𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐇/𝐃/𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐄 2008

Blood is Thicker

Title: Blood is Thicker
Author:: ennyousai
Pairing: Snape/Draco/Harry
Word Count: ~6700
Warnings: Nothing, really.
Summary: Snape wants to live out the rest of his days with his vampire clan. Then Draco Malfoy shows up, and he owes Harry Potter a life debt...
Rating: PG

For the most part the Istvar Clan lived in isolation in the countryside surrounding Eger, but news of something as momentous as the end of the Second War had a way of reaching even the most hidden communities in a matter of days. The clan had heard the first rumors flying through the countryside even before the riders who made periodic visits to the witches and wizards returned to their home. Severus Snape was duly called before Istvan, who informed him that the erstwhile Tom Riddle had passed to the Other Side for good, and that the clan had chosen to sever its few remaining ties to the larger Wizarding community. If he wanted to remain in contact with anyone from his former life he would have to seek welcome from one of the clans who still had some interest in the outside world, or else live as an outsider among Wizardkind. Snape listened to Istvan dispassionately as he made his pronouncement, then said he would stay with the Istvars. There had been little enough to bind him to wizards before his Turning; now that the War was over he was content to remain hidden with his clan.

He did not, however, anticipate that in the course of the next year two events would alter his plan to retire into quiet obscurity.

The first occurred some two months after the War ended. A skirmish between two different clans had upset the balance of power in France, and groups of refugees were making their way steadily east. Most of them fell in with the vampire communities in Germany or Austria, since those countries were considerably more tolerant of strangers than the ones further east, but a few pushed deeper into unfamiliar territory. It was only a matter of time before some of them stumbled into the Istvar lands. As was customary, they were brought before an assembly of the entire clan for the leader to decide their fate. Snape was reasonably certain that the matter would be settled quickly – the outsiders would be blindfolded and guided through their lands by an escort, left at the border, and that would be that.

How very wrong he was.

When Snape arrived at the gathering he felt a cold thrill of shock run through him. One of the vampires sitting up on the dais in full view of the clan was none other than Draco Malfoy, thinner and paler than Snape remembered, but unmistakably the boy he'd taught at Hogwarts. Snape wondered if he had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time and been taken as a human captive by one of the warring clans, but no, his grey eyes had taken on the preternatural sheen that showed he had been Turned. Snape was willing to guess that it had not been voluntary. Draco looked nervous and agitated, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed convulsively, clearly not at ease with his new nature. The other two vampires ignored his presence, which made Snape think that they were not members of the clan that had claimed Draco.

Draco's eyes were darting almost frantically over the crowd of vampires, as if seeking someone who might save him from a nightmare. When he lit upon Snape his face was flooded with a desperate hope and he lurched to his feet.

"Severus!"

Istvan turned to Snape and raised his eyebrows, his face carefully blank. Snape bit back a curse and stepped forward.

"Young Master Malfoy. What an unexpected pleasure this is."

"Severus, you have to help me. I –"