Claimed

Authors Note: I've been really struggling with this story and ended up scraping 3 whole chapters and rewriting them, and I like it better now. I'm just not sure where to go from here. Thanks to Alexandra for her extra beta of this particular story

Chapter 6 Truths

Harry could hear the voices shouting in the study as if it were right in front of him.

Lucius’s study of course was on the other side of the large manor, and only his overly sensitive hearing could allow him such a feat.

“What did you say to him?” Lucius demanded.

“Why does it matter? He snuck into my room in the middle of the night, doesn’t this bother you?” Draco asked. His voice was panicked and withdrawn. Harry knew from both his previous experience and his talks with Narcissa that no one challenged Lucius, least of all his own son.

A violent thud sounded, and Harry imagined Lucius fist pounding into his massive mahogany desk. “Of course it does not bother me, son. Harry is our family. He would never hurt you. He’s not even capable of it,” Lucius added, his voice softer, placating.

“Not capable of it? Do you think I missed the body the house elves got rid of yesterday? He killed that innocent woman, and who knows what he would do to mother and I,” Draco spat.

Harry cringed at his words. Draco disapproved of his feeding methods. The idea had never occurred to Harry to do things differently. Would Draco like him more if he starved himself, or stopped before he killed his victims? He didn’t know what he could do to appease the boy, but he would do anything.

He could clearly hear the hissed intake of breath from Lucius at Draco’s words as well. His father was obviously trying to hide the muggle corpses from his son. “He has to feed on someone, Draco. Stop being so naïve,” his father sneered.

“He wouldn’t need to if you hadn’t changed the poor boy over in the first place. You made him a monster!” Draco shouted.

Harry felt a twinge of longing for his human form, something that might have been more appealing to Draco. He couldn’t understand the pull he had toward the boy, but it was so strong that Harry felt no hope that he could fight it. Draco’s harsh words from the night before left a gaping hole in Harry’s already broken heart.

“He’s not a monster, he’s your brother. You had best begin acting accordingly.” Lucius’s voice faltered and Harry didn’t need to delve into the man’s thoughts to know why. His plans had backfired. He hoped to make Harry into a puppet, a powerful otherworldly creature that he could control as a pawn.

Harry turned out to be more powerful and more self-assured than he had estimates possible. Perhaps something from the Malfoy blood not only endeared him to them and vice versa, but also transferred some of their inherent personality traits, making Harry essentially, the wizard Lucius had always wished to be himself.

Powerful, cunning and cruel.

He had no care for what Lucius wanted however. He only cared about the younger Malfoy, and what he wanted.

A voice muttered, still loud enough for Harry to hear even from his quarters, but low enough that Lucius would have needed to strain to make out the words. “I don’t feel very brotherly toward him,” Draco whispered, obviously for only his own ears.

It wasn’t the words Harry perked up at, they could have been just as easily a condemnation, no, not the words, but the inflection and the tone. Harry found himself perched on his bed frame like a sentient gargoyle, listening closer for the sounds he heard, wanting more of it.

Draco’s voice was thick with a longing Harry had never felt from the boy. No snippet of words or emotion had made themselves present to him as of yet, but just then, with those simple ambiguous words, he could hear a mirror of his own lust, and his own desire, pulling at Draco’s heart the same as it did on his own.

--

That evening Severus called on Harry. He had yet to see the transformation and seemed curious about Harry’s new form.

Harry could hear him make his way up the stairs, and heard him take a deep breath before knocking sharply on his door. He could tell the man was nervous, having been a victim to Harry’s pull prior to the change. His heart was pounding in anticipation of what he would see when Harry opened the door.

Chuckling to himself, he went to Severus and smiled as the door swung open. Harry was happy that his mind reading abilities extended to Snape, though not to the same degree as with Lucius. But it made him curious as to why he couldn’t read the thoughts of Draco and his mother.

Severus’s eyes went wide upon seeing Harry and he fell into a low bow. “My Lord.”

Rolling his eyes Harry reached over and pulled Snape upright. “Not you too, professor,” he groaned. “I really can’t take the subservient attitude.”

“But Lucius said,” Snape began, but Harry cut him off with a laugh.

“I let Father do it because it’s the least he deserves for this mess he’s made,” he said with a small wicked smile.

Severus smiled wider and nodded. “Yes, he does deserve a bit of punishment, does he not?”

With a nod, Harry gestured his Professor to come into his quarters. They sat in a small sitting area and Dobby brought them tea. “Are you staying for dinner?” Harry asked.

“If you wish,” Severus answered with an unexplained look.

Harry wished to know what was behind the man’s stare, so he delved into his mind, plucking out fragments of information as he went. He was thoroughly enamored with Harry in his vampire form, and was thinking things about him that would have made a human blush, but alas, Harry had not eaten recently, so he could not pull off such a feat.

He did relish in the sexual attention though. It was a heady thing to know that one could take possession of a full-grown man and even kill them without a single complaint. He declined to act on it, of course; his affections were for Draco alone.

However, a little flirting could go a long way toward making Snape a useful ally in the future, since he had already proven so useful in the past.

He leaned closer to the man and nearly laughed at the reaction in Severus’s thoughts. He was close to bursting with anticipation, hoping for even a single kiss from Harry. “Do you think you could help me brew something that would make Lucius uncomfortable? Nothing too unseemly, of course.”

Snape nodded blankly, a crooked smile forming on his face. Harry sighed and leaned back in his chair. It was disappointing how easy it was to get what he wanted, no challenge whatsoever. Draco was the only one who posed any challenge, and it was he Harry wanted more than anything. It was infuriating.

“Would you like him to have boils perhaps, or possibly loss of limb?” Snape asked.

Harry shook his head. “No, no. Nothing that extreme, he is my father now after all, and I wouldn’t want to upset Mother too terribly.”

“I could arrange a temporary banishment to a muggle town, or perhaps take his powers away for a bit?” he suggested.

“That could be promising, he is quite fond of being a wizard. Living like a muggle for a time could humble him greatly,” Harry mused. “Yes, let’s work on that one. Let me know when you have something prepared.”

Severus smiled. “The items needed for a magic inhibitor are all here in the storeroom. I could whip something up before dinner.”

“Brilliant,” Harry whispered with a smug grin. He pulled Snape to his feet and led him to the potions laboratory.

--

As promised, Severus had the magic inhibitor ready and pressed the vial of blue potion into Harry’s palm, letting his fingers linger just a little longer than necessary.

Harry summoned Dobby and gave him the vial. “This is a wellness potion I have created for Father. Put it in his drink tonight, but do not call his attention to it, do you understand?

“But master, I couldn’t do anything that could hurt Master Malfoy,” Dobby shrieked.

“It won’t harm him, Dobby. Mother says he rarely takes healing potions as he should and he’s been developing a cough. It will be easier just to sneak it to him,” Harry said casually.

Dobby still didn’t look like he was going to comply, so he gave the elf the full weight of his gaze. “Will you do this small thing for me Dobby?” he asked smoothly.

The elf nodded as if in a trance and Harry smiled and dismissed him.

It was almost time for dinner to begin, so Harry took Snape’s hand, suppressing a laugh at the man’s dirty thoughts, and led him to the dining hall. Draco was already there and his eyes narrowed when he saw Harry enter. They did not remain angry however, for when his eyes flicked down to Severus’s hand clasped firmly within Harry’s his gaze changed altogether.

Harry wondered at the change and not for the first time cursed the fact that he could not read the boy’s mind.

They took their seats, sitting side by side next to Draco. He cringed away at first, but after a moment he relaxed and focused on Snape. “Professor, what brings you to the manor this evening?”

Snape smiled pleasantly. “I’m here to see your brother, and he invited me to stay for dinner.”

Draco laughed. “Really? Are you sure he meant dinner here at the table and not dinner as him drinking your blood and murdering you?”

Harry’s eyes went wide at the accusation. He was perfectly capable of controlling himself around the family and their guests.

“Why you petulant little whelp,” Snape growled. “How can you say such things about your own family?”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Well, it’s a fair assumption, since he doesn’t actually eat dinner. Beside, he’s no family of mine,” he added with a haughty wave.

Harry looked between his professor and his beloved and was shocked to see the animosity so clear on both faces. “How dare you speak of Harry this way? He’s perfection personified, and a fair bit more civilized than you,” Snape spat.

“More civilized? Do you call murdering poor innocent muggle girls civilized? You’re an ignorant old fool, and I’ll be counting down the days until my dear brother rips out your throat!” he shouted.

Harry winced at Draco’s words and sat back further in his chair, trying to blend into the expensive brocade fabric.

“He’s a vampire you nit wit, not an uncontrollable monster,” Snape scoffed. “He’s perfectly capable of controlling himself around guests and family.

Harry blanched at the words Snape spoke, and realized that he must have put them in his mind. They were the exact words he had been thinking earlier.

“Don’t you think you’re a bit old to be pining over a seventeen year old, professor? Why I bet if the Headmaster knew of your predilection to children he would be appalled,” Draco spat.

Snape’s eyes went wide and he stood, pointing a sallow finger in Draco’s face. “Your father will hear of your insults, and don’t think for a moment you won’t be punished, you jealous little brat.”

Draco sputtered and blinked rapidly. “Jealous? Jealous of what? That you’ll get your throat ripped out while mine will remain perfect and pristine?” he scoffed.

“No, you’re jealous that soon, I will take him into my bed, and you wish for him to be with you instead.”

Harry looked at Snape incredulously, not believing he just said such a thing, but realized instantly that he hadn’t, at least not out loud. “You’ll see. Soon you’ll be all too aware of the jealousy I speak of,” Snape said instead and pushed away from the table, stalking quickly from the room. “Please give my regrets to your father, Harry,” he called back softly. “I will see you again soon, I hope.” He bit his lip to keep from saying more and left, disappearing into the adjoining room.

Draco threw the napkin he had spread across his lap onto his plate and got up as well. “Well, I hope you’re happy now, ruining dinner,” he spat, not looking in Harry’s direction. “Tell father I’ll take dinner in my room tonight.”

He too turned and stalked from the room, using a different set of doors than Snape had.

Authors Note: Please let me know what you guys think on this one, and if anyone has any suggestions as to where this should move, please let me know. lol