Union of Three

Union of Three

Chapter 4

“You’re the one that compared me to a kitten,” said Harry dismissively. “Besides, I’m a Gryffindor, and lions are pack animals, or pride animals rather, so it makes sense that I would form close relationships, right?”

“You’re more Slytherin than Gryffindor, Potter, and snakes don’t form those attachments,” said Draco insistently.

“Well, look at it as having the best traits from both houses: bravery and loyalty from Gryffindor, and cunning and ambition from Slytherin,” said Harry.

“What ambition?” asked Hermione, arching a brow facetiously. “Homework was too much of an effort for you.”

“Why worry about homework when I have to worry about a snake faced madman dogging my steps?” asked Harry reasonably. “My ambition is to live long enough to destroy the man who murdered my family.”

“My ambition is to keep everyone’s hands off my mate, so get your arse out of that bed, Potter,” said Draco firmly, ready to pull his mate out of the bed by force if he had to.

“Sod off, Ferret,” said Ron irritably. “We were having a private conversation before you showed up, and as soon as you leave, we can finish it.”

“There is no way in hell I’m leaving my mate in bed with someone else. You’ll just have to speed this conversation up a bit,” said Draco, crossing his arms irritably. He didn’t plan to step foot outside that room unless Harry was beside him.

“Draco, what is your problem?” asked Hermione abruptly. “Ron and I are Harry’s best friends and have been since we started at Hogwarts. What do you expect us to do? Strip naked and shag each other?” She burst out laughing as three horrified looks turned towards her.

“No way in hell!” yelled the three males.

“First of all, Harry’s a guy and I am so not into that, and secondly, he’s like my brother,” said Ron quickly.

“I agree with Ron. He’s like my brother and that’s just gross,” said Harry, shuddering slightly in disgust at the thought.

“Harry’s my mate, and he’s not getting naked with anyone but his mates,” snarled Draco possessively. He stalked to the bed and tried to pull Harry from the bed.

Harry immediately tried to slap Draco’s hands away, determined to put off dealing with the Malfoys. Hermione and Ron just grabbed one of Harry’s arms to keep him anchored to the bed. Draco suddenly growled and a portal opened underneath Ron. Ron dropped into the portal with a startled yelp, losing his grip on Harry’s arm and disappearing. In the next moment, Hermione suffered the same fate.

“What the hell did you do, Malfoy?” cried Harry, jumping from the bed and slamming Draco against the wall. “Where are they?”

“They should be back at Grimmauld Place. I didn’t send them to their deaths, unfortunately,” said Draco petulantly. He suddenly pushed out of Harry’s grip and reversed their positions, pressing his body close to the elf’s. “I’m very possessive, Harry, and I don’t share.”

“Well, I guess you’re going to have a miserable life then,” said Harry snidely. “In case you’ve forgotten, I have the misfortune of having two mates, and according to you, if I don’t complete the bond, I don’t have access to my full powers. That means I have to complete the bond with both mates, not just one.”

“That’s a little different, Harry,” purred Draco, licking the curve of Harry’s jaw.

“And just how do you figure that?” asked Harry, jerking his face away from Draco’s exploring tongue.

“Well, he’s family,” said Draco, moving his teasing tongue to the point of Harry’s ear. “Fae are very sexual creatures, and it’s not uncommon to share partners within the family.”

“Oh hell no,” said Harry, trying vainly to push Draco away. “I am not going to be passed around your family like a piece of meat. Nor do I intend to mate with someone who will constantly cheat on me. I’ll just have to find another way to defeat Voldemort.”

“That doesn’t apply to mates, Harry. Fae have very long life spans, and it sometimes takes decades to find their mate. You don’t actually expect them to remain celibate just because they haven’t found their mate yet, do you?” asked Draco, smiling at Harry’s possessiveness.

Harry suddenly stomped hard on Draco\'s foot, gaining his freedom as the blonde hopped slightly in pain. Pushing past Draco, Harry stormed to the door. \"I don\'t know what you expect from me, but right now, I don\'t really like you. You and your father have done nothing but hurt me, and I can\'t get past that yet. Since you don\'t have to remain celibate, why don\'t you leave me alone for a while?\"

\"I can\'t do that, Harry. We\'ve already started the bonding process, and as such, we can\'t have sex with anyone else. The fae mate for life, and we are always faithful to our mates,\" said Draco quietly. \"Plus the bond is urging us to compete the act to tie us all together. The longer you put it off, the more intense the longing becomes.\"

\"Well, it will have to wait a little while longer,\" said Harry firmly. \"I\'m going to see why Ron and Hermione haven\'t made it back yet.\"

*****

\"I really can\'t stand that brat, Lucius. Do you see what he did to me?\" snarled Severus, staring at his chest angrily. He had four shallow slashes across his chest courtesy of Potter.

\"You have no one to blame but yourself for that, Severus. I would have done the same thing in that situation,\" said Lucius arrogantly. \"You\'re lucky I didn\'t do that to you. I\'ve already warned you about abusing my mate and you came dangerously close to doing that today.\"

Severus snorted at the veiled threat and walked to the fireplace. Casting a spell to disengage the floo, he stomped back to his chair and flopped down. He didn\'t care what anyone said, he would never like the brat. Potter was still an arrogant little brat, just like his stepfather.

\"How many horcruxes are left?\" asked Severus abruptly.

\"I have no idea,\" said Lucius. \"I had no idea that the Dark Lord had created any until recently. I imagine Harry could tell you, though.\"

\"Harry could tell you what?\" asked Harry, storming into the living room. \"You have to do something about your son, Mr. Malfoy. He just sent Ron and Hermione through a portal.\" He stalked to the fireplace and tossed some floo powder into the flames, but nothing happened. \"What the hell is wrong with the floo?\"

\"I disabled it,\" said Severus with a hint of smugness in his voice.

\"Well, fix it,\" said Harry shortly.

\"No, I disabled it for a reason. It\'s a safety precaution. Besides, your little friends are safer at home than wherever you are. You have a tendency to get your friends killed,\" said Severus snidely.

Harry froze at the accusation, turning to face Severus slowly. Seeing the smug countenance on the man\'s face, Harry forcibly reigned in his temper and didn\'t give in to his urge to rip Snape\'s head off his shoulders. He resisted the urge, but it didn\'t keep his claws and teeth from growing. The flesh between his shoulders started to tingle, and Harry thought his wings were about to unfurl, but to his surprise, a small raven appeared before him.

/Master, I will bring back your friends/ said the raven, speaking directly into Harry\'s head.

\\How did you get here?\\ asked Harry in confusion.

/All vampires in the Korbin clan have raven tattoos that become their familiar. We are magical creatures, and I can bring your friends back quickly/ said the raven.

\\What is your name?\\ asked Harry.

/My name is Malise/ said the raven.

\\Thank you, Malise. I would appreciate it very much if you would retrieve my friends\\ said Harry gratefully.

/As you wish, master/ said Malise. A black smoke surrounded the raven, then disappeared in a flash, leaving no sign of Malise. Seconds later, the smoke returned and Hermione was standing in the living room, followed shortly by Ron. Malise flew to Harry and landed on his shoulder, nuzzling the vampire\'s cheek softly before returning to his previous state.

\"What the hell just happened?\" asked five voices at once. Ron and Hermione were still shocked to be back at Godric\'s Hollow. They had been trying to return for the last half hour. Draco had walked in just as Ron and Hermione had appeared in the living room. Lucius and Severus were still wondering where the raven had come from in the first place, much less how it was able to disappear like it did.

\"Malise offered to bring Ron and Hermione back, and I accepted her offer,\" said Harry simply.

\"Where did she come from?\" asked Lucius quickly.

\"She said that all vampires from the Korbin clan have raven tattoos that become their familiars. Her name, obviously, is Malise, and she is a magical creature,\" said Harry, shrugging slightly. \"That\'s all I know.\"

\"So, when she\'s not needed, she turns back into a tattoo?\" asked Hermione. Harry nodded and she squealed excitedly. \"That is so cool. I\'ve read about vampire clans who have tattoo familiars. There are only five clans remaining with this ability: the Ulric clan has wolf familiars, the Ormand clan has snake familiars, the Lavi clan has lion familiars, the Kuma clan has bear familiars, and the Korbin clan has raven familiars. All the other clans died out centuries ago.\"

\"Only you, Harry,\" said Ron quietly, feeling a twinge of jealousy when he realised the extent of Harry\'s inheritance.

\"What do you mean \'only me\'?\" asked Harry, staring at Ron in confusion.

\"Only you would discover that your supposedly muggleborn mother was truly an elf, your father is You-Know-Who, and even though James Potter is just you adoptive father, you manage to inherit vampire traits from one of only five vampire clans of its kind. Only you, Harry,\" said Ron with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

\"I didn\'t ask for this to happen, Ron,\" said Harry quietly, a little hurt that Ron was making an issue of it. He thought Ron had gotten over his jealousy during fourth year.

\"I know,\" said Ron softly, feeling guilty over the flash of hurt that had crossed his friend\'s face. He determinedly pushed his bitterness and jealousy away. They had been through too much together for him to let such petty emotions to destroy them. He pulled the brunette into a hug and whispered, \"You truly are special, and I\'m honoured to be your best friend.\"

Harry smiled brightly at Ron\'s whispered statement and hugged his friend tightly. His hug was cut short, though, when he was pulled forcibly from Ron\'s grip and pulled against a firm chest. He turned to berate Draco once again for being so possessive, only to find that Lucius was the one growling warningly at Ron.

\"Stop it,\" he hissed quietly to the blonde. \"What is your problem? Ron is my friend, practically my brother.\"

\"You\'re my mate. He needs to keep his hands off,\" growled Lucius, lifting Harry into his arms and storming to the library. Once there, he slammed the door and cast a locking charm. It was time for him to further the bond between them.

*****

\"Damn it, he\'s going to start without me,\" said Draco petulantly, watching his father and his mate disappear into the library. \"He\'d better not try to complete the bond.\"

\"And on a different topic because I certainly do not want to discuss Potter\'s sex life, do either of you know how many horcruxes are left?\" asked Severus, wrinkling his nose at the thought of Lucius and Potter in that room together.

\"Harry said there were two left,\" said Hermione quickly. \"Salazaar\'s locket and Nagini.\"

\"Nagini is a horcrux?\" asked Severus musingly. \"I thought they had already found the locket. That\'s what he and Albus went to retrieve the night Albus died.\"

\"You mean the night you killed him,\" muttered Ron spitefully. He didn\'t care what the man said, he still believed that Snape killed Dumbledore by his own choice.

\"Shut up, Weasley,\" snarled Draco furiously. \"You don\'t know what you\'re talking about. If you mention it again, I\'ll-\"

\"That\'s enough, Draco,\" said Severus softly. \"Mr. Weasley, I will tell you this once and once only. I killed Albus because he was already dying. Between destroying the horcrux in the Gaunt ring and consuming the potion protecting the locket, Albus wouldn\'t live through the night. The Dark Lord forced Draco to try and kill Albus by using his mother\'s life as incentive. Do not bring this up again.\" Ron nodded slowly. \"Now then, about the locket?\"

\"The locket they found was a fake,\" said Hermione, relaying the information Harry had given her. \"There was a note inside the locket. An R.A.B. took the true locket because he\'d lost faith in Voldemort. Harry believes that Regulas Black took the locket shortly before Voldemort killed him and hid it at Grimmauld Place.\"

“Have you searched for it yet?” asked Severus.

“No,” said Hermione. “We found the other two first since Nagini would be with Voldemort and the locket was at Grimmauld Place.”

“Why haven’t you looked for the locket?” asked Draco sharply. “It’s not like you couldn’t get to it. Or better yet, why don’t you go now?”

“Draco!” said Severus harshly.

“What? It’s just a suggestion,” said Draco unrepentantly. He just wanted the little Gryffindors, and Severus too to be honest, gone for a while so that he could spend some time with his mate without distraction.

“You just want us gone so you seduce Harry, you little ferret,” said Ron irritably. He was tired of Malfoy pushing him away from his best friend. That last little stunt with the portal was just over the top.

“And your point?” asked Draco arrogantly. “If you were any kind of a friend, you would be urging him to complete the bond so that he would be at full strength when he faced the Dark Lord.”

“Now that is some twisted logic,” said Hermione. “As Harry’s friends, we only want him to be happy and safe. As long as you keep Harry in that state of mind, well, more power to you. But if you hurt him in any way, I’ll make your worst nightmares a reality, and it will last a long, long time. I suggest, strongly, that you do not hurt my friend.”

“I’m with her, Malfoy,” said Ron seriously, “though I’m more inclined to just rip you limb from limb if you hurt Harry. He’s my little brother, so I would be the least of your worries if he gets hurt. My mother would make You-Know-Who seem like your saviour in the end.”

“Enough already. I get the point,” growled Draco irritably.

“Well, now that that’s settled, I’m going to bed. I may go to Grimmauld Place in the morning to begin the search for the locket,” said Hermione, yawning and blinking sleepily. “Ron, you can sleep in my room and Professor Snape can take the couch. Malfoy, you’ll have to find your own accommodations.”

Hermione and Ron left for bed, leaving Severus and Draco in the living room. “Now what?” asked Draco.

“Now, you go find Lucius and Potter so that I can get some sleep,” said Severus, pushing Draco towards the library. “Goodnight, Draco.”

“Goodnight, Sev,” said Draco softly. As Severus returned to his couch, Draco pulled out his wand and disabled Lucius’ locking charms. He cautiously opened the door and peered inside. “What the fuck is going on here?” he demanded incredulously.