lost in one of her favourite worlds, not knowing that her mate had followed her.

Harry watched them enviously, wishing he could join them in returning to a beloved world, but he shook himself of the thought. His mate was performing in an activity that didn't involve him; The least he could do is show his support by paying attention to what he was doing … No matter how much the said activity made him want to take a catnap out of boredom.

Still, he couldn't help but mentally curse the person who was irresponsible enough to allow their child go to school with an infectious disease that was now running rampant through the orphanage – one he couldn't heal, no matter how much he wanted to help.

~~~CananyoneelseseeHarrychasingafterthesnitchlikeitwasalazerpointer?~~~

Draco walked out of the Slytherin locker room with a gleam in his eye. He had planned to go over his paperwork for tomorrow, but had decided that the three times he had reviewed them the day before was more than enough. Instead, he was going to spend time with his Shadow-kit.

What he hadn't told anyone was that his side of the bond was strengthening dramatically every day. In fact, just that morning he got a burst of boredom while playing that he knew didn't come from him. He sighed and rubbed his temples: It looked as though he would need to talk to his Father that evening, but first, he had a kitten to persuade into the air.

~~~Harrytheamazingflyingkitty!~~~

Harry sighed in aggravation and threw his current potions publication onto the table in disgust, causing everyone to look at him in shock.

"What's wrong Hunny?" Hermione asked softly. She had never known her little brother behave like this.

"I don't know Rinie," was her answer. "It feels as though something is trying to crawl out of my skin. The more I try to ignore it, the more I have to get up and move."

"Nothing happened at Willa's appointment did it?" Remus asked in a slightly huskier voice than usual.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Harry replied. "Carla and Laynee were slightly more clingy than usual and Willa was giving me odd looks every now and then, normally when I was with the girls or talking about Draco. I put it down to me being more jittery today than I normally am."

"I'm sure that it's nothing to be worried about Harry," Hermine said with a soft smile after several moments of silence. "Since you can't sit still, why don't we put on some music in the sitting room and dance a bit? Maybe you feel jittery due to not moving around as much as you used to."

Harry grinned at her and ran after her as she left.

"I'm getting a very bad feeling about this test Tom has for Draco," Sirius muttered as he watched them go.

"Same here," Remus admitted. "Moony is pacing and growling about it, but you know there is nothing we can do. Once a formal declaration of testing a potential dominant is issued, nothing can stop it."

"And we both know how Tom gets when it concerns Harry and Hermione," Sirius added. "I'm afraid that Draco is going to be going through Hell until Tom is satisfied."

"What are you talking about?" Severus asked, putting down his quill, followed quickly by Narcissa, Blaise and Bellatrix.

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks and sighed.

"We sent a letter to Tom after we got our orders from him, begging him to reconsider this test," Sirius began.

"We got a reply that stated we should butt out of business we have no knowledge of," Remus continued with a slight growl. "He then added that he had instigated the Demonic Declaration of Claiming on Draco when he met him and there was nothing anyone could do about it."

"I want to know more about this," Severus stated as he picked his quill up once more, "but I think Draco, Lucius, Hermione and Harry should be here for the discussion as well."

Once again, Remus and Sirius exchanged looks, this time, ones of relief.

"We couldn't agree with you more," Remus stated. "The extent that we know about it is that it is unbreakable."

"Hopefully Harry or Hermione can tell us more about it," Blaise stated as he pulled his homework towards him, intent on getting as much of it done as possible so he could concentrate on this newest puzzle later without feeling guilty.

~~~dancekittydance~~~

Lucius sat back in his seat, deep in thought as his son interacted with the goblins that were in charge of construction and warding. While he was extremely worried about his son's health due to taking on so much, he was so incredibly proud of him as well for how efficiently he was handling everything. Deep down, he knew that part of the reason Draco was handling it so well was the strength of his bond with Harry and it terrified the older blonde.

A soft sigh left Lucius' mouth as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. While they were waiting for the goblins to go through the schematics and plans Draco had made for the house he had designed for his mate, Draco had told him of the progress of the bond he had instinctually initiated with the younger teen.

It terrified Lucius with how fast and deep the bond had taken hold of the younger couple; it had taken nearly two years for his and Narcissa's bond to reach this level. A part of him was curious about if it was reacting to the fact that even though Harry was not yet of age, the cat-demon was ready to have a family of his own.

Lucius was shaken from his thoughts by a wave of magic flooding the room, signifying that an agreement had been made and a contract signed.

"We look forward to working with you on this project," the goblin on Draco's left stated with a show of teeth that would have been called a smile on any other race.

"It isn't often that this type of opportunity comes our way," the goblin on the right stated as he let go of Draco's hand once the magic vanished from the room.

"I thank you for having the patience to listen to my plans before writing them off from the beginning," Draco replied as he packed away the papers he had spread across the meeting table. "Depending on how this project develops, I will think of Gringotts - and your teams in particular – for any and all future developments and projects."

The blonde teen gave a vampiric grin that was almost as frightening as a goblin's smile. "I will also be willing to hand smaller projects to apprentices. I have made several requests of specially made furniture at several human establishments and the results have been most displeasing."

The two shocked goblins exchanged looks before turning to the smirking blonde before them and bowing slightly as the grins slowly formed across their faces.

"Give us a fortnight to transfer your basic plans into a working model," one of them said. "We will send an owl for a reveal to you, your father, your mate and one of your mate's representatives. If our plans meet with your mates' expectations, we will discuss these smaller projects – so bring your plans, diagrams, pictures: Everything to do with them, and we will see what we can do about a contract between us as perspective business partners."

"I will await your owl with anticipation and hope for a successful partnership in the future," Draco said with a slightly deeper bow. "May your coiffeurs over flow with gold."

"May your enemies tremble at your name," both goblins stated, watching as the two blonde vampires left. Just wait until the Head of Gringotts heard about this! One of the richest heirs in the magical community had said that if this project succeeded, then all future projects of similar nature would be given to them, along with all plans the boy had made. Once they were sure both men were gone, they ran from the chambers towards the president of Gringott's Office, not caring for their reputations or dignity – this was far more important.

~~~I'msuddenlyhitwithanimageofagoblinsizedFilchrunningthroughthehallsofgringotts~~~

Everyone sat around the extended table in silence as pots of tea were passed around in preparation for this discussion. Blaise had already contacted his parents explaining that he and Hermione would be unable to attend the family meal that evening due to something important coming up concerning Harry and Draco's courtship, so they had no pressing engagements to attend that evening. By the time Harry and Hermione had taken their seats – Hermione between him and Severus and Harry between Draco and Remus – the tension was so thick it was almost visible.

After several minutes, Sirius sighed.

"Remus and I wrote to Tom saying we were uneasy about this test," he stated, getting everyone's attention from the first word. "We requested that he cancel the test and give him a different one. One that doesn't make me, Remus and Moony uneasy."

"He dismissed our worries, saying that we were over reacting and even if he wanted to, he couldn't cancel it since he had enacted – well, initiated a Demonic Declaration of Claiming on Draco when he first met him," Remus stated.

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth while Harry turned pale and swayed slightly in his seat. It was only the fast actions of Draco that prevented the young demon from falling from his seat.

"Tell me he didn't," Harry whimpered into Draco's shirt, "Please tell me he didn't."

"He did," Hermione responded shakily, looking up from the letter she was reading with eyes large with shock, "It is written here clearly in his hand. He also was extremely rude in his response to Sirius and Remus."

Harry stood and walked until he could read the letter over Hermione's shoulder. The more he read the darker red his face got.

"I cannot believe him," Harry hissed, his eyes gleaming. "How DARE he!"

"Harry, calm down!" Hermione yelped as shadows danced around his pacing form, following the agitated swishes of his tail.

"We need you to tell us about this Declaration," Sirius stated, hoping that this would calm their kitten down a little. It didn't work.

Draco stood and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist, purring softly.

Slowly, Harry relaxed until he himself was also purring and Draco easily guided the teen back to his seat. Sirius nodded his thanks and cleared his throat.

"Hermione, what can you tell us about this Declaration?" Remus asked, keeping an eye on Harry.

"Nothing much," the fox-demoness stated with a sigh. "It is an ancient Declaration that was used for marriages or matings that involved a submissive from a high-ranked clan. There was a belief that if the dominant was the Submissives real mate, then he or she would succeed in passing the tests."

She rubbed her temples slightly. "There is never only one test given since the testing period ranges from six to eighteen months with a maximum of three tests a month. Once a Declaration has been made, nothing can break it. The Dominant MUST participate or he loses the right to the submissive, even if they are true mates."

Draco, who was rubbing a purring Harry's ear, hissed in anger as his eyes turned red.

"I wouldn't allow it," Harry stated, revealing that he had been able to hear and understand what was being discussed. He stretched and yawned, revealing a pink tongue. "Tom had no right to enter into a Declaration on my behalf, especially this one. It became illegal to use this particular Declaration when it was discovered that of the many hundreds that were killed due to failure, all bar ten of them were true mates to the submissive, resulting in the soul death of said submissive."

Harry straightened in his seat and reached for the luke-warm tea. He stared into it with dulled green eyes. "The Demonic Declaration of Claiming is a rune-based ritual spell created by a human man who fell in lust with the submissive daughter of one of the demonic royal lines. He presented the ritual as a way of proving if a dominant is the right one for the submissive; but what he hadn't told the Demon Lords was that the ritual became three to eight times more dangerous for the true mate than the others. In a contest between the human and the true mate, the human got a better result and claimed the daughter as his, after he killed her true mate."

Harry took a mouthful of his now cold tea as he tried to control himself. He always became emotional when he thought of this and now that he had to speak about it, he was affected by it much more. That he and his mate were being affected by the ritual was making it worse. Quietly, he continued the history that he had memorised.

"A submissive's heart, or soul if you prefer, dies the second their mate dies. This means that while the submissive still breathes, still moves and still thinks, they feel nothing. No love, no joy, no fear … and it is only another submissive that can tell the difference. It became common for marriages and bondings that used this ritual to be attended by every submissive in mourning clothes rather than celebration clothes."

Harry shuddered in real fear, causing Draco to pull him onto his lap while he continued.

"It started out that the winner killed the loser in the contest – because that is how it started; as a contest between suitors – but soon it was evolved into individual testing where it is the magic that is used to power the ritual that decides if the dominant is successful or not. If they are found not worthy, the ritual kills them by draining their life essence from them."

Harry curled up into a ball, hugging his knees to his chest, eyes wide and filled with unshed tears. "I won't be able to survive without you if anything goes wrong," he stated only just loud enough for those without enhanced hearing to catch. "I don't want you to leave me."

"Shh Kitten," Draco soothed, tightening his hold on his mate," Calm your fears my mate. I will NEVER leave you due to something as negligible as death and I will be thrice damned if I allow a ritual created by a greedy human who wanted what wasn't his decide if I am good enough to mate with the being Mother Moon and Father Earth created to complete my soul."

"But …"

Draco silenced Harry by pressing a gently kiss to his lips. "No buts Love," he said huskily once he pulled himself back from the series of soft kisses he bestowed on his mate's face. "We are bound soul-to-soul beloved: Father confirmed it earlier."

He placed a gentle kiss to Harry's forehead.

"Nothing," he said heatedly, "can tear us apart. Not now, not ever. Our joining is blessed by the very same magic that was twisted to make such a foul ritual and it will prevail against it. I swear to you My Own that you have no reason to fear for me, for you or for our bonding."

Lucius decided to help his son reassure his mate and cleared his throat.

"Draco is correct Harry," he stated in the most soothing tone he had. "The bond that the two of you share has deepened faster than any other I've ever heard of. Narcissa and I have a very strong bond – one of the strongest in the history of the Malfoy family, but it took us two years into our marriage for our bond to develop to the same state your bond to Draco is. Nothing is going to be able to tear you apart now."

"See Beloved?" Draco asked teasingly, "You can't argue against two Malfoy men, you simply can't win! Now, you are going to go empty that horrible cold tea down the sink, make yourself – and ONLY yourself – another one and get the current book we are reading. I will clean up and meet you in the lounge room, where we will claim the long chair by the fireplace and finish this book so we can start a new series tonight before bed."

He placed a slightly giggling Harry on his feet and kissed him gently on his forehead before playfully pushing him towards the kitchen. Once Harry was safely behind the closed door leading to the kitchen, the playful smile vanished from Draco's face, leaving behind a very pissed off vampire.

"I don't care who does it, but someone WILL write to that bastard warning him that if anything happens to MY MATE – even if it is just something as simple as making him cry or causes him to become fearful once again, I will tear him apart and feed his still living form to whatever I can find that will make it the most painful."

He spun around and stormed out of the room, intent of finding a bathroom that he could both clean up and calm down in.

~~~IthinkDracoisalittlebitangry~~~

Harry looked around at his extended family nervously. It was now the day of Draco's first test and the black-haired teen was desperately fighting the urge to bring up his breakfast. His mate had to survive him under the influence of catnip. Harry gulped as he turned a nasty grey-green colour: He could be the reason his mate was found unworthy. He could be the reason his mate dies.

Before he could work his way into a panic attack, two strong arms encircled him and pulled him tightly to his chest.

"Calm your thoughts, My Own," Draco whispered into the demon's ear. "Nothing bad will happen to me due to you. This isn't a test, Beloved, this is just Sirius' idea of a prank on me due to showing him up in the last class he taught that I attended."

Almost against his will, Harry's eyes closed as the combination of his mate's scent and voice washed over him. Draco watched as the horrible colour left his mate's skin as he used his side of the bond to flood Harry's system with love, hope and devotion.

"All today is, is me and you together in a room alone while under watch by people who are our chaperones to say that I have left you pure as stated by our contract. Nothing more, nothing less."

Harry opened his eyes and smiled thankfully at Draco, who smiled lovingly back.

"What did you bring as entertainment?" Draco asked as he gently released the younger teen.

"I brought a few journals I bought from a junk shop, a puzzle and ingredients for a few recipes I feel like making. How about you?" Harry responded shyly.

"I brought paperwork, a bit of homework, some music, the book we started last week and the ones that follow it. I thought we could begin by reading a chapter."

Harry smiled lovingly at Draco and wrapped a hand around the vampire's fingers. "That sounds wonderful.

With one last smile at their extended family, the two of them walked into the enclosed room.

~~~BeforeIforgettheObernewtynseriesiswrittenbyIsobelleCarmody~~~

It wasn't until after lunch that it happened. The couple wasn't allowed to know when the catnip was ingested so it fell to the house-elves to deliver all main meals and drinks to the couple – a fact that had Harry pouting when his ingredients vanished. One of the elves had the smart idea to make a lamb-roast for two using catnip in the place of normal mint. This way of serving it meant that the herb lost a fair bit of its potency, meaning Harry was now tangled in the ceiling-to-floor curtains, unable to move anything except one ear and the tip of his tail. Every now and then, the teen would let out a soft, forlorn mewl that almost made those viewing the incident feel guilty at the amusement they were gaining from watching them.

Draco, as the only person in the room with the demon, managed to keep his laughter to a minimum as he gently untangled limbs, paws, claws and tail from the lacy mess the curtain became once it was pulled from its runner.

'All in all,' Draco thought as he hugged his snuggling mate closer to himself, 'this test is going very well.'

He should have known that it wouldn't be that simple.

~~~Icouldn'tresist~~~

Draco and Harry were in their favourite position to doze in when the blonde's eyes snapped open in shock.

"Oh no," he whispered, struggling to remove himself from under his mate without disturbing him.

"What's wrong Draco?" Lucius asked, being the only one to hear his son's panicked whisper.

"We have a big, big, BIG problem Father," he said as he extracted himself from his now softly whimpering mate. "Remus, I NEED a copy of our contract yesterday! It is vital I get it before Harry wakes."

"But…"

"Don't fucking argue with me now!" Draco hissed, "I am a hair's breadth away from my control snapping – something that hasn't happened since I was three. I have to deal with my own fear of losing my mate, as well as Harry's fear of losing me and becoming an emotionless toy that anyone can play with and I am very, very ,very close to going and finding the snake-faced bastard that claimed to love Harry only to do something as vicious at this to him. Now get me the fucking contract before Harry does something to break the fucking thing!"

Everyone blinked in shock at the blonde who just growled at them in frustration. A burst of flame appeared beside him and a quick inspection found it to be the contract. With a nod of thanks in Hermione's direction, he opened it and studied it as quickly as he could while trying to block out the soft sounds that his mate was making.

He sighed and rubbed his face in resignation.

"Can you remove it now Hermione? I found what I needed. I just hope if I need to do what I have planned, that he won't hate me. Please let him not hate me," he whispered before sitting cross-legged and focusing inwardly in an attempt to use their bond to flush the excessive amount of catnip from his mate's system. The last conscious thought he remembered having was of him cursing out the house-elf that gave Harry an evening drink of catnip tea.

It was midnight when Draco conceded defeat and stretched his stiff muscles. To his relief, Harry was still asleep, but by the red-faced people looking away from the window, he knew that they had an idea of his particular reaction to the soon-to-be-banned-from-the-school herb. Standing to test the stability of his legs, he walked to the kitchenette and filled the largest glass he could find with water. Praying to any gods who were listening, he gently shook his mate to wake him.

"Draco?" Harry asked drowsily, "What?"

"Sorry to wake you Love, but the catnip you had earlier in the tea you drank isn't out of your system yet and it is worrying me. Please try to drink all of this," Draco answered softly, noting the slight flush of arousal on his mate's cheeks. The blonde swallowed hard and viciously tore his gaze from the arousing sight as he helped the still dozing teen to drink the entire glass.

"Draco, I feel funny," Harry whined, shifting around a bit in his seat.

"I know Love, just try to ignore it the best you can for me."

Draco couldn't resist running a hand through Harry's hair. When Harry made a soft hurr of pleasure, Draco removed his hand from its place and vanished to get more water for the seemingly drugged teen, face revealing just how much trouble he had in controlling himself.

~~~Ifeelsohorriblefortorturingthemso.I'mahorribleperson~~~

"This is so far beyond cruel, it is unbelievable," Severus said, wincing in sympathy for his godson as he vacated the room. "If after this, he is still unworthy in Tom's eyes, I will use his organs as potions ingredients."

"I think Harry and I will allow you," Hermione stated flatly, "That is if Draco doesn't get to him first."

"I got my house-elves to find as much information on this Declaration as they could," Lucius admitted. "They discovered that the magic was twisted enough that it removed the original castor's opinion unless he or she was present from the first test. It then depends on the people surrounding it and the people – or person – it was cast on. If the feelings of negativity are strong enough in even one person, then it is enough to find the Dominant unworthy."

"Well fuck," Hermione stated, making everyone blink at her. "Harry is always blaming himself for the trouble he causes and once this is out of his system, he will be full of self-loathing."

"Draco won't let him wade in it for long 'Mione," Sirius stated with conviction. "He will get him into the right frame of mind rather quickly. I'm more worried about what he will do to Tom when he returns."

"He locked a Dominant vampire in a set of rooms with his submissive mate – who is not only underage, but already naturally giving off mating pheromones – and drugged said submissive with the active ingredient from a cat-demon aphrodisiac in its purist form," Remus stated incredulously, looking up from the book he was reading, "and he is making us watch so we can send our memories for his viewing pleasure. I'm hoping that Draco socks him one myself."

"I would like for Tom to go through this and see how long he takes to break," Blaise stated. "I know if it was me in Draco's position, I would have already given in and done something I would commit suicide over. I don't know how Draco is controlling himself so well."

"Do we know why the catnip isn't going from Harry's system?" Narcissa asked.

"The damned elves are burning catnip oil in the rooms," Remus growled. "When I ordered them to remove it from where they had hidden it, they said 'Master Snake said to leave them there until breakfast'."

"That doesn't sound very good for Draco," Bellatrix stated with a grimace, "Harry either."

Everyone grimaced and looked back into the room, feeling a mix of pity and dread.

~~~hidesinacornerinassmallofaballasicanbecome~~~

Draco grit his teeth as his mate mewled softly in distress in his sleep once again. It was now almost four in the morning and Draco had been lucky enough that after Harry had finished the second glass of water, he had fallen asleep. The fact that Draco had manipulated the demon so all he could inhale was air saturated in his Dominant's scent was only a win in his line of thinking. Unfortunately for the vampire, some of the catnip got through and , combined with the heady scent of his Dom, it made for a series of rather less-innocent dreams than normal for his mate.

"I can't take this anymore," Draco growled as his mate rubbed against him with a begging moan. "Hermione, go find that ex-Mentor of yours. I don't care what the Hell he is doing, just bring him here and DON'T allow him near Harry if I am not in the room; I'll probably end up killing him if I see him near my mate after what I'm going to do next."

"Remus, Father," he stated, rubbing his eyes, "I need you to watch and interfere if I look to be going too far. Everyone else …"

He sighed in exhaustion.

"Everyone else stay in the room to help with Tom, but please, don't look. If I had my way, this wouldn't be happening until our bonding night, so please, I beg you, allow me to pretend I have had a choice in this."

Everyone murmured their agreement and everyone bar Remus and Lucius turned their backs to the window, their hearts going out to the teen blonde who's plans had been ruined for such a stupid thing.

Severus, who had a vague idea as to what Draco would be doing, stopped Hermione from leaving right away.

"Allow him to do what he has to before going for Tom," he said in answer to her questioning look. "If Draco is going to do what I think he is going to do, then it is best that he does it before Tom can interfere."

Hermione nodded her understanding and slipped over to where Blaise was so she could hide her face in his chest. Her little brother was in trouble and it was someone she trusted who was the cause of it. On top of that, she didn't know what to do since she couldn't help solve this problem.

~~~IknowIwrotethisbutIwanttoseeDracomaimTom~~~

****WARNING: SEXUAL SITUATIONS AHEAD . SKIP IT IF YOU WANT, BUT YOU MAY NOT UNDERSTAND PART OF THE NEXT CHAPTER IF YOU DO****

Draco woke Harry gently and was rewarded by being able to look into Harry's bright green eyes. His heart broke when he saw they were clouded over with a mix of fear and arousal.

"Draco," he whimpered, "I don't like this. Make it stop, please make it stop!"

"Shh, My Own, shh," Draco soothed, running a hand through Harry's hair. "I can make it stop; I will make it stop, but first I am going to apologise. I'm sorry that it came down to this Beloved. I tried everything else I could come up with to prevent this from happening."

While he was talking, Draco had gently removed Harry's outer clothes and guided the younger teen onto his lap in a way that he couldn't rub against Draco, while his back was still against Draco's chest.

Those who were watching were thankful that all they could see of what was happening was Draco's back.

"Please don't hate me for this," he whispered, not seeing those who had advanced hearing in the viewing room flinch at the pure pain his voice held as he said those words. In one smooth motion, he gently pulled Harry's head to one side and bit down HARD.

Harry's eyes flew open and his mouth dropped to let out a very sultry-sounding moan of Draco's name. Soon Harry was softly chanting Draco's name as he attempted to writhe on his mate's lap.

Draco closed his eyes tightly in a bid to control his instincts to claim the wonderful being writhing on his lap and removed his mouth from his mate's neck.

"Let yourself go My Own," he whispered heatedly, "You are safe: You are loved: You are MINE!"

With those words, Draco once again attached himself to his mate's neck and flooded the room with his magic.

Harry's body tensed up and a deep, guttural yowl sounded deep in his chest as his mate's presence flooded his entire being, forcing him to experience his very first orgasm.

As soon as Draco felt Harry black out, he removed his mouth from the bite site, lay him down on the couch, covering him with a sheet transfigured from a random object and ran to the bathroom, covering his mouth as he dry-heaved.