Title: Slytherin Angel
Author: groffiction/Azriel
Rating: M… depending on the chapter.
Pairing: Snarry mainly…
Disclaimer: I do not own anything HP related. It all belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Inc., Warner Bros., and any other entities involved. So please don't sue or twitter! If you don't recognize it, it's mine… no touchy!
Summary: Harry comes into his inheritance and finds out that Severus Snape is his mate. With a new evil on the rise, and a new role to play, can both get past their differences and save the world yet again?
Warnings and Notes: Hints at past rape, torture, assault, murder, death, violence, abuse, and incest. Bloodplay, angst, sex, gore, violence, torture all in this one… so if you no likey, you don't have to read it. Also, the Snarry smexy parts don't happen for a long way off… in the real world despite Harry being in his first Spree. But it is well worth the wait. Also a bit AU because everybody important is still very much living except for Moldyshorts and Bellatrix… (I despised that bitch)… for now.

Chapter One: The Letters

*This takes place a week before his birthday… when Harry finds an old letter addressed to him… but not from Lily or James Potter….*

Harry Potter scowled as he cleaned out his aunt and uncle's garage. You'd think that after 16 years living with them that he'd not be surprised at how impossibly long his chores list was. But no… the asswipe relatives seemed to delight in giving Harry nasty surprises all summer long. The smaller than average, skinny boy sighed in resignation. It'd take him a whole day cleaning out this garbage. How had his relatives gotten it so dirty since he'd last cleaned it out the year before?

He looked at the clock on the wall, scowling again. Even though he got himself out of bed super early this morning, Aunt Petunia hadn't let him out until well past eight to do kitchen chores. So it was already one in the afternoon. Knowing it was useless trying to go through the entire chore list, he prepared himself for the inevitable beating and starvation that would come with his 'disobedience'. He grabbed a large box filled with pictures of Duddykins and nearly blarghed at the sight of his cousin's flashy flabby grimaces. He swore that Dudley only had a face a mother could love… he was so ugly and nasty.

He put it down on the ground and fought his nausea before rifling through the box. Getting it categorized was pretty easy since the box only contained pictures of the whale. He heard a slight rattle and blinked, looking around. He spotted a small box, no bigger than a tissue box, fall onto the floor. After much deliberation, he shrugged and opened the strange, sealed black box.

Why would his relatives keep a box this pretty sealed up? It was velvet textured and seemed to be in very good shape. As he opened the box he arched an eyebrow, noticing a few letters. Oh… that was why the box had been sealed. It was magicked to do so. But why hadn't he seen it the year before? He'd remembered cleaning out EVERYTHING last year… so how had this got there?

All the letters were addressed to Lily or James Potter… his parents… except one. Curious as to why his relatives had managed to save… or overlook this box, he looked at the return addresses.

His mouth nearly dropped in shock.

~Savae Lamina Ashitar~
Ashitar Castle of Darkness
Nedimar, Dracospire

Castle of Darkness? What was up with that? And where was Nedimar? He'd never heard of Dracospire either. He rubbed his arms a bit, feeling a bit of a chill racing through his body despite the warm summer weather. He heard his aunt yelling about something and instinctively stashed the letters into the pocket of his old hand me down pants… the only one which didn't have holes the size of London in the pockets. The box he shoved underneath a box and pretended to go through another box… just in the nick of time.

Petunia came out and threw him a box, in which he almost didn't quite catch. She scowled darkly at him. "You stupid boy! Can't you catch anything? Doesn't that abnormal school of yours teach you balance, you good for nothing freak?" Finally she harrumphed and wagged a finger at him. "Hurry up and clean this up before Vernon gets home. He's coming home early and will rip your hide to pieces if he sees you lazing about!"

And with that, she stormed back into the house, muttering about how incompetent and useless Harry was. The boy rolled his eyes, quite used to the insults. Still, the thought of Vernon coming home early spurred him into frantic action… and for a while… he forgot about the letters in his pocket.

It wasn't until later… much later… when the muggle relatives were snoring away happily in their fluffy king sized beds that Harry remembered the letters. His back was aching from the abuse his uncle had given him an hour previous. Vernon seemed to delight in beating the magic out of him, despite Harry knowing it was very useless to try and do so. The only way to lose one's magic was by the use of other magic, or killing oneself. And Vernon may be stupid, but not near so dumb as to think he'd get away with murdering his nephew.

Sometimes Harry wished his uncle would stray and accidentally kill him. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with any problems and would be able to rest… unworried. Death seemed so peaceful… but Harry knew that it was stupid to think that way. Even Professor Snape would have accused him of being a pitiful excuse of a martyr if he'd ever died in the war.

Strange… that his thoughts turned to the normally snarky professor.

Not knowing why he was thinking of the stoic acerbic professor, and a bit weirded out by it, Harry turned his attention to the soft weight of the letters in his pocket. The scrawny boy folded his legs up and got out the letters, wondering if he should read the ones addressed to his parents first. His parents were dead, so they probably wouldn't mind… would they?

Making a split decision, he left the letters addressed to his parents alone for now and went for the only one… addressed to someone else. It said on the envelope:

~To my beloved son… Kaiden Mikhail Ashitar~

Who could that be? Harry fingered the letter envelope, wondering if he should know this name from somewhere. It did seem a bit familiar… but for some odd reason he couldn't remember.

Turning it over, he gasped. In big bold print above the seal of the Ashitar family crest, was this:

~KMA… or HJP will only be able to open this seal at the time of his seventeenth birthday~

Eyes wide, Harry stared at the phrase… absently reading it over and over in his shocked state. KMA… Kaiden Mikhail Ashitar… HJP… Harry James Potter. No… no… it couldn't be! Could it?

Could he really not be Lily and James Potter's son?

But… then why… why did he look like them? Why did he have Lily's eyes? Why did he look so much like James?

He put the letter aside and pulled his knees up to his chest, his mind thousands of miles elsewhere. Hedwig absently hooted at him, but even that didn't raise him from his thoughts. It wasn't until an hour later when another owl, looking much like Ron's… Pig… tapped his beak on the window that Harry snapped out of his thoughts.

He smiled slightly, recognizing the energetic owl. Quickly he let him in and warned the owl to be quiet… lest his relatives hear. Thank Merlin Ron had pulled off the bars on his windows in second year. He could still get owls, but he had to be very quiet and sneaky. If his relatives ever found out he was receiving mail, he'd be bedridden for a week.

Pig gobbled up his treat and stuck out his talons, a letter attached to the ankle. Harry took the letter and watched as the bird left in a hurry of ruffled feathers. Hedwig scowled and squawked in indignation before settling in her cage. Hedwig didn't like Pig for some reason. Harry looked at the letter and smiled at Ron's scrawl.

Hey Harry!

Just wanted to say hi and ask you if those stupid muggle relatives of yours have been treating you better. Mom says that if they don't they will have HER to answer to, and you know how scary she can get. But anyways, nothing much has been going on in the Burrow, except for the planning of Bill and Fleur's wedding. They finally decided on a date next summer. Thank Merlin it's not this summer. I can't tell you how much my mum would be in a fritz if it was. That would be just what we need for our last summer before actual adulthood to deal with a frazzled mum. The rest of the family gives you their love. Hermione says hi as well. Her family gave her permission to stay at the Burrow earlier this week, so that was pretty brilliant if you ask me. Too bad you have to stay with your relatives until your birthday.

It's pretty stupid of Dumbledore to do that. We could just as bloody well take care of you here. You've got to admit mate that it was a pretty dumb excuse of forcing you to come back there… Deatheaters. You killed Moldyshorts, so why in Merlin's name would you be unable to protect yourself against them? I swear, sometimes that old codger needs to get his head examined.

Oh… got to go but by the way, my mum wants me to remind you that on every wizard or witch's seventeenth birthday they come into their inheritance. I've talked to George and Fred about it, since they had it last year. They said it was a bit painful for the first day, but then they were alright afterwards. I must say that I am looking forward to it. Well, not the pain of course… but the actual thought of being an adult! Blimey, I'd be able to finally make my own decisions!

Well, I have blabbed a bit, haven't I? I guess Hermione is rubbing off on me. Hope to write to you soon!

~Ron

Harry arched an eyebrow. He again looked at his discarded letter… the one addressed to him by someone claiming to be his mother. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Maybe it would help if he opened his parent's letters. Maybe they would give him some insight as to what was going on.

He put Ron's letter on an old rickety night stand and handed Hedwig a treat. The owl hooted appreciatively before fluffing herself up a bit to try and doze. It was quite amusing to Harry that the only reason why he had treats at all for the birds was because Hermione sending them via owl a week ago. Otherwise he wouldn't even have that for Hedwig.

It was still more than he could say for himself. He was lucky if he got a meal a day at all.

Harry took out the first letter… one addressed to Lily.

It read:

My dearest Lily…

I am afraid that if you are reading this, then I am dead. My dear, don't cry. I knew as you and James knew that this would eventually happen. One cannot often choose the way they perish, though sometimes I wonder if our son, Kaiden will understand that once he gets older. He seems so full of life these days… Merlin, the boy isn't even crawling, he's running! The boy is only one… and he's already on his feet, tiny as they are.

But I regress. I am writing this to you to make sure you understand that Kaiden MUST be told of his inheritance. It is very important. So… if you and James are able, please take him aside and let him know that his mother loved him very much and let him know what to expect. I know you and James will take care of him if you are able to. You both have yearned for a child for a long time. I know that Kaiden will be in good hands as he will go to you if I perish. I have left him a note as well… just in case. It is to be only opened on the day of his inheritance. So… I hope you will be able to explain things to him first, before he opens it. If not… I understand. Like I said before, people cannot often choose the time in which they die.

So… if that happens, then I hope that my son is with loving people. For his inheritance as you well know, will not come easy. That's what happens when you are the only son of the Ashitar line. All of the Ashitar ancestor powers get slammed into you. I was lucky. I was female and therefore didn't have to deal with as much power. I also hope for his sake that he finds a mate soon after his inheritance. For a true mate will be the only being alive that can calm his mind… and his heart.

But anyways, since I am dead, and cannot give this to him myself, I wish you to give my Gringotts key to my vaults. There… if he is still unsure as to what he is, he may find as much history as he needs to understand who and what he truly is.

I wish things were better, Lily… but things like wishing isn't a good thing to do. I love you, my best friend. Take care.

Love,

Savae Lamina Ashitar

He read the letter a few more times before he finally looked at the key magically stuck on the paper. He took it off… for it came unsealed at his touch. He looked it over curiously. Strangely enough, all of this information from the letter did not phase him. At all. He wondered if he was in shock… or if he expected this… like a missing piece to a puzzle that had finally been found. He put the key in a safe place under the floor board of his room… the one area that he kept his school textbooks, his wand, his invisibility cloak… and a few other important things.

It still irked him that he couldn't be at Grimauld Place… with his godfather. Peter Pettigrew was still at large, though Harry didn't know why. The sneaky rat was as stupid as they came, and there wasn't really a cure for stupidity… or at least no normal cure.

After putting the board back into place, he went to go read the next letter… which was addressed to his father. Hell… even if James was not his real father… that was the only one he'd had in his history, so he continued to think of him that way.

The letter contained much of the same information as the one to his 'mother'. Only in this one, Savae had suggested changing Kaiden's name to Harry… something totally harmless… just in case things went wrong and he needed to be hidden.

Well… that explained his name… but it didn't explain what kind of inheritance he was going to go through. He suspected a creature inheritance due to her mentioning 'mates' in her letters. The only thing he could think of that pertained to mates were those of creature blood. Either that or soul mates… but she hadn't said that. She had said 'true mate'.

Great… so now he had another thing to worry about.

*Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I will be posting the next one soon, and don't worry, Severus will have a much larger part but not for a few chapters.*