11. REASONS
"Just try to relax," Sirius ordered Harry gently, pulling him closer to his chest. "Look, Remus has already closed his eyes."
"Sirius?" Harry carefully twisted around so that he could look Sirius at the face. "Am I bothering you?"
"Not at all," the veela assured him. "I like to have you this close to me. You smell delicious, you know? And you make me feel all warm and content and stronger."
Harry blushed, glad that the darkness hid it for the most part, though it seemed like Sirius knew exactly what his words had done to the elf.
"Sirius? Do you mind if... I grow my wings?" Harry whispered and felt how the older wizard shook his head lightly.
The Animagus started a little as the silky black wings also wrapped lightly around him, but was flooded with relief as he felt Harry relax against his chest. He sighed softly, just enjoying his small mate pressed against him.
His parents would throw a fit. A nameless creature; raised by Muggles to put the cherry on top. He would count himself lucky if there wasn't a howler waiting for him the next day, because the little snot that was his brother had told on him. Once again. Regulus did everything he could to gain their parents' approval and though they once had been close they now avoided each other like the plague. Sirius shook his head, he couldn't dwell on that now. He needed to protect his mate from his family's anger.
Another possibility crossed his mind. His family could be thrilled by this revelation. They weren't exactly disappointed that he and Narcissa turned out to be veelas. When they would find out that his mate was the only submissive elf in more than a century... He shuddered at the thought what kind of party they would throw to celebrate this fact or rather to show off with it. It would boost the Black reputation and that Harry had no family to speak of only meant that there would be less difficulties on acquiring their prize.
On second thought, this was even more horrifying - poor, innocent, loving Harry in their clutches as they squeezed his life and power out of him until there was nothing left. Harry would be less than a trophy for them, a breeding mare perhaps and he didn't doubt that they would find a way to destroy Harry completely.
His arms tightened around his small sub. He had to save Harry from that at all costs! He had resigned to the fact that his parents were close to hating him and he wouldn't buy their acceptance at Harry's expense.
"I thought you wanted me to sleep," Harry murmured sleepily, nudging Sirius' chin. "I can't when you are worrying so much. What's wrong?"
"Just thinking about my family's reaction to us," Sirius admitted. "I'm sorry. Go back to sleep, okay?"
"It won't be too bad," Harry reassured him drowsily. "You'll still have your friends... and me, whatever they say."
Sirius sighed, gathered Harry to his chest and kissed the soft pink lips once more, trying to save his worries for another day so that Harry could sleep.
The horror that faced them the next morning was worse than Sirius' nightmare filled dreams had suggested. Not a howler. No, that was too common. Walburga Black was far above such plebeian things; she came in person.
"Sirius." This one word alone was scratching over Harry's taut nerves, leaving bloody bruises. "I thought I'd be the first to congratulate you on finding such a mate." She looked Harry over, measuring him. "Won't you introduce us?"
"Harry, this is my mother," Sirius pressed out. "Mother, this is Harry Parker."
"Mrs. Black," Harry said softly, holding out a hand that was blatantly ignored.
Instead the stout witch slowly walked around them, finishing her inspection. "He's a bit mingy and obviously has no fashion sense at all. I hope he is at least pureblood, Sirius?"
"No, I'm not," Harry spoke up as Sirius merely shrugged his shoulders. "And I would appreciate it if you'd stop staring at me as if I was an animal you're considering buying, Mrs. Black."
"You won't speak unless spoken to," she hissed at him, sharply backhanding him across the face. "You will learn your place soon enough, Mudblood."
"Don't touch him again, mother, before I forget myself." Sirius' eyes flashed angrily, ice flames crackling briefly over his hands as Harry whimpered, pressing back against him.
"Watch your mouth, Sirius," she spat at him. "It was bad enough you were sorted into Gryffindor, I won't have you mess this up as well. You will not sully the Black name!"
"Don't speak to Sirius like that," Harry demanded, his wings resurfacing to shield Sirius from his mother's wrath. "What kind of mother are you that you treat your own son like that? I don't mind that you don't like me, but you will not hurt my dominant."
"How dare you even speak to me," the witch retorted, making to strike him again. "I forbid you, filthy Mudblood."
Harry closed his eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the command of the domineering woman. He needed to defend his dom. He needed to. Sirius' arms closed protectively around him, giving him the necessary confidence to speak.
"I'll ask you one last time to go in peace. Maybe you can come back when you have stopped sprouting the same bullshit as Voldemort, but until such a time when you're willing to apologise to Sirius for how you have treated him, you aren't welcome and have no business here."
"You filthy little bitch," she screeched, trying to wrap her claw-like hands around Harry's throat, but the small boy snapped his fingers once, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
What seemed like an army of house-elves appeared around them, their little, ugly faces set in grim lines as they pointed their long fingers at the Black matriarch. Her eyes widened in almost comical horror and with a collective beam of light, she disappeared into thin air and Harry collapsed in Sirius' arms.
"Master Black takes good care of the little elfling." One of the house-elves approached them, twisting his Hogwarts uniform. "He has a good heart that has seen too much evil. Someone has to take care of the little elfling because he is too concerned with taking care of others."
Sirius nodded gratefully, if a bit absently, at the messenger. As the little army plopped away again, he scooped Harry up and carried him out of the Great Hall.
"Harry, please wake up for me," he whispered pleadingly, sitting on the grand staircase leading up to Hogwarts with Harry leaning against his chest.
Harry's eyes snapped open immediately, focusing fearfully on his dominant. "I'm sorry, but she was going to hurt you," Harry mumbled, his voice raspy. "She had her wand and was thinking very mean thoughts. I couldn't allow that."
"Thank you, Harry, you probably saved my life. I don't think I would have survived her wrath when she found out that I have no intention to let her use you," Sirius murmured softly, kissing Harry chastely on the mouth.
"I didn't mean to disobey her, but she was hurting you and she insulted my mother." Harry sniffed, harshly wiping his wet eyes.
"It's okay, Harry, you had the right to do that," the veela reassured him, grinning a little. "That was a pretty cool stunt with all the house-elves. She'll be furious."
Harry whimpered softly, finding nothing amusing in that thought, and Sirius pulled him closer, wiping away the tears as they slowly began to roll down Harry's pale cheeks. After a bit of rocking and a lot of soothing words, Harry had calmed down enough to snuggle into Sirius' robes, purring lightly as the older boy began to rub circles on his back.
"Are you okay, Harry? Should I bring you to the infirmary?"
"I'm fine, just a bit exhausted and sad. I'm sorry she hates you so much."
"I don't need her, Harry," Sirius told him earnestly, rearranging the smaller boy's feet so that Harry's position didn't look quite so awkward anymore. "I need you. You know that I love you, don't you?"
"I'm beginning to believe it," Harry answered. "And ever since you admitted that I'm your mate, you've been more than perfect."
"I understand that one and a half days aren't enough," Sirius assured him, kissing Harry's temple. "Though it was quite enough for me to fall irretrievably deep in love with you." He smiled brightly. "I can't say I mind."
"But... She's your mother, don't you mind that, at least?"
"She's an insane old woman, she was never a good mother and she was never even a good person. I must have done something right if she despises me so much."
Harry sighed, keeping silent though he couldn't agree with Sirius. His mother's love had saved him and when he looked at Lily Evans his heart ached with a by now familiar longing for something he had never really had. But perhaps Sirius was different or perhaps he just hid it as Harry had done for the longest time.
"I want to make you happy," Harry said suddenly, pulling Sirius out from his dreams of imagining his mother's face as she realised that she had been defeated by house-elves. "Let me?"
"That depends, Harry," Sirius gently stopped him. "I don't want you to make me happy if it makes you unhappy. What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking about ice cream," Harry answered, his enthusiasm dissipating slightly as he got a weird look from the veela. "It always makes me feel better," he mumbled in embarrassment.
Sirius laughed at that answer, ruffling Harry's hair. "We haven't even had breakfast yet and you're thinking about ice cream? But I'm not complaining. How do we get your ice cream?"
Harry snapped his fingers with a grin and a house-elf with honey-coloured skin popped into view, bowing deeply and smiling at Harry.
"What can Frizzle do for Master Harry, Sir? I is not seeing any mean hag," the house-elf said and Sirius laughed - he had never known that house-elves possessed a sense of humour.
"Could we have some ice cream, please?" Harry asked with a friendly smile and after another deep bow the house-elf disappeared.
One minute later a giant bowl with ice cream, chocolate sauce, brittle chips, sprinkles, kiwis, bananas, apples and all other kinds of fruit appeared in front of them with two long-stemmed spoons.
Sirius whistled appreciatively, handing Harry one of the spoons. "Well, then, bon appétit."
He clanked their spoons together before scooping up some of the strawberry ice cream with sprinkles and transporting it into his mouth. All the while, he watched Harry reverently as Harry licked the ice cream of his spoon. Damn, did that boy know how fucking sexy that was? A small lick at first, tentative, then a quick swirl of the tongue, another lick and another until the sweet substance was almost completely gone and then he sucked the whole spoon into his mouth, cleaning it, before the innocent seduction started all over again.
Sirius quickly turned back to eating his own ice cream before the bulge in his pants could become even more obvious. Still, he couldn't help but stare at Harry more than once, especially as Harry accompanied his eating with soft moans of appreciation.
In the end, they had managed to eat about a quarter of the sundae; Harry was smiling happily and Sirius was looking for a suitable excuse to make a short trip to the next best restroom.
"And are you happy now?" Harry asked hopefully after the same house-elf had taken the rest of the ice cream away.
"Yes, I'm very happy," Sirius assured him, leaning over to kiss Harry tenderly, though in hindsight he had to admit that this wasn't too good a move in his current condition.
"Thank you." Harry blushed lightly, touching his fingers to his lips.
"I intend to do that more often," Sirius replied. "Though not now. Jamie will kill me if I make his new Seeker late for practise."
Harry pouted much too cutely, but right on cue James, followed by almost the whole Quidditch team, skipped down the steps. "Harry, I want you changed and on your broom in ten minutes, you'd better go."
Harry smiled a bit uncertainly before he waved at Sirius and ran to catch up with his team mates.
"You okay there, Paddy?" James thumped him on his back. "You know my mum loves you, wrote me a whole letter asking about your health and she'll want to meet Harry, too. He'll sweep her off her feet; that boy is too adorable for his own good."
"I know." Sirius groaned, carefully standing up. "I'll be late for practise, Jamie. I really, really need to go to the loo now."
He could still hear James' laughter ringing in his ears as he locked himself in one of the toilet stalls to get rid of the little problem in his pants.
After he had cleaned himself up again and rearranged his clothes, he sauntered out to the Quidditch pitch where Harry was training with the rest of the team, soaring around, diving and dodging the Bludgers as if he had done so all his life.
Sirius wasn't sure if James or Harry was better because they flew so differently. They both indubitably had a lot of talent, were naturals on the broom, though he would never admit it to James because that would go against the concept of their friendship. James flew with abnormal speed, passing the Quaffle to his fellow Chasers and throwing it with more strength than Sirius was sure Harry possessed. Harry, on the other hand, flew even faster, doing twists and sharp turns that seemed impossible and made it hard to follow him with his eyes.
"Siri, get your butt on your broom!" James shouted down to him. "I have every intention of winning the next game, preferably without being hit by a Bludger because you didn't pay attention during practise."
"Geez, give a man a break," Sirius groused. "I'm on my way."
"Okay, we are finished for today." James clapped his hands loudly. "Come back down for a minute." Harry was the first next to him, the Snitch firmly grasped in his hand. "Russell," James addressed one of the beaters, "a bit less force will do, I would appreciate it if the Bludgers wouldn't fly for hours before they can go back to knocking the Slytherins of their brooms. Dina, Patrick we'll continue practising the new strategy in the next training, which is Monday, four o' clock. Harry, you were great, nothing more to say, really."
"Thanks." Harry blushed, scrunching up his nose a little as James pulled him into a sweaty hug.
The older elf laughed. "No problem, Harry, why don't you go and say hello to Sirius?" He waggled his eyebrows exaggeratedly and Harry blushed before he ran over to Sirius.
"Good training?" Sirius laughed. "You looked magnificent."
"Thanks," Harry ducked his head. "I missed you, though. Why did you leave early?"
"I had to pay some debts," Sirius replied, rubbing the still slightly itchy skin of his neck. "Besides, I'm only reserve."
"You asked for it," Harry answered softly.
"I know," Sirius agreed. "How about a kiss now?"
"That would be great," Harry whispered, mewling a little as he was pulled flush against Sirius.
The older boy chuckled lightly before he tilted Harry's face upward and captured Harry's lips in another of his mind-blowing kisses, relishing in the small hands that once again fisted in his robes.
Someone cleared their throat behind Sirius and when he turned around, Harry had already thrown himself into Snape's arms. The veela snarled dangerously.
"You came, thank you!" Harry exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"If you can keep him from murdering me, I am," Severus drawled nonchalantly.
"Sirius, please." Harry turned around, begging him with his eyes. "You said I could be friends with Severus."
"I said nothing about touching him," Sirius growled. "Come here."
Harry complied, though reluctantly, lowering his eyes as Sirius wrapped his arms around his waist.
"You're doing it again," he whispered and Sirius' hold relaxed, though the arms stayed around Harry's waist. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I don't like it when you touch someone else."
"You had no problem with James earlier," Harry argued, tensing as Sirius' pulled him closer again.
"I did, but I trust Jamie," Sirius admitted. "Him, however, I don't trust."
"You should trust me!" the elf insisted though he felt slightly guilty at the thought of the kiss he had shared with Severus. "And if you can't do that, I don't think I want to trust you. Please, let me go."
"I do trust you, Harry." Sirius sighed, but dropped his arms. "But you can't deny that you couldn't do much if Snape was to take advantage of you. I'm just worried."
"I trust Severus," Harry retorted. "And I know that I'm completely helpless, thanks for reminding me."
"Harry, come on." The grey-eyed boy cupped the smaller wizard's face. "I didn't mean it like that and I'm sorry I overreacted and ordered you to come back to me. Please, don't be angry. It's just... Snape, if you hurt Harry, I will skin you alive and then I'll find an anthill so that the ants can crawl all over you and hopefully eat you, though I doubt that even they would have such bad taste."
"After meeting your mother, I kind of expected you to be able to make a better threat - stupid I know." Severus sneered. "It's no wonder you're such a disappointment to your family."
"Severus, please," Harry begged. "Please, cut it out."
"I wanted to tell you that you should speak with Lucius." Severus shrugged. "Hadn't counted on lover boy to get more irritating than usual."
"I was going to speak with him, but why is it so important?" Harry cocked his head.
"Firstly, because he should know about this." Severus made a vague gesture towards Sirius. "And then you might want to ask him to speak with the Quidditch team so that they don't get the idea to give you some orders during the match. Wouldn't want you to fall of the broom, now would we?"
"Can I go, Sirius?" Harry asked pleadingly.
"Fine," Sirius muttered, reluctantly allowing Harry to step towards the future Potion's Master, who smirked. "But... Nothing. Be safe."
"Thank you." Harry smiled brilliantly at him before tugging Severus away with him.
"Oh and, Black, I want you to drink this." Severus stopped, looking back over his shoulder, holding out a tiny flask of clear liquid. "It takes a while to take effect and lasts twenty-four hours so you might as well take it now."
"And what is it supposed to so?" Sirius asked skeptically.
"You'll see." Severus smirked and then strode away with a Harry at his side, who only managed to send an encouraging smile back at his mate.
"You got your way without your elfish charm," Severus murmured to Harry. "I'm impressed how well you have him wrapped around your little finger."
"Oh, you! Don't be so mean all the time. He's trying at least," Harry chastised him. "You should do that, too."
"I haven't as much motivation as he does." Severus shrugged. "I doubt you would reward me like him."
"Severus... I thought you were okay," Harry said sadly. "Please, don't make me feel even worse than I'm already feeling."
"Why are you feeling bad?" Severus questioned incredulously. "I don't blame you for my feelings and I shouldn't have built up my hopes. I knew that you're an elf and that I didn't stand a chance. Don't feel bad."
"I feel bad because you're my friend and because you're feeling bad," Harry explained. "I know that it's unrealistic for everyone to be happy, but I can still try, can't I?"
"Of course." Severus rolled his eyes. "Try to make everything sunshine, dreams and fairy tale. I'll try to not provoke Black, alright?"
"Thank you, Severus." Harry grinned suddenly. "And I will set you up with someone!"
"What? No!" Severus meant to shake some sense into the laughing Gryffindor, but Harry quickly slipped from his grasp and fled to the Slytherin common room where he looked for his loyal protector.
"Lucius, protect me!" Harry gasped out, hiding behind the blond's back. "Please, please, protect me! He's trying to kill me!"
"I'll kill you if you do that, Parker." Severus pushed into the common room moments later. "Don't you dare..."
"See?" Harry looked pleadingly up at the blond, who seemed to be fighting a smirk. "I need your protection."
"Yes, I see that." Lucius gave in to the urge to smirk. "What I don't see is why. Care to tell me?"
Harry grinned up at him before he stood on his tip toes to whisper into the blond's ear. Lucius laughed at the new information, putting himself between Harry and a fuming potions genius.
"I think I agree with Harry." He smirked. "You need to get laid."
"That's not what I said," Harry protested as Severus growled dangerously.
"But that is what it amounts to." Lucius laughed. "You are just too innocent to be so blunt."
"You will so pay for this, Parker." Severus sneered before swirling around and walking to the dorms.
"He will calm down." Lucius was still grinning as he pulled Harry down on the sofa. "So, you wanted to tell me that you and Black are together now and that you are his mate."
Harry nodded. "That's okay with you, isn't it?"
"Of course, Harry." The blond squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I wanted you to find your mate and Black isn't too bad for a Gryffindor."
"Try telling that to Severus," Harry muttered sarcastically. "He just gave Sirius a potion with Merlin knows what effect."
"Well, Black knew what to expect," Lucius said calmly. "And though he sent a lot of apologies, I doubt there are many people he pranked more than ten times; thus warranting a payback. In no time, you'll have your mate all to yourself again, Harry."
"I'm not sure that he's my mate," Harry admitted. "I want to have dreams like you or at least smell that something is different with Sirius, but I don't."
Lucius sighed, pulling Harry to his chest. "You care about him, don't you?"
"Yes, but I care about you, too, it's just a bit different."
"That says a lot already." Lucius smiled at him. "Would you allow me to kiss you? Would you want me to kiss you?"
"No." Harry shook his head quickly. "I like Sirius' kisses, but that can't be all, can it? I mean, even Lily is in love with James and doesn't have any creature blood. Why, why, if I'm supposedly an elf, don't I feel anything?"
Lucius chuckled. "Oh, Harry, do you really think that Lily and Potter became the perfect couple as soon as Potter came into his inheritance? Do you think that Lily woke up with the thought that she was utterly in love with Potter? Potter had been pursuing her long before he was even aware of his elven inheritance. By our fifth year, Potter had already decided that he would marry Lily Evans and no one else. He proposed to her in the middle of the Great Hall. She refused, but with time she realised that when he was pranking her, he was only trying to gain her attention, and that when he showered her with compliments, he meant each and every one of them. And then she gave him a chance and began to slowly return his love. When James came into his inheritance and Lily was his mate, they both took it as a confirmation not the reason for their love."
"Would Sirius have done that, slowly won my heart if I'd have been here from the beginning?" Harry asked softly.
"I'm convinced of it, little one." Lucius smiled gently at him. "Our creature blood is not the reason we love, it's the reason why we find true love. And I heard it's very satisfactory to be loved above all else. Why do you think is it a dream of every little girl to be the mate of a magical creature?"
"But why don't I have something like that?" Harry all but shouted, at the end of his tether. "You have dreams and scents and pulls and instant attraction and what not, and I have nothing! Why, Lucius, tell me why?"
"Shh, try to be calm," Lucius murmured soothingly in Harry's ear, pulling him closer. "And I will try to give you an answer."
Harry swallowed heavily; putting his head on Lucius' shoulder as he waited for an answer that didn't seem to be forthcoming because Narcissa entered the common room, immediately demanding Lucius' full attention. Narcissa's slender form tensed minutely when she saw someone so close to her mate, but then she relaxed when she recognised Harry and with a brilliant smile she sat down next to Lucius, pecking his lips and patting Harry's hand.
"What are you to doing?" she asked gently.
"Lucius wanted to explain to me why nothing tells me that Sirius is my mate," Harry said, hoping to prompt Lucius to finally give him an answer.
"Of course Sirius is your mate," Narcissa said matter-of-factly. "It's blatantly obvious in the way he looks at you and treats you."
"But I don't feel it," Harry protested, locking his eyes on Lucius', pleading with him. "Why not?"
The blond wizard sighed. "There's a fairy tale, a legend, about a time when creatures were numerous and wizards few. In the Kingdom of Elves, there was an Elven prince and he was beautiful and powerful even for his race. But he was arrogant and cruel and used his considerable skills to control and hurt others. He ordered the animals to work for him, even made them sacrifice themselves so that he would have something to eat and changed the weather at a whim, destroying the harvest more than once and thereby condemning the peasants to famine and death.
"When his parents died he ascended the throne, with his submissive mate at his side, and the kingdom fell into despair with nothing between it and the wrath of the newly crowned king. Within one year, he had destroyed a once flourishing kingdom, the people and animals fled or hid in fear, the once fertile land was burned. This angered the gods and, gathering all their might, they punished the king and with him the race of elves. They could not take the power completely from them so they redistributed it, weakening the dominants and giving the power to the submissives. But to make sure that the submissives wouldn't be able to use their power they were made dependent on their mates, more dependent than any other race. But the gods were not done yet and blocked the submissives so they wouldn't find their mate, either, hoping that all the power would die with them."
"Really, Lucius, you told the story all wrong," Narcissa tutted disapprovingly, trying to dispel the worried and desperate expression from Harry's face. "It wasn't like that at all."
"Then how was it, dear?" Lucius asked, while patting Harry's hair.
"The king was selfish and cruel, but his mate wasn't. She was a very gentle soul, friendly and helpful to all, but her love for the king paralysed her and hindered her from standing up to him to protect her people. And so it was her, who asked the gods for help. The gods answered her plea and as they saw how pure and innocent she was, they awarded her and her descendants with all the power they took from the king.
"But she was afraid that submissives would be trapped in the same situation again, not able to stand up to their mates even if their conscience cried for them to do so. She didn't want the power and asked the gods to free her of it. They refused, but still wanted to help her and though they couldn't take away her dependency on a dominant, they freed her of the dependency on a mate," Narcissa said, squeezing Harry's hand. "You're in the unique situation of having a mate, but not needing him. You can decide if Sirius is really the man for you or if you want to find someone else."
Harry sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "I like your version better, Cissa."
The witch laughed. "I thought so. Though, I really think that Sirius can make you happy and that you make him happy already. He's not one of the dominants you need protection from."
"I know," Harry murmured. "I just think I would feel bad if I never learned to love him like he loves me... But thank you both, nonetheless. It helped."
"I'm glad," Lucius replied. "Tell me if I can do anything for you, alright? Just because Black more or less claimed you now, it doesn't mean that I will just forget about you."
"Actually there is something you could do," Harry said hesitantly, looking up at him. "I'm Gryffindor's new Seeker. Could you ask the Slytherin team to not take advantage of me during the game, please?"
"I will talk with our captain, don't worry." Lucius smiled a little. "No-one shall say that we couldn't win the game fairly."
Harry laughed softly. "I didn't think that Slytherins were known for fair play."
"We might take advantage of a situation, but never of you, Harry," Lucius promised him, putting an arm around Narcissa. "You are far too precious for that and after that impressive demonstration this morning, everyone will think twice before angering you."
Harry nodded slightly before getting up. "I should get back before Sirius completely loses it. Can you tell Severus that I'm sorry for making him angry?"
"Sure, do you want me to walk with you?"
"I think I will be fine." Harry smiled at both of them. "Sirius is waiting just outside."