I swear that this is probably my fastest update ever... In fact I can damn near guarantee it! Wow. I'm impressed with myself... but don't get it in your minds that my updates will always be this fast, because they won't :)

Alright, so Enjoy!

Percy woke in his bed, staring up at the plain white roof above him. For a moment he believed that it was just another ordinary day, one in which his alarm would ring in a few minutes and he would get up. Shower, eat breakfast and be dressed and ready to head to work an hour early, as per usual. But then he realized four things.

One: There was a weight on his stomach, an arm. Somebody was in his bed, with him, and their arm- their very large, muscular, masculine arm- was slung possessively across his torso. And that arm was- thankfully- attached to a body. To be more specific, Marcus Flint's body.

Two: Marcus Flint was a vampire. And he had previously claimed that Percy was his mate.

Three: He had previously had a panic attack before passing out. Presumably earlier this morning, because it was highly unlikely that he would have remained unconscious for an entire day. And therefore he was much more than likely late for work, but the vampire that was currently using him a teddy bear and holding him down was most definitely not going to let him go.

Four: Marcus was awake.

He was staring at Percy with an unreadable look in his dark eyes. Yet he didn't move, staying still and unmoving, seemingly waiting for the lithe redhead to make the first move. And Percy couldn't help but get some strange feeling of warmth and safety building inside him as he realized the level of control that he would need to have over his instincts to be able to wait for Percy to adjust before checking him over. He knew that he had scared the larger man during his episode, he had felt it somewhere amongst the panic and fear. It made him feel as though he still had some semblance of control over his life, it made him feel like his opinion was respected. And that was amazing, because Marcus was evidently the dominant mate. That much was obvious from the urges Percy had been having, the ones that demanded his submission and obedience. He also recognized the rarity of having the urges before even accepting the bond, let alone consummating it, and he knew that he would need to talk about it but, after a lifetime of putting work ahead of all else, there was something he needed to address first.

"I'm late for work."

That actually got a somewhat startled laugh from the vampire. "I took care of it."

"W-what?" Percy stammered, tensing as he imagined Marcus gruffly telling- not informing or asking- whoever answered the floo or letter that Percy wouldn't be coming in. The man probably refused to give a reason! Maybe he just grunted out a distracted statement that contained the absolute minimum number of words possible that still somewhat resembled a sentence. Oh Merlin, Percy thought despairingly, what if he didn't even bother to send out a notice? Oh! What if he didn't send out a notice! Then the schedules and meetings he had painstakingly rearranged the day before came rushing onto his mind. Oh… shit… I need to go in today. "I need to go to work." He stated primly.

Marcus glowered, pulling himself up to glare down at the smaller man. "Too bad."

"Excuse me?!" Percy indignantly cried, pushing the Slytherin away from him and fighting to free himself from the covers. "You have absolutely no right to keep me here! This is my house!" Pausing, the redhead ran that thought through his head once more. "This is my house…" He glared at the larger man who was watching at him with obvious amusement as he stumbled from his bed, "what the hell are you still doing here?"

The other man growled and Percy shuddered slightly at the noise, hating himself for the reaction but being unable to stop it. "You passed out from oxygen deprivation because you worked yourself up into a state of absolute panic. Even if you weren't my mat-"

"Don't."

"-Even if you weren't my mate, I wouldn't have left."

"Don't say that."

"What? Mate?"

Percy flinched, "Yes. That. Don't say it."

"Why?" The word came out as more of a snarl than anything else. "Its true, Percy. You are mine, I can feel it, and I'm not going to leave just because you're afraid."

"I'm not-!"

"Yes you are."

"I am NOT afraid of you!"

"Good. You shouldn't be. But you are afraid." He smirked, a small upturn at the corner of his mouth. "I can smell it."

"That's not..."

"Not what?"

"It's not rational!"

"Nothing about mates, soul bonds, love or-"

"Don't you dare throw love in there. Like it even applies in this- this situation! This has nothing to do with love or bonds or m-mates, this is a mistake! Your confused! Delusional! Nothing about us matches, we can't be- be-"

"But we are." And suddenly he was right there. Towering above Percy with their bodies almost touching, they were that close. Percy's breath hitched at the speed in which the larger man moved and his eyes slowly trailed up to meet Marcus'. He couldn't help but notice the intensity of them, dark and serious and deep. Beautiful, he thought distantly before recoiling mentally from the word. Then he- Marcus- was speaking again and Percy was transfixed by the sound of his voice, deep and warm, filled with a sinful smoothness that was accentuated by the slight rasp in his tone.

Hints of white flashed between words as he spoke and the subtle reminder of the fangs that were hidden there was much more attractive than it should've been. "You are mine Percy, I can feel it. I know it. You belong to me, and I belong to you, there is no doubt about that and I know that you can already feel the pull- the bond. I can see it in your eyes, such a beautiful blue, you know its there and you know that this is right." He reached out with one hand, lightly touching Percy's cheek, and- despite his best efforts- the ginger couldn't help but lean into the touch. "This is so right, can't you feel it? We are meant for each other, we were always meant for each other. We just couldn't see it before." That large, warm hand was cupping his face and one finger was brushing against his lips. Their faces were close, so close, and their breath was mingling together.

Then, suddenly, the finger was pushing past his lips and entering his mouth. Sputtering in shock, Percy went to pull away harshly, only to stop as Flint started to pull it out slowly, dragging it along his bottom lip before thrusting it back in. A strange, undeniable urge was rising up in him due to the motion. It was strong and irresistible, like some important and deeply ingrained instinct that denied all logic and was impossible to deny, telling-demanding- him to follow, to obey. It was urging him to close his lips around it, to caress the digit with his tongue and suck.

It was insistent, needy and it felt so, so right. So he did it. Eyes fluttering closed as he moaned softly, leaning in and pulling Marcus' finger in deeper, kneading it with his mouth and tongue. Whining softly in protest as it was pulled away before willingly opening his mouth wider when another finger came back with the first. He was suckling both of them, running his tongue between them and relishing in the breathless, rumbling approval that his actions drew from the man in front of him.

"That's a good boy." Flint's deep voice was breathless and full of a sweet affection that- after a moment- seemed terribly out of place.

Percy's eyes widened as he came back to himself, pushing away from the larger man with a muffled shout and stubbornly fighting down the urge to follow the fingers as they slipped from his mouth.

"W-what was that?!" His voice was hysterical and he scrambled backwards, stopping only when his back touched the wall behind him. "What the fuck was that Mar-Flint?!" When did I start calling him Marcus? Slowly, he raised his frantic blue eyes to look at the man standing across from him.

The larger man was still standing in the same spot, his eyes still held the remnants of the lust that Percy knew had echoed his own moments before, along with a look of desperate longing, and one of his hands was stretched out. Almost as though he had been reaching for the redhead as he had retreated. As Percy watched the hand dropped slowly-hesitantly- back to his side.

Marcus was silent for a few moments, his mouth opening slowly as though he was going to speak only to close again as he evidently decided that it was the wrong thing to say. Then- finally- he spoke. "That- um, that was the bond." a heavy pause, "When vampires find their mates, there normally isn't the same waiting period as other species, erm, the bond has to be consummated within the first year of discovering one another." He licked his lips, fidgeting slightly. "So, heh, instincts play a role in speeding up the courting process…" He trailed off, looking at the stunned redhead imploringly.

Percy blinked, purposely pushing the implications of that statement aside and choosing to focus on something more trivial instead. "That is what you call courting? That was not courting Flint." He paused, a slightly wistful look growing over his features. "Courting is sweet, gentle, flowers and dates and gifts-"

"You want to be courted like a girl?" Patronism practically oozed from his tone.

"What?! No! I just- I like the tradition behind it…"

"Good." He smirked, letting his gaze slowly rake over Percy's body. "I don't like girls much." Then he turned and walked past Percy towards and out the bedroom door.

Leaving Percy staring after him with confusion written over his features. "Flint?"

Silence.

"...Flint?"

The redhead slowly walked to through the door, peeking around the corner for the taller man.

"Um… Hello?"

Silence.

Percy frowned, "Flin-"

"I'm not answering unless you call me by my name." The other man's deep voice came from right behind Percy and the smaller man yelped, jumping slightly at the sudden noise and spinning to face the vampire.

After a few moments the redhead regained his composure, and glaring up at the taller man stated snarkily, "Flint is your name."

"My first name."

"No."

"Its not th-" Suddenly he stopped, obviously running Percy's refusal over in his head. "Why? I call you Percy."

Said redhead laughed bitterly, "Oh?" his eyes narrowed. "For all of a few hours, you mean."

"Yes. Since I discovered that you're my mate."

"You think that that is a good enough reason?! You think that being mates can just magically erase years of bad blood between us?" His hands curled into fists. "You made my life at Hogwarts a living hell, Flint. What makes you think that a- that this will make it all ok?!"

Marcus' beautiful, dark eyes were purposely blank, but Percy could see the regret buried within their depths. "Because we are meant to belong to each other, and we always have been. Even back then, even before I was changed. But we- I mean- I didn't understand what this pull meant, and I misinterpreted it. I didn't know what to do with the jealousy I felt back then, whenever you talked with someone or laughed with them, it killed me and I wanted you to notice me. So I- I did whatever I could to get you to. Even if it wasn't the right type of acknowledgement." His hands were nervously fisted in his pockets and- until this point- he had refused to look Percy in the eyes. "I need you Percy. I know that now. And I will do everything I can to make things right between us."

Percy was frozen. Fighting down the flood of emotions and memories and that horrible- wonderful- sense, feeling, knowledge that was screaming that he needed him too. His bright blue eyes were filling with desperately conflicted tears, and they refused to be contained, spilling slowly onto his cheeks. He choked, a soft, almost broken noise and seconds after it left his mouth two impossibly strong arms were wrapping around him. Pulling him tightly against Marcus' broad chest.

He couldn't help but respond to the warm, comforting embrace, so the lithe redhead snuggled in, wrapping his arms around the larger man's neck and pulling himself as tight to him as physically possible. He hadn't been hugged in so long. And it felt so good to be held, especially by Marcus.

The vampire tightened his grip, making a low, reassuring rumble deep in his chest and rubbing his hands gently up and down Percy's back. "Shh, It's okay Perce. I've got you."

It felt so safe, being enveloped in Marcus' arms. Safer than anything he had ever experienced before, it felt so right to be close to him. To breath in the intoxicating smell of something indescribably Marcus.

It felt too right, too soon and too familiar. And that terrified Percy.

The thought of already- after less than a day- feeling so complete with his childhood nemesis, was too much.

"I- Marcus?" he couldn't help but use his given name, their closeness felt too intimate for anything else.

"Yeah?" There was a smile in the larger man's tone.

"I need some time."

"...What?" Marcus tried to pull away slightly, presumably to talk to Percy face to face but the redhead whimpered slightly and pulled him back in tighter. "Percy, I don't understand…"

Percy buried his face into the junction of the larger man's neck and shoulder before mumbling out something that would have been indistinguishable had the brunette not had incredibly enhanced hearing. "I need to be able to think about this, to wrap my head around it." He lifted his head slightly. "I need to do some research, to understand and to- to I just need to be able to think. And I- I can't do that with you here."

"Percy…"

"Just for a little while, a few days! I just- I can't- I don't-"

"I get it Perce. You've always needed to figure things out for yourself but-" His voice shook and he tightened his grip on the smaller man. "But you can't take too long, ok? I want to get to know you- to understand you better before the bond is completed."

"Just a few days." Percy murmured, pressing even closer to the other man.

Marcus nodded in agreement, resting his chin on Percy's curly red hair.

They stayed like that for a few moments, wrapped in the embrace until finally Percy softly whispered, "You should go." He tightened his grip on the larger man.

"I know," he whispered into the redhead's auburn curls. "But you're gonna need to let go first." Even as he said it he pulled his mate in closer, breathing in his scent and revealing in the feel of him.

"I-I don't want to." His voice shook. "I don't want you to go, but I need you to."

"I know." The words were nothing more than a whisper. "You need to get some rest, I talked to the secretary at the Ministry. You pulled a full day shift yesterday."

Percy laughed quietly, "I know."

Marcus let out an amused growl before pulling away, gently prying the reluctant redhead off of him. Once there was some space between them he smiled sadly, and the he was gone. Leaving his words to linger like shadows in the air. "Goodbye Percy."

"Bye Marcus…"

Those words seemed to open a flood gate inside of him, releasing all the exhaustion and pure tired from wherever it had been lurking previously. Percy went to bed. Forgetting about work entirely while he desperately tried to control the emotions that were violently fighting back and forth inside of him.

And there's the end of chapter two... What did you guys think? Plunk out a comment to let me know!