With love, Harry
Summary:
In which Harry goes back in time, adopts his arch nemesis and pulls one infamous Dark Lord into his madness somewhere along the way.
"Surprise! Tom, meet your grandfather!"
"Harry. That's Gellert Grindelwald."
"I know. Isn't it exciting!? And he'll be tutoring you to be the greatest Dark Lord ever!"
"What?"
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is the boss of it all.
Warning: Grammar, perhaps?
A/N: A bout of questionable parenting wherein Septhis realizes that maybe he's the real parent (over Harry too) instead.
Seven
"Hey, Septhis?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm going to take the children out riding." Harry said as he slipped on a pair of leather gloves.
"Riding?" The pale man abruptly straightened up from his reclining position on the couch in Harry's bedroom.
"Yeah. Riding."
"Horses?"
"Actually—"
"You are not going to use the thestrals. You know very well how much they detest being ridden on, unless of course they give their consent." He rudely interrupted his master without a care. "And no, not even the unicorns."
"Why not!? They're like horse—"
"Why? Because one of the children is a bloody vampire and the other is so dark, those poor creatures should, no, they are better off without his presence."
Harry gasped. "Take that back! How in Merlin can the unicorns not like someone as adorable and sweet as Tommy!?"
Septhis gave him a look, the one which told him to just shut up or risk having an argument that would only end with his dignity being crushed. The other's lips pulled to a pout.
"Okay, how about the hip—"
"No hippogriffs."
"Then—"
"Not the griffins either."
Harry huffed. "Alright, if that's how you want it, fine!"
He marched out of his room, leaving Septhis wondering if his Master was even fit to be a parent (when he himself needed to be taken care of half the time) to two children. And on his own too.
(Somewhere in the back of his mind, Septhis appreciated himself for being around to actually make sure none of the kids, and their father, somehow ended up at the doors of death— because the realm of the dead was already difficult enough. He didn't need more troublesome people being added into the mix.)
No.
Wait.
Harry wasn't the parent of two children.
Thankfully enough, the vampire brat was not a permanent addition to the family, yet. Septhis just hoped Fate wouldn't decide otherwise and in a twist of, well, fate, turn the boy into Harry's second son. It had been four days since his arrival and Septhis still hadn't changed his opinion of the kid being a menace.
Harry was just "taking care" of the boy-with-such-a-mouthful-name.
This being because his parents were currently not quite in a position of doing so, what with the current war and chaos reigning among the Dark creatures and wizards alike. And also since— he can't be left alone to fend for himself, Septhis! He's Tommy's age and just a poor little child!
Harry claimed he had picked the boy up during one of Grindelwald's raid.
Septhis all but hoped that Harry's "picked the boy up" meant just that, and it wasn't an accidental kidnapping of some sorts because that would end up causing an uproar among the Vampires. Especially since the boy was of noble blood.
Septhis sighed.
He sank back into the welcoming comfort the couch provided, shutting his eyes as he did. He was just going to lie down and have an afternoon siesta; a peaceful one that he really deserved.
Forget about the world, all living and dead creatures in it, and just sleep.
Which was his plan, of course, until his master ruined it.
Because apparently, Septhis had clearly forgotten to tell Harry that the dragons were also off-limits.
Of course.
"Riding?" Tom seemed intrigued as he slowly shut the heavy leather bound tome he had been reading.
Harry nodded with a grin. "Yes! We've been holed up in here for an unhealthy number of days, I thought it would be nice if we could all take a long walk along the manor's premises, enjoy the fresh air and warm sunlight." He shook his head. "But then I thought about it again and decided we should all go for a ride instead."
"That sounds like a good plan." Sanguini nodded. "I've been quite curious to know about the mansion's surroundings. I never really had the opportunity to step outside ever since my arrival."
"If you had the decency of leaving Harry alone to enjoy his privacy then I am sure you would have had ample time, and opportunity, to explore the outside." Tom casually offered as he rose to stand, placing the book on the table beside him. He sent a small smirk to the vampire who was at the other end of the private study gifted to the two to share. "Oh well, but you had to be such a big baby."
The young vampire, who had pretended not to hear him, strode over to Harry. "Also, I've been meaning to say, this is a very nice room, Harry. Thank you for preparing it just for me."
Tom scoffed.
Harry laughed, somehow not noticing the rising tension between the two nine year olds. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself here, Sanguini"
With a wave of his hand, Harry procured two matching sets of riding boots and leather gloves before tossing it over to the boys. "Here, put these on before we leave. I'll ask Derek to grab your cloaks too. It might get chilly, especially during these months because the winds here are not so friendly to those who aren't nymphs."
That being said, Harry walked out of the room in a hurry to find the butler.
"How degrading of me to wear something that matches yours." Sanguini wore a pinched expression as he eyed the boots.
"And how lowly of you to slander what Harry has gone through the trouble of getting for you." Tom coolly replied as he slipped on the gloves before proceeding to do the same with the boots. "Here I thought you were grateful to Harry for whatever he's offered you so far. Was I perhaps wrong?"
"It would do you good if you spent your time on more productive activities than twisting my words, Riddle."
The two met eyes, locking on to each other's gazes; it was or would have been a stare down.
Would have— because they had been interrupted just in the nick of time.
"Young Master Riddle. Young Master de Lamoureaux." The butler Derek chose a rather good timing to step into the room. "Your cloaks, young sirs."
"Alright boys, come along quickly!" Harry's voice rang from the entrance, sounding light and excited. "Don't take all day putting on your cloaks!"
The green eyed male beamed happily when the two finally made their appearance, properly dressed for the activity.
After a bit of walking south, Harry took their hands into his, one on each side before pulling the boys along a narrow path to their left which was shrouded with tall pines. The woods seemed to come alive the moment they stepped in, the undergrowth and branches waving at them as though in the form of a greeting.
"A pleasant afternoon to all of you too." Harry greeted back, sending a few nods here and there. "I'm just heading out for a ride with the children." He said. "Oh! If you perhaps happen to see Clymene, could you ask her to come along and join us too? She hasn't met Sanguini yet." He smiled after a brief moment of silence. "Yes, I'm pretty sure she'll love him. Thank you."
The vampire furrowed his brows. "Who is Clymene?" Sanguini had been hearing her name being thrown about occasionally in the past few days of his stay but he had never really gotten a chance to ask about this mystery woman. He seemed more curious to know who she was then how Harry seemed to be casually interacting with nature.
"Septhis's lover." Tom tersely replied, seeing how Harry was still preoccupied in his greetings. "She's always around in the mansion but ever since the two got into a fight, a lover's spat, she hasn't been coming around. I guess they haven't made up ever since."
"Oh." Sanguini gave a slow nod. "I see."
He was mildly surprised the pale man was even capable of having a lover, seeing that he was such an... (how did the English say it again? Ah, right) arse.
Septhis Mortimer had been anything but nice towards him ever since they'd met. But at least the pale man was more tolerable than a certain Riddle.
The path soon split into two. Harry proceeded to take the one to the right when Tom seemed to hesitate. This action did not go unnoticed by the green eyed male who turned to him with a concerned look.
"Are you alright, Tommy?" The man asked in concern. "Has the walk tired you?"
Sanguini openly sneered at the little Dark Lord. "Too weak to carry on? Or are you just playing baby?"
"Harry, if I'm not mistaken, the way to the stables is the other path." Tom replied, ignoring the young vampire.
"Of course it is."
Tom asked, words slowly and cautiously rolling out his tongue. "Then why are we taking this one?"
"That's because we aren't riding horses today!" Harry laughed as though it was very obvious— while also having the decency of sounding a tad bit guilty.
"We aren't?" This time it was the young vampire who spoke up.
"The land gets boring sometimes, so I, uh, thought we'd just take it to the skies today, haha." Harry let go of his hands to dramatically gesture at the vast blue sky before scratching the back of his head with a bashful expression. "Well now, come along, daylight doesn't last forever."
"You don't mean the dragons," Tom asked rather stiffly, feet now firmly rooted to the gravel path, "...do you?"
"Mmhmm." Harry nodded, enthusiasm flashing in his green orbs. "How did you guess? There are some that came in from the East—"
"No."
"—just two days ago. You know, the Chinese Fireballs."
"Harry, no."
"Oh don't be such a spoilsport." Sanguini rolled his eyes as he followed after Harry. "They're just dragons."
"Chinese Fireballs are one of the ten breeds of dragons that feed on humans." Tom Riddle made sure to emphasize on the danger of the oriental dragons as he shot the young vampire a glare. "And none of the dragon breeds, as far as I'm aware, like to be ridden on top of."
"Trust me this one time, Tommy." Harry laughed. "You won't die on my watch. I would never allow it. Besides, riding on the back of a dragon is like riding a broomstick, just a little trickier."
"Maybe he's scared of heights." Sanguini scoffed.
"I am not."
"Tom, I promise you," Harry shot him an assuring smile as he patted his own chest, "it won't be so bad. Just trust me."
The little Dark Lord sighed, a sign that he had clearly given up on trying to reason with Harry— not that he had put up much of a fight in the first place. When it came to Harry, he usually found himself unable to hold up much of a resistance.
Tom trudged over to the nymph, albeit reluctantly, a major part of him believing the man's words while the rest of him furiously rang warning bells in his head.
"Just this once." He muttered more to himself than to Harry.
Sanguini, in all honesty, did not understand Tom's hesitation in the first place but merely shrugged it off as he told himself, "Dragons are just big winged bats."
The young vampire, however and approximately five minutes later, was glad those words were not his very last ones while also being very apologetic that he hadn't sided with Riddle earlier.
Because how could he have even forgotten that these beasts breathed fire!?
Harry swore to Septhis later that evening that Murphy (the adorable little Fireball who attacked them first) was just having a bad day.
And it wasn't really Murphy's fault for setting off his four other siblings ("Yes, Septhis, they're all dragons of the same breed so there's a possibility of them being siblings, don't at me") into a "fiery frenzy".
It was partially Harry's fault.
One moment, he was petting Murphy who seemed pretty content while instructing the two boys how to approach a dragon. Then in the next, he'd slipped when Murphy nudged him for more attention (how would he have known that dragons could also get jealous!?) and accidentally hit the young dragon in the eye which wasn't taken too well—
And then there was fire.
—of course.
"Harry, you fool!" A hand grabbed the back of Harry's collar and roughly yanked him back, straight into the embrace of the very annoyed owner of the hand— Septhis.
"S-Septhis!? When did you get here?"
"Right on time to save your sorry self and after Clymene informed me of your idiocy." The pale man growled. "Of course, you just had to go pick the most dangerous option from your list of creatures to ride on."
"These dragons are nice." Harry managed sheepishly as he whipped out his wand and immediately cast a barrier to hold back the flames coming at them. He then turned to make sure the kids were fine and was relieved to see that they were holding up well enough on their own.
Tom Riddle had acted the very moment the youngest Chinese Fireball had been hit in the eye and drawn up a barrier around himself and Sanguini. The boy only stared at Harry in a deadpan. "I told you these dragons were dangerous."
"Good thing no one's been injured." Clymene, who had suddenly appeared by the side of the boys, huffed before looking down at the new kid who had startled and fallen to his butt the moment the flames shot out. She offered him a hand. "You okay there?"
Sanguini seemed dazed from the abrupt change of circumstances.
"Take him back." Septhis ordered. "I'll handle the fire."
Clymene nodded before disappearing with the vampire, leaving a wake of fluttering grass blades behind.
Septhis then threw a pointed look at Tom before facing Harry, "And you, take your son back to the mansion, lest he ends up in an accident and you spend the rest of your life bemoaning the fact that it was your brilliant idea to go out riding on this fateful day."
"Geez, you don't have to sound so ominous." Harry wrinkled his nose in distaste as he hurriedly pulled his son into his embrace. "You sure you'll hold up on your own?"
The pale man raised a brow, "Is that even a question you should be asking me?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Merlin, you're such a— well, sorry for even caring!"
BAM!
The father and son duo apparated away without further ado, taking down the barrier Harry had set up in the process. This, much to Septhis's irritation, resulted in the pale man being showered with fire from all sides.
Septhis wore a pinched expression as the fires merely bounced off him and cleared away. "A warning would have very much been appreciated." He brushed off the soot that had settled on his shoulders with a sigh as greeted dragons before him with a cold gaze. "Now, which of you decided it would be fun to cut my siesta short?"
Harry landed none too gently on the marble of the living room, arms tightly wrapped around his little boy who was lucky enough to have him as a cushion.
"Ooof, this wasn't how I planned to land up," Harry groaned before snapping his eyes open to check on the little Dark Lord, "Tommy, are you okay?"
Only to be greeted by a very cold pair of grey eyes staring straight into his, involuntarily causing Harry to flinch.
"We are never going to ride on dragons, again." Tom said as he got to his feet. His lips curled to snarl. "Do you know how close you were to dying after standing directly in the path of dragon fire? After telling me to trust you and that it wouldn't be so bad?"
Harry blinked at his son's sudden lash out. "Look, it was an accident —"
"You're going to make an Unbreakable Vow right here and now, pledging that you will never carry out such a dangerous stunt in the entirety of your lifetime."
The green eyed male was stunned because wait, who— how does he know about Unbreakable Vows and no— I can't really die but—
Harry burst into a chuckle as he fondly looked at the boy who was worried about him. Who would have thought the little Dark Lord also had this side of him. "Sorry Tom," he apologized to Tom who appeared to be mildly offended at being laughed at, "but I can't make you that Unbreakable Vow. I have a few reasons, don't take it to heart. I can, however, promise to never carry out such a dangerous stunt again."
Tom looked skeptical.
"Really, I promise. No riding on dragons."
"Promises can be broken."
"Uhm," Harry furrowed his brows. He'd expected to get out of this easily but things were not going as planned. Blame it on his rather intelligent nine year old son. "They can be broken, but I promise I'll only break them when I really need to."
Was he really bargaining with a child?
Tom raised an unimpressed brow.
"Tommy," Harry sighed, "I won't die on you. This I can swear on my life."
It was now the boy's turn to furrow his brows. "You swear on your life for this, but you can't even make a promise for the other? How is it any different?"
"It's, well, it's complicated." Harry absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair while wondering if he would ever be able to tell Tom about everything. He somehow didn't like always leaving the boy in the dark.
Tom observed him for a moment before releasing a sigh of defeat (the second one that day). "I hope I don't regret this decision," he muttered to himself.
Something that didn't go unheard by Harry who only laughed and pulled him into his warm embrace. "Tommy, look at you. All grown up and mature now," he pressed a rare kiss on the top of the boy's head "…thank you for understanding."
A faint look of contentment brushed across Tom's features, giving him an unusually delicate appearance. He seemed to lean closer into his father's warmth.
"It's nothing."
Septhis paused in his tracks.
He did a double take before releasing a deep sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Clymene."
The nymph who had taken over the largest comfortable sofa in the Tartarus room (Harry had all the rooms, which Septhis had coincidentally taken over, in the west wing of the mansion named after the Greek underworld) looked up from the wreath she had been weaving with her hands.
"Oh, you have returned." She greeted before shifting her attention back to the task of winding the chrysanthemums together with much care.
"What," Septhis began, voice tight, "no, why is that bloody little creature sleeping on the sofa?"
"Hmm?" She answered distractedly. "Oh, you mean the vampire boy? He's resting."
"I can see that."
There was a pause.
"Well, he was squirming about so much and babbling gibberish. I guess he was in a state of shock or something." Clymene shrugged. "Definitely didn't take the meeting with dragons too well. So I thought it would be better if he stayed quiet."
"And?"
"I put him to sleep."
There was a pause of uncertainty.
"Did you or did you not drug him?"
"I did not!" Clymene's head snapped up, horror etched across her features. The audacity of him to even think she would drug a poor child!
"Thank go—"
"All I did was knock him out! How dare you think I would even bring harm upon the boy by feeding him something poisonous!?"
Septhis stared.
"Merlin!"
A/N:
I'm so glad I've finally finished this chapter. It's been just sitting in my phone for ages! And thank you all for patiently waiting.
Also, a big thank you for the reviews crankypants16, D C JoKeR H S, storybook thumb, Krysania, Madame Bibliophile, Halfblood huffle, sousie, Malevolent Mind, Gurgaraneth and sad sabrin!
And to those of you who have put this up in your favorites and follows as well!
Thank you for the love and support! And yep, like I always say, this work is not slash. Just general. I think I'll put that up in the first chapter as well.
Anyway, thank you for reading!
[Edit: 17-02-2019] what did I do here? I deleted half of the fluff in this, that's what I did. BECAUSE IT DIDN'T FIT. HAH. But I added some other low-key kinda fluff. Did that work tho?
Also, thank you Gurgaraneth and mizzrazz72 for leaving the reviews in the last chap! :')