Claimed

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Chapter 12 Destiny Waits for No Vampire

Draco’s eyes widened as his former professor lunged at his throat. He bound through the air like an electrified cat, but Draco easily sidestepped his movements and swatted him sharply in the back of the head. “Pull yourself together, man,” he shouted.

Snape looked disoriented for a moment but seemed to compose himself, looking around the room with unease.

“What do you think you were doing, trying to attack me in my own home,” Draco scoffed.

“You sent him away,” Snape snarled, baring his yellowed teeth.

“Well, are you going to help me bring him back, or are you going to merely growl at me all day?” Draco asked with a wry grin.

Severus rolled his eyes. “And to think, you used to be one of my favorite pupils,” he muttered.

Draco watched his former professor warily. He had seen what he currently saw in the older mans eyes several times before. Severus was plotting something nefarious, and Draco would need to find out what his scheme was before it came back to bite him in the arse.

“I’ll assist you on one condition,” Snape offered.

“And that condition would be?” Draco asked, genuinely curious.

“That if we do find him, you’ll let me speak to him and make my case first. I’m far better suited for him than you, and he should get to choose properly between us,” Snape demanded.

Draco had to stifle a laugh. “Those are reasonable terms, Severus,” he responded when he felt he could get the words out without snickering. He knew that there was nothing Snape could say or do that would sever the binds between mates. Harry would leave with Draco.

Harry belonged to Draco.

“Well, then we should get started. I can tell where he was headed, and the fasted way for us to get there would be portkey,” Snape noted.

“That would take a week or more to get from the Ministry,” Draco replied with a huff.

“Then we can use a series of apparition points and get there in three days, or we can use muggle transportation and be there in less than two,” Snape offered.

Draco paced the expansive sitting room in Harry’s quarters and thought it over. He really had no want to ever travel as a muggle, but it would be the quickest way of getting to him. He yearned to be with him as soon as possible, and that yearning won out.

“What would traveling like a muggle entail?” Draco asked with heavy trepidation.

“We would fly, using a muggle airline to Ireland, and then use two apparition points from there. Getting into their fortress will be the difficult part,” Snape added.

“Fine. We’ll do that,” Draco muttered, not happy about the idea of flying like a muggle, but content with the fact that he would see Harry soon.

“I’ll make the arrangements and floo you with the details,” Snape said and walked briskly from the room.

Draco watched him go and then turned his attention back to the map. Deep within the Sugarloaf Mountains lived a kiss of vampires, who according to legend hadn’t killed a human in over four hundred years.

He mulled over the idea of becoming a vampire and shuddered.

It hadn’t been the life he thought he was fated for, but could he accept it in the end? Could he become a loathsome monster just to be with Harry?

He didn’t know.

--

“You know me?” Harry asked of the shiny golden king.

“I do, as do all of our kind. It was destiny that placed you within these walls, and we have been anxious for your arrival,” he replied. His voice reverberated around the giant hall and Harry noticed that he couldn’t feel the king’s thoughts. Was the man shielding, or was he merely immune to Harry’s powers as Narcissa and Draco were?

Thinking of Draco broke his heart and he winced, falling to one knee. The further he was away from his beloved, the weaker he felt.

“Do not think on it my child,” the king said. “We shall free you from your bond with the young dragon. Already events are being set into motion to ensure your safe separation from the hold he has upon your soul.”

The idea of being permanently separated from Draco was suddenly the most offensive idea he had ever heard, even though that was precisely the reason for his visit. It was only at the kings words that Harry realized what he had really wanted, a way to be with Draco without hurting him or changing him.

“There is no way,” the king answered his unspoken thoughts. “The only way is to remove the bind completely. That way, you will live and so will he and you can go on to fulfill your destiny.”

“And what precisely is my destiny?” Harry asked. This was the second time the kind had mentioned it, and Harry had a hard time believing he was a pawn of fate.

“Not a pawn, no,” the king began, again answering Harry’s mind instead of his verbal question. “You are more like the brave knight, fated to protect the Queen so that she may win in the end.”

“And I suppose you would be the Queen in this scenario?” Harry asked with a wry grin.

The king chuckled lightly and it was the sound of a thousand wind chimes twinkling in the air. “No, no. Not myself, but my people, our people. We have more then ten thousand among us, Harry. Ten thousand vampires, all with the strength of more than a hundred humans, most with the power to read minds, and some with the power to influence them, and even some that have abilities unique to even our kind. We are a mighty force, Harry, but not unbreakable.”

“What in Merlin’s name do you think would cause you harm? We are no one’s pray, nor their enemy. What need would you have for a knight to defend this fortress?” Harry asked.

“We are only at risk to ourselves. There is great discord amongst our people. There are those who believe we are far superior to the humans and they wish to conquer them, make them our slaves and our food. Their persuasive whispers are finding a foot hold within our carefully built structure and it threatens to fall,” the king said.

“What could I possibly do to prevent that?” Harry asked. Surely there had to be a more qualified Vampire among them to do whatever the king was requesting.

The king shook his head. “You are special, Harry. Even amongst all our ranks, you have something that is unique,” he said, and at Harry’s quizzical expression he continued. “You’re are a wizard first and a vampire second.”

“Surely there is another with you like me, I saw the spelled sky and the potions in the market,” Harry replied.

“We employ wizards to create these things for us, in fact, our very gentle existence is only possible because of the Bloodbane potion they make and distribute to our people,” the king told him.

“Bloodbane potion?” Harry asked.

“These amulets around our neck absorb the potion, and with them, we can feed off of the magic, instead of human blood. The darker the stone, the more sated we are, and likewise, the paler the stone, the higher the risk that the vampire wearing it will break out pact and feed on humans,” he said, twirling the amulet within his nimble hands.

“But I saw some people in the crowd who had clear stones, “Harry said in a panic.

The king nodded solemnly. “Yes, that is a sign of the resistance. Those who refuse the potion are brought before me, if they continue to refuse the potion at my behest, then they are taken to a holding cell where they cannot harm anyone. A vampire will go mad after time if they do not feed, and we cannot have a berserk on our hands.”

Harry nodded, having read about the berserk Vampire. There was one a time when vampire leaders would starve their armies before going to war with another Kiss. It made the vampires stronger physically and at first seemed a brilliant strategy. They soon realized however that the extra strength was based on the fact that they could not feel, and they would keep going even if on fire, or in the sunlight. It also came at the cost of their ability to think logically, and they would often attack their own clan member just a surely as the enemy.

After passing into that frame of mind, it was nearly impossible to bring them back, and most had to be destroyed.

The king raised a brilliant golden eyebrow in admiration. “You have already done a great deal of research on our kind, this is good. It shaves that much more time from your training.”

“And what will I be training for?” Harry asked, slightly nervous. He remembered Lucius offering him magical training, only to fill his own wicked wishes.

“I would like you to stand with me, against the rebellion. I think your presence here will change the stance of many of their followers. I already hear their minds stir with questions about you. If your very standing against them does not do enough, we will need to make sure you are prepared for battle, as you are our greatest asset,” the king replied.

“But why would my presence make any difference? Even as a wizard, what could I possibly offer?” Harry asked, still unwilling to believe he was special.

“Ah, but Harry, you are special. I know it is true, because the prophecy tells us so,” the king said in a booming tenor.

--

Draco stared down at the small scrap of parchment in his hands, which Snape had called a boarding pass. He had no idea how it was going to help him fly to Ireland.

He hated being surrounded by so much metal. There was no magic in the kind of metal these muggles used to build their giant structures. Magic was stone and wood and natural things. It could also be found in metal, but only in it’s raw form. This metal was processed and ruined for all magical purposes.

Snape glowered at the muggles that surrounded them in hordes. As they approached and are with large plastic and metal doorways a portly woman in a blue jumper stopped them.

“Sirs, you’ll have to take off your shoes,” she said casually and waved the next people to come forward.

“My shoes? What are you going to do with my shoes?” Severus asked, thoroughly annoyed.

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Sir, don’t make me ask you again. Put your shoes in the basket and send them through the metal detector. You’re lucky I don’t have you strip searched,” she added before turning back to the other muggles, muttering things like ‘weird arse cape wearing moron’.

Snape’s foul mood put a smile on Draco’s face, in spite of being surrounded by so many muggles. He had initially dreaded the experience, but now found muggle customs quite entertaining.

“I’m coming for you, Harry,” he whispered into the air. “I love you and I’ll be there soon.”

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