A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I know I said that I might not update before finals, but here it is. A bit longer too- aren't you proud? Enjoy.
Draco sat alone in the library. It had become his private hiding place; the place where he didn't have to be himself. He glanced around the lofty room as he had many times before over the last few days. It was like nothing Draco had ever seen. IN fact, the Snape library easily was larger than both the library at Hogwarts and the Malfoy family library put together. The books were positively ancient, and some, were in languages that Draco had no hope of remotely being able to understand.
He found himself a bit amused. It was amazing that he could actually now understand what drew Granger to spending inordinate amounts of time in the library. In fact, it was a bit frightening that he understood Granger at all.
He shed his mind of those thoughts and turned to look at his father's desk. The massive thing was both beautiful and grotesque; fanged demons carved into the legs glaring lustfully at virginal maidens with long flowing hair. Draco couldn't bring himself to get close to the desk. It disturbed him, to be perfectly honest. Of course the desk could not help what was currently strewn across the top of itself, but that did nothing to ease his mind about the thing.Draco had never seen dark arts artifacts strewn so carelessly in his life. In the Malfoy home, everything was always hidden away for none to see. Here, Severus seemed to not care about who saw what he owned. But somehow, that seemed completely unlike the man he knew. He would have to remember to talk to Severus about it later.
Severus idly stared into the fire in his bedroom. He was tired; tired of teaching, tired of dealing with the stress of the Dark Lord, tired of dealing with Erasmus. While somewhere in the old vampire's bones, Severus suspected there lie a heart of gold, getting to that heart was another experience entirely. This wasn't the first time that he had kept himself awake for days trying to understand the old vampire.
At first, Severus had damned the vampire for simply giving him back his life and then turning his back, but over time, Severus managed to find out that Erasmus tended to do such things on purpose. Not to be overtly cruel, but rather, in his own twisted ideology, Erasmus thought that by leaving his "children" alone that they would eventually come back to him. To him, if his children came back, it was a sign that he had won them over, and that, more than anything else was what Erasmus desired. Family.
Unfortunately, the old vampire had no idea how to deal with a family. Part of him wished the old vampire would simply leave him alone, while the childlike part of him hungered for the companionship that he truly missed from his own father. But Erasmus would never be the father that Severus needed. Erasmus simply just did not understand human relationships. In fact, Severus wondered if the man had ever been human to begin with.Severus ran his hands through his hair and sighed. Not that he was much better of a father figure himself. He could tell that Draco needed something from him; something that would make the boy feel safe and loved, but Severus had no idea how to provide it. Let alone what it was that the boy really wanted. Did he want a father, or did he simply want a mentor? Of course, Erasmus' dealings with Draco had complicated matters needlessly. The elder vampire was trying to help in his own way, Severus supposed, but par for the course, his help was nothing but blundering.
He wanted more than anything for Draco to accept him, fully. He wanted to be the father that the boy needed more than anything, but Draco seemed to be too unstable. The boy really didn't know what he wanted. And what truly worried him was that Draco had spent every waking minute of his stay in the library, away from anyone, and more importantly, away from himself.It was time to get his son out of his shell. While the Snape customs were a bit different than the Malfoy's, Draco certainly had no reason to not be proud of who he was.
Severus got up from his bed and strode out of his rooms. His son was going to see some sunshine.Draco sat fascinated, looking at a vampire picture book. He supposed that it was supposed to be some sort of historical text, but the pictures were amazing. He had almost dropped the book once he had found Erasmus' picture, but quickly caught hold of himself. Suddenly, the book was snatched from his hands.
"Hey! I was reading that!" Draco yelled.
Severus raised an amused eyebrow. "While I am most certain that Erasmus would be overjoyed that you are admiring him in a stuffy old book, a boy your age needs to get out more. You are turning into a bookworm, and I simply will not tolerate it."Draco could hardly believe it. He wasn't sure if Severus were joking, or if he were his usual serious self. "What do you mean, sir?"
Severus shook his head. "Draco, no self respecting young man would purposefully spend 3 days in a library, doing nothing else. I fully expected you to explore your new home, but somehow, I have the feeling that you have barely traveled outside of these rooms, except for the short moments during meals or when we last left the manor. Enough is enough. You are not going to spend the duration of your stay holed up in this blasted library."Draco rolled his eyes, and then remembered the question that he had been dying to ask his father. "I'll do as I like. Besides, it would do me good to learn about my kind, correct? At any rate, I have an important question."
Severus motioned for the boy to continue.
"Why is it, that when I lived at the Malfoy residence, all dark arts materials were stored away, out of sight? And yet, when I look over to that desk, there are dark objects spread all over that desk. Why is that?"
"Most observant, Draco. The truth is that they are hidden. This room, like all rooms in Snape Manor, hides objects that truly belong to the house from those who do not carry the blood of the family. Even if the ministry would to storm Snape Manor, they would see nothing on that desk but stacks of old newspapers. When Snape Manor was constructed, my ancestor mixed his blood into the very foundation of the house. So this house is not protected by wards, which can be easily tricked. It is protected with the darkest form of blood magic."
Draco looked at his father in shock. Even Lucius Malfoy tended to steer away from blood magic, saying that it drew too many dark elements. He found a new respect for his father. At Hogwarts, Severus Snape may be the feared potions master, but that was nothing. He was descended from a line of blood magicians, and that, was something that the wizarding world feared perhaps more than a multitude of dark lords. Blood magicians did not necessarily have to abide by wizarding law; they could change it with a drop of blood.
Erasmus smiled down at the sleeping lion. Yes, tomorrow would be a good day for re-integration. The boy, while still quite perturbed at him, was now feeling rather well. It seemed that no harm had been done, and all for the better.Erasmus gently traced his finger over Harry's scar, sending a soothing energy into it. The boy child stirred and woke gently.
"What time is it?" Harry asked.
Erasmus smiled a toothy grin at Harry. "Time for breakfast. Come, you can go back to classes today."
Harry actually smiled. The first smile he'd managed in several days. He grabbed the bloodstone from Erasmus' hands and fed quickly. Then ran to the bathroom to get ready for classes. On his way out, Erasmus gave him an almost knowing smile.
Harry waved to Hermione from the doorway of the Great Hall and ran over to the Gryffindor table."Hermione! Thanks for bringing me my assignments."
Hermione smiled. "Anytime, Harry." She bent close and whispered into his ear. "Though later you will have to explain how a vampire can contract an infectious disease." She sat back up and grinned like a Cheshire cat.
Harry smiled back at her uneasily. Oh yes, today was going to be interesting.Harry walked into the potions classroom, almost expecting Snape to come billowing in behind him, but there was no Snape. It felt strange.
Harry walked over, sat down with Hermione, and waited for Erasmus to enter. The vampire walked into the room gracefully, almost as if gliding over the surface of the floor.
"Now my children, we are going to have a good lesson, yes? No exploding cauldrons, eh Neville?"
Harry could hardly believe the difference. Erasmus was joking with Neville, not berating him.
"Today, I think we will learn how to create blood replenishing potion. Madam Pomfrey could use a bit more in her supply closet."
Seamus muttered under his breath- "You wouldn't happen to have your own interest would you, sir?"
Harry froze, hoping that Seamus would make it out of class alive. The old vampire simply walked over to Seamus' table and grinned, letting his fangs descend.
"I'll have you know, Mr. Finnegan, that vampires have no use of blood replenishing potion. Otherwise, we would never have to drink blood, now would we? Now, it would come in handy for making some prime ripe donors, care to volunteer Mr. Finnegan?"
Seamus quaked in his shoes. "No, sir."
Erasmus smiled triumphantly. "Just as I thought. Gryffindor chicken." He began to laugh manically.
Harry quickly coughed. "Sir, weren't you about to write the potion on the board for us?"
Erasmus clucked. "Mr. Potter, this is the first time you are in my class and you are reminding me what I was about to do? Severus never told me that you had the power to read minds."
Harry immediately fell into a state of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, sir."
Erasmus laughed. "You see, children. This is why I love to teach the young. You are so fresh, so pure…so delicious. Too bad the headmaster would kick me out if I grabbed a quick sample. Ah well, one cannot have everything."
With a wave of his hand, Erasmus placed the directions on the board. Harry began his potion, but could not help but wonder how Snape could end up so grouchy with a "father vampire" like Erasmus. True, his sense of humor was a bit scary, but it was there. Snape, however, was a greasy git. He had abandoned him, like the rest. At least he almost knew what to expect from Erasmus. He expected to be left alone, and then at some point have the old vampire fall back into his life, convenient or not. Maybe it was a sense of stability after all. Of course, maybe Erasmus was just fattening him up for slaughter.