Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I won't name names,
because it drives me nuts when half the chapter is responses,
so I'm sending out a general smooch to you all. As for the
story, I *think* the worst is over, but there may be
backsliding.
7.
Potter was watching him with an expression Severus had
never seen directed at him, the look of a lost child who
has spotted an auror. Naturally the one time the brat chose
to trust him would be the moment Severus could do nothing.
"Pot-- Harry. Listen carefully to me--"
"Are you my father?"
Severus suppressed the urge to take ten points for
interrupting him. "Magical contracts cannot be broken,
altered, or avoided, even when the participants don't know
all the facts. So, yes, it appears that I am."
"Can we leave now? Please?"
"Will you be still? I'm trying to explain--"
Potter drew back into the chair, huddled in on himself.
Severus attempted to rein in his impatience.
"Harry... this situation is... entirely my fault." The
words felt strange and awkward on his lips. "Well, mine and
Malfoy's. Hate me if you will, but I swear I had no idea I
had any children when I signed the contract.
Unfortunately... unfortunately, I *did* sign it, and there
is nothing I can do to break it."
Potter neither moved nor looked at him.
"I have a little hope Albus might pull something crafty,
but until then, Harry, you must learn to handle Malfoy."
"*What*?"
Pleased he'd gotten a reaction, even incredulous fury,
Severus gripped Harry's cold hands. "Malfoy is a predator,
and like any predator he will strike if he senses weakness.
You cannot let him think he hurt you. You cannot appear
vulnerable."
"He-- you--" Harry's face went from white to mottled
purple. "You fucking prick! You sadistic, cocksucking
bastard!" He tore his hands from Severus', balled them to
fists, struck his chest. "Don't you even think you can tell
me what to do. Where the fuck were you? Where were you?"
Blows rained down on him, and Severus accepted them as his
due, seething at the indignity.
"I hate you!"
"I assure you, Potter, the feeling is more than mutual."
"Well, isn't that just touching?" Lucius said from the
doorway. "He appears to have inherited your temper, Sev."
Severus glared, regretting his own loss of control earlier.
Lucius knew he had the upper hand now. *Twenty-five years,
and I still let him get to me.* "I assume the boy has his
own rooms. Wouldn't want him to slit your throat in the
middle of the night after all."
Lucius nodded, and twirled his wine glass. "The house-elves
have finished fumigating Narcissa's rooms, though I dare
say it will stink of rose water for months." Lucius
beckoned them forward.
Harry had collapsed back into the chair, but Severus pulled
him to his feet and dragged him, unresisting, after Lucius,
who led them deeper into his apartment and through a
well-warded door.
The rooms on the other side were every bit as opulent as
Lucius' suite, though they possessed an echoing, expectant
quality that came of the absence of personal touches. The
scent of roses was overpowering.
"I'll leave you to tuck him in, Sev. You have sixteen years
of bedtime stories to make up for." Lucius grinned, and
slipped back through the door to his own domain.
Severus examined the apartment. That Lucius gave Harry the
mistress's chambers implied he took the marriage seriously,
or at least didn't intend to toss the boy to Voldemort or
lock him in the dungeon.
Potter jerked his wrist free. "Don't touch me." He wandered
aimlessly through the cluster of feminine furniture.
"I suggest you co-operate with me, Mr Potter, if you want
my help," Severus said. He began searching for hidden
spells, removing traps and listening charms placed by both
Lucius and the suite's former occupant.
"You said you couldn't help," Potter muttered, flinging
himself onto a pink and yellow settee.
"I said I couldn't break the contract. Pay attention. You
are by no means helpless." Severus ducked into the bathing
room, set the tub filling, and removed all sharp objects
with a quick accio. "I expect you want to bathe. You will
leave the door open."
"But--"
"You will leave the door open, or I will supervise you.
Understood?"
Blushing furiously, Potter stormed off to the bathing room,
defiantly closing the door halfway. Shaking his head at
Gryffindor ox-headedness, Severus went about examining the
state of the wards, ferreting out hidden entrances, pausing
now and then to check that the boy hadn't tried to drown
himself.
The house-elves had placed Potter's possessions in the
obvious places, the trunk at the end of the bed, the owl
cage hanging on the stand. Severus let the bird out, filled
the food and water dishes by the perch, and gave her a
treat for enduring the confinement. She hooted softly, and
he stroked her feathers before remembering to whom she
belonged. "Let's just not mention this to Potter," he told
her, and wasn't surprised when she winked.
Leaving the owl to entertain herself, he unlocked the boy's
trunk and rifled through it, noting he would need to create
a hiding spot for things like Potter's invisibility cloak.
HeÊ searched for some decent clothing, but all he found
were school robes and worn muggle clothes that looked as
though they belonged to someone else. *Stupid house-elves
probably packed the wrong things.*
He settled for an enormous t-shirt and a pair of sweat
pants that looked as though they'd shrunk in the wash, took
them into the bathing room. He ignored the boy's outraged
squeal and brusquely told him to hurry up.
By the time Potter emerged, skin a violent red, trousers
too short and shirt too long, Severus had almost finished
his spells. He walked Potter through each of them,
explaining which spells he had created and which were
pre-existing and therefore suspect. He pointed out the
three exits -- one to the corridor, one to Lucius'
apartments, and a hidden passage which led to the
conservatory -- and showed him the verbal commands to
operate the wards. The storage space he'd created in one of
the still lifes -- the only remaining paintings as the
first thing he'd done was incinerate all the portraits as
obvious spies -- was also keyed to verbal commands, and did
not require a wand to use.
Lastly, he dug out his potions field kit, a compact bundle
of tiny bottles containing various emergency substances. He
had a few others secreted about his person, and he removed
the ones he wanted, lining them up along a table.
"This," he said holding up an amber vial, "is fire-talk
powder. There is enough for one call, so I suggest you
conserve it. This one is floo powder, but as I expect the
floos are restricted, you shouldn't waste it unless you
*know* you can access it." He moved on to a series of green
and blue vials. "Healing potion, skele-gro, pepper-up,
dreamless sleep, somnolence." He paused at the pale blue
bottle, and moved a compact of green pills next to it.
"This is a prophylactic to the somnolence potion, which is
in the form of a topical salve." He paused again, uncertain
how to phrase his suggestion. "If you take a pill, then
apply the salve to your skin, anyone who... touches you
will fall asleep."
His eyes flicked up to Potter's face, and he tensed at the
pathetic gratitude written there. The last thing he needed
was Potter dependent on him.
Potter didn't need it either.
Severus turned back to the vials. His hand hovered over the
series of black ones, then moved on. No doubt Lucius took
standard precautions against poisons, and knowing Potter,
he'd accidentally kill a house-elf. He selected a purple
one. "This is breath-ease. It's designed to counter
suffocation charms, and if applied to one who is breathing
normally, well... the effects are rather like a
hallucinogenic. Use it *very* cautiously. Lucius deranged
may possibly be worse than Lucius sane." He handed the boy
a full set of the purple vials, all healing potions with
potential harm in misuse. They would likely do nothing but
inconvenience Lucius, but he felt Potter needed every
weapon at his disposal, and he doubted Lucius took steps
against *healing* potions.
He handed over the last vial, a laxative, and endured
Potter's smothered giggles for a few seconds. "What are you
off on now?" he asked, but couldn't make his voice too
strict. At least the brat was laughing.
"Just wondering... what the... Weasley twins'd pay... for
all this."
Severus hid a smirk. "Well, you shall never know, because
you will return the remainder to me at the start of the
school year. And speaking of which..." He pulled Potter's
wand, which he had rescued from the locked trunk, from his
robes, and the boy made a grab for it. He held it out of
reach. "I will return this to you, *but* remember: if you
use it, you will be expelled from Hogwarts. If you are
expelled, you will spend the next two years of your life
here with Lucius Malfoy."
Potter froze, hand outstretched, eyes wide. He swallowed
hard, nodded, and Severus let him have the wand.
"Be certain to use it only in the direst circumstances.
Now, it's very late, and I must report back to Albus before
he thinks I've bumbled into one of Lucius' traps. And we'd
best get the crafty old coot working on a permanent
solution." He paused at Potter's frightened gaze. "I shall
return in the morning with some more items for your
arsenal."
Potter grinned, though the fear remained on his face, and
Severus allowed himself a smirk before he turned to go.
"Professor Snape?"
He glanced back over his shoulder.
"Did you love her?" Green eyes pleaded with him to lie if
the answer was no.
He nodded, once, sharply, not trusting his voice, then
swept out the corridor exit before he could see if the boy
believed him. He stopped outside the door, listening as
Potter's tremulous voice closed and locked the wards, and
he pushed away thoughts of Lily by imagining Lucius'
reaction when he discovered himself barred from his new
husband's chambers.
Next: The Battle Royale begins.
because it drives me nuts when half the chapter is responses,
so I'm sending out a general smooch to you all. As for the
story, I *think* the worst is over, but there may be
backsliding.
7.
Potter was watching him with an expression Severus had
never seen directed at him, the look of a lost child who
has spotted an auror. Naturally the one time the brat chose
to trust him would be the moment Severus could do nothing.
"Pot-- Harry. Listen carefully to me--"
"Are you my father?"
Severus suppressed the urge to take ten points for
interrupting him. "Magical contracts cannot be broken,
altered, or avoided, even when the participants don't know
all the facts. So, yes, it appears that I am."
"Can we leave now? Please?"
"Will you be still? I'm trying to explain--"
Potter drew back into the chair, huddled in on himself.
Severus attempted to rein in his impatience.
"Harry... this situation is... entirely my fault." The
words felt strange and awkward on his lips. "Well, mine and
Malfoy's. Hate me if you will, but I swear I had no idea I
had any children when I signed the contract.
Unfortunately... unfortunately, I *did* sign it, and there
is nothing I can do to break it."
Potter neither moved nor looked at him.
"I have a little hope Albus might pull something crafty,
but until then, Harry, you must learn to handle Malfoy."
"*What*?"
Pleased he'd gotten a reaction, even incredulous fury,
Severus gripped Harry's cold hands. "Malfoy is a predator,
and like any predator he will strike if he senses weakness.
You cannot let him think he hurt you. You cannot appear
vulnerable."
"He-- you--" Harry's face went from white to mottled
purple. "You fucking prick! You sadistic, cocksucking
bastard!" He tore his hands from Severus', balled them to
fists, struck his chest. "Don't you even think you can tell
me what to do. Where the fuck were you? Where were you?"
Blows rained down on him, and Severus accepted them as his
due, seething at the indignity.
"I hate you!"
"I assure you, Potter, the feeling is more than mutual."
"Well, isn't that just touching?" Lucius said from the
doorway. "He appears to have inherited your temper, Sev."
Severus glared, regretting his own loss of control earlier.
Lucius knew he had the upper hand now. *Twenty-five years,
and I still let him get to me.* "I assume the boy has his
own rooms. Wouldn't want him to slit your throat in the
middle of the night after all."
Lucius nodded, and twirled his wine glass. "The house-elves
have finished fumigating Narcissa's rooms, though I dare
say it will stink of rose water for months." Lucius
beckoned them forward.
Harry had collapsed back into the chair, but Severus pulled
him to his feet and dragged him, unresisting, after Lucius,
who led them deeper into his apartment and through a
well-warded door.
The rooms on the other side were every bit as opulent as
Lucius' suite, though they possessed an echoing, expectant
quality that came of the absence of personal touches. The
scent of roses was overpowering.
"I'll leave you to tuck him in, Sev. You have sixteen years
of bedtime stories to make up for." Lucius grinned, and
slipped back through the door to his own domain.
Severus examined the apartment. That Lucius gave Harry the
mistress's chambers implied he took the marriage seriously,
or at least didn't intend to toss the boy to Voldemort or
lock him in the dungeon.
Potter jerked his wrist free. "Don't touch me." He wandered
aimlessly through the cluster of feminine furniture.
"I suggest you co-operate with me, Mr Potter, if you want
my help," Severus said. He began searching for hidden
spells, removing traps and listening charms placed by both
Lucius and the suite's former occupant.
"You said you couldn't help," Potter muttered, flinging
himself onto a pink and yellow settee.
"I said I couldn't break the contract. Pay attention. You
are by no means helpless." Severus ducked into the bathing
room, set the tub filling, and removed all sharp objects
with a quick accio. "I expect you want to bathe. You will
leave the door open."
"But--"
"You will leave the door open, or I will supervise you.
Understood?"
Blushing furiously, Potter stormed off to the bathing room,
defiantly closing the door halfway. Shaking his head at
Gryffindor ox-headedness, Severus went about examining the
state of the wards, ferreting out hidden entrances, pausing
now and then to check that the boy hadn't tried to drown
himself.
The house-elves had placed Potter's possessions in the
obvious places, the trunk at the end of the bed, the owl
cage hanging on the stand. Severus let the bird out, filled
the food and water dishes by the perch, and gave her a
treat for enduring the confinement. She hooted softly, and
he stroked her feathers before remembering to whom she
belonged. "Let's just not mention this to Potter," he told
her, and wasn't surprised when she winked.
Leaving the owl to entertain herself, he unlocked the boy's
trunk and rifled through it, noting he would need to create
a hiding spot for things like Potter's invisibility cloak.
HeÊ searched for some decent clothing, but all he found
were school robes and worn muggle clothes that looked as
though they belonged to someone else. *Stupid house-elves
probably packed the wrong things.*
He settled for an enormous t-shirt and a pair of sweat
pants that looked as though they'd shrunk in the wash, took
them into the bathing room. He ignored the boy's outraged
squeal and brusquely told him to hurry up.
By the time Potter emerged, skin a violent red, trousers
too short and shirt too long, Severus had almost finished
his spells. He walked Potter through each of them,
explaining which spells he had created and which were
pre-existing and therefore suspect. He pointed out the
three exits -- one to the corridor, one to Lucius'
apartments, and a hidden passage which led to the
conservatory -- and showed him the verbal commands to
operate the wards. The storage space he'd created in one of
the still lifes -- the only remaining paintings as the
first thing he'd done was incinerate all the portraits as
obvious spies -- was also keyed to verbal commands, and did
not require a wand to use.
Lastly, he dug out his potions field kit, a compact bundle
of tiny bottles containing various emergency substances. He
had a few others secreted about his person, and he removed
the ones he wanted, lining them up along a table.
"This," he said holding up an amber vial, "is fire-talk
powder. There is enough for one call, so I suggest you
conserve it. This one is floo powder, but as I expect the
floos are restricted, you shouldn't waste it unless you
*know* you can access it." He moved on to a series of green
and blue vials. "Healing potion, skele-gro, pepper-up,
dreamless sleep, somnolence." He paused at the pale blue
bottle, and moved a compact of green pills next to it.
"This is a prophylactic to the somnolence potion, which is
in the form of a topical salve." He paused again, uncertain
how to phrase his suggestion. "If you take a pill, then
apply the salve to your skin, anyone who... touches you
will fall asleep."
His eyes flicked up to Potter's face, and he tensed at the
pathetic gratitude written there. The last thing he needed
was Potter dependent on him.
Potter didn't need it either.
Severus turned back to the vials. His hand hovered over the
series of black ones, then moved on. No doubt Lucius took
standard precautions against poisons, and knowing Potter,
he'd accidentally kill a house-elf. He selected a purple
one. "This is breath-ease. It's designed to counter
suffocation charms, and if applied to one who is breathing
normally, well... the effects are rather like a
hallucinogenic. Use it *very* cautiously. Lucius deranged
may possibly be worse than Lucius sane." He handed the boy
a full set of the purple vials, all healing potions with
potential harm in misuse. They would likely do nothing but
inconvenience Lucius, but he felt Potter needed every
weapon at his disposal, and he doubted Lucius took steps
against *healing* potions.
He handed over the last vial, a laxative, and endured
Potter's smothered giggles for a few seconds. "What are you
off on now?" he asked, but couldn't make his voice too
strict. At least the brat was laughing.
"Just wondering... what the... Weasley twins'd pay... for
all this."
Severus hid a smirk. "Well, you shall never know, because
you will return the remainder to me at the start of the
school year. And speaking of which..." He pulled Potter's
wand, which he had rescued from the locked trunk, from his
robes, and the boy made a grab for it. He held it out of
reach. "I will return this to you, *but* remember: if you
use it, you will be expelled from Hogwarts. If you are
expelled, you will spend the next two years of your life
here with Lucius Malfoy."
Potter froze, hand outstretched, eyes wide. He swallowed
hard, nodded, and Severus let him have the wand.
"Be certain to use it only in the direst circumstances.
Now, it's very late, and I must report back to Albus before
he thinks I've bumbled into one of Lucius' traps. And we'd
best get the crafty old coot working on a permanent
solution." He paused at Potter's frightened gaze. "I shall
return in the morning with some more items for your
arsenal."
Potter grinned, though the fear remained on his face, and
Severus allowed himself a smirk before he turned to go.
"Professor Snape?"
He glanced back over his shoulder.
"Did you love her?" Green eyes pleaded with him to lie if
the answer was no.
He nodded, once, sharply, not trusting his voice, then
swept out the corridor exit before he could see if the boy
believed him. He stopped outside the door, listening as
Potter's tremulous voice closed and locked the wards, and
he pushed away thoughts of Lily by imagining Lucius'
reaction when he discovered himself barred from his new
husband's chambers.
Next: The Battle Royale begins.