Visions of an Empath

Chapter 9

Severus stirred the potion twice and lowered the heat to let it simmer. The bloodlust suppressant had to be taken once a week and it had to be fresh. Once it simmered for five more minutes, he would just need a few drops of fresh blood to add to it.

The timer went off just as someone knocked on the door. Severus quickly ladled the potion into a goblet and went to answer the door. He was surprised to see Harry waiting nervously for the door to open.

“What do you want, Potter?” he asked curtly.

Harry looked passed Severus’ shoulder and saw the cooling potion. He looked back toward Severus and immediately noticed the red glint in the other man’s eyes. “Well, I actually came to talk to you, but obviously you need more blood first.” Harry pushed Severus out of the way and stepped into the room.

Severus sputtered indignantly and growled at the impertinent brat. “Potter, get out of...” The scent of Harry’s blood hit Severus’ senses, and his eyes turned fully red. He started toward Harry, intending on grabbing the goblet of blood-suppressant from the teen, but his eyes fell on the cut on Harry’s arms. Instead of taking the goblet in Harry’s hand, Severus grabbed the teen’s arm and placed his lips over the cut on the slender limb, sucking greedily at the bleeding wound.

Harry, startled at Severus’ reaction, tried to pull his arm away, but a low growl from the vampire stopped that right away. Harry sighed in relief when Severus slowly released his arm only to yelp in surprise when Severus suddenly buried his face in Harry’s neck. Then Severus’ tongue licked across the vein in his neck.

“Severus! Stop!” Harry tried to pull away, but Severus’ grip was too strong. He flinched as Severus’ sharp teeth scraped against his skin and silently cried out for Lucius. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

Severus growled again, and pulled Harry closer. His entire focus was narrowed down to the sweet scent of Harry’s blood and the small taste of ambrosia he’d had. As he started to bite into the succulent flesh beneath his teeth, the door burst open. Severus turned to face the intruder with an enraged growl, pushing Harry protectively behind him, only to find himself face to face with a furious Lucius.

Lucius stalked toward Severus with an angry snarl. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Severus?” He was on his way to speak to Severus when the scent of his mate’s terror had hit him.

Severus just bared his teeth at the blonde and growled, keeping his body between Lucius and Harry.

Lucius finally noticed that Severus’ eyes were completely red and saw the goblet of blood-suppressant potion. Looking passed Severus, he scowled when he saw the cut on Harry’s arm and the scratches on the teen’s neck. Grabbing the potion, he waved it in front of Severus, tempting him once again with the scent of blood.

Severus caught the scent of Harry’s blood and snatched the goblet from Lucius, gulping it down quickly and growling appreciatively at the delicious flavour of blood. Almost immediately, the red began to fade from his eyes, and his awareness returned. It was then that he realised just what he’d almost done. He whirled around quickly, causing Harry to flinch away, and stared at the teen in horror.

Lucius, seeing the fear on Harry’s face, pushed passed Severus and gathered the trembling teen into his arms. “Shh, Harry. It’s all right.” He continued to murmur soothingly to Harry, trying to calm his mate.

“Dear Merlin, I can’t stay here,” whispered Severus, completely horrified at what he’d done. “I could have killed him.” He turned around and frantically started to gather his belongings.

Harry’s trembling finally eased, and he looked hesitantly toward Severus. The other man’s face was etched with horror and misery, and Harry couldn’t stand to see that look on Severus’ face. Yes, Severus had scared the shit out of him, but it was technically his own fault. Besides, it could have been a lot worse. He’d just have to be more careful in the future.

“Severus, stop. I don’t want you to leave.”

Severus suddenly growled and whirled to face Harry. “Well, you should. Do you realise what almost happened? I... I could have killed you.”

“It was my fault, though. I’m the idiot who cut himself with a hungry vampire in the room,” said Harry with a deprecating smile. “Please don’t leave because of my mistake.”

“What I would like to know is why you were here in the first place,” said Lucius, frowning down at Harry. Despite the change in subject, though, he made a silent vow that Severus wouldn’t be alone with Harry again. Severus’ reaction wasn’t just because of hunger. Lucius was quite sure it had something to do with Harry in particular.

Harry shrugged. “I wanted to ask Severus about a vampire’s thrall.”

“Why would you need to know about that?” asked Lucius curiously.

Harry ignored Lucius’ question and turned toward Severus. “How effective is a vampire’s thrall? Is it stronger than the Imperius Curse? Do you have to be in close proximity to the victim?”

Severus blinked at the sudden barrage of questions. “A vampire’s thrall is much stronger than the Imperius Curse because and exchange of blood is used to seal the spell.”

Harry frowned thoughtfully. “And distance?”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Severus. He scowled at Harry suspiciously. “Why do you need to know this?”

“Bellatrix Lestrange has something I need, but it’s in her Gringott’s vault and out of my reach at the moment. I was hoping that you could possibly put her under your thrall and command her to retrieve it for me,” said Harry sweetly.

Severus continued to stare at Harry suspiciously. “Does that something have to do with the task Dumbledore left you?”

“Yes,” said Harry. He looked at Severus expectantly. “So can you?”

A smug smirk crossed Severus’ face. “I already have. It was her unfortunate duty to dispose of my body after I’d taken the Laten Inheritance Potion. It was just her bad luck that I wasn’t actually dead, and new vampires are notoriously hungry, after all.”

“In that case, I’m surprised you didn’t kill her,” said Lucius.

“It would have been no great loss if he had killed her,” said Harry dismissively. He hated Bellatrix Lestrange almost as much as he hated Voldemort. “Besides, he could always thrall the Lestrange brothers if it came down to it.”

“Bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?” asked Lucius teasingly. “I can’t say that I blame you, though. Bellatrix has always been a vicious bitch.”

“She killed Sirius,” said Harry quietly. “She killed her own cousin and felt no remorse about it. She even laughed as he fell through the veil. That is just unforgivable.”

Severus abruptly broke the sombre mood. “She is a vicious bitch, but she’ll get you what you need.”

“She has Hufflepuff’s cup,” said Harry bluntly. “That’s all I need from her.”

“You’ll have it by the end of the week,” promised Severus.

Harry smiled softly. “Thanks, Severus.”

“Why don’t you go on and eat breakfast? I need to have a word with Severus,” said Lucius, guiding Harry toward the door..

Harry looked at Lucius curiously, wandering what he needed to talk to Severus about, but nodded his agreement and left the room.

As soon as Harry was gone, Lucius turned to Severus with a scowl. “What was that all about earlier, Severus?”

Severus glared back at the blonde. “You heard Harry. I hadn’t taken my blood-lust suppressor, and he cut his arm in front of me. You can’t be that surprised.”

Lucius looked at Severus speculatively for a moment and sighed. “You really don’t know, do you? I’ve seen how starved vampires react to blood, Severus, and that wasn’t your reaction this morning. You reacted like a vampire defending his mate when I came into the room.”

Severus started in surprise and stared at Lucius in dismay. “Vampires don’t have mates.”

“Vampires don’t have destined mates,” corrected Lucius. “They choose their own mates, and your vampire side has chosen Harry. You wouldn’t have responded in such a way if you hadn’t.”

“No,” denied Severus. “There is no possible way I could have even remotely chosen Harry as my mate. It’s absolutely impossible. He’s your mate.”

“Yes, he is,” said Lucius. “But part of you wants him for your own. Hell, Severus, you pushed him behind you to face me. You instinctively tried to protect him from his own mate.”

Severus sat down heavily on the edge of his bed. “This is a disaster waiting to happen. I need to leave. It would be best for everyone if I did.”

Lucius sat down beside Severus. “No, Severus, it wouldn’t.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” snapped Severus. “What would have happened if you hadn’t come down here? What if you’re wrong about everything?”

Lucius sighed and transfigured a quill into a dagger. Pricking his finger, he held the bleeding digit up toward Severus. “Have a taste.”

Severus slowly pulled Lucius’ finger into his mouth, swallowing the slightly tangy blood that dripped into his mouth. It was then he realised the truth in Lucius’ statements. Although the taste of Lucius’ blood was pleasant, it didn’t hold a candle to Harry’s.

Jerking away from Lucius, Severus paced cagily around the room. “What do we do now? I highly doubt that you’re willing to hand Harry over,” he said sardonically.

Lucius snorted. “No, I’m not. Harry is mine. Unlike with you, Harry’s my destined mate. No one else will do for me. You do have other options.” He sighed softly and stood. “I suggest that only Draco and I donate blood for the time being, though. It won’t be as satisfactory, of course, but it should suffice until you can find someone else as your mate.”

Severus growled irritably. “Yeah, and what if it isn’t enough? Too much could go wrong with this plan.”

“It will have to do for now, Severus. We need you here,” said Lucius. Of course, this probably wouldn’t have happened if he’d already claimed Harry. Most vampires didn’t poach on another’s mate, but there were no guarantees even then.

Severus reluctantly nodded. It wasn’t an ideal plan, but as Lucius said, it would suffice for now.

***

Draco jumped to his feet in shock when Harry walked into the dining room. “What the hell happened to you?”

Harry covered the scratches on his neck self-consciously and scowled at Draco. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

Draco then saw the cut on Harry’s arm and groaned. “Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.” Harry blushed guiltily, and Draco sighed in exasperation. “You’re an idiot, Harry,” he said bluntly.

Harry rolled his eyes. “At times,” he agreed. “Needless to say, I’ll not be doing that again.”

“What exactly happened?” asked Draco curiously, though he had a pretty good idea.

“Severus had just finished brewing the blood-suppressant potion, so I cut my arm to add the required blood. Instead of going for the potion, though, he went straight for my arm.”

“That explains the arm,” said Draco, “but what about the scratches on your neck?”

Harry frowned slightly and shrugged. “I’m really not sure what happened. One minute he’s sucking on my arm, and the next his face is buried in my neck with his teeth scraping across my skin.” He shrugged again. “Then Lucius showed up, and Severus pushed me behind him and growled at Lucius.”

Draco was positively shocked by what he’d heard. “I’ve only heard of vampires reacting like that with their mates. You don’t think...?”

“No,” said Harry quickly. “That’s ridiculous.” Severus no longer hated him, but that didn’t mean he actually liked him, much less anything more than that.

Draco nodded and smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, you’re right. Severus would never choose you as his mate.”

They burst into laughter, giggling at such a ridiculous notion.