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Chapter Text

It was much to Snape’s lack of luck that he owes what is happening to him right now. Of course, the odds were looking in his favor when he was blessed with being a vampire, an alpha, mind you. Not only was he a healthy adult vampire, but he was also one of the only ones for thousands of miles. Before the death of Lily Potter, there were three vampires in the area, he and Lily were included in that list. The other vampire beside them was a very young one of around 14 who just so happened to be an omega. Conveniently, the omega also happened to be the famous wizarding boy who survived the death curse that was cast by the Dark Lord - Lily’s child, Harry Potter. Despite his protests to Dumbledore, the older wizard volunteered Snape to council Harry Potter during his journey against the Dark Lord and help his development as a growing omega vampire.

How was the Slytherin to avoid daily scenting sessions which, according to research studies, shows positive growth in the development of mental and emotional maturity in a young vampire? Creating and maintaining a regime that involves scenting Potter did not thrill him in the slightest, but he knew it was for the betterment of the boy, and he would be a fool to not admit that there could be some positive outcomes for himself as an alpha. There were only positive benefits to come from scenting sessions that did both the alpha and omega vampire good, including de-stressing, maturing the senses, and having the collateral outcome of strengthening vampiristic bonds.

The beginning was very awkward. Snape sat, legs apart to support the base of Potter’s body, and hand gripping the sides of the teenager’s hips. His body would be in between Potter’s legs as the boy sat on his lap, their noses snuggled gently in the crooks of their necks. At first, the inward embarrassment almost killed the meetings and definitely put Snape out of a good mood. Dread only came with having the first session, and the alpha recalls looking at his clock numerous times as if it were ticking to his inevitable end.

On day one, Potter snorted loudly as he scented, obviously not used to the activity and Snape had to find another level worth of patience. Their postures were stiff and awkward, shakily holding on to each other trying to do the task while being on the edge of uncomfortable. Snape could tell Potter was embarrassed having to do this with him, not that he felt any different. He knew how Potter felt about him being the “greasy git of a Professor” that he was, but Snape also had his own opinion of Potter being the spoiled brat of the Wizarding world. However, he remembered the sharp “absolutely not” that the boy gave Dumbledore when the news was broken to him the other evening just after the students and staff had dinner. Snape had pursed his lips closed, holding back any rebuttals that he had about being just as arrogant and thick as his father who knew nothing about the healthy and proper development of a vampire, let alone an omega. He could have given a full lecture of his opinion of Potter Sr. and how the bastard neglected Lily's being of a beautiful, healthy omega vampire and how foolish he truly was as to what it meant to treat one.

The younger Potter came begrudgingly, muttering something that couldn’t be heard under his lips when he settled jaggedly into Snape’s lap. The alpha stirred uncomfortably, not used to having such bony legs poking him in the thighs. This wasn’t the first time he ever scented an omega - no he recalled plenty of times when he and the boy’s mother had relaxing, long sessions of scenting when they were younger and much more innocent. That was before the fall of their friendship, long before James ever stole her away from him. But this was the first time ever scenting an omega boy, let alone the love of his life’s omega-boy vampire. What would the woman even think if she were to see this happening today?

Snape landed his thin fingers, spanning them over the rise of Potter’s hips and feeling the skin beneath buzz from how new the sensation was. Day one ended with small bruises against thighs and aches in Snape’s wrists that were the result of being left in uncomfortable, jarring positions for too long.

Day two, Potter began to hum as he scented, which startled the potion’s master from the sudden noise that interrupted the pleasant silence that fell between them. Snape recalled asking what on earth Potter thought he was doing and the boy replied saying he felt like he was doing something wrong because he wasn’t able to take in any scent that the alpha was giving him.

"It feels awfully weird just sitting here sticking my nose against your neck. What am I supposed to even feel?"

Snape had rolled his eyes but knew better than to judge the boy on having no idea what to do. Hesitantly, he took his hand and laid it against the back of the boy’s skull, pressing him close to the area of his neck that had the scent glands hidden underneath. In an instant, the boy gave a small, sharp inhale, reveling in the revelation that was finally figuring out where to smell. Snape could feel the color rising in his cheeks as he felt the boy eagerly settling into his lap now, head resting against his shoulders.

On day three came the involuntary purring. Potter nuzzled his face against Snape’s neck, nosing gently at the area where his musk was the deepest scent. Snape found the boy to be in that position post haste when the session began, barely even giving the Slytherin enough time to settle into the chair and have his legs spread out to prevent the sharp jabbing of bones against his thighs. The purring, Snape tried to ignore and not make any note of it. He chalked it up to being the omega not understanding boundaries and relishing in the comfort of his scent. As much as it annoyed Snape at first, he was awfully flattered as an alpha. Ignoring the purring was successful enough that the boy stopped on day five.

On day twelve, Snape finally became lazy in his posture, relaxing against Harry’s body. He no longer cared about the awkward boundary that they both tried to put up on day one when they were holding each other in the most uncomfortable way. The alpha had spread his thighs apart to hold the base of the boy’s buttocks in his lap solidly, back relaxing and slouching naturally into place. That’s when he felt the tickling of eyelashes fluttering to fight to stay awake against the skin of his neck. Snape said nothing when he heard the undoubted sounds of small snores of sleep. In fact, he cleared his throat and muttered incantations that were useful in protecting the boy from nightmares and giving him restful sleep. On day fourteen, Snape found himself humming softly to keep himself awake while allowing Harry to snuggle against his skin. He also found his arms wrapping firm and tight around the boy, pulling the Gryffindor close to his body and allowing his nose to bury deeper against the crest of his neck.

Day sixteen, the alpha finally began the scenting session by burying his nose against the crevice of Potter’s shoulder and neck. He recalled the boy making a mewl that caused his heart to pound curiously in reply. Potter dramatically tilted his head in the opposite direction to open up the area so that the alpha could scent. Snape quickly wondered what other types of noises the boy was capable of making, but he didn’t want to press on. He actually gave himself a small scolding curse to ever have such thoughts that would border that. But he couldn’t lie to himself by denying that he could have swallowed the span of the boy’s throat from how sweet his smell was. Honey cinnamon. It reminded him of Lilly’s apple butter and almonds.

Today, day twenty-one, was just another day of helping the emotional and social development of Harry Potter. The boy was a minute late, which earned him an expected reprimand from Snape, but it was quickly waved away as soon as the boy crawled into Snape’s lap, his hands landing on the Slytherin’s shoulders. Harry was quick to wrap his arms around the professor’s neck, nose, and lips rubbing against hot skin. At this point, Snape had froze, losing his shaky breath as he felt the soft crests of lips threatening to graze over his neck where his scent was the heaviest. He pursed his own lips and closed his eyes, feeling the vibrations of purrs rolling through the boy’s chest. He knew he should say something. Something, Severus. You should not allow that to happen.

As much as part of him had been in denial about the boundaries between him and Potter had blurred, he knew that he was treading dangerous waters. Imagine, bonding with this omega boy who was the spawn of the devil that was James Potter.

Another graze of lips and the alpha gave a soft rumble, earning a shaky whimper from the boy who mistook the sound as a reprimanding snarl.

He misunderstands, Severus told himself as he peeled the boy away from his neck and found himself gazing into those wide eyes that had the shine of emerald deep within their vast. Only then did the boy freeze. Snape knew only then could he have stayed in the moment forever. Those eyes belonged to the love of his life, and he could have found himself lost in them for eons. The silence continued to be their only other friend in the room as they looked. Potter was trying to find himself somewhere in the inky void that was Snape’s eyes. He was searching and searching for something, any sort of life or light that dared to flicker against the windows of the soul. A second later and Snape knew the boy found what he was looking for as his eyes began to lazily lid towards sleep, satisfied with his find.

Snape said nothing as those lips turned into teeth grazing against his neck, scouring for that scent gland. The familiar pierce of sharp canines prickled against his skin - Snape most definitely should say something by now, should he not? Snape’s mouth gaped in surprise, heart-catching onto a faster rhythm as the boy found his place. He dragged his lips and teeth across Snape’s scent area on his neck, nose nuzzling sweetly and comfortably. Potter was most definitely content in his place and Snape would have made himself to be a lying fool if he said that he didn’t find his place here as well.

The Professor muttered a quick spell to cause the door to shut and lock firmly into place. No one would dare come down here without a warrant, whether it was to suffer another bout of detention or earn extra points through cleaning and straightening up the potion cauldrons. However, Snape didn’t dare to press his luck. He would never be able to live it down if a student, or even another professor, came down here to see the affair that was occurring between the alpha and omega. In reality, there was nothing wrong with what the vampire was doing, but humans would never understand the bonding moments that were so vital to the creature’s lives and wellbeing. Snape’s name would be forever tarnished - the pedophile forcing himself onto a child, tainting the beautiful and innocent soul that is Harry Potter.

He adjusted Harry in his lap, causing the boy to give a sleepy groan in protest as the movement caused his lips and nose to be pulled away from the crook of Snape’s neck.

“You’re drunk,” Snape stated as a matter of factly. He could sense the confusion that struck the boy from the comment, his hands curling to try and latch on to Snape’s robes to continue the session. The professor unwound his arms from the boy’s body and began to gently try and push Harry off of him to end the session.

“W-what are you on about? Are you sure you’re not the drunk one?” the boy sputtered accusationally, his tone lowering to one that was born of frustration.

“Not from actual drinks, brat. Scent-drunk,” Snape clarified finally locking eyes with Potter who shifted his weight on his lap to try and remain on there, but the alpha continued to push him off. “Our session is over and we will continue tomorrow as per routine.”

“Come on, professor -”

“Sir,” Snape corrected, his voice sharp.

“Sir, please,” Harry continued, reluctantly getting to his feet. “Normally we do it for longer than this, why are you stopping it now?”

“Because you’re drunk,” Snape replied, swallowing the half-truth down his throat. He would never admit that he was also becoming intoxicated from Potter’s toasty, comforting smell. “I’m not referring in the ways of alcohol either, Potter. Scent-drunk is an actual term and an actual state of mind that blurs every sort of logical boundary there is when it comes to the ones who are scenting,” he explained, dusting his robes off and straightening them up as he got up from the chair. He ignored the confused whine the boy gave off and immediately went into his closet that held all sorts of various antidotes.

“And what makes you think I’m drunk?” Harry asked, his voice on edge.

“Please, Potter, it is obvious from the way you nearly sank your teeth into me that you were intoxicated.”

“I did not,” the boy argued, completely miffed from embarrassment. Snape rolled his eyes and uncorked a small vial before handing it to Potter. “I don’t need that.”

“Yes, you do. Take it before you prematurely begin your heat and then we will all have to suffer the frustrated groans of boy-wonder who can’t control his scenting.”

“Git,” Harry spat and snatched the vial from the professor’s grasp and turned away in defense. Snape snarled, quickly countering Potter as he moved, forcing himself in the boy’s way so that he couldn’t leave, like a firm, black wall. Although it wasn’t obvious, he did see the Gryffindor shrink back slightly, fingers curling around the vial so tight, Snape wouldn’t have been surprised if he shattered.

“Think carefully, Potter, before making your next decision. The next move you make may be out of this school for the remainder of the term,” the Professor threatened, his voice low and dangerous. Harry inhaled slow and deeply, obviously considering his options. “As much as these sessions are recommended, they certainly are not a necessity and these sessions can quickly turn into you rewriting every potion manuscript that is on the syllabus for the next three years.”

“I apologize, Professor,” Harry whispered, eyes trailing up towards Snape’s. The alpha glared back, his gaze softening as he lost himself in those eyes once more. “I-I didn’t mean to get carried away.”

“Indeed,” Snape replied, albeit with a tone of surprise in his voice. He cleared his throat, feeling a lump growing against his Adam’s Apple as he saw those eyes trail towards the floor in shame. He didn’t expect the omega to bend so quickly. He expect retort and defiance, but Harry suddenly became compliant, taking the potion from the Professor’s hands and sipping it down. It was bitter, the potion, and Snape grew even more unsettled to find that the omega was sipping the liquid down rather than shooting it down with one gulp.

“Thank you,” Harry said, wiping his lips with his sleeve and handing the empty vial back to the alpha.

Snape said nothing and studied the omega more, trailing his eyes over his face, his hair, his body. Mostly, to make sure that nothing was out of place. That scar was still there, untouched and not seeming to give the boy any pain. There didn’t seem to be any pained expression or grimacing from the boy nor any nonverbal signs of nausea or discomfort from drinking the bitter potion.

“Leave,” Snape ordered once his assessment of the boy was completed. He maintained a soft voice as to not perturb the omega anymore. He was careful to try and keep his composure. He would never admit that he, himself, was getting a bit tipsy off of the boy’s scent, seducing him into wanting to push those boundaries that were their relationship as student and teacher. Never would he admit that these sessions were the only sanity and comfort that he was clinging to in this day. “Come back tomorrow, an hour early.”

"You aren’t angry?” Harry asked, eyes fixated on the Professor’s. Snape hesitated, drawing up his bodily composure as he shifted his hands to hold behind his back.

“An hour early. Please, don’t be late. I will have another potion fixed for you just in case this was to happen again.”

“So you want to continue this,” the boy stated with a soft smile.

“Shut up. Don’t make me repeat myself,” Snape drawled, gritting his teeth in slight irritation at the smugness of the omega.

“Yes’sir,” Harry answered, heading out the door. Before fully walking out, however, he turned as he held the door open. “Do you ever get drunk off of me?”

Snape’s eyes widened, teeth-gritting even harder in irritation to show off a sharp bit of fang. This caused the omega to visibly shudder and the boy quickly walked out the door, satisfied with the nonverbal answer.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t the scar that hurt him this time. Harry could feel his fingers straining of overuse as he ran them through the herbs and grains that sat in the small sack that they came in. He played with it, running his fingers all around, ignoring the bitter ache in his muscles. He tried to remain focused - or distract himself. At this point, the lines were beginning to blur on what kind of concentration was going through Harry’s head. He was in pain, but a pain like no other that he felt before. He fidgeted and twitched in response to it, causing his attention to be off of his assignment.

His potion had bubbled thickly, turning into gray and dark lavender, just like the herbs he tossed in there before rolling his fingers about. The sudden shift of color made his reality come back to him and his eyes widened in despair.

“That is the most interesting shade of green I’ve ever seen,” rumbled the alpha above him. His speech was slow - meticulous. Snape’s voice was always distinct, deep in tamber, but warm in tone. It was a voice that demanded full intent and attention. A voice to not be questioned. A voice Harry found himself to grow lost in, listening to it.
However, this wasn’t a cold reprimand, but merely curiosity. The professor carefully looked over the ingredients that Harry had, examining. Harry could feel the dominating presence that loomed over him and shrunk downward. Snape tisked holding out his hand to retrieve the sack of lavender that Potter had. “You were supposed to retrieve dried aloe. What drew you to lavender? The two ingredients are nowhere remotely close to each other, not an herb that would be misheard or read for another herb, not at all the same effects as the required aloe for wound healing.”

Harry listened intently as Snape talked, trying to ignore the aches in his muscles that were growing stronger. Snape was analyzing, something he always did when he suspected Potter to be up to no good. The omega pursed his lips, trying to find some way to answer the alpha with coherence, but the Professor quickly wrote a scratch of “see me after class” onto Harry’s grading paper. The boy sighed in defeat and decided to sit down so that he could try and clear his head. The pain continued, radiating through his muscles and it was getting worse by the minute. A minute later, it had crept into his skull and pounded against his temples.

His nerves were hot and buzzing through his fingertips and toes. It caused the ache to begin to burn through his nerves, resulting in the boy groaning low. It was all too much. The pain bled into pleasure then back into misery - it was nauseating.

He felt a sharp, sudden hand grabbing at his shoulder and pulling him up. The touch caused Harry to whine and squirm in his seat. There was a blur of that voice that he recognized being Snape’s, but for the life of him couldn’t understand a word the Slytherin was saying. His focus soon fell on concerned, raven eyes that were frantically searching over him. Harry felt Snape grasp his right cheek, taking his thumb to pull down the bottom lid of his eye so that alpha could take a look.

Snape could see it in Potter’s lidding eyes that this was urgent. The noise the boy made immediately piqued the alpha in Severus with concerned curiosity. Before Weasly and Granger could even open their mouths to speak their concerning opinions, Snape spat out a coarse, “class dismissed” with no reason as to why.

Suddenly, the class was beginning to hold commotions. There were complaints of just being finished with the potion or if this meant they had to do everything over again. Then there were whispers, “what was wrong with Harry? Was he having those fits of pain through his scar again? Did this mean that the One Who Shall Not Be Named was plotting or toiling?”

“Sir, please,” Hermione begged as the rest of the students began to pack up. Snape ignored the girl and instead clasped onto Potter’s chin with his hand, trying to keep his head upright. The omega was still so lethargic and nearly unresponsive. The only sound that came from Potter was a purr in a familiar tone that made the alpha’s eyes widen in recognition.

“Out,” he instantly said to Hermione, getting up from Potter and walking to his supply closest to see if he had any suppressants handy.“I will take him to the hospital wing,” he lied, “you need to leave. The boy will be fine.”

“Please, Sir, what’s wrong with him? As a friend who is concerned, I want to know,” Hermione stood her ground, taking the Weasley boy’s arm in hers as if to stand firmly in her place. Snape rolled his eyes, beginning to rifle through the shelves in search of that emergency hormone suppressant, but to no avail. He obviously put it somewhere else without thinking.

“Dammit,” Snape hissed, irritated at the lack of supplies. He was angered at himself for not taking the initiative to stock up for such an occasion and annoyed at the persistent yipping from Granger. “Are you deaf, child?! I said, ‘out’! If you were that concerned about Potter, you’d leave me be so that I may tend to him.”

“You said he needed the hospital wing,” Hermione replied, now annoyed at being ignored. “Now you’re saying that you’re going to be the one helping him? All I ask is to know what’s wrong with him so I may do my proper research for my own sake of worry!”

She clung to Ron a little tighter, as if to stand against the weight of regret for being so headstrong towards Snape. Ron remained still, eyes fixed on Harry’s limp head that laid against the desk in a snooze. His friend was paler than usual, almost sickly.

“If you don’t leave,” Snape snarled balling his fists tight as he turned sharply towards the two. His snarl grimaced to the point where fangs were barred and revealed. Ron quickly retracted in fear and Hermione also seemed to have grown cold in the reminder that she was trying to stand up to a vampire who seemed to be in an unwavering mode of protection towards the only other vampire in the room.

“I have very limited patience from you humans as it is and now you try to talk away vital moments slipping away, distracting me of what needs to be done so the boy doesn’t succumb to comatose?! I will take all of Gryffindor’s points and assign each of you detention to await possible expulsion for solely being the ones to stifle me from helping a student. Your questions will be answered later. Now is not the time.”

“ ‘Mione, let’s just go. Harry’ll be fine. Snape knows what he’s doing. Please?” Ron asked, his voice threatening to break from fear. As much as Hermione didn’t want to, she gave in and nodded, allowing Ron to walk her away from Harry.

“Comatose?” she asked Ron as if he knew anything about the term involving Harry. “Does that mean he hasn’t been eating? He always told me that Snape has been providing him with the right amount of blood! Does he need more? He is right at the age of puberty - where a growing vampire needs their nutrition the most. Ron, he can’t go without even a day of feeding! He -”

“Hermione!” Ron yelled. “Whatever it is, Snape’s got it. He may be a git to Harry most days, but this is different. He’s got it, okay?”

“I am just concerned,” Hermione stated, backing up her point. “Harry has always thought it taboo to talk about his feedings with us. I want him to be comfortable with us! I don’t want him to lie and say that he’s been feeding when he really hasn’t. You know he’s self-conscious about being a vampire. What if it’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t eat anymore?”

“Snape’d have a fit. I can hear it now, echoing through the halls,” Ron stated, still allowing Hermione to clutch his arm for comfort. “He’d probably force-feed Harry before it’s all said and done with.”

With that, Hermione finally stopped her concerned ramblings. She knew that Ron was right. Snape would most definitely take care of this.

However, what Ron and Hermione didn’t know was that they came to the wrong conclusion. Harry certainly wasn’t malnourished. Snape made awful sure of that. He wouldn’t allow the boy to feed on donated bags of blood alone, always keep an eye on Potter while he fed. Without telling Harry, the alpha concocted one of the blood donations to be a nutrient-filled, vitamin drink that had all of the ingredients present that were required for the healthy development of an omega vampire.

Despite all of the outrageous politics behind human-vampire interaction, Snape was lucky to have received a few bags of donated blood from the closest Muggle hospital in the area. With those few bags of blood, he replicated them, creating gallons and gallons of blood for both him and Harry. A good portion, he was able to treat into vitamin serums that were excellent for Harry and his development into his heat.

And that’s exactly what was happening to the teenager at the moment. The omega had finally come of age to hit his first heat. It was the reason for everything happening to Harry. First cycles tend to be harsher than the following ones for omegas, because of the body trying to adjust to all of the new hormones flooding the system.

Thankfully, Snape was able to finally find the spare vial of heat suppressant. It was carelessly strewn about in his desk drawer. He ran out of the ones that were nonsedating and this was all he had. It would be better than nothing until he could conjure more.

“P-please,” Harry struggled to speak feeling surges of pain shoot through his joints and muscles. The pain in his head dulled into a fuzzy cloud of drunkenness, and he acted without thinking. He grabbed onto Snape’s sleeve when the other vampire came near and pulled at him.

“Off,” Snape demanded. It wasn’t angry, but it was firm and direct enough to make Harry obey. The younger vampire whined in confusion as Snape pulled out the small potion. "Don’t speak, Potter. Here,” the alpha said, popping open the pink vial and handing it to the boy. “Don’t choke on this, please.”

“What’s happening to me?” the omega asked breathlessly and nearly fumbled the vial out of his hands.

“Listen to me, Potter. Stop talking. Drink. It will help.”

Harry gulped down the potion, gagging against the taste. It was like pungent sour milk. He groaned helplessly, clutching his middle and driving his head into the desk that it was lying on.

For just a moment, Snape felt empathy watching the boy struggle in pain. Harry must have been so confused and possibly even scared from it all. The omega didn’t know what was happening to his body, only that he knew it was hurting and his sensory system was out of control. Harry’s nerves must have felt like they were on fire, the same feeling with the blood pulsing through his vessels and the aching stabs in his chest. The alpha in Severus hurt to see the omega suffering. Despite their abrasive relationship when it came to most days, Severus could barely handle the sound of the boy’s pained whimpers.

Do something, Severus. You’re supposed to be the alpha in this, for Merlin’s sake.

He hesitated to come close, touching Potter’s head to thread his fingers into the boy’s messy locks. He stroked his thumb against Harry’s temple, eyes surveying the boy to see if there was any change.

Another stroke of the thumb and the boy gave a moan. It was a sound that caused the Professor’s heart to quiver in response. As much as he wished it would have been a sound to signify pain, he knew the reality of the true intention behind such a noise. The alpha’s groin was slowly growing warmer, cock perking up in interest to Harry’s sounds. A waft of fresh scent that was clouded with arousal entered Snape’s nose.

Shame flooded his veins when he felt the constriction of his trousers to accommodate his fattening cock.

Harry moaned once again when Snape rubbed at his ears. The alpha replied with a low growl of his own, causing the omega to shudder.

“Watch yourself, Potter. That suppressant potion should be in your system by now to calm you. You must know how to control yourself and your...responses,” the alpha drawled. He finally let go of the boy’s head, which caused Harry to whine from the loss of sensation. He lurched forward towards the alpha, trying to grab at Snape’s robes to try and pull the Professor closer.

“N-need --”

“Watch it,” Snape hissed, placing his thumb against Potter’s chin to shut the boy up. “You need a right reminder of who I am and where you are. You will contain yourself, Potter.”

“Where c-can I go, then?” the Gryffindor asked.

“Excuse me?”

“I need to leave, then. I - I can’t take this anymore, Snape.”

“Potter!” the alpha barked, completely taken aback at the use of his last name.

“Please,” the boy begged, laying his head pitifully down on the table again. “I can’t take being in here - it’s too hot. You smell too good. I feel like I’m going to puke.”

“That will subside in another few minutes or so. The potion sometimes takes the latter half of 10 minutes to fully take effect,” the alpha explained and cast a wandless flick of magic, making the trashcan scoot close to Potter’s side. “You’re in heat.”

Harry only groaned in reply. It was a sleepy noise that indicated the potion was taking effect. Snape finally stood up from kneeling beside the boy and walked over to the door that contained his herbs, ingredients, and cauldron. He supposed he could try to whip up some potions to help Potter’s heat. Hormone suppressants take at least a day to stew to become ready. Snape grabbed a pinch of poppy for Harry’s pain and a bag of vitamin-packed blood from the cooler.

Carefully, he poured the blood smoothly into a goblet, stirring in the grains of crushed poppy into it. The concoction turned a deep red. Once he was finished, he stepped over to Harry and gently shook him awake.

Another groan, high pitched, this time. Snape pursed his lips, trying to ignore just how lusty the omega sounded. His eyes shot down, shamefully, to see a tight tent pitched in the Gryffindor’s trousers. Snape’s own arousal was beginning to peak, thirsty and wanting to plunge deep into a warm, tight hole. The Professor ignored the urges and covered himself with his robes. Merlin knows he did not want to traumatize Potter by sporting off his hardness to him. Quickly, he placed the goblet of blood onto the desk.

“Drink,” he commanded.

Although slow and sleepy, the boy obeyed and curled his fingers around the stem of the goblet. Once he got the taste of blood on his lips, he gulped the drink down greedily, even causing a drop to slide down his chin, thick and red. Potter was not normally a messy drinker, so seeing the boy’s lips covered in the red liquid caused the Professor to shudder wantingly.

To be able to lick and bite at those lips while tending to the omega in his heat.

Stop it! Snape nearly screamed at himself.

“Better?” the Slytherin asked, handing Harry a rag. The boy nodded thankfully and wiped his mouth before the red could stain his collar. “I’m going to send you to bed now. The drink should help your pain and the suppressant should last for most of the day. I will come to you when I am finished making the other suppressants and give you another drink.”

“I-I don’t want to be alone,” Harry said meekly. “Can’t I stay here with you, alpha?”

Snape’s heart gave a lurch and he gritted his teeth as if the title caused him pain.

“Excuse me, what did you say?”

“I don’t want to be alone,” Harry repeated. “I want to stay here with you in case things get bad again. Can’t we scent?”

“Absolutely not! You’re treading dangerous waters, Potter. You don’t know what you’re saying. You’re in heat,” Snape replied and took the empty goblet away from Potter. “I refuse to be in the same room with you any longer at this moment. I’ve done what I needed to do to assure your health and comfort.”

“But, alpha,” the boy whined and Snape snarled.

“I am not your alpha!” Snape bared his fangs, making the omega tremble in both fear and submission.

Harry shrunk down and whimpered, feeling his heart breaking at the rejection from the alpha.

“You act like all of your intentions are innocent,” Snape continued, tossing the goblet into the sink. “Scenting at this moment in time would lead to nothing except trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Harry asked, perking up in interest from the comment. Snape whirled around, having a look of bewilderment on his face. As if Potter doesn’t know what he’s trying to say!

“Don’t play coy,” the alpha lowered his voice. “I can see the front of your pants right now that you know exactly what kind of trouble I am talking about.”

“I could say the same to you,” Harry remarked, causing the Professor to quickly try to cover himself futilely.

“You’re a child, a devious one at that,” Snape growled. “You’re under the influence of your heat and youth. Do you not realize how alphas feed on omegas like you when you offer yourself to them so willingly?”

“Do you want to feed on me, Professor?”

Snape hesitated, eyes growing wide. Potter asking this made him feel like he was caught in his own words, especially now that the boy knows that he’s aroused.
“My instincts cannot ignore pure biology. Heats are primal and driven purely by chemicals and hormones. For vampires, tending to an omega during their heat is as natural as feeding on blood, itself.”

“Then ‘tend’ to me,” Harry gave a soft smile. “I want you, alpha. And from the looks of it, you feel the same way.”

Snape, once again, cringed at the title and the fact that Harry was actually offering himself to the adult vampire. Snape knew that there was no purchase to arguing with an omega teen in their heat, especially when Harry is this deep into wanting to actually have relations with the “greasy git of a Professor”.

“I am not your alpha,” Snape gritted. “If you weren’t in heat, I’d smack you into next week,” Snape stated, slow and meaningful.

However, he could not ignore the pressing hardness that was beginning to dampen the front of his trousers. His cock was more than willing to satisfy the omega, give Harry exactly what he’s asking for and then some. The boy was right there, too, so willing and wanting. Snape knew that with his alpha influence and a single command, the boy would be on his knees, looking up at him eagerly with Lily’s big, beautiful doll eyes. Snape found himself lost in thought, so much so that he didn’t even register Harry getting to his feet and walking closer to him.

“But I am in heat,” the boy said, just above a whisper. “So instead of smacking me into next week, what are you thinking of doing?”

He got close, too close for Snape’s comfort. With every step he took, the Slytherin tensed up and tried to keep his composure. Harry was close enough that Snape could smell the lusty scent radiating from him. Then there Potter stood, nearly eye level with the Professor. The boy had leaned in, faces so close to touching that their warm breath would tickle at each other’s lips.

“I’ve never thought of you as someone who grew speechless,” Harry said.

“Another word and I’ll be sure to put you in your place as a proper vampire should,” Snape replied, though his voice had a warm, wanting tone to it.
“I’d like that,” Harry whispered, nose nuzzling into the crook of Snape’s neck to inhale his scent.

Suddenly, Harry felt snatched in the air. Strong hands were gripping at his collar and pulling him until his body collided with the wall that was adjacent to the door. Involuntarily, he gave a moan, tossing his head to the side, instinctually driven to wanting the alpha to bite down on him. Snape snarled, still holding onto Harry’s collar as he pushed him into the wall.

“I am a vampire of my word,” the Professor growled. “You’re very tempting, Potter,” Snape finally admitted breathlessly. “Next time, I may just sink my teeth into that sweet, small neck of yours, but trust me when I say that all you’ll know is pain for your punishment.”

Harry whimpered, still offering the side of his neck to the alpha, but Snape purposely ignored it.

“You’ve made me into a fool, Potter,” Snape said lowly, leaning in until his lips grazed the crest of Potter’s ear to make sure he was listening intently. “Mark me when I say that I will not hesitate to put you in your place the next time you ever try this stunt again. You may be in heat, but you know exactly what you’re doing. You’ve got me questioning my role as a teacher when all I want to do is drink you down like a mate. How dare you? Do you know what insane amount of trouble I would be in if I were to obey your perverted requests?”

“A-a lot, sir,” Harry sputtered, pathetically terrified of what the alpha were to do next.

“We will speak of this no more,” the Professor growled. “Go. Now. Bed,” the alpha demanded. He finally let go of Harry who was still trembling from fear of being confronted by the alpha. His bookbag was tossed to his middle and Potter sloppily picked it up.

“H-how long will this last?” Harry asked.

“Around a week,” Snape answered.

“A week of this?!”

“Once I have a full supply of suppressant, you won’t have your heats like this anymore. They will be controlled tightly as long as you continue to take the serums I give you. Speaking of which, I will send a house-elf to give you your potion in a couple of hours. Now, you must rest.”

“But, what about school?”

“The fact that you’re still concerned about schoolwork is touching, really,” Snape rolled his eyes. “I’ll take care of your attendance and notify all of your professors and the headmaster. Maybe they’ll be lenient on your schoolwork. As for me, however,” the Professor shoved a potions book into Harry’s backpack before pushing him out into the hall, “I expect the first four chapters to be read by next week. You will be tested on the contents.”

Before Harry could say anything else, the door was slammed in his face.

Chapter Text

It was another sleepless night. Harry could not get comfortable and the bed was much too hot. He tossed and turned to no avail, continuing on until he read his watch that said 2:21 AM.

He contemplated why he would be awake. He was just coming off of his heat not too long ago, but he was able to sleep even afterward. He wasn’t stressed about an upcoming exam - he never stressed about that anymore due to his duty against Voldemort. He didn’t even have any nightmares leading up to this point, anyway.

He figured he just had too much energy from feeding today. The blood that Professor Snape gave him today was very good, so much so that he asked for another pint. Harry remembered Snape raising his eyebrows curiously as he took the empty goblet from Harry and turned to fetch another one. Part of Harry felt like maybe he shouldn’t have asked for another. He didn’t understand vampire portions and just relied on Snape, being the vampire mentor, to measure out everything as needed. Harry knew at the Dursley’s, he could never ask for any seconds, human food or otherwise, so he found a little bit of freedom in asking for a second pint. Part of him was scared that there was going to be a reprimand from the older vampire, but there was none.

Now, Harry supposed, he had a lot of energy as a residual from the second feed.

Ultimately, it was boredom that finally got him out of bed and reaching for his invisibility cloak. Harry also pulled out the Marauder's Map and grabbed his wand. He figured that there was time to kill and halls to be explored this late into the night. Curiosity always won Harry’s train of thought, so he didn’t hesitate to slide into his bed shoes and throw his cloak over his head.

“Lumos,” he whispered to his wand, and the tip of it lit up. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”

The map came to life with the halls and passageways, with few dotted footprints to indicate someone’s movement. Out of habit, he searched for Dumbledore, who waltzed slowly back and forth as if he were lost in thought.

That or it could be sleepwalking.

He saw that his hall was clear of any presence. The prefects that were supposed to be on hallway patrol were probably napping in the common room. Harry walked slowly down the hall, careful to not shine the light from his wand outside the cloak, and turned the corner to try and explore the Gryffindor tower.

As he walked, nearly all of the portraits and paintings were fast asleep, but he still heard a bit of muttering here and there from two older painted gentlemen. He kept his walk steady, not too fast. His eyes were still scouring over the map and it showed that he was about to enter another hallway and could either go left or right. Left had a broom closet and another hallway and the right led to the common room. Harry could see on the map that in the common room were Percy and Penelope. Harry knew to avoid going right and went left.

He decided he wanted to go out onto the balcony to see the stars. Perhaps that would relax his energy a little to where he could fall asleep. He took the left, past the broom closet, and aimed to go another right where the door to the stairs was. There was no one present on the balcony, according to the map, so Harry ascended.

*

Snape didn’t often change into his animagus form. Barely anyone knew about the fact that he could even turn into an animal except for Albus and Minerva. Of course, he didn’t register himself to be one, either. He kept his secret to allow himself to stay under the radar as he traveled. It wasn’t a hugely kept secret, however. If anyone ever did their research in the history and characteristics of vampires, they would know of the creature’s ability to turn into a bat. But, in fact, either most humans didn’t do their research, simply forgot, or they could even believe it to be a wive’s tale rather than fact. Vampires turning into bats? That’s what is seen in classic Hollywood horror instead of real life.

However, it was true. Every vampire is completely capable of learning how to transform into their animagus - a bat. Whenever he did change, Severus found his animagus form to be very useful when looming through the halls to catch any students who were out of bed. Of course, there were the Prefects that would be out to do the very thing that he’s doing, however, Severus knew that they, too, could also be up to no good. Hormonal as these humans are, Severus is not new to having to halt intimate relations occurring between two, or more, students. In fact, just the other night, he plastered two weeks of detention onto two Ravenclaw girls who were getting handsy with each other during their transition into sleep time.

And now, Severus was fluttering about in his bat form, careful to be quiet and glide as much as possible. The halls were dark, but teaching at this school for decades caused him to be familiar with every wall he floated by and his eyes adjusted to the darkness enough that he wouldn’t fly into anything. He also taught himself to never chirp, even if using echolocation was very useful in these darkened hallways.

The smell of students entered his nose. Faint, but becoming stronger as it came closer to the opening of the hallway that connected the house towers together. The space opened up into a big room that had four adjoining corridors that lead to each house tower. Severus just exited the Slytherin tower, satisfied that no one was up to cause trouble. Severus could smell that the students were here in the main atrium, but it was confirmed when his sensitive ears caught the pitch of feminine giggling that echoed off the walls.

Severus couldn’t identify who it was just from the giggles alone, but soon he heard a boy respond with a sensual noise of lust. The professor responded immediately by diving into the hall that connected Ravenclaw tower to the main room, out of sight so that he could morph into his human form. His pace was quick, unbroken from the speed of flying; the click of his shoes notified the students of his presence because he could then hear a surprised gasp and a sharp shh!

“Come out, now,” Severus commanded, aiming his wand into the air. It immediately lit up without a word, shining to reveal two students cuddled together on one of the wooden benches. The boy, a Ravenclaw, and the girl, a Hufflepuff. Thank Merlin they were dressed. The girl instantly jumped to her feet whereas the male hesitated and moved like molasses.

“50 points from each house,” Snape spat. “Consider yourselves very forturnate. Were you in Slytherin, both of you would be out of his school before the night would be out.

“S-sorry, Professor Snape,” said the boy, trying to dust himself off - or hide his erection. Snape rolled his eyes.

“Both of your Head of Houses will be notified,” Snape hissed, tapping his wand quickly on both of their shoulders. “Now leave. I suggest being in bed before I come down your halls and catch you again.”

Quickly, the boy and girl dispersed in opposite directions to go to their house towers, leaving Snape in the middle. Once it was clear and he looked around to make sure no one was out watching, he shrank back down into his bat form and took off down the Gryffindor hall.

*

“Shit,” Harry whispered as he saw Snape’s name gliding quickly around Gryffindor tower on the map. “Is he running?”

Harry just came down from the balcony and was silly enough to take a wrong turn being lost in thought after gazing at the stars. So now, he was three hallways away from his room and Snape was gaining on him. He saw the name turn the corner to head down the exact same hallway that he was in.

He covered the light of his wand with his hand so that it wouldn’t shine through the cloak and stayed still.

*

Snape followed the trail of Potter’s scent which immediately hit his nostrils when he turned the corner.

Where could he be? the Professor mulled about as he flew beside the high ceilings of the hall. His intently listening ears picked up on snoozes from the paintings that he was passing, but nothing else to suggest that the boy was here. However, the scent of honey cinnamon was undeniably strong on the bat’s tongue as he lapped the air. A very familiar taste of what Potter smelled like when they scented.

Instantly, his mind raced with possibilities as to why the boy was out of bed. Nightmares? Visions of death? The Dark Lord torturing his mind to the point of insanity? Was Potter in pain? Was he hungry? The omega didn’t smell as if he were in distress.

The Professor tried diligently to look with his bat eyes to see where Potter was in the hall, but couldn’t find even a shadow of him. He concluded that Harry must have been using that damned cloak again. However, it was apparent that Harry was not only in the hall but he was close when he heard a panicked, hasty “mischief managed” being whispered into the air. Snape dove towards the floor, landing on human feet. He pulled out his wand, lit at the tip, and reached his arms out to try and find the Gryffindor.

“Take that infernal thing off, Potter,” Snape demanded, finally landing his hand against a bodily figure that was inches in front of him. He gripped the delicate fabric of the cloak and yanked it back. He saw Harry shining his wand onto his face, wicked green eyes frantic and wide. “Give me that damn map, too.”

Shakily, the boy gave the folded piece of parchment to the Professor, who snatched it. After finding the map to be empty, he aimed his wand at Harry, scowling as he looked down at him.

“Hiding contents of a previously confiscated item of the dark arts while being out of bed puts you in very hot water, Potter. Not only that, but you traipsing around in that confounded thing only confirms to me that you’re up to no good,” Snape said as he took the invisibility cloak from the boy.

“I-I was --”

“Out of bed during sleeping hours. An offense punishable by immediate suspension,” the Professor reminded the omega.

“Please, sir, I couldn’t sleep.”

“All the more reason why you should be in bed.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“You insult me,” Snape said simply, “that you were to think that I can’t recognize the only other vampire scent here in the school, especially that one of an omega just coming off their heat.”

A heated blush crept over the younger wizard’s cheeks and suddenly he felt as if he should have known better. Of course, it made sense that Snape could smell him. But at such a distance? Harry looked around the corridor to see if there was anything that could have assisted Snape, but shining his light caused some of the portraits to complain about how bright the light was.

“H-how were you able to come up to me so fast? I didn’t hear you running…” Harry asked, turning back to Snape.

Snape hissed impatiently at Potter trying to stall, but then grew more curious of the question.

“How could you have known I was approaching you?” the older vampire asked.

Harry looked at Snape blankly for a second before reaching out his hand to collect the map back. The Professor hesitated but realized that Harry was trying to show him something. He allowed the parchment to go back to him, and the boy opened it up.

“I solemnly swear I am up to no good,” he said.

Snape saw that it was an incantation that acted like a password to allow the map to come to life with the whole schematic of Hogwarts. Snape shined his wand onto the map, eyebrows raising in interest.

“Look, there’s you and me,” Harry pointed to the map and showed the banners that displayed their full names. “These float in reference to our movement throughout Hogwarts. When I was looking at this map before you found me, your name was flying down the hall.”

“Interesting how you’re able to spy on my movements with that thing,” Snape muttered, peering over Potter’s shoulder to get a better look. “Lupin and his band of misfits outdid themselves with this one.”

“Right,” Harry agreed, although he wasn’t really listening that hard to what Snape was saying. He was still curious as to how the Professor was able to catch him so quickly and swiftly, without the sound of him running down the hall or struggling to find him. However, the Professor snatched the map back and aimed his wand at Potter’s face.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Snape snarled, catching Harry’s eyes beginning to glisten with remorse. “Such an omega thing to do, acting like a victim who has done nothing wrong. You knew exactly what you were doing, seeing from your evidence. I refuse to return this map and cloak to you until Dumbledore approves on what I should do with it.”

“It’s mine,” Potter tried to snarl, himself. It did no good as the alpha rolled his eyes and shoved the map into his pocket and the cloak over his shoulder. “You can’t take my property.”

“Watch me, Potter,” Snape hissed. “Besides, I am forever certain that this cloak didn’t even belong to your blessed father in the first place. I’m sure the artifact was taken.”

“He inherited it!” Harry shouted.

“That’s what was told to you.”

“You have no proof to say otherwise!”

Snape quickly grabbed at Harry’s cheeks, pinching his lips together so they could speak no more, and scowled at the boy. “Unlike you, I knew your father.”

The boy froze beneath his hand and those green eyes shimmered from the threat of tears.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Snape repeated. “I’m only stating a fact. I knew your father and I knew of his ways too. You’re just like him, meandering through the halls at night as he did with the rest of his friends. They, too, were up to no good. The apple doesn’t fall far, Potter.”

“Up to no good? I was only trying to get some fresh air,” Harry said and, just as Snape did to him earlier, pointed his lit wand towards the Professor. “I couldn’t sleep and I just wanted to get outside for a bit on the balcony. Is that so wrong?”

“Quite, because it involves you breaking school rules,” Snape replied, irritated. He paused for a second, however, and looked at the boy closely with his wand to assist in lighting Harry’s face. The boy’s pupils constricted as they should, and the whites of his eyes were becoming red at the edges. Potter was visibly tired. “Just because you’re awake during the night doesn’t mean you get to leave your room,” he muttered before pausing. “Why...weren’t you able to sleep?”

“I-I...I believe that I may have some extra energy from the second feed you gave me,” Harry replied, lowering his wand to his side.

Snape pursed his lips and Harry heard his breath hitch in his throat. Snape lowered his wand as well, but still had it pointed to shine the way in the hall.

“From the blood I gave you?”

“Yes, sir,” Harry replied.

“You were hungry, weren’t you?”

“It was so good that I wanted more.”

“Quite,” Snape mulled and finally released a slow sigh. “In that case, come with me.” Before the boy could even try to resist, the alpha grabbed his hand by the wrist and pulled him down the corridor.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked and Snape hushed him, followed by a couple of portraits to turn off the light and stop talking. They turned the corner and began to descend down the stairs. That’s when Harry realized that they were going to the dungeons. Surely the Professor wasn’t going to punish him at this hour of the night? Part of him wanted to ask again, but he decided against it and walked quietly with Snape pulling at his arm.

The alpha’s hold on him was firm, but not harsh. His touch was warm and his skin was soft, something that Harry never really took note of until now. Harry obediently continued to walk until they were right in front of the potions classroom in the dungeon. A quick lilt of an incantation and the door was swinging open. Snape pulled Harry towards his desk until he plopped the boy down in the chair. Potter sat and waited as Snape entered the storage door and pushed through shelves of potions and elixirs. He grabbed a purple vial that was corked tight.

“Am I gonna drink that?”

“It’s for sleep,” Snape answered and handed the boy the vial. “Dreamless sleep potion. It’s effective for nightmares, night terrors, and restlessness.”

“Thank you,” Harry said and downed the vial quickly.

“So, you were wandering because you were restless?”

“Yes. I think I had too much energy from the second portion of blood,” Harry answered, suddenly shooting out a yawn from exhaustion.

“Tomorrow, after I am done with detention, I want you to come down here. Let’s say 8 PM,” Snape said. Before Harry could whine in protest, the vampire continued with, “you’re not in trouble. I have something to teach you. 8 PM sharp, please.”

“Yes’sir,” Harry said blankly and gave the vial back to the professor. Snape held out his hand to usher Harry back out of the door.

“Quickly. That potion will work in minutes. You may not even remember this, so I will remind you tomorrow about meeting me here at 8.”

Harry only nodded and went up the stairs to go back to Gryffindor Tower. Snape didn’t even release Harry when they made it to the common room. The alpha insisted on following Harry right to his dorm room door. Harry felt like he was on autopilot as he entered the door. He leaned towards Snape who held the door open for him and complained of how he didn’t need sleep.

“Omegas need all of the sleep they can get, especially when they are so busy with school and training to overcome the Dark Lord,” Snape replied softly and pressed his hand against Harry’s back to push him inside. “You need your rest.”

“Don’t alphas need rest?” Harry asked and Snape quickly shushed him to remind him to keep his voice down.

“Nice try. Remember tomorrow evening.”

“Yes’sir.”

Snape closed the door, leaving Harry in total darkness. Remembering the way to his bed, he plopped down on it to the point where the springs groaned from his weight. In an instant once his head reached the pillow, Harry was asleep.

*******

Harry’s day went pretty well overall. He got to have nice conversations with Hermione and Ron, got to spend some time on the Quidditch field, and even avoided having to go to Transfiguration today due to Trelawney not feeling well. During dinner, he was laughing with his fellow Gryffindor mates until his eyes moved and caught black orbs staring back at him. Harry looked at Snape who sat at the staff table only to see that the alpha was staring back at him, expectantly.

Snape’s eyebrows raised and Harry suddenly was reminded of the meeting that was supposed to take place at 8 PM. He wished he could skip it. Maybe he could find some excuse to call the alpha off. Maybe he could feign being sick or overwhelmed with homework. He knew, however, if he did that, Snape would be as intruding as ever. Harry knew that he would be determined to make him feel better with any magical healing elixir that was on hand. Or he imagined Snape saying that Harry had plenty of time to work on his homework in detention in the dungeons. Harry tried to think of any excuse that wouldn’t be countered by the alpha’s intruding habits until he realized that any excuse would be futile.

6:30 PM hit and Harry saw Snape quickly stand up and walk without any emotion on his face. Harry knew that Snape was heading down towards the dungeons to greet several students who were in detention for various things. Attitude, disrespect, or blatant disobedience. Harry wondered if Snape put him in those same categories as those offending students. The Gryffindor grabbed his bag and quickly joined Ron and Hermione going to the library.

Harry was at least able to get 5 inches of an essay done for Charms, so him being at the library wasn’t a waste of time. When 7:45 PM struck, Harry got up and said his goodbyes to Hermione and Ron without explaining himself any further. The two of the trio were quickly curious as to why Harry was leaving so soon but didn’t bother running after him. Harry was thankful for it, too, because he didn’t want to try to explain why Snape wanted him to go to the dungeons so late in the evening. He passed by a couple of students, a boy and a girl, who were most likely just finishing up their detention with the Potions Master. The omega walked down the stairs with shaky jolts of each foot until he reached the bottom. There, he looked down the dark halls to find a tall figure that was standing outside of the potions room, waiting patiently.

Snape had a blank expression on his face as Potter came up to him. Harry almost said something but was quickly cut off by the alpha coaxing the boy in with his finger. Without a word, Snape pointed at the center desk that was on the first row of the classroom, directly in front of the teacher’s desk. Harry obeyed and sat down in the chair, preparing to grab some materials out of his backpack like a quill and some parchment. The omega just assumed he would be doing lines or some other educational punishment, but he was told to put it away.

“Pay attention,” Snape commanded. Harry obeyed and sat straight up in the chair, hands folded against each other on the desk. He saw the Professor walk in front of him, eyes never leaving his own. There were no words exchanged between them, but Harry looked expectantly at the alpha, wondering what he was going to do.

Snape stopped his steps in front of Harry’s desk and, without breaking his gaze from the boy, disappeared right in front of Potter’s very eyes. The omega’s eyes widened in surprise and he quickly stood up from his desk. His eyes focused and landed on a flying animal. Circling towards the ceiling of the dungeon was a bat, squeaking and fluttering his wings. Instantly, Harry knew that the bat was his Potions Master.

“Y-you’re a bat!” Harry said in disbelief. “You’re an animagus? How?”

The bat chirped in response before coming down to land back onto human feet. Severus crossed his arms after the transformation as Harry took it all in.

“H-how?” Harry asked. “I thought only McGonagall…or my dad and Sirius--”

“You thought wrong,” Severus stated without letting Harry finish. “Becoming an animagus requires an advanced skill of magic. However, I didn't use any spells or magic to become an animagus. And the same way I am able to change into a bat, so are you.”

“Me?” Harry asked, his surprised expression never ceasing. “I-I’m not an animagus nor did I try to become one.”

“Without realizing it, you did,” Severus replied.

“How? Being a vampire?” Harry asked. He saw a small curl of the Professor’s lips and realized that he was correct. “Being a vampire allows you to be an animagus?”

“Not just any animagus, Potter,” Severus replied. “A bat, specifically. We, vampires, have magical blood that allows us to not only practice and perform dark magic but also transform into a bat to assist us in our feedings.”

“So I, too, can become a bat?” Harry asked.

“Indeed.”

“Why did you want to show me this? Or tell me?”

Severus gave a slight roll of his eyes but realized he must be patient with the omega. He understood that this was a lot to take in.

“I’m telling you so that you’re able to also hone in on this skill and produce yourself in your animagus form. This form is very beneficial for the surviving vampire if they are not able to feed on humans. Being a bat allows you to move in the night, relying on your other senses so that you may capture nocturnal prey. You can also say being a bag has its advantages of hiding or fleeing from danger,” Snape moved closer to Harry as he spoke and looked down on him. “It can also help with burning any excess energy. Are you or are you not interested in unlocking the animagus that lives within you?”

“Please!” Harry said, excitedly. “Yes, I want that more than anything. I want to try and see if I can become a bat.”

“Patience, Potter,” Severus said. “I will teach you, only on one condition.”

“Yes’sir,” Harry replied.

“I keep the map,” the alpha answered and immediately Harry groaned in frustration. “Indefinitely. I refuse for you to be snooping around knowing everyone’s movements at all times. Especially mine or Dumbledores. It’s a breach of privacy. You also are not to go into the secret tunnels. You are not to enter Hogsmeade in any other way other than where the students normally go.”

“Fine. What about the cloak?”

“In my desk. Dumbledore told me to give it back to you,” Snape replied. He saw Harry give a little glint of a smile before he continued with, “However, he never said when.”

“Please, Professor,” Harry begged.

“Once you have successfully transformed, I will give it back. Consider it motivation.”

Harry sighed, but finally nodded his head in agreement. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll take that into consideration.”

“Quite,” the alpha said and suddenly turned from Potter. The Professor took ten good steps away from the boy before turning back around. A slight hesitation, as he realized the trouble that Potter could get in with this new knowledge. “Before I teach you this, you must promise me not to abuse it.”

“I don’t know what you mean, sir,” Harry answered truthfully. The Professor pursed his lips and pointed a finger at Harry.

“Snooping around is what I mean,” Severus replied. “You may get away with spying on other teachers and students, but mark me when I say I know your smell like I know my own curriculum. If I catch you trying to cause trouble with this new skill I am going to teach you, I will be sure that your evenings will be spent in my classroom, obeying every punishment I give you.”

“I promise I won’t use this for trouble-making, Professor,” Harry said, albeit not entirely sure if he was lying or not. It depended on the situation, he supposed. “I promise I won’t abuse this and only use it when necessary.”

“No longer roam the halls after dark unless in animagus form,” Snape continued. “I’d much rather sense and see you as a bat than under that damn cloak hiding. At least I would be able to track you properly.”

“You’d let me be a bat at night when I can’t sleep?” Harry asked, his tone perking up.

“Do not overextend what I mean, boy,” Snape said. “If you truly are not able to find rest, fly the hallways until you become tired. I understand that as a growing omega, you can’t help your bouts of energy that can lead to insomnia. I’d much rather have you using those hours productively by continuing your development.”

Harry paused and looked at Snape. “So, this is all just so I can…?”

“Become a stark healthy omega vampire? Indeed,” Snape answered. “If I so much as see one claw out of line from this --”

“I won’t do anything without your permission, Professor,” Harry assured. Snape shook his head and looked severely at Harry to make the boy straighten up.

“You misunderstand me,” Snape began again. “Any claw out of line, and you are done. Gone. You will no longer see this school anymore. Few people, including you, know that I am an animagus. I will not risk my position because of your sloppy and careless antics.”

“Ye-yes’sir,” Harry replied.

“I am only allowing this for the benefit of your development,” the Professor continued. “Do not disappoint me.I am being lenient to you.”

“R-right. Yes’sir,” Harry repeated.

“Now concentrate,” Snape commanded. “Close your eyes.”

Harry obeyed. The omega could hear the alpha walking past him with slow, clicking heels.

“Concentrate on being. Being a bat. Being an extension of yourself as this animagus. Being something that you are not fully, but partially. Being a bat, especially an omega, is a gift. You have such beautiful capabilities with this gift. This form can allow you to be stealthy, quiet, and precise. This form also allows for a strong bond between alpha and omega,” the Professor continued. “As thoughts, feelings, and senses are enhanced to allow to experience the full essence of each other’s being.”

Harry listened intently, screwing his eyes shut tight to try and focus on what it would be like to be a bat. More and more, he listened to Snape’s suggestions and advice to try and turn into a bat…but ultimately, nothing happened. After a frustrated groan from the omega, the alpha tisked.

“Patience, Potter. I was not expecting you to suddenly grasp this transformation so quickly. It takes patience, discipline, and concentration.”

“I am concentrating, Professor.”

“Patience and discipline as well,” Snape added. “Meditate about being an extension of yourself. Something that you are not. A representation of yourself in bat-like form.”

Harry did so, pursing his lips closed and reclosing his eyes as if to reset his thoughts. He thought about flying. He thought about being able to roam free throughout the halls of Hogwarts and even outside of the castle walls. He thought about being able to float among the clouds. He thought being able to run away scot-free of any problem or responsibility he had. He thought about blood and feeding - the sweet and tangy taste of the iron-rich substance. He thought about sinking his fangs into a warm, unsuspecting, fleshy victim and sucking deeply directly from the vein.

Even as he thought these thoughts, there was no result in him becoming a bat. Harry curled his fists tight as he concentrated, but there was nothing. The alpha hummed sympathetically. After 30 minutes of trying, the Professor told Harry to stop. Snape could tell that the omega was upset at the lack of results and part of him felt for the boy. He reassured Potter by telling him that it takes time and practice, but Harry only looked towards the ground in response.

Snape felt an involuntary urge to place his hand under Harry’s chin to lift the boy’s face up from looking down. Those green eyes that belonged to Lily shimmered in disappointment as Snape looked deep into them. White tips of fangs pressed against the pink crest of Potter’s bottom lip as Potter visibly relaxed in his touch. A protective surge overcame the alpha and he growled lowly, threatening on the verge of affectionately.

“We will try again at a later time. More blood, nutrients, scenting, practice.”

“Yes, Professor,” the boy sighed.

Those lips curled and formed around those words and Snape suddenly pondered as to what Harry would taste like if he gathered those lips against his own. What would those small tips of fang feel like if they were to bite into his lips or even his neck? It had been so long since he tasted the sweet essence of an omega and bonded with them with biting.

Snape scolded himself. Potter was still an omega minor, still developing into his true form. The Professor never thought of himself as taking advantage of such a thing, but here he was completely lost and, dare he even think, in love with those green eyes. They soon lidded as the boy leaned into his touch and the alpha was having trouble blaming himself for falling for such a beautiful face. Granted, he would never admit this, especially out loud. He continued to deny and repress any emotion he held towards the boy. However, those eyes…they tempted him so.

“I think you should sleep,” the Professor said before his thoughts could wander too deeply.

“No, I-I want to try again. I want to try more,” Harry pleaded, although his eyes were completely closed now.

“Later,” Snape said and finally let go of Potter’s chin. The boy straightened up and whimpered softly. The alpha ignored it. “You’ll have much more time later on in the week or even the month as you practice this. I just wanted to show you today to make you aware of your capabilities.”

Snape pursed his lips as he looked at Potter. The omega was slumped against the chair in defeat, watching Snape with every step he took.

“I command you to not tell anyone about my secret as an animagus.”

“Of course, sir,” Harry said wholeheartedly. “I would never tell a soul. In fact, I want to become one and I don’t want anyone to be the wiser.”

“Even your two companions will not know?” Snape asked.

Harry hesitated, thinking about Hermione and Ron. He realized it was very easy for him to tell those two anything and everything. After some thought, he finally nodded and confirmed that even his two most faithful friends would not know the secret.

“Good. Keep it that way. Vampire-oath, if that’s what you want to think about it as.”

“I-is there such a thing?” Harry asked as he got up from the chair. “A vampire-oath?”

The Professor hummed.

“It’s less a formality and moreso an implied promise to be committed and faithful to your own kind,” Severus answered. “While there is no actual punishment for breaking a promise, it does bring an awful disappointment in the vampires who had faith in you. Ties broken. Bonds shattered. Trust ruined. Remember, Potter, humans are not able to be trusted. I am confident that you will remain faithful to your own vampire kind to keep this secret.”

“Of course,” Harry repeated. “This secret is…it’s ours.”

Snape raised an eyebrow at the word “ours”, but said nothing about it. Ultimately, he agreed that it was truly “their” secret and so he let the word go. He watched as Potter gathered his things and threw his bag over his shoulder, stumbling slightly from just how tired he was. Snape quickly grabbed Harry’s shoulders to steady him. The omega’s cheeks soon turned red from either embarrassment or bashfulness of the alpha’s touch.

“Thank you for everything, Professor,” Harry said, not saying anything about the alpha’s hold on him. Snape quickly let go, as if he just realized what he did, and placed his hands behind his back.

“We will practice this again at a later date. I will make you aware and schedule it after when I look over detention.”

“Yes’sir,” Harry answered. He looked at his watch and realized that he missed the transition to bed. “Could I have a note or something?” Harry asked, albeit hesitantly. “I don’t want to get any flack from Percy for not being in bed.”

“I’ll escort you just as I did last night,” Snape replied and opened the door of the classroom to let Harry out.

They walked in silence to the Gryffindor tower, not walking into any of the Prefects as Harry expected. Before entering his room, Harry looked back at the alpha and gave a tired smile. Snape understood the expression as another silent “thank you” and he nodded in reply, pursing his lips. Once the door to Harry’s room closed, Snape quickly turned and headed down the hall. When in the shadows and making sure that the coast was clear, he transformed into his animagus, fluttering down the halls to patrol.

Chapter Text

Harry woke up in Severus’ lap once again, head buried in the crevice of the alpha’s neck and arms slumped around his shoulders. He breathed deeply, eyes fluttering sleepily from the scent of the alpha. Today was Saturday, meaning Snape didn’t teach and wasn’t around various potions, chemicals, and ingredients to taint his natural scent of sandalwood and pine. Harry had no idea how long he had been asleep and honestly didn’t have a clue how long their scenting session went. He just remembered coming to the dungeons after dinner, surprising the alpha. They were supposed to skip today due to the Professor having many parchments to grade and a Potions seminar to prepare for the seventh years and post-graduates.

Of course, when Harry entered, Snape had to comment on how needy omegas can be and just how selfish Potter was to take away his time for getting tasks done. However, Harry noticed that he was quick to be silent and hastily sit in the chair, almost expectantly. Harry said nothing and Snape immediately knew the boy was stressed. Without another word, Harry crawled onto the Professor’s lap and quickly rested his head on his shoulder.

Harry supposed he fell asleep quickly after that. He lifted his head off of the alpha’s shoulders but noticed Snape’s curtain hair shielding part of his face as his head lay limp. The teacher was also sleeping, breathing slow and deep. Harry tossed his head towards the clock and saw that it was past nine. They had been here for two hours. He could only imagine the pins and needles the alpha was having from himself sitting on him. He shifted his weight and suddenly, the Professor jerked awake, landing his hands on Potter’s hips.

“Sir,” Harry said, apologetically.

The older vampire said nothing and tilted his head to land his nose against Potter’s neck. The omega allowed him to breathe in his scent deeply and feel the alpha relax under him.

“I-it’s night,” Harry said softly. Snape hummed in reply. “You didn’t do your papers o-or your --”

“Hush, Potter, please. There are better things to worry about. What’s gotten you so stressed?” Snape asked with a sleepy tone. Harry hesitated but allowed Snape to continue to scent him. “Hmm?” the alpha hummed after a full minute of silence passed.

“I-I had another nightmare,” Harry replied and laid his head on Snape’s shoulder. The alpha tensed under him slightly. “I-it seemed so real. V-Volde--”

“Don’t speak his name,” the older vampire warned.

“Him. He,” Harry corrected himself. “He was there. I watched as he - as he tortured Ron with the cruciatus curse. Ron was begging for death and I was under the imperius curse, waiting for Vol - his command to kill Ron, myself.”

Snape considered this for a second, still inhaling Potter’s scent. He felt the omega curl tighter against him, as if embarrassed or ashamed of what he just said.

“What did the Dark Lord look like?” Snape asked, rubbing his hands over Potter’s back to try and soothe him. He only felt the boy tense up underneath his hand.

“Like I remember from the Chamber. Tom Riddle.”

Snape hesitated upon hearing this. He didn’t realize that Tom Riddle had shown himself to Potter, but it only made sense. The diary - he remembered discussing it with Albus upon its destruction.

“That form of his is long dead. Was Weasley okay when you woke up?”

“Y-yes. He was fast asleep, just fine. I couldn’t go back to bed after that.”

“It was just a dream,” the Professor reassured. “Besides, He wouldn’t torture you or your friend without warrant. Only if Weasley were in the way of the task. He’d just kill you, instead.”

“Gee, thanks,” Harry said with a bitter tone. The alpha shushed him gently and coaxed Potter’s head towards his neck.

“Be comforted it’d be quick if he were to attempt. You are protected, Potter. More than you know,” Snape continued. Harry could feel those hands rubbing his back gently, almost too gently. “Don’t live in fear. You are a Gryffindor.”

That’s when Harry felt an angry heat rising up into his cheeks. "How can I not be afraid?!” the omega shouted.

“Quiet, Potter. You’re becoming emotional --”

“You’re right I’m becoming emotional! Telling me to not be afraid?! Ignoring my nightmares and saying they’re nothing?! I’ve been chased down by this madman who is fighting tooth and nail to kill me!” Harry said, pulling himself away from the alpha. Snape’s grip only grew tighter on his body and suddenly, Harry realized the older vampire was much stronger than he originally assumed. “H-he’s mentally torturing me! I am terrified to go to sleep! I feel like I may never wake up!”

“Of course, it’s natural to be fearful of that,” Snape continued in a calm tone, however, his fangs were barred against grit teeth. He was irritated at Harry yelling at him but did not want Harry to become irrationally upset. “Riddle has been a black omen over multiple people’s lives, Potter. Not just your own. You are not the only one who suffers by his hand. If only you knew the trouble many wizards and witches go through to try and protect you.”

Harry’s eyes darted downward so he could avoid looking at Snape.

“I don’t feel protected,” the omega muttered. He felt Snape’s hold on him lessen and he looked up to meet the Professor’s gaze. “I feel like any day, he’s going to get me. He will come back. I-I can feel it.”

“What do you mean ‘feel it’?” Snape asked, trying to suppress his tone of concern. The fact that the boy knew?...

“My scar…it --”

“Hurts?”

Potter nodded and he saw Snape pursed his lips tight. He could tell that this wasn’t good and that the teacher was lost in thought on what this meant.

“When did it hurt last?”

“When I woke up from the nightmare,” Harry replied. “It feels like white-hot needles stabbing me. I’m pretty sure it happens whenever he is near or…or plotting. Or something. I had another dream earlier in the summer, but…” he trailed off. He didn’t want to give Snape so much detail and to be completely honest, he was surprised at himself for confiding in the Professor so heavily. He knew of Snape’s past and how the older vampire answered to Voldemort by being a Death Eater. He felt a pang of guilt, realizing that he didn’t know if he fully trusted the teacher despite his ties with Dumbledore. What if Snape said everything he is saying back to Voldemort? He could only imagine the hell the dark wizard would give him. “I-I can’t remember,” he lied.

Snape took his left thumb to push the hair that was covering Harry’s scar out of the way. It was pink with a shade of red surrounding the edges, almost as if it was irritated.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me when this happened, especially the pain of your scar? Why didn’t you send an owl at least to Dumbledore?” the potions master asked, eyes still locked on the scar. Harry knew he was studying him and part of him didn’t know if he liked it. Another part of him, however, felt Snape’s strong right hand holding the small of his back and it was distractingly comfortable to him.

“I-I didn’t think it was important,” Harry lied, again.

“Unwise of you,” Snape muttered and finally let go of both Harry’s head and back. He motioned for the boy to get off of him and Potter obeyed, albeit hesitantly. He was still wondering if he should have told all of this to Snape. “I can almost feel you thinking, Potter. You’re not in trouble for this. This was a good thing to tell me.”

The alpha got up from the chair and quickly strolled to his cabinet. There, he grabbed a scarlet red potion that nearly looked like blood if it weren’t for its slight orange tint. He felt slightly disappointed at the lack of a snack or a feed. He didn’t really eat his dinner and was definitely in the better mood for blood, instead.

“For headaches, migraines, or any pain associated with the skull or brain. It also has sleep properties in it. Take this and report back to me tomorrow about any dreams you may have had. Even if it’s a silly one with you and your friends.”

“Y-yes’sir,” Harry replied quietly. He took the potion and pocketed it. He didn't know whether he was going to actually take it or dump it in the toilet. He figured that Snape probably would actually give him something that will help him, since he had done so in the past. If he was truly on the side of Voldemort, why would he have been helping him all this time?

“You’re dismissed. Tomorrow is Sunday and I expect you to be back here after dinner. We will discuss your nightmares more. I will teach you an incantation to perform before sleep to help you sleep and assist in controlling your dreams, resisting the Dark Lord’s attempts to break through,” Snape said, heading towards his desk. He began to take off his robes and hang them up before sitting at his desk and immediately grabbing the quill.

Harry couldn’t help but notice how Snape continued to refer to Voldemort as “the Dark Lord”, but he said nothing about it. He saw the Professor begin scribbling on a stack of parchment and realized that he should be going by now. He didn’t know whether to tell Snape “goodbye” or not. It was getting late. Lights out would be in 30 minutes and Harry hadn’t even started with his nightly routine of getting to bed. So, he just turned and headed out the door without saying another word.

Closing the potions room door always made a loud clang that would have most definitely disturbed the nearby Slytherins skulking in the dungeons. It wasn’t even ten seconds that he heard a faint whistle breaking through the air to get his attention. He turned his head sharply, seeing Draco leaning against the wall with a wide, smug smirk on his face. Harry felt his blood run cold. Beside him stood Crabbe and Goyle, both blokes having a dumb yet sinister look on their faces. They looked nearly angry and…hungry. For what, Harry didn’t want to find out. The Gryffindor still continued to walk away from Snape’s room, head still turned to watch Draco and his boys. The blond had his wand in his hand and Harry quickly reacted by wrapping his fingers around his in his pocket. That’s when he heard and saw Draco snap his fingers in the air.

“Get ‘im.”

Harry’s heart sank and he immediately turned back around to start sprinting out of the dungeons, wand fully out of his pocket. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, hearing the thunderous thuds of running footsteps behind him. Then, he heard Malfoy’s cackle: an ugly sound that made his heart race.

Normally, he wouldn’t have cared. He would have tried to take them, but he was all alone. Three against one, two being complete brick-walled brutes. Harry was tempted to hit him with an Expelliarmus spell, but he second-guessed it. He knew that they would resort to muggle punches and sheer physical brutality against him rather than magic. Getting rid of their wands would do nothing for him if he wasn’t able to get the hell out of dodge. He put his wand back into his pocket and just centered his focus on running.

He turned a corner, nearly falling from the grease that Filtch used on the marble. His knee caught himself and he leaped off of it, continuing to sprint. The two were gaining on him. He didn’t know where Malfoy was, but he knew that he was probably slowly and smugly following his gang, just waiting for them to have caught him.

Harry turned another corner and tried the first door he saw. No luck of him opening it. He grunted in frustration and continued to run, ignoring the doors in fear they would only hinder his escape rather than aid him. He suddenly felt his heart fluttering, almost as if beating at an impossible rhythm. He continued to run wishing how he could somehow escape. Part of him was even tempted to call for his broom, but he didn’t. He was focused - focused on getting away. He knew he would be pummeled muggle-style from Malfoy and his brutes if he got caught, nor would he probably live it down from Snape who would have thought nothing more than boys squabbling if this were to reach him. No one would take him seriously and he was about to pay for it.

Another corner, hearing the feet gaining on him in the adjacent hall. This time, however, he felt himself become…light. Almost as light as a feather. His feet were not even touching the floor anymore. Had he run so fast that he began to fly? He rushed his arms through the air, almost as if they were wings and suddenly he was soaring. He felt himself shrink, the hallway and portrait hanging on the walls suddenly becoming larger.

How could this be?! He flapped his arms once again, taking in more height until he reached the ceiling of the hall. His heart was thudding against his chest that he noticed had gotten particularly smaller. Also it was covered in a black fur. A moment later, he realized what had happened. He looked through big, bulging eyes, but realized that he couldn’t see very well with them. He fluttered his arms once again and finally landed on the frame of the tallest painting that was in the hall. He huffed and puffed, desperate to try to find some rest after that whole ordeal.

“This way, Crabbe!” he heard Goyle shout. He trembled as he retreated closer to the wall on top of the painting, desperate to not be seen. He hugged his arms tightly, wrapping himself with wings that he had manifested from the chase.

He had found his animagus form. The bat wings curled around him tight almost like a wrap or a blanket. He tried to conceal himself as much as he could and make himself small so that he wouldn’t be seen.

“Where the hell did he go?!” Crabbe asked, also stopping. He, too, gasped for air loudly, recovering from the sprint.

“Potter!” Goyle shouted into the hallway, growling when there was no reply back.

A moment later, Harry heard the tracing footsteps of Draco Malfoy coming into the hall. He looked down from the painting, thanking Merlin that the three seemed clueless to his whereabouts.

“Where is he?” Draco asked, aiming his wand around the hallway in search of the missing vampire. “Where’d he go?!”

“M-Malfoy, I don’t --” Crabbe began, but was instantly interrupted by the blond Slytherin.

“You lost him?! How useless can you get!” he snarled and pointed his wand at the cowardly brute, almost threateningly. “Find him, then! Potter!”

“Indeed. How useless can you get by losing an entire Gryffindor?” asked a familiar voice.

The three Slytherins quickly jerked back around, tensing up from the voice that was obviously from the head of Slytherin House. Harry smiled widely from his hiding place, his fangs peeking out from his lips.

“P-Professor Snape,” Malfoy began. “W-we were just --”

“I assume you were merely just asking Potter for directions since clearly, you three do not even know where your own quarters are, you being in the transitional hall between Slytherin and Gryffindor,” Snape spoke, raising an eyebrow. “Or perhaps you were asking him how to regain your lost points.”

“What lost points, sir?” Malfoy asked, putting his wand behind his back.

“The ones that you are about to lose if I don’t see you marching back towards your dormitories,” Snape snarled. “Here it is, ten minutes before you are supposed to be in your rooms and here you are trying to capture a student. That’s detention for all three of you. Monday, my office after dinner. I am very disappointed, Malfoy. Now leave.”

“R-right, sir,” Draco spoke nervously. “Come on, Crabbe. Goyle,” he said and pocketed his wand in his lower robe pocket, hoping the Professor wouldn’t either see or ask about it.

Harry watched with big eyes as the blonde and two brunettes went back towards the dungeons. Snape watched them as they went, arms held behind his back patiently. Once they were out of sight, he tossed his head up toward the air, inhaling deeply through his nose. Harry realized that the alpha was smelling the air for him. Harry tested out his own nose as well, inhaling Snape’s scent that was as strong as it was as if he were laying right on top of him. He was aware that his senses, besides his sight, were enhanced compared to his human form.

“I thought I told you that you would not be receiving your cloak until after I have given it back to you once you completed…the task,” Snape growled lowly. He looked around the hallway, taking out his wand. “I suppose you’ll just have to learn how to listen to proper authority while in detention with Malfoy. It’s insulting how you can directly disobey your Professor, let alone the alpha that is caring for you.”

Harry almost wanted to laugh, completely taken aback by how much the Professor didn’t trust him. He supposed their lack of trust was thus a two-way street. He watched as Snape moved slowly about the hall at full attention and vigilance, aiming his wand into the air. He saw the Professor jerk his hands around in the air, trying to snatch the nonexistent invisibility cloak off of Potter. The sight was amusing to the omega bat and Harry grinned once again displaying fangs proudly.

“Where are you? I swear, once I get my hands on you, I will make you pay for making a fool of me in this hallway!”

Harry shuddered. How would Snape make him pay? Would he take his cloak and burn it in the furnace right before his eyes? Would he let Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle watch in pleasure, laughing at the main reminder and inheritance of his parents being turned to smoldering ash? Or would Snape harm him physically? Before he could think of any other horrible things the Professor would do, Harry let out a small chirp as he watched Snape as he walked down the hall.

He saw the teacher freeze midstep, head lifting towards the sound that Harry made. The alpha turned, pointing his wand into the air as if he could scan Harry with it.

“Y-you…” Snape began, eyes searching throughout the empty hallway. It was only a matter of time before Filtch would make his rounds, turning off all of the lights and blowing out the candles on their holders. Snape put his wand back into his robe pocket, head looking up towards the ceiling. “You’re…”

Harry felt like his chest could explode from the pride of making Snape speechless. The younger animagus jumped off of the portrait he was perched on, spreading out his wings so that he could soar down to where Snape was. The alpha looked at the bat coming towards his, eyes wide with surprise and mouth parted slightly opened. Harry excitedly chirped, swinging out his arms so that he could fly in small circles above Snape’s head.

“You did it,” Snape said, sounding baffled. “You actually were able to do it.”

Harry squeaked happily, flapping his wings to the point that he hovered in front of Snape’s face. The Professor raised up a hand, pointing out his index finger to offer as a perch for Harry to land on. The boy obeyed, wrapping his toes around the digit and allowing gravity to take him and hang him upside down. He looked at Snape with his eyes and Snape looked deep into those orbs, noticing the sea of emerald green. Harry, could then see a growing smile - yes, a smile! Even if it was upside down! - tracing the lips of the alpha, a chuckle coming deep within his chest.

Harry shuddered once again, appalled at the fact that the older vampire was able to produce any sort of expression of joy. He had never seen Snape look so…pleased. A wave of proud pride swelled in Harry’s chest at his ability to not only turn into his animagus form but that he also seemed to make the Professor glad about it.

“Yes, it’s you…I can’t believe you actually did it, Potter,” Snape said, still having the surreal tone of disbelief. The small smile on his face grew into a grin, showing off his fangs that Harry noticed were much larger than his own. “I am so proud of you. You have no idea.”

Harry squealed from excitement, quickly fluttering his wings again to fly off of Snape’s finger and producing happy, small circles in the air. He heard the Professor tut quietly, offering his hand again for Potter to land on it.

“Yes, yes, I know this is such an accomplishment for you as an omega. However, you must be quiet and stealthy, otherwise others will see and wonder why in the world a bat, of all creatures, is in Hogwarts. You’d even probably confuse Minerva or Albus as they would mistake you for me,” Snape said. He cupped his hands together to hold Potter and the animagus looked up at him with those unmistakable eyes. Potter was so small in his hands, almost like a small robin or sparrow. The alpha couldn’t help but feel a protective surge sweep over him and he pulled Harry close towards his chest, covering most of the bat in his hands.

He chalked it up to sudden alpha instincts overwhelming him by looking at such a tiny omega. He wanted to protect Potter. How dare Malfoy and his goons try to hurt such a little creature? Snape knew that he would have to make the boys suffer for their ignorance and insolence.

“I remember when Lily and I would fly as bats. Even she wasn’t as tiny as you,” Snape said aloud. Harry didn’t know if Snape was actually talking to him or if he was just talking in general, reminiscing about his childhood friend. Then, Harry didn’t know if he should be offended at the fact that he was being called “tiny”. Was he supposed to be bigger? How big would Snape be as a bat? He wondered why Snape was also holding him close to his chest. Harry could practically hear the older vampire’s heart drumming against his ears coupled with Snape’s intoxicating scent entering his nose.

Harry felt woozy, burying his nose into Snape’s chest and nuzzling it. The teacher said nothing as he began to walk down the halls. Harry didn’t pay attention to where they were going, but he didn’t really care, either. Being a bat caused him to take in Snape’s scent even deeper, letting it flood his senses and numb his brain. The fear and anxiety of running for his life were gone, now. And Snape, above all, was proud of him! That is definitely the first win for him. He didn’t even notice the finger that was tickling underneath his chin, trying to wake him up from his little doze.

“Potter, wake up,” the alpha said in a hushed voice.

Harry yawned, but did so, sitting up in the alpha’s hands as he was placed on a little table. His eyes opened wide, trying to take in as much of his surroundings as he could. Even though he wasn’t blind, it still was hard to see among the darkness of the room they were in. He sniffed the air, realizing that he had not smelled this room before. However, it did reek of one thing he was familiar with: Snape.

Harry chirped sleepily. They were in Snape’s room? Surely not his bedroom, right? No, Harry realized that they were in the living room of Snape’s quarters as he was placed down on the soft, black, velvet couch.

“Don’t fly off,” Snape demanded, turning to go into the kitchen space of his room. Even if Harry wanted to disobey, he felt too exhausted to do so. He could barely keep his eyes open. “You must be very tired,” the teacher continued in the other room. “To be sprinting down the halls like you did and suddenly become your animagus form? Flying willy-nilly like a drunk pixie?”

Harry could hear the humor in the last sentence and couldn’t help but sleepily smile once again. He laid down on the couch, even if it was in an uncomfortable position that his bat form was not accustomed to. The couch was soft and the velvet tickled him.

“You must be very hungry,” Snape said as he came back into the living room. In his hand was a goblet of blood. “Sit up. Drink.”

Harry didn’t have to be told twice. He fluttered his wings as he sat up and perched himself on the edge of the couch. Snape held the goblet against the opening of his mouth and Harry licked at it. So desperately did he want to bite into flesh and drink like a true bat, but he knew this would have to do. The blood was delicious and he definitely didn’t complain about it. He greedily lapped at the blood and from time to time, he nipped at the rim of the goblet with his fangs.

“No biting,” Snape said. “You can hurt your teeth doing that.”

Harry stopped drinking and licked his lips, happy with his fill for right now. Snape took away the goblet and took it back into the kitchen. Harry, once again, yawned and laid his little head back onto the couch, his eyes fluttering shut. Full and exhausted, he drifted to sleep almost instantly.

“I believe this is a tremendous breakthrough in your development,” Snape said from the other room, putting away the excess blood and cleaning up the goblet with a flick of magic. “Tomorrow, we will scent as normal and possibly take a rest from your animagus form. It’s obvious that pure adrenaline caused your fight-or-flight reaction to cause your transformation. We will have to work on how to isolate your transformation into a conscious, voluntary effort. That way you aren’t running for your life in order to turn into a bat. This, however, is still remarkable, considering that we have only been doing these sessions in the last couple of months. What do you --” Snape clamored on until he stepped back into the room where Harry was laying down. Only this time, his eyes fell on a human body that had transformed back from his animagus. Harry was curled against his robes, sleeping to the point to where his glasses balanced precariously on his nose.

At first, Snape was just going to wake the boy up so that he may go into his dorm, however, he stopped himself. The boy wasn’t in his room and no one knew that he was there. He would be sure to wake the boy up before the students and send him back off into his room. Out on the floor was the bottled-up potion that he had given Harry earlier. He determined the boy pocketed it and forgot about it. He picked it up, looked at it, and took it back into his robes, replacing it with his wand instead.

He stood over Harry, waving his wand slowly to cast the sleep and dream charm onto Harry with the incantation that he was going to teach him. Blue sparkles of magic flickered over Harry as the magic went inside of him, down into his core. The spell would assure Harry a better night's sleep with good dreams.

Unless the Dark Lord were to break through the spell. But, the Dark Lord was not due to return…right now.

Chapter Text

The fog was heavy and hot on Harry’s skin. The boy shed his robes without thinking and ran his fingers through the damp locks of his hair. It smelled…familiar. A scent in the air that made the omega’s mouth water with instant recognition.

Sandalwood and pine.

He looked through the fog to see a tall, looming figure that was in the haze. Heat swelled in his face and faded through his chest as his heart beat faster. He waited with anticipation, knowing exactly who was lurking through the darkness.

“Alpha…” Harry said without thinking, stretching his back to expose his front. His clothes clung to his skin and he began to peel them off as he continued to look at the dark figure. He felt like he did when he experienced his first heat, completely surrounded by stifling waves to where it pulsated through his vessels and against his temple. He could even feel the shocks throb against his aching cock that strained against his pants. He shucked his pants down to free his cock, although the heat that surrounded the air did not give much relief to the sensation he was feeling.

The dark figure moved just so slightly, but Harry was still able to catch it. Harry whined desperately as he wrapped his hand around his cock and gave a few relieving tugs. He was hoping that the figure would come to his aide, give him what Harry so wanted and needed.

“Alpha,” Harry whimpered once again.

And then, the figure came into what little light was in the room. His features were shadowed, but Harry instantly recognized the chisel of his face and the length of his black hair. The older vampire stood rigidly, almost as if he was afraid. His black, eyes were shot with lust, however. It was unmistakable. Harry bit his lip as he saw the man and it took everything in his power to not swoon or gush. He had been longing for him, desperate to have his taste and touch.

“Please, Alpha.”

And the figure came closer, causing Harry’s nerves to light up eagerly. Although his movement was slow, it was purposeful. He came towards Harry cautiously, as if he was going to scare the boy away if he made a sudden movement. However, Harry only urged closer, on his knees, crawling slowly and meticulously. His cock and bollocks hung low and heavy, like a weight between his legs. Normally, he would be embarrassed, shy, or ashamed. But not now.

Now felt right.

“How pretty,” said the deep velvet voice wracked with lust. It caused a shiver to race down Harry’s back and in response, the boy gave out another needy whine. “How easy is it for you to be like this, slithering towards me like a sultry viper?”

The boy slowed his movements and lowered his head and chest down towards the floor, presenting his arse in the air. This earned him a strangled gasp from the older vampire. Harry knew he was being forward, but in this moment right now, it just felt so right. He felt Snape move above him, coming closer until his fingers traced along the round of his arse and curling it towards the length of his spine. Harry gave another inviting sound that made the Alpha groan breathlessly.

“You better thank God I have more restraint than you imagine, little bat. You’re blessed to know that it is me overseeing you, protecting you. Imagine if it were the Dark Lord seeing you in these…circumstances,” Snape drawled out. Harry rolled his eyes at the mention of Voldemort only to have them look up into those deep black orbs that loomed over him. Snape stood above him like a tower, looking down on him as if he were frozen. Harry picked his head up to rest it so dangerously close against the growing rise of the alpha’s trousers.

Snape stood like a statue as Harry nosed against the alpha’s clothed cock, dragging inquisitive lips over the trim and line of the trousers. The older vampire made a noise that sounded repressed, as if holding back. A small groan when Harry placed a firm, purposeful kiss right on the center of the bulge.

“You’re treading dangerous waters.”

“Then eat me already,” Harry gritted out.

“You little --!” Snape snarled, almost sounding angry. He stopped though, staring into Harry’s eyes as if he were in a trance. “Why eat you like an animal when I could drink you down like wine?”

Harry smirked, sporting a bit of his fang.

“Have me either way, then, alpha,” Harry pleaded with a firm voice. He was insistent and knew exactly what he wanted. Why wouldn’t Snape just come ahead and indulge him already? He saw how Snape’s eyes were blown with desire and want. The older vampire tilted Harry’s chin with his finger, thumb running over the crests of the omega’s lips. The younger vampire kissed the skin of the thumb and Snape hummed shortly.

And suddenly, the older vampire loomed over him down at his level, pushing Harry to where his back hit the floor. The omega grunted in pain, but it was short lived as the alpha wrapped a commanding hand around Harry’s right thigh and his other hand around Harry’s throat. It was gentle, yet ready to squeeze with purpose if need be. Harry swallowed.

“And what if I did?” Snape asked, leaning forward to where his lips nearly traced over Harry’s. “What if I just took you and consumed you like a proper vampire and had my way with you? Bit you, drank you down, all while pounding that small, tiny hole? Would you cry? Would you writhe? Would you even be able to take my cock, little bat?” Snape asked lowly, almost like a growl.

Harry whimpered, leaning his head back to present his neck, so eager from the words. Snape took his hand away from Harry’s throat to then grip his hair and pull back.

“You tempt me, not knowing what fire you’re playing with. I’m here to protect you and guide you throughout this war and in your development and you repay me by presenting your pretty little arse and your neck? Is this how you try and get your way?”

“Alpha --”

“What satisfaction do you hope to gain from this?” Snape snarled. “A belly full of my seed while I have a belly full of your blood?”

“Please,” Harry whined, finally closing the gap between them and capturing the alpha in a kiss. The grip in Harry’s hair grew tighter, however it relaxed after a second. The older vampire rumbled deeply against Harry’s lips, but moved to angle them together deeper. The omega whined and wrapped his arms around Snape’s neck.

Suddenly, his hands fell through Snape, as if he were made of air and the sensation of the kiss was gone. The haze was clearing and Harry opened his eyes.

---

And he was awake.

“Potter!” he heard the voice shout, however it was no longer full of longing or lust. It sounded angry. “Out!”

“S-sorry!” Harry stammered, reaching for his glasses on the table in front of the couch. In doing so, the boy rolled out of the couch and onto the floor in a dense thud.

“Get out, now!”

“Y-yes’sir!” Harry replied with the sense of dread washing over him as he got up from the floor. The confidence and lust of the dream was all gone and all that was left was the cold reality. Harry quickly put his glasses on along with his shoes and robes. He also noticed that his invisibility cloak was there and he quickly snatched that too. He threw it over himself and quickly shot out the door.

He was soaked through his pants, making his pants uncomfortably stick to his thighs and cock. It didn’t help that he was also very sensitive and hard, recalling the sultry dream that he experienced with Snape. Harry was trying to understand it all in such a few short moments, but he settled on the realization that the Snape that was in his dream was the Snape that was in real life. So Snape and him experienced the same dream.

They both experienced that dream.

His mind was racing, as well as his heart as he quickly walked through the halls. Anxiety pooled his veins and chest, making it tight. Part of him felt like he would transform into a bat once again, from the way that it quivered in his chest. He was confused and very embarrassed, however he couldn’t help but find himself recalling the moments of the dream that he could remember.

Snape…kissing me…saying such dirty things to me. And I bloody loved it!

He cut the thought and turned a quick corner and was relieved that the hallway was still empty. He checked his watch to find that he had 10 minutes until everyone was supposed to wake up. He prayed the boys in the dorm were still asleep and they wouldn’t notice him. He needed to grab his clothes quickly and run to the showers. He just hoped he could do that without being noticed. He also prayed that Snape was none the wiser.

---

Snape had his back against the door of his room, a grimace on his face and his eyes wide with disbelief. He felt the pit of his soul lurch and settle into the pit of his stomach as his mind rolled through the thoughts of the omega before he left.

The boy’s scent was intoxicating and still lingered in his nose and on his tongue, even after he had left some time ago. His face was hot and flushed. He could feel it in his cheeks. His mind scattered and bolted from thought to thought from awakening from the dream that entangled them both. He acted on Potter. Whether the boy knew or not, he didn’t know. It didn’t matter, however. Snape knew. The incantation that he placed upon Potter was to act as a shield, because he knew that he would be the one to control what the omega was dreaming. He was the one to revel in a sick fantasy that was repressed within his soul when it came to yearning for the younger vampire.

He was the one who was to protect Potter from the nightmares from the Dark Lord. And instead of doing that, he defiled him. Snape knew he was a sick, sick man that divulged into his own twisted fantasies. Of course, Harry may have been the one to start the entire ordeal, but Snape knew he was supposed to be the wiser, the one with self control..

Yet, he couldn’t ignore that he was straining desperately in his trousers, his cock weeping to be touched - no, to fill. Fill one particular omega that was the subject of their shared dream and fuck him silly. They were so close, they kissed. It scared the alpha to stop the dream and wake up. He didn’t mean to go so far - had he?

Damn! he cursed himself. He had. He would be a foolish liar to say otherwise.

He gasped and couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled down his trousers and lurked his hips into the air from sensitivity. His cock sprang into the air, proud, thick, and drooling for the smaller vampire’s touch. He wrapped his hand around himself, cursing once again and decided to allow himself to succumb to the memories of the dream and the fading taste of Potter’s dripping scent.

Fuck. He bit his lips as he imagined tinier fingers wrapping around his cock with soft crests of lips kissing at the swollen, reddened head. He remembered just how warm Potter was against his hold, how his beautiful body reacted to being touched by his hands. He remembered just how eager Harry was, presenting his arse and neck so wantonly.

He remembered those small lips against his own. He remembered Potter tasted so sweet and tangy, complimenting his scent that filled Snape’s senses. How would those lips feel on his member? Better yet, how would his small, wet arse feel?

His grip on his own cock tightened and he imagined it to be the hold of Potter’s mouth and throat -- so tight and wet and --

Snape gasped, not realizing just how close he really was until it was too late. He rutted into his own fist, spurting jets of white that striped his hand and the floor underneath him. With a curse, he moaned and tossed his head back to ride out the orgasmic pleasure of his fantasy that was Harry Potter. In the moment, it was shameless. His thoughts drifted into driving into Potter’s mouth or arse, filling it to the brim with his release. Another thought ran into the image of Potter’s face dripping strips of come off of his lips, those green lilypad eyes looking up to him in such innocence.

Then, there was disgust and shame that filled Snape’s chest. He gritted his teeth and banged the back of his head against the door in frustration of what he just did - what he’d been doing the whole night. He knew there was a special place in hell for scumbags like him indulging in such demented fantasies, and even acting upon them.

Another second later and he casted a cleaning charm, beginning to shed his clothes for the showers. He knew he needed a nice tonic of bourbon and blood before he was going to leave his chambers. He knew this was going to be a very long day, indeed.

---

“Where were you, mate?” Ron asked with a mouthful of toast, already beginning to plow another forkful of eggs. “You weren’t in our rooms when it was lights out! What kept you?”

“A-another detention with Snape,” Harry answered in a hurry, fiddling with an apple between his hands. “Just ran later than normal, is all.”

“Later than normal? I could’ve sworn it was almost past 2 before I went to bed and you still weren’t in!” Ron answered back. Hermione shot down her copy of The Prophet and looked at Ron accusingly. “What?” he asked her. “I’m just askin’.”

“It doesn’t matter where Harry was,” she said. “If he was with Snape, then at least he wasn’t getting into trouble. You never know what Harry has to be doing with his lessons with Snape and it is rude for you to be asking.”

“Hermione, thanks, but it’s okay --” Harry began, but was quickly cut off.

“No, it’s not okay! Vampires are already judged to begin with as creatures of the night! It isn’t right for Ron to be interrogating your every move! You and Snape have a right to do what you’re doing in your lessons without any questions.”

Both Ron and Harry slightly rolled their eyes, but left it alone. Harry knew that Hermione and Ron, both, were just looking out for him in their own ways. Actually, he was glad that Hermione was so keen on discretion when it came to him and Snape with their lessons.

“Well, what did you do then, mate?” asked Ron, clearly ignoring Hermione’s words. That earned him a flick of a hit on his arm from Hermione’s backhand.

“You don’t have to answer that, Harry. Ron is being rude.”

Harry hesitated, not knowing what to really say to either of them. He desperately wanted to talk about how he transformed into his animagus, but he remembered the promise that he gave Snape. Vampire promise! He couldn’t break it now! As much as he knew that Hermione and Ron would be excited for him, he didn’t want to tell Snape’s secret and disappoint him. He bit his lip, showing off a bit of fang before Ron laughed.

“Fine, I’ll drop it. But I bet it’s something to do with feeding off of the students here at Hogwarts. Listen, Fred and George could use a right scare. Maybe you could get them off of my back if you…you know, threaten them to be your lunch!”

Another hit from Hermione and a sharp ”ow!” from Ron and Harry chuckled, relaxing a little in his chair.

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see,” was all that Harry said and finally took a clean bite into his apple. He munched away, his eyes wandering until they fell onto the front where the faculty sat. Instantly, he saw Dumbledore, clothed in his gray and white robes, talking to Snape who was classically clothed in his all black. Snape looked tired, even weary. It was obvious something was bothering him. Harry couldn’t help but remember the dream that happened last night whenever his eyes fell on the Professor, whose long, black locks shroud his face.

He remembered those locks tangling up against his own face when they kissed…

He nearly choked, coughing up the piece of apple that was stuck in his throat. Hermione and Ron were instantly alarmed, asking Harry if he was alright when he finally settled down from coughing.

“I-I’m fine, I’m fine,” Harry answered. “Just…nothing,” he said.

“Obviously it’s something!” Ron said, starting to sound annoyed. “What’s gotten into you? You must be tired staying up all night with Snape!”

Harry choked back his breath once again at the phrase. “I-I wasn’t staying up all night with him! I came into the room late and just had a really weird dream,” he answered, immediately regretting it as it came out of his mouth. Ron looked interested. Even Hermione put down her copy of the newspaper to fully listen to what Harry was about to say.

“Was it…him?” Ron asked, clearly alarmed from Harry’s admission.

“H-him? Oh. Oh! Oh, no…” Harry answered, realizing that Ron was talking about Voldemort.

“You can tell us, Harry,” Hermione said, suddenly sounding like a hypocrite to her own words just a few minutes before. “But, it’s probably best to talk to Dumbledore or Snape about it. If Voldemort -,” Ron cringed at the name, “- is invading your dreams once again, then they have a right to know. It could mean serious business for everyone’s sake! He may attack again!”

“I-I did have a dream about him the night before,” Harry admitted. He proceeded to tell Ron and Hermione about the dream that he had where Voldemort was torturing Ron and having Harry under his own will to do his bidding. He paused when it came to the part of where Voldemort was demanding Harry to kill Ron, but he decided to leave that part out. Instantly, Hermione’s eyes went big.

“Have you told anyone about this?!”

“Snape!” Harry answered, irritated. “Yes! I told Snape. He must be talking about it to Dumbledore right now! See?” he asked, pointing towards the faculty table. Ron and Hermione looked to see the Potions master talking with the Headmaster and they both nodded, pursing their lips.

“Okay,” she said, albeit slowly. “As long as you told someone. Dumbledore trusts Snape, so I’m sure everything is okay that you told him.”

“Yeah, right!” Ron nearly bellowed. “I bet that git is just keeping it for himself, waiting for the school to go under as You-Know-Who slowly invades Harry’s mind!”

“Not helping, Ron,” Harry gritted and took another angry bite out of his apple. He was glad to have moved on about the subject of the dream that occurred last night, the one regarding him and Snape. He knew he wouldn’t be able to live it down if he told the truth about that dream to Ron and Hermione. He knew that they would think of him as a disgusting teenager, having sick fantasies of a man who was over 20 years older than him.

What a freak you are, acting on him like that, Harry told himself. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and stood up.

“Where are you going now?” Ron asked.

“Getting some fresh air,” Harry said in a short tone of voice, grabbing his robes and throwing it over his shoulder.

He didn’t, however, see those black, raven eyes trailing after his every step as he headed out of the dining hall.

---

The day trailed on and Harry didn’t get a single thing done as far as school work. He mostly roamed the halls and grounds, thinking about the dream that he had last night. Part of him wondered if Snape really was in the dream with him. With the way that Snape acted in the morning, yelling at him to leave, it only made sense. How was Snape able to be in that dream with Harry, however? The young vampire did not know.

Other parts of the day, when he wasn’t thinking about the dream, he was focused on how to become a bat again. He couldn’t help but think if he only knew how to use it right now, he could vanish and no one would be the wiser.

Well, except for maybe Snape.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Harry’s stomach was rumbling and he was craving something that was not human food. Dinner was happening right now and he knew he should be there. However, he didn’t want to deal with Hermione and Ron again. But, he also knew that Snape would know that he wasn’t there. Begrudgingly, Harry decided that it would be in his best interest to go to dinner after all.

At dinner, Ron and Hermione immediately asked where Harry had been all day. They yammered on how they were wondering where he had been, if he was with Snape, if he was safe, and if he was doing his homework. Ron complained that his essay for Snape’s class was only two sentences long and that he desperately needed Harry’s help because Hermione won’t let him copy off of hers. Apparently, they were in another fight.

Harry barely even recognized that the two were talking to him, as his attention was more on Snape, who seemed to be sharing glances at Harry from the staff table more often than not. Snape was chatting with McGonagall and Dumbledore and Harry wished that he was a bat so he could hear what they were saying. When the end-of-dinner bell rang, Harry realized he didn’t eat anything that was on his plate.

All he craved was blood.

Hermione and Ron were still bickering about the essay, but Harry still told them goodbye and to not wait up for him. He knew, especially with those black orbs looking at his own from the staff table, that it was time for his session with Snape.

----

Harry’s heart was racing as he descended down the stairs towards the dungeons to get to Snape’s office. Part of him wondered if Snape would even open up the door if he knocked. Thankfully, he did after Harry knocked a couple of times. Snape’s face was solemn like a statue as Harry entered and no words were exchanged between them.

The older vampire walked silently into the adjacent room of his office and Harry stood and waited for him to return, not knowing what to expect. After a minute or so later, the alpha came back with a big goblet brimmed with blood. Harry’s mouth watered and his eyes went big.

“Why didn’t you eat at dinner?” Snape asked, handing Harry the goblet. Harry immediately gulped down half of the cup as fast as he could before answering.

“Wasn’t hungry.”

“Obviously not,” Snape replied, raising an eyebrow as he saw Harry drink the second half of the cup. When the boy was done, he wiped his mouth on his robe sleeve and gave the goblet back to Snape. Snape turned and went back into the same room as before.

“I just wanted blood,” Harry answered honestly.

“I also heard that you have been patrolling all of the hallways and grounds today. Students say they saw you everywhere,” Snape said from the other room. Harry felt heat rush in his cheeks from Snape saying that.

“I-I was just on a walk.”

“An all day walk,” Snape confirmed, coming back into the room with another goblet full of blood.

“Yes,” Harry replied and thanked Snape for the second cup. This one, however, he didn’t drink as fast.

“Tell me, what’s been on your mind?” Snape asked as he went to the chair that he normally sat in while they scented. Harry gave one last gulp before immediately following him and crawling into his lap. Harry hummed, distracting himself as he dipped his nose into Snape’s neck. “Quit stalling,” the older vampire snarled.

“Nothing,” Harry lied.

“Suddenly we're all reserved, are we? Rather than strutting about? Where did that confidence go?” Snape asked against a hum. Harry’s blood ran cold.

“So you were there,” Harry whispered.

“Indeed,” Snape replied, pressing his hands tightly against Harry’s form. “Thanks to that little incantation. It’s a spell of dream protection as the one who performs it is present and over the dream of the one who the incantation is being performed on.”

“A-and --”

“You were trying to make me take advantage of you,” the alpha finished roughly, his hold on Harry growing even tighter. He sounded angry.

“You weren’t going to take advantage of me,” Harry began.

“No, I wasn’t. I have more control than that.”

“No, because I wanted it,” Harry clarified. “I still do.” The older vampire growled. “Why can’t you understand that? Why can’t you just accept that I want you?”

“You don’t know what you want, Potter,” Snape replied. “You may think you do, but you really don’t. Your hormones are raging. You’re an omega teen who is being bombarded by scents and heats and nothing more.”

“Be that as it may, you still kissed me back,” Harry said quietly. Snape’s breath grew ragged. “You were hard for me. You said those things to me. You wanted me, too.”

They sat in silence for a solid minute, just listening to each other breathe. Harry didn’t know if Snape finally gave up or if he was trying to think of what to say next. Snape did, however, leaned closer into the nape of Harry’s neck and inhaled, continuing their session as if it were normal.

“You tempted me beyond limits, Potter,” Snape replied. “How is a vampire to hold back? One only has so much self control. It is cruel for you to continue to do this, knowing what kind of position you put me in with this. I’m supposed to protect you. I’m supposed to support you during this war against the Dark Lord. And instead, I want to ravish you until you begged for me to stop.”

“I would beg for you to continue,” Harry quipped, earning a smack from the alpha.

“You’re simply too young and naive,” Snape groaned. “However, I would be a liar if I didn’t admit that you confound me with those beautiful eyes and flawless neck.”

“So, does that mean --?”

“It means that perhaps a vampire bond would be beneficial for your protection, development, and nothing more,” Snape answered for Harry. Despite the interjection, Harry smiled and leaned in towards the alpha to rest his head on his shoulder.

“Good, because that’s what I was thinking, too.”

Chapter Text

That night, Harry recalled another pleasant dream that he had where Voldemort was not in the picture. Instead, Snape was there. While Harry dreamt of having dinner with his mother and father in a quiet, candlelit dining room, Snape silently loomed in a dark, tight corner. To the omega, he was like a shadow. Harry was keenly aware of the Professor’s presence and he pretended he couldn’t feel those black orbs staring at him in his quaint, domestic dream with his parents. At first, Harry felt as if the older vampire were impeding on an impossible bliss that was private to his heart. Now, he yearned for Snape to join in as if he were a part of the scene. However, he made no sudden movements and dared not to dart his eyes back towards the patient alpha, who was obviously too busy studying.

Studying him like a predator to prey.

“Meet me in the morning before 9,” he said. Harry was startled by the voice and quickly turned his attention away from his parents toward the shadow that was Snape.

“Yes’sir.”

---

When Harry awoke, he could still hear Snape’s deep tamber droning through his ears. Goosebumps trickled down his skin as a result. He looked at his watch with a yawn and saw that it said 07:42. A little over an hour to be at Snape’s door. He could scrounge up some breakfast and catch up with his friends for sure during that time. Up and at ‘em, he tossed off the sheets and began to dig through his trunk for some day clothes.

Harry ate a cranberry muffin while watching Ron and Hermione ignore each other while their eyes shifted side to side for a glance. Harry could have laughed, himself, but he knew it would be rude to do so. He wondered how long these two would keep this up. It wasn't the first time they got in a fight, hardly. Harry figured it would be a week or so before tensions decreased between them. He saw Ron reach for a slice of toast while Hermione practically turned red as he did so.

“Can you pass the butter?” Ron asked.

“Can I? So demanding today, aren’t we?” Hermione hissed while pushing the butter plate toward Ron. Harry nearly choked on a laugh while biting his muffin and Ron rolled his eyes.

“I’m not demanding. I just wanted the butter.”

“And that’s not all you want, is it? You don’t want anything else?” asked the fiery Gryffindor girl. “Because I was under the impression you wanted my essay to copy off of all while talking about some other girl that you had the pleasure of meeting the other day, isn’t that right?”

Harry couldn’t help but smirk from just how ridiculous Hermione’s anger was, but he still remained quiet. His ears, however, were hot to hear. So thats why she was angry. Ron scoffed and groaned as if he were either bored or impatient from a repeated cycle of arguments that were previously held.

“She was nice. She just came up to me is all. I don’t understand why you’re so angry! Besides, all she was asking was for me to tell her if Harry was a vampire.”

“A likely story,” Hermione harrumphed.

“What?” Harry asked after a sip of orange juice, genuinely curious about the fact that this girl was not only unaware of Harry's vampirism, but she was curious about it, as well. So that would mean she didn't know Snape was also a vampire? “Doesn’t the whole school know?”

“There are rumors,” Hermione replied, noticeably shrugging her shoulder away from Ron as if she were dusting him off of her. “It always goes around who could be a werewolf or a vampire. Even though a lot of students know about you and Snape being a vampire, not everyone does. Especially the first years. There are always tales and stories of the probability that Snape is one, for sure. The later years like to tease the incoming students about them, hoping to give them a scare. I remember it when we were first years. We would always talk about how Professor Snape would go out into the forest to feast on the blood of animals every night. Then he would lay down in his coffin after adding blood to his potions to give to the students through Madam Pomfrey if they were to get ill."

Harry's eyes widened in shock, not believing what Hermione was saying.

"That's absolute rubbish!" he nearly yelled, causing Ron to shush him. "How come I never heard of that? Why am I just now hearing about this?"

"Well, probably because you are one, mate," Ron replied. "A vampire, you know? When our class found out, they made sure it wouldn't get back to you. You would have ruined the fun or maybe would've been upset by it – ow!"

Hermione walloped a good punch on Ron's left shoulder, which broke the barrier of no physical touch from the fight, at least. Harry had his teeth grit tight that he didn't even notice his fangs were digging angry, raw welts into his bottom lip.

"And you guys didn't tell me about this? You were just spreading rumors about me and Snape behind my back the whole time?"

"Harry, no!" Hermione gasped. "No! W-we weren't spreading rumors!"

"Yeah, just having a laugh by taking a dig at Snape, is all!" Ron added in.

"All in good fun, yeah? You guys know how much crap vampires get already and now you're telling me you were having a good ol' laugh about what Snape and I are?" Harry continued to ask, visibly angry. He could taste the deep copper against his tongue from where his fangs bit his lip. "Don't you realize how stupid that is?"

Hermione had tears in her eyes. "Yes!" she replied. "Yes, it was stupid! We were younger and stupid! I should have told you. I didn't add to them!"

"Yeah, and I only joked about Snape!" Ron admitted, acting as if he were in the clear. "You know I wouldn't joke about you!"

"Unbelievable," Harry pursed his reddened lips and got up from the table. Hermione reached out for his hand, but Harry just got out of her reach.

"What's gone on with you? It's just Snape! Are you really feeling all weepy over him?" Ron asked and Hermione backhanded his shoulder again. Harry felt horribly mad and he streamed over whether to answer Ron or not. He determined it wasn’t worth it. They wouldn’t understand.

They’re human.

Harry felt like he could almost hear Snape’s voice saying that and he instantly realized that no one would ever understand. No one would understand how he felt about anything.

No one except for Snape.

He descended down towards the dungeons at a fast pace, the steam of his emotions still brewing. Thankfully, everyone seemed to be at breakfast because Harry didn’t encounter anyone when going toward Snape’s room. He didn’t want to talk to or see anyone. If anyone would have interacted with him, he may have snapped at them. Getting closer to the dungeons, he looked at his watch and saw that it was two minutes until 9 AM. Good. The last thing he wanted was Snape to snip at him for being late.

He knocked on the chamber door and the Professor immediately answered. His face was neutral and calm. A flat affect.

Harry huffed as he came in and nearly slammed the door which earned him a tisk from the other vampire.

“What’s wrong?” Snape asked.

“Here!” Harry barked with his hands thrown up in the air. “You were right! Humans blow.”

“Volume and tact, Mr. Potter,” Snape reminded the boy as he went towards his desk. He picked up a cup of blood that was already prepared for Harry, whose demeanor calmed.

“Sorry,” Harry apologized, mouth-watering as he went towards the desk. Snape handed him the cup and the boy immediately took it, drinking all of it in loud gulps. The alpha hummed in response, going towards the bookcase adjacent to the desk. When Harry finished, he wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his robe and placed the cup back on Snape’s desk.

“While I may agree with you in more reasonable terms, the fact remains that we are the only ones of our kind here,” Snape responded finally, finger tracing the spines of the books. “We must deal with it.”

“Did you know they made stories about us?” Harry asked.

Snape turned his head to look at Harry, brows furrowed.

“I was only aware of the silly stories the students came up with about me,” he said, finally grabbing a black, leather-bound book from the high shelf. “I never heard any tales about you, besides the obvious.”

Harry knew Snape was talking about his encounter with Voldemort that night his parents died.

“Okay, so there were no stories about me,” Harry said, confirming that Ron and Hermione were telling the truth to him. “But still! It doesn’t make it right for them to make up stories about you!”

“Humans tell tales and fables of all sorts of lies, Potter,” Snape said. “Especially when it comes to our kind. You could imagine how your mother and I felt when we were younger.”

Harry felt even more offended at the thought of his own mother being the victim of such things. He opened his mouth to speak, but Snape continued.

“Granted, it was I that was the lowly beast from hell while she was the winter lilac of romance. A princess.”

Harry could hear Snape’s tone become lighter at the mention of his mother. He was always gentle when he spoke about her. It was always positive and it made Harry long to have known her even more. He wondered how Snape and his mother’s relationship was. He wondered about where they would have drinks of blood, away from everyone else. He wondered if they scented or bonded.

He wondered how his mother could ever fall for a human, like his father.

Reeled in from his thoughts, he saw Snape open up the book that was in his hands, fingers turning the thin pages slowly.

“Stories may change, Potter, but the intent never does. You’ll only realize just how isolated you are in this sea of ignorant malice.”

“But, sir, I’m not isolated,” Harry said factually. “I have you.”

Snape's finger finally landed on a page that he was satisfied with. He glared at the boy, but it wasn’t sharp or full of hate. In fact, Harry saw a glint of softness. Snape never verbally acknowledged what Harry said. Instead, he handed the open book to the younger vampire.

No words were exchanged between them. Harry took the book gently and looked into it, reading over the bold letters “THE RITUAL OF VAMPIRISTIC BONDS: UNIT ONE”. He continued to read, “There are many ways and forms of establishing vampiristic bonds: physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. This unit describes the multiple practices of how bonds are established between vampires, specifically between alpha and omega. Although there are practices that involve alpha to alpha and omega to omega, those bonds are not nearly as strong as alpha and omega.” --

“I see you’re interested,” Snape said, interrupting Harry from reading.

“Absolutely,” Harry admitted, eyes never leaving the book. “Are you giving me this?”

“This is your assignment,” Snape answered, taking the book back from Harry. “I want you to read through this entire unit. It is over 200 pages.”

“I have to read all of that for?”

Snape rolled his eyes and Harry couldn’t help but inwardly smile.

“We have discussed forming a vampiristic bond,” he stated to which Harry nodded. “Although we have talked about it and you seemed very interested in it, I do not believe you know the full extent to what the bond entails. The bond between alpha and omega is nothing that is flippant or insincere. It is a covenant. It is a unity between two vampires that is rooted so deep that it intertwines physical and mental capacities.”

“It kinda sounds like a marriage,” Harry said with a smirk. He could see Snape sneer, almost like a grimace. A fang was showing from the expression, big and sharp.

“Marital bond is nothing like this bond. It is much more intimate,” the alpha said. That’s when Harry felt his blood run cold then hot. His body began to tingle and react to those words, as they echoed in his ears. He was eager and excited. His heart began to flutter just like it did when he became a bat.

Snape really would agree to this with him?

“I see,” was all that Harry said before swallowing deeply. Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, almost as if he were running out of patience.

“I want you to read this because of that,” the older vampire said. “You have to understand that this cannot be undone. I am for you, Potter. I want the Light to win. And I am afraid the only way that can be done is if this were to occur. There is so much that you don’t know and so much theory that is not fully understood. Call me selfish because doing this will put me at ease, knowing I did everything I could in my power to protect you.” Snape flipped through the rest of the pages that Harry was supposed to read and placed the bookmark there at the beginning of the unit before closing it.

“P-Professor, I…” Harry began, but he honestly didn’t know what to say. He felt his heart swelling with…something. He so desperately wanted to pull Snape in for a hug, grip his hand, pat his back, or do something to show any sort of appreciation for what the alpha was doing for him. Harry’s throat, however, went dry and his body went numb to any sort of reaction. He heard Snape sigh.

“You are a child,” he said solemnly. It sounded as if someone had died. “This…seems almost impossible to be done.”

“I am not a child!” Harry replied back, finally finding his voice. “And why is it impossible?”

“Because I need your consent,” Snape answered.

“You have it!”

“Harry,” Snape said. Harry froze, eyes growing wide at the realization that Snape just said his first name. “You are too young to fully grasp what this bond means. This bond has been abused by many alphas towards their younger omegas. Something that was supposed to be good and beautiful was ripped apart and turned into something horrible, dirty, and evil. I cannot let that happen.”

“You have my consent! I know what I am talking about! I know what I want!” Harry begged, reaching for the book. Instead, however, his hand caught Snape’s. The book fell to the ground, sprawling open to the unit that Harry was supposed to read. Harry instantly realized that he had grabbed a hold of Snape’s hand, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he curled his fingers around Snape’s. “I meant it when I said ‘I have you',” Harry said.

Snape didn’t snatch away, but he did, however, slowly retract from Harry’s touch. He let go of the younger vampire’s hand and looked at Harry. Harry took the opportunity to pick up the book and dust it off, making sure it wasn’t damaged.

“Read that, please,” Snape said. “Before you make any actual decisions.”

“It won’t change my mind,” Harry insisted.

“Read it. It will make all the difference.”

“Yes’sir,” Harry finally said. “I will read it.”

“I want you to have read it by the next two weeks. If you haven’t read it, then this will not be done at all. You have to understand, fully, what you are getting yourself into. Bonds are nothing to be messed around with. Bonds are not a silly pinky-promise or a simple trust.”

“I understand that they are deeper than that,” Harry said. “But I’ll still read.” There was a pause before Harry asked, “so I still have to read this on top of all of the other assignments I have?”

Snape finally smirked.

“I’ll be sure to look for your slipping grades. That will tell me that you’re actually reading the book.”

“Was that a joke?” Harry asked with a smile. Snape hummed in reply, which caused Harry to snicker. The younger vampire looked at his watch to see that an hour had already flown by. “I’m supposed to be at Transfiguration in 45 minutes.”

“Then I suggest you should get ready and get going. Perhaps make a regime of when you are going to read the book,” Snape offered as he got the chair for his desk and pulled it out.

Harry was quick to shoot that down.

“Can we scent?” Harry asked. Snape stopped his movements abruptly and looked at Harry, eyebrow raised. Harry looked at him with hopeful eyes and he had already put the book down on Snape’s desk as if to settle the deal. The older vampire pursed his lips together but nodded.

Harry helped Snape move the chair to a more comfortable location - their normal location for scenting - and crawled into Snape’s lap when the professor sat down. Harry rested his head on Snape’s shoulder for a moment, nose delved into the crook of the Professor’s neck. He inhaled deeply and rested. He felt Snape’s hands settle on the small of his back as he laid his own on Snape’s sides.

A minute or two passed by and Harry’s head began to feel fuzzy like it normally did. This time, however, he pulled away from the older vampire’s embrace just enough to slot his lips against the Professor’s.

At first, he felt a jolt of energy surge through Snape, but the alpha quickly settled back down and allowed the kiss to happen. Harry sucked on the bottom crest of Snape’s lip and pinched it gently with his fangs as if threatening to bite it. Snape snarled, pulling Harry in tight as if to consume him. Harry moaned gently as Snape took over the kiss, deepening it. It was almost as if a wave of relief washed over them.

It felt so natural and right.

When they broke, Snape buried his nose into Harry’s neck and inhaled. Harry choked as he felt the graze of sharp canines tailing over him.

“Read the book before I go ahead and claim you,” the alpha said, almost as if he was warning Harry. The omega nodded, feeling the heat rising up in his cheeks and blood rushing down to his groin. “The next time you put your lips on me, know that I will finish what was started.”

“Y-yes’sir.”

Chapter Text

Harry left Snape’s office reeking of the alpha’s scent, barely keeping a steady step with his bag that was slung over his shoulders. He knew he was scent-drunk, but he tried to keep his gait even and acted like nothing was wrong. Before he left, Snape gave him a look that was all too knowing of his condition, but he let Harry leave without giving him an antidote. That made everything wonderful, actually. Swimming on cloud nine with his face tingly, he kept burying his face into his sweater vest and inhaling deeply, wanting to smell as much as he could of that infamous sandalwood and pine and revel in the afterglow of the intoxication. He would kill to have something of Snape’s that was lathered in his scent and suddenly the omega began to dream of being able to wrap himself around the dark shroud that the Professor had. He smiled a toothy, fanged grin as he thought of sleeping with the robes, getting them covered in his own scent as a gift.

What would Snape say when he received them back, smelling so much like him?

Harry wondered as he walked if the Professor was just as giddy after their scenting sessions. A part of Harry was hopeful that Snape was reminiscing in the act and dreaming about him just as much as he was, sniffing his collar for a lingering taste.

Dottling from the concoction of scent and hormones, Harry walked into Transfiguration late and McGonagall huffed impatiently as the younger vampire walked in the door. He was the only one up, of course, and the chorus of whispers and snickers filled the air. Harry gulped as the Transfiguration Professor turned to him and began to walk towards him, a slip magically appearing in her hands.

“I don’t care why you’re late. Detention,” she said, much to Harry’s dismay. She shoved the slip into Harry’s front pocket on his uniform.

“Professor! I was with Sn-- Professor Snape,” Harry began.

“Well, good. You can continue to be with him as you serve your detention with him tonight. That’s three absences in a row, Harry,” she said, eyeing him with a sideward glare. “And I can’t imagine you being with Snape is due to anything good, either. You would be with me, but I have to proctor remediation charms while Professor Flitwick recovers from his case of Wizard Wheezes.”

Harry sighed and the student’s wave of smirks, sneers, giggles, and mockery filled the air as he took the closest seat. It just so happened to be close to Hermione, who was two seats down with no one in the middle of them. Harry grumbled to himself in annoyance, but it seemed like Hermione didn’t even pay attention as she hopped over the two seats as subtly as possible to get close to Harry.

“Harry, I -- did you put on a new cologne?” she asked, grabbing her bag and pulling it from her original spot to where she was now. “You smell different -- it’s strong.”

Harry ignored her, but he couldn’t deny the heat that was beginning to rise in his cheeks from slight embarrassment. He should have realized that others could most likely smell Snape’s scent on him. He just prayed they remained none-the-wiser about where the origin of the aroma came from. As McGonagall began to teach, he began to take out his parchment and quill from his bag, but Hermione quickly stopped him by placing her hand on his wrist.

“What?” he hissed just above a whisper. He almost included, “don’t touch me”, but decided against it. He already was given detention by the Transfiguration Professor.

“I’m sorry,” Hermione whispered as low as she could. Harry’s ears nearly strained from trying to hear. He ended up realizing what she had said, rolled his eyes, and continued to look through his bag for the parchment and quill. “You don’t have to forgive me, but I just wanted to let you know that I feel awful about everything.”

Harry continued to give her the silent treatment and finally found the items that he was looking for. He pulled them out and set them on the table.

“A bird-conjuring charm, professor!” Hermione spoke aloud suddenly while raising her hand up high. Harry was startled and he gave Hermione a menacing look before dipping his quill into the inkwell and beginning to scratch on the paper, bird-conjuring charm.

“Excellent, Hermione. Ten points to Gryffindor,” McGonagall said with a smile.

She continued and Harry began to try to write what she was saying, but he could feel thin fingers prodding at his shoulder. Try as he might to ignore them, they continued. After a couple more seconds, Harry puffed out his cheeks in anger and glared at Hermione, who finally stopped when she saw his eyes.

“Ron’s also sorry,” she said. “Not like that matters, though. He’s still denser than diamond.”

“Fine,” Harry said, finally, with a low tone. He scribbled, to summon a bird-conjuring charm: ‘Avis’ with swift, smooth hand movements.

"Really?” Hermione asked, still whispering. “Because it seems like you are very unhappy with us, still.”

Harry drew the wand motions of the conjuring on his paper without saying a word.

“I understand,” Hermione continued.

Speak clearly, with emotion, Harry continued to write.

“Just know I’m still here when you need me,” she finished.

Harry’s writing began louder and more erratic as he purposely tried to drown Hermione out so that he could hear McGonagall. His lips were tight and there was a sharp, angry exhale of anger as Hermione continued. “Is that a new book?"

“Hermione!” Harry hissed aloud, glaring at the girl with daggers.

“Professor McGonagall!" Malfoy practically whined, “Potter and that Granger-girl won’t shut up and they are distracting me from what you are teaching.” There was a slight pout of his lip, eyes shimmering cunningly with feigned innocence. Harry huffed sharply through his nose, puffing out his cheeks in anger as if to suppress slapping the blond. Hermione’s cheeks lit up red from embarrassment and Harry swore he could hear Ron’s suppressed snicker coming from the middle of the room.

“So it seems,” McGonagall sighed, clearly tired of the present moment. “Mr. Potter, I want a 500-word essay on this spell by Wednesday. You too, Malfoy.”

“Professor?” Draco asked before he could celebrate Harry’s punishment. “You want me to write an essay on this as well?”

“Why, of course,” the teacher smiled. “It will show me that you fully understand what this spell is about, despite all of the distractions."

Harry stifled his grin and just nodded in approval as Draco huffed unhappily. Hermione finally remained quiet, face expressionless from the realization that she had gotten away with getting into trouble. The young vampire felt like he could just wring her neck, but decided to let it go.

All while, Ron grinned as if he won a million galleons.

---

Dinner was quiet, yet the trio still sat together. It was almost as if a murderer was amongst them with the way they eyed each other back to back. While the air was tense, Harry could feel a mutual, quiet truce between the three of them. When dinner was over, he slugged his bag over his shoulder and walked silently down to the dungeons. His mouth watered for blood and he was eager to get it when he would enter Snape’s room. A couple of knocks on the door and the older vampire opened it with a loud clang.

"Potter,” said the alpha. “I don’t suppose you’re going to make any trouble tonight, are you?"

Harry smirked from being in a playful mood to banter with the Professor. His scent still lingered on his collar from earlier and it had kept him quite perky despite everything. “I don’t know. Just might,” he teased as he entered the room.

“Let me rephrase it as more of a demand rather than a suggestion,” the older vampire responded tightly. Harry was slightly confused about the sudden tone, but as soon as his eyes landed on Malfoy and his two goons, sitting center in the middle of the room, he understood. He had forgotten that they had gotten detention from Snape when they were chasing Harry down the hall. What was supposed to be a victory and an easy-going night has now turned into an irritating hassle, being stuck here with them.

“I request doing this another time, Professor,” Malfoy spoke first, albeit his tone was sharp. “I can’t stand being near Gryffindor-prats for more than two minutes.” As if in a chorus, Goyle and Crabbe snickered.

Harry gritted his teeth and balled his fists as he reflexively grabbed for his wand. However, a heavy hand clamped onto his shoulder and pushed him back, nearly making him stumble in the opposite direction from Draco.

“Although I can understand your reservations, Draco,” Snape said, swinging a couple of towels towards the Slytherin to catch, “you’ll see to it to tolerate as long as I sanction you to. You three will be scrubbing cauldrons as a muggle would do.”

“And what will Potter do? Grovel on his knees for our entertainment?” Draco sneered and handed his goons the towels. Harry growled and finally pulled his wand out, not even thinking about being in the presence of Snape. Luckily, the older vampire’s senses were keen and he quickly snatched the wand away from the boy, tisking in reprimand.

“My, that does sound tempting,” Snape rumbled lowly and Harry could hear how husky his voice was. Was that a chuckle against his tone? A wave of heat rose to his cheek and ears, feeling conflicting feelings of both embarrassment and arousal. His hands trembled from Snape taking his wand away and he hid them quickly in his pockets. “Indeed, I believe that is a wonderful idea.” Snape accio'd a scrub sponge from the far wall along with a bar of soap and a bucket. “You may hand-scrub the floors.”

Harry’s mouth gaped open slightly, showing his apparent shock. This was the man that he was kissing earlier? The one he practically snogged and scented, now suddenly treating him like a common maid? Harry thought that the relationship between him and the older vampire truly changed. Was this some sort of front for the Slytherins?

“The later you wait, the later you’ll be here,” the alpha suggested.

“Sir, Draco and I both have an assignment due tomorrow from McGonagall.”

“I don’t see him complaining,” Snape grunted. Harry looked past Snape’s figure to see Malfoy bossing Crabbe and Goyle into scrubbing the cauldrons while he stood and did nothing. What was once irritation now festered into anger beneath Harry’s skin. He heard the alpha scoff. “Never mind them, Potter. You must learn to deal with your own disciplines. You’re volatile, emotional, and impulsive. A true omega teen. Maturity would suit you well in your development. You have to get over your hatred against Draco.”

“I’m immature? Hatred? Tell that to him!” Potter practically shouted, causing the Slytherins to look over at him. They made faces at Harry behind Snape’s back, and Harry could feel the anger pulsing in his temples. “Why do they get away with everything, but I’m punished for being harassed?”

Snape’s eyes narrowed, but there was a patient smirk on his lips.

"Read the book,” Snape replied. “After you scrub the floors and finish your assignment,” he added and gave Harry the supplies. The omega fumed but said nothing in reply. He didn’t appreciate this sudden act from Snape and all sorts of angry words were storming in his head. He gave Malfoy, who only smugly smirked in return, a hateful look as he walked past him towards the sink. Crabbe and Goyle had already finished nearly half of the cauldrons and Harry hadn’t even started yet.

It was going to be a long night.

---

Forty-five minutes passed and the Slytherin trio was done with their cleaning. Snape had given them a skeptical look but ended up dismissing them after they neatly stacked up all of the cauldrons in their proper place. Harry was finished with the majority of the floors. His knees were sore with bruises and his wrists ached from the rigorous scrubbing. His fingers were pruned from the soapy water, his uniform was filthy and wet, and he had a headache. He was desperate to finish up so he could get out of here as quickly as he could and head to bed. He did not even care to finish up his assignment or begin reading that damn book. He didn’t even hope that Snape would visit him in his dreams tonight. He wanted to be alone and sulk.

He couldn’t help but think just how right the alpha was about him, however. He knew he was emotional. He knew he made impulsive decisions all based on feeling rather than thought. To be called out on it made him embarrassed, especially with it coming from the older vampire. He felt like an immature boy - just an omega that knew nothing more than to cause trouble. And while Malfoy seems to get away with everything, Harry felt like he was always given the short end of the stick. Throughout his whole life, he always had been, especially growing up and living with the Dursleys.

Anger still festered in Harry’s head, making it pound even harder. He felt like giving the alpha a piece of his mind once Draco and his goons were out of the room. Once he heard the door close, however, he sat up on top of his feet and wiped the sweat that accumulated on his face. The thought of yelling at Snape went away and the only thing he wanted was a big, warm cup of blood and for his headache to go away.

"Scourgify,” was whispered into the air and Harry looked over at Snape, who had pulled out his wand. In an instant, the rest of the floors, including the shotty cleaning job that Harry attempted to do on his hands and knees, were sparkling clean. The spell was repeated and Harry could feel the magic swirling around his body, cleaning him and his uniform in a second. The younger vampire got up, desperately wanting to grab his bag and head out the door as quickly as possible but before he could properly turn, a hand was on his shoulder and a goblet was shoved towards his face. “Drink,” Snape ordered gently.

Harry so desperately wanted to be stubborn and disobey. He so wanted to follow through with giving Snape a piece of his mind of how embarrassed and angry he was. He wanted to push Snape’s stupid goblet away, grab his wand, and hex him along with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Instead, however, he gave a tired sigh and took the cup from Snape’s hand, and put it to his lips. Once he tasted the blood, he drank greedily. The ruby liquid’s taste was deep, sweet, and heavenly. It satisfied Harry immediately, filling his stomach, healing his headache, and making his chest feel light and airy as if he could breathe easier. The alpha gave a low rumble, moving his thumb in very subtle strokes against the omega’s shoulder.

“I’m pleased with you,” Snape said. “I can smell how angry you were and still are, but you’re not acting on your emotions. Instead, you listened. I know that must have been very hard for you."

“God, I don’t understand you,” Harry groaned in irritation, giving Snape the cup back after he finished up the blood. “One minute we’re scenting and snogging, the next you’re being a jerk to me and telling me to scrub the floors on my hands and knees! And now you’re acting like all of that was just a test and you’re happy with me for, what, passing?”

“It’s hard to understand without any context as to why I am doing this. The book helps, I promise,” Snape replied as he bent down to pick up the cleaning supplies that Harry neglected on the floor. “Being bonded requires the submission, Potter. It requires the utmost submission from an omega towards their bonded alpha. Submission becomes almost natural to omegas when they are bonded to their alphas. In fact, it basically becomes compulsion to obey an alpha’s requests. Note how this can be abused in the worst kind of ways,” Snape continued and headed towards the side room of the room to place the supplies on the counter. “Would you like another cup of blood?”

Harry stood very still, trying to soak in the words that Snape just told him. He was curious but also concerned. From what it sounded like, bonding would practically put Harry’s free will on the wire. Always having to obey and submit to the alpha? Harry considered this and he felt like he could honestly tell himself that he trusted Snape enough with this. However, it still put Harry on edge from this fact. He figured that Snape was just giving him a hard time in front of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle because it was what he always did. He knew even with their changed relationship, he was still a bratty Gryffindor in the eyes of the Slytherins. But it seemed that wasn’t the case at all; Snape was just trying to prepare him for what was to come in their bond.

“I see you’re deep in thought about it,” the alpha pointed out, pouring another cup of blood for both himself and Harry, despite the omega not answering his approval for a second one. “I understand,” he said. “This is why it is important that you understand what you are agreeing to when -- if you consent to it. I cannot stress enough that you have to put your trust in me, Harry. I promise you I will not take advantage of you or abuse this potential bond that we are to experience together. I am trying to protect you from the horrors of the Dark Lord and what he is capable of.”

“I-I understand,” Harry answered, opening and closing his fist nervously. “It’s just all very sudden to me. I didn’t expect everything that would go into it.”

“There is so much more, Potter,” the Professor said. “Not everything is centered around the alpha. Read the book to gain an understanding of what this bond entails for both of us. This bond can only strengthen us as vampires, especially in this war. With his bond, our magic will be nearly unstoppable. Read the book to gain a better understanding. This bond, as much as I seemed hesitant at first, would be the best for us at this time.”

Snape handed the cup to Harry and the omega looked into the center of it, seeing his reflection in the puddle. He heard Snape down the glass quickly followed by a sigh. Harry sipped down half of the cup but soon stopped feeling full. Snape took the cup from him and finished it off himself, causing Harry to blush. Snape just drank after him. The gesture almost seemed intimate to Harry, just like a kiss.

“You will protect me?” Harry asked, breaking the silence that fell between them.

“Always,” Snape replied.

“Then I trust you,” Harry said.

“I…” Snape paused and looked at Harry, capturing the boy’s eyes with his own. “I regard you for that.” The alpha took his hand and touched Harry’s cheek, causing the younger vampire to flinch from the sudden gesture. “You are brave, just like her.”

"I appreciate that,” Harry said. He leaned towards Snape’s touch as the alpha stroked his cheek gently.

A comfortable silence fell between the two again before the omega gave a purr. The alpha replied with a low growl and pulled Harry close to his frame. There was an understanding between them, a solemn one. This bond had to occur if they were going to make it through this war. Harry felt so determined and so ready to try and convince Snape of his consent to the bond and establish this relationship between them, whatever it was. Soul mates? Bond mates? Lovers?

Friends?

“I believe sleep is in order,” Snape said, releasing Harry from him. The omega felt disappointed from the cessation of the touch but nodded his head in affirmation. “I hope you agree that it is important that the dream spell continues to be performed. It seems to have been effective from the nightmares the Dark Lord was giving you.”

Harry nodded, suddenly feeling tired with his eyes feeling heavy. Snape handed the boy his wand back before pulling out his own.

“I want you to perform this with me,” Snape said.

“Yes’sir.”

Snape instructed Harry on what to say and what wand movements to do towards and around the older vampire’s frame. The first couple of times practicing resulted in nothing, however, only encouragement came from the alpha. The third time, when they performed it together, a cloudy beam ribboned around them, encircling them as if it was a protective shield before dissipating into thin air.

“Well done,” Snape complimented and put his wand away. “I will escort you to your room. Tomorrow and the next day, Draco and his band of misfits still have detention with me so there will be no scenting sessions or lessons on how to control becoming your animagus. Instead, take this time to read the book. The time limit that I have given you has not changed. See to it that you no longer get into trouble, that way you aren’t wasting time on your knees cleaning floors.”

“Would you rather me be on my knees for something else?” the omega asked, feeling a wave of confidence wash over him. He felt it necessary to tease the alpha back after earlier. Snape pursed his lips together to try to hide a sly smirk that showed his contemplation of the question.

“Once again, tempting me before we are bonded. Don’t start what you don’t intend to finish, Potter. I will ruin you.”

Harry shuddered and he only wanted to prod with questions further on Snape’s intentions with him. However, he only nodded as he bit his lip to suppress a curt noise held in the back of his throat. The Professor was no fool, however. Snape snarled gently as pulled himself down towards Harry’s level, nose diving into the crook of the younger vampire’s neck before inhaling his scent. Harry whined, wanting more. A kiss, a nibble, a bite from the alpha. Anything.

But instead, Snape let him go and left Harry’s groin hard and wanting. The boy could feel wetness beginning to seep from his hole and threatening to stain his clothing. The alpha chuckled knowingly, placing a hand on Harry’s back while he guided him to the door to escort him to his room.

"Please,” Harry begged, leaning into Snape’s side. “You can’t leave me like this, you bloody tease."

"I’ll leave you just as you are with your wanton fantasies and omega-teen temptations just as you leave me waiting so patiently for your consent -- and before you say I have it,” Snape interrupted Harry, whose mouth was opened from the beginnings of a protest, “You must do your research as a proper vampire.”

“I can guarantee there was no research done back in the dark ages when omega and alpha vampires just acted on instinct! I’m sure of it!” Harry complained. Snape tutted as they continued down the halls.

“There was also no regulation. Omega-whores ran rampant along with abusive, power-hungry alphas. There was barely any true understanding of the sanctity of a vampiristic bond. I refuse to upkeep those kinds of ways, Potter.”

Harry groaned as they reached his door. The older vampire chuckled while Harry rubbed his eyes and entered the room to only stumble into his bed. Snape continued to look into the dark room as Harry lay there as if longing to join him.

The alpha knew, however, that Harry would soon dream.

---

That night, Harry had a dream involving his friends eating with him in the Great Hall. Snape, of course, sat in the background watching patiently and keeping guard for any changes in Harry’s dream that would indicate interference from the Dark Lord. There was none, however, and Snape was satisfied with the incantation that protected Harry’s dreams. There were times when Harry’s dreams drifted from one thing to another. First was sitting with his friends at dinner, then they walked around the lake outside on the grounds before the setting then shifted to Dumbledore’s office. Snape was intrigued at this moment as he popped open a book from the shelves of the Headmaster’s room and pretended to read the illegible, dream-state scrawls. He listened closely to what Harry was telling the Headmaster about his thoughts on Voldemort’s dream for him. It didn’t last long, however, because Snape waved his hand to rid them both of Dumbledore and his office and set them both in his office.

At first, Harry was confused at the sudden change. It was obvious he was not aware of this being a dream until his eyes landed on Snape, who sat up from his desk chair. Harry knew instantly that he was sharing this dream with the older vampire, whose demeanor was suddenly tense. Snape’s eyes were alight with surprise, anger soon flooding them.

“You didn’t tell me that,” Snape muttered curiously. There was a hint of betrayal in his tone.

“Tell you what?” Harry asked as he walked to stand closer to the Potions master, although he already had an idea as to what the older vampire was talking about. The alpha hummed, impatient from having to explain. It caused the omega to shudder and his mental atmosphere to be cold.

“The dream you had in the summer. The dream you just told Dumbledore a second ago. You did not tell me about that. In fact, you said you couldn’t remember it.” The Professor’s voice became dangerously tense, offended by the fact.

Harry hesitated, realizing that the fact that he had been purposely hiding had been revealed. He stood in a shameful silence as Snape gave him a sharp look. A small growl that belonged to the alpha rolled through the air and the younger vampire stumbled on what he was going to say next. The noise frightened the omega inside of him.

“I-I didn’t realize it was important,” Harry tried to think quickly, digging up the old lie that he gave to Snape earlier in the week.

“It is imperative that you be honest to me about your dreams,” the older vampire replied immediately, drawing himself up from the desk. “The Dark Lord is coming near and it is crucial we understand every detail we can about his plans! But of course, I should have known that your omega instincts of sneakiness would take over and not be honest. Of course, it would be you the Boy Wonder who plays secrets while the whole Wizarding World is at stake. Potter, playing while innocent lives hang in the balance in his hands while he remains dishonest with his future bonded,” Snape spat.

“I’m sorry,” was all Harry could say as the words from the alpha sank in. They hurt and Harry couldn’t help but feel how true they were. He was foolish for toying with the idea that Snape would not be trusted. Harry couldn’t help but think that it was so jarring of him to have the audacity to not trust the alpha yet be bound to him. No wonder Snape was angry, he had every right to be!

Would Snape even take his consent seriously now?

The alpha muttered something as he pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation and Harry stood, nervously waiting. He soaked in Snape’s words as the Professor said something under his breath.

“Your word about trusting me…” Snape spoke, eyes falling toward the ground. “It wasn’t sincere.”

“That isn’t true!” Harry nearly shouted. The walls around them in the dream shook in response to the outburst of emotion, but neither of them paid it any mind. “I do trust you! With my life, in fact! Please,” the younger vampire begged as he drew closer to the alpha and reached for his hand desperately. He clasped Snape’s hand with his own and interlocked the fingers. “I had doubts because of your past, but I was stupid! I’m sorry!”

The Professor did not react at first and Harry thought for a split second that the man would weep, gauging from his downcast face. There were no tears, however. Only flat, disheartened eyes. Something compelled the omega, however. Deep within him, there was an urge to reach up and touch Snape’s face and so he did. He caressed the Potion master’s cheek, thumb gently stroking the skin. It was then that Snape’s eyes finally flickered up to see Harry.

Suddenly, Harry’s notion was countered. His hand was pushed away swiftly by the older vampire before his own face was framed into those hands. There was a flame of desire burning deep within Snape’s eyes as Harry stared into them.

“I crave little,” Snape broke the silence between them, low and soft. “But you are different. How I long for this face, those lips, these eyes to be mine - the features of your frame to be held in my hands. You don’t have the faintest of ideas of the urge I feel when I look at you.” The hands that held Harry’s face moved, manipulating the omega’s head to tilt back and expose his throat. “The hunger…” the alpha said above a whisper.

Harry allowed his neck to be exposed as Snape’s right hand slid fingers tenderly over the pulse. The elder vampire’s words resonated with the boy and Harry felt the air between them grow hot. Before he could reply, however, the older vampire tutted in what sounded like a disappointment.

“I am above omega-teen antics, secrets, and pubescent emotion, however, note this - you must tell me whenever you are having dreams or any encounters with the Dark Lord. For you to keep this from me, I…” Snape seemed to choke on his own words before swallowing them down. Harry felt the pangs of guilt throb in his gut.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said again, but Snape shook his head.

“I have to have your trust, Harry,” Snape said, looking deep into Harry’s eyes and setting his hand back onto the boy’s cheek. Harry could see just how to hurt the Professor was, how deep the pain swelled in his eyes. He leaned into the touch before the Potions master finished, “because this bond will not allow for anything less.”

“I promise,” Harry began and took a hold of Snape’s hands again, pulling them from his face and gripping them tenderly. “I promise not to keep secrets, especially ones that pertain to Volde--him,” he continued, correcting himself as he saw Snape’s expression sharpen from the mention of the name. “I promise to trust you.”

The alpha’s lips pursed together and those dark eyes closed. Harry frowned when Snape let go of his hands before turning back around towards the back wall of the room where the desk was.

“Professor,” Harry tried to say, but yet his voice sounded strangled by the thick, hot air around him. The alpha stood there, back facing Harry and his head held to allow black locks to rest on the crests of his shoulders.

“Swear to me,” Snape’s voice echoed in his ears.

Harry tried to reply positively, but no sound came from his throat. The walls began to distort, widen, and shrink before Harry’s very eyes. Snape seemed to grow so far away. The younger vampire tried to come closer by attempting to run towards the alpha, but his feet fell into a hole - a void that sent him tumbling through space as the room faded to nothing. With a silent yelp, he fell.

---

Then he was awake with the alarm ringing on his watch.

Chapter Text

The light that pierced through the windows hurt his eyes and he rubbed them in response. He heard the soft snores and awakening sighs from his roommates and Harry fully realized that he was immersed in a dream with Snape.

”Swear to me…” The words still drummed in his head like rolling thunder. Harry couldn’t help but feel his heart swell with want - a yearning to obey and please the alpha by keeping his word and proving himself worthy. There was, however, the lingering pang of guilt that made his chest tight and he suddenly felt like a fool for ever doubting the alpha.

He continued to dwell in that moment of thought before realizing that Snape did not tell him to come to visit him today for any sessions. He was scheduled for Potions today, so perhaps he could ask the Professor at that time. He ached for a good distractor or something to reassure him that Snape wasn’t too angry at him. A scenting session, animagus lessons, or dissecting the contents of that book.

The book!

As he heard his roommates stir in their beds to get up from their sleep, Harry shot for his book bag and pulled out the text that Snape gave him. The book had a vintage look coupled with the hint of sandalwood and pine that got Harry’s mouth watering once again. He examined the book’s cover meticulously, noting the age of the pitch black leather bind, the crinkles, the cracks. There was no text on the back of the book or the side. The book, however, did show in glaring blood red that was barely even noticeable against the black cover.

THE RITUAL OF VAMPIRISTIC BONDS: UNIT ONE THADDEUS ZALATORIS

Harry would have missed it if the letter didn’t shine in the light. He eagerly opened up the book to find the ribbon that marked the book page where he was supposed to be reading and his eyes fell on the paragraph that he was reading the day before.

“Hey, mate,” Ron spoke sleepily to him. “What’s that you got there?”

Harry jumped slightly from the sudden question but tried to straighten himself out before it was noticed. He shut the book and said a quick, “nothing.”

“Nothing?” Ron asked, scrunching up his nose. Harry figured that he was still on edge from the last couple of days from the tension between the trio. The older Gryffindor scrunched his nose up in irritation as he eyed the book. “Fine, don’t tell me,” he said and his tone fell flat. Harry sighed and began to put the book up.

“Just a reading assignment that Snape gave me and no one else,” Harry answered. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Got it,” Ron said, sounding a little bit perkier now that Harry explained. “I was just wondering. I’ve been kind of concerned about, you know, us as friends. I just feel like I can’t do anything right lately and all I do is make people mad.”

Harry pursed his lips and began to shift off of the bed. The rest of the roommates were already dressed and beginning to head out the door for breakfast.

“No, you don’t,” Harry afforded to answer as he dug through his clothes. “Things have just been weird lately.”

“Tell me about it,” Ron sighed. “Ever since you have been hanging out with Snape more, you’ve been off. It’s like I can barely talk to you without you flying off the handle.”

“I don’t fly off the handle, I’m --!” Harry began but realized he was raising his voice. He sighed as he began to barrel on his clothes. “Never mind. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to get upset. I’m just beginning to learn things about who I am and my kind. I’m just going through something. It doesn’t help that I got Voldemort up my arse either,” the vampire grumbled.

Ron’s skin prickled at the name, but he ignored it. He grabbed his bag and went towards the door with Harry so that they could go to breakfast.

“Well, I get that. But, still. You know I’m here for you, mate. I’m not trying to be against you and I hope the same goes for you with me. We got to work together, including ‘Mione. You got to let us in and tell us what’s going on so that we aren’t fighting all of the time.”

Harry’s mind traced over the fact of his current relationship with the Potion’s professor and a cold sense of dread washed over him.

No, no, they wouldn’t understand. They wouldn’t dare support how I feel for Snape. They wouldn’t get the bond that we need to make.

“Sure,” Harry lied, swallowing against a lump in his throat. “I’ll try my best. Things can just be complicated.”

“So everything that is going on is okay, then? Detention was okay last night? You’ve said nothing about it. Actually, you barely talk about what happens in those lessons between you and Snape,” Ron pointed out.

“That’s because I swore to keep it secret,” the vampire huffed. “I can’t just break that trust that I finally got with Snape.”

There was a pang of guilt that stabbed at him as he remembered the dream and conversation he had with the alpha last night. In all honesty, he didn’t feel like there was any trust Snape had with him anymore, not that he blamed him. He longed to turn back time so that he wouldn’t have been so silly in not trusting Snape, but he knew he could only move forward from here. He figured all he could do was listen to Snape from now on.

And it took reading the book to start with.

The trio ate their breakfast and actually held decent conversations. Thankfully, there was no talk about the recent events that caused tension in their friendships. Instead, they focused their conversations on homework, quidditch, and even updates with Harry’s dreams and Voldemort. Harry tried to skirt around the topic of learning the incantation with Snape, and especially that Snape was the one guarding him and his dreams. He instead came up with an excuse that he just hasn’t had any dreams lately and had been meditating during his lessons with the Potions professor.

For some reason, this excited Hermione most of all and was very inquisitive about the method of dream control. She had read about it somewhere in the library last year but thought it was rubbish. Before Harry could say anything else, Ron provided a distraction as he spilled orange juice all over his parchment for Transfiguration.

Harry looked over towards the teachers’ table, eyes immediately searching for the pitch black Raven that was Snape. However, only colorful robes decorated the seats. The professor was nowhere to be found this morning. A weight seemed to pull at Harry as he got up from the tables to go to class. There was something deep within him that was concerned about his relationship with the alpha. He wanted so desperately for Potions to be his class right then and there, but he had to go to Transfiguration first followed by a period at the library. Part of him just wanted to skip the entire day except for Potions just so he could see Snape.

However, he knew the alpha would snarl if he was late - or worse, absent - to yet another one of McGonagall’s classes thus sending him to another bout of detention. Harry decided it was best to not make the older vampire anymore disappointed or angry and to actually listen to what he was supposed to do: pay attention in classes and read the book.

Suddenly, Harry was looking forward to the library.

---

Harry caught himself already beginning to peek into the textbook during Transfigurations, barely hearing a single word that McGonagall was saying. Thankfully, he wasn’t called on at all during the class and he actually pretended to pay attention when it came to the assignments. Homework was given to them and if it weren’t for Hermione helping him out by telling him what it was, he would have missed it. Of course, he was going to push it off for as long as he could so that he could get some reading in. He already started the first two or three sentences of the book, but knew it would do no good if he didn’t start over due to how distracted he was.

He, Hermione, and Ron found a little nook in the library and set their stuff down. Hermione already had her parchment out for the assignment that she was going to do for McGonagall while Ron was grumbling about having to redo not only his assignment that he ruined at breakfast but also the added assignment on top of that. Hermione tried to sympathize with Ron while Harry remained quiet and dug his nose into the book as he opened it to the ribbon that was marked on the page.

THE RITUAL OF VAMPIRISTIC BONDS: UNIT ONE

There are many ways and forms of establishing vampiristic bonds: physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. This unit describes the multiple practices of how bonds are established between vampires, specifically between alpha and omega. Although there are practices that involve alpha to alpha and omega to omega, those bonds are not nearly as strong as alpha and omega.

To begin, the alpha has raw power that is comparable to a hundred sorcerers. They are able to channel their magic and energy in ways that can only consume and devour. An alpha vampire in their absolute prime would be able to easily fight, draw, and win against hundreds of omegas. With this comes alpha pride. The alpha is always hungry and searching for power to consume. Ultimately, the alpha is looking for a compliment so that their energy can be eventually matched and channeled without coming out as pure rage, hunger, or lust. In order to satisfy this magical urge, the alpha uses their cunning wits and persuasive abilities to draw in an omega, luring them to complete a bond that will ultimately make them unstoppable and perhaps even eternal. In theory, the bonds of an alpha and omega being put to their extremes can draw in everlasting magic that can grow, heal, and even reincarnate from the dead. Although there is no documentation of this actually happening, there have been witnesses stating such magic. This is why alphas yearn so strongly for the omega: solely to further their own magic.

Harry stopped reading for a second, biting his own lip and trying to grasp what he just read. There was so much to take in already that he didn’t even know where to begin. He caught himself reading the book’s words in Snape’s voice and although the words seemed cold, calculated, and to-the-point, Harry couldn’t help the wash of hot blood that trailed through his cock. Snape made the bond sound almost like a marriage, but the author makes it seem like there is nothing more than the alpha using the omega. Potter knew, however, to continue to read.

And read he did, with the alpha’s voice on his mind.

Naturally, the alpha becomes interested in the omega, and their behavior changes. They become more possessive, driven, and cunning as they prey on their future bonded. They begin to coax the omega with sweet words and even may tempt the omega with promises of lavishing them with a life of luxury or even protection. The alpha knows the fertile omega is longing to breed and so the alpha may promise the omega (male or female) to give them offspring and that they will stay in order to create a sizable brood. The omega may be drawn to the alpha’s words and may succumb to the tempting offers that the alpha puts out.

Most times, the alphas put out an influence with their offer that will affect the omega’s will and make them more susceptible to listening to the alpha. Uncommonly, some omegas will not listen to the alpha or be mesmerized by their words. Their stronger will, so to speak, allows them to not be influenced by the alphas. In turn, some alphas may resort to hypnosis, a trait that only they possess. Omega vampires are not known to have the ability of hypnosis and there has not ever been a case of an omega being immune to it.

Harry continued to read, completely mesmerized by the words on the page. He was interested in these facts and it made his heart race to know that Snape was capable of such things. Had Snape’s words been influencing him the whole time? Or was this completely out of his own will to want this bond? Harry doesn’t suppose that Snape has been influencing him or even attempted hypnosis on him considering he seemed so keen on Harry’s consent. Harry wondered what hypnosis would even consist of. Would it involve a look that the alpha would give him? Or a touch?

Or was it Snape’s sultry voice?

Harry finished up the chapter page and eventually the first chapter of the unit. It consisted of the reasons and motives of why the alphas wanted to bond with the omega. There were parts that considered the omega wanting to bond with the alpha, but they were not as extensive. Harry figured that perhaps it was more common for the alpha to want to bond with the omega rather than the other way around. It also seemed that alphas were the ones to move first towards creating the bond rather than omegas initiating it.

Study hour had concluded and the trio closed their books, packed up their parchments and pens, and left the library. While walking, Hermione was the first to speak.

“Harry, I saw the title of your book,” she said. “Is that something that Professor Snape gave you?”

Harry hesitated and inwardly groaned. However, he quickly straightened up, knowing that his attitude was possibly the reason why there was so much strife between them right now. He pondered on what to say and mentally slapped himself for being so conspicuous about reading the book in front of his friends.

“Yes,” Harry finally admitted, not saying anything more. Hermione had pouted her lip, obviously wanting to know more information, but before she could open her mouth to ask another question, Ron piped in.

“It’s kind of odd that Snape has been giving you personal homework assignments and study tasks on top of what we already have. Does this book have anything to do with Potions? Does this mean you have to do extra work?”

Harry sighed. “Look, I don’t really want to talk about this.”

“Harry, we are just wondering,” Hermione offered. “If possible, we want to help. I can already see the crease where you are furrowing your brow from stress. Can’t you just allow us to help you? Perhaps we can help with some assignments. Not with your vampirism work, but with Potions. I don’t mind taking notes for you or marking some sections in your textbook or giving you guidelines to complete essays while you’re reading your book.”

Harry’s heart lightened a little at that. “Really?” he asked.

“Of course, mate,” Ron said. “I mean, I don’t know how much help I would be, seeing as I am drowning from everything that is assigned to me. But I can definitely try and support you from the sidelines.”

“You guys are great,” Harry smiled.

“So, you’ll let us help?” Hermione asked.

“With Potions, yes. Snape has given me extra work, but I can’t really talk about it. All I can really say is that it deals with vampirism. It isn’t for a grade, but it means a lot to me. It may also help me with other things that are not involved with the school.”

“Like You-Know-Who?” asked Hermione. Ron’s color visibly paled.

“Yes, like him,” Harry answered. “But that’s all I can say. I really appreciate you guys helping and understanding.”

“We’re your best friends, mate,” Ron said, giving a little playful punch against the side of Harry’s shoulder. “You’d do the same for me if I had to do the same thing.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” the omega beamed.

They eventually began to descend down the stairs for Potions, all of them piping up as they saw that there was a crowd on the outside of the doors. The trio showed outward confusion, and Harry picked up the pace. There was a low clamber of Gryffindors and Slytherins talking amongst themselves with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle at the front of it all right outside the dungeon doors.

“Potter! Finally on time for class for once,” the blond sneered. “You’ve even gotten here before the professor.”

“Where’s Snape?” Harry asked, ignoring the Slytherin’s comment.

“What’s it matter to you? In love with him or something? Is that why you had to stay a little bit extra after detention last night?” Draco smirked. Everyone with the exception of the trio had at least a laugh or two at that. There were a couple of rude comments that were muttered under some Slytherins’ lips that made Harry blush madly and grit his teeth. “What’s wrong? All hot ‘nd bothered? How’re your knees after last night?”

“Shove it!” Harry shouted, but he was drowned out by the laughter of everyone in the dungeons. The vampire had his fangs barred from embarrassment, gripping his wand tightly and aiming it at the blond. Draco countered quickly, but before any curses or jinxes could be muttered, the doors to the Potions classroom shook heavily, causing a loud roar of metal clanging that startled all of the students. Harry and Draco reacted promptly, stuffing their wands back into their robes before they could be seen.

Behind the doors, once they finally opened, was Snape standing long, pale, and robed in black. Harry’s heart nearly fluttered from how comforting the familiarity was. He missed seeing the professor at breakfast and after reading the first chapter of the bonding unit of the book, he only wanted to see him more.

“Interesting,” the alpha said in a low, deep tamber. “For a second, I thought I heard a Gryffindor and a Slytherin about to get in a squabble over something they had no business talking about.”

“Sir, I --” Harry began, but Snape’s glare made him seize. There was a look that was all too well-known to the omega, but it was a look he had not seen in a while. The look was anger. Anger mixed in with a hint of fatigue. Harry so desperately wished the class was gone and that he and Snape were left alone so he could ask whatever was the matter. He just wanted to wrap his arms around the alpha and feel the older vampire reciprocating the same gesture unto him. Harry and Snape’s eyes locked together, in a small trance that made Harry nearly forget about the world around him. It was only then that those eyes softened just a little bit before the professor pursed his lips into a sneer.

“There will be none of that,” Snape said. “As well, there will be no class today. Something urgent has come up and there is nothing I can do to go around it. Your homework is to write an essay on the ingredients and brewing of an antidote for rabies. Minimum length of 10 inches due next class.”

There was a grimace and muttering between the students before a low growl was heard coming from the alpha. In response, the students tensed up and vocalized their understanding of the task and their obedience to get it done. As the students began to turn and walk away, Harry tried to push past them to get to Snape.

“Sir,” he began, shoving against Malfoy. However, the Slytherin shouldered him hard against the chest, nearly knocking Harry down to the floor. Before the Gryffindor could reset himself, the dungeon door was closed tight with a loud crash.

“Snape doesn’t have time for waste like you,” Draco spat.

Harry snarled as he lunged towards Draco, but was snatched back by his two friends.

“Leave him! He isn’t worth it,” Ron said past Malfoy’s mocking laughter. The Slytherins walked away from the Gryffindors and ascended up the stairs before Ron finally let Harry go. “He’ll just make you end up expelled.”

“If it meant I could bite the throat out of his neck,” Harry growled roughly, causing Hermione to cringe from the thought of that image. “I can’t stand him.”

“That makes the three of us,” Ron replied and handed Harry his backpack. He dropped it when lunging at Malfoy. “Come on. We will just head back to the library and start our assignment for Snape.”

“We’ll start the assignments for Snape. You, on the other hand, are going to finish your reading.”

“I have like 150 pages left,” Harry sighed and looked at the dungeon door that lead to the Potions classroom. Hermione and Ron were already beginning to walk away. “Why do you think that Snape canceled class?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Hermione said. “We’d thought you would probably know the reason more than we would since you and Snape are together more often past class time.”

Harry couldn’t help but think of what happened last night in the dream with him and Snape. His heart sank heavily to the floor and his veins ran cold. He hoped it didn’t have anything to do with what happened last night, but there was a sickening feeling that he couldn’t get past that maybe there was. Hermione snapped her fingers in front of Harry’s face to get his attention and the omega vampire shook in startlement.

“You sure there’s nothing you don’t know about why Snape canceled class?” she asked.

“There is something, but I am not too totally sure about it,” Harry replied. “I don’t know enough information to draw a conclusion, but it does have me concerned.”

“Does it have anything to do with --” Hermione began, but Harry interrupted her with a blank “no”. “You didn’t even get to let me finish,” she whined. “I wasn’t going to ask about You-Know-Who, I was going to ask if it had anything to do with your relationship with Snape.”

Harry’s fingers tensed into a fist.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?” Ron asked. “Let’s go ahead and get to the library before the dungeon bat flies back out and hears us talking about him.”

Harry gave Ron a harsh glare into the back of his head when he turned straight to walk ahead. While they ascended up the stairs, Harry couldn’t help but look behind his shoulder at the dungeon doors, hoping to see Snape creeping them open to give him some gesture of reassurance.

---

The bond requires blood feeding, said the book as Harry continued to read onto the next chapter. “The blood acts almost like a ritualistic sacrifice, however, this sacrifice involves the omega essentially giving up their free will to the alpha. Although omegas are able to still make their own decisions and do what they please, the alpha ultimately controls the omega. When the bond is set, all it takes is a simple command and desire from the alpha to make the omega do whatever the alpha’s bidding is. There is no way around this command.

There have been no records of any omega able to resist the commands. As you may conclude, this principle may be abused. There are countless instances of alphas using omegas like their slaves. This is because the alpha’s limitless hunger for control and power is never satisfied. The omega is vulnerable prey to the alpha to listen to whatever the alpha has to command.

Like all feedings, the alpha will bite the omega's neck, claiming them like prey. The omega may do the same to the alpha to continue the bond. However, it may sound like the omega is the one doing the sacrificing, but there is also a price to pay for the alpha. With this shedding of blood, the alpha is forever bound solely to that omega alone. No other individual or creature is under the power of the alpha and therefore the hunger for power can only be given by that particular omega to the alpha. There is also the price of devotion. The alpha can grow weak without the omega - physically, emotionally, and magically. Magical and physical sustenance comes solely from that particular omega. A physical bonding of flesh must be done every so often for the alpha to regain their strength. Physical intimacy such as copulation or feeding is required for the bond to be sustained and for the alpha to have any strength or power.

The more physical the intimacy, the stronger the alpha becomes. The more often the physical intimacy happens, the longer the alpha is strong. The alpha takes claim of the omega time and time again, their sexual lust never being truly satisfied as isn’t their lust for power. The alphas remain hungry, feeding on the omegas time and time again. The bond, however, allows the omegas to be able to take such trials. The omega is equipped by the bond to sustain the alpha for as long and as often as the alpha will have them. The omega will be prepared and ripe for the alpha’s taking whenever the alpha wants to lay claim…

Harry had to stop reading and lay his head down on the table. This caught Hermione’s attention and she kicked her foot against Harry’s shin gently to make sure he was okay. Harry dug his face into his elbow to hide his reddened face. He couldn’t believe what he just read. It didn’t seem real. This is what was going to happen when he and Snape were bonded. Sex? Intimacy? Feedings? Lust? Harry’s hardened prick leaked thirstily in his trousers and he so desperately wanted to excuse himself to the bathroom to relieve himself.

“Harry, what’s wrong? Did you read something disturbing?” Hermione asked just above a whisper. Harry finally lifted his head back up and shook his head. Hermione saw just how dark Harry’s blush was and her eyes widened slightly. “Then what did you read?”

“I-I can’t talk about it,” Harry answered. With a purse of her lips, that was all Hermione needed to hear. She trailed her eyes back to her own book and bit the inside of her cheek, almost as if she realized what Harry was talking about.

Ron, however, paid no attention. He was too busy scanning his eyes through the Potions textbook to look for the facts on how to prepare the antidote for rabies. “Bats are foul creatures,” he muttered. Harry gave him a sharp jab into the side before continuing to read his own book.

Love is vast in an omega-alpha bond. Trust is essential, as well. The omega must put their trust in the alpha because the alpha is the one that ultimately holds the key to controlling the omega’s actions and thoughts. When trust is not a part of the bond, horrible dynamics can go into play which can lead to the loss of will and autonomy on the omega’s part. The loss of trust can also lead to heartbreak, which can ruin the intimacy of the bond and cause the alpha to grow weak and in poor health.

Harry couldn’t help but feel the guilt rise up in his chest from reading this. He skimmed through the pages because it pained him to continue to read. Ultimately, he finished up the chapter and moved on to the next one. Before continuing, he glanced over to Hermione who was drawing up an outline and notes of her and Harry’s essay about rabies. Harry made sure to thank her before they left.

The new chapter he read really piqued his interest. It talked about how the bond allows the omega and alpha to share a mental connection with one another. In their dreams, across the rooms, or even miles away, they are able to mentally connect to one another and read each other’s minds. The alpha had the ability to put thoughts into the omega’s head and could persuade them into thinking something that they originally were not thinking of. This, of course, could be dangerous to omegas whose alphas were massive manipulators. Harry soon really began to understand why Snape was making him read all of this. He did not realize so much went into the bond and that so much control was given to the alpha over the omega. The only control the omega really had over the alpha was that of giving the alpha strength and power with their bodies.

Harry continued to read and also realized that both the alpha and omega’s power could be increased nearly a hundredfold with the bond that was between them. When bonded, the alpha and omega’s magic is nearly impossible to counter. In history, this leads to many omega and alpha vampires being unstoppable against humans and against other creatures of the world. In days of old, omega and alpha vampires could rule over nations and hold power over many kingdoms. However, as times progressed, omegas and alphas began to die out because of corruption in the bonds. Corruption led to manipulation. Manipulation led to decreased intimacy. Decreased intimacy led to weakening alphas and omegas. Weakness led to death. Harry understood what Snape was talking about and how things got out of hand back in the past with alpha and omega bonds.

Harry began to wonder if this would have been the first bond in a very long while between alpha and omega. Then his mind began to wonder about what possibilities could have happened if his mother and Snape had bonded. What sort of magic and power would have been harvested if his mother had only chosen Snape?

The answer was possibly closer than he thought.

Hermione poked at Harry’s shoulder, distracting him from the train of thought that he was having. It was lunchtime. Harry placed the ribbon that acted as a bookmark down the page of the book and packed it up into his backpack. As mentally promised, he thanked Hermione for her help in starting his essay as she handed it to him. Ron grumbled about how he only got a sentence or two in before it was time to leave.

Harry hoped that Snape would be at the faculty table for lunch. He hoped that everything was okay with the alpha and that everything was okay between them. Another thing he hoped was that the alpha would see him tonight in his dream. Maybe he would get a chance in asking Snape what had happened to make him cancel the class and not show up for breakfast. Whatever it was, it was eating away at Harry slowly and it only made him want to bond to the alpha even more.

Chapter Text

When they got seated for dinner, Harry’s stomach rumbled. However, he didn’t feel like eating human food. All he wanted was blood and to see Snape. He munched on his biscuit gently as he listened to Ron and Hermione talking about that assignment about rabies. Harry barely paid any attention as he looked towards the faculty table for any signs of the older vampire. Sadly, Snape wasn’t there and Harry was beginning to get a little worried. What would cause Snape to not be available all day? Did it have anything to do with what happened last night in the dream? After mulling over his thoughts, he stopped pretending like he was eating and being interested in the food. He shoved the biscuit down and decided to take a walk. He figured it would be up to him to find out exactly what was happening.

“Lord, where are you going now?” Ron asked when Harry began to leave the table. His face was stuffed with food and his voice was muffled from eating. Harry couldn’t help but smirk at the sight as he got up fully.

“Out,” Harry replied and grabbed his bag.

“Harry, you’ll get in trouble,” Hermione said past the rim of her cup as she drank her pumpkin juice. “If you’re caught not being at dinner by Filch or his cat, it won’t be good.”

“I have to find out what’s going on with Snape,” Harry said. “Besides, I want some blood. Is that too much to ask for around here?”

“It very well may be!” Hermione answered after Harry as he began to walk away. “Please, just be careful!”

Harry continued to walk, ignoring any comments or mutterings that were happening as he passed the students by the Gryffindor table. It was obvious that his departure from the Hall was not welcomed. He determined that he didn’t care what rumors would be spread about him. He figured that it would be no different than all of the stories that would be made up about Snape, or him for that matter, about them and their vampirism. Humans would never understand why Harry needed to do this and why he needed to make sure that the Professor was okay.

It wasn’t long before he was out of the Great Hall and heading down the path that led to the dungeons. No student was out in the halls and the candles were already showing signs of dimming. If Filch wasn’t out and about by now, he surely would be in a minute. Harry tried not to think of that as he continued, reaching the steps and beginning to descend.

The dungeons were dark and Harry’s eyes adjusted quickly. There were no candles burning down here and the air had grown quite chilly. He figured Snape didn’t put any logs in the fireplace to warm the area and suddenly he wondered if Snape was even in his room at all. Silence surrounded Harry like a dome and all he could hear was the thudding of his shoes with each step. He walked carefully and slowly so that his steps wouldn’t be heard by anyone else, especially Filch or his cat. He also tried to soften his breaths by purposely slowing his breathing so that the passing air wouldn’t make a sound.

Soon, it was completely silent.

He eventually made it to the door and shook the knocker. It clanged heavily, the metallic sounds echoing against the walls in a loud clamber. It was a drastic difference in volume compared to the seconds earlier and the omega hoped that they wouldn’t be heard by anyone else other than who he was trying to see. Harry stood patiently as the noise faded to silence once more and continued to look at the door as if boring a hole through it with his eyes. The door didn’t move. Harry frowned and tried the action again. As he did so, the door crept open just slightly and Harry’s heart thudded strongly in his chest as he saw thin, potion-stained fingers wrap around the edge of the door to hold it open.

“Leave,” Snape said lowly.

Harry’s heart broke and he instantly almost cried out, “no!”

“Leave for your own safety, please,” Snape clarified. “I can’t explain right now. You must go.”

Harry felt his head hurt with confusion and his heart ached to understand why Snape was pushing him away. At first, he couldn’t find the words, but as the door began to shut on him, he found the action to knock the toe of his shoe in between the door and the frame to block it from closing.

Please, sir,” Harry said. “Let me in.”

“Leave, Harry,” Snape pressed on.

Harry’s foot hurt from the crushing strength that the older vampire gave on the door. However, Harry pushed back as much as he could. The pain began to stab at his foot and shoot up his leg. It was obvious how different their strengths were from each other. The alpha was obviously holding back at just shoving Harry out completely and hurting him. Harry was all but passing out from the effort of trying to push against the door. Finally, he gave up and used his words.

“Please, the spell at least!” Harry cried out.

The pressure from the other side stopped and it was as if time had frozen between them. The omega was relieved because not only did he seem to get through to Snape, but the pain in his foot began to subside. Harry pushed his way further inside and looked to see Snape looking down at him with weary eyes. The door was still blocked, but the crack between the edge and the frame had increased so that they could properly look at each other. There was no emotion that was held in Snape’s eyes, only fatigue with a hint of defeat. It was almost as if it seemed inevitable for him to listen to the omega’s words and adhere to them as Harry continued.

“For protection,” Harry whispered.

“You know the incantation. Perform it on yourself for protection,” Snape replied promptly.

“I need you,” the younger vampire whined. The alpha’s ears prickled from the noise almost in interest. “I can’t be alone in my dreams anymore. He may come.”

“He already has,” Snape hissed to the point that Harry struggled to hear. He did, however. There was no need for clarification as those words were said. Harry felt like a ton of bricks was pressed on his chest at those words. His eyes widened, letting the words sink in and weigh in their reality.

Voldemort has returned. They were too late.

“Foolish boy,” Snape whispered, although his tone was gentle. They continued to look at each other between the edge of the door and the frame. Snape now looked both tired and sad. “Your jaded emerald eyes need to be darkened with the truth because the Dark Lord has returned and his thirst for your death has only grown stronger. It is dangerous for us to be together right now.”

“I-I’m afraid,” Harry spoke truthfully, his voice small. In the back of his mind, he could already see Voldemort’s red eyes hungry for his demise. He could already feel the weight of Voldemort’s death curse coursing through him, killing him on impact. Harry leaned in closer to the door to try to get to Snape, but the Professor only shook his head.

"You’re a Gryffindor, brat,” he said and finally allowed the omega to come in. “There is no room for fear.”

There was a silence that came from Snape, but Harry understood what the older vampire was implying. Snape had to pretend to stay loyal to Voldemort. They missed their chance to bond before the evil Wizard returned and now, bonding while Snape was supposed to be an active Death Eater was too risky. However, Harry didn’t want to accept this. The omega came in and Snape quickly shut the door behind him, leaving them in total darkness. Harry looked around the room to see only traces of faint, black objects such as Snape’s desk, chair, bookshelf, and fireplace.

“Has he contacted you?” Harry asked, but immediately felt stupid when he saw the look that the older vampire gave him. Even in the darkness, Harry could see the typical blank that the alpha gave him to show how obvious the answer was. “Snape, we must bond. We have to. It can’t be too late now.”

“You haven’t finished the book and the Dark Lord has eyes and ears everywhere,” Snape replied.

“I’ve read enough. I consent fully! He can’t possibly have ears right here. You would be the eyes and ears that he needs at Hogwarts, surely?”

“Lower your voice,” the Potions professor hummed and moved past Harry to go towards his desk. “And don’t say his name, I mean it.”

Harry wanted to rebuttal that he hadn’t said Voldemort’s name at all, but he knew better. The wind that swooshed past him from Snape’s billowing robes made Harry feel a cold wave of terror trail down his spine and he was startled when Snape whispered a small Incendio against a candle to light it aflame.

“The Dark Lord is currently in a location that is at least a hundred miles from Hogwarts. The Death Eaters were called to unite inside of a dark, abandoned mansion that the Dark Lord has taken over for his own. People you knew were there. A ritual had been performed in order for his body to be reincarnated back into a wicked, twisted humanoid that also resembles a snake. He no longer looks like the Riddle that had been plaguing your dreams,” Snape explained, looking into the fire that lit the wick of the candle. “He is powerful. Raging with ways of destruction. He wants you lifeless with your head on a spit.”

“Does Dumbledore know about this?” Harry asked, his voice nearly breaking from terror.

“The appropriate parties are aware but don’t even try to say anything about it. The wizarding world would think you’re delusional.”

“Who was there?” Harry tried again, but Snape made a tutting noise that quieted him. So many questions filled his head, but he knew that there was no point in asking Snape anything. The alpha wouldn’t tell him, he knew. The shadows from the chiseled details of Snape’s face danced from the flame’s light as he continued.

“Have you read how the bond takes place?” Snape asked tightly.

“W-well --”

“Then you haven’t read enough,” he growled and set the candle down on the floor.

“I know a good amount of what the bond entails!” Harry said fervently, although his voice was just above a whisper. “Please, Snape, I consent. I want this. I need this. I need you. The protection.”

“The power,” Snape mused, grabbing another candle. “We would be nearly unstoppable.”

“We have to do this if you want me to be alive,” Harry said. Snape pursed his lips together and lit the candle.

“I think you're speaking more for yourself than me, Potter.” He placed the object down beside the other candle at an angle of a circle.

“Snape, please!” Harry begged. “I am scared and can’t deal with this charade of hating each other, okay?”

“Charade,” Snape sneered and lit yet another candle. “You must be careful of how you act, Potter. It may cost you your life.”

Harry knew Snape was only acting this way because of his connection with Voldemort, but it still hurt his heart. He didn’t want it to be this way. He wanted to run into Snape’s arms and have them wrap around his body so tightly that all he knew was warmth and protection. He wanted to be far away with the alpha - somewhere warm and bright with the birds singing and wind swirling gently in the Professor’s hair. But right now, it was cold and dark with only inklings of light that flickered from the flames of the candles. The alpha continued to arrange the candles in the circle and Harry only watched patiently, thinking about the things that were said.

“You consent,” Snape stated as if it were a fact rather than a question.

“Yes,” Harry answered.

“I suppose that now is the best time, then,” Snape continued as he lit the last candle of the circle. “The Dark Lord’s new form requires rest and the Death Eaters have scattered in preparation for the war that is to come. So, tell me, how does an omega give themself to an alpha?”

Harry hesitated, not really knowing what to say. His mind was rolling at hundreds of kilometers an hour at everything that was happening at that moment. Voldemort, the ritual, the Death Eaters, and now the bond. Of course, his mind went to dirty places instantly, especially after reading the book. He could only think of the sexual nature of the bond and how hungry it seemed to be. His thoughts trailed from how the omega willingly laid themselves down for the alpha to take, spreading themselves open with the girth of the alpha’s cock and drooling for more. Snape said something that caused Harry’s mind to set back into reality and he began to fumble with his words. He couldn’t bear to say any of what he was thinking so, instead, he replied with, “the same as how an alpha would give themselves to an omega.”

“Always wording your way around the question,” Snape said, although there was a hint of amusement in his voice. “So, what would that be?”

Harry thought and thought, running his lips against his fangs. The image of sex went away from him and was instead replaced with another form of hunger - the thirst of the alpha drinking and feeding on the omega as if it were their last meal. He imagined sharp fangs digging ravenously at the omega’s neck, sinking in to pierce a gushing fountain of dark red blood that seemed to flow endlessly. Suddenly, it came to him.

“As a sacrifice.”

Snape grabbed Harry violently and it nearly made the boy cry out in fear. He was yanked hard and pulled close to the older vampire. However, when their faces were slid so close together that their breaths tangled, he couldn’t help but blush and feel relieved that it wasn’t Voldemort that was about to snatch him away. Snape tilted Harry’s chin towards him, his lips trailing just over the crest of Harry’s.

“A blood sacrifice,” Snape specified, his voice dangerously low.

“Ye-yes’sir,” Harry replied.

“This bond is for your protection, correct?” Snape asked, slow and meticulous. Every word fell carefully from the older vampire as his eyes studied Harry’s form. They looked over his face, as if searching for any sign of imperfection, but concluded that there were none.

“Y-yes,” Harry gasped and he inhaled the musk of sandalwood and pine. He also looked at Snape like prey anxiously staring back at their predator. His legs were beginning to tremble from just how dominating the presence of the alpha was to him. Blood quickly rushed down to his cock, thickening it against his trousers. The Professor pulled Harry until their bodies were close together.

“You’ll allow me to have you?” the older vampire asked, never once blinking. Never once showing any sign of doubt or hesitation. Those eyes were dark with…something. Whatever it was, Harry didn’t know quite yet, but he had an itching thought that the glare was full of desire, want, hunger, or even lust.

“Y-yes,” Harry stuttered.

“Ravish you when I say? As I say? On my command?” the alpha continued, having his arm wrapped tight around Harry. The boy was pathetically hard and he whined as Snape pressed for an answer, literally and metaphorically. There was no inch left between their bodies as they were pinned against each other. Harry felt embarrassed because he knew that Snape could feel every inch of his hardness pressing against his thigh.

“Yes, God, yes, please,” Harry panted through a blush against his cheeks. The thigh rubbed ever so slightly, causing him to break out a groan. He restrained it, however and held his breath as if it were his last.

“And you’ll trust me?” Snape asked. There was that pang in Harry’s chest. Those words still echoed in his ears. “You’ll trust me even when what I am doing seems entirely wrong and your scattered omega mind isn’t comprehending it? You’ll trust me then?”

Snape’s hands had fallen on Harry’s hips and the boy nearly mewled from the action. Snape purposely pressed their foreheads together, slotting their noses against each other and their lips almost pressed to one another. The alpha hummed expectantly, but Harry was distracted from the input of stimulation. Snape’s breath was warm and so was his tone. He was purposeful yet gentle in the way he held Harry and in the way he spoke to him. He was patient yet still longed for prompt, genuine answers.

And Harry wanted to give it to him. So badly did the omega want to hold himself together and be strong against Snape - not this fumbling mess of hormones and emotion. Snape, however, waited just the same without any shred of judgment.

“Always,” Harry answered, feeling brave enough to slip forward until their lips pressed together. It wasn’t harsh or aching, but the omega felt like his heart was going to explode. He kissed Snape gently with little, gliding sips between them until he felt the sudden movement of Snape deepening the kiss as if to devour him. The alpha guided Harry’s mouth open with his own and swiped his tongue hungrily across Harry’s. The Gryffindor whimpered through his nose and Snape replied with a deep noise of his own as they licked at each other. Snape’s arm readjusted against Harry’s and held him close until their groins were pressed together and that’s when Harry finally felt the hefty bulge of the alpha’s cock line up against his own. He nearly choked on Snape’s tongue from the intimidating feeling, but the Professor broke the kiss too early and Harry moaned out instead.

“Fuck, Snape.”

“Indeed, I plan to,” Snape snarled, pressing a kiss to the rise of Harry’s throat. He then licked the skin that lay over the boy’s jugular. “All in due time, however. First, my claim to initiate the bond. Let me have you.”

“Take me, I’m all yours,” Harry replied breathlessly as he kissed the older vampire again.

“Almost, little bat. Almost mine,” Snape said as he finally let go of Harry. “Sit.”

The omega did so, albeit with stumbling and shaky movement. The alpha moved purposely towards his desk, the flames bending with the wind that breezed from the motions. Harry could barely see past the candles, but with what little light was there, he saw Snape grab his wand and a knife. Suddenly, Harry felt his heart drop into his stomach and fear was beginning to creep through his veins. Snape returned and sat on his knees in the center of the circle along with Harry. 

“Take out your wand,” Snape said, and Harry did so. Snape put the knife down with the blade facing toward Harry and the boy pursed his lips as he saw the flicker of the candles reflecting in the sheen of the blade. “There is no room for fear, Potter. You must trust me.”

Swear to me, those words echoed once again. Harry nodded and curled his fingers around the handle of his wand.

“Follow my motions and repeat after me,” Snape continued and then pointed his wand at Harry. Nothing was said at first but then Snape moved the wand in an arch-like motion that pointed over Harry’s head and then to the left and right side of Harry’s face. The omega mirrored the motion towards Snape’s head with his own wand. “Hac nocte,” the alpha began.

Harry’s eyes widened slightly at the use of a different language but he was determined to follow through with the bond. He attempted his best to repeat what was said.

“Hac nocte...”

“Me dilecto meo do.”

Harry repeated the phrase and Snape nodded. Snape continued by tracing a circle around Harry’s body with his wand. The boy did the same while Snape said, “Cum magica par ego sum cum illis.”

“Cum magica par ego sum cum illis,” Harry repeated.

“Per sanguinem et per animam…” Snape said as he pointed the wand straight at Harry. Harry pointed his wand straight at Snape.

“Per sanguinem et per animam…”

“Nos unum sumus.”

“Nos unum sumus,” Harry finished.

Immediately, there was a swirling of air between them. The flames around them from the candles began to grow and circulate, almost like a whirlwind of fire. Harry’s eyes widened, but he remained frozen in the hold of pointing his wand at Snape because the alpha was still holding the same position. He saw, however, that Snape’s eyes were closed. Harry’s eyes remained open as he saw the fire whirlwind grow taller and taller around them, picking up speed and lighting the entire office, leaving no shadows. There was no heat that came from this fire. Suddenly, the fire turned blood red.

Harry felt a little frightened at the change of color, but he still held his position. He wanted to be brave. He wanted to do this with Snape. He wanted to bond and be strong with the Professor so that they stood some chance against Voldemort. He owed everything to the alpha for what he’s done to protect him. He wanted to make it up to Snape for all of the good he had done for him.

He couldn’t help but think about how their relationship will be after this bond is done. He focused on how their lives would be affected and how their dynamics will change. Would anything come between them? Were they now lovers or close friends? Were they soul mates at this point? And if so, what did that really mean? Is it like a married couple?

The whirlwind slowed until the flames settled back down into the candles, flickering just as bright red as rubies. Snape opened his eyes and Harry’s heart skipped a beat when he saw that his eyes were no longer the shade of raven black as they were a minute ago. Now, they were crimson red. Harry could feel energy surging through his body as if electricity were flowing a current through it. He looked down at his hands to see if they were possibly glowing or something, but nothing was there.

“Our magic is surging from the initiation process of the bond,” Snape explained.

“I can feel it,” Harry replied. Snape nodded.

“There is no coming back from this, you know,” Snape said, setting his wand down and then picking up the knife. Harry felt his fingers curl tensely in reaction to seeing the gleaming blade.

“I-I know,” Harry replied. “I want this. I need this.”

“We need this,” Snape affirmed. Before Harry could even react or do anything, Snape ran the blade over the palm of his hand, cutting it cleanly down the center. Blood began to drip like a little stream and Harry was caught in the mix of cringing and being mesmerized by the sight.

He wondered what Snape’s blood tasted like.

Snape motioned for Harry to come near and the boy did so, his lip bit from anxiety. Snape made a sound as if he were shushing a crying child and coaxed Harry to put his hand out.

“This is a much gentler and kinder gesture than what the Dark Lord would do to you if this bond were to not take place,” the older vampire said. Harry considered this and agreed. He held out his hand and opened up his palm. Snape, with his bleeding hand, took Harry’s wrist to hold it still. With his other hand, he ran the blade along Harry’s palm, cutting it just as deep as he did his own hand. Harry could barely react with how fast it happened, but the pain soon began to sting as the blood ran out of the wound.

“Now, we let the blood mix,” Snape said as he grabbed Harry’s wounded hand with his own wounded hand. Harry winced from the pain but soon got over it as he felt the warmth of Snape’s and his own blood running along his skin. “We also let the blood flow onto our wands.”

Harry took his wand and let the blood from their held hands drip onto the shaft and handle. Snape did the same. From this, there was a red glow that wrapped around the tips of both wands. The glow seemed to settle in what minute cracks there were in the woods of the wands, seeping in like blood into veins.

“You are doing well,” Snape offered softly. Harry couldn’t help but smile as a small kiss was placed on his head from the alpha. “After this night, you belong to me, always. You’ll be protected from the Dark Lord. You’ll always be provided for.”

“I’m so glad it’s with you,” Harry whispered back. “Thank you.”

Once their wands were coated with blood, their wounds quickly stopped bleeding. It was as if magic had stitched the cuts closed because when Harry looked at his hand, all there was a faint, pink line that was left.

“Scourgify,” Snape said into the air, and the blood was cleaned off of their hands and off of their wands. The red glow from their wands disappeared. “The bond is nearing completion.”

Harry looked up at Snape who looked back with a look that Harry could only describe as famished. There was a silence of understanding that fell between them. At this point, there really was no going back. They were so close in the bond that even if he wanted to turn back, he knew that Snape wouldn’t let him. He did, after all, give his consent. Snape was now just waiting patiently, breathing slow and steadily. A second passes, then another, and then finally, Harry nods.

Black overcame his vision as Snape pounced him, his lips crashing against Harry’s violently. His tongue intruded into Harry’s mouth, licking and swirling as if he were tasting every inch of his first and last meal. Harry moaned, but the noise was swallowed until it sounded muffled, pathetic, and drained. Snape loomed over him like a panther to a jack rabbit and glided his hips between Harry’s thighs, sending the outline of his cock against the omega’s arse. Harry whined against those lips until finally, the kiss was broken.

“Mine,” Snape snarled deeply, running his nose against the side of Harry’s throat, licking and kissing the skin to take in as much scent and taste of the flesh as he could. “I will consume you. I will mark you. I will brand you until even the Dark Lord knows who you belong to. Your scent is mine, your lips are mine, your frame, your supple neck, your sweet blood --” And with that, the alpha ran his thick, long fangs against Harry’s throat. “I will drink you down and plow your arse until you flood your juices all over my cock and lips. Until you beg for mercy - until you cry out in submission.”

Harry gasped at the words and nearly choked from lack of air as Snape continued to run his fangs against his neck. They were long and sharp, like a lion’s. Harry had only seen the tips and edges of those teeth, but never in their full glory until now. There was a sick thrill that he got in wondering - aching for what those teeth felt like when they sink into his neck. He so desperately yearned for Snape to fulfill the filthy words that he spoke into existence and his legs spread almost subconsciously to coax the alpha into doing so. He was so wet from the teasing and he ground his arse against Snape’s cock. He could feel the slight chill from the wet spot that his arse had formed against his underwear and trousers, but the heat of the alpha’s cock was soon beginning to overcome it.

“P-Please,” Harry breathlessly said, eyes squinting close as the Professor licked another possessive line against his neck. “Alpha, please.”

And that’s all Snape needed to hear.

Strong hands gripped him until Harry was immobile against the floor and Snape’s body. The sharp fangs that were poised against his neck bit down until there was an audible chomp through flesh and tissue. Harry’s mouth opened up in pain, but no sound came out. It was as if his voice was stolen from him. The alpha, however, moaned low in satisfaction as he began to drink greedily from the omega, swallowing deep, large gulps of blood that leaked heavily from the wound that he created. The surge of energy that was coursing through Harry’s veins only amplified into a sharp current that seemed to swell with power as Snape drank.

Harry’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and the tension of a struggle that he gave against the alpha’s grip lessened into nothing. He lay limp, feeling the energy of magic rippling through him. The bond was continuing to be complete and Harry knew only one act remained. He laid there, receiving a beating of thrusts from Snape’s hips against his arse. The outline of the older vampire’s cock hungrily poked against Harry’s bottom, wanting so desperately to be free and fuck through the boy’s tight, wet hole. And the omega wanted that more than anything, but he gave no effort against Snape as he continued to feed. The alpha hummed against the flesh of Harry’s neck, almost as if to reward Harry with a string of gratitude.

Snape did well at making little to no mess of blood. He drank nearly all of what poured into his mouth from Harry’s wound. Only a drop or two dribbled from his lips, staining his lips and the collar of Harry’s shirt. And then, the omega faded in and out of consciousness. He finally found some inkling of his voice to give a weak moan as possessive hands found his fly and button, forcing them open. His clothed prick stood straight in the air, precum wetting the front of his underwear from how aroused he was. Before he knew it, his bottoms were off and his lower half was completely exposed to the cooler air. Heat radiated from him like a furnace, but soon, past the fuzziness of faint, he felt naked, smooth, hot flesh against his cock. Only then did he jerk sharply.

Snape’s large, thick cock was against his own. The size utterly outdid his own and the boy felt small and usable. His robe was off and all that was left on the alpha was his shirt, which was partially unbuttoned. The alpha thrust his hips experimentally against Harry, running their cocks together. Precum dribbled down each of their shafts and the omega whined from the feeling. Stickiness and slickness caused sparks to shudder down his spine from the movement. He felt like he could cum then and there, but before he could rut into orgasm, Snape’s groin was taken away and aimed further south.

Oh.

The round head of Snape’s long member toyed with the wet opening of Harry’s entrance. The energy of magic felt like a rush of adrenaline because Harry was instantly wide awake from the realization that this was really about to happen. Snape’s feed was complete and he let go of Harry’s neck just to kiss it and lick it in tender gratitude. Two wide bite marks from the fangs penetrated deep into the flesh of Harry’s neck.

“Oh, how you filled me with your sweet blood. Thank you, my little bat,” Snape moaned in a slurred manner. It was almost as if he was drunk from his feed. Harry whimpered slightly from exhilaration, but the noise was silenced by Snape’s lips connecting with his own. He couldn’t help but run his tongue against the bloody, sharp teeth of the older vampire. It was a thrill to taste his own blood and the alpha was correct: it was, indeed, sweet. When they parted, Harry gasped as Snape guided his cock along Harry’s arse, the shaft running along his hole. “But now, I get to return the favor…”

Harry’s own prick bobbed at that idea and his heart raced with anticipation. He still felt woozy from the alpha feeding on him, but it only added to the high that he was experiencing along with the magical energy that flooded his veins. It was almost as if magic replaced the blood that was inside of him. He never once protested. In fact, he only moaned in encouragement as the alpha took his hand and curled it around his cock just to aim the head towards Harry’s wet hole.

Harry’s chest swelled from nervousness and excitement. He heard so many stories of those needing preparation before penetration. And suddenly, as if reading Harry’s mind, he heard Snape chuckle.

“The bond takes away the pain,” he explained simply and pressed inward towards Harry. The omega gasped as the head of Snape’s cock popped into his hole, stretching it significantly compared to when it was empty. The magical energy buzzed in Harry’s vessels and the boy cursed from the pleasure. It was as if there was a void in his body - an itch he finally was able to reach as Snape began to slide his cock in smoothly, stretching Harry’s arse to size. The alpha allowed himself to groan deep in satisfaction, seating Harry fully on him.

“Snape,” Harry choked, finally finding words. He whimpered as the alpha immediately began to give gentle thrusts into his arse, filling every inch of his insides like a hand into a glove. The tight walls of Harry’s hole clung around the member, coaxing Snape to only drive his movements in faster. “God!” Before Harry got too loud, the older vampire muttered a silencing spell that fell over the room. A chuckle went through him as he gave another thrust, causing the omega to cry for more.

“Lord, how your hole is so hungry for me. I can barely even pull without it sucking me back in as if it belongs there,” Snape sighed and pushed Harry’s legs up into the air, bending them at the knee. He watched the omega’s arse stretch to accommodate his girth and shrink as he pulled out just until the tip of his head was left in. Slick wet the member like water and it dripped down until it began to wet the floor. The sight alone intoxicated the alpha with arousal and he began to thrust faster.

“Oh, please! Alpha!” Harry yelled as Snape struck a particular angle that caused Harry to nearly see stars. Energy tickled throughout him, running throughout his cock, fingers, and toes. He curled them with every thrust, cursing every time that the Professor drove home. There was the slight sound of wet flesh upon flesh every time the omega tried to catch his breath. “God, i-it feels so good, Snape,” he whined. More precum wept from his cock as pleasure was beginning to overcome him.

Snape leaned down to kiss Harry, moving harshly. He gripped at the omega’s hips to ram them even harder whenever he thrust towards his arse. This caused Harry to shove his head back, crying out in pleasure until his throat was exposed to the air.

“Don’t tempt me,” Snape grunted as he kissed Harry’s throat. “I’ll only want that neck more and more just as I’ll want this tight, round arse.”

“T-then have me.” Snape wrapped his hand around Harry’s cock and another string of curses sounded from the omega’s lips. “Absolutely filthy,” Snape muttered and began to stroke in time with his thrusts. “To think the Harry Potter would be such a wanton omega begging for my cock.”

“I-I’m not going to last long,” Harry warned in a pitiful way, tossing his head back and spreading open his legs to give the alpha more room to handle him. “Oh! I’m --”

“Do it,” Snape snarled, nipping at the bottom crest of Harry’s lip with his incisors. “I want my little bat to cum all over me and mark me as his own. Complete the bond and fill me with power. Give me more to drink until I drown in your juices.”

“A-alpha,” Harry gasped, the words taking him over the edge. When one last stroke and thrust, cum spurted from his cock like an eruption. He moaned, thrusting his hips into Snape’s hand. The sputtering movements caused Snape’s rhythm to falter and the alpha cursed as he felt himself be pulled closer to orgasm.

“So pretty,” he grunted as he rammed one last time into that tight hole. He held onto Harry’s hips for leverage as he felt Harry’s walls cling so tightly around him, milking the seed from his shaft. He growled deeply, filling Harry to the brim with his cum. There was a mess of cum between them, strewn about on Harry’s abdomen and Snape’s hands. There was a purr of satisfaction from both of them as the alpha pulled his softening cock out of the omega. Once his member was out, cum dripped thickly out of the used hole and the older vampire couldn’t help but groan at the sight.

“T-that was amazing,” Harry sighed as he laid his head back onto the floor, completely spent from the event. The magical energy no longer buzzed as heavily as it did earlier. Harry knew that meant the bond was completed and he could barely believe it. The realization that he actually, truly now belonged to Snape was near overwhelming and it made his heart swell with happiness. The alpha leaned down to kiss the omega however the movements were now full of leisure and not as hungry or desperate as before. Their tongues slowly moved together in the kiss and Harry groaned when Snape bit at his tongue lightly.

“You truly have made me younger from that,” Snape said when they parted. “I feel as if I could take on an army from the Dark Lord. With that, I will protect you always. You have to continue to trust me, however, as there may be times when my actions may seem questionable.”

“I trust you immensely,” Harry whispered in reply and kissed the alpha once again, short and sweet. “I put my life in your hands. We are bonded, now, and that will never change.”

“Never,” Snape affirmed and began to pull Harry up from the floor. They were an utter mess. A couple of the candles were knocked over and extinguished with spilled, hardened wax on the floor. Snape snuffed out the remaining candles with a single incantation that made air sweep over them. It ruffled Harry’s already tousled hair and the omega couldn’t help but smile from the action. Snape also scourified them from the spent mess that was between them before handing Harry his trousers.

“Thank you,” the boy said and began to put them on. He knew he needed a shower before going to bed, but he figured it was already too late in the evening. He was already beginning to feel the effects of post-coital haze that were making his eyes sleepy and head fuzzy. Snape had already gotten up from the floor and picked up the candles from the circle. “Does this mean I should leave now?”

“Though we are bonded, that doesn’t mean that you are suddenly going to be living with me, Harry,” Snape replied as he set the candles back in their places. “However, it is too late for you to be out to where that infernal squib can catch you.”

Harry couldn’t help but smirk, realizing that he was going to spend another night in Snape’s quarters.

“Can I sleep with you, then?” he asked innocently, getting up from the floor and heading towards where Snape was standing. The alpha turned around to meet his gaze, his eyebrows raised in interest with the faintest smile playing on his lips.

“I am very tempted to force you to sleep on the couch just to spite you,” he answered, causing Harry to laugh. “Your place, however, does belong with me as of this moment.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Harry said and drew himself closer to Snape. He wanted to hug the man so badly, but he still felt slightly awkward about any boundaries that were between them. Boundaries, however, seemed trivial considering what they just did together. He didn’t take the older vampire to be a hugger, and he didn’t want to push him away or make things awkward by hugging him. However, before another moment could pass in thought, the alpha picked Harry’s chin up with his index finger and bent down to kiss him. It was then that Harry felt brave enough to wrap his arms around the taller vampire, tilting his head to solidify the kiss.

They remained like that for a moment until they parted and Snape began to undo Harry’s shirt. The omega was confused for a second, but considering what was required of the bond, he did not think much of it.

“I want to worship your body properly,” Snape whispered gently as he continued to unbutton the shirt. Harry bit his lip bashfully at the words and nodded eagerly.

“And I want to do the same for you.”

The pair kissed once again, their bodies cohesively stumbling towards the Professor’s bedroom hastily as they began to peel off articles of clothing. And they fulfilled what they promised.

Chapter Text

Harry found himself to be beside a small, crackling fire in the furnace of a little house that wasn’t recognizable. While sitting, he caught himself staring into the flames as they danced along the wood, tarnishing it to ash. He couldn’t help but think that he was there for something, but he couldn’t remember what it was. It wasn’t until there was a sudden swipe of a touch grazing against his back and hips that made him look to see that Snape was there beside him. He was startled, but not scared. He realized this was a dream. Harry smiled from the touch and leaned closer towards the older vampire before laying his head on his shoulder.

“I enjoyed last night,” Harry spoke softly. Snape hummed in reply, as if pondering about the event until he eventually replied with a notion of agreement. “I’m so happy it was with you.”

“And I, with you,” Snape said, giving a small kiss onto Harry’s head. “I hope you forgive me. I was beyond all reason last night. After being able to indulge in your essence and drink from you, I couldn’t control myself anymore."

“I enjoyed it,” Harry smirked. “I wanted it badly. You did what you knew best as far as protecting me, and I appreciate that. There’s nothing I can do to repay you for that.”

“Oh, but there is,” the alpha replied, reaching his hand to pull Harry’s head back to expose the side of his throat. There laid two distinguishable bite marks from the feeding that occurred just hours before. “You can always provide me with sustenance while I ravish you so that the bond can grow stronger. You can always be safe and careful with your actions to make sure that you aren’t harmed.”

“But what if I want to do something stupid?” Harry asked, showing his fangs with a smile on his face.

“Then I know that at least nothing has changed,” Snape replied with a smirk of his own.

“You’re such a git,” Harry snickered.

“And you’re my little bat,” Snape said as he kissed the boy’s cheek.

Harry snuggled up his face into the crook of Snape’s neck and kissed him there. It was warm and the alpha’s scent was heavy in that area and Harry loved it. Harry began to wrap his arms around the alpha’s waist and leaned into his touch as if he could melt into it. The Professor was solid against his touch, yet soft. Harry wanted to kiss every inch of him in appreciation and adoration for who he was and what he had done for Harry. The fire continued to glow and crackle, providing warmth in the cold house that they were in. Harry still couldn’t recognize the features of where they were, but he honestly didn’t care. He continued to investigate the flames that danced along the wood and brick, until an idea popped into his head.

“Snape?” Harry asked, keeping his tone low. The alpha gave a mumble in response, indicating to Harry that he heard him. “I was wondering if I could…continue to call you alpha. I remember that you weren’t comfortable with it in the beginning, but now…”

“Now is appropriate,” Snape finished for him in a gentle tone. “Now, I would like for you to call me alpha.”

“And you can call me omega?”

Snape hesitated, realizing the reality of what Harry just said. After a second or two, he nodded in affirmation and stated simply, “correct.”

“I’d like that,” Harry said. “Because you are my alpha.”

A hum, “and you’re my omega.”

Harry smiled and rubbed his head against Snape’s side, cuddling him. He inhaled deeply to breathe in that familiar scent that seemed to be so safe and familiar to him. “And I have another question,” he asked, voice slightly muffled against the fabric.

“Go on,” Snape replied.

“Can I call you by your first name? I don’t mind calling you Professor or Snape, but…”

There was a moment of silence between them, and Harry’s heart began to race. He began to wonder if he just said the wrong thing or maybe he shouldn’t have said anything at all. He was just about to take it back when the alpha went ahead and responded.

“You’re right. I suppose due to the circumstances, relationship, and affairs that lead up to this point that it would be completely fine for us to start addressing each other in a less formal way. Harry,” Snape said. He looked down at Harry, his eyes dark and gentle.

“So, I can call you Severus,” Harry stated softly.

“Indeed,” Severus replied with a smile. “Our bond can allow that.”

“Severus,” Harry repeated, as if he couldn’t believe the word that was falling from his lips. It seemed so different, but he indulged it all the same. Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around the alpha tightly. The older vampire indulged him, tilting his head towards Harry’s in a notion of affection.

“I read in the book…” Harry started, perking Severus’ ears up in attention. “...that bonded omegas can bite the alphas. To further the bond.”

“Yes,” Severus said simply. “They can. Omega bites don’t initiate the bond or complete it, but it can be a very intimate gesture in the bond.”

“Can I?” Harry asked, looking up towards the older vampire with pleading eyes. The alpha chuckled and merely kissed Harry on his head.

“So, you’d like a taste of me, little one? Is that what you’re asking?” Severus said, tilting the omega’s head by his chin upward. They looked each other in the eyes for a solid second before kissing gently. During the kiss, Harry felt the low vibration from Snape's chest that waited for an answer. Harry’s heart fluttered when he pulled away, frantically and silently nodding yes. He was afraid his voice would be so shaky from the excitement he was feeling. Snape smiled wickedly, dark eyes lighting up with desire. “Would it help to know how I want to feel those lips on my skin and those little fangs in my neck?” The older vampire pulled Harry close to where their noses slotted against each other. There was a small moan that Harry made that made the Professor’s smile grow wider.

“Yes,” Harry gasped. He desperately wanted to taste Severus’ blood. He wondered if it was as sweet as his. Would it be even more delicious? Harry was starved for blood. He hadn’t had it in what seemed like forever and his mouth watered at the thought of being able to bite flesh -- Severus’ flesh. Warm, soft, and all his for the taking.

Suddenly, there was a swirl of air around them. Harry felt himself waking up from the dream, although he continued to cling onto the alpha beside him. It was dizzying, but nothing too unfamiliar as Harry opened his eyes to the actual life that he held -- the waking world. The fireplace was gone. The unrecognizable wood of the walls was gone. Now were dark bricks and a heavy, soft bed that they both were laying on, clothed in only their underwear. The omega was slightly embarrassed to realize his morning arousal was already tenting the boxers that he wore. It was a common issue that he had to begin with, but Snape’s words and gesture only made it worse. As the alpha towered above him getting ready to adjust his positioning, Harry quickly pulled him down into a ravenous kiss. Their skins were so hot against each other that Harry felt like he was in a furnace. A moan was shared between them as fangs and tongues clashed together. Harry adored the taste of the Professor and it only made him harder as he thought about feeding on him. Hungrily, he nipped at Snape’s bottom lip, causing the alpha to snarl and pull away prematurely.

“No cheating. Bite me like a proper vampire,” he said roughly. His voice was demanding and full of lust. Harry couldn’t say no.

Snape rolled to his side, taking Harry with him, and positioning him on top. Harry gasped when he felt the bulging, hard erection from the alpha grind against his hip. Snape growled with a smirk as Harry rubbed up against him. The omega was now distracted, mind obviously wandering to fantasies.

“Do it now before I change my mind and fuck you senseless instead,” Snape said bluntly. He tossed his head to the side, locks of hair scattering against the pillow. The sight of that brought Harry back to reality, eyes widening. His lips watered and he eagerly bent low to where their chests were skin to skin, sharing the heat between them. Harry kissed the side of Snape’s lips before kissing his neck. His scent was so heavy and thick that it made Harry long for his taste even more. He licked the skin tenderly and heard Snape chuckle, “such a loving omega. You spoil me so.”

Harry smiled and kissed the Professor’s neck once again and moved his hair out of the way. The omega wondered just how warm Snape’s blood would be. He opened his mouth, albeit hesitantly and placed his fangs against the pulse of Snape’s neck.

“Damn it, Potter, if you don’--!” and then Snape gasped as the omega bit down. The alpha softly cursed through gritted teeth, almost as if he said it in relief.

Heaven, was the only thing that Harry thought as he felt the splash of the anticipated blood against his tongue and teeth. He drank in big gulps as the warm, thick liquid gushed out of the puncture wounds. The blood was just as sweet and delicious, if not more so than he thought it would be. He let his hands cling onto the alpha’s shoulders and in return, he could feel Snape wrap his arms around him, holding him tight to his body as he drank.

“My omega,” Snape said with an exhale and began to rub at Harry’s back, almost as if to encourage him. Harry purred loudly at the name as he drank, gulping greedily to his fill. His cock was still so stiff against his underwear, poking against the alpha’s hip and leaking heavily. Snape must have felt him because suddenly, the older vampire was sliding his hand between them, rubbing at Harry’s cock through his underwear. Harry moaned against Snape’s neck, trying not to choke on blood from gasping. “How I just want to take you and fuck you while you feed on me, but that would be impractical.”

Harry whined as he drank, trying to thrust up against Snape’s hand as if to show him that the act wouldn’t be “impractical”. Snape only chuckled.

“I’ll just have to do it when you’re done. My omega filled from both blood and cock. How appetizing,” the alpha continued, his voice ragged with lust. He continued to rub at Harry’s cock until he reached passed the band and fisted it tightly. Then, he jerked his hand slow but steady. Harry finally let go of Snape, licking the last of the blood that dripped from the wound. He moaned in the Professor’s ear, causing Snape to growl in reply, “Are you through with having your way with me? Because I’m going to return the favor.”

“God, please,” Harry gasped and picked himself up from the bed. He straddled the alpha’s legs, who also rose to meet Harry in a forceful kiss. Tongue swirled instantly in Harry’s mouth, gathering up the blood stained on his tongue and teeth. Before Harry could register enjoying the kiss, the alpha had pushed him backwards, making him fall to where his back was on the bed. Snape towered over him once again, hands pinning Harry’s wrists to the mattress. Snape kicked Harry’s legs apart with his own and ground their groins together as they shared another kiss. Harry could hardly stand the teasing anymore, but his groan was only swallowed by Snape’s kiss. When they parted, Snape finally let go of the omega’s wrists and focused on pulling Harry’s boxers off.

“Get this cursed thing off,” Snape grunted past Harry’s chuckle. “I want to make use of that pretty hole again.”

Harry moaned and bit his bottom lip as he spread his legs wide. Snape had his own underwear off quickly and tossed to the side. His cock was long and fat, stiff to where the head pressed against the alpha’s lower abdomen. Harry determined he would never get enough of looking at looking at Snape’s cock, let alone get tired of the excitement that was the anticipation of feeling it inside him. The Professor ran the underside of his cock against Harry’s hole, using the slick that leaked out to wet it. Harry strained, hating how much it teased him, but loving it all at the same time.

“P-please, I want it,” Harry whined. “S-stop and just fuck my arse already.”

“You and that mouth, impatient boy,” the alpha hummed and poised the head of his cock against the wet pucker. “I ought to make better use of that one day, too.”

Harry couldn’t help but grin, mind wandering to filthy images of his lips stretched around that length. He had never sucked a cock before, but now he desperately wanted to. Before he could run long with his fantasies of pleasing the alpha with his mouth, his mind was quickly taken back to reality as the alpha pushed in, slow but steady. Harry gasped from the pleasure, whining as he felt his insides fill and stretch to accommodate the alpha.

“God,” Snape growled. Harry was hot, wet, and perfectly tight. “Bless the magic that fulfills this bond,” he said as he snapped his hips sharply, fully driving himself to the hilt into the omega. Harry cried out, overwhelmed by the sensation.

“Oh! Yes, fuck me,” Harry grunted as the alpha began to thrust. However, the pace picked up quickly and Harry began to moan louder. With every push, Snape’s cock ran along the sweet spot that lay inside the omega and the younger vampire realized that he was not going to last if the alpha kept this up. “God! So-so good, alpha.”

“Oh, indeed,” Snape said past a pant. Without another word, suddenly Harry felt Snape’s hands along his back, pulling him forward until he laid on top of Snape’s body. Harry nearly squealed from the position change as it impossibly pushed the alpha even deeper into his body. “But, I think this will also suit just nicely.”

Before Harry could reply, the Professor gave him a suffocating kiss as he began to pound into the omega at a furious pace. Harry finally let go of the noise he held in against Snape’s lips. The alpha drove wildly into him causing a slap of skin upon skin with each thrust. Harry thanked God they were deep in the dungeons, otherwise they would have been heard long before.

Snape let go of Harry’s lip and rested his head against the crook of Harry’s neck, running his fangs against the skin. Harry was so sure the alpha was going to bite him, but all Snape did was kiss and lick at him.

“You smell so sweet - I can smell your blood from here,” Snape panted. “You have no idea the willpower I possess to not bite you again.”

“D-do it,” Harry whimpered, not helping himself but to reach down between them and tug at his cock. The stimulus was nearly blinding because he was so close to the edge. The alpha gripped his fingers against Harry’s back, causing scratches not deep enough to pour blood. However, it was that sharp push that sent Harry over the edge, and he shouted as he came.

“Severus!”

“Mine,” Snape replied and kissed Harry silent once again as he pounded slower, yet deeper. The grip of Harry’s arse against his cock squeezed even tighter as pulses of cum shot between them, coating their bellies. Snape groaned while Harry breathed erratically against the alpha’s kiss until it slowed from completion.

Surely, he was spent. Filled with blood and fulfilling his orgasm left him slumped against Snape’s body as the alpha pounded to his own end. His cock thickened inside Harry, flooded from cum. He pushed deep into the omega, filling him with the warmth of his seed. He was silent, but tense. He gripped his fingers into Harry’s back again, this time breaking skin. Harry only whimpered, but it was a noise of pleasure, not anguish. He kissed Snape’s cheek, almost as if in forgiveness of his action. Blood pooled through the opening of the wound until it dipped down the boy’s back and stained the alpha’s fingers. Snape felt the warmth of the liquid and pulled his hand towards his face to confirm that it was, indeed, Harry’s blood. It was as red as cherry. He licked it, humming contently from the taste.

“I apologize,” the alpha sighed, pulling his softening cock out of the omega. “I suppose my willpower can only go so far when it comes to your blood.”

Harry turned his head to meet Snape’s lips in a sweet, quick kiss before finding strength to begin to crawl off him.

“Don’t be sorry. I enjoyed it greatly,” the omega said with a smile. “You doing it before is what actually caused me to finish.”

The Professor gave a sneer into a smile. “Mischievous little bat. I’ll have to remember that.”

They checked the time and realized they could get a quick shower in before it was time for students to wake up. Snape scourgified the bed, sheets, and pillows before doing the same to Harry’s uniform and clothes, as he didn’t bring another change with him. They exchanged gentle looks at each other while tidying up and Harry was trying to figure out a way to make it back to his room without being spotted or noticed. He was determined at this point; he didn’t care and would just make up a lame excuse.

The water felt nice and hot on Harry’s back as he slipped into the shower. He practically begged the alpha to join him, but Snape declined as it would only end up with bigger messes than actual cleaning, especially since his strength from the intimacy had increased 10 fold. It made Harry laugh and blushed because he knew Snape was right. He practically felt addicted to the older vampire and just wanted more and more of him. He knew, however, that even if they were practically married, or whatever was the closest thing in comparison to marriage, he couldn’t be constantly seen hanging out with the alpha or sleeping in his dungeons that often. He had to keep it a secret and leave others none-the-wiser for obvious reasons. However, at the same time, he felt protected and safe. For once, he felt like he could breathe knowing that he and Snape would be able to take Voldemort on together, now. He was no longer alone in having to deal with the evil wizard. Now, he finally felt like someone was on his side.

After cleaning himself and washing his hair, Harry donned his clothes and robe. He left the shower to find the naked alpha back to sleep in his bed. The omega smiled, loving the sight that was before him. So badly did he want to join the Professor and sleep at his side, preferably keeping the clothes off, but he knew that the day had to begin, and Snape had to teach the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws today. He went toward Snape and was able to gently shake him awake when something caught his eye.

On the alpha’s skin, specifically his forearm, was the black, dark snake rung around and through the skull’s mouth. Harry was mesmerized by the mark, as he never really saw it so up close before and in such detail. While having those intimate moments with the older vampire, he never paid attention to the tattoo as he was too focused on Snape, himself. But now, the Dark Mark seemed to stare directly into Harry’s eyes, showing the cold evil that it symbolized. And just like that, there was doubt and worry that crossed Harry’s mind. The whole notion that Snape was a Death Eater began to eat at him and he tried badly to ignore it. He had to convince himself and remind himself that Snape was only an agent and not really on the side of Voldemort.

Suddenly, his eyes drifted lower down Snape’s arm that held the Dark Mark and something even more curious caught Harry’s eye. He noticed Snape did have scars on his body. He never judged or asked questions about them, knowing that the older vampire most likely had a very troublesome past. However, this scar looked newer and much fresher than the faded, older scars that were on the Professor’s body. This scar was an almost vertical line starting from the top of Snape’s wrist, down to almost where the Dark Mark laid. Harry’s eyebrows furrowed with worry. How could he have not seen this? Perhaps it was because the room was too dark? Or, more obviously, he was too distracted by what he and Snape were doing together for him to really notice such a thing. But there it was. It looked deep and jagged, and it concerned Harry to the point that he shook the alpha a little bit harder than he originally intended. Snape groaned, but quickly woke up and began to sit up in the bed.

“Lord, please tell me we aren’t late.”

“N-no, it’s 6:30 but --”

“Good,” Snape replied and began to get up from the bed. He rubbed his face from sleep, trying to adjust to waking back up from slumber. However, he sharply stopped and looked up at Harry with wide eyes, as if he knew that something was bothering the omega. “What’s wrong, Harry?”

“I-uh,” Harry hesitated, not really knowing what to say or how to bring the subject up. He thought about it and began to feel the pressure of the alpha’s waning patience to hear his answer. “It-it’s just something I saw.”

“You saw my Dark Mark and scar,” Snape answered with a sigh and shook his head. Harry bit his lip, now suddenly confused how the alpha knew the answer, but Snape quickly said, “I can hear your thoughts, Potter. Remember? I also can feel how worried you are, it practically stabs me.”

Harry couldn’t help but think Oh. He honestly forgot about the mental connection that Snape and him now had. How was he able to use that? Was it a conscious or subconscious effort? He now felt terrible. He didn’t want Snape to feel his worry or concern. He just wanted to understand. Obviously, Snape heard his thoughts, because the older vampire sighed again and got up from the bed to pass Harry.

“Stop it. You don’t need to feel this way. I understand your concerns, but it really is not yours to begin with. Teenagers and their emotions and meddling,” Snape spoke, grabbing a towel and heading for the bathroom.

“I can’t help but worry, Severus,” Harry said. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course it is," the alpha answered and placed the towel on the sink.

"So when did this happen? It looks almost brand new," Harry pressed onward. "I just want to make sure that nothing bad is happening."

"Omegas and their worrying," Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his index and thumb. "Potter, everything is okay. I mean what I say, especially to you, do I not?"

"Yes, but..."

"Harry,” Snape said sincerely while turning to look at the omega. Harry looked at him with big eyes and the alpha couldn’t help but feel his heart race in affection at that expression. He continued to look at Harry and focused on that feeling. Harry began to feel it, too. It struck him like a warm blanket surrounding him. The emotion was obviously more powerful than what he was feeling, because just looking at the alpha looking at him made it seem like everything was suddenly okay. Snape's lips curled upward ever so slightly at the omega's response. “Good. Glad we are on the same page, then,” the Professor said and shut the door. The sound of running water from the shower soon followed.

Harry stood as if he was stunned. He stared at the door that Snape just went through in confusion. What just happened? Looking at the alpha, it was as if all of his thoughts were gone and all he could focus on was feeling…better. He continued to stand in place, but he wasn’t frozen. For a second, however, it felt like he was caught in a mental hold -- a trance! -- he suddenly realized. Snape had put a trance on him to make him stop worrying and asking questions!

“That isn’t fair!” Harry shouted, although it wasn’t angry. It was just more in surprise that Snape did that to him. “You tranced me!”

“Took you long enough to come to that conclusion, little bat.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he could practically feel Snape’s humor and laughter in his chest in reply. It was almost as if he had Snape in a pair of earphones because he could hear the alpha directly. And Snape must have felt how confused and shocked Harry was, because now all he could hear was actual laughter, mental laughter, coming from the older vampire.

“Are you sure you read enough of that book, Potter? Because, remember, you consented to this.”

“I..I did,” Harry said, still in disbelief. “I’m not angry…just --”

“ I can feel that you aren’t angry, just flabbergasted. Now, don’t talk out loud. Direct your thoughts to me. Focus on me. Leave, and don’t get caught,” Snape said. “If you do get caught, lie.”

“Right -- oh, right, uh,” Harry said to himself, trying to figure out how to mentally talk back with the alpha. He recalled reading the book in the alpha’s voice, but this was something else. He heard another chuckle again.

“You make me laugh. It’s very refreshing. I haven’t laughed like this in a long time. You’ve gotten me all sentimental, because the last time I laughed like this was with your mother.”

“Well, I’m glad -- I mean ugh!” Harry groaned, wanting to give up. Another laugh, this time out loud, and it actually caused Harry to giggle, as well. He couldn’t believe the situation he was in. It seemed ridiculous! But he really enjoyed it. Now, he was able to hear Snape’s thoughts towards him, so it was like he was always there! This completely distracted him from the Dark Mark and scar, for now at least. He finally went out, grabbed his bookbag, and left the alpha’s dungeon, trying to make sure the door did not make a horrible clang when he shut it.

“You’re going to have the whole school concerned with you talking to yourself. It will be your second year all over again,” Snape said in his mind, sounding a little more serious. “I mean it, if you don’t know how to respond back yet, keep silent. We will work on it.”

“I’m trying…” Harry tried to think towards Snape.

“There! That wasn’t hard, then, was it?”

“I guess. It’s so hard to not talk aloud back,” said Harry.

“Stifle yourself, then.”

Harry rolled his eyes with a smirk, wondering if Snape could feel that too. He continued to walk down the corridor, passing the Gryffindor common room, and headed to his dorm. It was 6:50; ten more minutes until it was time for the students to get up. Harry opened the door to his room and saw the boys were still sleeping, thankfully. The thought of Snape’s fresh scar didn’t leave his head, but he figured maybe he shouldn’t press on it. Snape didn’t seem the type to hurt himself like that -- or, at least, Harry hoped so--, so he figured perhaps Voldemort did it in his return. Either way, he was content that now he could hear Snape’s thoughts and feel his feelings, that way they were inseparable.

---

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were in the library, finishing up some homework that was assigned to them. Harry never did complete his rabies assignment from Snape, so starting off with the notes that Hermione gave him, he was able to finish his essay. The last thing he needed was a mental reprimand from the alpha for slacking off.

“Harry, did you ever see Snape last night? You didn’t come back to dinner,” Hermione pointed out while Harry completed the last sentence of his essay.

“Yeah, and you didn’t come to the room, either. Was worried sick about you, but figured you got detention with Snape for bothering him,” Ron chimed in. He was doodling a stick figure zapping what Harry assumed to be Draco.

“Uh, yeah, pretty much,” Harry replied. “He kept me late scrubbing cauldrons and the floors again. Said that since I insisted on visiting him so much, I could finish the awful job I did with the cleaning.” He was proud of coming up with a quick lie like that because it seemed to convince the trio about his disappearance.

“Of course,” Hermione said before adding, “well, are you still needing me to help you with assignments because of what Professor Snape has given you?”

“What Snape had me studying, I finished,” he lied. “So, I’m just able to focus on my schoolwork now.”

“And You-Know-Who,” Hermione reminded. That earned her a frown from the vampire and a glare from Ron.

“Either way, it’ll be fine,” Harry told himself rather than directing it to the other two.

“So, are you allowed to tell us what the assignment Snape gave you was about, now?” the girl asked, getting out a book from her bag titled The History and Social Justice of Vampires. Harry pursed his lips and started to roll his eyes, but, like Snape suggested, he stifled himself.

“No, but I can see you’re quite curious,” Harry pointed out, causing Ron to snicker. “Whatever happened to our privacy that you were on about with Ron a while back?”

“I do advocate for your privacy!” Hermione huffed. “That’s why I asked ‘are you allowed to tell us?’ Vampires are very serious about consent, something that I think is wonderful. I want to abide by that.”

“Well, if you read that book, I’m sure it will tell you that always hasn’t been the case. Vampires have nearly died out because of lack of consent in vampire bonds,” Harry explained, stuffing his essay into his bookbag for tomorrow’s Potions class.

“Vampire bonds?” Hermione asked, eyes widening in curiosity.

Shit, Harry cursed himself. Great, now he wondered if Snape heard that, too. Harry realized there wasn’t any backpedaling now. He didn’t have to say that he and Snape were bonded.

“Yes, bonds,” Harry answered and left it at that.

Hermione quickly went back to her book, obviously treating Harry’s information as possible “spoilers” for something that she could read for herself. Harry’s heart was elevated and he was nervous. He hoped he didn’t give too much away for her to deduce the truth between him and Snape. Ron, being the wonderful friend that he is, did not seem to give a single care and was too focused on his second assignment from Transfiguration. Harry figured that he would finish his assignment as well, dropping the subject entirely until it was bound to come back up again.

---

“I want to work on becoming a bat again, please,” Harry gave his thoughts to Snape. At first, there was no response. Harry waited for a few minutes before trying again, figuring perhaps that he was still rusty with mentally talking to Snape. He tried again but this time, he got a sharp reply.

“Shut your thoughts, Potter, a test is happening. I can’t be distracted. Of course the answer is ‘yes’. We will talk about it later.”

Harry smiled.

---

Harry didn’t want to annoy Snape by sending too many thoughts to him. However, he figured that since he and Snape were bound together, there was really no way for the alpha to distance himself from the younger vampire if he were annoying him. So, Harry asked during dinner about the animagus practicing. Snape replied back that it wouldn’t happen that night. A few students had detention that night with him along with the fact that they should not be seen together too much, especially since he didn’t even have Potions today. Harry agreed, although he was a little disappointed. He desperately wanted to work on being a bat. Perhaps he could practice tonight to get ahead of working on it tomorrow.

“If you had any respect for yourself and your stay at this school, I would study,” he heard Snape say to him. “You’re falling behind. Also, unless you redo your rabies essay, I won’t accept it. And if I catch Granger doing your homework again, you’ll repeat the term.”

Shit, the omega directed towards himself again.

Chapter Text

Harry stayed up to a decent hour repeating his rabies essay and studying. That night in his dreams, he was with his mother and father again. Only this time, they were at the Quidditch world cup. He couldn’t recognize the teams playing, but he recalled it was a good game. He enjoyed bonding with his mother and father during the game. They joked and laughed and Harry felt decently happy. He realized that Snape was there; he could feel him. But the alpha was off in the distance, obviously not disturbing the family time that Harry was having. Harry didn’t mind Snape not interacting with him; he just was glad he was there, still protecting him. There was a time or two when Harry would look his way to catch the older vampire looking at him and his mother, almost longingly. Still, however, whenever Harry looked, Snape pretended to focus on the game, quickly shifting his vision away. Harry remembered only staring blankly, expectantly, for Snape to join them.

Before Harry awoke, Snape mentally reminded him about their lesson in animagus training that evening. Any detention he planned to give to any other students would be set aside for another day or with another teacher. He was Harry’s for tonight and that made the omega giddy. He woke with a smile on his face, excited for what was to come. He was sure he was going to perfect his shift into his animagus.

Despite the joy of the mental message, the day passed by mundanely. Harry went through Transfiguration and Charms in a trudging way. McGonagall’s voice nearly put him to sleep and Flitwick was more so rambled about spell theory than he did actually teach. Harry stroked the feathers of his quill and scribbled a doodle of a bat in his notes. Thankfully, this was one of those days that didn’t require really any work or attention. Even Malfoy dozed off with his head propped up by his hand. Harry secretly wished that he could have pushed Malfoy’s elbow so that the Slytherin would have smacked down on the table. Harry even smirked at his own idea, drawing a second, bigger bat beside the one he doodled.

When Charms ended, he was nervous for Potions class. He shoved his doodle and quill in his backpack when Hermione tapped his shoulder for him to come back to reality. The trio went towards the dungeons with Harry’s mind racing with both excitement but anxiety. He barely even registered the other two walking beside him. Hermione and Ron argued because Ron seemed to have only written about the audacity of bats and their “infestation” in his essay.

“Bats are just as bad if not worse than spiders!” Ron snarked. Harry just pursed his lips closed in a blank gaze, stifling himself. The older Gryffindor was dense and that’s all Harry chalked it up to be. Harry knew that Ron didn’t understand the history of bats and vampires.

“Bats are remarkable creatures! They are vital to the ecosystem. They control pests, can pollinate fruits, and spread seeds to allow plants to grow,” Hermione argued in a huff, hurrying past Ron to try and end the conversation. Harry, finally listening, felt his cheeks light up happily from her defense. He didn’t know much about bats, but knowing how much Hermione knew, he figured that it would be only natural to know about his animagus side. “Some of us like bats, unlike you.”

“They suck blood--!,” Ron grimaced.

“Please, only one type of bat does that! Not all!” Hermione interrupted. Her voice began to get tight, as if in warning.

“So?! They spread rabies, infect animals with their gross fangs, and prey on important animals like cows or even humans!”

“Ron!” Hermione growled, punching the taller Gryffindor in the shoulders. Harry’s happiness faded quickly, hearing what Ron just said. He felt quite offended at the nasty way Ron described something that related so closely to him. He may as well have been talking that way about vampires, themselves!

Ron’s expression dampened as he looked at Harry apologetically. He began to stammer for some way to get out of the hole he just dug with his words. Harry muttered a “forget it, let’s just get to class”. Without another word, the trio went into the dungeons and headed for the Potions classroom. When they entered the classroom, they all piled toward one table together, slinging their bags onto the table with solid thuds that got the attention of the Professor. Snape raised an eyebrow with a frown.

“That certainly won’t do,” the younger vampire suddenly heard in his head. Harry froze, startled from Snape’s voice entering his mind in such a commanding way. Harry took his seat, eyes falling on Snape who stood with his arms crossed, holding his unwavering gaze.

“Something wrong?” Harry asked back towards Snape. It only earned him a huff from the alpha.

Snape didn’t answer in his mind.

“Potter,” the Professor said verbally, instead. “Seems that you think you and your little friends can just make a commotion of an entrance and not think anything of it. How routinely arrogant. Move up to the front,” the Professor commanded, standing up from his desk. Harry dropped his mouth in surprise, along with Hermione and Ron.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione beat him to it.

“Sir, we didn’t --” she started, but it was completely interrupted by Snape.

“Beside Longbottom, Potter,” the alpha said, narrowing his eyes towards the three friends. Harry pursed his lips and quickly grabbed his bag before anything else could be said. He looked towards Hermione and Ron unhappily before moving up to the front of the class. He could hear Malfoy and his gang snickering toward him as he moved upward and Harry even avoided Crabbe’s leg sticking out to try and trip him. Harry so desperately wanted to step on it, but somehow he knew that doing that would just bite him in the arse. He walked obediently towards the front, placing his bag quietly on top of the table that Longbottom was sitting in. The other Gryffindor gave Harry a small, toothy smile and Harry knew to not be rude so he gave a half smile in return. He slowly sat in the seat, obviously confused and somewhat outraged by this sudden command from the Professor. Snape hummed and nodded, satisfied by the shift of seats.

“What was that?” Harry mentally pleaded to Snape.

“Now that I have you all accordingly, I acquire your essays about rabies,” Snape said, snapping his fingers. Before the students could even get out their essays properly, the papers flew upward and across the room into Snape’s hands, sorting themselves out neatly in a pile right in his fingers. The students, and even Harry, were astonished by such magic that was able to be done without a single verbal command. Everyone straightened up in their seats as a result. Once the essays were in Snape’s hands, he put them on the table. “I will grade them by tomorrow. Any errors I find should be corrected in a remediated essay that I will assign you.” The students groaned, earning a low snarl from the alpha, whose eyes narrowed. Neville cowarded towards Harry, covering his face to shield himself from Snape’s noise and expression. Harry only rolled his eyes.

“Good job. You made Neville cry,” Harry stated to the Professor through his mind. The alpha only smirked in reply, showing a bit of fang.

“Wouldn’t be the first nor the last time Longbottom sobbed in front of me,” Snape replied. “This is my classroom. It’s about time you understood the premises.”

“Sure, right. Then tell me the real reason why you moved me from Hermione and Ron,” Harry demanded, furrowing his eyebrows in frustration. Snape looked at him curiously and then retreated towards the chalkboard, scrawling something in his perfect, neat handwriting. Harry attempted to growl in frustration, but it was pitiful sounding compared to Snape’s.

Once the Professor was done, the bolded words that were written in chalk stood out: SURPRISE QUIZ: RABIES.

The students began to show a frenzy of despair and disagreement. It was obvious they didn’t study hard enough or retained any of the information they wrote from their essays. Harry, however, felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that Ron’s face probably paled in color. All he did was mock bats and rabies in his essay, anyway. Snape hissed from the commotion, causing the room to fall into a silence again.

“This quiz will mainly focus on the topic you were supposed to write about regarding rabies. I did show one shred of kindness, however. There are a few questions on the topic about any of the subject matters learned in this class so far ,” he began.

The frenzy didn’t calm down, nor did the students sound like they were too thankful for the “kindness” that Snape offered them for the quiz. Harry and Neville sat quietly, however, eyes opened wide at the sudden notion. Harry noticed Snape’s face was growing rather impatient. He could feel just how agitated and annoyed the Professor was towards the class, and it sent his body on edge.

“Silence!” Snape demanded in a commanding voice. Harry couldn’t help but shudder, feeling his body begging to tend to his alpha to make him not as angry.

Suddenly, Harry questioned where that feeling came from.

“Do your best. Any mark under half will be under remediation and question to repeat the term.” Snape had a stack of blank quiz parchments in his dominant hand. With a smooth glide of his other hand, papers were sent out in a neat and organized wave, sliding gently onto the student’s desks and settingling in front of them.

Neville whimpered beside Harry and the omega couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Harry then couldn’t help but also feel sorry for himself. Was he prepared for this? He certainly didn’t think so. Even with him redoing his essay and studying, he was currently not doing well in class. He grabbed the blank quiz paper and looked at it, heart sinking.

“So you want me to fail, then?” Harry mentally muttered towards Snape, begrudgingly taking out his quill and inkwell.

“I expect you to learn from this experience and study for the class next time,” the alpha responded in a bored-like manner. He sat at his desk and began to take out the rabies essays.

“Why are you doing this?” Harry whined. “First you move me from my friends and then give us this without so much as a warning?”

Snape growled lowly, looking directly at Potter with a narrow stare above the top of the essay he was reading.. Neville made a noise of fear, trying to focus on his quiz.

“I told you to study. That was your warning. I shouldn’t have even done that.”, Snape replied before striking a grade onto the first paper. Harry couldn’t tell what letter the Professor wrote.

“You moved me because of Hermione, isn’t it? Because she was offering to do my work. And now you’re trying to test me to make sure I’m not cheating,” Harry sighed, feeling slightly offended. “Just say it. You don’t trust me.”

“Bravo, Mr. Potter, for your impeccable skills of deduction,” Snape replied back in an exaggerated sarcastic manner. Another scratch of a grade on the second essay before moving on to the third. “I moved you because you three annoy me when you are together,” Snape answered.

“Sure, then you would have moved us a long time ago,” Harry groaned.

“Silence yourself before I incendio your essay and let you leave with a failing grade,” Snape sharply snarled, obviously sick of the conversation. Harry’s lips pursed together in a neat line, immediately obeying. Harry decided it really was best to stop talking to Snape. He didn’t want to anger the alpha even more and he was also tired of trying to get answers out of him. He felt it in his heart that Snape didn’t trust him at the moment. It probably wasn’t anything too serious. Of course, Snape was just being a good Professor and making sure that there was no question about academic integrity. Or at least, that’s what Hermione would probably say. In Harry’s full opinion, he figured Snape was just being overprotective as an alpha and possibly just having a go at Harry to teach him a lesson about “cheating” --

“Focus, Potter. Actually use your brain for school right now rather than trying to figure your alpha out,” said that deep voice in his ears, tone sounding much gentler.

Harry looked at Snape, who didn’t look up from the papers. Another scratch of a grade, an obvious failing one. Snape didn’t even bother to hide his nasty expression while reading the essay. Harry turned back to his own paper and started to read the questions.

1.) What is the cure for rabies? Minus 5 points for suggesting muggle interventions.

Harry held back a snicker. Snape absolutely knew that would have been the route he would have taken. Thankfully, he felt like he knew the answer to this question: the hair of the rabid animal (namely, the bat) mixed with ginger and dandelion root.

2.) List 2 early signs of rabies and 2 late signs.

Harry continued to go through the quiz with relief. The quiz wasn’t as terrible as he thought it would be. He struggled with the questions that didn’t pertain to rabies, but he figured it just meant that he needed to study more. There were questions he knew, however. What was sleeping draught’s main ingredient (lavender) and what potion contained rose petals and rose thorn (love). The last question, though, stumped him and he looked at the question curiously.

15.) What is used for suppression of seasonal estrus in the omega bat”?

He immediately shot a look up at Snape who already was looking at him with a sideways smirk, raising an eyebrow in expectation of Potter’s answer.

Harry remembered getting a potion from Snape during his heat. He tried to recall what it tasted like, but he just remembered it tasted bitter and strong. He pursed his lips together, feeling a little outraged that Snape would even give the class a question like this. Sure, the class didn’t know about Harry being an omega and certainly not an omega bat. They also didn’t know about Snape’s alpha status, either. There really wasn’t anything to worry about when it came to the class having this question. After all, if anyone read an available book about vampire history and bonds, they would know the answer. Harry, ironically, didn’t know it. He continued to think about the potion that Snape gave him. Thick, bitter, strong…

He gave his answer and he could hear Snape choking a gasp of air, obviously knowing what Potter put due to his thoughts.

“Is it wrong?” Harry asked with a laugh. Snape didn’t answer except mentally laughing in reply. The expression on his face was quite amusing.

“Give me your damn quiz, you perverted, little imp.”

Harry did so, showing off a fangful grin.

---

The rest of the class continued with creating the new, learned potion of how to make a cure for rabies. For the class, the Professor kept hairs from rabid animals in his stores including bats, foxes, skunks, and raccoons. Depending on the animal, the color would be different but the consistency, taste, and texture of the potion would always be the same. Neville and Harry worked together on the cure for bat-rabies. Harry was nervous. He and Neville were both notoriously bad at making potions. Something almost always went wrong, but Harry was determined that this time that wouldn’t happen. He tried to perfect his time management by actually reading all of the ingredients first, getting them, and then looking over the recipe. He stopped Neville from prematurely adding any ingredients and meticulously counted each stir of the potion.

Snape was walking around the classroom with his usual sneer. He would look into various student’s potions and tell them that they already ruined the potion. The potion was not supposed to be black and watery. Instead, the potion was supposed to have a honey-like consistency with iridescent colors of varying hues, depending on the animal. If the hue didn’t match the animal hair that was given to them, then it was wrong.

Snape finally stood over Harry and Neville. The other Gryffindor shrunk down and trembled, looking away from the Professor’s glare. However, Harry looked up at Snape and gave a small smile. The alpha, of course, didn’t return it. His face wasn’t a scowl, either. His expression held curiosity as he looked into the boy’s potion.

“You’re on step 24 by the looks of the potion,” Snape stated, tilting his head.

“Yes’sir,” Harry replied, grabbing the hair that was given to them. “This is about to go in the next step, step 25.”

“Well, then, what are you waiting for?” Snape asked, raising an eyebrow. “Go on.”

Harry introduced the hair and stirred clockwise four times according to the instructions. The potion turned a shimmery bright, blood red that made Harry’s eyes widened in hunger. He felt the satisfaction of Snape in his chest from their bond. It was almost as if the alpha was smiling at him, even if he didn’t outwardly show it. Neville looked at the potion in horror, afraid something went ghastly wrong.

“Perfection,” Snape said simply, causing both boys to look up at him in surprise. Neville nearly choked on air. The alpha scratched a high grade on their paper and continued to walk on without saying anything else. Harry and Neville then looked at each other, their mouths gaped open.

“D-did Snape just…compliment our work?” Neville asked in a state of shock. “That’s never happened!”

Harry smiled and looked into his potion. The potion would look just like blood if it weren’t for the shimmer that was embedded within it. He became hungry from looking at it, and he hoped that Snape would reward him extra for such a good day in Potions class.

---

It was dinner time, but Harry only ate a biscuit. Hermione commented on how he wasn’t eating anything.

“Is anything the matter?” she asked, however she sounded irritated. “You seemed to have such a successful time in Potions, I figured you’d be happy to eat.”

“I want blood,” Harry replied, playing with a roll and passing it in circles underneath his hand. Hermione hummed thoughtfully whereas Ron gave his own out of disgust.

“Ron, that is terribly offensive of you!” Hermione practically shouted and gave Ron’s arm a backhand. It seemed harder than how she normally hits and Ron gave a hiss in pain. “That is your friend! You never had a problem with him wanting blood before!”

“Bloody hell, that hurt!” Ron whined and rubbed at the sore area. “That was before the bats! Now, I can’t stop thinking of them whenever I think of blood-drinking and it creeps me out!” Ron replied non-apologetically. Harry gave Ron a sharp, angry look that got his attention enough for him to clear his throat and try to apologize.

“Save it,” Harry said in a huff. “You’re just human. Of course it grosses you out and you don’t understand.”

“Harry, I understand!” Hermione tried to say. “Not all humans are like Ron. He’s just ignorant and dense.”

“I’m not dense, I’m rational!”

“Please,” Hermione huffed angrily. “After what you did to our potion today, ‘rational’ is far from what your description is.”

Ron’s ears got red from either anger or embarrassment. Right after Snape’s compliment to Harry and Neville regarding their potion, a fog-like, putrid smell entered the air. All of the students gagged and stuffed their noses down their shirts as smoke clouded up from Hermione and Ron’s potion and filled the classroom. Their potion was obviously burnt, black, and thick as tar. Snape couldn’t have been more annoyed and promptly gave Hermione and Ron a failing grade. Hermione left in tears. Ron left in anger. Everyone else left gagging.

“It was your fault for letting the flames get too big! It said ’medium’ heat. Not boiling!” Hermione accused, still angry over the situation. Ron gritted his teeth and began to shout back in his own defense over the potion, but Harry didn’t listen. Instead, he looked over towards the staff table.

“Send help,” Harry begged Snape mentally. He watched the alpha look up from his conversation with Dumbledore and gaze towards Harry.

“Be at my door in five minutes.”

“Thank God,” Harry said to himself and stood up from the table. Ron and Hermione didn’t even question it anymore and continued to argue. Harry took that to his advantage to go ahead and leave. He first dropped his backpack off at his dorm and tossed his robe onto the bed. Afterward, he quickly traveled to the dungeons and headed towards the Potions classroom and Snape’s room.

“I’m here,” Harry mentally told Snape. He felt the alpha hum a reply before the door opened to let him in. Harry smiled at the alpha and went in before having a seat in the chair.

“You didn’t eat tonight,” the Professor addressed simply, looking at him with a side eye. He went to the backroom, as always, to prepare Harry a cup of blood.

“I didn’t want that food,” Harry complained, but felt happy that he was about to get blood. Snape came back in the room with the familiar chalice full to the brim with blood. Harry suddenly became famished at the sight of it and almost like a child, he reached out with greedy hands to get the cup. Snape made a short chuckle and gave the cup to Harry who greedily drank from the rim.

“Spoiled brat,” Snape said affectionately, pushing some overgrown bangs from Harry’s face to the side. Harry looked up at him with those radiant, green eyes and the alpha couldn’t help but purr lovingly at the sight.

Harry nearly choked. Snape didn’t purr. He growled or hissed or snarled or even barked! But purr? Harry finished his blood and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, which caused Snape to tsk.

“You’re ruining your uniform by doing that. Some cleaning spells aren’t that good on blood, you know. It stains quite easily,” the alpha informed. “No wonder you always wear your robes. It’s to cover up the blood stains on your sleeves.”

“Is that why you wear your robes all the time, too?” Harry asked playfully, which earned him a small rumble from the alpha. Harry shuddered at the sound and continued to look at the alpha gratefully from the blood he was given.

“I suppose you want more,” Snape mused with a smirk and leaned in towards the omega. Their noses brushed together, allowing their lips to slot for a small kiss. “I can tell by your longing eyes and starved belly.”

“Please,” Harry begged and kissed the alpha once more in gratitude.

“You are such a spoiled brat, indeed, then,” Snape said with amusement before picking himself up and going towards the back room once again.

“You’re the one who spoils me,” Harry said with a smile. “But, I am forever grateful for it. I want nothing more than you.”

“Sentimental, little bat,” the alpha said, smiling. He returned with another cup of blood. “This time, let me clean you up when you are finished.”

“What? Are you going to lick the blood off of my lips?” Harry said in a snide way before the Professor grabbed a hold of his chin and smiled deviously.

“You are getting good at reading minds, then,” Snape said under a husky breath, his voice dangerously low and lusty. Harry blushed at how Snape was looking at him, so full of want and desire -- as if he were a meal rather than a lover. Snape gently eased the cup towards Harry’s lips and the omega began to drink in thick gulps. “Pretty thing,” he said in a low tone. “You always perplex me with your looks. Even today, I could barely contain myself with those sultry eyes in such distress over a simple quiz. How I’ve hungered for you and had only been a day or so without your touch.”

Harry shuddered from the words and blushed in response as he drank. He quickly finished and licked the brim of the cup. The alpha snarled longingly, tossing the cup away and taking Harry’s lips against his own. The kiss was hungry, reminding Harry of the night they bonded. While it seemed so long ago, it had only been a few days. And this was meant to last forever! He couldn’t wait. Snape greedily licked at Harry’s mouth and teeth, removing any trace of blood on them. When they finished, the Slytherin gave a sinful smile that sent shivers down Harry’s back.

“How are you able to do that?” Harry asked before clarifying, “I mean, how are you able to always read my mind and tell when I’m in distress or hear my conversations with my friends? It’s hard to read yours. Unless you’re addressing me directly, I can’t tell what you’re thinking or feeling. Yet, you’re able to tell all the time with me.”

“Telling you were in distress was too easy by the look of your face and the attitude you were giving me,” Snape said, picking the cup off of the ground. A few drops of blood spattered the floor from it. He placed the cup on the counter near the sink and grabbed a napkin to properly wipe Harry’s mouth. Harry groaned stubbornly, embarrassed. “The bond allows us to read each other’s minds and feel each other’s feelings and emotions. You’re completely able to do what I do almost naturally. It takes time, practice, and also a sense of understanding how mind reading works. I am twice your age, have had more experience in occlumency and legilimency than you have and therefore can easily allow my mind to be accessed if I so choose. That also means I’m able to easily access your mind without much effort, unfortunately for you,” Snape smirked, finishing Harry’s face and tossing the rag in the sink. “Admittedly, I can’t help but always try to scan your mind because of alpha instincts. It’s natural that the alpha wants to always know what their omega is thinking so that they can know their needs and wants. All of this would have been explained by the book if you actually read it.”

“I read enough. I still consent,” Harry insisted, grabbing the napkin that was handed to him by the alpha. “Knowing that makes me…happy, however. It’s like you’re always wanting to protect me. It makes me feel safe. But it can be annoying, especially with you moving me in class today and acting like such a grouse.”

“Then I am doing my job correctly,” Snape replied, leaning closer to Harry, dipping his nose against the crease of neck to inhale his scent. The omega felt his face heat up from the sudden action. “But don’t expect me to be fawning over you every second of the day. Omegas, especially boy wonders of the wizarding world, need discipline and self restraint.”

“Oh, of course,” Harry replied, rolling his head back and gasping slightly as he felt a kiss being placed onto his neck, right over the area where Snape drove his fangs in previously. “I-I’m trying my best with what I’m given…” Another kiss and Harry bit his lip, feeling the heat spread throughout his whole body, pooling at his groin. “I-I thought you were angry at me during class. M-me and Ron and Hermione. I got frustrated because I felt like you didn’t trust me --!” A nip of his neck, almost as if it was warning him.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Harry,” Snape sighed in his ear. “I just don’t want Granger getting any ideas of wanting to treat you like a charity case. I hear your thoughts about her. How she seems to be intruding in on our kind and wanting to be such the advocate for us oppressed creatures. I can tell that she wants to just do all of the work for you, but I want differently. I want you to be able to be the best you can be. You’re completely able to be a thriving omega all while doing your school work,” the Professor explained, still never leaving his breath against Harry’s ear. The warmth and words continued to send shivers down Harry’s body and his cock stirred in his trousers.

“S-so that quiz today, then?”

“Yes, but that was mostly to get back at your arse of a friend, Weasley” the alpha said smugly. “His essay was offensive, demeaning, and atrocious. I knew you, however, were perfectly capable of doing adequately on that quiz.” Then, there was a chuckle deep from the older vampire’s chest. “Alpha semen, though? Really? That was your answer to the last question?”

“I-I tried to think outside the box, okay?” the omega gasped once again as the Professor kissed the spot where the bite mark laid. His hair tickled his sensitive skin and Harry’s cock stiffened with interest. “Are you t-telling me I was wrong, Alpha?”

“Please, imagine me giving you a potion with alpha semen in it. Why waste resources and just take the ingredient straight from the source?” Snape asked with humor and lust in his voice. Harry couldn’t help but moan, his mind creating a scene of him on his knees and sucking the alpha off right in his office. “Devious thing, your mind,” Snape continued, grunting from arousal, however he continued. “Of course that wasn’t the right answer. If anything, that would make your heat extremely intolerable.”

“Should have known,” Harry grunted, thrusting his hips up into the air to get any sort of friction from the front of his trousers against his sensitive cock. “Wait, w-what were we here for, again?” Harry asked past an exhale. Snape chuckled once again, letting Harry go.

“Animagus training, of course, silly bat. Why so flustered?” Snape stood at what seemed like attention after straightening himself up. He was back in “Professor mode”, which is what Harry called it. The omega looked at him like he was insane. His cock was at full attention, tenting obviously in his pants and even leaked with want.

“Y-you can’t just do that!” Harry whined, squirming in his seat. “You can’t just expect me to focus on becoming a bat after you do something like that!” Harry cupped himself to try to show what the alpha did to him so mercilessly.

“You’re my omega. I can and will,” the alpha smirked. “Come, get up and stop sporting your cock to me. Although tempting, unlike you, I have self-control.”

“Git,” Harry huffed in frustration as he got up. He adjusted his pants as best as he could and ignored his straining arousal. “Just you wait until afterwards.” He could already feel his cock softening in displeasure from lack of stimulus.

“Oh, I look forward to it. Now pay attention,” Snape commanded, snapping his fingers to direct his gaze upwards towards his face. “Focus. When becoming the bat, you must have a strong compulsion and will to want to become it. However your process of what exactly the bat is, whether it is flight, sense of smell, becoming small, focus on that.”

“Yes’sir,” Harry complied, looking up at Snape expectantly. “How do you process becoming a bat?”

Snape looked at him with a thoughtful gaze, eyebrows perked. “My process is not your process,” he suggested.

“I know, but I still want to know,” the omega yearned.

Snape hesitated, but nodded. “I imagine myself becoming big, actually. Big like an alpha, yet small like a bat. Something that is cunning, swift, agile, and big.”

“So, perhaps, I should think small? Small, quick, and ambitious with flight?” Harry asked earnestly. Snape gave a small curl of his lips and shrugged his shoulders.

“That does sound like a good starting point, indeed.”

“Okay,” Harry said and closed his eyes. He focused, truly, on becoming a bat. He wished there was a magic word or spell that would instantly turn him into the animal. So badly did he just want to command himself to become a bat according to his will right then and there, but of course it was different than that. He strained himself, clenching his fists and scrunching his eyes closed and physically trying to will himself into a bat, but it didn’t work.

“Potter, you will have an aneurysm before becoming a bat if you keep doing that,” Snape stated, raising an eyebrow. “It is like a fluid; something that isn’t forced, but flows naturally into being. Like blood.”

“Right. Like blood,” Harry sighed and finally relaxed his body as he stood. He looked down at the floor, as if he would get the answers miraculously from the black brick. He thought and thought, but nothing came to mind. It wasn’t until Snape said something that snapped him back to reality about the situation.

“What made you turn last time, Harry?” he asked. “What were you doing?”

“I-I was running…from Malfoy,” Harry answered, eyes lightening up in a self-revelation. “I was running!” he exclaimed. “I wanted to get out of there so fast that I began to imagine myself flying! My blood was pumping through me! Like fluid!”

“Harry, that wasn’t what I meant --”

“That has to be it!” Harry exclaimed in excitement.

Snape scoffed, raising an eyebrow. “I never heard of having to will yourself in such a way to become an animagus. Perhaps with more training and practice, you will be able to summon the animal side without so much physical exertion.”

“I want to give it a go, though,” Harry pleaded. “Let’s go out in the hallway and let me sprint down! Maybe that is what will trigger the transformation.”

Snape sighed, obviously hesitant on wanting to make such a commotion outside of the room. “Why won’t we meditate and truly focus ourselves into --”

“Severus, come on! Please, I believe that’s the answer!” Harry insisted, looking at Snape with wide, shining eyes. The Professor couldn’t help himself but stare into such vivid emeralds. He pursed his lips closed, but finally nodded, succumbing to Harry’s enthusiasm and ambition. The omega smiled happily and practically skipped out the door into the hallway.

“Perhaps a silencing charm can work on such a vast entryway,” Snape suggested, wordlessly casting it with a flick of his wand. “I refuse to have Filch wonder what is happening out here. We must be careful.”

“I’ll try my best,” Harry replied, looking up at Snape with a grin. He tossed the blazer that he wore until the only layer he wore was his cotton dress shirt. Snape practically rolled his eyes, picking up the article of clothing off of the ground, but not saying anything to deter the omega from his ideas. Harry untucked his dress shirt and stared down the hallway until it only showed darkness from the lack of light. “Okay, I’m going to run. If I get so far and run out of steam, we will try your way.”

“You’ll be too tired to even try,” Snape muttered, but that was all he said. He stood straight, looking down the hall and waiting for Harry to begin. After a few seconds of silence and preparation, the omega did so, making a mad dash towards the end of the hallway with a wide-legged sprint that even impressed the alpha. Snape was always mesmerized by Harry’s physique and seeing it in action only made him want the boy even more. His body was already so cut and chiseled for his age and especially as an omega. The boy was fit and healthy and Snape felt pride rising in his chest as the boy ran. He stared with wanting, hopeful eyes as he saw Harry disappear into the darkness, still fully human and nowhere close to becoming a bat. He heard the pitter patter of sprinting feet once Harry was lost into the darkness, and continued to listen until they trailed off into nothing. The alpha sighed and frowned, hoisting the blazer over his shoulder as if to pack up for the evening. “Harry, come back. Let’s try something else --”

Suddenly, there was squeaking down the hall. To an untrained ear, it would have sounded like a common mouse or rat scurrying throughout the halls, however the alpha knew better. His eyes widened in surprise, continuing to look down the hall as the squeaks got a bit louder. They were obviously from a bat, flying frantically in excitement.

“Harry!” Snape hollered, watching the speck of the bat coming closer to the torch that they were under in the dungeon. The bat flew sporadically, still trying to understand the mechanisms of flight, but succeeding all the same. Snape couldn’t help but smile, putting out a hand that wasn’t holding onto the blazer. “You did it!” he said with as much excitement as Harry ever heard in his entire life. The bat squeaked happily, fluttering his wings until he aimed to land into the Professor’s open palm. Snape curled his thumb around the bat, stroking his little head lovingly and staring in such awe at how small the bat was against his hand. Harry curled his wing around the alpha’s hand, almost as if he were hugging it in gratitude, proud of himself for such an accomplishment. “Harry. My little bat,” Snape hummed with a smile, soft and satisfied. “Well done.”

Harry squeaked contently at the compliment and dug his head against Snape’s thumb. The alpha chuckled and continued to rub Harry’s head with his fingers. He could hear the omega purring and it led him to give a happy noise of his own. “Harry,” Snape began as an idea popped into his head. He smiled when the small bat sat up with his ear perked forward, listening attentively. “Would you like to fly with me?” he asked.

Harry wasted no time in jumping out of Snape’s hand and happily flying through the air, making those small circles once again over the alpha’s head. Snape laughed and held out his hand again for Harry to land on, happy with his reply.

“Of course, omega,” Snape said. “Let’s fly together. You’ll be able to enjoy what Hogwarts is like from the skies. This is such a great bonding experience for an alpha and his omega,” he continued, pressing a small kiss on top of Harry’s head. “Here,” he said and stepped into the room. He placed Harry on the window sill of the dungeon. The view outside was surrounded by bushes and shrubbery, since they were so low in the castle, but Harry still squeaked excitedly, looking out of the pane. Snape opened up the window to the chilly Fall air and pointed outside. “See there,” the older vampire said, directing the omega’s attention outside the window. There were two twisting clouds underneath the full moonlight. Harry was mesmerized by how beautiful they looked. They seemed to swim against each other in a wave of vapor. “Follow me there. We will circle around Hogwarts and end in the forest near the giant’s hut.”

Harry took a second to realize that he meant Hagrid’s. The omega bat giggled inwardly, but was cut off as he stared in close attention to Snape as he backed away from the window. Harry saw the look of inspiration yet determination as the alpha eyes’ reflected the moonlight. In that light showed a dark gray of color in those irises. Harry never saw color in Snape’s eyes before, not counting the red during the initiation of the bond. Harry thought they were beautiful, smoky silver crystals with the way they looked out into the air, like welcoming opportunity. They were like dark storm clouds to him.

Before Harry could appreciate the gaze any longer, the Professor shrunk down just like he had, forming wings and tall ears. He glided towards Harry before flying around him. Snape was much bigger as a bat next to Harry and it was really the first time that Harry took actual note of it. He objectively knew that the alpha was bigger, but never experienced it as a bat. Snape’s wingspan was vast compared to his own and with each flap of his wings, air wooshed past audibly. Harry’s senses were amplified except for his sight, which pretty much stayed the same as if he were human. His nose and ears however twitched from stimulus. Severus’ smell of sandalwood and pine flooded Harry’s nostrils as the alpha approached him and landed on the window sill next to the boy. He, like Harry, propped himself up on his arms and looked at the omega. Harry looked back and couldn’t help but appreciate Snape’s size compared to his own. He couldn’t help but think that the older bat would certainly scare Ron.

“Are you ready?” Snape asked through their mental connection.

“Absolutely,” Harry replied. If he could smile like normal, he would be beaming. He was so excited that his little heart was racing and he could feel it against his chest.

“Good. Remain focused so you don’t lose me.”

With that, the Professor jumped off and spread his wings, moving them in a mighty way that allowed him to soar high in the air. Harry gawked at how smooth and fluid Snape’s flight was compared to his own. Before the older bat could get much farther into the air, Harry followed with his wings frantically jerking against the air. His flight was jagged and sporadic compared to the grace of the alpha’s, but nevertheless he was still in the air and quickly catching up to Snape. The alpha mentally chuckled towards Harry, congratulating him on his success of being able to keep up. Harry chirped in appreciation and continued to move until he was nearly side-by-side by the other bat. They glided together and Harry couldn’t help but stare in awe as they made a sharp turn past the tree and towards the full moon.

Harry had never seen the moon this close up before. It seemed to grow to enormous proportions, showing every detail of crevice, divet, and crater on its surface. It shined brightly, lighting up the sky, even past the clouds that threatened to block it. Severus stopped beating his wings to just glide now and Harry followed suit as best as he could. Flying by gliding and not flapping his wings made him nervous, especially as he took a look towards the ground. He had been up high on his broom before, but not this high. Now, he was completely broom-less and at the mercy of the air and wing to pick his wings up and let him sail naturally.

“You’re doing fantastic, little one,” he heard the Professor say in his ears. Harry took that to grow his determination of bravery and looked up towards Snape who looked back and smiled at him. Or, it was the equivalent of a smile that a bat could do. Harry understood it and it made his heart feel lighter, almost as light as his flight in the air. They made another turn, gliding towards the castle and Harry was able to see it in its full glory.

Flying outside without warrant or without being on the Quidditch field would result in penalty. But now? Harry was able to bask in the beauty of the architecture of Hogwarts in an aerial view. The detail of the brick and stature glowed in the moonlight. It was beautiful. Harry had seen nothing like this before. Snape hummed mentally in his ears.

“Quite a sight, isn’t it?”

“It can’t be compared to the cupboard under the stairs, that’s for sure,” Harry replied.

Another thoughtful hum sounded in Harry’s ears. Harry could barely even process it, however, as his wide eyes looked over the castle as it changed perspectives from every angle they were flying. Snape quickly swooped downward, almost startling Harry. The younger bat frantically tried to catch up, beating his wings in the air to aim downward and follow the alpha.

“I am so thankful to fly with you, alpha,” Harry thought towards Snape. The older bat chuckled in reply, lighthearted and carefree.

“And I, with you,” he replied. Harry felt elated. An idea popped in his head.

“Can we feed?” he asked innocently, gliding his wings to follow Snape as they turned from the castle and aimed towards Hagrid’s hut. Harry could tell there was a hesitation in Snape’s demeanor - something causing him to question coming up with a negating answer to Harry’s request.

“Not tonight, not now,” the alpha answered, almost sadly. “To hunt as bats, that takes a certain skill with practice and training…and animal blood --” he scoffed, almost sounding like he were disgusted, “--nothing like the human blood that I give you. You have been spoiled, little bat.”

Harry considered this as they flew towards Hagrid’s hut. He didn’t tell Snape that he had experience in feeding on rat and mouse blood when he lived with the Dursleys. The fact he was a wizard like his mother was bad enough…but a vampire? They treated him even less like a human being. His aunt hated him because of how much he was like his mother. Weird and blood-thristy and pale and…different. His aunt and uncle would purposely put him in the sun to see if he would melt away, taking away their burdens that he caused him. Of course it didn’t work. Harry thought his aunt was stupid for even trying, considering her own sister was a vampire and her being in the sunlight didn’t cause any harm. Harry proposed that she was probably doing that to humor his uncle, who clearly had no idea how vampires worked. Other than that, they didn’t outright try to murder him, but they refused to feed him any sort of blood that would allow him to grow into a healthy vampire. Harry recalled that his aunt never spoke of how Lily, his mother, survived being a vampire. He also wondered how Snape even managed as well. Did they, too, feed on rodents and animals without others looking?

Harry recalled the craving of blood when he began around 5 years old. He didn’t understand it at first, but he remembered regular food beginning to taste horrible in his mouth and tasting like smoke from fire. At first, human food caused him to choke and gag and he didn’t understand why. His aunt and uncle were furious and began to deny food more and more to Harry as even one bite caused him to be sick. They were insulted and eventually stopped offering food altogether. Perhaps they hoped he would just eventually starve off, but that didn’t happen. Harry knew he craved for something different, something more. He couldn’t put his finger on it until one day he saw a rat sitting in the corner of his cupboard at the side of the stairs. He looked at it with wide eyes, feeling suddenly famished. The rational side of his mind was completely gone as he looked at the rat.

Harry stopped thinking after that. That was how he survived ultimately, until he came to Hogwarts. Thankfully his status as an omega vampire was immediately taken note of by both Dumbledore and Severus Snape, himself. The blood supply that Severus had been feeding off of was magically multiplied and given to Harry. Harry remembered drinking it gratefully, even if he was suspicious towards Snape at the time.

Oh, how things changed, Harry couldn’t help but think.

“Indeed,” he heard Snape say back to him in his mind, almost in a whisper. Harry suddenly felt embarrassed for thinking so loudly, but he was hushed gently by the other. Snape flew alongside Harry closely, until their wings touched. Harry looked towards the Professor only to be met with the alpha’s, loving and kind. Harry only knew that kind of gaze from Severus and he reveled in it.

Until, suddenly and out of nowhere, those black eyes became glistened and bright with agony. The alpha’s animagus face became contorted, sticking his tongue out in desperation as his left wing became floppy and still. Harry barely could process the look until he heard a mental cry from the older bat that sounded like absolute, sheer pain. Before Harry could ask what was wrong, he saw the older bat plummeting from the sky, spinning like a lost projectile towards the earth.

“SEVERUS!” Harry screamed, quickly diving down towards the other, flapping his wings desperately to catch up and try to help. He continued to watch as the alpha coiled in pain, becoming a dead weight to fall towards the earth. Harry was able to get close enough to try and bite anything that he could get a hold of to stop Severus from falling too fast. He was able to get the Professor’s left arm, the one that caused the pain and fall in the first place.

“STOP!” Severus shouted with a snarl, scaring Harry into letting him go. Once he did, the alpha fell to the ground, rolling onto his side as he transformed back into a human. Harry watched as Snape continued to hold his now bleeding arm from Harry’s bite. The omega’s bite was towards the elbow, leaking heavily. However, the alpha did not pay attention towards that injury. Snape gripped at the level where his tattoo of the Dark Mark was, gritting his teeth violently and grunting in pain.

Harry clumsily hurled towards the ground, quickly also turning back into a human and fell in a heap beside the older vampire. He recovered quickly, wasting no time in trying to assess the alpha who was curled in pain, still clenching at his arm where the Dark Mark laid. The snake squirmed menacingly on the alpha’s skin, beckoning his call.

“Severus!” Harry cried out, trying to pull the alpha up.

“Leave me!” Snape barked in reply. It was a tone that Harry had never heard before and it frightened him. The omega backed away, watching desperately as the blood from the alpha’s arm seeped from the wounds of the bite while the Dark Mark burned in his skin. “Leave me,” he repeated, his tone now deeper. “Leave!”

“Alpha, I won’t --!”

“Go!” Severus yelled, getting up from the ground. He was visibly injured but he purposely ignored it. The alpha staggered, looking at Harry wildly before straightening his face to something grave.“Go before he knows you’re with me!”

Harry suddenly understood. As much as it broke his heart and made his chest ache, he scattered onto his feet. He looked at Severus one more time and the alpha returned the look with a gaze of desperation, agony, and regret.

“Go…”

Harry whimpered, turning his back from the Professor and running back towards the castle, past Hagrid’s hut. Behind him, he heard a CRACK of Snape disapparating from the darkness. He looked back just to find no one there. Tears flooded his eyes and he could barely see. He didn’t want this to happen. He didn’t want this wonderful, beautiful night to end like this. But he knew he couldn’t help this. He knew that there was no way past this.

Voldemort was calling…and Snape had to answer.

Harry begged for the bond to protect them.

“W’oh!” a voice called, catching Harry’s attention. Harry wanted to ignore it at first, but his heart begged for him to answer. He couldn’t ignore it, not after everything that happened. “W’at’s goin’ on ‘ere?” Hagrid called from the door frame of his hut. Harry stopped to look at him, tears wetting his eyes and oozing down his face. He knew he looked like a wreck, especially with how quickly Hagrid reacted. The half-giant left the door frame and immediately went towards Harry, who stood like a statue. His heart was racing. His hair was frazzled. He was scraped, bruised, and dirty. He was a mess. How could he ever talk himself out of this one? “ ‘Arry? Blimey, w’at on earth is wrong wi’ch ya?”

“I-I…couldn’t sleep. I had a nightmare,” Harry answered, lying as best as he could. “Please…please don’t tell anyone I was out here.”

Hagrid stood in place for a moment, trying to calculate all that Harry was saying. Perhaps he was trying to make sense of Harry’s explanation and why the young vampire was here in the fields out in the night, especially looking so disheveled. However, whatever mental process the half-giant was making was quickly put away as he saw Harry’s desperate face.

“C’mon then,” Hagrid said, his voice calm and gentle. “C’me ‘ave a cup’o tea wit’ me… We can talk ‘bout it.”

Harry hesitated, looking back towards the area that Snape disapparated, but quickly stopped to look back at Hagrid. With hesitation, he nodded and entered Hagrid’s hut.

Chapter Text

With a loud CRACK into the dark, Severus appeared from his disapparation clutching his arm which only throbbed with a dull ache. He was slouched, robes hooded and dark to hide his form and face. The only light that was provided was the silver shine of the moon which cast shadows amidst the graveyard. Tombs, headstones, crypts, and trees had hanging, dark shadows that contorted against the ground into eerie spindle shapes. Severus used that to his advantage, trying to remain out of sight of anyone who could have been passing by. Little Hangleton surely didn’t have many visitors coming to pay condolences and tribute to their deceased loved ones during this time of year, especially late at night. However the alpha was careful and hunched among the shadows. Although the pain in his arm was dull, heat still prickled like a lit ember against the Dark Mark, growing hotter with each step he took closer towards the one who called him.

A crow or two cried out in the distance. It was the only sound that ran over the entire graveyard. Severus pulled up his hood as he continued to walk, going towards the place where the Dark Lord was reborn. Tom Riddle’s grave was just straight ahead, but there was no visible sign of the dark wizard just yet. Severus could feel him, however. In fact, he almost swore he could hear it in his ears, the breath of Lord Voldemort, himself. Snape stood in the open area in front of Tom Riddle’s grave. It was just as dungy and dirty as it was those few days ago when the act took place. He stopped moving and stood straight and slim, waiting patiently.

He didn’t have to wait for long. The pain in his arm burned like fire before it finally smoldered to where it didn’t bother him anymore. Before his eyes, a whirlwind of black circled in front of him, like dark vapor or cloud. From that, the Dark Lord appeared, face brilliantly white in contrast to the black night sky. There was an expression that surprised the alpha, although he didn’t outwardly show it. In the thin trace of the Dark Lord’s mouth, there was an upward slant to almost indicate warmth of welcoming. It was very rare to see such an expression. The vampire truly believed that he was the only one to really see a sight. Whenever the Dark Lord smiled, someone else surely was screaming in agony. This time, however, it seemed that Snape’s presence alone brought a true glint of joy to the dark wizard.

“Severus,” said those lips that didn’t falter from the smile. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course, my Lord,” Snape replied dutifully and bowed obediently like he always did before. He was nervous, although no one would have ever known that with how mundane and cold his tone was. To the Dark Lord, though, it was suitable as far as submission. It seemed that Snape was grateful to be here in front of the Dark Lord’s presence. “I apologize if I took longer than you expected. I ran into a complication when you called me.”

“Yes, I can tell,” Voldemort replied, although his tone sounded rather curious and playful. “I smell blood. Your blood, Severus. Are you harmed?”

Snape felt himself grow cold at such a question. He tried to be sure he wiped off the blood from the injury he acquired when Harry bit him to stop him from falling, but never in all of his life did he expect the Dark Lord to be aware that he for sure was bleeding. And on the thought of Harry, he could feel just how worried and distraught the omega was in his mind, almost like a distant, sad song. The alpha reinforced his occlumency tactics, desperately trying to hide the mental bond that they shared.

“I was, my Lord,” Snape replied obediently. “Your senses are very sharp. Your new form must be thriving. I didn’t know such magic was capable of producing such keen responses.” Snape was careful while he talked. He thought and nearly dreaded what the Dark Lord was truly like in this form. Was it stronger than he imagined?

“My Severus,” Voldemort said wistfully, holding his hand out in a gentle gesture. “Please, let me see.”

Snape hesitated, but not to the point that caused an uproar in the Dark Lord. Reluctantly, he placed his injured arm in the dark wizard’s hand. Voldemort wasted no time in pulling up the sleeve of Snape’s robe, feeling the damp splotches of blood staining his sleeve from the bite. Snape heard Voldemort inhale through his nose as if taking in a beautiful aroma. The Dark Lord now showed a toothy grin which sported pointed teeth. The alpha’s interest peaked, coupled with the fear of a possible realization he hoped was not true.

“Blood, Severus. The life line of humans. You know so much about blood, of course,” Voldemort said gently, running his fingers over the injury. Snape’s suit sleeve was torn from the bite. Only a glimpse of pale white and ruby red showed through the fabric. “What bit you, my Severus? I thought it was only you that did that favor?”

“While patrolling the grounds of Hogwarts, a mangy dog caught my arm while I wasn’t looking. The attack was short lived, as well as the remainder of its life once I got a hold of my wand,” the alpha lied, voice not wavering. He held tight to the mental barrier.

“Infernal things,” Voldemort replied, beginning to unbutton the sleeve of the suit. “Shame that it got a hold of you.”

“May I ask what you are doing, my Lord?”

“I am inspecting the wound, of course. I want to see just how bad it is,” Voldemort answered, finishing the unbuttoning of the sleeve. He pulled the sleeve up, making the alpha wince as pressure of the man’s hand caused him pain. “The wound is deep. It must have bit you hard.”

Severus thought about how desperately Harry tried to bite him to keep him from falling. His teeth must have pierced through deeper than he thought. He saw the Dark Lord’s curious gaze grow even more so, the skin of his brow raising as he continued to look. Severus suppressed his thoughts, hoping that Voldemort wouldn’t get the idea of using legilimens on him.

“My Lord?”

“It’s interesting to see such clean puncture wounds,” was all the older man said. With that, he placed his wand on the edge of the wound, silently casting a spell that slowly began to close the wound and clean the blood around it. All that was left was a small scar.

“Thank you, my Lord,” Severus said solemnly. “I praise you for such grace and healing me.”

“Of course, Severus,” Voldemort said with a slight smile. He looked at the vampire and the other met his deep, red eyes. If Severus didn’t know any better, they almost seemed kind. “But, I want to give you the real reason why I called you to be here. As you can see, I have called no other Death Eater here. I don’t need them like I need you.”

“I understand,” the alpha said. Severus was careful to not snatch his arm back. He didn’t want to perturb the Dark Lord. His body language was cautious, slow, and purposeful. “Thank you for calling me. What seems to trouble you, my Lord? I want to help.”

“Ah, yes. My most loyal follower. I knew you would be faithful in assisting me, especially with my…situation being so similar to yours. Severus, you see, I seem to be having side effects from that night that I was manifested into this body.” His hand slid over Severus' arm, trailing heat along the scar and Dark Mark. 

“Is that so? How do you mean, my Lord?” Snape asked, his heart pounding a little harder than it was a minute ago. The heat made him wince and that night when Voldemort was brought back fully into this world was most shameful for him. He didn’t want to think about that night anymore, but of course it was going to be spoken about. That would be the night that was the most memorable and celebrated amongst the Death Eaters. That night when their Lord was brought back to life from the grave and reincarnated into a body most suitable for his form and his power. Voldemort smiled as he continued to look at Snape, teeth just barely poking through thin lips.

That is when Severus saw it and his blood ran cold.

“Yes, Severus, I see that you see it, too. My condition from being brought into this body and this life has seem to leave me with needs that…are extraordinary. I am most definitely not human, no. I am far from it. In fact, I believe we are more similar than how I was in the past.” Voldemort turned Snape’s palm to where it faced upward, the Dark Mark and scar blatantly being shown in the pale moonlight. “I find myself craving…hungering in such a way that I can’t be satisfied. And no, my Severus, I do not mean metaphorically.”

“My Lord, are you saying –”

“Blood, Severus. The absolute lifeline of all humans. I crave it. My body seems to grow weak without it. Although I have staved off myself with the blood of unicorns, my hunger then is nothing compared to now. Then, it was vital for me to continue to live with the fraction of my soul that I possessed. Now, I believe that I will truly die without having such a substance. I’m sure you can relate.”

The alpha vampire coiled his fingers at his side, realizing a new, true fear that he never thought possible. “I understand,” he said. “I believe this is a side effect from –”

“From when you reincarnated me with your vital blood, Severus. This cut,” Voldemort traced his finger along the nasty, linear scar of Severus’ left arm, “provided me with such the essence of life,” Voldemort finished with a slim grin. “I believe the nature of your vampire blood has made me into such a creature that you are. That he is, as well. This is wonderful! By becoming this, I now know the nature of you! I will know the nature of him. His strengths, of course, but most importantly, his weakness.”

Snape felt a fiery anger as he thought about this. The fact that Harry was being thought of in such a way – for his omega to be known so that he may be destroyed sickened the alpha. Severus couldn’t help but feel a raging guilt to come from this situation. He felt immense regret along with that rage, but he suppressed it.

“Yes, my Lord,” Severus drawled, never showing an inkling of such emotion.

“Such intimacy, my Severus,” Voldemort hummed. He finally let go of Snape’s arm. The Death Eater held it with his other one, looking at it almost in betrayal. The Dark Lord walked alongside Severus’ front, smiling from the revelation. “You will be closer to me than ever before. You and I will rule over all others. Think about it, Severus! I believe with this new-found nature of myself, we can draw as one. We would be unstoppable! Our energy will surely outmatch that of Potter, don’t you think? Together, you and I will kill Harry Potter!”

Snape’s occlumency was at its peak, desperately not wanting to show his raging and rampant thoughts to Voldemort and keeping Harry out of the mental connection. This was his plan! Of course it was! Snape had no idea that by his blood being so forcefully shed and taken from him to put into that bubbling cauldron that reincarnated the Dark Lord that this would happen. Never in a thousand years did the alpha ever think that his vampire nature would be ingrained into the Dark Lord’s very being and that it could be used to his advantage to obliterate his omega. Never!

“Absolutely, my Lord. I am most honored. Tell me all that you wish, and I will make it so,” he said, heart sinking as he bowed.

He had to stop this.

---

Harry shivered and drank his tea in spite of it. There was something deep inside of his gut that did not feel right. He tried to poke at the mental bond that he and Severus shared, to which there was nothing but silence and darkness. It was as almost as if a brick wall cut right through the mental connection that he had with Snape. He tried not to think about it, but he couldn’t help himself. All he could think about was Snape with Voldemort. What were they talking about? What was happening? Harry wanted to know so badly that he clutched his mug with tight fingers to the point of breaking.

“ ‘Arry,” Hagrid said. “Breathe.”

And Harry did so. He inhaled slowly and exhaled, sipping a little bit of tea once the cycle was over. He did this again and again until the heartbeat in his ears wasn’t so loud anymore. It wasn’t racing, but it was alert.

“Thank you for the tea, Hagrid,” Harry said, putting the mug down. Hagrid smiled at him and Harry smiled back.

“Of course, ‘Arry,” Hagrid chuckled. “Are y’ah feelin’ better?”

Harry nodded with a soft smile. In reality, he was more worried than anything. “Yes,” he said. At least he could say that he wasn’t frantic or panicked. Just anxious. He listened for any sound of apparition in the air. Any crack or pop or rip in the air to indicate Snape’s return. The clock kept ticking. There was no such sound.

“There’s a lot’a questions I hav’ for y’ah, ‘Arry. Why ‘ave y’ah been out? Why are y’ah up late at night? What were y’ah doin’ to make y’er clothes so dirty?” Hagrid began, placing his hand on his hip as he leaned towards the fireplace. “But, I’ll do y’ah one better…Is ev’rythin’ okay w’th you ‘nd Professor Snape?” The panic began to rise inside of Harry again, but he calmed himself. He frantically tried to think, but before he could do so, Hagrid continued, “The reason why I’m askin’ y’ah is ‘cause you both’re vampires. When it comes to creatures, I know their habits, lad.”

“You do?” asked Harry, on edge. “How much do you know?”

“Oh, ‘Arry,” Hagrid sighed. “Anyone who does their durn research would know ‘bout you ‘nd Snape bein’ bats. Vampires ‘re so misunderstood, sadly. Theres only a few of ‘em left. I’ve been careful wit’ Snape ‘cause I don’ want ‘im to think I’m up to somethin’ suspicious, but I’ve always admired you ‘nd ‘im. Ev’r since you was little, I admired. A rare omega male vampire. First in years. You were so little. ‘Ell, I offered up to take y’ah in, but that didn’ happen. Everyone thought I would keep y’ah like a pet er somethin’. They wouldn’ let me. I swore to ‘em I’d take care of y’ah, but…” Hagrid trailed off, realizing he was rambling on about somethings he probably shouldn’t be talking about. Harry’s ears were keen, however, and he looked at Hagrid with wide eyes as he listened to all that the half-giant had to say. “Oh, I --”

“Hagrid, whatever may have happened is in the past now. I am so glad you know so much about vampires, though. So you understand that me and Snape are bats. And that I am an omega and that he is an alpha?” Harry asked to clarify.

“O’course. I know all ‘bout vampires ‘nd their bonds ‘nd all,” Hagrid answered with a small smile. He took a hold of his butterbeer and drank from it. “Snape’s not too ‘appy ‘bout me knowin’, but all is well.”

“So then you can probably know why my clothes and my face were all dirty when you found me?” Harry asked. Hagrid shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of his butterbeer. “It was because I was out flying with Snape as bats.”

“Ah, I knew it,” Hagrid hummed against the rim of his glass. “The moon’s bright. Not too cold. Perfect timin’ for bats t’ah fly.”

“Yes, we were flying and…” Harry trailed off, realizing that now he was the one who was about to say too much. “Snape had to leave.”

“I see,” Hagrid said solemnly. Harry looked at the half-giant who looked back with a frown. “I think it best be off t’ah bed then, huh?” Harry nodded, although he looked down in dismay. “Don’ fret, ‘Arry. E’ll come back. ‘E always does. ‘E pro’ally wan’ me to put’cha up to bed. Let’s go.”

Harry stood up along with Hagrid. Although he was pushy about it before in earlier years, he wanted Hagrid to hold his hand as they walked. The night was getting cold compared to what it was like an hour or two earlier. It caused Harry to get goosebumps, along with the fear of what was happening with Snape at the moment. He tried not to think about it, but couldn’t help himself. Was Snape being tortured? Was he being questioned? Would any secrets be revealed to Voldemort about their bond? What would happen if they did? Harry couldn’t help but to continue to ponder these questions in his mind as Hagrid guided him towards the entrance to Hogwarts.

Hagrid began to hum a lively tune to decrease the tension in the air. Even with it, though, worry consumed Harry. All he could think about was his alpha. They passed through the corridors, turned corners, went up the staircases, and down the gateway to the House rooms. Hagrid still hummed and Harry still worried, but nothing was said. The mental connection was blocked and silent. Hagrid saw the boy in his room and said goodnight with a cozy smile. As much as Harry tried to return it, it wasn’t like Hagrid’s.

Harry went to bed scared.

Chapter Text

Three days went by without any sign from Snape. Harry was not able to sleep well and whenever he did fall asleep, it was dreamlessly black and only lasted an hour or two. It was torture. He woke up awfully tired. The brights of his green eyes dulled to jaded emerald. Bags and circles traced underneath his bottom eyelids. His skin was sickly and pale, even more so than normal. The boy, as well, was famished for blood. The pang of that hunger did not help in soothing him to sleep. He tossed and turned, wanting for blood and Snape.

When it was time for the boys to get up once again, Harry’s eyes didn’t even blink from his eyes being so wide open. The young vampire didn’t move and laid still, hoping that perhaps Ron would just accept the fact that perhaps he was dead and just move along with his day. However, the ginger-haired Gryffindor did no such thing and practically pushed Harry off of his bed in order to get him up.

“What’s wrong with you, mate?” he asked curiously. Harry only groaned in reply.

Dressing was a chore. The boy looked so unkempt and tattered, but he didn’t care. The fact that he was even drudging himself to the Great Hall was a miracle. No thought of food was appetizing to him. In fact, he was contemplating hunting the grounds as a bat in search of a rat or a mouse to feed on. Attending school did not interest him either. Part of him figured that he could just tell everyone he was sick and go back to bed after breakfast. Perhaps he could at least reach Hagrid to tell him, or even tell Dumbledore.

When Harry reached the hall, Ron was already sitting next to Hermione. The hall filled his ears with a clambering noise that annoyed him. He growled, cradling his head and ears before sliding into his seat across from the two friends. Ron’s face was already stuffed with bacon and eggs while Hermione sipped on Pumpkin Juice. Of course, looking at Harry, his appearance was not going to go unnoticed.

“Good Lord, Harry, are you okay?” she asked with concern tracing her voice. Harry grumbled angrily, completely annoyed about her pecking. In the back of his mind, he knew she was just trying to look out for him but he was quite sick of it at the moment. He just wanted everyone to disappear; everyone except for him, Snape, and a tall liter of blood.

“Fine,” Harry finally answered when she made another noise of persistence for him to answer the question. “Tired.”

“I can see that,” she said with a frown. “You’re worried, aren’t you? Worried about Professor Snape?”

Harry nearly shuddered from the name alone. Yes, of course he missed his alpha. He was upset, concerned, afraid…and even angry. Why did this have to happen in the first place? Why did Snape have to be a Death Eater for the most evil, wicked, vile dark wizard of all time?! Why did he have to go whenever the bastard called? Harry was also upset about the fact that he hasn’t had any blood in days and that Snape didn’t tell him how to get any from the stores. And why hasn’t Snape opened up their mental connection yet? As Harry desperately tried to reach out in the link, all he could mentally see and hear was blank, silent darkness. The omega was upset and he was absolutely sick of having to deal with humans.

“Harry,” Hermione said, waving her hand in front of his face. Harry held all of his breath in order to not bite her hand off. “You should go back to bed. You probably caught what Snape caught.”

Harry was about to ask what on earth she was talking about, but he quickly remembered. A day or two ago, Dumbledore told the entirety of the school that Professor Snape was sick and was going to be unavailable for some time, the extent unknown. If Snape was not back by the end of the week, there would be a substitute for Potions. All of the students were giddy about such an announcement. They were so glad that they didn’t have to deal with Potions for a few days, especially Ron. He whined about knowing that he got a terrible grade on that essay and that quiz, but knowing Snape was out made him a happy peach. Hermione was worried. Harry was tormented. He felt like he was the only one who knew the truth, but he knew that wasn’t the case.

How would Dumbledore know how to lie and cover for Snape when he knew the Professor wasn’t there?

Harry didn’t say anything and instead eyed the book that Hermione had. He was able to catch a glimpse of the cover that boldly said “THE COMMON AND UNCOMMON ILLNESSES TO STRIKE VAMPIRES”. Harry rolled his eyes. The girl didn’t even know what Snape had because Dumbledore never stated it. Dumbledore never stated it because he probably knew a student like Hermione would do such a thing as look up the disease to see if it was legitimate. If the disease was legitimate, she would be wondering how to cure it, how long it lasts, what the symptoms are, are there any herbs or potions to help with the healing process, so on and so forth. Just after he finished judging her for having such a book, she spoke again.

“Do you know what Snape has?”

“Hermione, do you expect me to know everything about Snape?” Harry asked, groggy and irritated.

“Yes,” she said simply. “Yes, because you both are vampires and I imagine that the two of you naturally share a link between each other because of who you are. I read about it in the vampire history book. The vampires share these bonds that are --”

“Hermione!” Ron complained, eyes rolled to the bewitched ceiling. “Enough, we get it. You’re the expert.”

“Well, I just wanted to share with you. I didn’t know if Harry knew --”

“Believe me, Hermione, I do,” Harry said with a puff. Suddenly he gritted his teeth, realizing what he just said. He looked up at Hermione who only looked back with a smile. Her eyes said it all. Harry knew she had gotten her answer to her unspoken question, that question being about Snape and Harry’s bond. Thankfully, Ron wasn’t even paying attention anymore and Hermione was merciful enough to change the subject, but only slightly.

“When was the last time you had blood?” she asked. Harry groaned, tossing his head back because he was so sick of being interrogated. “Harry, I’m just --”

“I know. You’re just ‘concerned for a friend’ or ‘my vampire health’ or something like that, right?” Harry asked with a sigh. He was tired and he realized that he was acting like a jerk, but he felt like he couldn’t help himself, especially given his situation. “It’s been over three days, maybe four. I think today will be the fourth day.”

“God,” Hermione said, worriedly. “It isn’t good for you. We need to get you something and fast. Have you tried talking to Dumbledore?”

“Dumbledore wouldn’t have any idea of how to help me,” Harry answered. “I only get that blood from Snape and that’s because he has a way of replicating it. I don’t know how to replicate it and I’m sure Dumbledore doesn’t know either. Snape’s wards are heavy and nothing unlocks without his magic. There would be no way Dumbledore could even access his room.”

“It’s worth a shot. You can’t keep going like this,” Hermione said, her eyes soft with concern.

The thought of being able to get blood was very tempting, even if it didn’t seem likely. Harry contemplated what she said and laid his head on the table just from how tired and weak he was.

Suddenly, above the voices in the hall, there were flaps of wings in the air. Owls swooped in from the openings, carrying the day’s mail and parcels. Harry secretly wished that perhaps one of the owls would contain a letter to him from Snape, even if it was sent anonymously. However, he knew that was foolish. Why write a letter when you can allow the mental connection to work instead? The hopeful facade was all that was as the only owl that came to the trio was a dusty barn owl with a white face. In his talons held the new, fresh copy of The Daily Prophet that was for Hermione. With a smile, the girl took the copy and gave the owl a knut for the fee. Once the exchange was made, the owl gracefully took off without a single sound. Harry frowned, looking down at the table from the lack of communication from Snape. He knew that Snape would not be writing to him, but he wished heavily that they were able to think toward each other. This gift that they shared was special and new, yet Harry felt like it was his lifeline.

“No!,” shrieked Hermione, causing both Ron and Harry to jump. Ron was about to ask what her problem was, but soon his eyes fell on the cover of the newspaper. Harry’s eyes did the same. It was unmistakable, the title of the front page. It was in big, bold, ugly writing almost as if to add to the terror that was supposed to be associated with the story.

MUGGLES ATTACKED BY VAMPIRES

Harry felt his blood run cold as he looked at the front page. The page, that would normally be in motion, was, in fact, not moving. The main picture that was there was a still image, obviously taken from a muggle camera. In the image were two victims that were laying on the ground: a female and male. However, they could only be told from the muggle clothing they wore because their faces were completely blurred out. The woman wore a floral dress with high heels that were precariously hanging onto her feel while the male wore overall jeans, a flannel, and heavy farming boots. Nothing could describe the horror that was ringing through Harry’s soul as he read those words. Vampires attacking humans, much less muggles, hadn’t happened for years. However long, Harry didn’t know, but he knew in his lifetime that he had heard no such news growing up.

“I knew it,” Ron muttered under his breath, earning an angry scowl from both Hermione and Harry. “What? This was bound to happen sometime! I could just feel it!”

Hermione shook her head, but began to read the subtext in the article.

“It says, ‘Found by muggle officers around 03:00 in the morning, a couple was spotted on the ground pale, cold, and with no signs of life. The officers immediately declared the couple’s death to be accidental, caused by a mauling of an unknown animal that drained the blood completely from both bodies. The misunderstanding of possible animal attack came from the signs of teeth marks against the throat and neck of the muggle farmers, presumably going out for a night on the town. Accompanying the officers was head wizarding detective and Auror, Benedict Timberwood, who immediately understood what really happened in the crime scene. After gaining information on what the muggle officers believed to have happened, Timberwood assessed the bodies, himself, and investigated the classic signs of documented vampire attacks. With the hallmark sign of piercing teeth marks on the neck and emptying of blood, there is no other creature known to attack in such a way. Until last night, there has been no confirmed vampire attack in over 80 years’.”

“Confirmed vampire attack!” Ron emphasized. “Just because it isn’t confirmed doesn’t mean it happened!”

“Shut your mouth, Ron!” Harry said with a raised voice, becoming frantic from the words that Hermione was saying. “Shut it! I don’t know what the hell is your problem with vampires, but I want you to--”

“Guys, listen!” Hermione interrupted the burst of rage from the young vampire. “ ‘Vampires are creatures that can live in both night and day time, but thrive in the night (“not true!”, said Harry) and feast on the blood of humans. All vampires are wizards, as far as it is known. Vampiristic laws have been set into place between relationships of human wizards and vampire wizards. In the Treaty of Blood set in 1912, it was deemed illegal for vampires to attack and feast directly from humans. This contributes to nearly all feeds killing humans and at the very least maiming the victim. To counteract attacks, human wizards initiated the treaty to allow for vampires to feast on the blood of humans that were donated voluntarily from hospitals, both wizarding and muggle. Because of this treaty, attacks on humans had practically stopped overnight, as donated blood from humans were bountiful and could be replicated with a spell’.”

“That’s what Snape does. He gets the donated blood and replicates it. It’s just as good and there is no reason for vampires to attack humans! I don’t believe this article,” Harry harrumphed and crossed his arms. He saw Hermione frown, however, as she turned the paper to allow Harry to see more still muggle pictures of the “evidence” from the attacks. Again, the faces were censored from the pictures, but there were clearly deep, wounding bite marks that gnarled the neck of both victims. Even worse, there were two distinct canines in the bite marks. Harry’s mouth gaped slightly in disbelief as Hermione took back the paper.

“It finishes with this: ‘It is advised that all of the wizarding community be aware of these creatures. While they were bountiful hundreds of years ago, only a few remain today. Although small in population, they are considered very dangerous.”

“That’s lunacy!” Harry shouted, standing up from the bench.

Students muttered around him, staring at him, some in what seemed like shock and horror. There were dozens of other students who had their newspapers turned to the front page, fear striking their faces as if they just discovered a terrible secret. Ron looked at Harry and frowned silently, bashful either from the realization that he was friends with a “monster” or that perhaps after all of this time, he should be grateful Harry never turned on him.

“I always knew there was an animal in you!” Draco shouted with a sneer. “Cage him before he infects us with rabies!”

“Keep talking like that and I may just prove your point!” Harry snarled as he whipped around to meet Malfoy’s gaze in a glare. He teeth grit to where his fangs showed. At first, the blond’s face showed fear, but soon the Slytherin table laughed at him and began to chant “Potter in a cage!” repeatedly. This relieved Draco and he just smiled wickedly at Harry before joining in. Thankfully, none of the other houses got into the madness, but Harry couldn’t help but feel so isolated and helpless from nervous looks that the other students were giving him. He realized he probably shouldn’t have said that, even if he didn’t mean it.

“Stop it! Stop looking at him like that!” Hermione said and quickly grabbed Ron’s hand as if for support. “He’s a wizard like you and me! He’s no different!”

“Harry is a part of us!” Ron finally chimed in, realizing that Hermione was looking to him for assistance. “But let’s really think about this! Snape has been gone for days! He could have done it!”

“Not helping!” Harry hissed.

“He sounds like a cat!” said an unnamed Slytherin. There was sputtering laughter from that table and Harry felt his face turn red from anger. He began to pull out his wand, which automatically had Malfoy countering him, already having his wand out. Harry aimed his wand in defense and nearly jumped when a commanded voice shouted to disrupt the noise of it all.

“STOP!”

Everyone froze in their place with their faces turned towards the Head table that held the staff members. Dumbledore was standing from the table, presence intimidating even though he was a gentle being. With the look that Dumbledore gave to Harry, it prompted the young vampire to go ahead and take his seat. Both he and Malfoy put their wands back in their pockets without saying a word.

“Hogwarts is a school of welcoming, safety, and acceptance. Any type of wizard has the chance to be a part of Hogwarts, no matter what their background is. Teasing or bullying of any sort will not be tolerated. Despite what the papers may say, we will not treat anyone differently based on who they are, understood?” Dumbledore asked.

There was a small wave of muttering amongst the students and Harry drew his lips in a thin line. Dumbledore talked as if he were including every student to be treated equally, but everyone knew, given the situation, that he was mostly talking about Harry. Hermione and Ron were still holding hands as they looked at Harry in reassurance. Harry nodded to them, thankful for them - even if they got on his nerves at times.

“Be advised and be warned…where there are tall tales there are also tall fiends. Spreading such lies and rumors can show what’s truly within the wicked heart. If there is any report of any discrimination or bullying to any student or teacher, including spreading rumors, it will be handled swiftly and strictly. Because Professor Snape is not here --” there was even more muttering in the crowd, “-- our wonderful groundsmaster, Hagrid, will see fit of punishment for such inexcusable behavior.”

With that, Hagrid stood up with his arms crossed. The half-giant looked at Harry, eyes soft and reassuring. Harry gave a small, thin smile in return.

“Now…off to classes. Pip-pip!” Dumbledore finished.

Everyone began to get up from the benches along with Harry. However, Harry didn’t shake the feeling, even as he looked down, that all eyes were on him.

---

The advice from Dumbledore lasted not an inkling of a second. In Transfiguration, Harry continued to have people stare at him, whispering behind his back. Flitwick was clueless as to what was going on and just assumed the students were helping each other understand the notes he was putting on the board and the lecture he was teaching. Harry knew they were studying an illumination charm that would light up a whole room rather than just providing a torch-like light from the tips of their wants, but other than that, he wasn’t paying attention. He wished heavily that he could turn into a bat, and listen closely to what the students were saying. He only got fragments.

“No potions.”...“He’s gone.”... “He hasn’t come back for days.”... “They’re just alike.”... “Do you think?--” but then nothing.

It enraged Harry, but he truthfully didn’t have the energy to show anger. He held it back and just continued to write notes off of the board. It wasn’t until there was a jab at his head that caused him to grunt out in surprise. He looked to see that a magical paper airplane had hit him. He gritted his teeth and anger, snatching it from the floor and turned to see who threw it.

Of course, there was the smug, satisfied face of Malfoy from the back row. His lips said something quiet: “read it.”

Harry knew better than to place Malfoy’s games, but he opened up the paper airplane anyway. When he saw the words, he nearly saw red. It wasn’t until he heard Flitwick clearing his throat that he looked up. Thankfully, Flitwick wasn’t even paying attention, clearing his throat naturally, as he finished up writing on the board.

“Psst,” whispered Hermione. “What does it say?”

Harry pursed his lips and showed her the paper. He swore he could hear Malfoy snickering in the back. Hermione also looked angry when she saw the words written on the page.

Potter in a cage.

---

“We should go straight to Dumbledore,” Hermione said when they left Charms and walked down the hall. “He can’t get away with this! This is exactly what Dumbledore was talking about.”

“Hermione, Draco does this all the time,” Ron groaned. “Why is now any different?”

“Harry isn’t an animal!” Hermione argued. “If it weren’t for that article --”

“He doesn’t treat me any differently. Now, he’s just more comfortable with outright saying how he feels about me,” Harry said through his teeth. “And now, other students think it’s okay. They probably think it’s cool to make fun of me. They probably think --”

There was a shriek that interrupted him, startling him enough that he nearly dropped his bookbag.

“It’s him!” a younger female Ravenclaw said. She was a face the trio wasn’t familiar with; obviously a first year. She was also with another young Hufflepuff girl who also looked like a first year. Both of them had frightened yet intrigued looks on their faces. “It’s Harry Potter! He’s a vampire along with Professor Snape!”

Hermione and Ron came closer to Harry, but Harry didn’t react. He was actually slightly used to this treatment given what had happened to him and his reputation in the wizarding world. But never had his vampirism really been the subject whenever he was addressed. He was about to say something, but the Hufflepuff didn’t give him a chance.

“He looks hungry! He may break at any moment and attack us! He’ll feed on us just like how Professor Snape did with those muggles!”

Something in him snapped at that moment. All the anger that had built up throughout the day came crashing in at once. Dealing with people gawking at him was one thing, but there was a sensitive nerve that was struck to outwardly hear such an accusation from someone about his alpha. Never.

“Sod off with your rubbish!” he yelled at them loudly, fists clenched. Hermione and Ron were not able to hold him back as he pulled forward out of their grasps and towards the girls. His scowl grew to where his fangs showed, which made the girls back up against a wall and tremble. “How dare you! You don’t understand anything about me or Professor Snape! We’ve done nothing except exist and all we get from everyone is shite! You better shut your mouth about those lies and leave us the hell alone!”

The girls screamed and cried, quickly running down the hall as if they had just barely made it out with their lives. Harry almost found it in his instinct to try and chase after them when suddenly, he heard something that held them back.

“Don’t.”

His eyes widened from what he heard and he stood up straight. It took only another second for Hermione and Ron to grab at his shoulders and shake him like he was mad. Harry could barely register what they were saying because so desperately did he want to hear that voice again. He reached into the mental connection wanting to contact the alpha, but just as he tried there was another wall that seemed to block it. Suddenly, his vision began to blur.

“Are you crazy! They’re just girls!” Harry heard Ron say. It faded in and out as he tried the mental connection once more, but again there was nothing.

“Ron, he’s upset! Can’t you tell? Those girls got what they deserved! They needed someone to yell some sense into them!” Hermione countered, hugging at Harry’s side as if to support and reassure him.

“Talk some sense, maybe! Scare them to death, though?!” Ron argued, letting go of Harry. “I just don’t want him to get in trouble, unlike you!”

Harry felt like he could cry, but the anger episode took everything out of him. The bickering voices of the two humans faded in and out along with his vision. What he saw began to tunnel. His heart throbbed loudly in his ears, racing as if he had run a marathon. He barely even had the strength to stand as he staggered towards the ground. Hermione gasped, holding onto him and calling for Ron to help. Ron did so and took a hold of his friend, making sure he didn’t hurt himself. They lowered him down to where he was on his knees and his head lolled weakly.

“Oh, no!” Hermione whined. “No, he’s too weak! He hasn’t had blood in days, Ron! He needs help!”

“How am I supposed to help him? What, you want me to offer my neck or something?” the ginger-haired boy snapped, obviously beginning to panic from seeing his friend like this. “We need Snape!”

“Oh, now you think Snape is useful,” Hermione muttered, trying to pick Harry up. Ron tried to help her, but the young vampire was dead weight.

Even with the two of them, it was hard to get the boy up. Hermione groaned in frustration before pulling out her wand and summoning transfiguring the paper that was originally the paper airplane that was thrown at Harry into an owl. The owl chirped as it manifested itself from the paper, transforming into a small, gray owl. Ron looked at both the owl and Hermione, dumbfounded.

“Get Madame Pomfrey!” Hermione shouted at the owl. The owl looked at her curiously and blinked its big eyes. “Go! Now!” she commanded and the owl took off up the spiral stairs that were beside them.

“Hermione, are you sure that owl knows what it’s doing? It was just --”

“Shush!” Hermione said, finally letting Harry go to just allow him to lay down on the ground. The boy groaned, which caused her to sigh in relief. At least he was still alive. “You’re right. It was a long shot. Maybe you should go, just in case--”

“What’s the matter?” Dumbledore asked from the top of the stairs. Ron and Hermione both looked at him in both surprise and relief of his presence. In his hand, which caused Hermione to squeal in happiness, was the owl that was transfigured from the paper. The owl chirped happily, as if proud of succeeding in the task. Ron just rolled his eyes. “This lovely bird flew up my stairs and scared Fawkes half to death.”

“Sir, please,” Hermione begged lightly. “Harry.”

Dumbledore looked over his glasses as if to make sure what he was seeing was real. He nodded before saying, “just the boy I wanted to see. Perfect timing. Let’s take him into my office.” With a flick of a wand, he casted a levicorpus spell onto Harry to get him up from the ground. He motioned his wand to pull Harry to ascend up the stairs. The other two wasted no time in following.

---

A space was made on the mahogany couch that was in Dumbledore’s office. Harry was placed on it gently by Dumbledore who then lifted the charm off of him. The boy was still groaning, showing signs of life, even if they were weak. Hermione worriedly asked why they were not going to Madame Pomfrey, but Dumbledore only hummed in reply. The little owl that Hermione transfigured came with them, soaring over their heads until it landed on Fawkes’ perch. The phoenix practically hissed at it. The owl didn’t seem to mind as it just began to groom itself with its beak.

“Very beautiful and talented magic, Ms. Granger,” Dumbledore complimented, causing Hermione to perk up. Ron muttered something of “dumb luck”, but even he, himself, said that it was pretty amazing that she did that. “Making that owl save precious time so that I could help Mr. Potter, here.”

“Thank you, sir. If I may ask, however, what exactly are you going to do to help? We don’t have Professor Snape and so I figured the next best person would be --”

“Me,” Dumbledore said with a small smile past his beard. Whether you know it or not, I was given special instructions by our Potions Master while he was gone. There are some things you do not need to know, but I will say that Severus is, in fact, not the one you are looking for from the article,” the headmaster clarified as he went to the side of his office into a cupboard that was under a cooling charm.

“I never had any doubt, headmaster,” Hermione said with a smile while shooting daggers at Ron. Ron pursed his lips, guilty. “And, of course, neither is Harry.”

“Precisely,” Dumbledore affirmed as he took out two units of blood that were packed in muggle blood bags. Hermione and Ron both watched in profound curiosity - Ron, more or less grossed out than anything - as Dumbledore took his wand and casted a wordless spell over the bags. There seemed to be no change in them, however with a smile, Dumbledore stated that the bags were now warm and ready to be given to Harry.

With specific instruction from Snape, Dumbledore was told to take two units from his cabinet in his room and leave the rest behind. There was no need for a replicating spell as there was plenty of blood for the both of them upon his return. Dumbledore was to then take the blood and give it to Harry warm, not too hot, in a chalice of full size.

“My apologies for not getting it in sooner,” Dumbledore said, filling the chalice carefully with the warm blood. “I didn’t realize how far gone the boy was.”

“I believe he’ll be okay once we give him the blood,” Hermione said, offering her hands to take the chalice. “I’ll give it to him.”

Dumbledore thanked Hermione as he gave her the chalice. The girl then went to Harry and helped tilt his head up as much as she could so he could taste the blood. Once the cup was to his lips, he bit at it and suddenly made a noise that Hermione never heard before. It was like an animal purring. She tipped the cup into Harry’s mouth slightly until the blood stained his teeth and went past his lips.

Suddenly, his eyes shot wide open, as if realizing what was happening. Harry took the cup, practically snatched it from Hermione, and sat up completely to gulp it down. Ron made a gagging noise which caused the girl to roll her eyes. Instead, she tried to focus on Harry as he drank, which was fervently. The blood was gone in almost half a minute.

“Better?” she asked.

“Hermione?” Harry nearly choked, realizing that it was her in front of him and not Snape. He felt his cheeks warm with color, reacting from both the blood intake and the embarrassment of realizing that he purred in front of her. “T-thank you…so much. Where did you get this? How? Is Snape here?”

“Unfortunately not,” Dumbledore replied. Harry looked at the headmaster, understanding where he was. He was in Dumbledore’s office. Of course; he should have come to see Dumbledore just like Hermione said.

“H-he’s still gone, then?” Harry asked, turning to place his feet on the floor. He acted like he was about to stand up from the couch, but Hermione stopped him gently, telling him that he needed to take it easy right now.

“Would you like more blood?” she asked.

“Please,” Harry replied.

“Lord, I can’t watch,” Ron groaned, covering his eyes and rubbing them from grimacing. Dumbledore only chuckled, getting the cup back from Hermione before pouring blood into it again. “I’m not trying to be rude, but I just don’t understand.”

“I don’t expect you to,” Harry said, his tone a little harsh. “Ever since you’ve been acting weird about me being a vampire, I haven’t expected you to.” Harry retrieved the full cup from Hermione when she gave it to him and thanked her before drinking from it.

“I just never had to see you drink this stuff before. The more I think about it…the more it’s off for me. I’m sorry, mate.”

“Sure,” Harry said, finishing up the cup. More color came back to his skin. When he opened his eyes, they were the original vibrant green that they were originally before he became weak. Even if Harry didn’t look, Ron and Hermione smiled softly to see their friend get back into better health.

“I appreciate you two for helping,” Dumbledore said, holding his hand up to allow the owl that stole Fawkes’ perch to fly and settle on his fingers. “I believe this belongs to you, Ms. Granger.”

“I don’t know what to do with him,” Hermione said with a frown, scooping the owl into her hands. “Sh-should I just turn him back?”

“If you believe that it is right. However, in my full opinion that wasn’t asked for, you gave him life. Why take it away now when he has benefited the world so much already? He could be useful,” Dumbledore offered with a tilt of his head. With that, Hermione smiled and allowed the owl to go onto her shoulder. Its big eyes blinked twice in appreciation of the gesture.

“Thank you, Headmaster,” she said.

“Now, I hate to be rude, but there are some things I must discuss with Mr. Potter alone. I hope you two don’t mind? Actually, you shouldn’t. You’re already late for Transfiguration. Why don’t you show Professor McGonagall your tremendous feat in magic?”

“Of course, Professor,” Hermione said, taking a hold of Ron’s hand. Ron drew his lips into a pursed smile and nodded at the Headmaster. He turned to look at Harry. They, two, exchanged a small nod - a silent exchange of appreciation and gratitude. Hermione said her goodbyes to Harry and both of them began their way down the stairs of the office.

“Professor Dumbledore,” Harry began. “I cannot thank you enough --”

“No need to thank me. It should be Professor Snape that you are thanking, my boy,” Dumbledore clarified, walking towards his pensive. He took his wand and pointed it towards his temple. With a grimace, he slowly pried the liquid, white memory from his head and placed it in the bowl. “If it weren’t for him contacting me, I surely would not have known what to do. I really am ashamed of myself knowing so little about vampires when two of them are at this school full time.”

“You talked to Snape?” Harry asked, eyes wide. His heart began to race just from the thought, almost in envy of the fact that Snape contacted Dumbledore but didn’t even allow their mental connection to be opened enough to let him into his mind. “W-what happened? Where is he? What did he say? How long --?”

“So many questions all at once,” Dumbledore chuckled. “I only received a message from Professor Snape rather than talking to him. He sent me a message through his patronus. Somehow, he was able to get alone just enough to send a message without Tom being aware.”

“T-Tom. You mean Voldemort?” Harry asked.

“Tom,” Dumbledore repeated, smiling through his beard. “I refuse to give him any sort of other name than the one he was born with. I refuse to give him power, or whatever power he thinks he is gaining from using his forbidden name.”

“Right…” Harry said, although he was slightly confused. Voldemort was, indeed, very powerful. Harry was impressed that Dumbledore acted like that power was just a sham. “So…Snape sent a message. Can I ask what it was about?”

Dumbledore pondered this for a moment, but ultimately shrugged his shoulders as if to make up his mind. “He has been assisting Voldemort since his reincarnation. He cannot draw away without giving too much suspicion of him being on the side of Light. He told me to tell you that he hasn’t contacted you because Voldemort is known to use Legimency often on his Death Eaters to know what they are thinking. He doesn’t want to give that door to him so that he cannot get to you.”

Harry’s mouth slacked open in disbelief to what he heard. Voldemort was able to read minds? Harry knew about Legimency because of Hermione’s reading, but never heard about it actually being used in practice. Especially Voldemort being able to use it on his Death Eaters. Harry was about to ask if Voldemort really didn’t trust his Death Eaters that much, but he answered his own question as he thought of Snape.

Snape was truly a traitor.

“Well…that does explain a lot,” Harry said with a small voice. Even though he got the information he was looking for, it still didn’t satisfy him. He truly believed that nothing would satisfy him until he had Snape standing in front of him right now. Or at the very least have their connection opened. “Did he say when he’d be back?”

“Unfortunately, he isn’t too entirely sure. He is hoping within the next day or so, but it all depends. He did tell me to tell you to not worry, however. He said to be alert and prepared,” Dumbledore's eyes seemed to get darker as he continued, “war is upon us, Harry.”

Harry grit his teeth at those words, wishing he could undo their existence. “How should I prepare?” he asked.

“Prepare for Professor’s Snape’s return. I have instructed him that now is the time to begin to train you in more ways than just a vampire; you need to be trained on how to be a powerful wizard, now,” Dumbledore explained. “With Professor Snape’s help, you will learn more about Defense Against the Dark Arts than ever before. He will actually be a consistent teacher with you.”

Harry felt his heart fluttering at the idea of Snape training him, in both excitement and nervousness. He knew his magic could be a lot better, but at the same time would it be good enough in the end? Would training even work?

It had to.

“Yes, Professor,” he said, hoping that the Headmaster wouldn’t hear the shake in his voice. “I will be ready.”

---

That night, Harry was preparing for bed. It seemed like for the first time in a few days, he felt like perhaps he could actually get some sleep knowing that Snape in some way managed to make contact. He remembered the inkling of that single word “Don’t” resonate in his head. It was almost as if Snape knew what he was planning to do and broke the wall just enough to advise him to not carry it out. If he was able to do it for just a second, why not take another second to inform Harry about when he was coming back?

Harry knew that it was because Snape knew he would try to use the connection too much. It would be too dangerous to keep the connection going and they would both be found out by Voldemort about Snape’s true status, about their plans…about their bond.

Although Harry was frustrated, he was more at ease than he was the previous few nights. Perhaps he would be able to finally get some rest after all. He said a good night to Ron before turning the torches off. He could hear Ron shuffling around on his bed to get comfortable while he put his glasses on the nightstand.

Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.