Claimed

Authors Notes: Many thanks to Alexandra, who has been a shining beacon of betadom through all my stories. lol. Still no Draco, sorry, next chapter I promise. grin.

Two nights had passed since Harry’s meeting with Snape, and for two nights he dutifully drank the glass of blood Lucius brought him when he turned in for the evening. It was dinnertime on the third day and no one was speaking. Harry had never let Lucius know that he was aware of his plans, but he had hinted it to Narcissa, whose eyes shown with unshed tears at the table.

She was already mourning him.

“You’ll be meeting my son in a week’s time,” Lucius said, interrupting the brooding silence.

“I look forward to it,” Harry said with a nod.

“He’ll love you I’m sure, just as we both do,” he added, indicating to himself and Narcissa.

“You have both been so lovely to me,” Harry said, his voice not betraying the agony and longing he felt for his former life. “I know you would do nothing at all to hurt me,” he finished, looking directly at Lucius as he said it.

A silent sob wracked Narcissa’s body and Lucius merely nodded and looked away. Harry sighed and continued to push his food around on his plate. He had grown decreasingly hungry over the weeks, but didn’t really notice it until he heard Snape’s news.

He had spent the last few days in the large manor library researching everything he could about vampires, so as to learn more about what to expect if he did choose to continue down the path Lucius had set for him.

It wasn’t a decision he was willing to make lightly. If he were to shift into the world of darkness, he wanted to do so with his eyes wide open. He would be almost impossible to kill once he transformed, and so his last and only chance out was to decline drinking the glass of blood tonight.

After tonight, if he chose to continue, his life would be different. He would be forced to live on the life force of others, and his power could manifest in several ways. No matter the change, there would be blood lust; there was no changing that. Humans would have to die in order for Harry to keep living, and this fact alone might stay his hand tonight when he went to bed.

He would no longer be able to stand the light of day; it would injure his eyes and burn his skin. People would be drawn to him inexplicably, like a bee to a flower, like prey to its predator. The change would also increase his innate ability for magic, and that paired with practical immortality was what he believed forced Lucius’s hand this way.

It was something he had gleaned from Narcissa and his tutors. When they spoke of Lucius, they spoke of a man who craved power the same way that a human craved air. He wanted to be surrounded by it always.

It seemed he had found the ultimate circuit of power in the poor naive Harry Potter.

--

Narcissa had come to his room to wish him a good night. It was odd behavior in the way that she actually came to his suite of rooms to do so. Usually she would kiss him goodnight after their meal and retreat to her own wing of the manor.

But this time, she was saying goodbye, not goodnight.

She expected him to wake up a monster and she was fearful of it. She would be afraid of him. They would no longer be able to take their afternoon tea and walk in the gardens, and she would no longer feel comfortable with Harry at her dining table, knowing what he really wanted to eat would not be served.

He wondered how long it would take to control his urges. How many days, weeks or months it would take before he was no longer killing and draining every human within sight.

After his adopted mother left, Lucius came into the room with the same crystal goblet, filled with the same thick red liquid he had been plying Harry with for a month. “Harry,” he nodded, handing over the chalice.

Harry took it and stared for long moments. First at Lucius, then at the offending glass. “Are you certain you wish for me to drink this, sir,” he asked, meeting his cold gray gaze.

Lucius seemed startled for a moment. “Of course. It’s nothing different from your nightly potions. Do you see some change in it?” he asked, seeming to know that Harry would say he did not.

“No,” Harry said, and Lucius relaxed slightly. “But I do see a difference in myself.”

The older man took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. “Is there something you wish to ask me?”

“I only want to know how long I’ll be a monster,” Harry whispered.

Lucius took the glass from the boy’s hand and placed it on the nightstand. “You won’t be a monster, Harry,” he said gently. “I’ll help you, I promise. I’ll see you through this transformation.”

“What if I kill you?” Harry asked, not entirely displeased with the prospect.

“You won’t. I’m your family. You would no sooner hurt me than you would Narcissa,” he said. “It is Malfoy blood mixed with the Vampire blood in that glass. You’ll be bonded to our family as if you were my own son.”

“And if I refuse it?” he asked even quieter.

“Well, if you know as much as it seems you do – and I’ll be speaking with Severus about this – then you’ll know that if you refuse to drink this glass, you’ll die,” he answered.

Harry nodded.

“I won’t let you do that,” Lucius said, slightly more menacing than before. “I’ll force it on you if I must.”

Harry nodded again, and picking up the glass, lifted it as if in a toast. He tipped the contents into his mouth and swallowed. He barely registered the glass falling from his fingers and crashing to the ground with a shattering burst.

He only recalled the brief pain of his heart slowing, and the shock of trying to suck in air, but having none around him. Then he remembered darkness.

--

The curtains were drawn but faint light trickled in through them. His head pounded and after only a second Lucius entered the room. “How do you feel?” he asked, hovering over Harry’s still form.

“Thirsty,” Harry replied.

Lucius snapped his fingers and Dobby appeared in the room, a look of terror frozen on his face. He clutched a rope, and tied to the other end of it was a petite brunette girl. Her face was ashen with fear and the trembled at the other end of the rope.

“I have a present for you my son,” Lucius said, his voice not betraying the fear he held for the boy. “You may have her, you my feed from her, you may use her as you wish.” He bowed low and stepped from the room, locking the door behind him. With a faint pop Dobby also left, causing the girl to whimper and move closer to the door, away from Harry.

Harry licked his lips and nicked his tongue on the tip of his newly formed fangs. He could taste his own coppery blood and it made him even thirstier. The heartbeat of the girl across the room beat through his mind like a bass drum and made his head ache.

He slipped out of bed, feeling graceful and agile. The world around him seemed slower and sharper; as if he could see details he had never before seen. He took a step closer to the girl and her whimper was like sweet music to his ears.

He closed the vast distance between them in a blink of an eye and easily lifted her up to her feet. He ran a sharp nail across her exposed throat and it sliced her, causing her blood to well over and drip down her neck in a thin ribbon. He ran his tongue over the cut, shuddering at the taste of blood in his mouth.

She was sobbing silently now, a shivering wreck in his arms. He looked down at her an pity flared through his heart. She looked up nervously, and as soon as she met his transcendent green eyes, she was light and willing in his arms. She smiled up at him. “I’m yours,” she murmured, closing her eyes.

Harry bit her throat and her skin seemed to melt away like butter. Hot coppery blood filled his mouth and he drank deeply, feeling his body strengthen and his head ache wane. He opened his eyes and saw the world coming into even sharper focus than before, as the girl grew lighter and lighter in his arms.

He drained her completely and stretched out his new unfamiliar body. Looking down he felt a surge of regret, but that was easily overshadowed by his new senses. He could hear things he had never heard before. The steady thrum of magic ebbing around him was almost tangible.

Stepping over to the door, he unlocked it by only touching it with his mind. No wand, no spell, just a simple thought.

He could hear Lucius pacing in his study on the other side of the manor and he went to him.

--

“Thank you,” Harry said from the doorway.

If not for his new keen eyesight, Harry might not have picked up on the slightly furrowed brow, or the creases at the corner of Lucius’s eyes. Without his enhanced hearing, he certainly wouldn’t be able to hear his heartbeat quicken at the sight of him.

He bowed again and flinched when Harry touched his scalp. He looked up and Harry could plainly see the masked terror in his face. “There is nothing to thank me for, my lord,” Malfoy intoned.

Harry laughed, and it was like thick brass bells. “I’m your lord now am I?”

Malfoy nodded. “You are by far the most powerful wizard on earth at this moment, my lord.”

“And this was your intention?” Harry asked curiously. When Lucius only nodded, Harry decided he wanted more information, so he delved into the man’s mind and pulled the information he sought.

He chuckled to himself. “Let me see if I have this correct… in order to assure your family’s alignment with the next dark lord, you decided to create him?”

The shock on Lucius’s face was barely concealed, but Harry would have seen it regardless. He respected the man more for not keeping up pretenses. “Yes, my Lord, that was my plan. As your father, I would be bound to you in a way no other could be, thus ensuring my family’s place in the coming years.”

“Is it not true that you also seek to control me?” Harry asked, a hit of amused irritation in his voice.

Lucius blanched. “It is true that I hope to… influence you, yes.”

“Ah, Lucius, ever the honeyed tongue,” Harry said lightly and started walking circles around him. “As of now, I have no need to turn on my father,” he hissed the last word, “not yet at any rate. I’m sure you are beginning to comprehend the error in your initial judgment.”

Lucius bowed his head. “Yes my lord. Some of the side effects of the transformation are… unanticipated.”

Harry clucked him tongue. “Surely a Malfoy should know to anticipate everything?”

Lucius nodded. “Yes my lord. I have been remiss.”

“Is it safe for me to see mother do you think?” Harry asked. “I haven’t tried to kill you once during our conversation, though I was tempted… just not for the reasons I had thought,” he mused, more to himself than to Lucius.

“I am certain based on your current responsiveness that you will be able to hold your control with Narcissa as well.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Though, if it pleases you my lord, I shall like to accompany you.”

Harry laughed again. “Do you think you could stop me if I wished to harm her?”

Lucius seemed to ponder his question and finally shook his head. “No, but if you were to kill her, I would hope to be there so that you could kill me next.”

Looking in his mind he could see that his statement was true and so he gestured to the door in order for Lucius to lead the way. It felt odd to call him father, and Narcissa mother, but he could feel their blood coursing through his veins, he could smell their heady fragrance mixed with his own and he knew that whatever magic Lucius had tampered with had indeed bonded Harry to them.

As angry as he might be with Lucius he could not lay a hand on him. It would feel the same as injuring his own flesh and blood. It wouldn’t keep him from making his life miserable, though. Lucius had a debt to fulfill, and Harry intended to make certain he would right his wrongs.

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