Hey everyone! :) thank you to my awesome reviewers, Guest, April Dennis, Guest, and lilyflower101! Thank you so much!
This chapter has some CP in it, torture, and general darkness...just like real life.
I am still working on chapter 18, so it might take a while. Hope you enjoy this one.
As always, #FreeProtasevich.
He had taken him to a small office room with a fireplace, and the fire was burning, heating up the room- even though he did not need it, he was sweating enough already.
"Care to explain yourself, Thomas?", Gryffindor asked in a cutting tone, and for some reason, it made his blood boil once more, "you mean, before you spank me again?"
Gryffindor's eyes turned dark, "you seem to think this is some kind of joke, Thomas- do you even realize what you did?"
"Do you even fucking care what Dumbledore did to me? Or Sirius?", he spat out, unable to hold back his anger any longer, "he…he is a fucking creep, and you are still defending him?"
"Why the hell would you think I am defending Dumbledore?", Gryffindor hissed, and Tom suddenly realized that he had never heard him curse before.
This is going to be bad.
"We had a plan, Thomas, this whole dinner was a setup- until you stormed in and started with your wild accusations."
"Wild Accusations? That sick bastard was touching me, and he fucking touched Sirius and you don't…"
"Dumbledore did not touch Sirius- I have no idea what Sirius told you, but Dumbledore blackmailed him into spying for him back in Hogwarts and then Sirius started spying for us and Dumbledore got mad- we wanted to force him to confess that he was behind all the bullying and torturing Sirius had to endure from the other Slytherins after."
Tom blushed, "I…I thought…I did not know…"
"You did not know because yet again, you let your anger control you", Gryffindor responded, an edge in his voice, "and why in the world did you not tell me what Dumbledore did to you? I asked you, I asked you twice."
"So now it is my fault? Why should I tell you anything? You are not my father; I don't owe you any explanations."
He took some strange pleasure in the fact that Gryffindor winced.
There was a silence, and finally, Gryffindor spoke again, "I would have killed Dumbledore if I knew."
"Looks like Salazar already took care of that for you- I should thank him", he sounded smug, he knew he did, and Gryffindor looked at him, an odd expression on his face, "we need to talk about this, Thomas."
"There is nothing more to say- he touched me, he threatened me, and now he's dead."
"If he really is dead, Salazar will have to go to court for that, you know that, right?"
"I thought Founders are above the law- after all, you kidnapped me, and tortured me, and you did not face any consequences, or did you?", his tone was mocking now, and this felt good, even great, having the upper hand for once, and being able to say all this.
"No one is above the law, Thomas- and I adopted you, and I would not have needed to torture you if you did not refuse to deactivate the spell on the manor- everyone inside would have been dead if we had waited any longer."
"So torturing me was justified then?"
Gryffindor's face got dark, and Tom knew he had finally crossed the line, "I would do it again if I had to- if it means saving innocent people from dying."
"You are such a goddamn saint, you know that?"
They were staring at each other now, and there was nothing resembling what had happened just hours ago-
You are my good boy.
Stay, Daddy?
And then Gryffindor turned around, and took something out of a desk drawer, "hold out your hands, Thomas, palms up."
His tone was low and dangerous, and Tom found himself obeying instantly, and he suddenly realized he was scared.
Not only scared, terrified.
Gryffindor came back, something in his hands that looked like a cane, but shorter, and he knew what was going to happen, and he knew it was going to hurt.
"Anything that justifies this?", he asked, his voice hoarse.
"Your behavior, Thomas- and your inability to understand."
"Understand what?"
Gryffindor looked at him, a strange expression on his face, one that Tom could not read.
"Your inability to understand why I adopted you- and why I am doing all of this."
He lifted up the cane, and Tom closed his eyes.
"There is no need to count this time- I will stop whenever I please."
Fucking sadist.
He trembled, and the wooden cane made a horrible buzzing sound in the air, and then it came down on his hands-
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"
He was screaming, the pain was agonizing, and he pressed his injured hands against his shirt, "fuck, that hurt!"
"Hold your hands out, Thomas."
"You…you can't do this again!"
"I can't?", Gryffindor's voice was hard, "palms up, Thomas, don't make me ask you again."
He forcefully blinked back his tears, and then slowly held out his hands.
Gryffindor lifted the cane, and he needed all his willpower to not draw his hands back, and then it hit him-
"Aaaaaaaahhhh!", his hands were bleeding now, and he could not help it, he started to sob, "stop! Just…stop!"
"Hands out, Thomas."
He began to cry, "I fucking hate you! I hate you, Gryffindor!"
"Stop crying and hold out your damn hands, Thomas!"
He did stop, but more out of shock than anything else- and then he held his hands out again, palms up.
And Gryffindor hit him again, and his scream came out as a shriek now, and then Gryffindor took the cane, and threw it into the burning fireplace.
"Go to bed, Thomas", he did not even look at him, "just…go to bed."
Tom stared at him for a second, he opened his mouth, but then closed it and turned around.
And as soon as he had left the room, Godric Gryffindor, the Founder of Hogwarts, buried his face in his hands and cried.
"What happened?", the look on Harry's face was anxious, "did…it not go well?"
"I have no idea what happened, I have been trying to contact the Founders for hours", Snape started pacing up and down the hallway, agitated, "I am afraid something went wrong."
Harry paled, "you mean…Dumbledore did not confess? Do you think he…"
Snape let out a deep breath, "I think we are not safe here anymore, Harry. We need to leave. Immediately. Dumbledore knows we are here, and if he really weaseled out of making a confession…", he sighed, a worried look on his face.
"I know where to go!", Harry blurted out, "Grimmauld Place! We are safe there."
Severus hesitated for a second, but then nodded, "fine. Let's go then. We have no time to waste."
He had barely slept and since he was not hungry either, had not even touched his breakfast.
Now he was sitting in the library again, writing on the list- just because he simply did not know what else to do.
He suddenly heard a movement behind him and tensed, praying it was not Gryffindor who had entered the library, and he almost melted with relief when Salazar's kind face appeared in front of him.
"Looks like you are almost done, Tom."
"Yeah…I am", he swallowed, "I…I did not know what else to do this morning, and…I kind of want to finish the list…", he did not know why, but it was the truth.
Salazar smiled softly, "I see. Well, I am very proud of you for doing this, Tom."
He did not respond, but bit his lips, too afraid to say what he really wanted to say to the Slytherin.
"I did not kill Dumbledore- he was unconscious, but he is doing fine."
Tom stared at him, he blinked, "he…he's not dead?"
"No, Tom, even though I still think he deserves to die, but he is at the Ministry, awaiting his trial. There is a lot that needs to be investigated still."
"Are you…under investigation?", Tom dared to ask.
"I am, yes. After all, I used some spells on Dumbledore that are not quite legal, so Fudge is looking into that matter."
"I…am sorry."
"Don't be", Salazar was still smiling, "I would do it all over again in case I had the opportunity. Dumbledore is a sick man, it disgusts me what he did to you, Tom. I hope you know that none of that was your fault."
Tom forced back tears, "yes…I know", he looked down, "I…thank you for saying that…it…it means a lot to me, especially since Gryffindor…", he took a deep breath, and then the tears came.
"He hurt you, am I right?", Salazar's voice was soft and compassionate, "and you don't understand why he is acting this way, hmm?"
Tom sobbed, "it's…it's just…I thought he…he said he cared, he…he freakin said that he loved me, and…called me Tommy, and now…it's…such a mess, and I am so angry that I believed him, that I believed anything he said, he does not care, he…"
"Oh, he does care about you, Tom", Salazar interrupted him, "just as much as you care about him."
Tom's face darkened, "I don't care about him- not after what he did to me last night."
Salazar sighed, "you two are more alike than you realize- you both hold on to your pride like it is the most important thing in the world. It is not."
Tom just snorted, "whatever. It does not matter; I am over it- Gryffindor can go to hell for all that I care."
Salazar looked at him thoughtfully, and a few minutes passed in silence, until Salazar spoke again, "I actually came to ask you a favor, Tom- Godric will be at the Ministry for the trial all week, and I have a meeting with Fudge tonight, so I was wondering if you could put the boys to bed. They need to take a bath after dinner, and then they are allowed one story- don't let them trick you into more than that. It would be a really big help."
"Sure, I can do that I guess", he did not sound very enthusiastic, but Salazar still gave him a quick, grateful hug, "thank you, Tom! I have to go now, but I see you at lunch, alright?"
"Alright", Tom agreed, he was starving after all, and knowing that Gryffindor would not be there definitely helped in making the decision.
He spent another two hours working on the list, and then he had lunch with Salazar and the boys, who were unusually subdued- no wonder after what they had witnessed the night before.
Tom did feel a pang of guilt for what he had put the boys through the night before, and he tried to make it up to them by spending the whole afternoon playing with them, and after dinner, he helped bathing them, and read them a story, while Sirius and Aurelius snuggled close to him, and finally, fell asleep on him.
He carefully got up and, since Salazar was still meeting with Fudge, went to bed himself. He did not bother waiting for Gryffindor to show up to say good night, and even though he tried convincing himself that he did not care, it took him forever to fall asleep.
The next couple of days went by in a similar pattern, he worked on the list, and played with the boys, and took over more and more responsibilities for them, and he barely saw Gryffindor and when he did, he ignored him.
The incident had been about a week ago now, and Tom spent another morning in the library finishing the list and he was just writing the last name, when the door opened and Salazar came in, "are you done, Tom?"
"I literally just finished", he gave a quick grin, "how was your meeting?"
"It actually was not a meeting- Dumbledore's trial was today."
Tom paled, "and…did he…"
"He confessed to everything he was accused of and more- the Veritaserum certainly helped. It was shocking, and disturbing…he is a very sick man and it is a relief that he will spend the rest of his life in Azkaban."
"That's good", Tom forced himself to smile, "and…the investigation?"
"Godric was able to clear my name", Salazar answered, gratitude in his voice, "they closed the investigation."
Tom merely nodded.
"There is something else, Tom", Salazar looked at him closely, "Dumbledore also confessed to be responsible for a lot of fraud schemes, and there was a reward issued- 1.3 Million Galleons."
"Wow…that's…quite a lot of money", Tom replied, unsure why Salazar was telling him all this.
"Well…since technically you are responsible for Dumbledore's capturing, the Ministry agreed to give the reward to you, Tom."
What. The. Fuck.
"Wait- what?! You…you are joking, right?"
Salazar shook his head, "I am not. The money is yours, Tom. I know you will use it wisely."
"I…I don't even know what for…I mean…this is really unexpected", he took a deep breath, "I just can't believe the Ministry would want me to have it…that's just…crazy."
"They have to follow the rules, too- the reward is for the person who leads to the criminal's arrest, and that was you, Tom."
Tom blinked, "and…what am I going to do now?"
"There is no rush in making a decision now, Tom- take your time, think about it, and the answer will come to you. Trust me."
Salazar got up from the chair next to him, "there is one more conference at the Ministry tomorrow- do you think you could…"
"I will take care of Aurelius and Sirius", Tom smiled at him, "it is not a problem."
Salazar pulled him into a quick hug, "thank you. The boys are lucky to have you as a big brother", and then he left- leaving Tom alone with his thoughts.
1.3 Million Galleons…what was he going to do with that much money?
He sighed and then looked down at the list again- and for some reason, he suddenly remembered little Ann-Louise, and all the others…and all of a sudden, he had an idea.
"Godric Gryffindor, what an honor!", Dumbledore cackled, a sly grin on his face, "come to let me out of here?"
"Certainly not", Godric's voice was cold, even colder than the tiny cell Dumbledore was held in, "I came to give you a goodbye present- 15 minutes alone with me- the wardens are on their lunch break."
Something flickered across Dumbledore's face, and when he laughed now, it sounded nervous, "the almighty Founder is breaking the law for me?"
"Not for you- for my son", Gryffindor responded through clenched teeth, "and since this is the last time you will be able to make any kind of sound for the rest of your life, enjoy listening to your own screams before I cut your tongue out in the end."
Dumbledore made a noise that sounded like a groan, "you…can't…they will hear you…I demand…"
Gryffindor did not even bother to reply, instead, he raised his wand and mumbled an old spell, which had been the origin of the Cruciatus curse, and seconds later, Dumbledore was screeching, his hands covering his ears, and then his ears started to bleed, and Dumbledore was howling now, and Gryffindor watched impassively when Dumbledore started banging his head against the wall to stop the brutal pain in his head, to knock himself unconscious, and he changed the spell again and now Dumbledore raised his hands to his eyes, and he tore out his eyes with his own hands to stop the burning pain, and then, blinded, he crawled towards the wall, his clothes soaked in his own pee and Gryffindor just stood there, watching as Dumbledore knocked his head open on the wall, his skull became visible and the sounds he made were barely human now, and then Dumbledore tried to look at him one last time, his face mushed, his eyes two bloody holes, and Gryffindor took out his knife, and grabbed the dying man and with one smooth movement, he cut his tongue out, leaving Dumbledore to bleed out on the cold floor.
Gryffindor mumbled a cleaning spell on himself and left the cell, smiling at the wardens when he passed them, "it looks like there has been an incident in Dumbledore's cell- he committed suicide."
The wardens stayed silent, just one young warden dared to speak up, "su…suicide?"
"Do you doubt my judgement?"
The young warden whimpered, "no…no, of course not, Sir! It was a suicide, nothing else will ever appear in the documents!"
"Good", Gryffindor turned around without looking at them, "I will let the Minister know that the case is closed now- no need to further investigate."
"Yes, Sir!"
Gryffindor smiled, and then- he was gone.
"I am about to leave- is everything going well?"
Tom looked up, they were in the playroom, and the boys had just noisily started to play with their train set, "everything is fine", he assured Salazar, and even managed a quick smile.
The Slytherin returned the smile, "good. The house elves will serve you dinner at 7 pm just like always, and then the boys need a bath again", he ignored the yells of protests from Sirius and Aurelius, "they need to be in bed by 9 pm."
"No problem."
Salazar's smile turned soft, "thank you, Tom. I don't know what I would do without your help."
"It really is not a problem", his smile became uncomfortable, "I…I don't mind."
"I know- which makes it even more special", he winked at him, said a quick farewell to the boys, and then he was gone.
They kept playing for another hour or so, and then had dinner, which was louder than usual, since the Founders were not there to reprimand the boys, and later, they went to the boys' bathroom for their bath.
Aurelius and Sirius were in a good mood, already forgetting about the incident with Dumbledore, and they happily splashed around in the bathtub, until Tom decided it was time to get out.
"Come on, let's get you dressed- it is already half past eight", he announced, and Aurelius immediately got up and let Tom dry him off with a huge towel.
"That was fun!", the younger boy said, a huge smile on his face, "are you going to read us a story again tonight, Tom?"
"Of course", Tom answered and helped Aurelius getting into his pajamas, "any favorites?"
"I want to hear the story about the wild dragon again!", Aurelius told him, "it is sooo scary!"
"That's not scary!", Sirius replied from the bathtub, "I want to hear the story about the ghost town!"
"How about you get out of the bathtub first, Sirius", Tom suggested, a hint of impatience in his voice, "come on, I have a towel here for you."
Sirius' face darkened, "I don't want to come out yet- the bubbles are not even gone!"
Tom bit his lips. There it was again- the struggle to make Sirius obey him. Aurelius was an easy child, but the Black had a very defiant and obstinate streak in his nature, and often simply disobeyed him.
"Get. out. Sirius.", he ordered, "it is time for bed."
"It is time to play", Sirius responded smugly, and made a big show out of letting his little toy ship cruise through the bubbles, "I'll come out later. Or never. Then you can read the stupid dragon story with Aurelius."
"It's not stupid!", Aurelius snapped back, "come on now, you have to get out!"
"No, I don't", Sirius sang and kept playing, a satisfied grin on his face, "you can't tell me what to do!"
Tom took a deep breath to avoid yelling at the younger boy and simply carrying him out of the tub, "fine- your choice. You will stay in the bathtub then. Aurelius, go brush your teeth and then go and get the book. I will read you the story in here tonight."
Aurelius obeyed, and Sirius looked at him with uncertainty- but he was too obstinate to give in.
He can't make me come out.
And while Aurelius brushed his teeth, combed his wet hair, and went to the toilet, Sirius sat in the bathtub and played with his toys, ignoring them.
Finally, Aurelius walked over with the book in his hand, an excited look on his face.
"Ready for your story?", Tom smiled at his youngest brother and let him climb on his lap, "promise me you won't have nightmares again?"
"Promise", Aurelius mumbled and snuggled close, "I am ready!"
Tom started to read, and Aurelius listened with bated breath, while Sirius was still in the bathtub, pretending not to hear them.
The water had gotten cold, and it was becoming increasingly boring to play by himself, so he decided to finally get out, "I am coming out now", he announced casually, and made an attempt to stand up.
Tom stopped reading and walked over to him, "you wanted to stay in the bathtub, Sirius- and that is exactly what you are going to do", his voice was hard, and then he pushed the younger boy down again, "you will sit here and be quiet until I let you out."
Sirius stared at him in disbelief, "but…the water is cold now", he protested, "and it is boring, all the bubbles are gone, I don't want to…"
"You had your choice to obey me earlier", Tom interrupted him, "now be quiet, Sirius- the more you talk, the longer I will make you sit here. Do you understand me?"
Sirius swallowed, "yes…I understand", he whispered, his head hanging, and while Tom returned to Aurelius to finish the story, Sirius sat in the now cold bath, tears were streaming down his face, but he did not make a sound, he just watched his tears falling into the water, a feeling of despair inside him, and he was shivering from the cold, but did not dare to say anything.
"…and the dragon was finally free. The end", Tom smiled and closed the book, "now, it is time for bed- wait here, okay?"
Aurelius got up and nodded, and Tom went over to Sirius.
"Look at me", he ordered, and this time, the younger boy obeyed immediately.
Tom studied his face for a couple of seconds, his eyes, red from crying, and his lips, blue from the cold water.
"Do you have anything to say to me, Sirius?", he finally asked him, his voice still hard.
"I…I am sorry", Sirius voice was hoarse, "I…please, can I come out now? It's so cold…"
"You can come out as soon as you tell me why you disobeyed me earlier", Tom replied, unmoved.
"I…I told you, I wanted to keep playing", Sirius answered, confused, "the bubbles were fun, and my ship…"
He stopped when Tom gave him a look and swallowed again, "you…that's not what you mean, right?", he finally asked in a small voice.
"I want you to tell me the truth, Sirius."
The boy looked down, "I…was upset…cause…Aurelius…he…he picked a book last night, and…you always let him decide just cause he is always behaving…and…I…was…", he turned red, too embarrassed to say it.
"You were jealous", Tom said in a low voice, so Aurelius could not hear him, "Sirius- do you think I love Aurelius more than you because he never disobeys me?"
Sirius let out a deep breath, and then nodded.
"Silly boy", Tom could not help it, he had to smile, it was a real smile, the first real one since the incident with Dumbledore, "I love you just as much as Aurelius- you are both my brothers, and I don't care how much you want to be defiant; I will always love you both the same. You are my brother, and I don't want you any other way."
"Are…you serious?", Sirius stared at him open mouthed, "even if I am bad?"
Tom sighed, "yes, even if you are bad, little brother", he carefully lifted Sirius out of the tub and covered him in a warm towel, "and I don't like punishing you- but I have to, you know that, right?"
"Yeah, I know", Sirius mumbled and snuggled against him, "you want to make me a good boy cause you care about me."
He smiled, "exactly- if I would not care about you, I would not punish you to become better."
"Hmm", Sirius snuggled closer, he yawned, "love you, big brother…"
"Love you, too", Tom was still smiling, and he held Sirius close and slowly turned around, and then-
No. God no.
Gryffindor was standing in the door, his arms crossed, and judged by the expression on his face, he had heard every word.
yeah...we are getting closer to the end, but there are still some problems to solve.
if you liked it, please leave me a comment! thank you so much!
antonie :)