Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Warnings in this chapter: Mentions of abuse, slash, surprised torture (not sure it's that a good thing)
Pairing: Lucius Malfoy/Harry Potter.
Setting: The end of Book 5 Order of the Phoenix, half the scene is taken from said book.
A/N: Welcome to a new Harry Potter story, this is darker then most of my stories, and doesn't paint Vernon in a good light, not that he was in a good light in the first place, but this is really bad. Not to mention I'm going to be really mean to Harry in the next few chapters, on the bright side, he gets a hot blond Lord in the end.
Anyway enough of my babbbling, on with the show!
Mitis Tenebris
Prologue
When the ticket signaled to him, Ron, and Hermione that it was safe to walk through the magical barrier between the platforms nine and ten, however, he found a surprise awaiting him on the other side: a group of people standing there to greet him whom he had not expected at all.
There was Mad-Eye Moody, looking quite sinister with his bowler hat pulled low over his magical eye as he would have done without it, his gnarled hands clutching a long staff, his body wrapped in a voluminous traveling cloak. Tonks stood just behind him, her bright bubble-gum-pink hair gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the dirty glass station ceiling, wearing heavily patched jeans and a bright purple T-shirt bearing the legend THE WEIRD SISTERS.
Next to Tonks was Lupin, his face pale, his hair greying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and trousers. At the front stood Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, dressed in their Muggle best, and Fred and George, who were both wearing brand-new jackets in some lurid green scaly material.
"Ron, Ginny!" called Mrs. Weasly, hurrying forward and hugging her children tightly. "Oh, and Harry dear—how are you?"
"Fine" lied Harry, as she pulled him into a tight embrace, over her shoulder he saw Ron goggling at the twins' new clothes.
"What are they supposed to be?" he asked, pointing at the jackets.
"Finest dragon skin, little bro" said Fred, giving his zip a little tweak. "Business is booming and we thought we'd treat ourselves."
"Hello, Harry," said Lupin, as Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry and turned to greet Hermione.
"Hi" said Harry. "I didn't expect….what are you all doing here?"
"Well" Lupin said with a slight smile, "we thought we might have a little chat with your aunt and your uncle before letting them take you home."
"I dunno if that's a good idea." Said Harry at once.
"Oh. I think it is," growled Moody, who had limped a little closer. "That'll be them, will it Potter?"
He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder; magical eye was evidently peering through the back of his head and his bowler hat. Harry leaned an inch or so to the left to see where Mad-Eye was pointing and there, sure enough, were the three Dursleys, who looked positively appalled to see Harry's reception committee.
"Ah, Harry!" said Mr. Weasley, turning from Hermione's parents, whom he had been greeting enthusiastically, and who were taking it in turns to hug Hermione. "Well—shall we do it then?"
"Yeah, I reckon so, Arthur," said Moody.
He and Mr. Weasley took the lead across the station toward the place where the Dursleys stood, apparently rooted to the floor. Hermione disengaged herself gently from her mother to join the group.
"Good afternoon," said Mr. Weasly pleasantly to Uncle Vernon, coming to a halt right in front of him. "You might remember me, my name's Arthur Weasly."
As Mr. Weasley has singlehandedly demolished most of the Dursley's living room two years previously, Harry would have been very surprised if Uncle Vernon had forgotten him. Sure enough, Uncle Vernon turned a deeper shade of puce and glared at Mr. Weasley, but chose not to say anything, partly, perhaps, because the Dursleys were outnumbered two to one. Aunt Petunia looked both frightened and embarrassed. She kept glancing around as thought terrified somebody she knew would see her in such company. Dudley, meanwhile, seemed to be trying to look small and insignificant, a feat at which he was failing extravagantly.
"We thought we'd just have a few words with you about Harry," said Mr. Weasley, still smiling.
"Yeah" growled Moody, "about how he's treated when he's at your place."
Uncle Vernon's mustache seemed to bristle with indignation. Possibly because the bowler hat gave him the entirely mistaken impression that he was dealing with a kindred spirit, he addressed himself to Moody.
"I am not aware that it is any of your business what goes on in my house—"
"I expect what you're not aware of would fill several books, Dursley," growled Moody.
"Anyway, that's not the point," interjected Tonks, whose pink hair seemed to offend Aunt Petunia more than all the rest put together, for she closed her eyes rather than look at her. "The point is, if we find out you've been horrible to Harry—"
"—and make no mistake, we'll hear about it," added Lupin pleasantly.
"Yes," said Mr. Weasley, 'even if you won't let Harry uses the fellytone—"
"Telephone," whispered Hermione.
"Yeah, if we get any hint that Potter's been mistreated in any way, you'll have us to answer to," said Moody.
Uncle Vernon swelled ominously. His sense of outrage seemed to outweigh even his fear of this bunch of oddballs.
"Are you threatening me, sir?" he said, so loudly that passersby actually turned to stare.
"Yes, I am" said Mad-Eye, who seemed rather pleased that Uncle Vernon had grasped this fact so quickly.
"And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?" barked Uncle Vernon.
"Well…" said Moody, pushing back his bowler hat to reveal his sinisterly revolving magical eye. Uncle Vernon leapt backward in horror and collided painfully with a luggage trolley. "Yes, I'd say you do. Dursley"
He turned away from Uncle Vernon to survey Harry. "So, Potter…give us a shout of you need us. If we don't hear from you for three days in a row, we'll send someone along…."
Aunt Petunia whimpered piteously. It could not have been plainer that she was thinking of what the neighbors would say if they caught sight of these people marching up the garden path.
"Bye, then, Potter" Moody, grasping Harry's shoulder for a moment with a gnarled hand.
"Take care, Harry," said Lupin quietly. "Keep in touch."
"Harry, we'll have you away from there as soon as we can," Mrs. Weasley whispered, hugging him again.
"We'll see you soon, mate," said Ron anxiously, shaking Harry's hand.
"Really soon, Harry" said Hermione earnestly, hugging him tightly. "We promise"
Harry nodded. He somehow could not find words to tell them what it meant to him, to see them all ranged there, on his side. Instead he smiled raised a hand in farewell, turned around, and left the way out of the station toward the sunlit street, with Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley hurrying along in his wake.
The moment Harry climbed into the van and they started to drive off, his smile faded and he cast a weary glance at the driver's seat, his Uncle's face was red and shaking with anger, the sight made even his aunt and cousin give the man nervous looks. When they arrived at the house it was evening, Vernon parked the van and got out, slamming the van door hard, making the others flinch.
Quickly, Harry grabbed his things and hurried to his room, he was letting Hedwig out when he suddenly heard the familiar sound of his aunt's footsteps coming down the hall, they stopped at his open door, there was a pause before his door was closed and locked.
Harry got the impression this was more for his protection then a punishment.
Vernon sat in his usual chair, glass of brandy in hand, lost in thought.
How dare they, how dare they!
Who did those freaks think they were, coming up to him and his family, threatening and telling him how to handle that boy.
So what if he gave the boy a good beating now and then, the little freak needed them to remain him of his place. So what if he barely gave the boy food to survive, something as unnatural as that boy should be grateful that he didn't kill the freak the moment he found the thing on his doorstep…they all should.
"Vernon?"
Vernon looked at his wife, who was dressed for bed.
"Are you coming to bed?" she asked, glancing at the nearly empty bottle of brandy.
"In a moment Pet" he answered, voice slurred.
Petunia hesitated, looking as though she wanted to say something before she nodded and headed upstairs, leaving her husband to his thoughts and brandy.
Harry paused in his reading by flashlight when he heard the sounds of his Uncle's heavy drunk footsteps stumble down the hall, he held his breathe when the footsteps stopped at his door, even Hedwig froze, her large golden eyes focused on the door, feathers slightly puffed. Harry's breathe hitched when his door handle was jiggled, there was cursing when the door didn't open from the other side of the door, the handle was jiggled several more times, then everything stopped.
Harry let out a sigh of relief, both wizard and owl jumping when suddenly there was a loud bang before the footsteps stumbled away.
Neither slept that night.
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