Ch 4
Helga, Rowena and Godric watched sadly as Harry stormed from the common room, slamming the dark green door behind him.
"I thought you two were better than this, especially you, Helga." Godric said coolly. "How could you hide his inheritance from him? You know how dangerous they can be!"
"We sincerely thought we were acting with good intentions, it was for the best." Rowena whispered.
"The best for whom? Certainly not for Harry!" He snapped angrily. "You did what you thought was best for yourselves without any disregard to how it would affect him." Helga flinched at his disgusted glare and looked up at the irate wizard with large, wet eyes.
"We know we did wrong, Godric, and we will strive to make up for it." Helga swore. Godric stared hard at the two witches before collapsing onto a couch, rubbing his temples to stave off a headache.
"So about Harry knowing how to speak parsletoungue…" He began. Rowena nodded.
"I have a theory about that. I was thinking about it whilst Harry was undergoing his transformation. The ability to speak the language of the snakes is a rare one. I believe that Harry's creature inheritance gives him some of the same abilities of his mate. Along with the parsletoungue he might be better at occlumency and legillemency and he might be more inclined to use the dark arts spells more than the light spells." Rowena said.
"I think it would be better to ask Harry directly how he can speak the snake language because the ability did not appear after his inheritance he spoke the language before the stroke of midnight. And I do not want him anymore furious than he is at the moment." Helga suggested. Godric nodded in agreement and stood up.
"I am disappointed in the both of you. Harry trusted you with his private thoughts and problems and you betrayed that trust. He already has to put up with Salazar being a constant bastard he did not need you starting in on him too. I expect you to fix the mess you made, even if you have to resort to crawling in your hands and knees and begging him for forgiveness." Godric spoke softly, his expression deadly serious. He turned from the two witches and entered his bedroom through a maroon door. 'I will have to try even harder to prove to Harry that there are some adults that he can trust and that I am one of them.'
.
.
.
When Harry woke up the next morning the first thing he felt was a grief so heartbreaking that tears began to stream down his cheeks almost at once, but the grief quickly gave way to anger and resentment. 'How could he? How could my dominant just leave me like that? He pushed me away like I was a disgusting piece of garbage! He's supposed to protect and love me! How could he!?' Harry leapt out of bed and stalked around his room, twirling his wand in his hand as he tried to control his anger. He gave up with an irritated sigh.
"Muffliato." He murmured, encasing his room in a silencing charm so he would not alert the others. As soon as the charm was up he whirled towards his bed. "Sectumsempra!" He snarled and watched as the blanket, pillows and sheets were torn to shreds. "Reducto!" The bed collapsed into a pile of dust and Harry turned to his wardrobe. He opened the doors with a flick of his wand. "Lacero!" he growled and his clothes were sliced into ribbons. Bombarda Maxima!" The wardrobe exploded splinters of wood cutting Harry as they flew past. Harry threw his wand down, tired of casting spells, and picked up his desk chair, throwing it across the room where it slammed into a walled and broke apart. He flipped the desk over before attacking it with his hands and feet, tearing off a le and kicking a hole through the middle. Once he had demolished the desk he snatched his wand off the floor and gripped in tightly in a bloody fist. "Incendio." He said softly, setting everything on fire, extremely thankful that he had though to put various protection charms on his cloak and map when he, Ron and Hermione had gone to hunt horcruxes.
Harry canceled the fire spell, dug his cloak and map out of a pile of ashes, and wrapped his cloak around his shoulders. He stepped up to the door that led to Salazar's room and tried to tell himself that he didn't care that Slytherin didn't want him, he didn't care about that sharp pain that lanced through him at the thought of facing him. He didn't care. He didn't.
Harry opened the door slowly and walked silently across the room opening the emerald door and slipping out without being detected. He left the combined rooms at a run, going to a place where he knew he could be alone without the fear of being found, the room of requirement. Nobody would be able to reach him in there. Not that they would actually look for him. It was painfully obvious that they would harden his heart and work on defeating this demon and then he would go back home and they wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. And Harry didn't care that Salazar would not miss him or worry about him or want him to stay. He didn't.
"I don't." He whispered to himself as he slipped into the room of requirement.
.
.
.
Smooth golden skin was soft under his hand. A loud moan from underneath him as he trailed his fingers slowly down unblemished flesh had him groaning in response.
"Salazar." His name had never sounded so good coming from someone else's mouth before. Salazar groaned as he rocked against the smaller body beneath him. Pleasure built up into an all-powerful crescendo. He was so close, just a little more-Salazar woke suddenly, gasping for air and covered in sticky wetness.
"Harry." He moaned out, remembering the touch and taste of the younger male in his dream. He waved his hand over himself and the sweat and come disappeared from his body, bed and clothes. Salazar sighed heavily as he thought about the strange situation he had somehow stumbled into. 'Why now? I have never felt the loss of a missing mate or the pull to search for one. The elves and their mates usually find each other a year or two after they gain their inheritance and I am nearly twenty-three!' Salazar didn't understand how this could have possibly happened and now he was fighting off the guilt that was trying to choke him to death. He had been so confused last night that he had not once paused to think of how it must have been for Potter. He remembered clearly how it had felt to have the boy wrapped safely in his arms, it had felt right, like nothing could ever harm them as long as he had the teen at his side. And then he had pushed the young elf away and abandoned him to deal with things alone and he had ignored the boy when he had asked desperately for comfort, causing the elf to burst into miserable tears and escape into his room.
Salazar knew all about elves and their mates, having studied about them when a few of the students gained their inheritances and found their mates. He knew he was being a right arse, but he had needed time to come to terms with this monumental change. With a sigh Salazar got out of bed and mad his way to the shower connected to his room. He turned the hot water on before he stripped out of yesterday's clothes. He braced his hands on the shower wall and bowed his head, letting the water splash down onto his hair before rolling down the rest of his body. His thoughts wandered back to his dream and he found himself thinking about what Harry would like when he got out of the shower. He imagined the way the water would slide down his beautiful tan skin to gather in the hollow of his throat where Salazar could easily dip down and lick- Salazar quickly turned the hot water off and turned the cold water on. He couldn't indulge in such fantasies, especially since he was sure that there had been a mistake. He couldn't be the mate of an elf who had been born centuries after his time. It didn't make any sense!
Once finished with his shower Salazar dried off, wrapped his towel around his waist and headed to his wardrobe. He put on his pants, a pair of black slacks and a green sweater that reminded him of Harry's emerald eyes. He frowned at himself in the mirror before he pulled the sweater off and put on a midnight-blue button down shirt on instead. Unable to delay this moment any farther, Salazar walked over to the door that led to his guest room and knocked sharply.
"Potter? Potter, are you up?" He paused, waiting for a response. "Potter, get up! We need to talk about your inheritance and what happened last night!" After a minute of waiting there was still no answer and Salazar was getting irritated and impatient. With a sneer he opened the door and walked right in.
"Potter, you came to me last night wanting to talk so quit being a spoiled prat and-" Salazar broke off in silent horror, his scowl melting into fear. The room was completely destroyed! The bed sheets, blanket and the clothes from the wardrobe were thrown in scattered ribbons across the room. The wardrobe looked to have been blown up, the bed was a pile of ash, a chair lay in broken pieces underneath a large hole in the wall and the desk was scorched and in multiple pieces.
"Harry!" Salazar stumbled farther into the room, fear and worry clouding his mind. He took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down so he could sift through the debris in search for the young man. "Harry! Are you alright?" He called out, hoping the teen was not horribly injured as he used his wand to levitate and vanish the broken pieces of furniture. After a few minutes it became clear that the teen was not in the room and he quickly made his way to the common room.
"Harry!" He shouted, the fear escalating into panic. 'What if he had been kidnapped? What if he had sneaked away in the middle of the night and returned to his own time?' Salazar felt his heart clench painfully at the thought so he shoved it to the back of his mind. "Godric!" He snapped as he slammed the maroon door open and raced to Gryffindor's side. He shook him violently until he sat up and glared.
"What are you doing, Slytherin?" He snapped tiredly. "Why are you in my room? Do you think I want to talk to you after what you did to Harry last night you-"
"Harry is missing! I went to go talk to him and found his room destroyed. He wasn't in there and I can't find him anywhere!" Salazar distantly realized that he was acting most un-Slytherin but he couldn't find it in himself to care, not when his mate was missing. 'So he is your mate now? Are you sure you will not change your mind as soon as he is found?' A voice that sounded disturbingly like Helga whispered in his mind.
"What?" Godric shouted as he jumped out of bed. He didn't bother changing out of his night-clothes before he ran to Harry's room to see the destruction for himself. "Damn it! Where could he have gone?" Godric asked as he reappeared in the common room.
"If I knew, Godric, then all of this panic would be unnecessary, would it not?" Salazar said coolly as he tried to get his raging emotions under control.
"You do not even care that he is missing and most likely injured, do you? You are probably happy that he is gone, overjoyed that he is not here to bother you anymore." Godric snapped, glaring at the indifferent looking man. He backed up a step when a black wand was suddenly thrust into his face. He looked from the wand to Salazar and paled slightly at the furious expression.
"How dare you-you have no idea…Do not ever talk about him like that again. You think I am happy that my elf is missing? You think I am overjoyed that he could be injured and bleeding to death while I have no clue as to where he is?" Salazar hissed, shaking with rage and fear. "It is obvious that you will be unable to assist me in finding him and I am sorry that I thought you would be of any use. If you would excuse me I have a mate to find." Salazar swept out of the joint rooms and made his way to every room or place in the castle that he knew Harry liked to go wishing desperately that he would find his elf soon, complete safe and unharmed.
.
.
.
Godric groaned in frustration as Salazar stalked out of the room in barely restrained fury. He knew he his words had been uncalled for but he was still so angry at Salazar for how he had treated his young Gryffindor that he couldn't resist making the man feel even worse than he obviously did. With his guilt urging him on he woke Rowena and Helga and told them about Harry's disappearance and showed them his room. They readily agreed to help him search for the missing wizard and they split up to look in different parts of the castle.
Godric made his way to the quidittich pitch, a place he knew Harry liked to go to calm himself and think of whatever it was that was worrying him at the moment. He looked under the bleachers when he could not see him in the sky or sitting alone in the stands. With a sigh he left the pitch and made his way to the kitchens, a place he knew Harry loved to go to so he could talk and cook with the house-elves, even though they told him multiple times that he was not supposed to cook because he was a wizard and they were the house-elves.
"Has Harry been in here at all today?" He asked the first elf he saw upon entering through the portrait.
"No, Master Lion, Sir." The elf squeaked. "Is Master Harry Potter being wanting this elf? Is he being hungry?" the elf asked. Godric shook his head.
"He is missing and we are looking for him. If he comes in here I want you to send an elf to all four of us. I also want you to send some elves to search for him. The more people searching the better." Godric ordered.
"Misty be gathering some elveses to search for Master Harry Potter. Master Harry Potter is always being good to lowly elveses and talking tos elveses so very nicely." Misty said with conviction before she started to gather a group of twelve elves to search for Harry.
"If any of you find him I want you to immediately tell Salazar where he is. They are mates and Salazar is very worried about him." Godric said. The elves nodded their understanding before popping away all over the castle. Godric left the kitchen and walked down the corridor looking in every room as he tried to think of a place where Harry would go to be alone. Godric was going to check the Great Hall when he recalled Harry telling them about a room that appeared as whatever it was you need it to be. If Harry needed a place to hide then certainly the room could give him one! Godric ran off, remembering that Harry had said it was on the seventh floor. He would find the teen, scold him for worrying everyone half to death and then give him a bone-crushing hug and some chocolate cake, because chocolate makes everything better.
.
.
.
Rowena walked swiftly to the library and summoned all the books she knew had tracking charms in them. She flipped through them quickly, compiling a list of the most effective spells. Once she had her long list of spells she began casting them, one right after the other, growing more distressed when they continued to show no results.
"Invenire Harry Potter!" Nothing. "Supervenio Harry Potter!" Still nothing! She had cast over thirty tracking spells already and none of them had worked. She was starting to fear the worst, if the spells did not work then Harry had either returned to his own time, was no longer alive or was in a heavily warded area. Praying it was the last she cast the strongest tracking charm on the list. "Locant praeda fugacior Harry Potter!" It worked! With a cry of relief Rowena headed to where the spell had told her Harry was at, the seventh floor.
.
.
.
Helga flitted from room to room, looking desperately for Harry. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of him all alone, possibly hurt and with no one there to comfort him because Salazar had pushed him away and Rowena and she had betrayed his trust. It was entirely likely that he would not trust Godric to not hurt him either. A few tears slid down her cheeks, her heart aching with fierce guilt and sadness. She just wanted to find Harry! If she found him safe and unharmed she swore to merlin she would never betray his trust again, no matter what happened. She found herself on the seventh floor and was at a loss of where to search for next. She paced up and down the corridor she was in three times wishing she knew where Harry was. On her third cycle the wall began to shift and change. She stared at it in complete bafflement as a wooden door appeared out of nowhere. Helga looked up and down the corridor, searching for someone or something that could have made the door appear and seeing no one she hesitantly stepped forward and reached out for the handle.
.
.
.
Salazar was waiting impatiently for the staircase he was on to stop moving and stepped quickly off when it stopped at the seventh floor. He froze when he saw Helga looking in confused surprise at a door in the wall.
"Helga? What are you doing here?" Salazar asked and raised an eyebrow when the witch jumped and screamed. Helga turned quickly towards him and sighed loudly in relief, placing a hand over her heart.
"Salazar! You startled me!" Helga breathed as she stepped towards him. "Godric told us Harry was missing so we are all helping you search for him. This door was not here before, it just appeared while I was pacing and I was about to see what was inside." Helga explained as they both turned to look at the wooden door.
"It appeared out of nowhere? Are you sure you just did not notice it before?" Salazar asked as he pulled his wands and began to cast detection spells on the door. "It is not cursed."
"I am sure. Shall we check it out together then?" She asked hopefully. Salazar nodded and reached out to open the door when the sound of running footsteps reached them. Salazar turned hooping it was Harry and disappointment lanced through him when he realized it was Godric before turning into cold fury.
"Helga! Salazar!" Godric shouted as he ran up to them, panting harshly.
"What are you doing? Why are you here?" Salazar hissed coolly, eyes narrowed at the slightly older wizard.
"I am sorry about what I said earlier when you asked me for help. I should not have said what I did. I know you were not happy or overjoyed at Harry's disappearance and I had no right to even suggest such a thing. I asked Rowena and Helga to help me help you search for him. I also enlisted some house-elves and then I remembered about something Harry told me, about a room that appeared when you needed it and could be whatever you wanted so I ran up here to look for it. Is this it?" Godric asked turning to look at the wooden door.
"I do not know. We have not looked inside yet." Salazar said turning back to the door.
"Why not? Is it cursed? Did you check? If not I would be happy to-"
"I am not an incompetent wizard, Gryffindor! I know to check the door for curses or hexes and I have already done so, so if you will please shut your mouth I would very much like to look inside!" Salazar snapped, glaring at Godric before turning to grasp the doorknob.
"Oh, fantastic! You are all here!" Rowena's voice caused them all to turn as she hurried towards them.
"For the love of Merlin!" Salazar snarled in frustration tired of the interruptions. He yanked the door open and stepped quickly inside before anyone could stop him with more useless talking. "Harry!" He breathed when he saw the dark haired teen curled up on a comfy looking chair in front of a warm fire with a soft, green blanket wrapped around him like a cocoon. His mate was safe!
.
.
.
Harry slowly turned his head when he heard the sound of the door opening and multiple voices talking. Salazar was in the lead followed closely by Helga, Godric and Rowena. Harry turned away quickly so they could not see the tear tracks staining his face or the desolation in his eyes. He didn't want to see any of them right now. Except maybe Godric, he hadn't hurt him. 'Not yet he hasn't but who's to say he won't if given the chance?' A voice hissed in his head. Harry shook his head to dispel the malicious voice.
"Harry? Are you okay? Will you look at me?" Salazar asked as he stepped closer. Harry kept staring into the fire.
"Why are you here? How did you find me?" He asked tonelessly.
"I remembered you told me about this room and where it was." Godric said.
"It appeared while I was pacing up and down the corridor." Helga whispered.
"I used a powerful tracking charm that told me what floor you were on." Rowena supplied.
"I felt a pull, the longer you were gone the stronger it became and I followed it here." Salazar said. "Soul mates are not supposed to be so far apart so soon after finding each other." Harry turned cold emerald eyes onto the older wizard.
"Mates now, are we?" He asked harshly. "After you push me away and ignore my plea for help and comfort by feigning sleep? Oh yes, I knew you were awake, Dominant." Harry hissed sarcastically at Salazar's surprised look.
"I never thought this would happen to me and I needed time to think about how this was going to change and affect me." Salazar said.
"Oh! Well then, that makes complete sense! Never mind the fact that I didn't even know I was going to obtain a creature inheritance or what kind it would be! Let's just all forget about how I'm not even supposed to be in this time. You just didn't know it would happen." Harry nodded sarcastically.
"You do not understand-" Harry glared at Salazar.
"What did you say?" He asked slowly. "Did you just tell me that I didn't understand? Stroke of genius, that is. Of course I don't understand why my dominant pushed me away like some disgusting piece of trash and completely ignored my need for comfort." Harry gestured over to a pile of books next to his chair. "I've been reading about elven inheritances. Did you know that all Elves, except house-elves, require a mate and are very hands-on creatures. We're sexual by nature because elves need the touch of their mate to help ground them and control their tempers and their magic."
"Harry, could we please explain ourselves to you? Will you give us that chance without interruption?" Rowena asked stepping forward until she stood beside Salazar.
"What part of this conversation gave you the idea that you were welcome to intrude? Oh, that's right, there wasn't. So why are you talking to me?" Harry asked coldly. A stunned silence filled the room before Helga burst into silent tears. Rowena looked on the verge of crying and Godric just appeared shocked.
"Harry, that was uncalled for." Godric reprimanded softly as he planted himself between Harry and the other founders.
"Godric." Harry said stiffly, trying desperately to crush the urge to lean into the older wizard for comfort. Godric shook his head.
"I am not your enemy, Harry. I told you I would not hurt you and I will not but that was unnecessarily cruel." Godric said.
"They hurt me, Godric. You know what my life has been like, I told you about my aunt and uncle and Voldemort and fourth year with Ron. You know how hard it for me to trust anyone anymore." Harry whispered brokenly.
"I know, Young Lion." Godric whispered back just as softly as he stepped closer.
"I trusted them. I love him. They betrayed me and you will soon and I…I've lost so much in that war Godric. I'm already damaged and contrary to popular belief I do have a breaking point."
"I know, Harry." Godric said as he wrapped an arm around the distraught teen. "I also know why Salazar did what he did. I do not approve but I can understand and I think that you should hear him out. He is your mate and you need him. Just give him another chance." Godric said softly. Harry nodded into Godric's chest and the older wizard pulled away. "Good. We will give you some privacy. Come find us in the common room when you are done." Godric said as he dragged Helga and Rowena from the room, closing the door softly behind him. Harry watched the door melt back into the wall before taking a deep breath and turning towards Salazar.
.
.
.
Salazar let his eyes wander over Harry, looking for any sign of injury and sighing mentally in relief when he found none. He wished for a chair across from Harry and a dark blue one appeared.
"Let us sit down and I will try to explain my deplorable behavior." Salazar said motioning for Harry to sit. When they were both comfortable Salazar began to explain.
"My parents died when I was very young, nearly five. It was already clear that I would be a very powerful wizard, even at that young age and people tried to take advantage of their deaths to adopt me for their own personal agendas. I do not like to be used so I learned quickly how to take care of myself. I practiced for long periods until I could control my magic. I became very adept at wandless and wordless magic because I had no other way to care for myself. I never interacted with people unless I absolutely had to and there was no other way to get what I wanted. I was extremely paranoid and did not trust anyone. People tried to kidnap me or cast spells on me, spike my food and drinks, anything they could to get control of my magic so out of necessity I hardened my heart. I retaliated in ways that made people think twice about harming me. I studied the Dark Arts to better protect myself at first but after a while I began to seriously enjoy it. I was seven when I found out I could talk to snakes and I used that skill to my advantage. With my growing skill in Dark Arts, my powerful magic, and my ability people learned to leave me alone.
It was not until I was fifteen that I met Godric, Rowena and Helga. They had heard of my power and had come to talk to me about starting Hogwarts. Godric came first, just knocked on my door and introduced himself in his sickeningly boisterous way. I hexed him and slammed the door closed in his face." Salazar chuckled at the mirror and even Harry cracked a smile.
"A week later Rowena showed up at my door. I did not hex her but I did not let her in either. She told me that they had heard about how powerful I was and had a proposition for me. She told me about Hogwarts and why they thought I would be able to help them. I refused, telling her that I did not wish to help them with their pathetic plan to teach disgusting children. I said that if they could not find the ambition to learn themselves that they did not deserve to learn at all and then I slammed the door in her face." Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You were quite the bastard back then too, weren't you?" Harry asked snidely, but he couldn't stop the small smile that curled his lips. Salazar just smirked at him and Harry laughed softly.
"Helga was next and as soon as I opened the door she slapped me, hard. I remember being so surprised that I just stared at her while she ranted on about treating people with more respect and why did I not want to help children learn how to better control their magic and what would go was all my power if I did not help others. After she calmed down and stopped yelling she hugged me." Salazar laughed at the incredulous look on his elf's face. "She said that she knew I had been forced to act coldly towards everyone and for very good reason. She said that it was horrible for such a young boy to have to grow up without parents and that it was disgusting the way everyone tried to take advantage of me. Helga told me that I had been alone for a long time but that I did not have to be anymore. They would be each other's family now." Salazar smiled fondly as he thought of the emotional witch.
"I agreed to go back with her and really listened to what they had to say and after months of refusing I finally said yes. It took me three years to really trust that they weren't using me and five to believe that they really did love me like family." Salazar looked deeply into wide emerald eyes and self-depreciating smile.
"I never thought, growing up that I would ever be involved romantically with anyone, male or female. I was never attracted to anyone and I do not-did not believe love like that truly existed, not for me at least. Last night your inheritance shattered a lot of beliefs I had about myself and I was too overwhelmed to think rationally. I never thought I would fall in love or that I would have a mate. I never once thought that I would be so lucky. I was…afraid," Salazar forced the word out, "that this was a mistake or a…a trick but I know differently know. I am so very sorry that I hurt you, Harry." Salazar whispered as he reached out a hand to touch Harry's cheek gently. "It was never my intention and I swear that I will not willingly or knowingly do so again. I would like to try being your dominant if you would still have me."
Harry stared at him and Salazar grew worried the longer he went without speaking. A couch suddenly appeared next to their chairs and Salazar looked at it curiously. He turned back to Harry when the teen stood and held a hand out to him without speaking. Salazar took it quickly and let Harry pull him over to the couch. The younger wizard pushed him down onto the comfortable couch before sitting down next to him and curling into his side. Salazar automatically wrapped his arms around the slighter wizard's waist and pulled him closer.
"If you ever hurt me like this again I will castrate you." Harry mumbled. Salazar snickered softly and tightened his hold on his little elf.
"Thank you for giving me another chance." Salazar said softly.
"Hmm." Harry hummed and yawned widely. Salazar shifted them so he was lying on the couch with his elf draped comfortably over him.
"Sleep, little elf." Salazar whispered in Harry's ear. "The others can wait a few more hours." Harry nodded, yawned again and snuggled closer to Salazar before drifting off to sleep. Salazar watched him for a few minutes before he dropped a kiss onto Harry's tousled hair and followed his mate into Morpheus' domain.