Xithion's Gift

Xithion's Gift

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Chapter 3:

The Vampire's Love

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It was eerily quiet in the Infirmary. Remus was sitting on a chair, eyeing the two pale forms on the hospital beds in front of him. His lover, and his best friend. Both had lost a lot of blood -- and now, both were vampires, too. Madam Pomfrey had pulled him aside and with extreme seriousness in her voice told him that it might be possible that neither of them made it. Especially Sirius's condition, she had said, looked bad.

Remus closed his eyes briefly. He couldn't help but blame himself for this. Sure, he hardly was responsible of what some stray vampire had decided to do, but Sirius had been outside only because he'd fled in shock. If Remus had told his friends, that would have never happened. And then Lucius had started to fight with the vampire just because Sirius was Remus's pack member. It was all because of him.

Sure, it had been a mutual decision not to tell anybody, but still, Remus couldn't help but feel guilty. Both their parents approved of their relationship, and Lucius hardly cared about what his friends would think. Therefore, it was obvious that it was only because of Remus's shyness and his hesitation that they hadn't told anybody yet. And thus, it was his fault that Sirius had run off. All the consequences were his faults, too.

Frankly, Remus was scared. Very scared. Both his friend and lover had been rather pale before, Lucius even more so than Sirius, but now they both were grey rather than white. Both had lost a whole lot of blood, enough that it might prove fatal, and Remus knew it just as well as Madam Pomfrey.

It frustrated the werewolf, to be unable to help. He'd just sat there earlier, watching the school nurse pour blood replacement potions into the other two teens, knowing that he could do nothing himself. Lucius had lost far too much blood for him to even try to give his own to replace it all, and for Sirius, that wasn't even a possibility. The freshly Turned vampire was alive only because of Lucius's blood, and now, Madam Pomfrey wasn't too hopeful of even that being enough. Sirius was on the verge of death, as was Lucius. At the moment, both had fallen into a coma.

Remus shivered as he looked at Lucius. The blond's mouth was slightly ajar, his sharp fangs glittering in light. That was really worrying, as a vampire's fangs only came out on their own when the vampire was in an extreme need of blood. Lucius had needed blood even earlier, which was exactly why they had met that night. However, the feeding had been interrupted almost before it had even begun properly, and then, there'd been the fight and finally Sirius sucking his blood. It was certainly not a miracle that Lucius wasn't well, or that Remus was very worried about him.

The werewolf bit his lip. He simply couldn't bear it if Lucius now died of lack of blood. Not only was the thought of losing his lover unbearable all on its own, but it would also be his fault. Lucius had got into the fight to save Remus's friend, his pack member, even though there hadn't been anything for the wizard to win for himself. All in all, he'd been as un-Slytherin-y as a Slytherin could ever be.

And, like it seemed, he would now pay for it. Pay dearly, indeed.

Remus sighed. He really didn't know what he would say to Lucius's parents if the blond died. They had welcomed him into the family with open arms despite his Lycanthropy. He'd and his parents become a part of the very small group of people that ever saw past the Malfoys' mask. True, they were a bit fond on Dark Arts, but definitely not evil. In fact, Mrs. Malfoy was really sweet, and she loved her son more than anything. How could he ever face her and tell her that Lucius was dead because of him?

No, he wouldn't think about that. If he absolutely had to think of Lucius's parents, he could think of the wonderful summer he had spent there. Remus's family was pretty well-doing, but compared with Lucius's, they were poor. The Malfoy Manor was simply huge, even without all its gardens and grounds. So it was a bit cold and stern, true, but with Lucius on his side, he felt comfortable anywhere.

Remus now remembered all his wonderful days there with Lucius, and smiled sadly. Especially well he remembered one day when they'd been walking through the Manor's rose garden.

***

A quiet voice broke into Remus's thoughts. "I used to love to come here, you know."

The werewolf turned around, facing his blond lover. "Really?" he asked, smiling a bit.

"Really." Lucius nodded in confirmation. "I can still remember it. Everything was so warm and sunny, so much unlike our house. I used to come here and sit in the middle of the rose bushes, reading or playing or just enjoying the scent of the roses and the warmth of the Sun. My favourite was a bush my Dad had planted the very day I was born. Its roses were almost pure white, but not quite -- they were the same colour as my hair, and of course, I thought that was amazing. Back then I didn't even think that it could be because of magic. Everything else in my world was magical, but not roses. Roses and sunny afternoons."

"And now you've lost those," Remus guessed quietly. Stepping forward, he placed a soothing hand on the elder teen's arm. He felt the vampire tense for a moment, then slowly relax.

"That's true," replied Lucius quietly. "Well, they can't kill me, and they can't harm me. But I no more find warmth or comfort in sunlight -- instead, it burns me, blinds me, makes me feel terrified. And roses -- I can't go even near them, I'm too afraid. Especially I'm afraid of the white roses. If I'm wounded, I won't bleed, but if a rose's thorn stings me, I indeed will. Falling into a rose bush might very well mean my death."

"Oh, poor Lucius." Remus sighed as he collected his boyfriend into his arms. "I know what it feels like," he said quietly. "When I was little, I loved playing with my mother's earrings. She had a pair of really large earrings, made of pure silver. I used to sit in her lap and tug at the rings, just a bit so that it didn't hurt. Nowadays, I can't even look at silver without my instincts immediately yelling at me."

At this, Lucius didn't say anything. Instead, he just embraced him tightly.

***

A couple of days later, however, Remus was feeling slightly better. Madam Pomfrey had assured him that both Sirius and Lucius would indeed wake up eventually. The other students had only been explained that Sirius had been attacked by some random monster from the Forbidden Forest and that Lucius had saved him, injuring himself in the process.

Even James and Peter seemed to simply accept this news, which surprised Remus quite a bit. He'd rather have expected them trying to find out exactly what had attacked Sirius, why Lucius had been there to save him, and why Malfoy had done what he had done. However, the other two Marauders had just expressed their concern and demanded to get to see Sirius. That they hadn't got a permission for. Although Sirius and Lucius were better now, they were still both lacking blood, and as they were in a coma and unconscious of their doings, James and Peter might accidentally see their fangs. And that wouldn't do at all.

He was surprised, however, as one day after classes, on his way back to the Gryffindor Tower, he was suddenly pulled into an abandoned classroom. Hearing the door being closed and locked, he turned to see his sudden assaulter. To his great surprise, the werewolf looked up to the very pale face of his lover.

"Lucius!" Remus exclaimed. "You are awake!" He hugged his boyfriend tightly.

"That I indeed am," the vampire replied with a dry smile. "I just woke this morning, and Madam Pomfrey now claimed me to be well enough that I could leave the Infirmary. I'll still need to go back once a day for the next week to get a blood replacement potion, though."

"Well, at least you are okay now," Remus said, relieved. "Merlin, I was so worried about you!"

"Well, as you can see, there was no need to be worried." With this, Lucius leant down to place a light kiss on his forehead, the strong arms being wrapped around his waist. The smaller teen whined as Lucius trailed kisses down the side of his face and missed his mouth by a mere inch. Then, however, he completely forgot that as the vampire's kisses started to travel down his neck in a very familiar and pleasant manner. Lucius licked his neck just like he did before every feeding, and Remus shivered in anticipation. However, the blond only placed a yet another light kiss on the base of his neck, then pulled away.

"What's wrong, Lucius?" asked Remus, now really confused. "Why won't you feed?"

"I can't, love," the Slytherin replied. "Madam Pomfrey told me in no uncertain terms that if I am to drink a single drop from you during the next four days or so, or if I do anything that goes past kissing, she will make sure I get expelled. I've just lost a lot of blood; before she's managed to recreate enough blood with her potions and medicines, I might not be able to control my hunger. Without control, I might hurt you -- and if not during the feeding for the hunger, then during the sex for the passion. Lack of blood often causes a vampire to become more aggressive during any sexual intercourse. I don't want to hurt you."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Werewolves get more aggressive a couple of days before and after the full moon," he reminded. "You've never hesitated to sleep with me during those nights."

"You're naturally submissive, Remus," Lucius tried to explain. "At mildest, your 'aggressiveness' is just you being more active. Even at its most, it's just you being the dominative one. With me, it would be much worse. I might do serious harm to you -- and that is something I don't want to do, not ever."

For a moment, Remus just looked at him, amber eyes battling grey. Then, the werewolf sighed, and pressed himself against Lucius's chest. "I love you, Lucius," he muttered. "I was so worried I might lose you..."

The blond tightened his hold on him. "You shouldn't have been worried, Remus," he said quietly. "And I..." After a small pause, he finally forced himself to finish, "I love you, too."

To that, Remus didn't say anything. He just smiled weakly, hiding his smile in the tall blond's chest, enjoying the reassuring warmth of his lover's body.

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