Title: Messing With The Mind
Chapter Three
"Harry, we've got some work to do and the Malfoys and Blaise are headed home. Will you be okay with just Marcus?"
Harry glanced across at Marcus and quickly looked back at his father. "I'll be fine. When will you be back?"
"Later tonight. Lord Voldemort is having rooms set up for you next to Marcus. He says he'll take off the rest of the spells tomorrow after breakfast."
Harry nodded and watched as his father left the room before turning to the older Slytherin. He cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the silence.
"Po- Harry, do you want to go outside. The wards here will protect you."
Harry grinned and nodded, thankful that the silence was broken. The two said nothing as Marcus lead the way out to the gardens while Harry looked around as they walked.
"This place is beautiful."
Marcus nodded. "Yes. The Dark Lord takes a lot of pride in keeping the place up. The gardens are my favorite place here. Not many of his followers come out here so I can be left alone."
"I know how that is. Sometimes silence is the best thing in the world. Especially when I don't want to talk."
The Slytherin smirked. When they reached a bench beside a small pond, he sat down and waited until Harry sat next to him before speaking.
"May I ask you something?"
Harry shrugged. "Sure."
"With your past with Snape, how are you handling this so well? I've heard of some of the things that used to happen in Potions. I wouldn't be so collected if it was me."
Harry sighed and looked over the pond. "If I tell you something, can you not tell anyone? Not even my father?"
Marcus stared at him in silence for a minute. "Sure."
"The muggles that I lived with, my mum's family, they didn't like magic. At all. And Dumbledore really made them mad. The day my mum and… stepdad died, he laid me on their doorstep and left. He didn't wait to see if they wanted me or anything, just left a letter for them."
Harry could feel Marcus' disbelieving look but still stared straight ahead. "They took it out on me growing up. I was little more than a house elf. I remember wishing that someone would come and take me away, anyone. And then, when I woke up at my father's house and told me he had come to get me, even though I couldn't remember it, it was like a dream come true for me. There's nothing I have ever wanted more than that."
"No one knows? Surely someone checked in on you while you were growing up?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. The Weasleys and Hermione know now but no one ever came before I started Hogwarts. I didn't even know magic was real until Hagrid came and got me."
The two were silent after that, both enjoying the company and the silence around them before heading back inside.
HPSSHPSS
Slowly the door opened and a figure dressed in black stepped into the room. The man quietly made his way over to the bed to check on the small figure under the blankets. As he stepped close, the smaller figure shifted and slowly sat up.
"Dad?" A sleep slurred voice startled the older man.
Severus' breath caught in his throat. Had Harry really called him Dad? He stepped up beside his son and handed him his glasses.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Did everything go okay?"
Severus smiled softly, remembering what he had done that night. "Yes, son, everything went quite well."
Harry nodded and leaned towards the side.
"Hand me your glasses and go back to sleep. It's late. I'll wake you in the morning before breakfast."
" 'Kay. Night, Dad."
Severus stayed a little longer and watched the Gryffindor sleep.
HPSSHPSS
"Did everything go well last night?" Lord Voldemort looked over his coffee at the two younger wizards.
Marcus nodded while Harry smiled at the Dark Lord. "It went very well. Your gardens are lovely."
Voldemort smiled at the praise. "Thank you, Harry. Now, after breakfast, your father needs to speak with you. When the two of you are done, you will need to join me in my study and I will see about removing the rest of the spells. Does that sound agreeable to you?"
Harry nodded as he ate his breakfast, glancing at his father curiously.
HPSSHPSS
"Walk with me, Harry."
Harry kept silent as he walked beside his father.
"Yesterday, the Dark Lord accompanied me, in disguise, to the Ministry. He helped me speed a few things along."
"What things?"
Severus pulled out a few papers and handed them over to Harry who looked through them curiously. He looked up in shock.
"Is this what I think it is?"
"Yes. At the beginning of September, everything should be completed. You are officially mine now. There is nothing that Dumbledore to take you away from me and return you to your relatives."
The two came to a stop in front of Voldemort's office door. Harry gaped at his father for a minute before throwing himself into a hug.
Realizing what he was doing, he stepped back and handed the papers over to his dad.
"After you are done, we will be heading home. I'll be in the library when you are ready."
Harry nodded and paused before speaking. "Thank you…for everything."
Severus merely nodded before heading back the way he had come.
