By tati1
Disclaimer: sorry, but no, I do not own Harry Potter. Which really bites.WARNING: This story is R for a REASON! It is NOT NC-17, as I have read much, /much/ worse that was permitted, so I have abused nothing! Rated for violence, serious angst (later on), and rape. If you have a problem with it, go read something else because I didn't write it just to be safe. It's written because it's how and what I write. So buzz off. :{
(and if my mean attitude offends, I do apologize but I'm sorta protective of my work.)
A/N: Sorry – again – for taking so long, but my schedule was hell! I had seven tests and a quiz, and a really huge pile of homework all in four days! (I studied for an additional three). Sorry! I can't control what my teachers do!
My beta reader rules, and you all owe her thanks! *glares about* You better appreciate all she's doing for me…
Thanks for all the reviews and support; please keep them coming!
My hands and knees are killing me: I tripped and went flying when I ran out of school today, and scraped myself up nicely. It looked like one of the more spectacular falls you see in AFV…*blushes* And I was wearing a /really/ short skirt… *sighs* Oh well, at least they're bandaged … but let me tell you, it's hell to type with band-aids on! *laughs* Now that I've bored you with inane nonsense … On with the fic!
Chapter 14 – MineLast time:
"That's it. We're going to see Severus."
"What?!"
*
Severus had his night planned carefully out. He would grade papers, eat dinner, taunt Minerva, and then do a new research potion. He had not planned for a very upset Malfoy, two Weasleys, a Granger, a Longbottom, an innocent escaped convict, and one Harry Potter to systematically interrupt his evening.
It started with the Malfoy and Harry…
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Gathering the ingredients for his new potion, Severus nearly jumped as his office door slammed open with a very loud bang. Draco Malfoy burst through the doorway, face tear-streaked, dragging one Harry Potter, who looked to be in a state of shock. The young blonde shoved Harry into a rather uncomfortable chair near Severus' desk.
"Stay!" he snarled, shaking his finger at the green-eyed boy. He took a breath and turned to Severus, who was blinking at them. He looked much more collected.
"Severus, it seems that Harry has a few more problems than he told you about. Don't you?" he hissed dangerously, whirling back to glare at his new obsession. Severus saw all together too much possessiveness in that glare, and wondered if Harry would ever have any friends, especially if Draco decided to drive them away … said Malfoy heir cut off his musings as he returned his attention to Snape. "Have you ever noticed a certain defeatist attitude that Harry has?" he inquired. "Because, if so, I've just learned the reason why. Did you know that he thinks he deserves to get picked on this much? Yes, my sentiments exactly." Snape didn't notice, too caught up in gaping at Harry, who was looking at them in confusion. [A/N: just for the record; Harry's reaction to everything will be entirely plausible, because it is taken from my own experiences when I told my best friend that I cut myself. So get a clue, people really react this way. I still don't get she made a big deal out of it…*is puzzled* Oh well, enough with the history – you're all here to read Harry Potter!]
"You think you deserve it??" asked Severus, placing his ingredients back on the shelves with a soft clinking noise. He glided over to the emerald-eyed child and stared down at him. "You think – all this; the beatings, the unfairness – you think it's your fault?" Harry nodded, unsure of where Severus was going. Did he hate him for being so weak?
But Severus just paled and dropped into the chair behind his desk, staring at his charge. "How could you think that? You're an amazing boy, Harry. It's everyone else who has problems. It's not your fault! You don't deserve what this entire school has been doing to you! You - " Harry jumped up.
"Of course it's my fault! Everything is, you know. Always. I deserve everything I get; if - " Draco shoved him back into his seat.
"Oh shut it, Harry. Professor, he said that he was bullied a ton at his muggle school when he was little, and that they said that he was worthless, and … all that other nonsense that he says about himself." He scowled. "Stupid little muggles hurt him and he believed them!" Severus nodded slowly.
"I don't think it was just them, Draco. His relations aren't very nice either – they tried to keep him from coming to Hogwarts, and when I found him all those years ago, he told me he was abandoned in the city as 'punishment.' They were very neglectful, and the neighborhood kids were prone to attack him every now and then. I knew that much; he came in with enough bruises and broken limbs, but he never told me that they said anything like that …" His gaze was remorseful as he looked at the young Potter. "You need to know that it's not your fault. I know you don't believe it, but you have to learn to." His gaze turned calculating; more reminiscent of the Severus Harry was familiar with. "You now have counseling sessions with me every Monday from five to six. Understood?" Harry nodded numbly, and his stare was unbelieving.
"I still don't know why you're so worked up about this, sir," he said quietly. "It's nothing bad; it just keeps me in my place, you know … like how diets are good for fat people."
"I never thought it would be possible for you to compare yourself to someone of even remote girth," said Draco dryly, his face cleaned of all signs of tears, and his arrogance firmly repaired. Harry gave him an indignant glance. Severus chuckled slightly.
"He has a point, you know," he murmured. He stood again. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. Harry, I shall see you in my office on Monday, understood?" A raven-topped head nodded reluctantly, and Severus felt confident enough in that promise to shoo them out the door. "Good day, gentlemen." The door slammed behind them. Harry and Draco stood for a moment, staring at each other. Draco's face was set determinedly, and Harry's showed increasing nervousness as the blonde observed him. It changed to panic as Draco again grabbed his arm and hustled him down the dungeon hallway.
"There is no way in hell you are going anywhere without me anymore," he muttered, scowling. "Come on." Harry had to run to keep up with his 'friend's' longer strides.
"Draco … where are we going?" he queried, uncertain that he wanted the answer. The blonde grinned at him and shoved him along.
"To my dorm room, of course." For the second time that night, Harry was floored.
"What?!"
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Still dazed by his visit from Draco and Harry, Severus was by no means pleased when there was a knock on his door.
"Who is it?" he snapped irritably. The door creaked open, and four heads poked around the frame, gauging his mood.
"Sorry Professor," said Hermione Granger quietly, her head above Neville Longbottom's and below the identical twins, Fred and George Weasley's. "We can always come back later if it's a bad time …" Snape waved her into the room.
"Get in here. I doubt I'll want to deal with you brats later either. Better now than when I'm in a good mood. You can't get me much more upset than this moment, so go on. What do you want?"
"Have you seen Harry and Malfoy come by this way?"
"I may have. Why?"
"Do you know where they went? We've been trying to get Harry alone to talk to him since forever, but we figure that Malfoy's presence is better than no talk at all," said Fred, looking depressed. Snape's lip curled in a sneer.
"Why? A new prank?"
"No!" they all shouted, upset. Neville nodded, looking terrified at the mere attempt at defiance of the Potions Master.
"No, we just want to tell Harry that we didn't mean it and that we are really sorry," said George. "We shouldn't have let the others do it."
"And … and I-I wanted … wanted to thank … D-Draco and H-Harry for saving me today …" stuttered Neville, focusing on the floor in an attempt to evade Snape's glare. The man's foot tapped impatiently.
"If I find that you have done a single thing more to that brat, I think I can find suitable detentions for the lot of you," he snapped. "Though that might be added incentive for you lot, as Potter would be getting yet another detention." Hermione gasped at the unfairness.
"But you can't punish Harry! If someone did something, it's not his fault!"
"He's the cause," snarled the man. "If that bratty little celebrity didn't flaunt all his talents, he'd not be getting into all these scrapes that teachers must continually rescue his sorry little hide from!"
"He didn't ask for it!" yelled George, defending the boy. "Harry shouldn't be punished you slimy git!"
"Detention Mr. Weasley," said Snape silkily, "And point taken. Harry will not – and never would have been – punished for your transgressions. Rather, you would have quietly disappeared, and I would have a new collection of Potions ingredients." He smiled at their shock, and continued, his voice soft, deadly. "And should you do one more thing to him, or tell of my attitude towards our figurehead, you will find yourselves in that condition anyway. Is that clear?" Without waiting for an answer from the stunned children, he swept to the door of his office. "I will arrange a meeting for you with him, should you like. Eight o'clock tomorrow night. You had better be here." And with that, Professor Severus Snape, most evil teacher at Hogwarts, stalked out the door.
"Did that just happen?" asked Fred, blinking. The others could do nothing but shrug.
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"Come on, Harry," ordered Draco. "Stop being a baby. I told you – you're not going anywhere without me." Harry reluctantly slid between the covers that Draco held open for him.
"But," he objected, "You can't come with me to class!" Draco yawned and put his arms around the other eleven-year-old sleepily. Harry jumped at the contact.
"Of course I can. You're mine," he mumbled. "I've already written Father about it. He'll take care of everything, because if he doesn't, I'll disinherit myself. He knows that …" His breathing evened out, and he was soon lost to sleep. Harry lay quietly in the other boy's loose, warm embrace, wondering what he could have possibly done to deserve someone as nice as Draco. True, the blonde was a little eccentric, what with his belief that it wasn't Harry's fault, but … it was so … nice … not to be punished … for him to think he shouldn't be punished …
Lost in pleasant thoughts, Harry unconsciously snuggled closer to his warm friend, lost in the most pleasant dreams he had had in years …
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Stalking down the hallway, Snape was supremely glad that his odd night was finally over … before he went sprawling as a giant dog suddenly appeared in his path.
Rising from the tangle of limbs created when he had fallen, Snape glared at the Grim-like beast. The dog grinned sheepishly.
"Bl – Sirius, what the bloody hell are you doing here? I thought you were with the Headmaster this afternoon!" The dog seized the cranky man's robe sleeve and tugged him down the hallway to a blank wall. Pressing a paw in the corner of the wall, Sirius the dog led him through the magical doorway and transformed once inside. He grinned at the scowling Snape.
"How do you like my rooms?" he asked with an expansive wave of his hands. Severus took a look.
The rooms were nicely decorated in a mixture of crimson and mahogany brown coloring, with a couch in the parlor and a cozy atmosphere that was only enhanced by the cheerily crackling fire. Two doors at the back of the room led to the bedroom and bathroom respectively, both done in the same color scheme. Sirius looked very proud of his quarters.
"Very … elegant," Snape conceded sourly. His own rooms were just as nice if not more so (he had a personal potions laboratory and a dining room as well) but for a criminal to get … Well. "Is there any other reason for me to be here?" Sirius nodded, and motioned for Severus to take a seat on the couch. He did so, and Black joined him.
"I was wondering where Harry was. I can't find him." The Potions Master smirked at the Animagus' frustration.
"He's with Draco. Somewhere." Black scowled at him.
"Yes, but where?? What if he gets ambushed again? The kid won't defend himself, and Malfoy is only a first year - "
"And he is a Malfoy," Snape stressed. Sirius gave him a blank look which Severus returned as an exasperated glare. "The Malfoy family has a long-standing tradition of educating its heirs to be fully knowledgeable in both the Dark Arts and how to defend themselves." Understanding dawned on Sirius' face. "Not to mention that Malfoys in general are extremely possessive. He thinks Harry is his. He won't let anything happen to something that is his. Personally, I think there's some Veela blood in the family line, but that's just my opinion." Sirius grinned.
"Well, after Draco gets through with him, I doubt Harry will ever think of himself as anything other than wanted." He gave Snape a smirk of his own as the other man expressed surprise at his reaction. "Harry's grown attached to Draco, no matter how he tries to pretend he isn't. So long as Malfoy is possessive, Harry will know that there is no way he'll be completely abandoned ever again." He winked at Snape. "Besides, I think they make a cute couple, so long as they don't do anything for several more years…"
Snape gave up on a cure to the weirdness.
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Harry bolted upright in bed, and stared at Draco, who was still sleeping peacefully.
"Waitaminute! Did he say I was his?" yelped Harry. A pale hand reached up lazily from the bed and pulled Harry back down, cuddling him against Draco's chest as the blonde grinned sleepily.
"Yes," he purred softly. "You are mine. Stop whining and go to bed. It's really very late, you know."
Slowly, Harry relaxed, thought a bit, and fell back to sleep with a smile on his face, Draco happily hugging him close.
*
A/N: You know, I really liked this chapter…Eight pages too! (though I must admit that the font had something to do with it…) Tons of fun to write. I had actually planned to have no hints of slash and to kill off Harry at the end of the book, but this thing just typed itself (/I/ had nothing to do with it) so I figure that I'll have to revise the end now … *grins* I hope you guys enjoyed! And again, sorry for not updating. I'm working on updating my other stuff, but please don't expect much. I swear that I'll have another update as soon as I can convince myself to abandon reading for writing this. (Or abandoning new plots in favor of writing this – my worst hang-up)
Love you all, and thanks for the reviews!
--tati1
