Chapter 35 – Summons

Remus coughed to hide his amusement as he heard Draco swearing under his breath in the kitchen. For the last five days he had been taking a few hours in the evening to oversee Draco's attempts at creating a meal. The results of this being that Remus now had a list of very imaginative and original courses he could use against Sirius the next time the over-grown child startled him; enough blackmail on Draco to tease him with when his and Harry's first litter were old enough to start learning life skills and – most importantly - a deep seated respect for the level of patience Harry had.

While Draco wasn't as bad in the kitchen as Sirius was, he was still bad enough that Remus had come close to weeping in horror at the thought of what he'd agreed to (He particularly wanted to know just how the younger male had managed to ruin a green salad when it had been perfectly fine when it had been place in the fridge earlier)

Yet slowly but surely, Draco had become increasingly better at what he was doing until Remus felt confident enough to leave him in the kitchen alone to prepare his chosen dish for the following night.

Remus' way of helping Draco was to teach him several easy-to-make meals, have him cook each until it was somewhat edible then let him choose which one to make. It was only lucky for the both of them that Draco was an unnaturally fast learner and he retained what he learnt without needing it to be repeated. It was a strong belief of Remus' that it was a combination of Draco's heritage and apart of him courting his mate that caused the phenomenon.

A loud CLANK! Broke him out of his thoughts and he focused on the exhausted, yet oddly happy, teen beside him.

Draco fidgeted as Remus' eyes flicked to the plate then back up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I couldn't get any of them right," Draco stated with a growl of annoyance at himself. "I could get components of them right, but not the entire dish; so, I improvised."

Remus admitted to himself that Draco had the right idea of it because on the plate before him was several items from each recipe he had taught the boy, but with a twist. Without saying a word, he began eating.

"Do you think you could replicate this again?" Remus asked after a moment of silent eating.

"Without question," Draco answered without hesitation. "The recipes you showed me how to do felt unnatural while I did them. This didn't."

"What do you mean by 'unnatural'?" Remus asked, confused.

Draco frowned thoughtfully.

"I don't know," he eventually admitted. "There was just something about them that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up; and you simply cannot tell me that anyone in their right mind would willingly combine crab, cheese and pickled onions in one dish."

Remus burst into laughter at the look of disgust on Draco's face.

"It was Lily's favourite lunch-time snack when she was pregnant," he said, still chuckling, "and when Harry was being fussy as a toddler, we used to feed it to him. It was the only thing we knew he would eat without fussing."

Remus laughed harder as Draco turned a magnificent shade of green.

~~~itisn'tevenseventhirtyandimreadyforbed~~~

Harry looked around the room Draco had lead him to and smiled softly. Once again, his mate had surprised him by using the changeable room; This time it had been used to create a small, intimate cottage-like room overlooking a vineyard beside the sea.

"This is based on one of the Malfoy holiday homes," Draco stated softly as harry took in the view from the fake window. "It is also the most likely pick of the Malfoy properties for the Honeymoon."

Harry's head snapped up and looked at Draco with wide eyes, noticing the soft blush on his cheeks.

"We will not be coming here after we bond," Draco continued, turning to look out the window, "While the real place is beautiful, I hold no particularly strong feelings for it and … I want to start anew with you. I don't want the fact that many of my ancestors were conceived on the same grounds to be in our heads when I take you for the first time."

He turned to look at Harry once again. "I am a selfish, possessive creature, My Own, and as such, I don't want future generations of our family knowing that on X-day at Y-time in Z-year, Draco Abraxas Malfoy took the virginity of the submissive shadow-cat demon Harry James, bonding them heart, mind and soul and resulting in the conception of 'Add name or names here'."

"Which is why I picked here for our first meal together that I prepared. I am so against the thought of claiming you on this property that even if we were not being chaperoned, I would not even think of claiming you, no matter how much my body and instincts were urging me to."

Harry smiled up at his dominant in thanks.

"You didn't have to tell me all of that," he said softly, laying a hand on the vampire's arm.

"Yes, I did," Draco said with a depreciating smile. "I needed to give both you and our chaperone the reason for choosing the venue I chose. Now, would you like dinner now or later?"

~~~amitheonlyonewhothinksdracoisbeingasaphere?~~~

Blaise and Hermione watched the partially bonded pair with an intensity that would have been rivalled on by Tom. They had been both honoured and slightly shocked when they had been asked to chaperone the couple for this event; though that had eventually been pushed aside by a rather unsettling feeling of warmth and pride. The further into the evening the pair got, the stronger the pride they were feeling grew.

Draco's admission to why he had chosen the location he and Harry were currently eating in was a load of stress off Blaise's mind. As one of the only non-family members to know the truth about that particular villa, he had very nearly had a heart attack when he realised just which Malfoy property Draco had decided on making the Room of Requiments resemble for the night. It was an unspoken law along the Malfoy line that the first time a potential mate, bonded or spouse sees the villa in any shape or form is the is the day of physical bonding. It got to the point that perspective future family members weren't allowed to see the place in photograph or memory form. To hear Draco's desire to ignore the tradition for the first time in over five hundred years was a shock to the system.

The biggest shock the two got that night was when Draco finally presented the meal he had made for the two of them. Even though they knew Remus had spent the last week teaching Draco some recipes, they hadn't expected what was revealed. A white mound of fluffy mash, a crumbed chicken breast that later proved to be stuffed with ratatouille, a side salad of mixed herb leaves and a mid-brown sauce that proved to contain onions, garlic and mushrooms. All together it was a very impressive looking dish; though going by Harr's face at random times of the consuming of it, some of the flavours were either conflicting or overpowering.

When the night ended and both boys were back in their designated rooms, Blaise and Hermione were very happy to report that while it wasn't perfect, the night was a success for Draco. An added benefit was that, true to his word, even though Harry was once again showing signs of being in heat, Draco didn't react beyond inhaling deeply, his eyes changing colour and his pupils dilating. It seemed the vampire was down playing his loathing of the villa. Now to tell Lucius of this fact before the older blonde decided to make plans for the couple to go there after their bonding.

~~~ .butyayfordracotrying!~~~

Three days after their dinner date found Draco run into Remus' rooms with a letter in his hand and a smile on his lips. As soon as he saw Harry, he picked the younger male up and spun him in the air, startling a laugh from him.

"What was that about?" Harry asked when he was finally put on the ground once again.

"The Council went to the ministry and then wrote back," Draco stated. "the Ministry agreed to having The Council work alongside them for our case. Due to their presence we will not be required to see them until next month or the month after so both bodies can investigate all claims from both of us and those of the Weasley Clan."

"All claims?" Harry asked, incredulously since he knew what Draco had written in his note to The Council.

"ALL Claims," Draco confirmed with a grin. "It would have only been those claims concerning you, but two things worked against them. The first being you feeling threatened enough by the youngest Weasley to permanently mark her in warning and the second being they did what we suspected and didn't tell the Ministry that the submissive was of creature heritage. They would have just waved it off since everyone knows that a submissive creature will only bond with their intended mate unless someone is crass enough to drug them."

"Wasn't that one of the things they accused you of doing?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but once it was revealed that I was a dominant creature they removed that charge. No dominant creature would drug a submissive since our instincts force us to accept only our submissive as good enough once the heritage hits."

There was silence for several minutes before it was broken by soft giggles coming from the shadow-cat demon. Slowly the giggles turned to full blown laughter as the true extent of how much trouble the Weasley females would be in fully hit him.

~~~whyisitsofuntopickonthisfamily?~~~

Draco looked at his reflection in the mirror and inhaled deeply. Tonight was the night of the Meeting of the Clans, and while he usually attended the once quarterly meetings as the Malfoy family heir, tonight he was being summoned for an entirely different reason. He exhaled and closely inspected his robes to ensure everything was acceptable.

"You do realise if you don't move from the mirror soon many people will believe that you are vainer than those white peacocks that are strutting around your manor," Blaise stated with a smirk.

Draco let out an undignified snort.

"As if most people don't already believe that of me," he bantered back, relaxing slightly into the familiar routine.

"There is a difference between believing it and having proof," Blaise snarked back before both boys burst into laughter.

"Seriously, is everything alright?" Blaise asked, eyes full of concern once they both calmed.

"Yeah," Draco sighed. "I'm just making more out of this than I should. Legally they won't be able to get what they want and we all know it, but the fact they dared to insist on it is enough to get my temper up."

Blaise clasped his friends shoulder in support and Draco heaved a sigh.

"Well, I'm as ready as I'm going to get," he announced, "Id best get to the place where I'm meeting Father."

Blaise nodded and removed his hand and watched as Draco vanished from their shared room in the direction of the common room.

~~~ok,ishouldwarnoftorturecomingup~~~

Draco and Lucius rubbed their temples trying to stave off the headaches they could feel building behind their eyes. Not only did some idiot decide to re-paint their meeting room an eye-smarting shade of yellow, but they had set the lighting at extra bright. As a result, many of the younger and less disciplined members were being more than a little argumentative.

As a rule, these meetings were a chance for the Heads of each vampire clan and their heirs to meet up and keep each other in the loop about any and all major events that have occurred in or around the clans since their last meeting. The truth of the matter was the meeting shouldn't have been called until the Yule-tide holidays considering that several clan heirs were in one school or another. That someone had dared summon them almost a month early for something that was very close to going against their Laws annoyed the older members of the congregation.

"Silence!"

The noise level dropped to nothing as everyone turned to the owner of the lightly accented voice; A vampire by the name of Yuki.

"If you can all get to your designated areas," she continued when every eye was on her.

As the shame-filled individuals did as suggested, Draco took the time to watch the woman. She had an obvious Asian heritage with her almost petite frame, ink coloured hair and eyes as well as the slight accent that flavoured her voice. Age wise, she looked to be in her mid-twenties, yet every born – and most turned – vampires knew her age to be closer to three thousand years old.

Not only was she one of the oldest vampires in attendance, she was also the most revered. Yuki had been in her thirties when she had been turned by a rogue when she had separated from her husband's side in the city to meet up with the wives of her husband's business associates.

According to the clan that she had joined after her turning and subsequent destruction of the rogue, Yuki learnt everything she could in a bid to control her new nature since, as a turned rather than a born, her instincts were more animalistic and therefore, harder to control. Learning to control her inner beast within a few short months while other turned vampires with years of experience on her still struggled with their natures went a long way toward the respect she had from those around her.

"Now," she continued when everyone was seated, "tell me why this Council was called a full three weeks four days early. All that was stated in my summons was something about the Malfoy Clan."

Everyone who was near her moved back a small amount as her displeasure at being summoned in such a way revealed itself.

"Does the Lord of the Malfoy Clan wish to make a statement before the summoner takes the floor?" a Gentleman who looked sixty years of age asked as a man stood to take the dais.

"I do, Lord Embry," Lucius stated before turning cold eyes to the smirking man in the centre dais. "I would like to remind Mr Brandt that if he and his heir continue on this farce, they had best be careful of what they say, do or insinuate as they are walking a very fine line around one of the laws put in place for THEIR safety. I will not – and in this case, CANNOT – control nor discipline my Heir's actions should he take offense at what you do or say."

The man at the dais scoffed in derision before turning his back on the younger but more powerful vampire.

"It has come to my attention that the young Malfoy heir has been seen spending an exuberant amount of time with an unknown person of undetermined sex. Several witnesses have claimed to have seen the pair of them in an intimate embrace, once or twice kissing has been witnessed as well. We don't think it appropriate for him to act in such a manner towards someone not his mate."

"What makes you think the person in question isn't his mate?" Lord Embry asked, noticing the papers that Draco had just pulled from his pocket out the corner of his eye.

"The person isn't here for one," Brandt smirked, 'And it is a part of our Laws that two months after mating the mate is to be introduced to the other Clans. The other fact is we have photo evidence of said person showing physical affection towards several other people."

The entire congregation turned to look at Draco and all of them pulled back at the rage on the younger Malfoy's face.

"You WILL give all photos of him to me immediately," Draco hissed, his eyes changing colour rapidly. "Every single one, including the ones that didn't turn out and the negatives. When you have them, you will turn them over to either my Father or myself you will BOTH then be expected to undergo truthserum to ensure you gave them all and you will NEVER come near either of us again."

The older generations of vampires exchanged looks as the Brandt family heir vanished from the room at a nod from his Sire. It was evident to them that there was indeed something between this mysterious young person and the Malfoy Heir. They mentally prepared themselves for what they instinctually knew was about to happen. It was only a matter of time before one of the idiots down there did or said something that would lead to the room being repainted once again.

Lucius, on the other hand, was watching as his son sorted through he papers before him. It took the older man a while before he realised what they were and what his son had planned. A smirk came over his face as he glanced at the pathetic being glaring at him and his son.

From the first time Lucius had met Andrew Brandt, the slightly older vampire had begun posturing in a bid to impress the Malfoy Lord. When it became evident it had no effect on the then Heir Malfoy, Brandt had formed an almost instantaneous dislike of the entire blonde-haired family. Lucius believed this was just another attempt to discredit his family from the wet blue-eyed man: an attempt that would be amusing at least and deadly at most.

Turning to look at Draco once he shook his thoughts away, Lucius grinned, showing more teeth than normal.

"What can I do to help?" he asked as softly as he could.

Draco smirked and, instead of answering, pointed his wand at one of the papers before him, hit it with a wandless copying charm and sent a copy to each Lord or Lady with a soft pop.

Lucius' grin grew more predatory and he copied his son's actions from the other end of the row. In a matter of minutes, each Lord or lady had a copy of Harry's Healer's License – which, by law, held his date of birth, Tom's letter to Remus and Sirius stating he had entered the two in a mating contest of sorts, a copy of the signed and witnessed bonding certificate and a photo of Draco and Harry. In the picture both of them were facing the camera and the collar around Harry's neck was visible and the pendant was in full view. That Draco's cuffs were also visible made his claim on the younger male completely clear.

Around the room you could hear the soft shuffling of papers and many an eye widened at what they had seen and read. It surprised none of them when the papers all burst into flames. To the disgust of many, the Patriarch of the Brandt family hadn't even glanced at the information. It was at that moment that Trevor – Andrew's Childe – appeared in the room once again.

Before he could move he was intercepted by a delicate-looking female with golden eyes, long copper hair and a perfect poker face. Without hesitation she forced the bulkier and taller male's mouth open and poured in a single dose of truth serum.

"Are all the photos of heir Malfoy and his companion present and accounted for?" she asked after the male's eyes glazed over.

"No," he answered.

"How many are missing and where are they?" she asked, eyes gleaming in the lights.

"Seven and under the pillow on my bed," he replied.

Draco growled menacingly as the woman turned to one of the guards.

"You will escort Heir Brandt back to his place and ensure each of those pictures are returned. DO NOT LOOK AT THEM!" she ordered.

"Understood Potions Mistress Clarissa," the guard stated before grabbing the young man and vanishing.

Everyone glared at the man left behind and he shifted uneasily as he mentally swore at his Heir.

In only a few minutes the guard returned with the photos and a now clear-headed Trevor. Clarissa handed the package of photos back to the miscreant and started at him until he turned and made his way to where Draco was now standing. As soon as the envelope of pictures was in his hand Draco wasted no time in burning the entire lot of them.

"You know," Trevor stated with a smirk, not bothering to lower his voice in a room with very good acoustics, "It's a pity he's not your mate. If he was, it would have been fun playing with him after my Sire got your Clan booted from the seat you have. As it is, when you

have finished with him can you send him our way? Sire and I have wanted a go at him since seeing the photo of him in the shower."

Draco snapped and before anyone could react, Trevor was implanted in the wall on the opposite side of the meeting hall with Draco's hand around his throat.

"You are the most disgusting piece of shit I've had the chance to meet Heir Brandt," Draco hissed in anger. "It would be hard for me to choose between you and one Ginevra Weasley as to who is worse when I meet her for the first time."

Trevor's eyes widened and he paled when Draco compared him to a female who was infamous in the creature and beings Clans as someone to keep their unmated submissive's away from.

"As it is, that person you are and were jut disrespecting is, in fact, my currently UNDERAGED mate, and while I can't kill the head of your family over this, I can punish him for his crime. You, on the other hand, I can kill."

In a show of strength that was backed by righteous anger, Draco grabbed hold of the older vampire's head and twisted sharply before pulling said body part from the rest.

The Hall hummed with silence as the body hit the ground.

"I want Mr Brandt under truth serum; after all, I don't want to be responsible for maiming an innocent," Draco growled out.

Andrew gulped as the same petite woman walked up to him and forced another vial of serum down his throat.

"Was what your son said true?" Draco barked out.

"Which part?"

"Any of it."

To the disgust of many of those gathered, the man nodded his head.

"What parts were true?" the woman asked with a stern glare at Draco for taking over her job. Draco just gave her a blank stare back. This mongrel and his late Heir disrespected his mate and it was his right to do whatever was needed to protect what was his.

"Everything except giving the boy to him if he turned out to be your mate," Andrew stated, "No one is stupid enough to do that."

"So, you are admitting to trying to undermine the authority of the Malfoy family, for seeing naked photos of another vampire's mate and desiring said mate? Clarissa clarified.

"Yes," was her answer.

"As stated by Heir Malfoy, he cannot kill you due to your position in your family and due to you no longer having an Heir. He is, however, allowed to take compensation from you for your disrespectful and borderline unlawful behaviour," Lord Embry stated. "Remember young Draco, nothing that will cause death within the next decade."

Draco nodded his understanding and moved until he was in front of the head of the Brandt family then, to everyone's surprise, he stopped and held up both hands. Understanding dawned on them when his vampiric bonding cuffs appeared. Those with a weak constitution or under a certain age were quickly urged to leave the room.

"Do you know, Andrew Brandt, what these are a symbol of?' Draco asked.

Andrew nodded his knowledge as he, like his Childe before him, paled drastically.

"That is good; it seems you are not a complete idiot," Draco stated. "There are so many things I wish I could do to punish you for daring to spy on my mate, but I am low on time. In this instance, however, I think I have the best form of punishment."

Then, just like he had with the man's underling, he placed his hands on either side of the man's head. Unlike with the previous victim, he didn't twist and pull, but stabbed and flicked. While the event itself made many of the witnesses slightly queasy, everyone was impressed with the ease the young man had in popping the older mess's eyes out of their sockets with only his thumbs.

Everyone bar Lucius, Lord Embry, Yuki and several of the older generations turned green and covered their ears as Draco took the dangling orbs in his hands and SQUEEZED.

The pained scream that came from the head of the Brandt family made everyone flinch, but, to the satisfaction of those vampire's born, or turned, in a different era, Draco stood firm until he heard the distinct POP! Of the other man's eyeballs exploding.

Those who were urged to leave were escorted back into the room once the high-pitched shrieks had subsided. Many of them blanched at the sight of Brant's punishment while other looked fearfully at Draco, who was busy cleaning his hands of the goo that covered them.

"Your punishment has been administered," Draco stated firmly. "the loss of your eyes was deemed sufficient as it was with your eyes that you violated my mate; More than that you violated the privacy of an underaged submissive while he was in the presence of his mate, his mate's family and his own family and then attempted to use said violation to subjugate a Clan of higher rank than your own."

The blonde teen smiled evilly, revealing all his teeth.

"It is a good thing it was only your eyes that violated him," he stated. "A blind vampire can still hunt, after all. How much worse would it have been for you had your other senses betrayed you as well? Though, I must admit, had you dared touch him, I would have destroyed you so thoroughly not even a Necromancer would have been able to discover where you had stood."

"And that would have been if you could get through those who protect him, which include three full blooded Blacks, a werewolf, two vampires, a dark elf, a fox-demon, two snake demons, the best potions master this century and a two-thousand-year-old basilisk who has seemingly adopted him as one of her new hatchlings," Lucius stated. "He is very well protected."

The only sound in the Hall at Lucius' words was the whimpering coming from Andrew Brandt, which everyone ignored.

"If that is the only thing needed for today's meeting," Lord Embry stated into the silence, "Then we will take our leave. Our next meeting will be the first day of the school holidays, as it should have remained. The Brandt family and the Malfoy Clan may be exempt from attending if they so desire."

"Draco and myself will be here for the next meeting if his courting allows it," Lucius stated clearly.

"Harry understands that I have responsibilities, just as he himself does," Draco continued. "The problem will come in form of the contest/ritual/spell thing Tom performed on us without knowing the truth of it."

Seeing the curious looks that were being sent there way by the oldest of their kind, Lucius sighed in resignation and nodded his agreement to stay. As if this was the sign she was waiting for, Yuki rose to her feet and dismissed the meeting while also ordering one of the guards to remove the still whimpering form on the floor. Once everyone left, she, Lord Embry and five other elders looked at the Malfoy men.

"You are not in any trouble, young Draco, but we must know how it is that you and your mate have bonded strongly enough to earn the right to those cuffs."

Draco, who only wanted to go back to school to rest in preparation for the following day, groaned and allowed his head to land loudly on the benchtop in front of him.

~~~ ?~~~

Remus watched the people crowded into his room with some bewilderment. Never in his wildest dreams as a child had he ever thought that he would be surrounded by so many people who classified him as, not just a friend, but family. He jumped in fright when a hand landed on his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"You okay Mooney?"

Remus smiled sheepishly at Sirius as he nodded.

"Just lost in my thoughts," he replied, "Nothing bad, I swear."

Sirius just laughed and clasped one of Remus' shoulders.

"Well, just make sure you remember to spend some time out of that Labyrinth you call a mind tonight," Sirius teased.

"If you would pick up a book every now and then, my mind wouldn't seem so maze-like to you."

"Still arguing I see," an amused voiced sounded from the doorway, making both men spin around to face the new addition. "Does this mean there will be an announcement sometime soon?"

"From the way you and Sirius argue, Tom, I'd expect the announcement to come from you two," Remus snarked. "You are even temperamental enough for a pregnancy to go unnoticed for several months."

A feminine laugh came from behind Tom as he and Sirius spluttered inelegantly.

"TOM!"

The demon had just enough time to brace himself as two almost-out-of-hatchling hood teens ploughed into him. Even with the bracing, Tom still somehow managed to land flat on his back with Harry and Hermione pinning him, laughter falling from their lips.

"Hello scamps," he greeted with a small groan of pain, "I see you haven't changed much in the last two months."

"Oh, we've changed heaps," Hermione stated as she gracefully rose to her feet as Harry launched himself at Nagini. "We just thought the floor was missing your presence since you hadn't seen it for a while, so we gave it a hand."

"Brat," Tom hissed in mock outrage before joining in with the laughter.

'Yes,' Remus decided as he turned to help Tom and Nagini with an over-excited Harry and Hermione, 'I may not have believed I would have this as a child, but I am glad I have it.'

~~~JustabitofsapfromRemus~~~

Draco collapsed on the lounge that had been claimed by him and Harry with an exhausted sigh of relief. The meal had been a success and while he would never be able to work in a kitchen, it was evident that he would be efficient enough to feed himself, Harry and their children if anything happened to keep Harry out of the kitchen.

He vaguely noticed as Harry sat next to him and within minutes Draco's head fell onto Harry's shoulder. He was so deeply asleep that he didn't react when Remus picked him up then arranged him on the now empty love seat. He wouldn't know until the following morning that his father, Remus and Hermione had used that time to tell Tom exactly what Draco had been up to that month while Harry escorted Nagini to Bathilda for a visit.

Needless to say, Draco's behaviour at the unexpected meeting earned him many points in his favour in Tom's eyes and the fact he completed his task satisfactorily while also attending to his normal duties as usual gain him Tom's respect.