THIRD POV

Once the Great Hall doors closed, Harry reached a hand out to his Zorro, seeking comfort, but Severus gently shook his head. "My office." Harry barely caught the whispered words, but he only gave a minuscule nod, trying to push the raging emotions away until at least they were safely alone. They traveled down a few corridors before Harry gently grasped Severus' outer robe and tugged him in the direction of a painting. Severus gave it a curious look, but he didn't see anything pointing to the importance of the object.
Getting a questioning look from his subdominant, the submissive silently walked over to the painting and pushed it upwards, revealing a stone wall with one brick protruding from the wall just a little bit more than the others. Gently touching the bottom left corner and top right at the same time, the brick slid inward as the wall slid sideways to reveal a dark passage. Harry stepped forward and looked back at Severus with a look that clearly stated 'Well? Come on', at which Severus gave a small twitch of his upper lip. They both walked forward, only for the wall to slide back into place, leaving them in complete darkness. Neither were disturbed in the slightest, as they both simply used their creature skills to see. Being a vampire allowed Severus to literally thrive in the dark, so following his little submissive down a pitch-black passage into the dungeons of Hogwarts was quite alright with him while thin membranes slid over Harry's eyes, letting him adjust to the almost complete lack of light. Given he was of siren blood, he retained the ability to use echolocation, membranes, and bioluminescence to find his way in the depths of the water- or in any type of darkness.
Less than five minutes into the little exploration, Harry pulled up on a turn and stopped, turning to look at the wall opposite of the continuing passage. Severus noted that the only thing marking the wall was the sconce attached near the top, but it must have been a type of clue to Harry. Focusing his eyes to see in better detail, Severus could make out the small carving of a snake, curling elegantly around a wand. Harry used Parseltongue to command the door to open in the name of Salazar Slytherin, at which the mechanism was triggered and the wall once more slid to the side, revealing the back of another painting. Harry used a levitation spell to gently move the portrait aside, leaving Severus slightly miffed that there was a secret entrance which lead directly into his quarters that he hadn't known about. Shaking the thought for more important matters, Severus strode out in front of Harry and took a few minutes to activate the wards he had placed inside of these rooms, putting them all in full effect. Slowly lowering his wand, Severus turned to look at his little submissive and pulled him into a comforting hug. His karus' breath hitched a bit, but no tears fell as he leaned into Severus, grasping him tightly. A small smile fought its way onto the potions mater's face as he nuzzled into Harry. "You did amazing out there little one." Harry hummed quietly while hugging Severus tighter, not wanting to have to go back to them. "I just- they hate me s-so much..." Harry hiccuped a little, causing Severus to frown slightly and pet his hair in reassurance. "I'm sorry Karus, I wish there was something I could do, but with Albus still in charge I cannot do anything. We have to remain as inconspicuous as possible." Harry gave out a small growl in protest, but the Potions Master only sighed and pulled Harry down to sit in his lap on his favorite wing-backed chair. The submissive cuddled closer with a sigh, letting his eyes droop a little. Severus cast a quiet tempus and gave a soft smile as he heard Harry mewl in protest at the movement. "Alright, I'll let you sleep for a bit, but when I wake you up you'll need to go back to your dorm. Remember that those dunderheads think you're in detention right now." Harry inaudibly groaned and fully closed his eyes. Severus heard his breathing rate slow and smiled down at his little mate, pride and love dominating his expression. He gently shifted Harry in his lap to help make the little one comfortable, as sleeping in a chair was never easy. Giving a silent chuckle, the Potions Master wordlessly summoned a book from one of his shelves and enveloped himself into the theories of complex spell creation.
About a half hour later, Severus felt his back pocket heat up and he gave a silent curse, carefully maneuvering to grab the offending object. Pleasantly surprised to find it his enchanted mirror rather than his coin, Severus opened the device. Tom's face appeared and it took merely seconds before he started speaking, panic laced underneath the words. "Severus, thank Merlin. I tried to contact Harry and Draco, but neither were answering. What happened? Are you all okay? Did Dumbledore do something?" Severus quietly turned the mirror to show their sleeping submissive. "As you can see, our littlest submissive is okay, if a little exhausted. I also believe Draco will be one of the students leading the new snakes to their dorms, so that would be the reason he cannot answer." Tom gave a sigh while relaxing back a little from his position up close to the mirror. "Are you okay?" Severus gave a sigh of his own and gently pet Harry's head. "I suppose. I am not in danger currently, but Dumbledore seems to have been doing more than we originally thought." Tom quirked a worried eyebrow, silently showing his concern while also demanding more information from a reluctant Severus. "He was using compulsion magic very subtly during the full duration of the dinner- so subtly in fact, that even I couldn't pick up on it." Tom tensed, knowing just how dangerous those types of spells were, but the dominant didn't say anything. "Fortunately, Harry subconsciously used his mage sight to view the magic, and his own submissive magic sought to fight the effects in both Draco and I as Draco's protective bracelet had already shielded him from the effects." A little wrinkle relaxed between Tom's eyebrows, but otherwise he didn't change at the news. "I'm glad the protections work, but will they hold up under a specified onslaught for Harry?" Severus pulled a hand down the side of his face, giving a low groan. "I don't have a way of knowing. I would believe so, but all we can really do is hope." Tom gave a small nod as the mirror warmed again. "Hello Darling." Severus felt a small smile tug at his mouth as he opened the mirror up completely, allowing him to see Draco's face now as well. "Bonjour Amour." The domsubmissive smirked as the two older men gave soft chuckles before donning an innocent facade. "What were you both talking about?" The mood fell slightly, and Draco started to worry. "Your protective bracelet works very well." Draco internally preened at the complement, but sniffed in disdain. "Of course it does. Malfoys never fail at protecting their own." Tom's and Severus' eyes softened at the statement, but Severus continued the earlier conversation. "That may be true." Cue an undignified squawk from the domsubmissive. "But we were speaking of how Dumbledore is using compulsion magic. Surely you remember suddenly forgetting what your previous thoughts were and feeling content with everything?" At Draco's nod and horrified look, Severus' lips thinned, remembering it himself. He had fallen under the spell quite easily, as fighting his hardest did barely anything to the magic. It was rather worrying when his craft in Occlumency and Legilimency did nothing to quell the hold the magic had over him. Tom scowled away from the mirror, but both mates could still see the man's expression. "Don't worry Amour, we'll figure it out. We just have to be cautious is all." Tom sighed, turning back to look at his domsubmissive with a small smile while the blonde gave a cute yawn. "Yes, I want you all to be especially careful. And speaking of that, Severus would you be able to ward Draco's dorm before he goes to sleep tonight?" Severus hummed a little, but cast a look at Harry, easily getting his question across. Draco gave a soft coo while Tom had a considering look on his face. "Is he not able to stay down there with you?" Severus gave a small sigh as he shook his head. "No, I took him from the feast under the guise of him having a detention. He will then be expected to come back to the tower later, and his absence wouldn't be able to slip past the lions as the two traitors will no doubt be waiting for him when he gets back." Tom hummed as Draco yawned again. "Oh, Darling you can go to bed now. We wouldn't want you to lose any beauty sleep now would we?" Tom chuckled, Severus gave a small smirk, and Draco scoffed. "Don't go to sleep too late either Amour. And you know you need to sleep at least a little bit too Cher." Severus bowed his head in acquiescence as the blonde disappeared with a click. "Love, I think you should wake the little one up now though, I have a plan." Tom glanced away from the mirror for a second to look at a nearby clock while Severus kissed Harry's forehead, gently shook him, and called his name quietly. The Nature Lord gave a low groan before fluttering his eyelids, pleasantly surprised by the low lights and the sight of the man holding him. "H'llo Sev'rus." The Potions Master smiled while lifting the male a bit to sit upright. Catching sight of the mirror and Tom's face, Harry's eyes lit up. "Hi Tom." A worried smile flit onto Tom's face as he gazed at his littlest mate. "Are you feeling better Harry?" At his tired nod, Tom continued. "That's wonderful, but I have a job for you right now." Harry stopped rubbing his eyes and focused intently on his dominant, not wishing to disappoint one of his mates. "You were going to go back to your dorm after your 'detention' with Snape, right?" Another nod from the submissive as Severus started petting his hair. "Well, I'm going to have Severus follow you in his animagus form in the shadows. He is a chupacabra, and thus holds the ability to shadow travel. I want him to ward your bed against dangerous people and devices as I understand that your dorm is shared between four other lions. I need you to make sure no one notices him once he shifts back to his human form to cast the magic. Do you think you can do that?" Harry gave another silent nod as he turned to look at Severus, interest obvious in his eyes. "Alright then, thank you for the help. Have a good night Animus- and please do get enough sleep." Tom gave a soft chuckled as he nodded his head, fading to smoke with a click as well. Severus gently folded the mirror back up and slipped it into his back robe pocket as he picked up Harry and set him down next to his chair. The submissive was all silence and big eyes as he watched his mate stretch and suddenly condense in darkness. It floated to be more of a blob near the ground before disappearing altogether. A dark gray dog with spikes along its back, saber tooth-esque teeth, and red eyes was left staring up at Harry with a familiar glint in its eyes.