This story is for my Girlfriend: Gwen
I want to thank my amazing Beta reader Lady Nyneve for putting up with my horrible spelling ;) hands her a lucius and snape chocolate chip cookie;)
Vinegar
1894
Harry was pressed tightly to the kitchen wall, underneath a table. It was not like he sat under tables on a regular basis or anything, he was just playing hide and seek with the children of the servants.
Until he had turned 12 years old, there hadn't been any playmates for little Harry to entertain himself with. He had mostly played on his own since his parents, James and Lily Potter, were to busy with their status and oh so important friends, to actually pay attention to their only son. That's why James had hired a private teacher when his son was just eight years old; too old to play with toys and old enough to learn to be a real man. That was why all Harry's toys were taken from him except his books. Fortunately, Harry was not lonely for long. Soon his new teacher arrived. A young man with sandy blonde hair, rather tattered clothes, loads of books, and a chocolate obsession which made him the first friend Harry ever had.
Nowadays, there were several people of Harry's age working in the Potter mansion. His best friend was one of the kitchen boys, Ronald Weasley, just 18 years old. He and Harry had exactly the same age, but Ron's red hair and freckles made him look a lot younger. James wasn't too fond of this friendship since his wealthy friends disapproved of the working-class. Like the Blacks and the Malfoys, who thought anyone who had to actually work for their money wasn't worth talking to. But, since Ron was Harry's only friend, other than Remus, he wasn't going to let go that easily.
Ron was partly the reason why, at this very moment, he was hiding. They had agreed to play one quick game with the smaller children who saw Ron and Harry as their big brothers. Ron had even given up his lunchtime for it.
Harry stared at Ron's legs while he tried to suppress a fit of laughter as he heard Ron curse. "Bloody hell, Harry, I saw you run in here. Where are you? You're even harder to find then those little brats!"
Harry knew that Ron loved those "little brats" with the whole of his heart because one of them was his little sister Ginny. Just as he thought about this, he heard someone else enter the kitchen. The kitchen was full of equipment, chairs and even laundry that hadn't yet dried, but when the black shiny leather shoes had made their way towards Ron's bare feet, the kitchen sounded more like an empty prison cell. He felt a knot begin to form in his stomach when he heard a dark booming voice address Ron.
"You've forgotten your payment again, Weasley! You know the people of the village love to gossip. You wouldn't want your mother to know about your illness, would you?"
There the man, for it was definitely a man, stopped talking for a second. When he continued his voice was almost sickeningly sweet, with an ice cold undertone. "…that she hears from the 'laundry lady' that her own son is a filthy fag!"
Harry couldn't see Ron, but he could tell from his silence that a 'fag' was something bad. He'd never heard of the word to be honest, but because it involved his best friend he was desperate to find out what it meant; more importantly, why his best friend was one.
He felt that he would be in deep trouble if he showed himself which made Harry press himself tighter against the cold brick wall. Ron had been silent for quite some time, but now his low voice filled the whole kitchen.
"Don't pressure me. You'll get what you want!"
The other man was probably thinking because it was quiet for several seconds before he shot back. "You know what happens with people like…you these days. They haven't had the chance to hang a fag in ages."
The man took a step forward and leaned on the table. Then he turned around again and took two large, quick steps towards Ron. Harry heard his friend make a strangled noise.
"Urghhhhh…….s….sir I..am so..rry.."
Harry's eyes widened, and without thinking, he shot up from were he was hiding. The man was so startled by Harry's sudden appearance that he immediately let go of Ron's neck. Harry placed a protective hand on his friends shoulder to make sure he was ok. Suddenly, Harry felt himself aggressively pulled towards the man. Only now did Harry really get to look at him.
"Dad?"
For a second it seemed like James would lose his temper, but he regained his icy exterior rather quickly.
"Harry, my son. What are you doing here? Ron...ald and I…" Throwing a warning glare in the redhead's direction, "we were just playing around a bit"
Harry couldn't believe his ears. He knew that his father practically hated Ron's guts.
"Dad, you were strangling him!"
He felt himself heat up with anger. Anyone who knew James could have told you James wasn't the person who would just let things pass. But, this same person would have been surprised to hear that what James Potter did, was laugh. It was a mean, loud laugh that turned Ron's blood to ice.
"Was I, Ronald? Did I harm you?"
Ron who, seconds ago, had been rubbing his painful throat now looked at Harry with a serious look on his face.
"No sir, you didn't harm me at all. Harry, it was just play. We get along much better now, your father and I. You really do not have to be concerned about me."
That was all it took for Harry.
"Fine! I know you're both lying, but if this is how you want it!!"
And with these final words he stormed out of the kitchen. He wasn't blind. He knew what he had seen and heard. Even though he was not sure what his father and Ron had been on about, he was sure that he himself was in big trouble as well.
While Harry made his way over the richly decorated hallway, Ron's little sister Ginny spotted him, and waved.
"Harry, did Ron catch you too?" she asked in her high bubbly voice. Harry was too angry to hear her and just stomped angrily past her. The little girl pulled a disappointed face.
"Harry? Is something wrong?"
But, the black haired youth had already opened the door of his private teacher's room. "Remus?"
Remus looked up from the book on his lap and smiled when he caught sight of his panting pupil.
"Harry! How nice to see you. Have you come for lessons on your day off?"
Remus smiled at him, while placing the thick volume on a table. Harry returned the smile. He knew that Remus' presence or just his room would calm him down.
Remus' sweet voice, kind as ever, cut trough the silence in the way a knife cuts through a chocolate fudge cake. "Harry, boy, come sit down."
Remus beckoned for Harry to sit down when he got up from the big comfortable chair he was sitting in. Harry looked around and noticed for the first time that this was actually the only chair in the room. When Remus noticed that Harry hadn't moved a muscle he walked up to him and gently pushed him down in the chair.
"I'll make you some tea. Just sit back and relax."
On the table next to where Harry was sitting now was the book Remus had been reading. It was a huge volume with over a thousand pages. Harry got bored from only looking at it, let alone that he would ever try to read it.
After several minutes Remus returned to the small living room with two mugs and handed one of them to Harry. Harry gratefully accepted the mug. Remus' tea was famous throughout the whole mansion for its healing powers, but actually mainly because it was so tasty. Harry warmed his hands on the mug for a while before taking a sip of the sweet smelling liquid. He closed his eyes when he felt the taste of honey slide down his throat. He could hear Remus chuckle beside him. He opened his eyes and saw that his teacher and friend had come to sit beside him on the armrest.
"Remus?"
"Yes Harry?" Remus answered in an amused tone.
Harry thought about how Remus always sounded like the summer, warm and soft. Or, maybe it was just that Remus made Harry feel the summer inside. He mused on this for a while before he finally asked what he had come here for.
"Remus, eh….I…eh…heard, I mean, I….eh"
It seemed that the words he needed to say didn't want to reach his lips. This happened quite often when he was around Remus. Remus didn't notice a change in Harry's behaviour, though, and gently placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry felt his cheeks heat up and suddenly the words rolled over his lips like water from a fall.
"Remus, what is a 'fag'?"
Remus' teacup shattered when it hit the tile floor.
Anyone who is interested in harry and draco chocolate chip cookies just has to leave me a review ;)
thanx for reading