Chapter 1 – My Saviour

Harry walked beside the pond, not far from the park in Little Whinging. The poor boy currently hated his life more than anything else in the world. His uncle had begun to be abusive again, thanks to Dumbledore telling the Dursley's what happened to his godfather in the Department of Mysteries. Without the threat of Sirius he now had no way of stopping his uncle from abusing him. He just wanted to be with his parents and Sirius. It was all he could think about along with trying to figure out the most painless way to commit suicide. Of course, with his luck he would probably come back as a ghost. He let out a choked laugh at the irony of it all.

-Flashback-

Whilst under his invisibility cloak at Hogwarts he nearly bumped into a couple standing in a deserted corridor. He did a double take when he realised that it was his two best friends kissing. He was just about to turn around and leave when they started talking, and he couldn't help but overhear. What he heard would haunt Harry all summer and beyond. Had he stayed five minutes more he would have heard something more important; something he would have wanted to hear.

-End flashback-

The boy got the fright of his life when someone sat next to him on the park bench he had chosen. Turning to look, his jaw dropped as he saw that it was the one teacher at Hogwarts who hated him more than anyone else. Professor Severus Snape. As Harry continued to gape at him, Severus just sat there looking at him, as though he could do it all day.

"P-professor, what are you doing here?" Harry stuttered, trying to regain his composure

"What do you think Harry?" questioned Severus, as once again the boy gaped at him in shock.

'Had he heard him right? Not possible', thought Harry. His professor wouldn't have called him Harry; he never used his first name. Harry could not understand why him professor would look at him, let alone bother talking to him. He kept thinking about that, and to his surprise his question was answered, even though he had not asked it aloud.

"I had to treat you the way I did because of Voldemort. As to why I would look at you, you are gorgeous. I hope to have a chance to be with you" Severus said, running a hand down Harry's cheek before blending into the night and disappearing.

"He missed seeing the silent tears that ran down Harry's face as he touched the spot Severus had just touched. The feeling Harry had felt when Severus had touched him was more than he could stand, warm and cold at the same time. A touch that was so full of love that Harry almost staggered. He went home, and all he could think about was what his teacher had said and how much he hated his life. He shook his head, still not believing that he would survive the summer.

For a couple of minutes with Severus he had felt completely guilt free and he desperately wanted that feeling back. Harry had not had any affection from the Dursley's growing up. He craved anything from a cuddle to a touch, and he could not help but think how safe and happy he felt with the potions master. The young man shook his head in disbelief. He could not believe he had fallen for his teacher, and so quickly too.

'What would Sirius think?' Choking back a sob and shaking his head he denied himself that one thing as he cried himself to sleep. He had never had pleasant dreams but tonight, for the first time he could remember, they were pleasant. They were of Severus. As he woke cursing, he could believe he had had that kind of dream. He supposed it was his subconscious demanding he do something. He thought of the last time that had happened and he gave in, it did its job all right; his uncle had walked in on him doing it and had beaten him so hard that he had three broken ribs, a broken wrist, a sprained ankle and a broken leg before it was over.

How he had been able to walk onto the platform and around Hogwarts he was still trying to figure out. He had managed to put a numbing charm and a glamour on himself until he could get to Snape's private stores for a bone-mending potion, a pain reliever and a salve to help heal the bruises and welts on his back. It had happened every year since he had arrived at Hogwarts, and every year he begged to go somewhere other than the Dursley's, but the answer was always the same. No. Professor Dumbledore told him that it was for his safety, that the wards at Privet Drive would protect him, but he knew that Voldemort could come strolling in whenever he wanted to, after all he did have Harry's blood. Dumbledore had denied him every happiness, and now he was more alone than ever. He knew that Ron and Hermione were not really his friends, and they never had been.

He would never be able to forgive them for that. Never. As he thought about his life he drifted back into what was, for once, a dreamless sleep. He woke up with a start. Cursing, he got up and trying not to aggravate his wounds (they were bad enough as it was) he went into the kitchen and started making breakfast as fast as he could, trying not to irritate his sprained wrist more than necessary. As he did his chores for the day his mind went to Ron and Hermione, but thinking of them made him lose his magic.

He could not believe that the two people he had trusted the most were order members, and that it was their job to befriend him. They had written to him, but looking back he could see that they had only asked if he was ok and other pointless questions, never saying things about quidditch or how they were. After he cooked dinner his uncle, as usual, kicked the shit out of him, whereupon Harry begged him to stop, knowing that his uncle liked it when he did that. Before long, he fell into blissful unconsciousness. When he woke up he didn't know how long he had been unconscious. He picked himself up off the tiny mattress and walked out of his cupboard and, making sure all of his bruises were covered, he took off.

He walked back to his favourite spot, the one that he always sat at. No-one dared to come near him there because 'the criminal boy was there and if you disturbed him, he might drown you'. Harry started to get dizzy and threw up. As it started to rain, he looked up at the sky and cried his heart out. Even if someone had been there, no-one would have known if he was crying because it was raining so fast it was impossible to see. Harry had taught himself to cry silently when he was little, and he sat there all night as the darkness surrounded him. Before unconsciousness overtook him again, he made his way back to the Dursley's and into his cupboard.

In Grimmauld Place, people were shouting and arguing. These people happened to be the Order of the Phoenix. The person on 'Harry watching' duty argued particularly hard. He was feeling very guilty because all he could see was poor Harry sitting alone crying. One would have to be blind to miss the bruises and scars on his face and body. Knowing Sirius was alive made the man feel that much guiltier, because he saw how sad it made Harry, and how much Harry missed the man. Severus, on the other hand, was unusually quiet, and his Slytherin side was plotting how he was going to get Harry away from the Order. He was not going to let the man he loved be abused and left to think of committing suicide. No matter what that old fool Dumbledore said, he was going to get him tonight. 'Dung is on duty tonight and he always fucks up' Severus thought with a smirk.

Severus waited until midnight before he struck, making sure he did not trip the wards. It was easy to do simply because he did not wish to harm Harry. He could smell blood even before he entered the house and it overwhelmed him, along with the pain and self-loathing emanating from the place. He now knew that Harry had never been happy in this home, not once.

He discovered the smell was coming from the cupboard, snarling silently he stalked over and upon opening the cupboard he could tell that Harry was unconscious. Even though the house was bathed in darkness, Severus could still see perfectly well, one of the benefits of being a vampire.

Carefully picking Harry up, making sure that he did not hurt him anymore than he already was, he took him from the cupboard before creeping from the house. He was at the end of the wards within seconds; with the speed he could move at it was no trouble at all. He only apparated when he knew that neither Dumbledore nor the Order would be able to get his magical signature. Smiling in success, he made his way into the castle.

Laying Harry down on his bed, he stripped the young man of everything he wore. He did not even spare Harry a second glance as he went to his potions lab. It took him a while to get Harry cleaned up, using a special cream to close the whip and belt marks on Harry's back that would remove any trace of the whip marks being there. He did not want any of the marks to scar as he did not want Harry or even himself to be reminded that he had been abused.

The bruises had another kind of cream put on them; the purple began to fade leaving them bluish and yellow. Getting Harry to swallow potions for internal injuries and healing potions, he was looking like his old self within minutes.

Physically, he knew that Harry would take a while to heal but whether he would heal emotionally was a different matter. Severus was determined to see him through it all the way, Dumbledore was not expecting him this summer so he was free and would not be under suspicion. He knew that Harry would leave with Dumbledore right away if he were to come tomorrow or the next day. However, he was determined to get Harry to like him; it would not take much work, what with Harry being his mate. Harry would naturally feel safe with Severus very quickly, if he did not already.

Realising how tired he was he slipped into his bed, bring Harry into his arms. Harry would get used to him eventually. Kissing Harry on the head he said "Goodnight love" before falling asleep himself.

Harry yawned, breathing in the fresh air, 'Wait, what fresh air? I'm in my cupboard' thought Harry, starting to panic. Calming down he frowned, he felt safe where he was, as if nothing mattered. He immediately knew where he was, with Snape. Opening his eyes he realised he was right and he did not know if he should freak or run for it.

"Finally awake I see" said Severus, his eyes still closed

"Where am I?" said Harry, still shocked

"I brought you to my home because you were hurt. Dumbledore may only think of you as a weapon but not everyone thinks that" said Severus with a sneer as he mentioned the headmaster's name

Hurt flashed across Harry's face. Harry knew that that was all he was to Dumbledore but for Snape to say it so casually hurt. He knew that Severus would never lie to him; it was the one thing he could rely on. Hearing what he knew to be the truth, he then remembered what Dumbledore had been doing; getting his friends to turn against him, or worse, paying people to be his friends.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you saying that. I'm just annoyed with Dumbledore and the way he is treating you" said Severus

"Why? You hate me! You have hated me since I looked at you during the sorting feast!" yelled Harry, trying to get out of the bed. Run and hide, just get away from the room and the person in it.

"Yes I did because if Dumbledore tells me to do something then I need to do it. If I didn't, I would be out of Hogwarts with no job. Voldemort would have asked me where I was staying and then he would have got hold of my home. He would have demanded to use it and I could not have that. This is one of the few things I cherish in my life. Moreover, I owed him a life debt, which I have now repaid or I am in the process of repaying. Just give me a chance to show you the real me. If you do not want to be with me than fine. I will still let you stay here for the summer. Please?" Severus begged. He had grabbed a hold of Harry when he had started to bolt.

Harry was tucked into Severus, so he had not choice but to listen to what the man was saying. He was shocked to find that Severus Snape, potions master and all around bastard, was begging Harry to give him a chance. It was the begging that made Harry pause. He decided the man had to be truthful otherwise he would not have thrown away his dignity by begging.

"Fine" said Harry. He also realised that Severus' chest was not moving. Swiftly something registered in Harry's mind – Remus giving out a vampire essay right after Severus giving out a werewolf essay in Harry's third year.

"You're a vampire" was all the shocked boy could say

"Yes, does that bother you?" asked Severus. He hoped that Harry was not prejudiced against vampires, although being a muggle born he may be. He was thoroughly relieved at Harry's reply

"No," said Harry, shaking his head. He had read all about vampires and had found the majority of books were prejudiced although some were not. They all had a different view of vampires but Harry had decided that if he ever met a vampire he would decide for himself, and now was the time.

Harry spent time getting to know Severus and reading books from the enormous library. If Severus had not known better he would have said that Harry was a Ravenclaw. The books he was reading were good too – books that pure-blooded children were likely to read. Harry had also read up on vampires and their ways. When Severus brought it up about Harry's house he was surprised when Harry said

"I was meant to be in Slytherin but I begged it not to put me there, so it decided on Gryffindor," said Harry, a small sad smile on his face. How different would things have been if he had just let it put him in Slytherin?

"You do know you could change houses," said Severus, watching Harry. He saw how sad the boy was, it was almost like Harry wanted to be in Slytherin. Therefore, he decided to tell Haryr that he could be resorted if he wanted.

"Really? How?" asked Harry

"It's fairly easy. Just demand a resorting" said Severus

"Oh" said Harry and that had been the end of that conversation

Harry had slept in his own bed for the first half of the night. He had then gone into Severus' room before snuggling in, falling asleep almost immediately. He had woken up draped over Severus, blushed and stuttered his apologies before fleeing, leaving an amused Severus behind.

Harry had soon started getting bored of learning magic and had started reading The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings. He wanted to enjoy his summer and he absolutely loved the books by Tolkien. He had started thinking of the characters as people he knew. Frodo as himself of course, Aragorn as Severus, Fred and George as Merry and Pippin, Samwise Gamgee would have been Ron but no, he chose Neville instead with Ginny as Rosie. Gandalf was Dumbledore, Boromir as Pettigrew. He did not have to like them in order to make them his characters.

He knew that Severus was watching him; he could feel Severus' eyes boring into the back of his head. The looks directed towards him made him feel weird inside, the feeling of being safe in the man's presence was becoming intoxicating and he had started spending as much time as he could with Severus.

Severus had spent his whole summer with Harry, teaching the young man all he needed to know whilst getting to know the real Harry Potter. In addition, with added benefits such as teaching the boy to swim, he had been able to see the boy in nothing but trunks – a sight that Severus never wanted to forget for the rest of his life which, with his heritage, was a very long time. He enjoyed ever second of the summer; teaching Harry spells, watching the boy's eyes glow with rage as he learned more and more spells, obviously thinking of something horrible or someone he did not like to fuel such rage within him.

Severus thought Harry was gorgeous when he was angry, those green eyes lighting up and gleaming in the light. He seemed to be better at duelling when he was angry – he mastered the spells a lot quicker.

When they were quite a way into the summer Severus had watched Harry get into his bed, taking his glasses off so he was ready to sleep. However, Severus had plans other than sleep. He was not sure if Harry would or could be able to handle such a leap in their relationship but he wanted to try anyway.

He kissed Harry softly on the lips, causing the beautiful young man to gasp, his green eyes widening. When Harry did not pull away, Severus took that as a positive sign and lowered his head again, kissing him once more. He could hardly believe he was doing this after all this time; Harry was going to be his. He was also amazed by the responses that he was getting; it was starting to make him hard. After a bit of coaxing Harry began eagerly taking part in the kiss. However, Harry soon had to draw up for breath as he was not one of the undead like Severus.

Severus looked down at the flushed face of his mate and began rubbing their erections together. Harry grabbed Severus' shoulder before tugging him down to hug him; he had like the feeling and wanted it back. All Severus could hear were gasps and moans coming from the body underneath him and it was music to Severus' ears.

Kissing down Harry's neck, he made their clothes disappear with a whispered spell, rocking back and forth at the same time. Harry was now groaning, gasping and moans were tearing themselves from his throat louder than ever. Harry seemed to be chanting non-stop under his breath, 'Oh god, oh god. Godgodgodgodgodgod'.

Severus took hold of Harry's prick and it was too much for Harry; he came, covering Severus' hand in hot seed. It was this action that caused Severus to come as well.

He could see that their activities had taken a lot out of Harry; he was almost fast asleep. Kissing him, he cleaned up the mess with a wave of his wand and, sliding back under the covers, had one more thing to say as he brought Harry to himself.

"You're mine"