No Milk Today

Chapter Seven

-May 2005-

"Well?" Harry asked, standing before one of Severus' frames in his bedroom. "How do I look?"

"Like I shouldn't let you go out wearing that."

"Really?" he looked away from Severus and examined himself once more in the mirror. "I never have been very good when it comes to fashion-sense, but it isn't that bad is it? I thought jeans and a tight t-shirt were pretty standard for this sort of thing."

Severus snorted. "What I meant was that I shouldn't trust you to go out wearing that. Your arse looks entirely too fuckable in those trousers."

"Oh." Harry flushed, turning to look at the bum in question in the mirror. "I guess the jeans are a bit tight. I'll find something else."

"Don't you dare."

Harry laughed and glanced at his watch. "I could just stay here."

"No," Severus said firmly. "Go out, have some fun, find the hottest bloke in the bar, dance with him all night, let him buy you drinks, then send him home disappointed and alone, and come back to me."

Harry laughed. "I thought I was meant to be spending some time hanging out with my friends, not sending pretty boys home from the bar with broken hearts."

"You're meant to be going out and having some fun. I'm just giving you permission to do that to the extent that you see fit," Severus said, "within reason, of course."

Harry bit back a smile. "You're giving me permission to hit on pretty men provided that I don't sleep with them."

"That is correct."

"I see," Harry nodded, "and if I told you that I had no desire to do that."

"I would tell you that your trousers say you're lying, and not because they're on fire."

Harry snorted. "I should get going anyway. I'll be back later tonight." He kissed the fingers of his hand and pressed it to the portrait.

The moment his hand touched the canvas there was a shrill ring and Harry jerked away looking for the source. After a few moments of searching, Harry found his mobile, buried beneath a dirty set of robes, having some kind of seizure. After a few tries, he managed to figure out how to answer the damned thing, and held it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Harry? This is Dudley."

"Is everything alright?" Harry asked. Dudley had never called him before, and he sounded upset.

"Donna's pregnant."

"Congratulations."

"I had a vasectomy last year, Harry."

"Um…" Harry had absolutely no idea what that was.

"I'm fixed, Harry, like a bloody dog. I can't have any more kids. Worse than that, it was her fucking idea! Who knows if the other two are even mine!"

"Calm down," Harry said, brain whirring with this new information. "Of course they're your children. Deckland looks just like Grandpa Evans, and even if they aren't you're still their father. You're the one that takes care of them and worries about them. You're the one they call dad and want to tuck them in at night and read them a bedtime story. The rest doesn't matter."

Harry could hear the sob threatening in Dudley's voice when he said. "Harry, I need a drink. I'm in London; can you come meet me somewhere?"

"I'm actually going out with some friends from work, but I can reschedule with them. I'll be there in a bit."

"I could just tag along," Dudley offered. "I mean, if that's alright? I just need to forget about all this for a while- cool down so I can deal with her without making it worse. Maybe it would be better with a group."

"Yeah, okay, I'm sure that will be fine," Harry agreed, hoping that it was.

He gave Dudley directions on how to get to the Leaky Cauldron. Dudley wouldn't be able to see it of course, but he could wait outside until they arrived. He ended the call and looked up at Severus.

"This should be interesting."

Severus smirked. "Petunia Evans' son in a gay wizard club… Now that is something that I should like to see."

Harry gave him a worried look and left to meet with the others

oOoOoOo

It seemed that a hasty introduction into the wizarding nightlife was just the thing to forget about a cheating spouse and an illegitimate child. Dudley was so blown away by the world around him as they walked the streets of Diagon Alley that he wasn't much capable of following the conversation within the group, so hopefully it was also taking his mind off his wife.

"We are going to Frankie's, aren't we?" Charlie asked. "It only seems fair with me and Harry being the only single ones."

Ron groaned. "Do we have to?"

"I don't see what difference it makes to you," Hermione said. "Let Harry and Charlie have some fun. You're just going to sit in the corner and drink beer anyway."

Harry had been watching Dudley, peering around as though his head was on a wheel, and he looked up to see everyone looking to him. "Er, well, I don't really care where we go."

"It's decided then," Charlie said, clapping Harry on the back.

Ron groaned.

"Oh, shut up, Weasley," Draco snapped at him. "I want to watch some Lesbians snog."

"Why did we invite you again?" Ron asked.

"Because I'm rich and I always buy the first round," Draco reminded. "Why I accepted, I have no idea."

"It's because you're hoping to make the front page of the Prophet tomorrow when someone sees you in a gay club with Harry," Charlie told him.

Draco snorted.

Dudley seemed to have finally joined the conversation at that point, because his head stopped it's spinning and jerked back to look at Harry. "We're going to a gay club?" he asked.

"Is that a problem?"

Dudley scratched his forehead. "No, I guess not. They still have liquor right?"

"They most certainly have liquor," Harry agreed.

"Are men going to hit on me?"

Harry glanced him over. He was so clearly a muggle that it was almost embarrassing, and there were plenty of wizards who would want to go after a muggle just to see what it was like. "Probably," he admitted after a moment of consideration.

"Oh," was all he said.

Ginny went over and slung an arm around Dudley's waist. "Just stay close to me and most of them will leave you alone. If anyone bothers you, you can tell them that I'm your girlfriend if you want."

Dudley smiled at her sheepishly.

"Is that all settled then?" Charlie asked.

No one had any objections. Neville and Luna had been snogging throughout the whole exchange and seemed happy enough to follow the rest of the group wherever they led.

oOoOoOo

As Harry sat in a corner booth with Dudley and Ron, drinking a glass of scotch, he had to think that going out with his friends really wasn't all that much different than sitting at home- save that the drinks were more expensive and the music droned out all hope of conversation. He longed to be at home with Severus- maybe having a long slow wank on the couch in front of the fire.

"Th (beat) so (beat) ool. (beat) Do (beat) ards (beat) ways (beat) gic (beat) kiss?" Dudley asked.

Harry looked at him helplessly. Ron rolled his eyes and raised his wand to cast a muting spell in a bubble around their table. The music quieted to a low background noise.

Dudley's eyes widened in surprise and he grinned. "That's fantastic."

Ron shrugged. "Magic."

"What did you say now?" Harry asked.

"I said, this is cool. Do wizards always use magic like this?"

"Oh," Harry glanced over the crowd of bodies rubbing together on the dance floor and tried to see it from a muggle's perspective. He hadn't noticed the display of magic before, but now he saw that hardly a moment went by without someone casting a spell. As he watched, a pair of witches at a side table conjured a velvet draping around their table to give them more privacy, a wizard shot a stream of bubbles out of his wand to catch the attention of another man at the bar, a large group on the dance floor seemed to be giving one of their number a magical makeover by casting numerous cosmetic spells at him to continually change the color and style of his hair and clothing, and the club's set spells cast an ever changing magical light show over all of it. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"You should see my house when the whole brood is home," Ron said.

Dudley nodded, obviously a bit overwhelmed.

Hermione came over then, trailed a moment later by Ginny and Charlie. "Come on, you three, time to dance."

Ron snorted, so Ginny grabbed him by the shoulder of his robes and hauled him to his feet. "Your wife wants to dance, Ron," she said. "Get off your lazy arse."

"Okay! Okay, Gin, geez." He straightened his robes and took Hermione out on the dance floor.

"Come on, Dudley; you're with me," Ginny said, and hauled him out on the dance floor as well.

"You too, Potter," Charlie said, extending his hand. "I haven't had a decent offer all night. Why don't you use a bit of that fame to help a brother out?"

Harry drained his scotch and took Charlie's hand. "Don't get any ideas. I have every intention of going home alone."

"What about the tall, skinny guy at the bar?" Charlie leaned in to whisper, pointing him out.

Harry glanced over. "Too insecure, look at how he's standing. He isn't even sure if he's gay- probably his first time here."

"The brunette in the corner?" Charlie suggested as they started dancing.

Harry looked and shook his head. "Too young."

"The blonde then, arguing with the bartender."

"That's Draco Malfoy," Harry pointed out.

Charlie narrowed his eyes and laughed. "So it is. Malfoy has a pretty nice arse."

Harry snorted. "You can try if you want, but I think you'd be wasting your time."

Charlie continued scanning the crowd. "Leather jacket?"

"I'm not into that."

"How about the one with the blue hair standing by the door?"

Harry looked over his shoulder to see. "That's a girl, Charlie."

"I was just checking. You don't seem much interested in men these days. I thought maybe you'd switched sides."

Harry sighed. "If I tell you that I'm seeing someone, will you leave off?"

Charlie abruptly stopped dancing. "Who?"

"I'm not telling you who it is."

Charlie gripped his shoulders. "The last person you actually dated was my little sister, Harry. If you're actually dating a man, it's a huge step. You have to tell me who it is."

"Forget about it," Harry said, "and don't you dare tell any of the others."

"If you don't want to tell me who it is, then why did you even mention it?" Charlie asked.

"So you would stop pointing out men," Harry snapped, "and women for that matter. I already told you, I'm going home alone. I have someone waiting."

Charlie narrowed his eyes. "Back at Hogwarts? Oh, geez Harry, please tell me you're not dating a student."

"I'm not a bloody pedophile, Charlie," Harry snapped. "For fuck's sake!"

"Who then?"

Harry glanced around. "Can we maybe talk about this outside? Draco might want to make the paper by being seen with me, but if I keep whispering in your ear, it's going to be you all over the Daily Prophet tomorrow morning."

Charlie nodded and led Harry out one of the side doors to the blessedly empty smoker's patio.

Charlie was looking at him expectantly, and Harry let out a long sigh. "You absolutely can't tell anyone, and you can't laugh." Harry waited for Charlie to nod and then just bit the bullet. "I'm dating a portrait," he held up a hand to forestall Charlie's response. "I don't want to hear any of it. I know it's not the best situation, but I'm happy okay?"

"Hey," Charlie shrugged. "I'm not one to disparage someone else's choice of partner. I'd be interested in the mechanics of that one, though. Which portrait is it? One of the headmasters? It's not Dumbledore is it?"

"Just stop, Charlie," Harry groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Relax, Harry. I'm kidding," he said, chuckling, but then he abruptly stopped- staring at Harry. "It's Snape," he said, and his tone made it clear that it wasn't a joke this time or even a question.

"Charlie," Harry warned.

"No," he said. "It is." Charlie's hand went to the bridge of his nose and he mimicked Harry's gesture of frustration. "Snape did that all the time, and you must be picking up other things from him as well. Sometimes you talk like him."

"Charlie, it's-"

"No," he said cutting Harry off. "It's okay. You don't have to defend yourself, and I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you."

"I don't push anyone out of the closet, and, anyway, I think Ron would have an aneurism. Does anyone else know?"

"Just Dudley."

Charlie nodded approvingly. "You know, your cousin's a pretty okay bloke, for a muggle. It's too bad about his wife."

"He told you about that?"

"The cheating?" Charlie nodded. "Oh yeah, he mentioned it, but I just meant that he has one."

Harry punched him in the shoulder playfully. Charlie rubbed at the spot and grinned. "Hey, a guy can try."

"Leave off the straight ones, and you'll be a happier man."

"There aren't any straight ones. There's just gay, bi, and the ones who haven't met Charlie Weasley."

Harry laughed. "Let's go back inside, then, so we can introduce them. How about that tall, skinny bloke at the bar?"

"I knew he was your type," Charlie said with triumph.

"Maybe a bit," Harry admitted.

"I'm more interested in Malfoy at this point. Slytherin's always have the nicest backsides."

"You're going home alone," Harry said.

"Malfoy lives there too," Charlie said, smirking.

oOoOoOo

A few hours later Harry was struggling to get a very drunken Dudley home.

"Ginny's a really good dancer," Dudley slurred, leaning into Harry. "Nice," he made a gesture cupping his hand over his chest to indicate breasts, "too. I guess you're not really interested in that, though."

Harry laughed. "She has a boyfriend, and you're married."

"Yeah, to a lying cheating whore." Dudley hiccupped and groaned. "What am I going to do, Harry?"

"Honestly, Dudley, I don't understand why you haven't asked for a divorce," Harry said. "She cheats on you at least once a year."

"Oh sure," Dudley agreed. "So I can only see my kids on weekends and every other holiday while she shacks up with some guy she met online and they start calling him dad."

Harry was sidelined by that and he stopped walking. "Would she really do that to you?"

"They're her kids too, and she's the mom. That's how this kind of thing works. You're lucky."

"Why is that?"

"You don't really have to worry about Snape stepping out on you."

"Why not?" There were plenty of other portraits in the castle. Harry wasn't exactly sure how all that worked, but he was sure that some of them were probably fooling around with each other.

"Because you love each other. Donna has never loved me" Dudley said miserably.

"Then why did you get married."

"She was pregnant and I wanted to do the right thing. And now, I'm either stuck with that cheating bitch, or I break up my family and lose my kids."

Harry felt so trapped. He wanted to be able to offer Dudley some kind of advice, but from the sound of things his cousin was on the arse end of a shite situation with no hope of finding a way out. "Have you tried just talking to her about it?"

Dudley moaned. "That's all we talk about these days."

"What about marriage counseling?"

"She won't go."

"Have you ever thought about going without her?"

"To a marriage counselor?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know what else to tell you, mate. I've never really been in this kind of situation before. Maybe someone who deals with it all the time would have some better advice on how to deal with her. If it does come to a divorce, it could help you get custody of the kids."

"Yeah, you might have a point there. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."

Harry nodded. "It would be somewhere to start anyway. Are you ready to apparate?"

"Huh?" Dudley looked up at him in confusion.

"Magic," Harry clarified. "I'm going to transport us back to your place."

"Oh," Dudley nodded, "okay."

Harry held out his hand and Dudley took it. There was a crack of apparition and a moment later they were standing in front of Dudley's house in Croyden. Well, Harry was standing; Dudley was bent over retching up his dinner on the neighbor's petunias.

When Dudley had managed to stop being sick, he straightened up and wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. "You travel like that?" he asked incredulously.

"You get used to it after a while," Harry said. "It's never exactly pleasant, but after a few times you learn to keep your breakfast down.

"I take it back," Dudley said. "I'm not jealous. You can keep your magic, and next time we're taking the train."

Harry laughed. "Well, come on," he said, taking his cousin under one arm again, "let's go face the missus."

Donna opened the door for them after Harry had fumbled with Dudley's keys for a minute and finally resorted to pulling out his wand. She stared at him for a moment, eyes red with tears, as he held his wand still- pointed at her chest.

"Why are you pointing a stick at me?" she asked, and Harry hurriedly stowed it away in his sleeve.

"Leave Harry alone, you're the one that's barmy, not him," Dudley said and pushed past his wife into the house.

Harry stood there for a moment on the doorstep just staring at Donna. Dudley had never seen fit to explain to his wife the particular nature of Harry's abilities, and she'd overheard a few conversations that Harry probably should have obliviated from her memory. The end result was that, between a few of Petunia's less than complimentary comments about him and Harry's occasional odd behavior, Donna thought he was stark raving mad. Harry wanted to tell her off for the way she'd been treating Dudley, but under that condescending stare he felt about as superior as a dung beetle.

"I guess I'll just be off then," he said instead.

"I think you'd better."

Harry felt a flash of anger at that, but instead of lashing out impulsively he took just a moment to imagine Severus in the same situation. He held himself a little straighter and reminded himself who he was dealing with. You could be damned sure that Severus Snape would never let himself be bullied by a muggle of such low moral station. He channeled a sneer that would have made his lover proud, and said instead, "Best of luck with your pregnancy," and apparated away on the spot.

Let Dudley explain that if he saw fit, and if not then Statute of Secrecy be damned, he was Harry Potter, and he wasn't going to be pushed around by anyone- let Donna Dursley wonder if she wasn't the crazy one after all.

oOoOoOo

"Did you enjoy yourself," Severus asked as Harry walked through the door and started shedding his robes in layers onto the floor in a line as he made his way to the bedroom.

He flopped down onto the bed, naked, and let out a long exhausted sigh as Severus followed him into the room- taking up residence in the portrait above the bed.

"Should I assume that's a 'no' then?" Severus asked.

"The club was fun, but poor Dudley is having a rough go of things, and I think I might have just made it worse. I revealed myself to his wife."

Severus frowned. "You flashed her?"

"No!" Harry groaned. "I revealed my nature. I apparated in front of her."

"Why?"

"Because she's a bitch and I was sick of being looked down on by a muggle with about as much innate power as a turnip." Harry thought about it for a moment. "Actually it may have helped. If Dudley tells her about the magical world, she might realize that his interests are protected by powers outside of her control."

"Or perhaps Minister Shakelbolt will be making an unannounced visit later this evening to lecture you on muggle/wizard interaction protocol."

"I don't care."

"You should. If anyone decides to start monitoring you for suspicious magical activity, you could be in a lot of trouble. Your little time-travel project isn't, strictly speaking, legal."

"If they try to stop me, I'll go back and stay there until it's over."

"You would just leave me?"

"It's time-travel, Severus. If I fail, you'll never even notice that I was gone, and if I'm successful it won't matter anyway."

"If you're successful, you would rob me of what time I do have with you in this form, and if you fail, what is to stop you from staying. Certainly the boy would have turned into a man by then, one much more appealing than a square of canvas, and what's to stop you then from ceasing the application of your aging potions and introducing yourself?"

"Could I do that? I mean, wouldn't that be a paradox?"

"You're Harry Potter- what are the laws of mere mortals to you?"

"You're angry with me," Harry said.

"Such a quick one, Potter," Severus sneered.

"I could take you with me," Harry suggested.

"Exactly how would you explain that to my younger self if he should catch a glimpse of me?"

"I don't know. You could just stay in the bedroom or something. Anyway, wouldn't he be prevented from seeing you because it would be a paradox and that can't happen?"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Or perhaps the paradox of my existence in the past would mean the end of said existence all together. You cannot know, Harry."

Harry sighed. "Please, Severus. I'm not saying that I want to do any of those things, but if it comes down to it, don't you think that it's more important that I at least try to see this through? Wouldn't you rather be alive?"

"It wouldn't be me that is alive; it would be him. Please tell me that you can understand the distinction."

"I do," Harry agreed, "but you have to understand that things can't go on like this indefinitely."

"When we began this relationship, you claimed that you would rather have a portrait version of me than no version at all. Do you wish to retract that statement?"

Harry felt caught. "I… no, of course not. It's just that I have to try for something better. Don't you want the same thing? Even if it is for a different version of yourself, wouldn't you rather have that chance?"

"I had resigned myself to that decision, yes," Severus agreed. "I would sacrifice my existence to know that I could touch you. I had accepted that the Severus standing at the end of all this would not be the same man, and I would gladly stand aside to see you happy, but not yet. I have a couple years with you still before I have to come to terms with that sacrifice, and I won't give up the time that I do have. Don't ask me to do that." Severus was trembling slightly now.

Harry rose up on his knees and leaned forward, pressing a hand against the canvas. "Okay," he agreed. "I promise I won't let it come to that. I promise to come back. I won't leave you here- whether this works or not."

Severus nodded and cleared his throat.

"I'll be more careful from now on. I won't draw the attention of the ministry, but trust me. I can handle Kingsley if I need to."

"Of course."

"I told Charlie Weasley about us," Harry said then, hoping that it wouldn't be the prelude of another fight. "He seemed to understand."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Why did you confide in Charlie? If you were going to tell anyone, I would have expected it to be Hermione."

Harry shrugged. "He was trying to set me up with someone."

"As Miss Granger has been doing for the past year," Severus pointed out.

Harry didn't bother to correct him on Hermione's surname. "It just felt right to tell Charlie." He shrugged. "I'm not sure why."

"Perhaps you were seeking the approval of a former lover."

Harry shook his head. "That was ages ago, and it didn't work out. Charlie and I are just friends."

"Perhaps, but he was your first. That carries a certain amount of importance. His opinion will always carry more weight."

Harry stretch out on the bed and gave a lazy yawn. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"No," Severus replied. "You've totally devoted your life to me, against my own advice. I find little threat in Charlie Weasley. If you still had romantic feelings for him, you likely would not have pursued a relationship with me in the first place. At the very least, it would be much easier to convince you to leave your quarters on a regular basis. No, it seems the only one that I have cause to be jealous of is myself."

Harry made a non-committal noise. He'd had fun tonight, but he was no longer used to staying out so late, and the evening's excitement was taking its toll. He had to fight to keep his eyes open.

"You've had other lovers too," he pointed out, gazing up at Severus through half-lidded eyes. "If you could take me around and show me off, would you care what they thought? Is there anyone I should be jealous of?"

"I would take pleasure in flaunting you before certain people, but no one that you need to worry about."

"Oh?" Harry smiled at him. "Who was your first? You never told me."

Severus smirked. "He was a relative of someone in the village. I met him the summer before seventh year, and became instantly smitten. He was quite a few years older than me, so it took nearly the whole holiday to coax him into bed."

"How did you finally manage to seduce him?" Harry asked, trailing a hand lazily over his stomach.

Severus chuckled. "I think it was less seduction and more of a systematic wear-down of his defenses."

"He didn't want you as much as you wanted him?" Harry asked.

"I think that he had an understandable reluctance to engage in anything sexual with an inexperienced teenager."

Harry made a speculative noise and let his hand trail down to his groin- fingers curling in the thatch of pubic hair. "I can almost imagine. Were you nervous?"

"Of course. I don't think I'd ever been so scared in my life, but I tried not to show it."

"Was he gentle with you?" Harry asked, stroking himself now- lazily, almost half asleep.

Severus sat on the edge of his own painted bed and looked down at Harry in curiosity, smiling to himself. "Not at first. He held me so tight and kissed me so desperately, that I knew he must have wanted it for as long as I had. I was desperate too. We practically tore each other's clothes off. We were frantic. He threw me down on the bed and was on top of me in an instant."

Harry began to masturbate in earnest now, and Severus paused for a moment to watch the expression on his face and the way the muscles in his arm tensed with each stroke. It was a beautiful sight, but the memory he was calling up to induce it was too firmly attached to other memories of emotional heartache for him to feel any arousal himself. Still, he was enthralled enough just by the beautiful picture Harry made, lying naked on the bed, to continue.

"How did he take you?" Harry asked.

"That part was gentle. He realized how nervous I was, and he took his time. He brought me to such a point of desperate need that I hardly cared what he did to me."

Harry moaned, moving his hand faster now.

"He entered me slowly, and drew my orgasm out patiently in waves of pleasure. I had no idea that sex could even feel like that- like one person could be completely filled and completed by the other."

Harry gasped and shuddered on the bed as his own orgasm overcame him. Severus just watched him, with a sad expression on his face, as Harry milked the last few drops from his softening cock. He reached up and wiped a tear from his cheek before Harry could see.

Harry cast a wandless charm to clean himself off and lay back into the pillows, sated. He looked up at Severus then and frowned. "Are you okay?"

Severus managed a weak smile and said, "fine," in a hoarse voice that wouldn't have fooled anyone- least of all Harry.

Harry was up in a moment, kneeling on the edge of the bed and leaning toward the portrait. "What happened with him? What did he do to you?"

"Turned my world upside down and broke my heart." Severus snorted at his own sentimentality. "It was a long time ago."

Harry's frown deepened. "I never should have… I didn't notice that it was upsetting you. I wouldn't have asked. I would have stopped."

Severus smirked at him. "I was enjoying the view."

That still didn't help Harry's wash of guilt. "I still should have realized that you weren't enjoying that as much as I was."

"Be assured that I enjoyed it the first time around."

That really didn't make Harry feel any better. "Do you want me to keep this guy away from you? I could tell him to piss off, or tell you to stay away from him."

Severus smirked. "I doubt that would work, and while I have many regrets, that isn't one of them."

"I still don't like the idea of you being hurt."

"It has been my experience that you cannot feel love without being hurt at some point. For a while, I believed that it was better to never love anyone than to open myself up to pain, but now I think that only cowards refuse the good in life for fear of the bad." Severus lifted a hand to press against the canvas, wanting nothing more than to simply touch Harry's cheek. "Let it happen. I would not give up that experience no matter how much pain it caused."

Harry nodded. He pressed his own hand against the canvas, placing it over Severus'. "I love you," he said softly, lingering there for a moment before pulling away and crawling into bed.

Severus didn't sleep. He sat on the edge of his own bed thinking himself in circles, and watched Harry dream.

oOoOoOo

-August 1973-

"Do we have to do this?" Severus asked. He reached a hand out to pet the white and gray rat on their work table behind one ear. "It's kind of nice."

"Would you prefer to test the potion on yourself?" Harry asked.

"Well, no, but couldn't we test it on something else? Something less fluffy, like a cockroach or something?"

"Not if we are to trust the potion to work on humans. The reason rats are used so often in animal testing is that they are similarly susceptible to the things that humans are. If we are to trust the potion enough to ever consider trying it on a human, we have to know that it at least works on a rat, and then perhaps a pig."

Severus sighed. "You could have found a meaner rat," he said dejectedly and pet the animal one last time.

"I will endeavor to find less pleasant test subjects in the future," Harry agreed. "Now, are you ready?"

"I guess so."

Harry used his wand to carefully transfer a small amount of basilisk venom from the vial in his hand to a spot, under the skin, between the rat's shoulders. The effect was immediate. The rat immediately went stiff and began seizing. Severus carefully opened the rat's jaws and applied a dose of the potion and the seizure stopped and the animal went limp. He looked up at Harry uncertainly and Harry cast a few diagnostic spells on the animal.

Finally, he shook his head. "The heart stopped."

Severus let out a long breath and steeled himself to go on. Harry removed the rat and replaced it with a second. "Let's try the potion first this time."

The result was the same with the second rat, and the third, and the fourth. They increased the dosage of potion each time and lengthened the wait between administering it and injecting the venom, but there was no change. They had a dozen dead rats by the time Harry called an end to it.

He heaved a sigh and banished the corpses of the rats. "We'll have to try something else. I had hoped we were on to something this time."

"Should we run more tests on the venom?" Severus asked.

"I think that we have learned all we can from the venom, but I've had another idea. It's said that basilisks flee the crowing of a rooster, and perhaps we should find out why."

"You think that they might be afraid of chickens?" Severus said doubtfully.

Harry shrugged. "Perhaps not just chickens, but all fowl, I heard a tale of one being thwarted by a phoenix once. I'll do some more research and see if I can come up with anything. If they fear roosters, perhaps it is because the roosters are not vulnerable to the basilisk's main defenses, and that may be a subject worth pursuing."

Severus nodded. "Are we done for the day then? I could make some tea." The boy was visibly shaken by the grisly result of the day's testing, and Harry took pity on him.

"How about a butterbeer?" Harry offered, and that earned him a smile. "They're in the cabinet above the sink. Fetch us a couple and we'll drink them out in the garden."

oOoOoOo

-September 1973-

"I presume that young Severus is safely on the train?" Dumbledore asked when Harry appeared in his office.

"On his way," Harry agreed, taking a seat.

"Which means that you're here to bid me a fond farewell for another year."

"I have other projects to see to while Severus is in school."

"You have a lover to get back to- leaving your dear old friend Albus all alone."

Harry chuckled. "Don't try to guilt me into staying again. You'll have the students to keep you busy. I'll pop back around Christmas for a visit if you like."

"I would," Dumbledore agreed, pouring them tea. "You might check in on Severus from time to time. We do have parent days twice a year. The poor boy never has any family visit him, and I'm sure that you'd be a welcome sight."

This of course brought its own set of problems. While he would love to visit Severus at school, Dumbledore believed Peverell to be roughly sixty-five years younger than Severus did. "If I have time, I'll be sure to make a visit," Harry agreed, not meaning it. "How are things with the ministry?" He asked.

Albus sighed, sipping his tea. "The same old song and dance, I'm afraid. Playing in politics is a bit like a game of chess if you were to throw away the rulebook, half of the pieces were invisible, and your opponent was enough of a seer to anticipate most of your moves." He paused long enough to consider what he'd said. "I suppose that is what I enjoy about it."

"I thought you were just trying to make the world a better place." Harry said, studying the older man.

"Is there some reason that I can't enjoy playing the game while I'm at it?"

"I suppose not." Harry sipped his tea and thought it over.

While he had stepped into the headmaster position, he had never entered into the political end of Dumbledore's realm any further than the occasional school board meeting when he'd taken up the mantle. Albus' influence throughout the wizarding world was a vast web, and the old man sat in the center, manipulating the threads with the skill of long practice. Even now, in 2005, seven years after the man's death, Albus still had long-term plans that were playing themselves out. Whenever one of these made itself apparent to Harry, he was shocked to find the number of contingencies that Dumbledore had planned for. There was no doubt in his mind that Albus was a political genius, so why shouldn't the man enjoy playing a game he was so very good at?

"I've been meaning to ask you about something," Harry said. Albus nodded for him to go on. "I've heard some talk of a wizard who has recently stepped into the political arena and begun gaining followers. I believe he calls himself Lord Voldemort? It's an awfully pretentions title if you ask me, but I was curious as to your opinion of him."

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore agreed. "Lord Voldemort sounds quite pretentious, but then, when he was a student here, Tom Riddle was always an ambitious child, and he drew certain of the other children from his house to him like flies to honey. I've had little interaction with him since he graduated, and have yet to meet him on political ground. Yet, I sense his hand, behind the scenes, in much of what is happening in the ministry at the moment. He's hungry for power, and has set his sights no lower than the position of Minister for Magic. He has his fair share of supporters, Abraxas Malfoy for one, and he's rallying the pure-bloods once more. Yes, I believe we can expect to hear much more from Mr. Riddle in the future. He will be a major player in the years to come."

"Do you think we should be concerned?"

"Certainly," Albus agreed, "we must always be concerned when a new Dark Lord makes his presence known."

"Forgive me if it's a tender subject," Harry said, getting around to what he really wanted to know, "but with your previous experiences in that regard, do you think that you might be able to reason with this Riddle fellow?"

"You want to know about Gellert," Dumbledore said.

"I'll admit that I'm curious."

Dumbledore sighed. "I would point out that Gellert Grindelwald has absolutely nothing on common with Tom Riddle. So, your assertion that I might be able to reason with Riddle based on my previous experience is quite unlikely. However, I've been dancing around the subject of Gellert for long enough. Perhaps it is time we just got it over with. What would you like to know?"

Harry shrugged. "I've heard the official story: promising young wizard turned dark, quest for power, closest of friends turned to the bitterest of enemies, and the ultimate showdown. But, what really happened, from your point of view?"

"After my sister's death I did not see him for a long time. When I finally was able to speak with him, I found that the young man I had once been so close to had changed. Somewhere along the line, Gellert lost sight of his ideals. We both sought the power to make the world better, but sometimes it's easy to forget the people involved. I loved him, of course, and I still do, but he's not the same man that he was when I first met him." Dumbledore pulled his wand from his sleeve and set it on the desk between them. "Do you know what this is?"

"They say that it's the Elder Wand from the old stories, but most people don't really believe that."

"It's your family those stories are about. What do you think?"

Harry of course knew that the stories were true, but couldn't tell Dumbledore that. Deep down, he had other opinions on the matter in any case. "It is indeed a fifteen inch wand, made of Elder. Was it given to one of my ancestors by death himself? Is it the most powerful wand ever made?" Harry shrugged. "Perhaps, but I don't think that really matters."

"Oh?" Albus tilted his head to the side as he returned his wand to his sleeve. "And why is that?"

"Sometimes the symbolism of a thing holds more power than the thing itself. Power, political power anyway, is just other people accepting that you have the right to tell them what to do. Then, belief is what matters."

Albus nodded. "You understand then. The wand only channels the power within. If I believe that it is the Elder wand, then it is, or might as well be. If others accept that I hold sway over them, then I do. Gellert won that power, and when no one was left with the will to stand against him, he could do anything. It's about checks and balances. Gellert began to believe that he was invincible, that he could do no wrong. That everything he did was for the greater good of the wizarding world- even if people were killed in the process. He was drunk on power and couldn't be dissuaded from his path."

"I understand all of that," Harry agreed. "I want to know your part in it."

"I started out at his side, and ended up in his way. When Ariana was killed, he fled. He would not stay and have his own quest delayed or hindered in any way. He chose power over me. That's why I fought him. I was being pushed on every side into the confrontation, but that had very little to do with why I finally faced him. I didn't have the noble intentions that everyone assumed. I was angry. He hurt me, and I wanted to make him pay for it. I didn't give a damn about anyone else. At the end I gave him a choice. I would have stopped the duel there and once more taken my place beside him, as an equal and valued partner, but he was too obsessed with power by that point to ever consider sharing it. So, I ended it. I took the wand, and Gellert lost the symbol of his power, and with it the power itself. He was imprisoned within his own stronghold, and I returned here to Hogwarts- which has an odd sort of symmetry, if you think about it. "

"Do you regret standing against him?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore sipped his tea as he thought about the question. He'd maintained his calm demeanor remarkably well throughout this whole conversation, but Harry could see it starting to slip around the edges now. "No one has ever asked me that question before. I suspect that most people would never have even considered the possibility, but the truth is that yes, sometimes I do regret it. I still believe that, given the circumstances, it was the only course of action I could take in good conscience, but I often wonder how things would have turned out had I simply stood aside and allowed events to unfold without my participation. If I had been less of a coward, taken my fair share of blame in Ariana's death, maybe I would still have my friend, and maybe we really could accomplish all the good that we had hoped." He sipped his tea again. "I really do believe that the world would be a better place if muggles and wizards could live together in full knowledge of one another, but perhaps the world just isn't ready for that. The wizarding community has a lot of growing up to do before they could be trusted to not take advantage of their perceived power- to treat muggles as equals."

Harry nodded. He agreed completely with Dumbledore, and he still had a hard time thinking of muggles as being truly equal to wizards. Donna Dursley, for instance, would never be his equal- but perhaps that had little to do with magical ability.

"You've admitted to going back in time to try to save your sister's life and change Grindelwald's path, but have you ever visited him since his imprisonment?" Harry asked.

"I have not," Dumbledore admitted. "I fear that I lack the courage."

Harry nodded his understanding. "Perhaps it is time that you found it. There may be some hope for Gellert Grindelwald yet. There may come a time when the wizarding world needs his help."