Union of Three

Union of Three

Chapter 8

Hermione quickly finished the letter and attached it to Hedwig’s foot. “Take this to Harry, Hedwig, or Lucius Malfoy if you can’t find him. Be quick, though. It’s rather urgent.” She watched Hedwig fly off into the night and sighed. After slapping Snape, she’d gone directly to her room to pen a note to Harry asking him to come to Grimmauld Place as quickly as possible. Remus was threatening to call Aurors to come arrest Snape, and Snape was threatening Remus with silver and castration. She was tired of all the childish bickering, and that was just between the adults.

Ron had finally emerged from the basement empty handed and was positively thrilled to see Remus. Finding an ally with Snape baiting in the usually more reserved werewolf, Ron added his own insults to the repertoire of degrading witticisms. Hermione was about ready to strangle all three men just to get them to shut up for more than ten seconds at a time. She sighed and rubbed her throbbing temples when she heard the raised voices directly outside her room.

“You mangy mutt, I was at least invited here,” said Severus condescendingly. “You showed up of your own accord. Now if you don’t mind, I am looking for something so stay out of my way.”

“Don’t you tell me that I wasn’t invited here, you miserable bastard,” growled Remus. “Harry issued me a long standing invitation to visit any time I liked, and yes I do mind. I don’t want you putting your greasy hands on Harry’s property.”

Hermione snapped. She ripped the door open, glaring at the two men in the corridor. “I have had enough of you two,” she snarled. “I’ve already written to Harry, asking him to come here. Right now, though, I’ll take care of things my way.” Aiming her wand at Snape, she cast a silencing charm on him. Turning quickly to Remus, Hermione treated him to the same spell. “Since you won’t shut up on your own, I decided to help you along. Until you two can learn to get along, you’ll just have to remain silent. Now go away! You’re giving me a headache!” By the end of her tirade, she was positively screaming at the duo. Giving them one last glare, she slammed the door in the face.

Severus glared hatefully at Remus and stormed down the stairs into the library. Remus, refusing to let Severus get the best of him in any way, followed on his heels the whole way. As Remus cleared the door, Severus suddenly slammed him against the wall. Striking out instinctively, Remus landed a punch to Severus’ jaw, causing the Potion’s Master to loosen his grip on the werewolf. Remus pushed Severus, making the man fall over a chair, and pounced. Straddling Severus’ hips, Remus pulled his fist back to punch the man again and was suddenly flipped over onto his back.

Severus, shocking the hell out of Remus, swooped down and crushed his lips to the werewolf’s. Taking advantage of the werewolf’s surprise, he quickly thrust his tongue past the parted lips. One minute, Remus was trying to push Severus away, and in the next, he was trying to pull the man closer to him as he actively returned the kiss. Pulling frantically on Severus’ robes, Remus managed to remove them and set work on pushing his trousers out of the way. He had managed to get Severus’ trousers to the man’s knees when they were interrupted by a girlish scream. Looking towards the door, he saw Ron Weasley staring at them in horror.

Ron suddenly covered his eyes as he yelled, “My eyes! I’ve been blinded by the horror! Now I’m scarred for life, and it’s all that greasy bastard’s fault. How could you do this to me, Moony? I’ve been betrayed at every turn. First Harry starts shagging the Malfoys, and now you’re shagging the greasy git. What is wrong with you people?”

“What is going on here?” asked Harry.

*****

A loud knocking on the door pulled Harry from a sound sleep. Crawling sleepily out of the bed and donning his robe, Harry stumbled to the door. He yawned as he opened the door, blinking blearily at the visitor.

“You are just too adorable, kitten,” said Dougal cheerfully.

Harry gently shut the door in Dougal’s face and went back to bed. Nudging Draco awake, Harry said, “It’s for you, Draco. I’m going back to sleep.”

Draco climbed out of the bed and walked blindly to the door. Jerking open the door, completely unashamed of his nudity, Draco glared at the intruder. “What do you want? I was sleeping soundly in the arms of my elf before you so rudely interrupted.”

Dougal, of course, stared admiringly at Draco’s naked body before turning his gaze to a place past the blonde’s shoulders. After several seconds of silence from Dougal, Draco turned to see what the vampire found so interesting. He saw that Harry had taken off his robe and was sprawled on his stomach, sheet pulled just to his hips.

“Little kitten, wake up,” said Dougal loudly, ignoring the rumbling growls from Draco. Pushing past the blonde, he stalked over to the bed and swept his hand up Harry’s naked back, lingering slightly on the tattoo of Malise, who had returned while Harry was sleeping.

The reaction was immediate. Feeling unfamiliar hands on his naked back, Harry erupted into movement, twisting away and striking out with his claws. This attack took Dougal completely by surprise, allowing Harry to claw a path from his right shoulder to his left hip. As he started to retaliate, he realised that Harry had reacted completely on instinct and wasn’t even fully awake yet. Deciding that retreat would be the better part of valour for today, Dougal stalked back to Draco.

“Be downstairs in ten minutes, and Kali will take you home,” said Dougal quietly.

Draco quietly shut the door behind the vampire and went to wake Harry, who had, amazingly enough, fallen back asleep. “Harry, get up. We have ten minutes to get downstairs so that we can go home.”

“Don’t wanna,” mumbled Harry, burying his head under the pillow. He glared at Draco when the blonde simply tossed the pillow into the floor. “Draco,” he whinged, “that evil man is out there and I’m tired of being called kitten.”

“The sooner we get downstairs, the sooner we get back home, and you won’t have to see the evil man anymore,” said Draco slyly, pulling the protesting elf from the bed and dressing quickly.

Harry grudgingly pulled on the pyjamas that Dougal had brought earlier and followed Draco downstairs to meet Lucius. He was eager to get home because the clan leader had a knack for getting on his nerves in the least amount of time. All he had to do was call him kitten in that annoyingly cheerful voice, and Harry was ready to rip out the man’s voice box.

Lucius smiled when he saw Harry trailing Draco down the stairs. His mate was just too adorable. Despite being six feet tall, the pyjamas he wore were at least two sizes too big. The top’s sleeves came down past his fingers, and the bottom’s were rolled several times to keep from tripping on the hems.

As soon as they were together, Kali quickly took them home. Harry immediately went searching for Ron and Hermione, eager to hear whether or not they’d found the missing locket. As he reached the kitchen, Hedwig swooped in with a letter. Taking the letter, Harry stroked Hedwig’s wing softly as he read.

“It just never ends, does it?” muttered Harry irritably. “I always knew that Slytherins were bad for my health. They strive so hard to send me to an early grave.”

“What’s that?” asked Draco, sauntering in the room and staring at the letter in Harry’s hand. He fixed him a cup of tea and sat at the table to wait on Harry’s answer.

“It seems that Hermione is on the verge of homicide, and our respective godfathers are the potential victims. Well, surrogate in my case,” said Harry wearily. “Apparently, Moony come home from his mission early and found Snape. Believing Snape to be a traitor, he automatically tried to subdue the man before calling Aurors out to arrest him. Fortunately, Hermione set him straight, but like the big kids they are, they can’t seem to refrain from insulting each other on a constant basis. Hermione demands that we come to Grimmauld Place to handle things before she decides to do it herself, and it won’t be pretty if she has to handle things.”

“Well, let’s go then,” said Draco, pulling Harry from his chair. “The quicker we handle things, the quicker I can handle you.”

*****

“Wormtail,” hissed Voldemort. “Have you heard from Ssseverusss, or hasss he joined Luciusss in hisss treachery?”

“I have been unable to locate Snape, milord,” said Wormtail nervously, wringing his hands furiously. “His household has been abandoned, as has Malfoy Manor.”

“They will regret crossssing me,” hissed Voldemort. “Hasss anyone been able to locate the Potter brat? He mussst have finally learned Occlumency well enough to keep me out.”

“Call Korbin, Wormtail. Maybe the vampiresss will have better luck,” hissed Voldemort, glaring at his useless servant.

“Right away, milord,” said Wormtail, bowing down to Voldemort and then scurrying from the room.

Dougal Korbin stood in front of Voldemort within the hour. “You called for me?” he asked calmly. He had formed a tentative alliance with the Dark Lord in June, but recent events had changed his mind dramatically. Now all he had to do was find way out of this without getting killed in the process. It was definitely a good thing that vampires had naturally impervious minds. Voldemort couldn’t use Legilimency on him no matter how skilled he was.

“I want you to find a few traitorsss for me,” hissed Voldemort. “And when you do, ssshow them how bloodthirsssty vampiresss truly are.”

“And just who are these traitors?” asked Dougal in a bored tone.

“Luciusss and Draco Malfoy and Ssseverusss Sssnape,” hissed Voldemort. “Once you have disssposssed of them, find and bring me Harry Potter.”

“Yes, Lord Voldemort,” said Dougal, bowing his head slightly. Mentally commanding Kali to take him directly to the little kitten, Dougal disappeared with a shimmer.

*****

Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, gratefully accepting the steadying hand on his waist. He looked around the empty living room, wondering where Hermione and Ron were. Harry decided to try the kitchen first because Ron usually stayed close to the food while Draco waited on Lucius to arrive. He had just cleared the doorway when he heard Ron yelling. He couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but he did hear the end of the tirade.

“First Harry starts shagging the Malfoys, and now you’re shagging the greasy git. What is wrong with you people?” yelled Ron, staring in horror at the scene in front of him.

Harry walked up silently behind Ron. “What is going on here?” he asked, peering into the library to see what had Ron so horrorstruck. Seeing Snape’s pale backside and Moony lying beneath the Potion’s Master, Harry couldn’t help but snicker. “Well, that’s more than I ever wanted to see of Snape, but whatever fuels your engine, Moony.”

“What?” asked Ron and Snape at the muggle terminology. Snape quickly pulled his pants back up and scrambled to his feet, helping Remus to his feet as well.

“Harry, when did you get here?” asked Remus, going to Harry and pulling him into a tight embrace. Finally noticing the height difference, he pushed Harry slightly away so that he could fully view the changes. “Wow, Harry, you’re simply beautiful.” As Harry smiled at the compliment, Remus gasped at the flash of fangs. “You have fangs? But your mother was an elf. How did you get fangs?”

“Did you know that there were several vampires in the Potter lineage?” asked Harry quietly. Remus shook his head. “Neither did I until my birthday.”

“Your scent has changed, as well,” said Remus, taking a deep breath. “You smell like an elf and a vampire, but there is another scent. It’s almost like,” another deep breath, “very similar to Voldemort’s. Did you face him recently?” he asked worriedly.

“Moony, I have something very important to tell you,” said Harry quietly, leading the werewolf into the living room and pushing him onto the couch. He started to sit beside him, but Lucius grabbed him around the waist and pulled him into his lap. Glaring at Lucius briefly, Harry continued. “Voldemort is my birth father. The only reason I came into a vampire inheritance is because of the blood ritual James used to adopt me.”

“But Lily was an elf and James was her mate. How did Voldemort manage to impregnate her?” asked Remus in confusion.

Harry looked at Lucius, silently begging him to explain. Lucius sighed and nodded, kissing Harry briefly on the lips before starting his explanation. “Severus had developed a potion that would trick the body into believing your partner was your mate because I had to have an heir, and I hadn’t found my mate yet. The Dark Lord somehow found out, and using the information Pettigrew gave him, captured Lily to test it. When Harry was born, we all believed the potion had failed because he looked so much like James, and instead of stealing the child to raise as his own, the Dark Lord attempted to kill him, believing him to be a true Potter.”

“You mean old snake face wanted to raise me if I was truly his son?” asked Harry incredulously. “I don’t know which is worse, being raised by the Dursley’s or raised by Voldemort and his merry band of Death Eaters.”

“Definitely Voldemort,” said Dougal from behind Severus, causing the man to whirl around with wand raised. “I have just been dispatched to destroy the traitors and take Harry Potter to him.”

“You’re allied with Voldemort?” asked Harry angrily. Turning to Draco, he said, “See? I told you he was an evil man.”

“Kitten,” said Dougal, hiding behind Severus when Harry growled at him. “I formed this alliance before you became one of us. Now, of course, I couldn’t possibly turn you over to Voldemort. You, Lucius, and Draco are family.”

“Get off me,” said Severus, trying to get the cowering vampire out from behind him. “Why are you hiding behind me, anyway?”

“Because he’s afraid Harry’s going to hurt him again,” said Draco smugly. “How’s that chest wound, Korbin?”

“Chest wound?” asked Remus, staring at them all with bemusement.

Dougal glared at Draco and stepped around Severus. “You’re an insolent piece of baggage, aren’t you? I’ll just have to teach you a few manners.”

Harry pushed off Lucius’ lap and intercepted Dougal. “Enough!” he growled. “What are you planning to do? And I suggest you not leave out any details.”

“I am your clan leader,” growled Dougal, grabbing Harry’s robe and pulling him off his feet.

“That can be changed,” snarled Harry, grabbing his wand and pointing it at Dougal’s throat while his other hand was poised over the vampire’s heart, claws fully extended. “Now unless you want to die, I suggest you put me down and act civilly.”

“Well, fuck,” said Dougal, placing Harry back onto his feet and stepping back. “No wonder Voldemort is so afraid of you. How many times have you faced him?”

“Four,” said Harry slowly. “Why?”

“How old were you the first time?” asked Dougal.

“Eleven. And before you ask, I also faced him when I was twelve, fourteen, and fifteen,” said Harry impatiently, waiting to see where this was leading.

“I can’t believe he still has followers,” snorted Dougal disgustedly. “Who in their right mind would continue to follow someone who can’t even beat an eleven year old?”

“Your name comes to mind right now,” said Harry sarcastically. “After all, you formed an alliance with the man after all these events occurred. What does that say about your intelligence?”

“The kitten has claws in more ways than one, huh?” said Dougal with a smirk, ignoring Harry’s muttered, “Don’t call me kitten.”

“I assume you plan to defect to our side, Dougal?” asked Lucius quietly, staring at his brother-in-law intently. He sighed in relief when Dougal nodded his affirmative. “Good. You can help us plan our attack.”

“We still have to find the locket, Lucius,” said Harry quietly. “We can’t do anything until we destroy that horcrux.”

“Oi, that reminds me!” exclaimed Ron, jumping to his feet excitedly. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. “I found this in the basement, but kinda got distracted by the need to scour my eyes. Is this it?”