Replies to reviews! *wow, and for my second slash, first Harry/Lucius fic too!*

SilverWolf7007: Erm *blushes* I'm not really used to praise and whatnot. I try my best, twice as much since I don't have a beta at all.

Miss Lesley: Thank ye. *blushes* After about a gazillion horrid starts - there was actual Spanish in the first version - I got it right. The whole Dumbledore thing is dealt with later. Well, you're going to get exactly what you asked for. This is the chapter dealing with the abuse issue. *scratches head* You psychic or something?

Dir en Grey: I'm glad you found something amusing. ^.^ *goes off to write more while listening to Raison D'Etre*

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En Las Montañas

Chapter 4

Warm. Everything was so warm. Harry gave a happy sigh and snuggled in closer against the pillow, tightening the blankets against him. It was Monday, maybe Tuesday…Wednesday? He gave a little sniff as he brushed aside the thought. Who cared? He rarely got to sleep in like this. The sheets where a touch too scratchy, the blanket worn and the pillowcase itchy, but compared to what he had been sleeping on at the Dursleys, this was as good silk and satin sheets. At Hogwarts, he always had to be out of bed immediately. He never really got to savour a moment like this before.

He smiled slightly as the bed sagged a bit and then sprung back up. Lucius was awake now. He could hear his steps creaking against the floorboards as the older man walked. That meant more bed space for him. He shifted a bit, lying down on his stomach, spread-eagle, the blankets still swathed around his body.

"I don't believe you. Would you take my grave as quick?"

Harry froze for a split second at Lucius' soft murmur. He had thought Lucius was in the bathroom. He feigned sleep; simply lying there sprawled out on the mattress. When he heard the floor creak once more, he relaxed. He was more than surprised when he suddenly felt fingers against his brow. He bolted out of the bed to the bathroom door, flattening himself against it warily. Where was Vernon with Merlin knew what to do to him? He hadn't even done anything wrong this time! When the panic subsided, he looked up remembering where he was.

All he saw was Lucius standing by the bedside with a rather surprised look of his own.

"Er," Harry looked a bit nervous as Lucius narrowed his eyes in a rather unpleasant manner.

That was all Harry got out before he bolted inside the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He found his breath wheezing in and out his lungs so rapidly. His legs felt like they were going to give and he slowly slid down against door, ignoring the paint chips that sprang off and stuck to his skin. He rested his head against his knees miserably and banging it against the hard joint for good measure.

"No, no, no," he muttered to himself. "That wasn't supposed to happen! It wasn't supposed to happen."

He didn't want to think about the things Vernon used to do him. Hell that was why he hadn't told anyone else, not even Dumbledore. If no one else knew about it, then maybe, just maybe, he too could believe that those things hadn't happened either.

But when Lucius had touched his head, it all came flooding back in a painful flash. Vernon's meaty hand sliding against his forehead and grabbing his hair and dragging him from the warm comforting haven of his bed, the degrading slurs hurled his way, the belt cracking like a whip down over and over again….

Harry curled up tighter with a whimper, rocking back and forth slightly. No, he didn't want to remember that, he couldn't remember that. He was Harry Potter, the one who could do no wrong, the one who had the perfect life; things like that weren't supposed to happen to him, not him of all people. He was supposed to be the strong one, not the one who suffered the daily scarring ritual of physical abuse for two months a year.

"Harry?" Lucius' muted query was followed by a light knock.

Harry looked up startled; no, he couldn't let Lucius see him like this. He just might be ridiculed for allowing something like this to happen. "I'm fine! I just had to pee really badly!" he said quickly in a somewhat panicked voice.

"Th-"

"What day is it today?" Harry asked, cutting Lucius off. Act like nothing happened, and then he could the ugly little…unpleasantry behind him.

"Sunday. And for once we don't have to do anything." Lucius said pausing for a moment. "You sh-"

"Are you sure there's nothing we have to do?" Harry asked, hoping that just maybe Valencia would be up here in no time, wondering what was taking them so long. "Absolutely sure?"

"If we had something to do, I'm more than sure that Valencia would be here dragging us down the stairs by our ears."

Harry gave something of a high-pitched giggle at that statement; a hysterical giggle that lasted longer than it should have. A profound silence came from the other side of the door before Lucius spoke once more in a decidedly hushed voice.

"Does this have to do with the blisters?"

Harry blinked in surprise; he had mentioned that about two weeks ago. Lucius actually remembered something like that? Why would he remember something so trivial like that? Harry looked at his hands, feeling his eyes start to sting sharply before he curled up once more.

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Lucius watched the door as no response came from the other side. He had gotten up earlier than Harry. The early start at Ministry had drilled in a seven a.m. rising into his very system. Here, it was proving to be something of a great benefit, since sharing a bathroom with Harry meant if you woke up late, you had quite a wait ahead of you.

Everything had been going as what had become to be usual, when he had paused and looked at Harry. Only his head was sticking out from the mass of blankets swathed around him. What he wasn't sure what possessed him to touch Harry, but he had reached out and slid his fingertips gently across that smooth brow. Harry's skin was warm beneath Lucius' skin, feeling as if it were the finest silk. It was definitely an addicting sensation.

And the explosion of movement that came made him recoil slightly. Then he saw Harry pressing himself against the bathroom door, a wild panicked expression in his eyes. Lucius had looked at Harry in puzzlement wondering what could have caused such a violent reaction. And before he could even still his wildly thrashing heart Harry had darted into the bathroom and locked it behind him. It took a while for everything to sink into his mind.

Merlin knew he didn't want Harry doing anything foolish if he was in there alone. Lucius had gone to the desk, looking for a key of some sort to unlock the door. All he found was a skinny piece of metal curved into a long oval. He looked at it critically, gave it a bend and found it to be pliant.

So he had talked to Harry as he stretched the strange metal out and stuck it into the keyhole, jiggling it around in the hopes that it would do something; it was this or nothing. He was rewarded with a click in the lock as well as in his own rapidly moving brain.

Harry had said he knew who to treat aching hands because he used to get blisters. And he had simply left it at that. Lucius had a sinking feeling that Harry had blisters worse than the occasional one a person got if they careless around a hot pan. What if it was more than blisters that he had suffered?

And that why Lucius was opening the door slowly now, peering in cautiously. Harry was curled up in a corner between the wall and the bathtub, his body wracked with sobs. For the first time in his life Lucius found himself in a situation he wasn't quite sure how handle. He only had one child and Draco certainly hadn't bawled like this in any manner.

"Er, Harry?" Lucius decided to try talking again.

Harry looked up at him sharply, eyes reddened and swollen by tears, his cheeks slick with the salty liquid. He sniffled and turned away from Lucius facing the wall now. Lucius rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, walking up to Harry slowly and sitting down.

"Go away," Harry moaned in a choked voice. "I don't want you to see me like this."

"Because it makes you more human? More…fragile?" Lucius asked in a rather hesitant voice. Who knew what Harry might do and Lucius certainly didn't want to be choked again.

Harry gave another sniffle. "I'm not supposed to be fragile. I'm not supposed to be human." He paused for a long moment. "I'm supposed to be the hero who saves everyone and is loved. But the funny thing is no one really loves me; they love the image they expect of me. I'm more alone with them around me than if I was by myself."

"Well," Lucius said steeling himself; he couldn't believe he was about to say this. "I'm sure that…Granger and Weasley care about you."

"I'm sure they do," Harry said bitterly. "But I've been lying to them since I first met them. How much would they love me then if they found out?"

Lucius didn't say anything, mulling over Harry's words and the situation. If this was only the tip of the iceberg then Merlin knew what else was roiling beneath the surface.

"See?" Harry said suddenly, jarring Lucius from his thoughts. "You can't even give me a lie for that. Lies, lies and more lies," Harry spat out. "I never want to see Dumbledore again! Ever!"

Lucius blinked at the strength of the venom and malice in that sentence. He was swiftly gaining a rather healthy respect for the people who dealt this sort of thing daily.

"Is there something you want to say now?" Lucius said quietly, feeling as if he was sitting beside a rather volatile potion that could explode at any given moment.

"Do you know I came back in sixth year with a massive bruise on my face? I hid it from everyone, but one morning Dumbledore asked to see me and I forgot about it, I was already late for class. And he saw it. He saw the thing with his own two eyes!"

"And?" Lucius prompted. He had a sinking, stabbing feeling that he knew what was coming next.

"He. Did. Nothing." Harry said, enunciating each and every word. "He let me get back on the train and go with them when summer vacation started." Harry gave another sniffle. "I'll bet he thought it was a necessary evil; to keep me safe from Voldemort undoubtedly."

The acidic sarcastic venom in Harry's voice made Lucius wince slightly. Harry was obviously was talking about the Dursleys.

"Erm," Lucius was feeling more uncertain and lost by the second. "Is there anything else you want to say?" that had worked before. He must have been crazy to try this next one. "About the…Dursleys?"

Harry's face contorted with a rather abrupt and intense anger. His face paled to a drawn ashy colour, lips thinned in anger. Lucius felt like scooting away to the other side of the room, but he remained seated where he was on the tiled floor. He was sure that part of why he stayed was because he was rooted to the spot in fear. His neck certainly was in peril now.

You want me to say something about the Dursleys?" Harry's voice was brittle and tight, ready to snap in an instant. "Fine, I'll tell you all about the Dursleys Lucius. Petunia is a stick of a woman and a bitch, pure and simple. Dudley is a miniature of my uncle; fat, dimwitted and more than likely weighing more than Crabbe and Goyle put together. Vernon is more of a pig than a man. He sees himself as morally straight and anything outside his view must obviously be wrong. I'm the wrong thing that's been under his very roof for the past seventeen bloody years. He looks at me and sees something he can't understand and doesn't even want to."

Lucius simply nodded his head, unwilling to speak lest he incurred some new wrath.

"That's why he beat me. If it was beaten out of me then surely everything would be fine in his little suburbia. Everything would be simple and normal - his idea of normal. He was too stupid to realize it, but he used that to justify every single sadistic beating he gave me." Harry turned to face Lucius, anger blazing in his eyes. "This is the place Dumbledore send me to live out my twisted existence. Ten months of the year I play his Saviour, I play the role he has deigned for me. I'm nothing more than the queen on his chessboard."

Lucius swallowed, finding himself oddly unable to move and entranced as he watched Harry.

"Two months of the year he sends me to this hellhole and I suffer the beatings, the abuse, everything, just because Dumbledore says it's for my own bloody safety." Harry shifted forward slightly. "He might as well have handed me to a Death Eater instead and asked him to kill me. That would have been a much kinder fate."

"I see," Lucius said after clearing his throat of its sudden obstruction. "Er," he was lost as to what he should do now.

Harry sighed, sagging back against the wall, holding his head in his hands. "You know, I didn't really think of these things before I talked to you that night." Harry paused, fresh tears welling in his eyes.

Lucius was completely floundering by now. He was completely out of his element. "Is there a particular reason for more tears?" he had to admit, when all else failed, simply stick with the truth; no one believed it anyways.

"I hope Dumbledore never finds me again," Harry whispered in a weary voice. "Let him finish his own damned war."

Lucius didn't say anything, remaining in his spot before he leaned forward slowly. Harry's eyes darted to him, but he didn't flinch this time. Lucius gently wiped the fresh tears away before he settled back in his spot. Harry gave Lucius something of a tremulous smile as he rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. Lucius didn't move, still sitting there. He wasn't all that sure he wanted to move.

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Harry blinked abruptly, feeling a crick in his neck. He tried to shift but found himself with rather stiff joints that protested the movement. The last thing he remembered was smiling at Lucius and resting his head against the wall. Then he had closed his eyes and had obviously fallen asleep.

He still felt drained and hollow inside. He hadn't even realized some of those things had been festering away deep inside him. He was so busy loathing himself that he hadn't even noticed when the anger bubbled out from its deep recesses and directed itself at Dumbledore. It had risen and disappeared so quickly. Apparently Lucius' words from that night reached some part of him he hadn't even known about.

He looked around the bathroom, surprised to still find himself there. He was even more surprised to find Lucius slouched against him, fast asleep. "Lucius, wake up." He said gently as he reached around and shook Lucuis' free shoulder.

Lucius gave a sleepy start looking around balefully. "Are we still in the damned bathroom?"

"Yes," Harry said, glancing at his watch in the dusky light. "It's nine now. Did you want to get dinner?"

"I'm not hungry," Lucius said, picking himself up and offering his hand. "You go get something to eat."

"I'm not all that hungry either," Harry replied, taking it and pulling himself up with some rather protesting joints. "I think I'm just going to go to bed."

"Wise idea," Lucius agreed as he made his way out the bathroom. "And try to not hog all the blankets tonight."

Harry nodded his head, watching in surprise as Lucius simply climbed in the bed and settled himself; so much for changing. Harry felt pretty tired. And they hadn't done anything all day. He slid into the bed himself, still feeling drained.

"Lucius?" Harry whispered as he rolled over and was greeted by a curtain of blond hair. He beat back the sudden urge to run his fingers through it.

Lucius gave a grunt in reply, obviously already drifting off to sleep.

Harry took a deep sigh and steeled himself. "Would," he paused before he summoned up the last vestiges of his crumbling courage. "Would you just hold me tonight? I…I won't ask again. It's just that-"

Harry stopped talking as Lucius rolled over, an arm snaking over Harry's waist and pulling him in tighter. Harry blinked in surprise but was glad to feel the warmth radiating off the older man. He simply lay there for a few minutes, looking at Lucius' sleeping face before he closed his eyes and started to drift off as well, drowsily taking note that the drained feeling inside wasn't so pronounced anymore.

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