Runaway Mate

Author's Note: The main couple is Lucius/Harry, also will include Voldemort/Snape and Sirius/Remus


The day had been hot and humid, chasing the residents of Little Whinging inside. When the sun set a cool wind blew down from the north, pushing away the worst of the heat and allowing people to sleep with their windows open.

If one looked closely at the houses of Private Drive they would notice that one house was unlike the others... Number 4 had bars over the window of one small window. Several times the residents of Private Drive thought they saw an owl going to the barred window, but they normally shrugged this off as a trick of light.

Unknown to onlookers, the window of this barred room was broken, so that it could not be closed. Inside this dingy room, lying on a bed that could have been a cot, lay a lanky young man, with emerald green eyes and dark black hair. Upon his forehead was a strange scar, one shaped like a lightening bolt. This young man was named Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

Harry Potter was a pitiful sight. Curled up on the bed, a scarp of linen over his shivering body and no pillow beneath his head. While the cool of night was a blessed relief from the heat of the day, it was too cold for comfort in Harry’s room and he had no way to warm himself...

Harry was fourteen years old. In the fall he would start his Fourth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When looking at Harry, one would think he had survived some great natural disaster or perhaps a long war. Many wounds decorated his back and legs, while his left leg and right hand ached and were hard to move. His face bore not only his famous scar but a fading black eye. Looking past the injuries, his body was thin, resembling children from third world countries which had been subject to long term malnutrition.

For as long as Harry could remember his relatives had abused him and refused to take him in for any sort of medical care. In his whole life he’d only gone to a Muggle Hospital twice. Once because his cousin had broken his leg while Harry was at school and once because he’d been pushed down the stairs when a friend of his Aunts was present.

But tonight, like most nights of his life outside of School, Harry was forced to struggle onwards, his wounds healed only by time. Harry had two months left until School started, two months until he could sleep safety, with no fear of his relatives.

Harry shivered underneath his thin blanket before he realized sleep was impossible and slowly moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He looked down at his leg and ran a hand along it, trying to determine how badly he was injured. Deciding that he could walk, Harry stood and quickly moved to gather his things, trying not to think about how little there was to be gathered.

Once Harry had gathered his cloths into his old backpack, he took out a small box from under the floorboards. Inside was the book of photographs of his parents, a Dark Arts book Remus had given him. Wrapped around the books was his father’s invisibility cloak, along with the Marauder’s Map.

Harry placed his wand into a pocket he’d sewn inside his sleeve he tugged on his shoes and tiptoed out of his room and down the stairs, skipping the stairs that squeaked.

It was as if a huge load was lifted from Harry’s back as he stepped outside the house and on to the street. Without looking back at the house he’d lived in for most of his life, Harry crossed the street and left Private Drive for the last time.

He didn’t have a destination in mind, wanting just to get as far away from Number 4 Private Drive before he lost the ability to block out the pain that radiated from his leg...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lucius Malfoy stormed down the hallway, arms straight at his sides, fists clenched in rage. He was currently storming down the halls of Slytherin Mansion, home of Tom Riddle, who was better known as Lord Voldemort. Reaching the door to the main living room of the castle, Lucius pushed the doors back, causing Severus and Tom to turn and stare at him from their position on a long couch in the center of the room.

“What is it?” Severus asked, raising one eyebrow at his friend.

“Harry Potter.” Lucius sighed, practically throwing himself down in to an easy chair which faced the two wizards.

One of the reasons that Pure Blood families believed themselves to be above other witches and wizards was because they carried Creature Blood. This meant that they were in reality only partially-human. Most Pure Blood families had at last one magical creature in their heritage, and some had two or three.

Several pure blood families, such as the Malfoys and the Blacks, lead lives that were directly effected by their Creature Blood. The Blacks had banshee blood, giving them a ‘sixth sense’ that alerted them when trouble was coming. The Malfoys had veela blood. This gave them their unnaturally blond hair and an ability to charm people into ‘submission’.

Both the Blacks and the Malfoys, along with several other Pure Blood Families, had another ‘ability’ that came from their creature blood. Every member of their family, male or female, had a mate... one other person in the entire world that would complete them.

Because of this Lucius had placed a clause in his marriage contract. This clause stated that when he found his mate he could divorce his wife. In the summer before his son’s third year at Hogwarts Lucius had used this clause to get rid of Narcissa. Although he had felt his mate, it was not until the middle of the next summer that Lucius had figured out exactly who his mate was.

Lucius had gone to retrieve his mate and been horrified to discover that the young man had run away from his home... and not been reported missing.

“Your mate?” Tom blinked, trying to restrain himself from leaning over to run his fingers through Severus’ hair... despite the two knowing each other for a long time they had only recently figured out that they were mates —and thus were acting like horny teenagers.

“Yes.” Lucius sighed, running his hand through his long blond hair. “I went to where Dumbledore stuck him...with those muggles” He growled softly. “Only to find that he’s been missing for two weeks.”

“Missing?” Severus asked, pushing Tom’s hand away from his lower regions. “Dumbledore has swore that he has alarms on the house that would stop him from moving more then a block or two away.”

Tom growled softly and looked over at Lucius. “The bastard wanted us to try and take Harry away.”

“So he could say that we corrupted him.” Severus finished his mate’s thought.

“It’s not only that.” Lucius raised his hand to stop Tom and Severus from speaking. “When I learned that Harry had been missing for two weeks... I force fed his relatives truth serum.” Lucius closed his eyes, as if trying to hold back tears. “Ever since Harry was given to his relatives... they’ve abused him. Beaten him for the slightest reason. That’s why he ran away.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Author’s Note: I have almost no knowledge of England, so if my geography or anything like that is off, just pretend this is an AU world where everything makes sense...)

Harry had ended up falling asleep from exhaustion in some dingy back ally of London. At first he had been alone and scared, but Harry had found a home of sorts among other teens who had ben forced onto the streets.

Some had come from abusive homes, others had run away from foster care or had just run away. One or two had been homeless from childhood and knew no other way of life. The other Teens were good teachers, and Harry proved to be a fast learner. He leapt into the life of a homeless ten, learning where warm cloths could be found and food gotten. He figured out how to judge if a person would give him money just by looking at them. More importantly, he’d figured out that no one cared if he did small amounts of magic. Since no on came to arrest him, Harry started to use magic as a street performance of sorts... the teens he lived with would rather starve then resort to prostitution, but Harry’s magic insured that they didn’t have to make that choice.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lucius, Severus and Tom were dressed in muggle cloths. They were walking in a sction of town where Harry’s magical signature had been recorded by Tom’s servants. The Ministry didn’t actually track spells cast, but rather people who had spells cast upon them. Harry had only done magic involving inanimate objects and as such was impossible for the Ministry to trace.

Lucius shivered as he saw some of the kids that were sitting in the streets. Several had already offered up their bodies to the three men. One little girl, who couldn’t have ben more then nine years old, had kept lowering her price until she would have taken all three of them for a dollar and change.

“How can anyone live like this?” Lucius asked, glancing over at Tom, who was looking down at his wrist, where the faded lines of an tattoo could be seen.

“Better to starve and freeze on the streets then be abused and raped in your home or an orphanage... or at least that’s what I thought.” Tom explained, before moving towards a boy who was leaning against the wall of a half-run down building. Tom stopped in front of the boy and pulled out some muggle currency.

“What do you want?” The boy asked, eyeing the money. Tom pulled out a picture of Harry that he’d frozen so it looked muggle and handed it to the boy, who looked it over with a guarded expression on his face.

“We’re looking for him. He’s new, ran about two weeks ago.” Sensing the boy wasn’t trusting him, Tom went on. “Parents died, Gov placed him wrong.” He pulled back his sleeve, revealing a tattoo of a celtic knot which was done in black ink on his wrist.

(Author’s Note: Here’s a picture of what I have in mind: http://tattoo.about.com/library/graphics/krys0420a.jpg)

The boy glanced down at the tattoo and gasped slightly. “You’re a—”

Tom cut him off. “— graduate of the street. Left the orphanage because the guy who ran it tried to rape me. I almost got raped on the streets and I don’t want the same to happen to him.” Tom gestured at Harry’s picture.

“You his family?” the boy asked, handing back the picture of Harry.

“God-parent.” Severus answered for his mate as Tom put the picture back into his pocket.

The boy nodded and took half the money. “Graduates get half off.” he explained. “Go strait down this street for three blocks, then turn right. That’s where he’s been living.” When Tom nodded in understanding the boy took off in the opposite direction.

The group of three wizards continued down the street, following the boy’s directions. “I knew you grew up on the streets, but what’s with the tattoo?” Severus asked.

“It’s a street symbol, reserved for those who don’t resort to drugs or prostitution...” Tom explained as Severus touched the tattoo gently.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry was half-asleep on the doorstep he’d started to call home when he heard footsteps. Immediately he went into ‘begging’ mode, looking down at the sidewalk, putting a pitiful look on his face and holding out a cupped hand.

“Harry.”

Hearing his name Harry glanced up and froze. Standing there was Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape and another man he didn’t recognize. Before anyone could speak, Harry sprang to his feet and tried to run away...forgetting that his leg couldn’t handle running very well.

With a cry he fell to the ground, landing on his injured arm, brining tears to his eyes. The kids he hung out with had been trying to get him to go to a doctor, but he didn’t want to have to spend money or give his body as a bribe so the doctor wouldn’t report them to the social workers.

Harry was drawn out of his musings by someone holding him gently, while his leg and arm were examined. Harry slowly opened his eyes and realized Lucius Malfoy was the one holding him. Harry looked up at Lucius’ face, wondering why he wasn’t scared that the elder man was holding him. “Harry?” Lucius asked. “When did you hurt your leg? And your arm?”

Harry held his arm close to his body. “Day before I ran away.” Harry slowly looked up at Lucius and the other two men. “Who...who are you?” he asked, looking at Tom. “And why are you here?”

“We’re here because Lilly asked us to take care of you... in case anything happened.” Severus said, gesturing to himself and the other man. “And Lucius is here because he’s your mate.”

Harry blinked. He’d heard of mates before, due to Hermione reading practically every book in the school library. “Okay... but who are you? And why didn’t you raise me then?”

“My name is Tom Riddle.”

Harry immediately started to struggle against Lucius’ hold, but the elder wizard quickly stopped him from hurting himself. “Tom didn’t kill Lilly and James.” Lucius whispered into Harry’s ear, shocking the younger wizard so much that Harry stopped struggling. “Please... let me take you somewhere safe? I promise I’ll explain everything.”

“Okay.” Harry whispered, leaning his head back on Lucius’ shoulder and finding himself nuzzling into Lucius’ hold as the other man lifted him up from the ground and carried him away, Severus casting a spell to gather up Harry’s belongings as they left.

Harry didn't notice, because a well placed spell from Tom had already knocked him out.

TBC