Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Additionally, there is implied/referenced child abuse that includes starvation and results in said child needing to be hospitalized. There's also references to bad interspecies relations, but that's relatively minor. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: This fic is much larger than I was originally planning.
Note to New Readers: Please check the FAQs on my profile before complaining that a character isn't white, about my interpretations of canon, and/or the included meta stuff. Honestly, just practice DL;DR and save us both spoons.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Quidditch League (Season 10); Ministry (Spring Year 1); RAVEN (2023); MC4A (Sp-Y6)
Individual Challenges: Red Instead (Y); Quaffles (Y); Xs & Os (Y); Bludgers (Y); Magical Blood (Y); Polygon (Y); Colors of the Sky; Magical MC; Metahuman MC; Immortal MC; Nonhuman MC; Fresh Fandom High; New Fandom Smell (Y); Sandbox (Y); Crossing Over (Y); Reader (Y); Cinematic (Y); Binger (Y); Gamer (Y); Singer (Y); Feathers & Such; Tiny Terror; Tossed Chum; Elder Berries (x2); Disabled; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion; Small Book (Y); Stand Alone; Eating Cake (Y); Exchange (Y); Greatest Gift; Green Ribbon; Two Cakes (Y); Fuzzy Socks; Vial Collector; Bi Bi Bi; Lovely Triangle; Shipwreck; Zukes of Hazard; Outer; Traveler; Zed Era; Rainbow Connection; Hold the Mayo
Team (Position): Wigtown Wanderers (Seeker)
Round (Prompt): Round 10-08 (n/a)
Other QL Challenges: PAW [06] ("Oh, I know!" & Hysterical Laughter)
Ministry Challenges: Portkey Office [Tier 1: Non-HP Fandom] (HP x Sanctuary)
RAVEN Challenges: Settings [76](Hospital); Items [66](IV Bag); Colors [146](Teak)
Other MC4A Challenges: Ship (Thorns)[SpBig (Shirt); SpMed1 (Accidental Confession; Big Damn Hero; Roadtrip); SpMed2 (Medical Appointment)]; Chim [Walnut]("Glitter & Gold" – Barns Country; Sienna; Race Bend);
Representation(s): Desi Lily Evans Potter/James Potter/Nikola Tesla (Past); Desi Harry Potter & Nikola Tesla; The Five; Sanctuary Team as Family; Nonsexual Intimacy
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Middle Name; Mother Hen; Nightingale; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Song; Second Verse (Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Pocky Pockets; Wabi Sabi; Bee Haven; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Rediscovery); Demo 1 (Muck & Slime; Corvid Brain; One Man's Cow; Three's Company; Most Human Bean; Grease Monkey; Easy Zephyr; Lovely Coconuts; Under the Bridge); Demo 2 (Unicorn; Head of Perseus; Hot Stuff; Misshapen Pods; Eternal Boredom; Abandoned Ship; Creature Feature; Sitting Hummingbird); Paid 1 (Rock of Ages; These Boots) [x2]; Paid 2 (Eternal Boredom; In the Trench; Forked Path) [x3]
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Toad); SN (Rail; Spare); LiCK (Poppy; Amaranth; Narcissus; Tansy; Yarrow); Once (Santa Fe); CM (n/a)
Space Address (Prompt): 1E (Window/Balcony)
Word Count: 5813 words
(^^)
Glitter & Gold
(^^)
Nikola had been going through his days like a man in shackles, doing the same things he had done for the last fifty years, unaware of the change that was about to come. He had been alive long enough to know that change was inevitable, even for someone stuck in a rut.
He had had a brief break from his routine about ten years ago when he had an affair with a married couple while attending a lecture series at Cambridge. It had only lasted a month (both the affair and the series), but it was the best month he had had since he had had to fake his death. Lily and James had both had utterly brilliant minds on top of having lovely bodies. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even the other members of the study group that were as close to him as any of his long dead siblings, but there were times when he thought about trying to find them again. It hadn't been so long that he would have to explain why he hadn't aged any.
Of course, searching them out did run the risk of James Watson (or worse, Helen) noticing that he was back in the easy vicinity of a Sanctuary and attempting to recruit him to more active membership again, security concerns be damned. That would definitely be less than pleasant for all involved. Nikola had discovered that no amount of attraction to the woman made Helen an easy person to work with, even when their goals did align, which they rarely did anymore.
Besides, the food in Britain was atrocious and the wine even worse.
Still, the memory of the Potters drew him back to the United Kingdom like an ill-fated moth.
It was a Wednesday morning, no more than two weeks after he had moved into a small brownstone in London, within walking distance of King's Cross. Nikola had just opened the door, coming in from a late night hobnobbing with the local nonhumans, a thing that Helen and James really should think about doing more often. He had barely taken two steps into the entry hall when his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to check the caller id, unsurprised to see that it was James. Nikola had been expecting him to call as much as he had been dreading it. At least it was James and not Helen.
Nikola took a deep breath and answered.
"Yes, Mother," he said with an exaggerated amount of self-confidence. "I have been minding obeying all local laws and customs, even those that get in the way of scientific advancement."
"Hello, Tesla," James replied as if Nikola had greeted him normally. "While I am grateful to hear that you are at least tempting to keep your scandals from completely destroying my relationship with local authorities, I am afraid that is not why I am calling."
"Oh?" Nikola questioned. This had officially gotten interesting. Unconsciously, he found himself straightening his posture as he practically purred his next words. "And to what do I owe this call, if you aren't checking up on me?"
On the other line, James's voice was somber. "I got a situation that I believe you are uniquely suited to handle. In fact, you may be the only person who can."
"I thought you had replaced me with that puppy that Helen adopted."
Nikola wasn't bitter about that, no matter what Helen tried to claim. He could admit that the young werewolf showed promise beyond the natural inclinations of his species. Even with the fluctuating influence of the moon, Henry was likely more stable than Nikola, too. There were so many times that Nikola felt like an unstable isotope threatening to explode. The suppressants that Helen insisted on prescribing only aggravated the raging of the instincts, which was why Nikola had stopped taking them decades ago. But territorial instincts that demanded violence were chronically incompatible with the daily life of a Sanctuary, no matter how much he craved being around others who understood how it felt to not fit in with boring baselines.
"This is not a technological matter," James countered. He sounded like he was walking quickly in the background. That combined with his words made something in Nikola's gut twist. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was coming. James continued. "There's a boy who was recently flagged by the local authorities for neglect. The investigation turned up several… abnormalities."
"That doesn't sound like my business either," Nikola quipped as he made his way into his kitchen. This discussion was headed towards maudlin. Wine was the only solution. "You forget that I'm not suitable for your little club. I can't be trusted to 'bag and tag' my fellow creatures."
"The boy's guardian," James continued as if Nikola hadn't said anything, "claims that he is the son of her sister Lily Evans whom you may know better by her married name—"
"Lily Potter." Nikola found himself heading back towards his front door. "Where is the boy?"
"Tesla," James said, sounding uncharacteristically hesitant. Nikola waved his hand dismissively despite how there was no way that James could see it. The use of a mobile was the man's only concession to the progression of technology and only because the running of a Sanctuary required it. "The boy's parents—"
"—are dead," Nikola interrupted, "or otherwise incapacitated. Yes, I am painfully aware of that fact, as I am also aware that the reason that you must be calling me is that the boy displays enough vampiric traits to suggest that he is, at least partially, my offspring."
"He keeps shorting out the hospital's equipment."
Nikola's body went cold. If the boy was anything like him, then the electrical discharge was a defense mechanism. It just as likely stemmed from feeling unsafe in his current surroundings as anything that had happened under the loving care of Lily's sadistic sister. The real question was what the hell had happened to all of James and Lily's other friends that their child ended up with Lily's estranged stepsister? That would have been the very last place that Lily would have wanted any child of hers to go.
"You still haven't answered the question, Watson." Nikola locked his door behind him. It took a great deal of effort to keep the bite from more than edging his tone. "Where is my son?"
"He's been taken away from his aunt's custody," James said. His tone was carefully neutral. "In addition to him being dangerously malnourished, he had extensive injuries in multiple stages of healing. It was bad enough for him to require hospitalization. He still requires medical care."
Nikola felt like he had been punched in the gut. He had amicably parted ways with the Potters, more because outside factors than any petering out of interest. Honestly, he had thought of attempting to reconnect with them for years. To discover that he had left them with a piece of himself filled him with something uncomfortably like how he felt for the other members of the study group.
Yet at the same time, Nikola felt closest to feral that he had been since he had first taken the serum. Suddenly he understood why the Ancients had been driven to conquer the world. He had not known of the boy even ten minutes ago but already he would burn the world to complete ash in order to protect him, to see him hale and happy. The boy was his.
"He's not healing?" Nikola could hear the waver in his voice. Just because the boy had inherited one vampiric trait did not guarantee the presence of other ones. But of all the ones that could have been passed on, it seemed a cruel irony of fate that he had missed out on the one which would have been useful.
"He is," James assured him, "but it is considerably depressed. I suspect that his system is just overextended, but I can't be certain without further examination. I'm sorry, Nikola, but the condition they found him in was quite horrid. It's remarkable that he is still alive. If I were a religious man, I would say it was nothing short of miraculous."
"So help me, Watson," Nikola hissed. His gums and fingertips itched with the urge to let his fangs and claws out. The murky sunlight of a London afternoon was exceptionally bright, suggesting that his eyes had shifted. He closed them and turned his face towards the sky. Carefully reigning in his instincts, he took a deep breath. As much as it pained him, his best argument was honesty. "The boy is hurt. I am willing to bet considerable resources that he has barely eaten or slept since being taken into custody."
"Now how did you know that?" James asked, sounding like Nikola had managed to finally surprise him.
"Because I wouldn't have," he answered simply. He could hear James demanding more in the judging silence. "I know it is hard to imagine, given my delightful charm, but I would never be able to rest as a patient in a hospital. If the boy is mine, it is likely he would have the same issue."
"I see," James said. "And it would also put you off your food?"
"No," Nikola bit out. Only the fact that he still hadn't gotten the information he needed kept him from just hanging up on the infuriating man. "Lily had trouble with her appetite when under stress. I imagine any offspring of hers would have the same problem. Now tell me where my son is."
"Royal Surrey," James admitted. He sounded resigned enough that Nikola would have been offended if he wasn't mentally plotting all the things he needed to handle to claim the boy. "I'll have you added to the visitor list by the time you've gotten here. The Sanctuary will handle anything necessary to legalize your claim. At the very least, the boy cannot be allowed to enter the foster system."
Nikola didn't know what to say. While he knew that modern foster care was a far cry from the orphanages of the late Nineteenth Century, he couldn't bear the thought of the boy in the system. Everything else aside, the system would not be kind to anyone who was different, and even with just Lily's heritage, the boy was guaranteed to be different. India gaining its independence from the Crown made that particular prejudice worse, not better.
At the same time, Nikola was also afraid of being a father—especially to a son he hadn't even known existed before he had been harmed so grievously. He knew his flaws. He knew of his struggles with bloodlust and how it skewed his perceptions of what others would view as moral. Who in their right mind would entrust a vulnerable child to the likes of him?
Who would dare stop him from claiming what was rightfully his?
"I didn't know," he said before he had realized it. James and he had always been confidents, even when things were strained between Nikola and the others. It was important that he knew that Nikola hadn't hid something like this from him. "I don't even—What is his name?"
"Harry," James provided instantly before making a noise like a scoff. "At least that's what is on the few records that exist for him. There's no record of his existence before being registered for school suspiciously late and then his admittance to the hospital."
"Oh, of course not," Nikola said as he rolled his eyes. "That would be too simple." He headed off towards the station at a fast clip just short of what would draw unwanted attention. "I shall be there within two hours, less if the train is in my favor."
"I'll have Duncan pick you up from the station. The lad's a bit of fan."
"My favorite kind of minion," Nikola quipped. On the other end of the phone, James sighed like he was regretting all of his life choices. Nikola silently added to the mental tally he had of how many times he managed to induce the sound from the other man. "I will see you when I arrive. Don't do anything that I wouldn't do."
"That still leaves quite a lot of room for mischief, you wine-happy bug zapper."
"That insult almost hurt my feelings."
"Just get here, Nikola."
"Yes, sir."
He hung up the phone and entered King's Cross. His mind raced through his mental map of the train system, plotting what connections he would need to make. He had to get to Harry and make sure he was safe. He had to be there for his son.
(^^)
As promised, there was a man waiting for him at the Guildford station. He was a ruggedly handsome man, the sort who looked like they would play rugby for fun. Conforming to every cliché in the book, the man had a piece of cardboard that had the word TESLA done in a scrawl so hastily done that it was barely recognizable. As Nikola approached, he could smell the distinctive antiseptic odor that plagued sterile facilities everywhere. Hidden beneath the bleach stench was something that stirred Nikola's instincts like nothing but the other members of the Five and their offspring had for decades.
When he noticed Nikola coming towards him, the man perked up like an actual puppy.
"Nikola Tesla?" he asked, lowering the sign. At Nikola's nod, he gained a relieved smile. "I'm Declan MacRae. I'm Dr. Watson's personal assistant."
Much to Nikola's relief, the man did not extend his hand like so many Brits would have just out of habit. It was disturbing how common the gesture was, even with people from other cultures. And since receiving the serum, his hands have been extra sensitive, making him even less incline to go along with the idiocrasy. Though he did suppose that working at a Sanctuary would make an individual aware of how skin-to-skin contact might be a bad idea.
"Yes," Nikola said. "Watson did mention you'd be here to take me to Royal."
"Yes, yes, of course," Declan agreed before leading the way to the parking lot outside the station.
Declan indicated a land rover that looked like it might have been through rough terrain rather recently. It also looked like it had been recently in a collision with something large and likely clawed, judging by the deep scratches scoring the bonnet. Nikola raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
It was defensive. The less he knew about Sanctuary business, the less likely he was to be drawn into it. The fact that he was already reliant on them to handle this situation already felt like too much. He knew himself well enough to know that he was drawn to fixing things, even when it brought him into direct contradiction with Helen. Better for everyone if Nikola remained as much outside of things as possible. It was already complicated enough that this unexpected situation required their intervention.
"So Dr. Watson dinnae say what he called ye in for," Declan started as he maneuvered the vehicle out of the parking lot. He drummed his fingers nervously on the steering wheel. Nikola closed his eyes and mentally counted to ten in Serbian to keep from lashing out at James' protégé. He had to resist the urge to zap the man, even a little bit. When that didn't banish the urge, Nikola repeated the exercise in first Latin, then Sumerian, and finally in Echonian. "I thought the problem at Royal was, uh, organic in nature. The boy in the PICU?"
Nikola refused to think too close about that revelation. If he thought too much about the combination of what James had said earlier about Harry not healing in combination with the new information about what ward Harry was in, Nikola might not be able to resist the urge to visit Lily's estranged sister for a little talk. As it was, he found himself counting again, first in Latin and then in Sumerian, to force back the vampiric traits that wanted to surface in his anger.
"Have you talked to him?" Nikola asked once his fangs had retracted enough that he could without it sounding muffled instead of answering. He kept his gaze focused outside the windshield. He could practically feel Declan's mind churning as he considered Nikola's deflection.
"He's been really out of it," Declan answered, "but yeah, I've talked to him." He gave a huff that might have been a laugh if it wasn't so empty. "Well, more like talked at him. Kid doesn't say much. He donae eat much either. He seems to really like jelly babies, but then what kid doesn't?"
Declan did that annoying drumming again.
"Watson said he wasn't eating."
"Yeah," Declan said, his brogue thickening. "Kid donae eat nearly enough despite already being a stick, but I take in a bag of 'em every time I go. It's nae much, but it's better than the nothing before. He won't take anything from Dr. Watson, tho', nae even the jellies."
"Watson didn't mention that," Nikola said before he could really think about what implication he just made. Declan's grip tightening on the steering wheel made him realize a couple of things in quick succession. First, that he had as good as admitted that he was specifically called in because of Harry. Second, that Declan had clearly become protective of Harry. In for a penny. "I knew the boy's mother Lily."
"When you say 'knew'—"
"I mean carnally, yes," Nikola interrupted. He had even less patience for the false show of British decorum than he usually did. "It is as equally possible that Harry is my offspring as he is to be Lily's husband's. Of course, given current issues, the odds do skew in my favor rather significantly." Nikola took in a deep breath to quell his poppling emotions. "I only have little over an hour more processing time on the topic than you, and while it galls me to do something as plebian as ask for help, I would greatly appreciate it if you would continue talking. Does Harry have a favorite baby?"
"Bigheart," Declan answered dutifully, "though Boofuls seems a close second. He'll eat the lime jello without any fuss, too." Declan let out a huff that was too empty and short to be a true laugh. "He's surprisingly not like a kid in how easily he'll eat whatever veggies they give him, too. Only picks at starches and meat, but mushy peas or spinach? Down the hatch faster than the babies. Kid's like the opposite of normal childhood picky eating."
"Was there another child?" Nikola asked, giving voice to his thoughts as they developed. "Petunia was married before Lily and James were. It wouldn't be outside of standard expectations that she would have produced at least one spawn in that time."
"Yeah," Declan said. His surprise was obvious in his hesitant tone. "Yeah, uh, there was another boy at the same residence. Biological son of Petunia and Vernon Dursley. How did you—"
"And I am willing to wager a bottle of my favorite vintage that boy—"
"Dudley," Declan supplied. Nikola blinked in shock that anyone would have been so cruel as to name their own child such a horrid combination of syllables. Declan rubbed one hand on the back of his neck. "Yeah, I know, and it isn't even a family name."
"I have long been of the opinion that some people should not have children, but if I weren't, that would have convinced me." Nikola made a sweeping gesture to dismiss the subject. "I'm willing to wager a bottle of my favorite vintage that the boy was visibly better fed."
"How did you know that?"
"Genius," Nikola reminded him. He barely avoided nicking his bottom lip on his fangs which had slipped out again. He hadn't had this much trouble controlling his vampiric features since he had first taken the serum. But then again, he had never been a parent before. His instincts were screaming at him to do something. "Harry's willingness to eat food that would be undesirable to another child was a strong indicator. My eldest sister was much the same, though for a different reason."
The silence that filled the land rover held an awkward tension. Fortunately, Royal Surrey was within sight by that point. Declan pulled into the parking lot as smoothly as he had done everything else so far. Nikola hesitated before opening his door. Then he froze halfway in his seat.
"I don't—" Nikola cut himself off to take a deep breath in through his nose. He shook out his hands, as if the gesture could rid them of the electrical charge building in them. "I normally do not have any issue with medical environments, even emergency departments and trauma units. The scent of blood registers no more than the scent of really good steak would to you. However, it should be noted that these are not normal circumstances."
"You think there's a chance of you'll go feral?" Declan did that awful drumming motion again. "Do you think the trigger will be blood in general or the kid's blood in specific?"
Damn the man, but he was just as observant as his mentor.
"I can smell Harry on you," Nikola noted. He closed his eyes and breathed deep, making the scenting obvious in a way that he usually didn't around humans. "It is faint, likely from very brief contact, but I can tell that you touched him." Nikola pinned the Scot in place with his gaze alone. He knew his eyes had shifted to match the fangs that had once again dropped. "I can tell that he shocked you."
"I ruffled his hair," Declan said with careful evenness. He swallowed hard but didn't look away. "It startled him. We think it might be a defense mechanism."
"Well, it's good to see that you aren't entirely incapable of simple logic," Nikola quipped. Declan finally looked away in order to roll his eyes. Nikola sighed. "That was rude. I would apologize, but that would imply that I would try to not do it again, and frankly, I probably will."
"Yeah, you definitely will," Declan agreed. Nikola looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "It's just part of the Old Genius package. Dr. Watson does it; Dr. Magnus does it a lot. So, yeah, I know that you'll do it again." Declan paused to nod to himself. "Oh, I know."
Despite the circumstances (or maybe because of them), that mild insult struck Nikola as ridiculously funny. He let out a snort of laughter. He tried to stop it from going further than that. After all, he had a certain reputation to maintain. But in the end, he just couldn't. He collapsed back against the seat, laughing harder than he had laughed in decades.
Tears were streaming down his cheeks from how hard he was laughing. The volume of the laughter dropped as he failed to get enough breath to fuel it. In a human, that might have countered the hysterical laughter. However, Nikola was a vampire and breathing was something only necessary for using his vocal cords or seeming human enough to pass.
Fortunately, Declan was either understanding of Nikola's outburst or not foolish enough to disturb a vampire having some kind of fit. The human just allowed Nikola to have his breakdown. Only when they spotted James exiting the main doors was Nikola able to pull himself back together.
"I need you to return to the Sanctuary and pick up the packet that Doyle should have ready," James told Declan as soon as they were within speaking distance. "You'll need to bring back one of the medical transports."
"We're moving him?" Declan asked, his eyes darting between James and Nikola. "Are we sure that's wise?"
"There's been another incident," James admitted, sounding reluctant to bring it up. His expression was likewise heavy as he focused on Nikola. "An orderly tried to change his bedding and got impatient when Harry wouldn't give up his pillow. He tried to snatch it." He looked mildly annoyed. "You never mentioned having venom, Tesla."
"That's because I don't," Nikola answered. He blinked a few times as he processed the information. "That's very interesting. The others all bred true to at least one parent. I don't know why—" Nikola's thoughts suddenly shifted tracks. "Where's Harry now?"
"After he bit the orderly," James said with a carefulness that he usually reserved for Helen's more prickly moods, "he started having a panic attack and had to be sedated. As it was, they had to replace yet heart monitor. Honestly, I think we're the only facility in the region that might be equipped to handle this kind of medical emergency."
Nikola started walking into the hospital. Neither of the other men made any move to stop him. Not that they would have been able to. Nikola was too close to control his instincts. He followed the various signage to a lift that he took the fifth floor PICU unit. As soon as the doors opened, Nikola could smell him.
"Can I help you, sir?" a nurse in scrubs covered in cartoon frogs asked from in front of reception desk. Nikola took a deep breath. As much as the scent of obvious distress had his mind sharply assessing threats, it was far easier to concentrate now that he was so close to the pup. The woman tilted her head as she took in his slight disheveled state. "Are you lost?"
"Harry," Nikola managed. Even to his own ears, his voice seemed to be coming from somewhere far away. "I'm here for Harry. I'm his—that is, he's my son." The annex seemed to swim around him a bit. "I came as soon as I knew."
The nurse's expression softened slightly as she seemed to connect several unsaid things. She darted behind the reception desk and unlocked the computer. After typing for a few moments, she looked carefully at his face, as if matching it to a picture. Nikola was thankful that he had an unexpected bit of time to collect himself.
"Okay, Mr. Tesla," she said finally. She turned from the computer to the fridge that was also right there. Opening it, she pulled out a couple of jelly cups, both a distinctive lime green. She handed these to him along with a plastic spoon in a cellophane wrapper. Nikola looked at the items, not quite certain what he was expected to do with them.
"Watson said that he had been sedated?"
"He did," the nurse confirmed, "but I don't think the doctor noticed that Harry burns through meds quickly. Combined with his weight needing a lower dose to begin with, he should be waking up any minute now. A little pick-me-up is just what he'll need."
"Will he—" Nikola cut himself off and forced himself to breathe. It wouldn't do to lose control when he was already so close to reclaiming something that he had not even imagined wanting for himself. The nurse laid a hand on his wrist. "Watson briefed me, but can you tell me how he's doing with all of this?"
"Harry is a sweet boy," she said gently. Her teak eyes were soft as she focused on his face, looking for something that Nikola didn't know. Whatever it was, she must have found it. "He is as scared by whatever is going on as the rest of us. Even when he bit Tom earlier, I don't think he wants to hurt anyone. He's just a little boy with very big feelings."
"You don't seem unfamiliar with this type of situation."
"That's because I'm not," she answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "When you've been a part of this kind of unit as long as I have, you see things. Some of those things can't always be explained by conventional science. Odd things just sometimes happen around children when they're hurt and scared." She gave his wrist a couple of pats before releasing him completely to point across the wide circular area around the desk and lifts. "Harry's in Room Twelve. Don't let his appearance scare you. He is physically stable, at least aside from the malnutrition that will take a long while to fix. He's only being kept here because this unit is the only one equipped to handle those odd things that I mentioned."
She made a little shooing motion with her hands and moved back around the desk. Nikola took a deep breath to center himself before moving to obey. He paused at the door to the indicated room to take another. He was the greatest scientific mind of the last century, even if he only beat Albert due to knowledge of abnormal sciences in addition to mainstream ones. He could certainly handle facing a child.
Nikola was not prepared for the sight of the child. As the nurse had predicted, Harry had woken up from the sedative. He was still in the bed, but the back had been raised so that he could sit up. As expected, he had wires for a heart monitor as well as the tubing for an IV. (Nikola recognized the bag hanging on the rack as a nutrition supplement, likely as a countermeasure to Harry's reportedly poor appetite.) Harry was hugging his pillow while staring out the window at the empty rooftop and cloudless sky as if it was fascinating. He was wearing a pair of pale blue scrubs that did nothing to hide the gray undertone that his sienna skin had where it wasn't discolored with bruises in various stages of healing. Even from across the room, Nikola could tell that the inky hair was brittle and dry. The plain white cast on his right arm had a couple of signatures on it and a simple drawing of a pink tulip.
Then Harry whipped his head around to look at him. The clunky glasses did nothing to hide the emerald hue of his eyes. Nikola felt his breath catch in his throat. Somehow, Harry's face was a perfect mixture of Nikola, Lily, and James. It should have been impossible, and it would probably warrant some kind of investigation at a later date because Nikola really could not explain it. For now, it just fed all of the instincts that had been screaming at him for the last few hours.
Harry was the most beautiful thing that Nikola had ever seen.
Harry was his, undeniably so.
"I, um," Nikola tried, his usual verbosity abandoning him for parts unknown. He cleared his throat before holding up the jello cups and trying again. "These are for you. I heard they're your favorite."
"They're okay," Harry said, giving a half-shrug and picking at the case on his pillow.
After a moment of awkward silence, Nikola set the cups and spoon on the bed near Harry's knee. The boy only hesitated a little before picking them up. One of the cups disappeared behind the pillow, but Harry opened the other one to begin eating it. Nikola carefully moved around the bed to look out the window. His real goal was checking out the scents of the room, but it was a good enough cover for now.
"I don't know what they've told you," Nikola started, his eyes not leaving the terribly empty view, "but Watson is currently arranging a transfer to a specialized facility in London."
"Yeah," Harry answered. His voice sounded resigned enough that Nikola couldn't resist the urge to look at him. His shoulders had slumped as he curled around his pillow like it was his only source of comfort in the world. There were two empty jello cups at the end of the bed. "Figured that biting Tom would be the final straw before they sectioned me. I didn't think it would happen this quickly, but it's probably for the best."
"You haven't been sectioned," Nikola said. The very idea of it had his instincts riled again. He could feel his fangs itching to drop again as he clenched his fists to hide the way his claws had already started inching out. He would rip apart anyone who even tried to lock the boy away. He would destroy them.
Harry's nose twitched before he shifted his gaze to Nikola again. His gaze swept over Nikola, analyzing every little detail with an expression that was just like James when he was about to connect things that no one else would have. Yet it was the fragile hope that Nikola could see in those dark green eyes (so much like Lily's that it hurt) that had Nikola stop resisting the changes. He watched as Harry took in the fangs, the darkened eyes, and even the claw-like nails.
"You're like me," Harry said in awe. He uncurled as he turned his whole body towards Nikola. He even kneeled on the bed and leaned towards him. Harry's nostrils flared as he scented the room again. Black was seeping into the green of his irises now. "No, not like," he corrected. The words were a bit mangled due to the tiny fangs now protruding over his bottom lip. "You're mine."
The tiny hairs on Nikola's body rose at the electricity gathering in the air. Absently, he channeled it safely away from the equipment. Harry must have felt the change because he suddenly blinked like he was coming back to himself. His vampiric traits retreated like water down a drain.
"What?"
"There's a lot that I can teach you, miš," Nikola said, daring to approach the bed again as Harry mouthed the Serbian endearment to himself, "but yes, I am yours. I didn't know you even existed before today, but you are undeniably my progeny."
Mindful of the wires and tubing hanging off the child, Nikola pulled Harry into a hug. There was still so much unknown about the situation. Nikola couldn't even begin to process how small and fragile Harry felt in his arms. Honestly, he felt like he was little more than skin and bones. A trace of worry about accidentally breaking the boy wormed its way into the back of Nikola's mind.
Harry hesitated for just a breath before snuggling into Nikola's chest. He began rubbing his cheek against Nikola's shirt, likely not even realizing the instinct he was following. Nikola returned the scenting by pressing his own cheek to Harry's hair (so much like James' untamable curls) and rubbing his wrists along Harry's neck and shoulders. Anyone with the nose to do so would be able to smell the claim and know that Harry belonged to someone, that he was protected.
That Harry was his.
And he always would be.