Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from writing this. It's actually pulling me away from the non-fanfiction writing that I'm supposed to be doing, so take that for what it is.

...

Chapter 4: Concern

...

Harry stared blankly at the wall next to Tobias' head as he fidgeted on the couch. He was doing his best to focus on what Tobias was trying to explain to him - the war in their country was quickly invading the courtyard, and it would be impossible for Harry to avoid it forever. To even think about doing so was just plain stupid, according to Tobias, and it was looking increasingly likely that the British Ministry would send out a draft for young witches and wizards capable of dueling in battles. Harry nodded slightly when Tobias mentioned something about a Dark Lord and an old man, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from thinking about Cain's behavior the previous night.

After they'd gotten back into the sitting room, Cain had deliberately avoided talking with Harry, choosing instead to disappear almost immediately into his bedroom.

...

He walked slowly through the halls, like he was either extremely tired or in an incredible amount of pain, and Harry quietly followed him, both curious and concerned as to the reason behind Cain's behavior.

Cain, for his part, had done an excellent job of ignoring the fact that Harry was traipsing along behind him. He kicked his bedroom door halfway shut and gingerly pulled his shirt over his head, revealing a disturbing latticework of gashes on his back. Blood was still dripping from the deepest of the cuts, and Harry hadn't been able to stop himself from gasping in shot at the sight. Cain slowly turned around at the sound, and he looked at Harry through tired black eyes.

"What the hell happened to you?" Harry asked, unable to stop himself from asking the question.

Cain remained silent for a moment, walking over to the doorframe and leaning heavily on it.

Harry paused, letting himself look at the medley of wounds on Cain's torso before looking back up at Cain. "What the hell happened to you?" Harry asked again.

"You don't need to worry about anything," Cain said quietly. "I've had worse injuries than this in the past and I've survived them."

Harry hesitated before taking a step forward and cautiously touching a large yellowish bruise on Cain's chest, not missing the flinch that the brief contact produced. "But you're covered in bruises and still bleeding," he said. "Heal yourself, before too much damage is done."

Cain frowned, gently pushing Harry's hand away from him. He carefully pulled on a hoodie, hissing lightly when the fabric dragged over his wounds, and escorted Harry across the flat to his bedroom, deliberately ignoring the way that Aviva readied herself to strike at him when Harry resisted the hold Cain had on his upper arm. "I don't expect you're going to butt out of this, knowing your habit of feeding your every curiosity, but I will tell you not to asked about this again," he said quietly. "I've survived worse, and I will likely survive the same in the future. Try not to worry about a few scratches that I occasionally pick up."

"This is more than just a few scratches," Harry said.

A brief silence passed between the two of them, and both Harry and Cain watched as Aviva slid fluidly off of Harry's chest to chase away the few snakes still lounging on Harry's bed. Harry smirked when she threatened one of the cobras enough for the larger snake to puff up and attempt to strike her. The cobra missed, but Harry's focus was brought back to Cain when he felt the man release his hold on his arm.

"Did Thomas did do that to you?" Harry asked suddenly.

Cain's eyes flashed warningly and Harry looked down at the floor. "I'm going to go to sleep," he said. "I don't expect you to do the same, but until you do, please try not to make too much noise."

Harry nodded and said nothing further.

Cain turned around and headed back toward his bedroom.

"Cain," Harry said suddenly, looking up at his surrogate older brother. "If you were in trouble, would you tell me?" he asked.

Cain turned a bit, leaning heavily on the doorframe of his bedroom. "Trust me, kid," he said with a weak smile. "If we were in trouble, I'd let you know," he muttered. He walked further into his bedroom and pulled off the hoodie, nudging the door shut with his foot.

...

The next morning around half past nine, Harry walked into Cain's bedroom to find the older man still asleep. He was sprawled face-down on top of his blankets, and he still had yet to heal his wounds.

Harry frowned, taking a deep breath to gather his focus. A brief spark of white energy flitted at the tips of his fingertips of his left hand before disappearing, and Harry traced the edges of the wounds on Cain's back.

It took almost twenty minutes, but Cain stirred as the last of his wounds closed and healed themselves. He opened his eyes slightly and looked over at Harry. "What's going on, kid?" he asked.

"It's nine thirty," Harry said. "You've normally been up for at least two hours by now, but I guess the blood loss was a bit more than you would've expected."

Cain glared at Harry, who completely ignored him.

"Apart from that, Pepper came over about an hour ago," he said.

"What did that harpy want?" Cain asked irritably, slowly sitting up.

Harry grinned. "She mentioned that certain external forces have been deliberately fucking with the courtyard," he said. "There's a nasty thunderstorm brewing outside, and it's upsetting some of the snakes."

"So close the shop for the day," Cain said.

"I did," Harry said. He crossed his arms over his chest almost nervously and watched Cain for a long moment. "The larger snakes are particularly anxious, since they're also worried about you," he said. "Aviva's in with them, doing her best to calm them down, but none of them are all that keen on listening to her without you showing up to prove that you're alright and she's not lying."

"They seem awful worried about someone who can't even speak the same language," Cain replied. He stood up and walked over to his closet, looking for a clean shirt to wear. "They didn't hurt you, though, did they?" he asked

Harry nodded. "I'm fine," he said. "And the larger snakes have a lot of respect for you. They don't like it that you came home smelling like blood. Again."

A comfortable silence settled between them as Cain pulled on a blue shirt. Harry summoned a cup of coffee for the both of them.

Cain nodded his thanks. "Was there something else?" he asked when he noticed Harry watching him almost expectantly.

"Tobias is on his way over," Harry said quietly. "He made a point to call ahead this time," he added.

"Really?" Cain asked with a scowl. "That is ... unlike him."

Harry hesitated a moment. "He mentioned that he wanted to make sure that you were presentable for him when he arrived," he said before walking out of Cain's bedroom to find Aviva.

...

Tobias watched Harry stare blankly at the book in front of him. "Harry?" he asked quietly, already well aware that the young man wasn't paying the least bit of attention to him. "Harry, what I'm trying to teach you is very important, as we both live in Britain and the war will eventually force it's way into your courtyard," he said.

Nothing. Not even a twitch from his student.

"Harry?" Tobias leaned further back into the armchair. He looked over at Harry, wondering how he would react if Tobias deliberately broke one of their little unspoken rules.

Still no response.

"Harry, I have decided to undergo a sex change operation, seduce Cain, and then, once he's out of the picture, you and I will elope and run away to Jamaica for the rest of our lives," he said with a smirk.

"Don't be stupid," Harry said vaguely, slowly emerging from his daze. "Cain doesn't sleep with women."

Tobias' smirk grew more self-satisfied as Harry's brow furrowed and he scowled lightly.

Harry looked up at Tobias and frowned. "What the hell are you going on about?" he asked. "I thought this was supposed to be one of our lessons," he said irritably.

Tobias leaned forward in his chair, baring slightly sharpened canines. "When are you going to learn, little boy, that when I take time out of my extremely busy schedule to continue to teach you, it is within your best interests to devote your attention to me?" he asked. His eyes flashed slightly when he noticed Harry bristling at his least favorite pet name.

"Toby, stop filling the kid's head with bullshit!" Cain shouted from his bedroom across the hall.

"It's not bullshit!" Tobias yelled back. "I could have been teaching three other students in two different countries today!"

"And yet," Cain said, coming to stand in the doorway of room. "You came here, to our humble courtyard, to teach the one student that you rave about."

Aviva shifted slightly from her spot on the couch next to Harry, moving to rest her head on his thigh, but neither of them said anything.

Tobias turned a venomous smirk onto Cain, who returned it with a hard glare and a rude gesture. "Harry has surpassed all of my expectations. He's completely most of his studies far better and far quicker than I expected him to. I come to make sure that he does not slack off in his studies before his final exams," he snapped. "Though this time, I came mostly to check on your health and well-being," he said, standing up and stepping toward Cain.

Cain just glared at Tobias. "Why would you be concerned about my health and well-being?" he asked, his voice little more than a growl.

"A little birdie informed me that you were visited by an old friend," Tobias purred, stroking clawed fingernails along Cain's jawline.

Harry noticed the room get incredibly more tense and decided that it was time for him to leave. He picked up Aviva and slipped out of the room, sitting in the hallway outside the room.

"That little birdie should know when to keep her mouth shut," Cain snapped.

Tobias let out an animalistic snarl and shoved Cain against the wall behind him, pressing his forearm roughly against the darker man's throat. "You and I both know how dangerous this game is," he snarled. "You knew who he was looking for, and yet when the boy waltzed into your shop on his own, you thought it would be a good idea to hide the kid away from the world and keep him here!"

Harry paused, glancing down at Aviva.

"They are speaking about you, child," she said, almost as though she knew what he was thinking. "Pay attention."

A muffled coughing sound from the room pulled Harry's attention back to the interaction between his guardian and his tutor.

"You and I both know what would have happened if he'd found the kid before he was able to defend himself," Cain snapped.

"You have gotten far too compassionate over just one boy."

Cain laughed lowly. "You care for the boy as well, and sometimes more than I do," he said. "If you wish to save yourself the punishment for knowingly keeping the boy alive and safely out of his grasp, then go take his head off and present it to the man yourself," he snapped.

A moment of silence passed between them and Harry took a step away from the wall where he'd been eavesdropping. The soft chime of the doorbell sounded from the stairs and he made his way down, ignoring the continued arguing from the room upstairs and the fretting of the snakes that weren't all that fond of the weather outside.

"I'm opening the door for a moment," he said as Aviva settled over his shoulders, resting her head on the top of his. "There will be some wind, but the shop is protected from anything else."

"The young ones are not fond of the thunder, and the larger ones aren't making it any easier, as they are still worried about Cain," Aviva said quietly as Harry walked over to the door. "Bull is particularly concerned, given his lack of cooperation with Cain lately."

Harry nodded slightly and opened the door enough for the person outside to step into the shop.

Thomas smiled at Harry as the young man closed the door behind him. He brushed an invisible piece of lint off of his robes. "Good afternoon, Harry,"he said as he waved a hand over himself to get rid of any charms he had to dispel the bad weather.

Harry smiled slightly. "How can I help you?" he asked.

"Is Cain available at the moment?" Thomas asked, glancing around the store before turning his gaze back onto Harry.

The snakes surrounding him seemed to calm down as Thomas walked further into the store, Harry noted. "He's upstairs, talking to Tobias about something," he said. "I don't think he'll take much longer, though."

A loud thud sounded upstairs and Cain walked out of the office a moment later, sporting a split lip. "I'm right here," he said. "Harry, could you make sure that Toby finds his way out of the shop?" he asked.

Harry nodded, glancing briefly over at Thomas before turning and making his way upstairs.

Tobias was leaning against the door to Cain's bedroom, touching his newly bloodied nose and looking almost confused as to how it got that way. "Cain has a customer?" he asked.

"Thomas came back, and he asked to speak with Cain," Harry said. "Cain wants you to leave."

Tobias grinned, licking the blood off his lips. "Of course he does." He took Harry's hand in his and led the younger boy downstairs. "I'm going to pretend that you are a polite young man who knows better than to eavesdrop on a private conversation, no matter how loud said conversation is, but you and I both know you better than that," he said, looking over at Thomas as he led Harry past him and Cain. He smirked when he noticed Thomas' eyes narrow slightly at the sight of their intertwined hands, but hid it well.

"What are you getting at?" Harry asked when he and Tobias stood just in front of the front door of the shop.

"I want you to watch yourself around Thomas," he said. "Be careful to take note of Cain's behavior around the man." He put his hand on the door handle and leaned down so that his ear was about level with Harry's ear. "Thomas is much more than he appears, little one," he said so that only Harry could hear him. He smiled a bit before pressing a kiss to Harry's cheek.

Harry said nothing.

Clearing his throat a bit, Tobias straightened himself. "I'll return in one month's time with a proctor to administer your final exams, and I expect you to pass all of them without much difficulty," he said, making sure that Thomas and Cain could hear him from the back room without straining themselves.

"I'll see you in a month, then," Harry said.

"Of course, I might drop by before then just to make sure that you aren't slacking off in any of your studies," he said. He pulled the door open and looked outside. "Such lovely weather," he said with a grin before heading out into the downpour, whistling slightly.

Harry smirked a bit and shut the door behind Tobias, heading back into the office, where Thomas and Cain were waiting.