Chapter 31 – Aftermath

The first thing Tom saw when his surprise trip by flame ended, was Harry naked, alone and covered in cum and a bit of blood. He rushed to the door and hissed as Lucius and Remus restrained him.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" he hissed angrily.

"Preventing you from getting murdered by my son," Lucius stated. "The only reason we haven't tried to do so ourselves is because Draco has first right."

Tom glared at them, ignoring whatever the hell they were blathering about and vanished, only to appear in the room containing Harry, who was just waking up from his vampire-induced sleep.

Sensing someone who wasn't his mate close to him while he was vulnerable, Harry whimpers softly and curled up into a ball, hoping to make himself small enough to be ignored. He whimpered again when the person stepped closer.

Tom ignored the whimpers coming from the terrified submissive as he walked close enough to touch him. Unfortunately for him, before his hand contacted the teen, he found himself pinned to the wall by an enraged vampire.

"Who the fuck said you could touch MY mate?" Draco hissed, making sure to keep his body between Harry and Tom. "I told them to keep you away from him so we could get some facts straight."

"He vanished and appeared in there while we were explaining the situation," Lucius' voice said, coming from the wall. "He didn't listen to a damn thing we said."

"I wasn't going to just listen to a whole heap of garbage when my kitten had been raped by his supposed mate," Tom snapped angrily. His eyes widened and he paled drastically when one of Draco's fists buried itself in the wall beside his head.

"Watch that tongue of yours before you dig an even deeper hole for yourself," Draco growled. "I am going to hand you over to one of MY house elves, who will remove you and your stench from these rooms so I can clean and calm MY KITTEN – Not yours, MINE – and when we are finally let out of this gods-forsaken room we will discuss what is happening like rational adults, or it will be your ribcage that is next broken by my hand."

Draco squeezed Tom's throat tighter when the older male began to struggle, "but first, I have to ask … Did you really issue a Demonic Declaration of Claiming or were you simply getting too high on the power you believed you had over Harry until he is mated and told some bullshit story to keep Remus and Sirius out of the loop? You had best tell the truth, or they will be finding small bits of you scattered between every meat-eating creature between here and Pompeii."

"How dare you?" Tom hissed, "Of course I issued one. I couldn't just let you get away with doing nothing to prove yourself worthy of him!"

Tom ignored the soft sob that came from behind Draco, but Draco's eyes flashed red and Tom found himself being thrown through a wall that should have been impenetrable.

"Stay the fuck away from my family," Draco hissed. "Congratulations on being the person to break my submissive as well as the reason he almost broke our bonding contract. If I see you anywhere near him until our bonding, I WILL end you."

"You can't do that!" Tom yelled.

Draco turned around, the look on his face making even Blaise and Lucius step back. "Give me one chance – just one – and I'll prove I can."

He turned around again and made his way towards Harry. Gently, almost as though what had transpired between him and Tom had never occurred, he picked his now semi-calm mate up and carried him into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

~~~oooo,forcefulDraco~~~

When Tom exited from the pensieve, he was very pale, very quiet and extremely apologetic towards Draco.

Draco, for his part, ignored the snake-demon as he, Blaise, Harry and Hermione went through every book, scroll and scrap of parchment they could lay their hands on to further investigate the Declaration.

Tom watched them with a pang in his chest, finally understanding that none of them would welcome him amongst them until he proved himself trustworthy once again. For a man who had seen both younger demons as his own snakelings from a young age, this thought tore his heart apart.

"I knew men were idiots but I didn't think they were this idiotic," a familiar voice stated from behind him.

He turned and glared at the interloper, only for her to smack him across the back of the head.

"That is for being an idiot," Nagini said, once again ignoring the glare he sent her way. "You should have at least researched the damn thing more. For crying out loud on the very next page of the book YOU found it in, it went on to describe what happened to the submissive and that it was banned almost three hundred and fifty years ago."

"I know I fucked up," Tom sighed, exhaustion dripping from his very being. "I thought I was doing the right thing in testing Draco that way, after all, our royalty put their own submissive children's dominants through the same thing."

He thought about what he had learnt earlier and grimaced.

"And look at how well THAT turned out," he spat bitterly. "Neither of my snakelings are talking to me; their mates aren't allowing me closer to them so I can apologise to them and beg their forgiveness and the only two adults who have accepted me for a long time are disgusted with me. Hell, I'm disgusted with me!"

"From what I heard, Draco forbade you from going near Harry after you tried getting between them during one of your set tasks – meaning you didn't approve of his actions nor his ability to protect his mate," Nagini pointed out dryly. "Harry and Hermione aren't talking to you because they probably can't believe how stupid you are in using a spell/ritual/Declaration – whatever the hell it really is – without researching it beforehand. The fact that it has an eighty-nine percent chance of killing Draco and leaving Harry to be a mindless puppet only fit to be used as a sex-toy for the highest bidder just makes it worse."

Tom, Harry and Draco all visibly flinched at her blunt words.

"As for the two adults … they are probably very annoyed that you went ahead and did this behind their backs without getting their input into it. Harry, and Hermione to a lesser degree, are just as much their responsibility as they are yours. You messed with a werewolf's cub, Of course he is going to be pissed off at you. As for the other one … would you go against the word of an enraged, protective werewolf while you were also angry at being left out of – and your worries pushed aside of – an important part of your pup's life?"

"I'm so screwed," Tom said as he left the room as quietly as he could. He had books of his own that had been passed down through generations of snake-demons: maybe something to help could be found in one of those Tomes.

~~~Thisiswhyitisimportanttodoresearchbeforeacting~~~

Hermione glanced at Harry as soon as Tom had left and felt he heart break all over again. Her brother was watching the place Tom had vanished from with a mix of love, happiness, sadness and betrayal on his face.

Draco absent-mindedly pulled the black-haired teen to his side in an awkward hug involving the two of them, several quills, eight rolls of parchment, three books and Remus' wand.

"It's okay Love," Draco crooned softly, attempting to calm the boy down. "I know you still love him and that is okay. He was the first person you could look up to as a father figure since your one passed. It is also normal for you to feel betrayed by him over this. He SHOULD have looked further into it. He also should have included Remus and Sirius in his plans."

The blond male sighed and nuzzled the top of Harry's head. "I know I was out of line when I forbid him to come near you the way I did, but he is taking liberties he is not entitled to have. I will, however, take the time later tonight to write an appropriately worded apology letter indicating he may approach you, but on OUR term. He deserves just as much of a chance to apologise and make up for his mistakes as anyone else, and just like with this Declaration, we WILL face it together."

"But what if I lose you?" Harry whispered softly enough that only Draco could hear.

"You won't lose me Harry," he said with full confidence, "You cannot kill something that is technically already dead."

The blonde froze at his words and slowly, a large smile grew across his face.

"That's it," he whispered, "I think I may have just found a solution to this!" he announced, "But before I say anything, I have to double check my thoughts with Father."

He placed a kiss on the top of Harry's head and vanished from the room.

"Do you think he will have found a way out of it?" Blaise asked, quill hovering over the parchment he was taking notes on.

"No," Harry said, "There is no way out of the Declaration. It is a foul, twisted piece of magic that was designed to destroy the true mate of a submissive in order to make the submissive more vulnerable and easier to control."

"It could be that he has a potential way for him to survive the process," Hermione stated.

"There were a few cases that the dominant survived," Harry stated, beginning to feel hopeful once again. "Many of them, however, were killed by the person who instigated the Declaration while they were at their weakest. In those cases, the perpetrator was killed and the submissive in question was sent to the Dominant's family to live out their lives in hope that having some connection to their mate would allow them some peace."

He looked up at Blaise and Hermione, eyes shining with hope.

"The only time a mate survived and bonded with said sub was when said mate was a necromancer. Necromancers are classified as non-living beings as, even though they breath and have heartbeats, they cannot be killed by normal means."

"The can only die by having someone turn their magic against them – something that only they themselves can do!" Hermione stated.

"Something that is also true for vampires, some species of demon and some Elven races," Blaise stated, incredulously. "How did we not see this?"

"We weren't looking for a pattern," Hermione stated as she ruffled through the papers before her. "What species were the Dom's that survived but got murdered?"

"Two were blood elves, one a Draken – Dragon demon," Harry clarified at Blaise's confused look, "One was a were-creature of the feline variety and the last was a turned vampire."

"Born vampires are stronger and more stubborn than turned vampires as a rule," Blaise stated. "In fact, they have been known to be voted along-side necromancers as being the hardest beings to kill."

"And as such, I will not be going anywhere," Draco stated from the doorway, Lucius and Remus behind him. "The only thing we can think of going wrong is the magic attacking you due to my actions in claiming you – but if that is the case, I can, and will, be a shield between you and it."

Harry looked at Draco with wide eyes as he glided up to him and bent down so his face was level with Harry's own.

"Which means," he continued, "the only thing Tom has done is give me tests to see how good my self-control is; after all, you are very tempting when you beg so prettily."

Harry's entire face flushed crimson and he mumbled something hastily before vanishing. As soon as he left, everyone turned to Hermione.

"He's gone to see Willa and the girls," she said with poorly hidden amusement. "I do believe that he is still ashamed about his actions last night."

Draco chuckled softly without amusement. "Oh, I have no doubt that he is."

He sighed when Lucius cleared his throat by coughing slightly.

"While he is gone, I will write my apology to Tom. Hopefully he will get it tonight and be here Tomorrow to see the both of you before he and Nagini leave the day after to go back to their search."

"And before he sees the two of you, he should meet with me and Sirius," Remus stated. "He may not enjoy it – in fact I know he won't – but he cannot, and will no longer, be making any decisions concerning Harry without our input. He never should have been making those decisions without consulting me, Sirius or Arabella in advance."

"Which is why I've just spent the last few hours writing a bizarre note that was half summons and half invite," Sirius growled as he meandered into the room. He looked around and blinked. "Where are Harry and Draco?"

"Draco has gone to get his official parchment from our dorm and Harry has gone to see Mother," Blaise stated as he helped Hermione to make stacks of books, papers, parchments and scrolls ready to be returned.

"Apparently, our kitten is either ashamed or embarrassed about his reaction last night," Hermione stated, still amused at the fact. Her brother was a Master Healer, meaning he dealt with births, deaths, abuse and gave sex lectures at their local primary and secondary schools when they were still at Mama Figg's for crying out loud.

"I would not find humour in it if it were me," Lucius said, voice completely blank as though he was trying not to give into scolding the girl. "If Draco had been any less stubborn or didn't respect Harry and his bond as much as he does, he would have taken him. The only reason why he hasn't already done so is because of Harry's age. If Harry was even ten months older, Draco would have claimed and mated him the first time they were alone because that young man was sending all the right signals for being willing to not only mate, but to be bred."

He caught her eye and stared her down, not allowing her to look away.

"You may have missed it when I first said it, but the bonding that Draco did has developed further, faster and deeper than any I have ever heard about. He can get Harry's emotions, so just think of this a moment. Your mate is underage, you have a bonding contract written up and you have a mental bond that allows your mate's emotions into you head. Then, one day, you are locked in a room with said mate, unable to leave when you feel his lust and horniness, smell his fertility and the hormones that are preparing for pregnancy, taste the arousal that coats your tongue and the back of your throat like an over-abundant spray of perfume. Not only that, but you can see the flush on his face, the small, barely there twitches of their hips and then there are the sounds. The sound of the desperate please and whimpers and whines that fall from the throat as they wordlessly beg for you to take them. The soft sounds of the hips you see moving rubbing against whatever they are sitting on and the slight squishing that their natural lubricant makes as it floods their passage enough to leak out."

He took a mouthful of tea that appeared at his side and raised an eyebrow at the red-faced girl.

"And then, you must find it in yourself to ignore all of that because you know that if you make one move to do what you both want to happen, you will never be able to have him in your life again because the magic in the contract would tear your bond apart and shred it beyond repair. THAT is what Draco went through and it wasn't until Harry was almost sobbing that he acted and even then he didn't touch him inappropriately, nor did he try to give himself some relief. In fact, when it was over, Draco ran into the bathroom and threw up everything in his stomach."

"Then there is Harry," he said after he finished his tea in the embarrassed silence his previous words had left. "He is innocent in the way of adult pleasure. Not only is he untouched, but he is untouched by EVERONE; which includes himself. He may know the mechanisms of how it works, but he has never felt it himself. Not only did he beg and plead for Draco's cock like a desperate slut, he also had his very first orgasm; not even having had a wet dream before – and yes, Miss Granger, our senses can pick that up. Now, how do you think he would feel knowing that every little thing he had done had occurred because he had been drugged and had been witnessed by his mate's parents, his sister and her mate and his two uncles, then to have woken, sans clothing; covered in his own cum with an angry father – in this case Tom – standing over him, only for said Father to admit to being the one responsible for it?"

Hermione looked away in shame. She hadn't thought about it like that at all. She hadn't even thought to think of Harry's or Draco's feelings of the entire mess.

"Hermione," Remus' soft voice called, making her look at him. "It took Draco an hour and a half to calm Harry enough to prove to him that he hadn't forced Draco into breaking the contract, and even then it took Draco describing to him everything that he, himself had felt like doing to Harry to prove that he wasn't the only one affected."

"Harry likes being wanted that way by Draco," Sirius added, for once living up to his name. "He enjoys the fact that Draco wants to physically claim him until he is so full of kits that no-one can dispute the fact that he belongs to and with Draco: and it scares him. Draco was the one to suggest he goes and talks to Willa about it. Even though we would love to help him now, none of us are submissive, nor have we felt that way about someone."

"Narcissa may have been able to help – at least partially," Remus cut in once more, "but she is Draco's mother and she witnessed his behaviour last night and that would be fresh in BOTH their minds, making it uncomfortable for them."

"And as much as I love her," Lucius stated, "she is human with very little knowledge about other beings. She has always held the belief that duties for different beings should be dealt with by those of the same species. In all the years since we have bonded, she has never attended a vampire council meeting with me, even though it is one of the duties she is supposed to do as my mate."

"That is why any vampires outside Father and I can – and will – be seen being barely polite to her. Thankfully vampire law prevents other vampires from meeting the mate of another vampire in a formal setting until a month after the mates bond or we would have been flooded by nosey nuisances who only wanted to spread rumours about Harry."

A practice that we are all thankful for," Lucius sighed, "or we would have less members than we already have."

To everyone's questioning looks, the older blonde stated, "a courting vampire is a dangerous vampire and there are some members of our society who have made it their life's work to cause as much chaos as possible. Before the law had been passed, and then changed to include the month after the bonding, one such member spread rumours about the intended mate of a vampire Lord's heir that almost caused the mate to be executed for a crime she didn't commit. Said member was then killed by the heir the night of their bonding when he broke into their house with the intent to spy on their bonding."

"Why are you telling us this?" Hermione asked, "Not that it isn't interesting, but you don't just give out this type of information for no reason."

"You are correct," Lucius stated a he watched his son roughly write out an outline for what he would say. "If one of them were to ever find out how Harry acted last night they could ruin him. They would make everyone who was gullible enough to believe them that he was nothing but a prostitute who would spread his legs for anyone. They hear that you were amused by his reaction, it would be taken as a chance to sample him themselves. It wouldn't matter to them that he was drugged or that you found his embarrassment funny due to his job because, to them, humour for something like that by a close friend means they are used to the situation."

"And please note," Draco stated tensely from where he sat, "that should that happen – well, an attempt anyway – I will not refrain from slaughtering them then ordering you away from him. He may be your sibling-by-ritual, but he is my Life. And I will protect him as such."

Hermione, who had paled at Lucius' words, nodded quickly to acknowledge the warning. She sighed in relief when the younger blonde returned to what he was doing. In that moment she vowed to herself that she would tread very carefully when it came to matters concerning Harry; His new protector was possessive to the point of obsession and it didn't matter if the perpetrator was family or not. He would destroy them no matter their relationship.

~~~PoorHermione,sheistrying~~~

Willa watched as Harry calmed while he interacted with her daughters and thought about what he had revealed to her while they had been napping. While she would like nothing better than to go up to that man and reveal to him why no-one messed with the Zabini Matriarch, she knew that Draco would take care of it, as was his duty and right as Harry's dominant. More troublesome, to her way of thinking, was Harry's reaction to the feelings he admitted to having.

She exhaled heavily and chuckled softly without humour. Of course the boy would be scared; he hadn't had the normal education a submissive normally received.

"Girls, could you go to your play room so I can talk to Harry please?" she asked. Both girls nodded and ran out of the room after helping Harry to his feet after having been knocked to the ground by them.

Harry gulped and slowly made his way to the seat in front of Willa. The older woman laughed softly at his hesitance.

"Calm yourself Kit," she said, "you know I don't bite and there is no reason to fear for yourself here. I've given what you told me some thought and I came to the realisation that you have never participated in a submissive's class have you?"

Harry tilted his head to one side in confusion, "Submissive's Class?"

"Well, that answers that," Willa muttered to herself before raising her voice to normal levels once again. "Submissive classes are lessons on what a submissive will experience through certain times of their lives. We call them Submissive classes, but all male bearer's attend them, no matter the species or what they call themselves. It is always taught by a male bearer or a female Healer. I know of a submissive who had training in giving submissive classes: If it pleases you, I can request he and one of his son's – who will also be a submissive – to meet you here while Draco is busy with school to get you caught up."

"I think I would like that," Harry murmured, eyes partially glazed over in memories. "How do I stop the memories from taking over at inappropriate times?" he asked, flushing in embarrassment when he finally shook himself free of their hold.

Willa chuckled. While she didn't know what the memory was of, she could guess at how it ended just by the look on the boy's face.

"The best way to do so is to meditate to bring order to your mind," she said with a small smile. "Some who are advanced enough – like Severus, Lucius and Draco – have rooms, compartments or folders for all their memories and defences to keep nosey people out."

Harry smiled at the mention of his mate before becoming thoughtful. "Rinie and I already know how to meditate but I don't know if it will be enough since our meditation is magically based, not mind based."

"Only one way to find out," she said with far too much enthusiasm for Harry's liking. "Let's see what you can do!"

~~~IsitoddofmetohaveWillaasafavouritecharacter?~~~

It was late when Harry returned to Remus' and Sirius' rooms and it was all he could do to climb into the werewolf's lap and curl up before he fell asleep. Everyone started at the unusual sight before returning to what they were doing.

Not too long after the teen had returned, Draco and Blaise stood to return to their dorm to prepare for a full day of schooling the next day. Blaise placed a chaste kiss to Hermione's forehead and bowed to everyone else in the room while uttering a soft 'goodnight' to everyone.

Draco, however, gently removed Harry from Remus' hold and carried him to the room he still shared with Hermione. He ignored the presence of his Father that was following them, already having accepted that the two of them would be under the eye of at least one person when they were together until the day of their bonding.

Unfortunately for the younger blond, Harry woke when he placed him on Hermione's bed so he could pull down the blankets on his mate's bed.

"Dr'co?" he blinked sleepily.

"Yes Love, it's me," Draco said softly as he gently transferred the younger male to his bed.

"Thank you for suggesting Willa," he mumbled. "She was very helpful. I'm meeting up with a friend of hers who should be able to help more. Sorry for not getting back in time to read a bit."

"That's ok My Own," Draco murmured as he ran a hand through Harry's hair, "we knew that there were some nights we wouldn't be able to read due to our schedules."

"Still feel bad," Harry yawned.

Draco chuckled softly and flicked Harry's nose lightly. "I have something even better than reading tonight."

Harry hummed softly and settled deeper into his bed.

Draco opened his mouth and softly began to sing.

Come forth in joy to greet the morn,

Ye ship-wrecked trav'lers on our shores reborn.

Look up to see the rosy banners rise,

The dawn's new promise writ across the skies.

Breath deep, seek peace.

Join all and one the great parade,

In birth-hued feathers or in scales arrayed.

Life's spirit garbed in various attire,

Our island's wardrobe does its soul inspire.

Breath deep, seek peace

Come round the fountain, crystal spring,

Let ancient wisdom from its sources bring;

A drink to cool the warring and the strife,

The quiet waters of enduring life.

Breath deep, seek peace

Take up the chisel and the drum!

Each adding flourishes with claw or thumb;

So glorious cities rise from stony ground,

Advancing skyward with triumphant sound

Breath deep, seek peace

(James Gurney, Dinotopia, A song of Dinotopia, pg. 109)

Lucius watched silently as Draco pressed a gentle kiss on Harry's forehead after running a hand one last time through the almost sleeping teen's hair. Before he left, he placed something in Harry's hand and curled his fingers around it, whispering a soft charm so it wouldn't get lost sometime during the night.

Before Draco had taken two steps, Harry said something that made the boy freeze and turn back to see both emerald green eyes open. The cat-demon opened his mouth and repeated what he had previously, this time loud enough for Lucius to hear.

"Love you Draco."

Draco's body seemed to relax right before Lucius' eyes and he wasn't t all surprised to hear his son's answer of:

"And I love you back Harry. Breath deep…"

"Seek peace," Harry finished, closing his eyes and succumbing to the sleep he desperately needed.

After Draco left the room with a glowing smile on his face, Lucius entered Harry's room, curious to see what Draco had given his mate. In Harry's hand was a matching pair of pendants for the claiming cuff and collar. Both had Draco's personal symbol on one side and on the other, one had "Breath Deep, Seek Peace' and the other "Breath Deep, Fly High."

~~~IthinkIjustgotacavity~~~

In a rented room in England, an owl dropped off two letters to one of the room's inhabitants. Reaching for the scroll on official looking parchment first, the man carefully opened it and began reading. Before he could finish it, however, tears of joy began falling from his eyes. He had another chance and this time, he was going to make sure he didn't ruin it as badly as he had before.