Blood Bonds

Chp 1: Inheritance

Severus Snape opened his eyes and sighed. Sitting up in bed, he looked around his dungeon bedroom. Yet another year of teaching other people's brats; watching over students who would never understand or be grateful. Students who would mock him when they thought he couldn't hear, calling him hurtful and disrespectful names. He sighed again and rubbed his chest, trying to soothe away the ache of loneliness that forever burned in his heart, and wondered once again why the fates hated him so much that he was denied a mate. Born a vampire, Severus was destined to be half of a whole, part of a set. Every born-vampire had a mate, who they usually found when they came of age, around the time they turned seventeen. But Severus never found his mate. On a good day, he believed his mate must have been killed before coming of age. On a bad day, he knew he wasn't worthy of such happiness. Over the past eighteen years, he contemplated ending his misery many times, but something always held him back. A fragment of a dream, a barely-remembered sense of warm arms, long, dark hair and glowing eyes.

Shaking off his melancholy, he went about his morning business. He absently noted that he needed to brew more of the simple potions designed to protect his eyes and skin from daylight and to repress the bloodlust. Without a mate to sate the need for blood with, he had no other recourse but to suppress the craving, lest he lose control. An unfortunate side effect of the suppression potion was that he was generally weaker and slower than other vampires. A low level of pain thrummed through his body at all times, resulting in his surliness and snarky disposition. It also gave his skin and hair a sallow, greasy appearance.

"Not that there's anyone who cares," he muttered to himself.

Sighing yet again, he braced himself, then walked out of the sanctuary of his rooms to see what the first of his two masters wanted from him that day.

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Harry Potter smiled as he leaped out of bed. He couldn't remember ever being this happy before in his life. Today was the day that he left the Dursleys forever. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, were coming to pick him up and take him to Grimmauld Place for a week before he returned to Hogwarts for his final year. Dressing quickly, he frowned down at the baggy trousers that were now far too short for him. He'd gotten a lot taller in the past two months, or really, in the past month. His hair had grown out and was now halfway down his back. The extra weight finally made his notoriously messy hair behave, so he left it, pulling it back into a ponytail. The Durselys wouldn't allow Harry such a thing as a mirror, and he never bothered to look at himself in the one in the bathroom, or he might have noticed that he had filled out extremely well, becoming nicely muscled and extremely handsome. With all the yard work that he had done over the summer, he was tanned to a light bronze. He'd also developed an unmistakable air of self-confidence. In short, little Harry Potter had grown up and become a man.

The doorbell rang, followed by the sound of war whoops and his aunt shrieking. Chuckling, he sent Hedwig off, before grabbing his trunk and her cage to drag downstairs. When he got there, he was greeted by the strangest sight ever to be seen at number 4 Privet Drive. Two identical redheads, dressed in costumes, had pushed into the house and were leaping around the living room in what was obviously meant to be a dance. But the funniest thing was the sight of Harry's Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley; gagged and tied to a pole in the middle of the room...upside down. Harry boggled for a second, then promptly ripped his shirt off and joined the dance, hair flying loose, loud screams of joy falling from his lips.

Fred and George screamed their approval, prancing over to present him with the extra crown they were carrying.A few minutes later, the three of them collapsed on the carpet, laughing too hard to continue.

Fred grinned. "Cheers Harry, mate. Thought we'd give you one good memory of this place before you go."

Harry crawled over and dropped a kiss on his face, then on his twin's. "You two are amazing. Thanks". The twins blushed and smirked, mumbling that it was nothing.