~ Eternal Darkness ~

Summary: Sanguini always had a sharp eye for oddities in humans but why did Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy have a similar scent and aura? Unless they were related and nobody else could tell the difference. . . [Slash]

Pairings: Marcus/Harry, Caius/Draco, Voldemort/Lucius

Warning: Slash, Character deaths, manipulative Dumbledore, obsessive Voldemort

Disclaimer: Does Voldemort survive the Final Battle? Does Bella Swn die? No? Then I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.

Legend:

"Parseltongue"

Letters/newspaper articles

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine, author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires – and of course, his friend Sanguini."

Worple, who was a small, bespectacled man, grabbed Harry's hand and shook it enthusiastically; the vampire Sanguini, who was tall and emaciated with dark shadows under his eyes, merely nodded. He looked rather bored. A gaggle of girls was standing close to him, looking curious and excited.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Page 295.

~ Chapter One ~

Harry couldn't boast much about his knowledge of vampires and their society but from the short lessons he had received from Remus in third year he knew enough to pinpoint a vampire in a crowded room and make sure not to attract its attention something which at the current point in time didn't seem to be working even with the numerous people attending Slughorn's Christmas party.

It was normally easy to pinpoint a vampire. If during the daylight you witnessed them they could be seen with skin that glistened like diamonds. Of course that was what drew most women to the beautiful yet deadly creatures. They moved faster than any human or animal with swift, smooth gestures and inhuman grace. The only other difference would be there eyes. Human vampires that fed off that which they once were, had startling red eyes and if they fed off animals they would have amber eyes much like Remus. When they ignored feeding their eyes would darken to black and purplish circles would form beneath their eyes giving them the appearance of a person who hadn't slept well the night before.

These types of vampires could gain an ability of sorts that gave them an advantage over other human vampires. No one had any idea as to why this occurred all they had learnt from it was that it was a trait that they held during their human lives and carried it to their immortal lives. Study could only go so far in this as the vampires didn't have anything to do with the wizarding world preferring to remain separate in everything. Even the Unspeakables couldn't get close to them.

The Volturri ruled over the vampires from their "base" in Volterra, Italy. They, led by Aro, Marcus and Caius, kept the vampires in check. All vampire-related issues travelled through them whether it was the discovery of their secret or the destruction of a newborn army. Everything went through those three and nothing got past them. They had guards to do what they desired and sort out their problems when it was only minor. Only the major problems drew out the three leaders from Volterra. Remus had labelled the guard as more of a "collection of rare individuals" than an actual guard since they were mostly gifted and the ones that weren't were trackers with abnormally good skills. Only the best for vampire royalty.

The second type of vampire, the magical vampires, however normally remained away from the Volturri content with remaining in the wizarding world.

Magical vampires were different. Instead of amber or red eyes they had silver which like human vampires darkened to black the longer they hadn't fed with the purplish circles beneath their eyes. It didn't matter what they ate their eyes would always remain silver with flecks of what their previous colour had once been near their pupils. Most wizards once turned didn't keep their magic. Sure they could do the small things like levitation charms but anything harder than that became too difficult. Normally where they were strongest in their magic remained with them and created their ability similar to a human vampire. But they could only have the one speciality since wands were rendered pretty much useless to them.

Whether a human or magic vampire though, in a crowded room they normally drew the most attention. They had a certain charm about them that allowed them to draw their possible victims to them. Some chose to use it others (normally vampires that drank from animals) hide it allowing them to fall into the background and remain hidden.

Remus had instructed them that to remain unnoticeable to vampires that one was to stay upwind of the deadly creatures and make sure that you weren't bleeding. Even one drop of blood was like a beacon to the delicate senses of a vampire. If they caught that scent you were as good as a snack to the vampire or well dead neither of which would be a good thing (understatement of the year). Of course all of this wasn't any help if you were the vampire's singer. If you were there was no way that you would survive the meeting. The vampire would be so focused on the lust for blood they wouldn't stop until they had sucked the person dry. It was unheard of for a singer to live after an encounter.

Harry had listened to those particular lessons considering that the lessons were actually interesting unlike those of the stuttering Quirrel or the bumbling fool Lockhart. Even with their lacklustre teaching abilities he still managed to be the best in his class. Obviously with Defence Against the Dark Arts as his best subject he was meant to put the information learnt during the lessons into practice. Well that was easier said than done. He was practically an ace at it. Except for now.

Sanguini was staring at him as if he were the last delectable piece of meat in the butcher's store not something he was particularly thrilled about. He should have been use to it though. Many people openly gawked at him daily as if something drew them to him (like his fame or fortune). Through it all he ignored them as if they weren't even there. It really wasn't that difficult he just wasn't particularly interested in what people who hardly knew him thought about him. He didn't care if they thought he was completely loony or that he was the saviour of their world. They were all just people with their own opinion. Who was he to judge? He didn't believe many of them were exactly sane either, Dumbledore and Voldemort were just a few to name on his long list.

But for some reason the look Sanguini was giving him unsettled him and he found it hard to ignore. Even those around them began to realize that the one vampire in the room was staring constantly at the "Chosen One" but that only made them push harder to be recognized by said vampire. That left him with plenty of time to escape should the vampire actually do anything since the crowd of girls was absolutely ridiculous. It appeared more like a mosh pit at a rock concert. Even with super human strength it would take time to get through a crowd of young eager individuals. He knew that this particular vampire wouldn't do anything to him not in Hogwarts but he really wasn't willing to risk it.

Politely excusing himself, he left Eldred Worple to his delusions of a grand book about Harry Potter written of course by him to find Luna or Hermione. There was no way that he was going to remain that close to Sanguini if he could help it. As he moved away he could feel Sanguini's red eyes following him and couldn't repress a shiver. Why couldn't he have spent more time with Remus? Werewolves and Vampires detested each other by nature so it made sense that if he was claimed by a werewolf, the vampire would leave him alone. But ever since Sirius had fallen through the veil their relationship had slowly drifted apart until there was nothing left except awkward silence whenever they were left alone. Everything they did was strained even a simple greeting. Honestly he couldn't handle that any longer so he'd avoided Remus whenever he appeared.

Spotting Luna and Hermione happily talking together on the other side of the room, Harry decided to move closer to them and stop living in the past. It just made it harder to live in the present or think of the future though he wasn't sure he had a lot of a future left what with the prophecy hanging over his head.

"Hey Harry!" Hermione greeted enthusiastically.

"Where is Cormac?"

Hermione became flustered as his name was mentioned and Harry had a hard time suppressing a grin. He knew that Hermione had no interest in Cormac. Everything she did was deliberately done to annoy Ron who anyone could see had a crush on. It was as clear as day. Merlin even Malfoy could see it!

"I just escapted – left him under the mistletoe."

"Sure, sure, are you enjoying yourself Luna?"

"Very much Harry, did you know that there are Nargles floating about?"

Hermione shook her head in exasperation while Harry smiled. It was good to see that they hadn't blown up at each other yet. With Luna and Hermione it was always volatile placing them in the same room but it seemed that circumstances changed things.

"Well that's good to know –"

A disturbance at the door caught his attention. Filch was moving swiftly into the room with one hand wrapped around Malfoy's arm. For awhile now he had suspected that Malfoy had something to do with the Dark Lord. He was planning something and it all had to do with that room, the Room of Requirement. Now perhaps he would be able to discover what that plan was.

"Caught this one in a lurking a few corridors down says he's invited to this party." Filch said finally releasing Draco from his grasp.

"Alright I was gatecrashing happy?" Malfoy spat.

Slughorn who was obviously drunk at this stage of the party didn't appear to care too much; Snape however did as he swooped in from a dark corner in the room hidden by the shadows.

"I shall take escort him back to his dorms."

"Surely he could stay for a little fun Severus?"

"I am his Head of House and as such I shall decide whether or not he shall be removed from this . . . party. Good night Horace."

Watching as both Snape and Malfoy left the room Harry thought up a way to prove Malfoy was out to cause damage to Hogwarts and its students. Malfoy had been caught near the Room of Requirement. That had to mean that whatever he was planning was in that room. He was hiding something and he needed to discover what that was where anyone believed him or not. That meant following Malfoy and Snape and listening in to their conversation.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't stop to realize the flash of red eyes that followed both Draco and himself. He never stopped to realize that this was the last time anyone would see him as a human again.

With a quick word to Hermione about where he was going, "Just off to the bathroom 'Mione. I'll be back in a second", he was off to spy on Malfoy and Snape. Quietly he followed them around the maze of corridors that Hogwarts provided their students. It was obvious to him that they weren't headed back towards the Slytherin common room. They were nowhere near it so hopefully he should be able hear whatever they had to speak about. He needed a clue as to what Malfoy was planning to prove it to Hermione and Ron.

Harry leaned around the corner to get a better look. If only he could get closer but they had stopped in the middle of the hallway to give them an advantage over whoever entered and to protect their privacy. It was working to as Harry could barely hear a word they were saying as they whispered hurriedly to each other.

"I don't need your help!" Malfoy hissed.

That sparked Harry's attention but before he could make a move he felt something shift behind him. Before he could turn around a hand clamped around his mouth holding a rag over his nose and forcing him to breathe whatever had been sprayed across it before hand. Hard, cold arms wrapped around his torso as he struggled to break free unsuccessfully. He tried to speak or shout if only to gain Malfoy or the professor's attention but that didn't work either.

"Quiet now, hush. Everything shall be alright when you wake up." The musical voice reassured him.

Harry protested weakly as he felt his brain begin to fog. He knew what had a hold over him and he tried desperately to break free. It was the vampire, Sanguini. Slughorn, even Worple, had reassured everyone at the beginning of the party that Sanguini would not harm anyone in the room. Dumbledore wouldn't have left if the vampire had meant harm but he could hardly rely on the headmaster after the numerous times he'd allow the dangerous things to happen in the past. The more people he met the less confidence he had in them. Every Defence teacher so far had placed him in a dangerous situation whether intentional or not and Dumbledore had allowed it. This was just another one to add to the list.

"Come now, it shan't be that bad. Relax and allow the chemicals to do their work," coxed Sanguini's voice.

The fog was thickening and threatening to take over but he didn't know how he was going to get out of this yet! He couldn't give up so easily! But even as he thought this his body began to relax under the influence of the drug. His arms went lax and he leaned more on the vampire for support.

"That's it. Fear not Harry everything shall be clear when you waken."

Tired, Harry submitted and allowed the fog to knock him unconscious.

x-x-x-x-x

Sanguini knew as soon as he saw them both that they were similar. He had no idea why or how it was even possible with their looks and their personalities being completely opposite but there it was, glaringly obvious to only him. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were somehow closely related to each other. He suspected that they were at the least cousins if not brothers. Whether or not they shared the same father or mother, they belonged to the same family and yet acted as if they were enemies. That was something that he would have to fix.

When Sanguini had been turned he knew that his ability wouldn't be grand like that of the three leaders of the Volturri and their guard. He'd never been one for creating havoc or enjoying the torture of his victims. He had simply desired a family or a mate, someone who he could stay with for eternity and never feel alone. That was easier said than done.

When a vampire had taken his mortality and human life away from him his gift had been granted to him. He could now see people's aura.

The aura surrounding a person could tell many things about them. There were many colours to a person's aura and they meant many different things. They could tell whether someone shared parents or who their mate was. They could tell how powerful a person was and what their ability if they were turned. The colours also ranged and depended on the person's personality traits and also their parents and mate. Sanguini could easily discover people who were related and yet hiding it. He would have made an excellent guard and yet all he wanted was a family not to live a life of luxury in Volterra.

He now lived for discovering secrets and making people realize them like he was determined to do for both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.

The green and silver in Harry and Draco's aura were identical giving them the same parents. That meant they were twins. Who their parents were exactly Sanguini wouldn't know until he had actually checked other people's auras but that mattered little. They didn't have any other siblings or relatives present at the school which made it harder for Sanguini to pinpoint which family they belonged to. Their mates colours were similar which he suspected made them close or even related but yet again Sanguini wouldn't know for sure.

One thing that caught Sanguini's attention though was the aura that would reveal their abilities.

They would be extremely strong and well defined abilities that these two young wizards had. Even now that they weren't turned they were both strong wizards but afterwards there would be nothing stepping in their way. They would be even more talented than the guard at Volterra.

Sanguini wanted it. It was the first thing he had desired in a long time. At first it had been a family but he'd never located the person with the correct aura to be his family. But now he wanted them. He had to have them! He wanted to control their abilities to have control over them however that wouldn't be possible unless he turned them making him their sire.

Moving too quickly for human eyes to see, Sanguini moved over to the drunken potion master's desk to locate the usual potions that were stored there in case of emergencies. He had to find the right one and if possible a cloth to aid him in the capture of the two he desired. Everything was going to be speedy and simple.

Once he had located a sleeping potion called Dreamless Sleep, he looked around the room for a cloth. However he couldn't locate anything that would help him at all. He would use a napkin but that would tear easily and he really needed to use the cloth twice. Sanguini watched through narrowed eyes as his first target, Harry Potter, moved away from the Christmas Party to follow his Professor and the Malfoy heir. He had to act now if he planned on getting them both out of Hogwarts before the morning.

In a hurry he ripped one of the drapes surrounding the room as he left to follow his prey. There was no more time to try and find an actual cloth to use on them anything would work as long as it didn't tear when the potion was applied besides no one would miss a small section off the bottom of the golden drapes. They would never suspect it would actually be that anyway when the place was searched. Now that he was prepared he quietly followed the three males as they left the party and stopped in an abandoned hallway.

He knew that if he planned this correctly he could get away with removing (he refused to call it kidnapping) both boys from Hogwarts grounds without anyone the wiser. By the time the useless Professors of Hogwarts even figured out that they were missing he would be long gone with both boys. Everything would work out and even if he only managed to gain one of them it would be an excellent discovery.

Without making any sound Sanguini tipped the open bottle onto the cloth and allowed it to become saturated with the potion as the professor and is second target stopped in the middle of a deserted hallway making it harder for him to get to but leaving his first target within easy range to sneak up behind and drug him like he planned.

"I don't need your help!" Draco hissed loud enough for Harry to hear though Sanguini could hear the entire conversation from where he stood thanks to his enhanced hearing.

He watched as Harry moved forward to listen closer to the conversation and knew this was the moment to act. With grace he moved behind the young man while pulling out the cloth laced with Dreamless Sleep. It would keep them asleep while going through the change for the first day or so until it wore off then they would have to fend for themselves. Hopefully there had been enough for the both of them on the cloth already. He may not get another chance at this.

Sanguini moved swiftly and clamped the cloth over Harry's mouth and nose so he would have no choice but to breathe in the potion and succumb to sleep. As he began to flay around attempting to strike his attacker, Sanguini wrapped his arms around Harry's torso trapping him in his cold marble-like arms. There was no way he would allow Harry to break free from him or try to alert someone else. No he was going to be leaving with Sanguini now.

"Quiet now, hush. Everything shall be alright when you wake up." Sanguini tried to reassure him.

He could feel Harry's resistance begin to weaken slowly much more slowly than he had first anticipated. Yes, Harry's gift would be marvellous after he was changed and he would belong to Sanguini completely. He would have all the control. Just thinking about it now made him giddy.

"Come now, it shan't be that bad. Relax and allow the chemicals to do their work," coxed Sanguini's voice.

Sanugini felt Harry's body begin to relax under the potion and knew he was nearly out. He couldn't help but smirk as Harry slumped against his body for support as his arms went lax. The boy was as good as his!

"That's it. Fear not Harry everything shall be clear when you waken."

Finally, Harry succumbed to the potion and fell unconscious.

"I'm doing fine on my own! I will accomplish the task the Dark Lord gave to me without anyone's help and that includes you!"

Sanguini caught the end of the Draco's conversation with Snape and moved swiftly forward. Harry had only just fallen unconscious. Sanguni wanted eagerly as Snape left the corridor with his back turned towards Draco. Lowering Harry to the ground, he grabbed the cloth and silently stalked forwards. He needed to time this perfectly. He already had one of them now he just needed to acquire the other. Then everything would be perfect.

Draco shook his head in exasperation. Nobody believed he could complete the task set by the Dark Lord. Sure he didn't want to do it but he knew that he would eventually get it right. He wanted to secure his families safety and to do that he needed to fix the Vanishing cabinet to allow the Death Eaters entrance into the castle and kill Dumbledore. That was easier said than done. How was he supposed to kill a man that the Dark Lord himself couldn't kill?

With a sigh Draco turned just in time to be pinned to the wall by the very vampire he had glanced at during the short amount of time he spent at Slughorn's party. Before he could call his godfather back the cold marble hand clamped a cloth laced with Dreamless Sleep around his mouth and nose. At least those lessons with his Severus had paid off and he could tell what potion was being used in this kidnapping. However many questions were flashing through his mind that he needed answered desperately.

What did the vampire want? Why wasn't he trying to bite him instead? If he wasn't a snack for the vampire what was he? Would he live to see another day? What would happen to his family?

The last thing Draco saw was the unconscious form of Harry Potter further down the hall before passing out.

Sanguini smirked as he gathered Draco and Harry in his arms. That plan had gone off without a hitch. Now all he had to do was make it out and he would be home free with too powerful wizards to turn . . .

x-x-x-x-x

Hermione was getting very worried. Slughorn's party had gone later than she had expected but of course she had been too busy dodging the attempts of Michael Cormac to even notice the time. He was the last person she wanted to spend an entire night with. Honestly the boy was vain and repulsive what had she originally thought? She just had wanted to be as far away from her "date" as possible. Maybe trying to make Ron jealous was harder than she first thought?

Shaking her head of the thought she brought forth the reason she was wandering the hallways of Hogwarts late that night.

Harry was missing.

She hadn't seen him since he'd left for the bathroom. Of course she knew that he would return since he was going to keep her company and help her look out for Cormac but he hadn't returned and she'd begun to worry until Cormac had sidetracked her and she'd lost focus. Now the party was over and she had remembered that Harry was missing and needed to report it to someone anyone, hopefully someone who was also in the Order. That's when she spotted Professor Snape. He had to help her!

"Professor!"

Snape thankfully heard her and stopped though he was obviously in a foul mood if anything could be said about his temper.

"Shouldn't you be in bed at this hour Miss Granger? Merlin help you if you fall asleep in class and miss the lecture given on whatever inane thing McGonagall has planned tomorrow."

"Please sir you have to help me-"

"Can't you see I am preoccupied with another problem at the moment? I do not have time to be wandering around looking for whatever thing you have lost this-"

"It's Harry!" Hermione shouted out in frustration.

That at least caused the Professor to pause mid sentence.

"Mr Potter is missing as well?"

"That's what I've been trying to explain to you. I haven't seen him since Professor Slughorn's party. He went to the bathroom and never returned. We were meant to return to the Gryffindor common room together because we both knew that the party would end and be horrendous. Has someone else gone missing as well?"

Without another word, Snape turned suddenly and began to walk back the way they had initially come from. He didn't even bother attempting to answer her question; he was too lost in thought to even notice that he'd left the girl standing open mouthed in the middle of a hallway. Not that he really cared anyway after all she wasn't an Order member. She wasn't someone that needed to know what was happening. No he needed to focus on the problem at hand.

After he had left Draco in the hallway following their little chat, he had meant to return to the dungeons and gather a few bottles of Hangover Potion to alleviate his Slytherins the following morning and hand them out before they left Slughorn's party. It was on his way back up to the party that he realized that he hadn't passed Draco at all. Draco would at least have returned to the common room as he had been caught too close to where he was working on his task for the Dark Lord.

That had worried him endlessly. He was supposed to protect Draco and help him through this year so he would live to see the next. Unfortunately he was so busy with classes, his other Slytherins and keeping Potter alive he'd barely had any time for Draco and the numerous stunts he was pulling in a desperate attempt to kill the beloved headmaster.

However now both Draco and Harry were missing and he was supposed to be protecting them both. He had failed in his duty and now he had to set everything straight. He had to locate them!

Fortunately he arrived at the exact spot where he had last seen Draco a few hours beforehand. There was no sign of a visible struggle at all but there was something in the air that seemed familiar for some reason. It was obviously either a potion or poison otherwise he wouldn't recognize it. Then he saw a small piece of cloth lying harmlessly on the floor though it was obvious it was the object drenched in whatever he could smell.

Delicately he picked the object up and sniffed immediately moving away. Dreamless Sleep that was the potion he could smell. Without a second thought he swept down to the dungeon to retrieve the one potion that could tell him who had been in skin contact with the single sheet. One drop was all he needed and it would tell him who had touched it. Obviously his name came up first as the most recent.

Severus Tobias Snape

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Harry James Potter

Sanguini . . .

He'd been shocked that the vampire was on the list but then it made sense. Everyone knew that both teens were exceptionally powerful wizards who wouldn't want them? But it was obvious what the vampire planned to do to them. Severus was so focused on telling the news to the headmaster that he didn't observe the slight fog that surrounded the names of Draco and Harry marking them as something else. Something not entirely human.

The headmaster had left for the holidays doing Merlin knows what. All he said was that Harry would understand what he was doing and that was all that mattered. He trusted Severus with everything but this particular secret was something not for his ears. That also meant that he had left the castle unguarded during the winter break. He had left Harry and Draco unguarded. His fury for the headmaster was great at the current point in time but he had to put it aside if he desired help from the old coot. Grabbing his two-way mirror he shouted the headmasters name into before speaking without even allowing the headmaster a greeting.

"Headmaster both Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy are missing. They are no longer in the castle nor is the one vampire that was on premises however his blood brother, Worple, is. I found a cloth saturated in Dreamless Sleep that has been touched by all three. It appears Sanguini made away with them during Slughorn's wonderful party." Severus spat in rage.

Alright so he wasn't as calm as he had first thought before approaching the headmaster. Not that he really cared at the moment. How could the headmaster allow this to happen again? How was he supposed to protect the two teens when they weren't here?

"This is indeed troubling. I shall return as soon as I can meanwhile rally the Order and try to obtain any information they can collect in that time. We must locate them before Voldemort discovers they are no longer here."

Severus nodded his head and signalled the Order using his gold Phoenix pendant. He would locate the pair of them and keep them safe exactly as he had promised both Lily and Narcissa. Of course Severus believed that something else was occuring here, something that the headmaster wanted to remain a secret however it would be all out in the open soon enough. Then both boys would be back at the castle safe, where they belonged.

He could only hope he wasn't too late to stop what was about to happen.

Hmm shall I bring back Sirius? I'm not sure though I haven't done that in any of my other stories . . . who knows . . .

So this chapter is like a prologue/teaser for the story. I'm also going to be adding the same for my other stories Forbidden Gate and Reckoning. Depending on the reviews I get for them will choose the order I update them in and how quickly. Inheritance and Better in the Dark are going to be my main focus though.

~MidnightEmber