Story takes place summer of 1995, Order of Phoenix era, trying to follow to story, but… we'll see…
Ages at the beginning of story/name/D.O.B., just so we're clear.
35/ Severus Snape/ January 9, 1960
57/ Bruce Wayne/ October 13, 1939
16/ Harry Potter/ July 31, 1980
Pairings: Harry/OC, Harry/Draco, Batman/(still deciding... review/PM who you want Bruce to mingle with!)
Batman saves Harry after a bad prank, after taking him in and training him, Harry becomes new Batman. Eventual Drarry.
Chapter One: Dursley's End, Batman Begins
Harry was walking through London, having been beat unconscious and crudely dropped off by his fat ass of a cousin when he regained consciousness. As a prank, he guessed. Dudley was always doing shit like this to him! If it wasn't his underwear being pulled savagely up his back it was his dreams being mocked by Dudley. And, of course Uncle Vernon didn't say a thing about it. He says it builds character. He was always beating Harry or 'roughing him up a bit'. Harry didn't find the least bit of hilarity in it, but now he had more problems to face.
How was he supposed to get home?
He wasn't quite sure where he was, and the neighborhood didn't seem too helpful judging from the looks he got. Broken glass crunched under his feet as he walked; the sound of dogs barking and the occasional scream or yell could be heard from blocks away. He turned a corner, hoping it would lead to safety, but the further he went the worse it seemed. Now, there were more people and fewer lights. He would be lying if he said it wasn't scaring the fucking shit out of him. He pulled his grey hood over his face a bit, as if it were a safety blanket, and walked a little faster cursing his cousin and praying to God for help.
"Hey, kid."
Harry stopped. Should he keep walking like it was nothing? No, he'd already stopped. Curse the man? If it came to it. He decided to just turn around and see who it was. Harry slowly tunred around, keeping one hand on his wand and the other in his pocket. Great, Harry thought. The owner to the voice was a man who looked pretty intense with his tattoos covering his arms and a few teardrops tattooed under both eyes. He was smiling a horrible, mirthless smile and fingered something metallic in his front pocket.
"Haven't seen you around here, kid." He said walking closer and getting into Harry's face, "Ya lost? I know all these parts. Show ya around, I could." The man laughed and smiled wider at him, alcohol emitting from his hot breath.
"I'm…" Harry was about to say something, a lie, say he was going to his aunt's house, which would be right around the next corner, but something caught his eye. The man, seeing Harry's confused look, turned his head and looked in the same direction, reluctantly letting both hands go to his sides. Up on a stairway to an apartment stood a man in a long black cloak with a hood over his eyes. Even though he was silent, his presence still sent a sense of both fear and excitement.
Is he on my side, or his side? Harry thought.
"Damn it."
Bruce had spilled his coffee again in his old car. He was riding through the back roads of London trying to get through this bloody town to where his old friend, Severus lived.
Now… Did he say left at fourth street or…
Suddenly, a boy crossed the street in a flash. He stopped the car. Could that be… No… He lives in Surrey… But what if it is? I'll have to get a closer look.
Bruce quietly opened his door and pulled his cloak over his head wanting to blend into the night as well as he could. Of course, he never carried his uniform with him anymore but he learned to always keep cloaks if he needed a quick disguise.
He followed the boy in the grey hoodie for a few blocks wondering why the hell Harry Potter was in these parts of London. He kept to the shadows, of course, and only paused when he saw Harry being approached by a man. He climbed carefully up a metal bar so that he could see Harry's face and catch his attention. It worked; soon Harry was looking at him with a reproachful look and the man followed his gaze on Bruce and dropped his hands.
Bruce's gaze went from the man back to Harry who was still apprehensive about him, and jumped down with amazing grace, landing right in front of the man.
"I'd suggest you leave if you like your limbs where they are." Bruce said in his deep, menacing voice.
The man ran for it and Bruce chuckled. He still got it.
"Come on. We'd better get out of here, son." Bruce turned and began to walk back to his car, but something felt lacking, like the sound of footsteps following him, "Aren't you… coming?" Bruce asked nodding his head towards his car at the word 'coming'.
"Not that I don't, erm, appreciate you saving my life but I don't really know you, sir."
Bruce chuckled again, "Of course you don't know me, but I know you, Harry. I was on my way to a friend's house and I saw you. You're pretty vulnerable out here, son."
Harry was caught of guard at the fact that this man knew his name and was kind enough to go out of his way to help him, but he trusted this man. Whoever the hell he was, he was pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, even though he was probably in his fifties. His eyes were a light blue color and looked trustable.
"All right…" Harry said slowly.
Bruce turned back around and began walking back to his car, the sound of two feet walking resonating off his ears. Harry was still tense about this; Bruce could tell by the way he held his arms to his side and how he walked as far away as possible.
"If I could prove to you that I'm the good guy, will you be a little less fidgety?"
"I'm not fidgety! I'm just not sure how to respond to you yet!" Harry said defensively.
"I'm just trying to get on your good side, son."
Harry made a face at this man, though he smiled slightly at the good intentions.
When they made it to the old black car Harry gasped, "This is your car? This- it's-"
"Yes, yes. It is my car. Just get in." The man said idly, almost bored.
Harry opened the passenger door and was happily surprised to see that it opened upwards like some sort of space car and he almost giggled as he sat down and shut it. As Harry looked around the car, he saw that it was a very high-class sort of car. Very technological, what with all the different gears and some fascinating looking buttons.
"Don't touch." The man said bluntly waving his arm to signal that he meant everything.
Harry let his then outstretched hand draw back and put it in the pocket on his hoodie.
"Are you some sort of super hero?" Harry asked.
"I was. I'm sort of retired now." He said as he removed his cloak revealing a pair of jeans and a nice black shirt.
"Really?" Harry asked as if expecting a 'no' for an answer, "So… Batman, then?"
"I- How'd you guess?" He asked with a surprised smile.
"You looked like my Potions Professor at Hogwarts! The way he is with his cloak, he looks like a bat."
"You don't say…" He said smirking as he started the car with a loud roar from the engine.
"So, erm, Batman?"
"Call me Bruce, mind you."
"Bruce… Where are we going?"
Bruce suddenly seemed like he'd remembered something very important and his hands flew to the glove box, "Thank you for reminding me, Harry. I need to go visit an old friend. You don't mind if we stop there before taking you, er, home?"
"I honestly wouldn't mind spending the rest of the summer with a pack of coyotes." Harry sighed looking out the window as the car sped over the road fast and easy. If you didn't know any better, you'd think the car was still stationary, that is until they turned a corner and gravity took its coarse.
Bruce held the paper he had gotten from the glove box a few inches from his eyes and sighed, "Hmm… I'll keep you as long as I can. I haven't seen a friendly face in years and you're a pretty good kid, Harry."
"Strange how people know more about me than I do sometimes." Harry sighed.
"I understand completely. How'd you even wind up in this part of London?"
"My cousin kidnapped me and dropped me off here. He's such a twat." Harry said staring out the window.
"Are you okay? Not hurt are you?"
Harry looked down at the bruise on his arm where his cousin had grabbed him to get him in the car and sighed.
"Just a bruise." Harry grumbled.
"He bruised you? Can't you use magic to stop the boy?"
"I- You're a-?"
"No. I'm a muggle with wizard friends. My butler was a wizard… he was such a good man… But anyway- you need to learn to defend yourself!"
"What do you mean? I can't use magic out of school for another few years."
"I could teach you some combat skills if you'd want to come to my place for a while."
"Really? But- I would really like to, but I don't know you at all."
"Well, I'm a close friend with your potion's master, Professor Snape. He could give me that potion he used to threaten me with… it makes the taker tell the truth."
"But why would you want me to stay with you?" Harry asked.
"I've been following you in the papers and you're a smart, talented and a very charming boy. I want to take you in. Teach you all I know."
"But, why?"
"I'm getting old, Harry. I never had children and you're the perfect candidate for the next 'Batman'."
Harry's eyes went comically huge. Him a superhero? What would his friends think? Or would he be able to tell them?
"I- I-… Really? I- You want me to- I'm going to be Batman?" Harry asked his voice getting higher with each word.
"In due time. I'm not old enough for it to be ominous. When you're ready you can be under full authority of my mansion, the Bat Cave-"
"The car?" Harry asked excitedly.
"Yes, the car. It's a real chick magnet, actually." Bruce said, but remembering a certain article he read, he added, "Though… I guess it could attract others."
"Oh… Yeah, right." Harry blushed, "I'm surprised they found that out… I hadn't even come out to my friends yet."
"Well, that must have been an interesting talk then."
"It's not everyday your best friend's sex life is posted all over the bloody paper. 'Boy-Who-Lived-For-Blokes'. Think they'd come up with something cleverer."
"So… is it a yes to staying?"
"Yes. But I'll need my books…"
"That can be arranged. I am Batman. I can sneak into a muggle's house." Bruce said.
"Okay. So… Do you think you could teach me some of your stealth moves? I thought you were a shadow until you moved your head slightly. And the way you jumped… You could have flown down for all I knew!"
Bruce smiled at Harry's interest in him.
"I see a lot of myself in you, Harry. Your ambition is a virtue. Live by it." Harry smiled at this and sat a little straighter as he saw the car pull to the side of the road and stop, "We're here... You wouldn't mind if I go in alone at first, do you? I want to speak with my friend for a moment before... introducingyou."
"Not at all."
Bruce got out of the car and went up to the house, but he didn't go to the front door. Instead, he went around back out of Harry's view.
Severus Snape was in his study reading over the Daily Profit from earlier that day when his Sensory Sensors went off.
He sneered. Visitors.
Visitors who liked using back ways rather than front doors it seemed. His mind went through all people it could possibly be, statistically sorting through his acquaintances' habits of entering his house. Bellatrix was a possibility... but she was still in Azkeban for all he knew... The Dark Lord was at Malfoy Manor and would have called for Snape if he needed him. But who else was there?
Snape took his wand from his pocket and swished it, causing his reading candle, and the only candle in the room, to go out. He went first to the window and saw that whoever was out there drove a pretty nice black car...
So it was a muggle.
Then, he realized that there was a younger male in the passenger's seat. Who could thisbe?
Suddenly, Snape felt air go past him, thought the room was silent. He knew instantly who had gotten into his house.
"Bruce. What is the pleasure?" Snape asked the darkness slightly amused.
"Argh, how'd you guess?" Came Bruce's voice from closer than Snape had presumed. He flicked his wand and made the candle light up again.
"I am more intelligent than you remember, apparently. Perhaps next time you could park your contraption a block away, and it would be prudent to take into accord that I have Sensory Charms all around my house." Snape's voice held the same amount of annoyance it usually did though he smiled when he finished.
"Will do," Bruce said with a grin, "How've you been? I haven't seen you in ages, Severus!"
"I've been better honestly. I'm still teaching at Hogwarts and it's getting harder keeping my business with the Dark Lord secret... I'm sure that most of the wizarding world either knows or has high assumptions on the fact."
"You're still loyal to Dumbledore, aren't you?"
"Well, of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"
"I'm just reassuring!"
Severus Snape glared at Bruce for a moment before looking back towards the window, "Who was that in your car, may I ask?"
"Oh, it's just a young man that I picked up a few minutes ago, actually. Harry Potter."
"Potter? Why is he with you?" Snape asked his head shooting back to Bruce.
"He was in a bit of a rough spot and I had to help him out." Bruce said putting his hand through his hair and smiling sheepishly.
"Always the hero." Snape sneered, "Though I can see the interest. The similarities between you two is evident."
"Really? Such as…?"
"Your family pasts, your almost annoying need to eradicate wrong doers. You even look akin." Snape said eyeing Bruce's black hair.
"I see… I've asked him if he wants to live with me so I can train him."
"You what? Why?"
"Like I said. I want to train him. I want Harry Potter to be my heir."
Snape sighed and sat in a chair by the fireplace. Bruce was always making such quick decisions like this; they weren't always as ominous as you'd think, in fact, they usually ended splendidly.
"I'm sure with the proper training he'd be an exceptional heir. You are aware that he has to vanquish the Dark Lord, right?"
"Yes. I only require the summers and holidays. He'll have school to be trained by Dumbledore." Bruce said sitting in a chair opposite Snape, "Besides… his 'family' abuses him somewhat. It's not terrible but it's not exactly good."
"They do? In what ways?"
"From what I could tell; neglect and bullying. It's horrible."
"I hadn't the slightest clue they would do that to him… He always did seem a bit peaky at the beginning of the school year…"
"I want to make sure he is well taken care of. The poor kid."
"Speaking of… You want to let him in?"
"Oh, right! I almost forgot!"
Snape rolled his eyes as Bruce ran out the front door to fetch Harry.
I found this in one of my many folders of miscellaneous writings and decided since the school year is almost over and I'll have summer to update further, I should post it!
Review and tell what you think!
