hey there, first of all a big THANK YOU to my two reviewers!
lilyflower101, I agree, Gryffindor is definitely not the picture perfect father in this fic...
Silene-Ashikawa, I am glad you got surprised! :)
Hope y'all like this chapter!
Of course. Of fucking course.
He started to laugh, because honestly, what else was he going to do at this point- his life was officially a cruel joke now, nothing more.
"Master Thomas? Master Thomas!", Tiny stared at him with wide eyes, an odd look on his face, "is Master Thomas alright? Tiny can go and…"
"I need your help, Tiny", Tom interrupted him, realizing that him laughing like a maniac would not solve any of this, "I…I need to get out of here. Now."
Tiny's eyes got even bigger, "what? No, Master Thomas, Tiny cannot help with escaping! Master Gryffindor will be very angry if Master Thomas is disobedient again!"
If you make any attempt to escape or do anything similar stupid, our first little chat at the orphanage will feel like a walk in the park compared to what I am going to do with you.
Tom closed his eyes, "I know, Tiny, I know- but you don't understand- I…", he decided to lie, what was one more lie anyways, "look, I don't have an answer for Gryffindor, and he is going to beat the hell out of me tomorrow, please…just…help me."
Tiny curled his lips, "does…this have to do with Dumbledore?", he asked quietly, and Tom cursed him for being so damn observant, "no, of course not- I just realized that I am running out of time- I need to get out of here. Gryffindor hates me, and…you are my friend, right, Tiny? You and I are friends, right?"
Tiny began to sweat, he was clearly uncomfortable, but he was not strong enough to withhold against Tom's manipulations, "y…yes, Tiny is Master Thomas' friend", he admitted nervously, "but…Tiny will lose the job in the kitchen, Master Gryffindor will do horrible things to Tiny if Master Gryffindor finds out that Tiny helped Master Thomas to run away from here and…"
"He won't find out", Tom interrupted him again, "I…I think of something, but please, Tiny, please help me! I am begging you!"
Tiny really wanted to leave, he was an honest and hardworking elf who had never done anything bad in his whole life, but when he looked at Tom again, he saw it in his eyes, it was there- fear.
And for some reason, he was convinced that the fear was not related to Gryffindor.
"Fine…Tiny…will help…", he whispered, "Tiny…has to go back now, Tiny has been staying here too long, but Tiny will be back at lunch, and if Master Thomas has a plan, then Tiny will help."
"Thank you! Thank you so so much!", Tom blurted out and he had to stop himself from actually hugging the elf, "I will have the perfect plan by lunchtime, trust me!"
Tiny did not look very positive, but he was too polite to say anything else than "yes, Master Thomas", and with that, he took the dinner tray from the night before and left.
Tom crumbled down as soon as the elf had gone, his careful façade disappearing within seconds.
Gryffindor had invited Dumbledore- and there was no doubt in him why he had done that.
"He is going to give me to that creepy old bastard", he muttered, "he is tired of me, and now he is gonna get rid of me by letting Dumbledore have his ways with me", he sobbed, forcing himself not to think of that awful night again when Dumbledore had stared at him with that strange glint in his eyes, when he had…
Look at you, all…young, and wild, and handsome.
"Fucking bastard!", he banged his fist on the floor, suddenly shivering. He was scared, he was actually terrified- nothing what Gryffindor could do to him was half as bad as what Dumbledore was going to do to him- and fuck Gryffindor for giving him away like he was an object!
Probably getting some money for me, too.
He swallowed, and then he got angry. Furious.
Who did these bastards think they were? Treating him like some slave, like a piece of furniture that could be pushed around, but he would not sit here and wait for them to bargain about him, screw them!
He would get the hell out of here, far away from all this happy family bullshit, and far away from Gryffindor and his damn punishments, he was fucking done.
Problem was, there was no way out.
He did not have a wand, and he knew the house elves did not either, he could not apparate due to the ban, and he could not use the floo network…it was only used by the elves anyways, Tiny had told him once that they flooed into Hogsmeade a couple times a week for groceries and supplies.
"Would be fucking easy to get out if I was an elf", he mumbled, more to himself, and then…
That's it.
He grinned, sitting up straight from a sudden rush of energy.
Thanks to his daily visits to Gryffindor's office, he knew that he kept his potions there, hidden in a storage space.
There has to be Polyjuice Potion there.
He would take Tiny to Gryffindor's office, they would drink the Polyjuice, and then Tiny would sit around in his room as Tom for a while and he would use the floo network to run away- and as soon as the potion would fade, Tiny would go back to the kitchen and no one would ever know where he had disappeared to!
"This is brilliant", he whispered, hugging himself, "and Tiny won't even get in trouble, no one will know!"
He could not wait for Tiny to come back, and now he was hungry, so he ate all of the breakfast, and then he showered, washed his hair, brushed his teeth and got dressed- because what else was he going to do- and then he cleaned up the tray and put it by the door, and he even folded the towels and put them back in the linen closet.
Just as he was finished with that, the door opened and Tiny walked in, looking as pale as a ghost.
He carried his lunch tray, and carefully set it down, "does…Master Thomas have a plan?", he croaked, glancing nervously over his shoulder.
"I do, actually", Tom replied, he was feeling smug now, and he could hardly wait for Gryffindor to come into his room later and find it empty.
Serves the bastard right.
"Where are Gryffindor and Salazar now?"
Tiny looked pained, "the Masters are at the Ministry- they are expected to come back in the afternoon, and the young Masters are at school."
Perfect.
"We are going to go to Gryffindor's office to get some Polyjuice Potion", he began hastily, "and then you will stay in my room as me- and I will use the floo network to escape. You only need to stay in my room until the potion faded- and then you can sneak back into the kitchen, just tell the other elves you were sick or whatever. No one will know."
Tiny licked his dry lips, "Tiny is not allowed to go into Master Gryffindor's office without permission."
Tom rolled his eyes, "neither am I", he answered briskly, "but he is not here, so who cares? Let's go, Tiny. We need to hurry up!"
Tiny did not dare to argue, so they left the room, and hurried down the hallway. The other elves were busy in the kitchen, and no one saw them when they entered Gryffindor's office.
"The potions are right here", Tom said, "shit, the shelf is locked! Can you open it, Tiny?"
"Tiny can try", the elf said reluctantly, and mumbled a spell.
The lock opened and Tom smiled, "nice work, Tiny!", he searched through the potions, not bothering to be very careful, and finally found what he had been looking for- Polyjuice Potion, a whole jug of it.
He ripped out one of his hairs and put it in, and then handed Tiny the jug, "drink!"
Tiny drank, and Tom grabbed his hand and carefully took off part of one of his long fingernails.
"Ow!", Tiny whimpered, "that hurts!"
"Sorry", Tom answered, clearly distracted, and then he took the jug, put the nail in it, took a deep breath, and- drank.
It was disgusting, it was horrible, and he wanted to throw up- and when he looked at Tiny, the transformation had already started and he watched with amazement how the small elf rapidly turned into himself.
And then he felt himself shrinking, he felt his ears and hands grow longer, and seconds later, he was Tiny.
Tiny stared at him in awe, "this is…crazy!", he babbled, "Tiny looks like Master Thomas now, and…"
"You need to change your voice, talk like me! You are Master Thomas now!", Tom hissed back, "let's go, the potion will only last for an hour or so."
They put the potion back and closed the door to the office, and then they ran down the hallway.
"Go back to my room and just sit there quietly until the potion has faded", Tom ordered, "and…thank you, Tiny. For everything. I will never forget you for this!"
Tiny smiled, and Tom watched himself smile, and he had to admit that he looked nice when he smiled, "Tiny is glad to help Master Thomas", the elf replied modestly, "Master Thomas best uses the fireplace on the second floor, it's in the room next to the guest rooms."
"I know where that is", Tom responded, and he was smiling now, too, "bye, Tiny. Be safe."
Tiny just nodded, and then Tom watched him running down the hallway, and then he disappeared into his room.
Time to get the hell out of here.
He hurried to the second floor, and he was about to enter the room when he suddenly heard a stern voice behind him, "Tiny is taking too much time today, Tiny needs to go back to the kitchen and finish the dessert for tonight!"
It was Tally, and he was looking at him in disgust, "hurry up, lazy elf!"
Tom forced himself not to punch the other elf in the face, he had some time after all, and he did not want to make Tally suspicious- so he decided to follow the elf into the kitchen, work a little, and then sneak out.
The kitchen was busy, the house elves were sweating, and Tally showed him the dessert he was supposed to create, and it looked difficult as hell, but he never backed down from a challenge.
He carefully glanced at the clock, it was 12:23 pm, and he decided to leave at 12:45 pm.
Tally left him alone, too busy to keep an eye on him, and he started the dessert, and shit, it was difficult, but also quite fun- and before he realized it, he got lost in his work, and only stopped when the elves suddenly fell silent.
He looked up, and glanced at the clock.
12:58 pm.
Shit.
And then he saw the reason why the elves had suddenly become silent, and he paled.
"How is everything going?", Gryffindor had entered the kitchen, and he smiled at Tally, "are we on schedule for our dinner guest tonight?"
Dinner guest my ass.
"Yes, Master Gryffindor", Tally answered reverently, and Tom realized all of a sudden that every single elf was staring at Gryffindor like he was some kind of saint.
They really have no clue.
"Great job, Tally and all of you, keep up the good work!", Gryffindor praised them, still smiling, and then he walked over to him, and Tom wanted to die, but he forced himself to stand still and he bowed his head.
"Now, Tiny, how is the dessert coming along? It is rather difficult, hmm?", he sounded so damn friendly and Tom needed all his energy to not just scream and him or curse him out.
"Tiny…is working on it", he stuttered, he had spent so much time with Tiny in the kitchen that he knew how Tiny usually talked, and it was easy for him to fake his voice.
"It looks great, Tiny", Gryffindor said, sounding sincere.
"Thank you, Master Gryffindor."
Thank you for ruining my life, bastard.
"I wanted to talk to you really quick, Tiny- come with me, please."
Oh shit.
He really thought he had been somewhat convincing, but apparently not.
"Y…yes, Master Gryffindor", he forced himself to say, and the fear seemed to be obvious now, because Gryffindor laughed, "don't worry, you are not in trouble, Tiny. I just want to talk to you", he smiled right at him, a soft, friendly smile, and Tom wanted to throw up.
"Ye…yes, Master Gryffindor", he repeated, because he did not know what else to say, and then he followed Gryffindor in the hallway.
"I just wanted to ask you how my boy was doing this morning", Gryffindor began, and the smile was gone, instead he looked…sad?
My boy?
Tom did not know what to say, and Gryffindor kept talking, "you know, I missed him last night- and I know he deserves to be punished, it's just…", he sighed, "do you think he really was pretending this whole time, Tiny?"
Ohmygod.
Tom swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry, "Tiny…does not know…but…Tiny thinks that Master Thomas did not…pretend the last weeks, Master Thomas seemed so…happy."
Not that it matters anymore.
Gryffindor looked at him, "do you think he is happy now?"
"No!", Tom blurted out, and hastily added, "no, Master Gryffindor. Master Thomas…did not seem happy this morning."
Gryffindor kept looking at him, "did he eat his food?"
"No, Master Gryffindor."
"I should talk to him…better get his punishment over with today", Gryffindor said, running a hand through his hair, "after all, if he does not eat, I should not wait until tomorrow."
Tom thought he was going to faint for a second, and he started talking before he could stop himself, "pun…punishment? Please, Master Gryffindor, how…", he bit his lips, suddenly remembering that it was not the place of a house elf to ask questions like that.
"Well, he did lie to me", Gryffindor answered, "and he knows that if he lies to me, he will get spanked- and since you said that you are not sure if he really pretended the whole time, I need to know why he did not tell me if he didn't. I really thought he wanted to be my good boy- and I miss him, Tiny, I miss my son."
Shit. Shit. Shit!
Tom wanted to say something, but again, there were no words- but he felt the tears come dangerously close.
"You should go back in the kitchen, Tiny- I will go see my naughty boy now", Gryffindor smiled at him, "thank you for your honesty."
My honesty? Fuck me.
"Thank you, Master Gryffindor", he said mechanically, forcing back the tears, and he helplessly watched Gryffindor turn around at walk down the hallway- and as soon as he was sure Gryffindor could not hear him anymore, he let out a startled sob.
What the hell was he going to do now? This crazy mess which was his life had just taken another turn for the worse- Gryffindor would go and spank poor, innocent Tiny, and this was all his fault- Gryffindor did not seem to want to get rid of him, he said he missed him, and damnit, had he messed this all up!
Tom sobbed again, what was he going to do?
He could escape now, the elves were in the kitchen, and the room with the fireplace was close by- but then Tiny would get spanked instead of him, but if he went and told Gryffindor that he was really Tom, Gryffindor would spank him…or worse.
If you make any attempt to escape or do anything similar stupid, our first little chat at the orphanage will feel like a walk in the park compared to what I am going to do with you.
This was a never-ending nightmare.
He groaned, still unable to believe that he had just called Snape Daddy.
This is so embarrassing.
"I…am so…sorry", his face was dark red, "I…did not mean to…I am sorry!"
"You did not mean to?"
He shook his head hastily, "no, really, I did not! I did not, I…"
"That's too bad."
"What?", he turned his head, his mouth agape, "wait…what…"
Does that mean he liked it?
Snape smiled at him, a rare, full smile, "do you know how many times I have thought about this? You calling me Dad?"
"N…no."
"A lot of times, Harry. I told you that I loved your mother, and when I heard that she was pregnant with you, I was…jealous. I wished that I was your father, and not James."
Harry stared at him, dumbfounded, "James Potter will always be my father", he finally said, "but…you can be my Dad."
He had not even realized until now that Snape had stopped spanking him, and when Snape lifted him up and pulled him in a hug, he suddenly was smiling, too.
Maybe I am going to have a real family after all.
I know this was kinda short and I apologize! the next one will be more explosive, and has spanking in it (not hard to guess who is getting spanked lol)
if you liked it, please leave me a comment!
thank you!
Antonie :)