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hope you like the new chap :)
"Thank you for taking the time, Sir", Fudge stood up and pointed towards a chair, "please, have a seat."
Godric sat down, "well, you said it was urgent- is there anything I can help you with?"
Fudge made a noise that was somewhere between a snort and a sob, "I…I certainly hope so- we are at our wit's end with him."
"I am assuming you are talking about Voldemort."
Fudge nodded, he looked drained and exhausted, like he had not slept in days, "you know what I have here?", he held up some envelopes, "this is from Morozov, a request to transfer to Azkaban, this is from Kavanagh, a request for early retirement, and this is from Goldenstein, a guy who literally had just started to work here, it's his resignation letter", he gave a bitter laugh, "all three of them are wardens for Voldemort- and can't say I blame them for being done with this mess."
"His trial is set to be in like a week, isn't it? After that, he will be transferred to Azkaban anyways- so I don't understand…"
"He won't be going to Azkaban", Fudge interrupted, he seemed agitated now, "he is technically underage- and since he was very much underage when he was arrested, we cannot send him to Azkaban."
Gryffindor grit his teeth, suddenly remembering Voldemort's little smirk when he had told him what would happen to him- he had known.
"What is going to happen to him then?", he asked, irritation clear in his voice.
"According to the law, he would have to be send to an orphanage or a foster family", Fudge responded, "problem is, no one wants him- every single orphanage in the country has rejected him, which is no surprise after the fiasco at that orphanage that he had planned to set on fire", he sighed, "and since no foster family wants to deal with him either, I have no choice but to keep him locked up here, but since no warden wants to do the job anymore, I don't even know how I am going to do that."
"What are you asking me to do now, Fudge? To tan his backside to get him to behave for you?"
Fudge bit his lip, "I doubt that a tanning will be sufficient here- he is completely out of control. Take a look", he waved his wand, and a hologram appeared, showing Voldemort in his cell.
The cell looked…wet?
"He turned on the sink and the shower and let it run for hours at night- and when the warden came in the morning, everything was soaked. We went in there to tie him up as a consequence, and he kept banging his head against the wall until he passed out", Fudge informed him, sounding exasperated, "and that was just what he did today. The day before, he refused to eat- and instead, just stood in his cell and screamed, and screamed, and screamed, until we spoke a Silencio- the last two days have been hell. I have no idea what has gotten into him all of a sudden."
Gryffindor stayed silent, he was watching Voldemort, who was curled up against the wall, not moving, not doing anything- just lying on the floor.
"He is angry", he murmured, "something- or someone- made him angry. You said he has been like this for two days? How was he before?"
"He was just content playing mind games with the wardens- got them to transfer him from maximum security to the less restricted sector, and I still don't know how the hell he did that", Fudge rubbed his face tiredly, "nothing changed in the last two days- he had his books, ate his food, there were no visitors that we are aware of, no new wardens, no change in his day- and I cannot take this anymore. I need him gone, and I thought maybe you…", he did not dare to finish his thought.
"You thought maybe I can take him, so he can scream at me and flood my house?"
Fudge blushed, "well, I mean…"
Gryffindor grinned, "don't worry, I am just messing with you- I will take him."
The instant relief washing over Fudge's face almost made him laugh, "always glad to help, Minister- I will be back tonight then to get him- or is that too early for you?"
"No, no, that is fine!", Fudge said hastily, quite afraid the Founder could change his mind at the last minute, "he will be ready for you tonight. Thank you. Thank you so much, Sir."
"My pleasure", his voice was thick with sarcasm, but Fudge did not seem to mind, "I will see you tonight, Sir."
Godric nodded, and got up to apparate, after all, he did have to get a few things ready, and he should probably waterproof the rooms, just in case.
Dumbledore was, what else was new, in a bad mood.
"This little shit, who does he think he is?", he hissed, talking to himself as usually, "I am going to make him cry for that!"
He was talking about Tom of course, still furious about the fact that the boy had pushed him.
He paced around the room, a grim expression on his wrinkled face, "and Black is gone now…just before I could take my revenge on that little traitor!", he cursed and grabbed his tea cup, "I guess it is time to give Potter the attention he so desperately wants then- the interfering little idiot!", he took a sip of his tea and coughed, it was way too sour, "nothing ever goes as planned anymore, it truly is sickening!"
"Homework, please."
There was a little bit of a noise, the quiet rustling of papers, as everyone hurried to get their homework out.
Snape did not like to wait.
Ron's eyes widened as he glanced over to Harry, who sat next to him, "you sure you wanna turn this in, Harry?", he whispered, "looks kinda…unfinished."
"Because it is", Harry responded, he seemed annoyed, "Snape does not care about my homework anyways- so why bother?"
Ron stared at him like he had never seen him before, "are you…alright?", he finally asked, "I mean…are you seriously going to turn in a half done assignment? He is gonna kill you and he…"
"20 points from Gryffindor", Snape's silky voice made them both jump, "for constantly interrupting my class- now, let me take a look at your homework", he took Ron's first, and snorted, "barely readable- another 10 points from Gryffindor for messy handwriting."
"I…am sorry, Sir", Ron mumbled, but Snape did not even listen, his attention had already shifted to Harry, whose homework he was holding now, "and what exactly is this, Mr. Potter?"
Harry stiffened, "that's my homework, Professor."
Snape curled his lips, "are you quite certain it is? To me, it looks like you just managed to scramble some words together, this took you how long? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?"
Harry heard Malfoy snicker in the background and his annoyance grew, "I worked on it for over an hour."
"Hard to believe, Mr. Potter."
"I did not ask you to believe me, Snape."
Ron gasped, and so did most of the class, but Harry did not care- he was beyond irritated now.
Snape's face turned to stone, "apologize, this instant", he hissed, a warning glint in his eyes, "and that's 50 points from Gryffindor for your insolence."
"I am sorry for your inability to differentiate between some scrambled words and a homework", Harry shot back, ignoring Ron's frantic whispers next to him.
"Very well- detention, tonight, 7 pm", Snape's voice was cold, "and 30 more points from Gryffindor- making your house proud today, aren't you?"
I wanted to make you proud.
Harry did not respond, he was busy enough to choke back the tears- damnit, it had all gone wrong- and he already dreaded the detention- he had a feeling he would not like what Snape was going to do to him- the man hated disrespect more than anything in the world.
"Get up, prisoner, I have some news for you."
Tom did not bother to move, "I have news for you too, Fudge- you are incompetent, and a weak excuse of a Minister- how do you even sleep at night?"
Fudge's face turned red, "I am here to talk to you about your future arrangements, prisoner."
Future arrangements- what a joke. He already knew that no one wanted him, and he was fine with it- he rather stayed here and planned his escape, especially now that he had to fear that Dumbledore would come back, something that still made him boil with anger, but after throwing tantrum after tantrum for two days straight, he was exhausted.
Tom yawned, "I know, I know- no orphanage wants me, no foster idiots want me- so you are stuck with me forever", he smiled scornfully, "anything else?"
It was Fudge's turn to smile now, "actually- I did find a foster family for you. You will get picked up by your new foster father tonight."
Tom could only stare at him, "you got to be joking, Fudge- who is that fucking idiot? He better be prepared that I am gonna make his life hell then."
"Don't worry, Thomas, he is prepared."
No.No fucking way.
God, please no.
Tom swallowed hard, then he slowly turned around, coming face to face with Godric bloody Gryffindor, who looked at him, an amused smile on his lips, "I missed you, naughty boy."
I was a naughty boy and I deserved to be spanked.
Tom flushed and balled his hands into fists, "can't say the same about you", he spat out, "and I am not agreeing to this, no way in hell!"
Fudge's smile became smug, "actually, you do not have much of a choice- since you are underage, and no one else wants you…"
"I rather stay here than go with him", Tom interrupted him harshly, his whole body trembling with fury.
Gryffindor- the bastard who had beaten him, shackled him, humiliated him, spanked him, had forced him to crawl like a damn dog- no way. No bloody way.
"As I said, you do not have a choice in this matter", Fudge repeated, he seems to enjoy this, the smug bastard, "you will have to go with Mr. Gryffindor."
"I won't."
Fudge took a deep breath, "listen to me, you little…"
"I think I can take it from here, thank you, Minister", Godric interrupted calmy, and to Tom: "We are going to apparate- anything you need from here?"
"I am not going with you."
"Do you need a leash and a collar again to behave, Thomas? Trust me, this is going to be a lot easier if you cooperate."
"Screw you, Gryffindor."
He sighed, "you really don't like things the easy way, hmm?", he waved his hand a there it was- the damn whip again, "I am going to ask you one more time- is there anything you need from here, Thomas?"
Tom stared at the whip, his stomach clenching in fear, "I need my books", he finally mumbled, "I mean- they are from the library here, but…", he bit his lip, this was stupid- like Gryffindor would actually allow him…
"Get the books then. Anything else?"
Fudge made a disapproving sound, "with all due respect, Sir, but these are library books and…", one look from Gryffindor and he stopped, and Tom could not help it, he grinned.
Served that bastard Fudge right!
"Let's go, Thomas."
His grin disappeared, "where…are you taking me?"
Gryffindor just looked at him and smiled, "I am taking you home, Thomas."
He had been standing in front of the door for at least five minutes now, just staring at it, too afraid to actually knock, even though he knew he was going to be late now.
Harry took a deep breath, this was silly…since when was he afraid of Snape again? What was the worst he could do to him?
Hating me again.
He took another deep breath and knocked.
"You are late, Potter."
"I…I am sorry, I was…just…"
"Come on in", Snape interrupted his stuttering and stepped to the side to let him enter, "and then take a seat. We are going to have a little conversation."
His heart started to beat faster, he had expected to scrub some cauldrons or organize potions or some other nasty work- which seemed a lot safer than to…talk.
He sat down at Snape's living room table, it was a round table, made out of dark wood, which blended right in with the rest of the dark looking furniture.
Snape sat down across the table, and for a minute, he just looked at him, letting him sweat.
"Do you care to explain your little temper tantrum in my class today?"
"I am sorry", Harry mumbled, "I…I don't know what I was thinking…I apologize, Professor."
"I think you knew exactly what you were thinking, Potter", Snape replied, his voice oddly calm, "and I would like to hear it from you. Now."
"As I said, I am very sorry…"
"That's not what I asked you, Potter."
Harry swallowed hard, "I…I was upset that you ridiculed my homework", he finally admitted, "I know it was half way done, but I did spend a lot of time on it in the beginning."
"Why did you not finish? I have never gotten any half done work from you, Potter, not in almost four years."
"I…I had a lot of Quidditch practice this week", Harry lied, which was a mistake, and he knew it, but he could not help it.
Snape did not say anything for a while, and Harry started to feel extremely uncomfortable. He was almost ready to confess that he had lied, when Snape suddenly got up, grabbed something from the shelf next to the door and came back.
A potion.
Damnit.
Harry's eyes started to burn, "that's Veritaserum, right?", he finally managed to say.
To his surprise, Snape smiled, "no, Potter, it is not- I am not interested in forcing you to tell me the truth, as tempting as that might be. For some reason, telling me the truth about what really happened in class today seems to embarrass you- so I am going to give you this", he slid the potion across the table, "I want you to drink this before you go to bed tonight- and then see me tomorrow before breakfast."
Harry stared at the little vial in his hand, "are you…will I get nightmares from this?"
Snape's smile became soft, "quite the opposite, Potter."
"Okay…uhm…thank you, Professor."
"Don't thank me too soon- for now, you are dismissed, Potter."
Harry stood up, feeling nervous and confused, "so…that means detention is over?"
"For tonight it is, yes", Snape answered calmly, "but I will see you tomorrow before breakfast, Potter."
"I…I will be there", Harry promised hastily, "good…night, Professor."
"Good night, Potter- sleep tight", Snape smiled at him again, strangely this time, and Harry was still confused by the time he got to his dormitory.
What a weird detention that had been…and what the heck had Snape given him? Should he really drink this?
He eyed the potion suspiciously for a while, but then he sighed. Snape would know if he did not follow his orders…
And then he opened the vial and drank the potion, all of it, to the last drop.
"Follow me, I am going to show you your room."
Gryffindor did not turn around to see if he actually did follow him, he just expected he would- like some damn dog.
And he followed him of course, the whip Gryffindor was still holding was persuasion enough.
Gryffindor Manor was huge- the hallway they just crossed was bigger than the one's at Hogwarts- and the walls were covered in antique looking pictures, the floors were covered in beautiful, expensive looking rugs, and there were so many windows, windows which were showing every angle of the enormous park outside.
Tom took it all in, amazed, even though he did not want to be, and hurried after Gryffindor through yet another hallway, up the stairs again, down the hall…and then, he stopped and opened a door on the right.
"Your room."
Can't be worse than a prison cell.
Tom brazenly walked right in, and-
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Language, Thomas", Gryffindor actually sounded amused, "and no, I am not kidding you."
The room was- empty. There was no bed, no chair, no nothing- not even a pillow on the floor.
"The door right there- ", Gryffindor pointed at a door to his left, "leads to the bathroom, the other one to your walk in closet. You do have clothes in there, feel free to wear whatever you like."
"I don't care about clothes- how about a bed to sleep in? Or a chair or a table? Or anything?"
"You will have to earn that, Thomas."
"Earn it?!", Tom was practically yelling now, but he did not care, "even in the fucking cell I had a bed, and a table, and actual furniture- I demand that you…"
Gryffindor raised his eyebrow and held up the whip, "I do not respond very kindly to any demands made in my own house, Thomas."
"Take me back, then", Tom hissed, his eyes sparkling with anger, "save yourself the inconvenience and take me back. Right now."
He yelped out in pain as the whip hit him on the arm, which started to throb instantly, "what did I tell you about demands?"
Tom rubbed his arm, "you are a sadistic piece of shit, do you know that?"
Gryffindor laughed, why the hell did he amuse him so much? - "well, coming from Lord Voldemort, I take that as a compliment."
"It was not meant to be one."
"Don't you want to know how to earn yourself some furniture?", Gryffindor asked, and for some reason, the image of Dumbledore, grabbing him, trying to touch him, suddenly appeared in front of him and he started to tremble slightly. What if…Gryffindor wanted the same from him?
No. No, he wouldn't…would he?
"I…I could carry stuff, or…or…organize something, or…help outside", he blurted out, better give him some ideas, "or…maybe…you want me to clean stuff?"
"I do have house elves for those things, Thomas."
Oh God. No. Nonono, did that mean…not this…please…
"Calm down, Thomas- take a deep breath…shshhsh…good boy", Gryffindor's voice was soft and oddly enough, calmed him right down, "what are you so afraid of?"
Tom clenched his teeth, "nothing", he spat out, and: "you were saying? How do I earn a bed, then?"
"It is very simple actually- all you have to do is follow the rules", Gryffindor said, "which means- no cursing, absolutely no disrespect, you do not go outside without asking permission, and you listen to everything I tell you."
"This is worse than prison."
Gryffindor smiled, "it is called parenting, actually."
"You are not my father."
"By law I am, Thomas."
"On paper then- that does not mean anything."
"Maybe not yet, Thomas- but it will one day."
Tom angrily balled his hands into fists, "not to me", he hissed, "and by the way, what do you expect me to do all day then if not slaving around for you like a house elf?"
"You will eat breakfast in your room- the house elves will bring it to you at eight in the morning. After that, you will shower, get dressed, and go to the library, which will be your place to study until 11:30 am. You will show me your work before lunch- which will decide if you get to eat lunch that day. In other words, if your assignments are not satisfying, you will not eat lunch."
Tom listened with growing horror, too shocked to actually interrupt Gryffindor.
"After lunch, you will have some quiet time in your room- you can read, or sleep, or whatever you want, as long as it is quiet. From approximately 3 pm until 5 pm, you will work- more specifically, you will entertain the boys and play with them, and after that, you will help out in the kitchen to prepare for dinner, which will be your only slave like job, as you might call it, and then you will get to eat dinner with us at 7 pm in the dining room. After dinner, you will meet me in my office for a little…chat, and after, depending on your behavior, you will either get to spend time in the park, or in the library or the family room, or you will go straight to bed", Gryffindor looked at him and had the nerve to smile, "any questions?"
"This is bullshit."
Gryffindor laughed, "no questions then, Thomas? Last chance."
Tom just stared at him, a defiant expression on his face, "I won't do any of this, so why don't you save yourself the time and energy and just send me back? Or find yourself another good little slave boy at an orphanage- like that stupid John kid you were hugging like an idiot."
"Did that bother you?", Gryffindor's voice was soft, and Tom snorted, "why should it? I don't give a damn what you are doing or who you are hugging, all I am saying is that you should get yourself a more obedient little orphan kid, because I am not going to let you boss me around without a fight."
"Maybe I don't want another orphan kid- maybe I just want you, Thomas."
Tom hated himself for blushing slightly, "bullshit", he finally hissed, "I am not going to fall for that- and fine, if you want war, you will get war, Gryffindor- I am going to make your life hell, until you realize that it's better to send me back."
"Well, in that case- I was going to cut you some slack for tonight, but since you do not seem to be interested in behaving- fine. Any cursing or disrespect or disobedience will get punished from now on- and in case you want to sleep in a bed tonight and not on the floor, you will have to apologize for your behavior today- and mean it", his voice has gotten cold, and there was no more amusement in his eyes- just sternness.
"I am not apologizing for anything."
Gryffindor did not seem surprised, "very well then- the house elves will bring you dinner in a minute, and you won't be able to leave this room until 8 am tomorrow morning. Try to get some rest, you are going to need it."
He turned around without saying anything else, and Tom just stood there, staring after him for a minute.
Damn bastard, letting me sleep on the floor…
He looked around the room, the only thing he had were the books from the prison library- how the hell was he going to sleep like this?
He forced himself to blink back tears, and marched into the bathroom- which was a luxurious, spacious room with a double sink, a huge walk in shower, a bathtub, and a toilet. There was a shelf with toiletries, and- a linen closet. The towels looked fluffy and cozy, and Tom grabbed all of them and carried them back to his room, spreading them onto the floor.
He was so busy organizing the towels that he did not hear the door opening, "the dinner for Master Thomas", a house elf suddenly squeaked and he jumped.
"Put it down and leave", he ordered shortly, it never occurred to him to thank the elf- he was a servant after all, so why bother?
"Enjoy the dinner, Master Thomas", the house elf responded politely, and put the tray down, "and have a good night."
"Get lost, creature!", he hissed, and the little elf hurried to leave.
He examined the dinner tray- and surprisingly, the food looked delicious. Smoked salmon with rice and lemons, a fresh salad with tomatoes and cucumbers, a chocolate mousse with berries for dessert- and some ginger beer and water to drink.
At least he is not going to let me starve.
His mouth started to water, he had not eaten anything since this morning, and minutes later, he had cleared the plate- the food had been just as delicious as it had looked.
He went to the walk in closet, which was huge, and filled with all kinds of expensive looking clothes, and found some pajamas made out of silk.
He put them on and sighed with content. Damn, these are comfortable.
He yawned and stumbled into the bathroom, feeling full, and tired, and drained from the day.
Moments later, he was curled up on the towels on the floor- which gave him some protection, but not much.
Still, it was better than nothing- and screw Gryffindor for just taking him against his will, for forcing all this onto him…he was going to realize soon enough that he would not want to keep him, he wasn't a good little boy, he was…bad. A criminal. A…what had Dumbledore said?
Do you really think there is anyone out there who cares about you? You are useless.
He pulled the towel over his head, screw him. Screw them all.
He finally fell into an unruly sleep, and he did not even wake up when hours later, the door opened and Gryffindor quietly entered his room.
The Founder came closer, and he smiled sadly when he looked at Tom, seeing him curled up in a ball on some towels, his face tear- stained from crying.
He almost gave in- almost. After all, Thomas had to learn to obey him- the boy desperately needed someone who was firm and consistent with him.
"What am I going to do with you, Tommy…", he sighed and carefully draped another towel around him, "I know you want to be a good boy, hmm? You just don't know how to do that yet- but I am going to help you with that."
Tom did not stir, not even when Godric softly kissed him on the top of his head, "good night, Tommy. Sweet dreams, Little Prince."
And then, he left.
yeah...poor tom :( next chap will have spanking in it, and it will be revealed what snape gave to harry...which will lead to another confrontation between them.
if you liked it, I would loooove some feedback!
see ya soon,
Antonie :)