Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Web of Lies: Revelations.
Severus had been reading one of his preferred potions books when he heard the door to the living room from Albus' chambers open. Looking up, he was surprised to see a small form coming in instead of Albus' larger frame.
"Alec? What are you doing here? Is there something wrong?"
The teen shook his head and plopped down on the couch next to him. "No, everything's fine. Granddad wanted to talk to me, but there were a few students that wanted to talk to him too, so he told me to come up here and wait for him."
Snape nodded and wrapped a long arm around the teen's shoulders. "He was worried about you." Before Harry could get annoyed at him for telling his grandfather what had happened on the train, the potions master added. "Minerva and I were too. I had to tell him in case something was really wrong; you understand that, do you?"
Alec sighed and nodded. "Yes, I understand. I'm sorry I worried both of you, Uncle Severus, but I..."
The man smiled softly and pulled the teen against his side. "It's ok; you don't need to explain things to me, but you need to talk to your grandfather. I'm sure he'll be able to help you."
Alec closed his eyes and leaned against the man's side, drawing in the warmth and calmness from his professor. He was growing drowsy when the man started to pet his hair. "Hey, Kid, don't fall asleep on me."
Harry mumbled a faint no while curling up closer to the man. Severus chuckled and laid the book down. Alec's eyes flew open when strong hands picked him up and placed him on the Potions Master's lap.
"So, tell me, Little One, how do you like the Ravenclaw house so far? I must say I was a bit surprised that you weren't placed in Gryffindor."
Knowing the man wasn't going to let him sleep, Harry rubbed his eyes and turned to face him. "The hat told me I would do better in Ravenclaw than in Gryffindor, but it didn't say why. I'm glad I was placed there though, at least I already knew Lan."
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Lan? What a strange name. Was it the girl sitting next to you?"
Harry nodded lightly. "Her name's Melanie Creevey, but she doesn't like being called Mel so she shortened her name to Lan. She says she has two brothers in Gryffindor. Do you know them?"
Severus pressed his lips together; he had never liked those two and their stupid adoration of Potter. Seeing that the teen was still waiting his answer, he forced his features to soften. "Yes, I know them; they are in fifth and third year respectively."
Harry looked at him intently; he had noticed the slight cold tone of voice the man had used, and he couldn't help but frown a bit. He had forgotten once again who the man had been, how mean and sarcastic he could be. Slowly, a deep dread started to rush through him; he wasn't very worried about the other lessons, but for the first time he wondered how Potions was going to be. Granted, he was not in Gryffindor anymore, and he hopefully wouldn't have Potion lessons with the Slytherins, but he couldn't help but think that he was going to lose the closeness to the other man he now had.
He had known for a while that when the Potions Master found out the truth he would hate him even more than he had before, but he wasn't ready to lose the man's friendship until he had too.
"Alec?"
A hand on his back startled him out of his dark thoughts. He turned his head slightly to face the Potions Master and tried to smile. This was starting to happen too often for his liking; he shouldn't allow all those dark thoughts to plague his mind while in the man's presence. Shaking his head lightly, he was about to reassure the man that he was fine when the door to the living room opened.
They both turned and saw the old man standing there, a soft smile on his lips at seeing the usually untouchable professor keeping the teen in his lap.
"I'm very sorry for making you wait, Alec, but I needed to speak with them. Let's move to my office."
Severus, hearing those words, stood up and placed Alec back on the ground. "You can talk here if you want Albus, I'm going back to the dungeons; I need to check on my Slytherins anyways."
Albus smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you, Severus."
The Potions Master smiled slightly and turned to Alec. Ruffling the teen's hair, he gave him a half hug. "I'll see you tomorrow in class, be good."
Harry nodded lightly and watched as the man left the room, closing the door behind him. With a small sigh, Alec turned to face the headmaster, who had gone to sit down on the couch. Knowing that the man wouldn't start speaking until he was seated and seeing no sense in delaying the discussion any further, Harry went to sit next to him, turning so he was facing the man.
Dumbledore looked at him quietly for a few minutes before speaking. "What happened today on the train, Alec? Both Severus and Minerva were quite worried about you."
Hesitantly, Harry told him about what had happened with Malfoy and the Gryffindors. Then he stopped for a moment and forced himself to tell the man how he had felt while Severus carried him. It was a very hard thing to do even if he had grown closer to the headmaster, barring his feelings to someone else just didn't come easily to him. But he knew that Dumbledore would gently coax his feelings out of him anyways and right now, he preferred to just tell the man and get it over with.
Albus listened quietly as his student told him everything. While still worried about the boy's intense feelings of guilt, he was proud of him. The way Harry was telling him about what had happened on the train showed him better than anything else how much the boy had progressed in his acceptance of other people's help.
About an hour later, Harry was finished talking, and Dumbledore hugged him closely. With gentle words, the old man reassured the teen as much as possible, but knowing at the same time that his words would have little effect until Alec himself started believing them. Once the teenager calmed down, Dumbledore pushed him away a bit.
"It's late, Alec, I'll take you to your common room since I don't think you know where it is and what password they have."
The teen nodded and stood up, stretching out. The continuous nervousness from the past week and the emotional conversation he had just held with the headmaster had drained him, and he felt like curling up and falling asleep in any place. The older man gently took his hand and led him to the door. Through his fogged mind, Harry noticed they were going in the direction of the library but he had more than enough trouble at keeping awake to notice exactly where they were.
In a haze, he heard Dumbledore muttering something to one of the portraits and both entered the warm common room. Looking down at the exhausted teen, Albus couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. He shouldn't have allowed the teen to stay up so late on the first day, but he had been too worried to wait until morning to speak with him. Inside the common room, only a few sixth and seventh years were talking quietly, sitting comfortably around the fire. They all looked up when they heard him enter and quickly scrambled on their feet.
Dumbledore smiled gently at them. "Good evening, I hope one of you would be able to lead my grandson to his room; I had to discuss a few things with him, and I'm afraid it took longer than I had thought."
Dumbledore was very aware that by his actions he was clearly showing favoritism to Harry, but due to the circumstances, he thought it prudent to show that the boy was special to him. He had been debating with himself about how to act with Harry in front of the students for a few weeks now; he was against favoritism, but he needed to be able to make exceptions with Harry when it was needed, so he had decided to act as he always would, considering the boy his grandson instead of his student.
One of the seventh year boy's came closer and smiled to the headmaster.
"I will take him to his room, Headmaster."
Albus returned the young man's smile. "Thank you, Mr. Theeran." Then he turned to Harry, who was watching everything through sleepy eyes and still kept a firm hold on the old man's hand. "Alec, this is Anthony Theeran, he's the Headboy this year."
Harry nodded slightly; he had seen the other boy around even if he'd never spoken to him before. Dumbledore bent slightly and kissed the boy's head, making the teen blush. After standing up again, the Headmaster bid everyone good night and disappeared through the entrance. Harry turned nervously to the other students, who were regarding him in curiosity. Anthony, noticing that the boy was growing uncomfortable under all the stares, gently took his shoulder and led him up the stairs and into the first year bedroom. They would be able to figure out the headmaster's grandson tomorrow.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta Vinnie and to Leena for her help and support.
Web of Lies: Revelations.
Severus had been reading one of his preferred potions books when he heard the door to the living room from Albus' chambers open. Looking up, he was surprised to see a small form coming in instead of Albus' larger frame.
"Alec? What are you doing here? Is there something wrong?"
The teen shook his head and plopped down on the couch next to him. "No, everything's fine. Granddad wanted to talk to me, but there were a few students that wanted to talk to him too, so he told me to come up here and wait for him."
Snape nodded and wrapped a long arm around the teen's shoulders. "He was worried about you." Before Harry could get annoyed at him for telling his grandfather what had happened on the train, the potions master added. "Minerva and I were too. I had to tell him in case something was really wrong; you understand that, do you?"
Alec sighed and nodded. "Yes, I understand. I'm sorry I worried both of you, Uncle Severus, but I..."
The man smiled softly and pulled the teen against his side. "It's ok; you don't need to explain things to me, but you need to talk to your grandfather. I'm sure he'll be able to help you."
Alec closed his eyes and leaned against the man's side, drawing in the warmth and calmness from his professor. He was growing drowsy when the man started to pet his hair. "Hey, Kid, don't fall asleep on me."
Harry mumbled a faint no while curling up closer to the man. Severus chuckled and laid the book down. Alec's eyes flew open when strong hands picked him up and placed him on the Potions Master's lap.
"So, tell me, Little One, how do you like the Ravenclaw house so far? I must say I was a bit surprised that you weren't placed in Gryffindor."
Knowing the man wasn't going to let him sleep, Harry rubbed his eyes and turned to face him. "The hat told me I would do better in Ravenclaw than in Gryffindor, but it didn't say why. I'm glad I was placed there though, at least I already knew Lan."
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Lan? What a strange name. Was it the girl sitting next to you?"
Harry nodded lightly. "Her name's Melanie Creevey, but she doesn't like being called Mel so she shortened her name to Lan. She says she has two brothers in Gryffindor. Do you know them?"
Severus pressed his lips together; he had never liked those two and their stupid adoration of Potter. Seeing that the teen was still waiting his answer, he forced his features to soften. "Yes, I know them; they are in fifth and third year respectively."
Harry looked at him intently; he had noticed the slight cold tone of voice the man had used, and he couldn't help but frown a bit. He had forgotten once again who the man had been, how mean and sarcastic he could be. Slowly, a deep dread started to rush through him; he wasn't very worried about the other lessons, but for the first time he wondered how Potions was going to be. Granted, he was not in Gryffindor anymore, and he hopefully wouldn't have Potion lessons with the Slytherins, but he couldn't help but think that he was going to lose the closeness to the other man he now had.
He had known for a while that when the Potions Master found out the truth he would hate him even more than he had before, but he wasn't ready to lose the man's friendship until he had too.
"Alec?"
A hand on his back startled him out of his dark thoughts. He turned his head slightly to face the Potions Master and tried to smile. This was starting to happen too often for his liking; he shouldn't allow all those dark thoughts to plague his mind while in the man's presence. Shaking his head lightly, he was about to reassure the man that he was fine when the door to the living room opened.
They both turned and saw the old man standing there, a soft smile on his lips at seeing the usually untouchable professor keeping the teen in his lap.
"I'm very sorry for making you wait, Alec, but I needed to speak with them. Let's move to my office."
Severus, hearing those words, stood up and placed Alec back on the ground. "You can talk here if you want Albus, I'm going back to the dungeons; I need to check on my Slytherins anyways."
Albus smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you, Severus."
The Potions Master smiled slightly and turned to Alec. Ruffling the teen's hair, he gave him a half hug. "I'll see you tomorrow in class, be good."
Harry nodded lightly and watched as the man left the room, closing the door behind him. With a small sigh, Alec turned to face the headmaster, who had gone to sit down on the couch. Knowing that the man wouldn't start speaking until he was seated and seeing no sense in delaying the discussion any further, Harry went to sit next to him, turning so he was facing the man.
Dumbledore looked at him quietly for a few minutes before speaking. "What happened today on the train, Alec? Both Severus and Minerva were quite worried about you."
Hesitantly, Harry told him about what had happened with Malfoy and the Gryffindors. Then he stopped for a moment and forced himself to tell the man how he had felt while Severus carried him. It was a very hard thing to do even if he had grown closer to the headmaster, barring his feelings to someone else just didn't come easily to him. But he knew that Dumbledore would gently coax his feelings out of him anyways and right now, he preferred to just tell the man and get it over with.
Albus listened quietly as his student told him everything. While still worried about the boy's intense feelings of guilt, he was proud of him. The way Harry was telling him about what had happened on the train showed him better than anything else how much the boy had progressed in his acceptance of other people's help.
About an hour later, Harry was finished talking, and Dumbledore hugged him closely. With gentle words, the old man reassured the teen as much as possible, but knowing at the same time that his words would have little effect until Alec himself started believing them. Once the teenager calmed down, Dumbledore pushed him away a bit.
"It's late, Alec, I'll take you to your common room since I don't think you know where it is and what password they have."
The teen nodded and stood up, stretching out. The continuous nervousness from the past week and the emotional conversation he had just held with the headmaster had drained him, and he felt like curling up and falling asleep in any place. The older man gently took his hand and led him to the door. Through his fogged mind, Harry noticed they were going in the direction of the library but he had more than enough trouble at keeping awake to notice exactly where they were.
In a haze, he heard Dumbledore muttering something to one of the portraits and both entered the warm common room. Looking down at the exhausted teen, Albus couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. He shouldn't have allowed the teen to stay up so late on the first day, but he had been too worried to wait until morning to speak with him. Inside the common room, only a few sixth and seventh years were talking quietly, sitting comfortably around the fire. They all looked up when they heard him enter and quickly scrambled on their feet.
Dumbledore smiled gently at them. "Good evening, I hope one of you would be able to lead my grandson to his room; I had to discuss a few things with him, and I'm afraid it took longer than I had thought."
Dumbledore was very aware that by his actions he was clearly showing favoritism to Harry, but due to the circumstances, he thought it prudent to show that the boy was special to him. He had been debating with himself about how to act with Harry in front of the students for a few weeks now; he was against favoritism, but he needed to be able to make exceptions with Harry when it was needed, so he had decided to act as he always would, considering the boy his grandson instead of his student.
One of the seventh year boy's came closer and smiled to the headmaster.
"I will take him to his room, Headmaster."
Albus returned the young man's smile. "Thank you, Mr. Theeran." Then he turned to Harry, who was watching everything through sleepy eyes and still kept a firm hold on the old man's hand. "Alec, this is Anthony Theeran, he's the Headboy this year."
Harry nodded slightly; he had seen the other boy around even if he'd never spoken to him before. Dumbledore bent slightly and kissed the boy's head, making the teen blush. After standing up again, the Headmaster bid everyone good night and disappeared through the entrance. Harry turned nervously to the other students, who were regarding him in curiosity. Anthony, noticing that the boy was growing uncomfortable under all the stares, gently took his shoulder and led him up the stairs and into the first year bedroom. They would be able to figure out the headmaster's grandson tomorrow.
To be continued...
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta Vinnie and to Leena for her help and support.