Harry Potter and the Allied Forces

Body


Warning, Disclaimer, etc: part 1, please and thanks.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

It had been another week, two more targets silenced, and Severus' hunger was growing despite the medical blood he had every morning. It was getting so bad that he finally went directly to Integra's office himself. The guards watched him, but did not stop him from entering.

"Sir Integra," he began, bowing before the woman standing before him. "I've come to ask your... permission, I suppose."

Integra raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"This... hunger is not appeased by the bags of medical blood," he explained as plainly as he could. "It is driving me mad, Sir... I want to know where I can make a kill..."

"Oh, my," Integra breathed.

"I'm rather impressed, wizard," that familiar voice said as the owner collected himself from the shadows. "You've held out much longer than I expected you to. Has the desire to separate from your master truly become so overwhelming?"

"My powers... my potential... cannot be realised while he's holding me back," he admitted very, very quietly; Integra's human ears could not hear him. "If I shall become a target myself... so be it. I just ask that you silence me yourself."

Arucard's mouth stretched into a wide grin. His canines seemed to catch the dim light as he laughed. "Oh, I think not, Severus, my dear," he drawled, extending his hand to the other vampire. "Do you pledge your loyalty to the Hellsing-?"

"Sir Integra has had my loyalty from the very beginning," Severus hissed as though he was insulted.

"Then come with me, Severus Snape." Arucard extended his hand. "We shall make a true vampire of you tonight!"

***

Harry Potter shivered and pulled his cloak tight around him. He scanned the vacant compound, sighed, and stood up. He'd waited for his professor for hours. Clearly, he was not going to be returning anytime soon.

Just as he'd given up, a warm wind brushed the hair off his face. He turned around to see Severus and Arucard walking towards him from the front gate. He gasped silently as he couldn't draw his eyes from his professor's form.

"It's a bit late for you to be wandering the compound, don't you think?" Arucard admonished the boy in the same humourous tone he always used.

But Harry didn't hear him. He didn't honestly care that Arucard even existed. All he could fathom was that a monumentous change had occurred within the other vampire. Professor Snape had changed. Again.

"Sir?" he muttered up to Severus, who seemed to loom even more than he ever had before.

The two vampires exchanged glances. Arucard smirked, thenan wan whistling a tune as he walked away. Severus looked down at Harry, who seemed much smaller and much younger than he ever had. "What is it, Potter?" he asked, voice soft.

Words failed him. He'd waited for his professor just so he could be around something familiar. The men around him, the weapons he wasrninrning to use, the uniforms, the food, and virtually everything was different. Nothing there reminded him of home. Except for Severus.

Sighing, Severus laid an arm over the boy's shivering shoulders and pulled him close to his body. Harry melted into the embrace, burying his face in the harsh material of the vampire's jacket. His arms were trying to hold onto his cloak and Severus at the same time, so he abandoned the one he needed least. The first sobs reached Severus' ears as the cloak fell to the ground.

"Oh, dear," he murmured as he tightened his hold on the boy. But it was cold outside and without a cloak, Harry wouldn't last long. With another heavy sigh, Severus heaved the boy into his arms, summoned the cloak he'd dropped, and walked with him to the Hellsing House.

**

"Severus! I was wondering what- What are you doing?" Seras exclaimed as her roommate entered with a body in his arms.

Severus held a finger to his lips to indicate the boy was asleep. He laid him out on his bed, covered him with his cloak, and turned back to Seras, who was looking extremely puzzled.

"Severus? What's the matter?"

Before answering, he sat down at the table and let his gaze rest on the unopened bag of medical blood still in the bucket of ice. "He is not having an easy time of things," he whispered after considering it a moment. "And he's come to me at last..."

The way Severus saw it, it was only a matter of time before Harry would break down and seek out his company. Severus was the onlyson son who had never lied to Harry, never put him on a pedestal, never withheld vital information, and he was the only person who honestly tried to keep the boy out of harm's way. It hadn't taken as long for Harry to realise this as the vampire had anticipated. And it couldn't have come at a worse time for either of them.

Seras' unwavering gaze finally got through Severus' head. "Victoria... have you ever had a child?" he asked without removing his gaze from the sleeping youth on his bed.

"N-no, I haven't," she replied hesitantly. She also sat down at the table.

"Nor have I," he said. "I've never honestly desired children. At any point in my life. And yet... I've seen so many parents fail... unknowing of their children... who they are... why is it up to me to thi this boy guidance? I have failed at life so spectacularly... what can I possibly do to make sure that he succeeds?"

Vampires are not, by nature, very cuddly beings. They do not frequently seek the touch of another. So when a vampire is inclined toward another physically, a very strong bond has been formed between them. Or so Severus realised when he found that Seras was holding his right hand in both of hers.

*****