Speak to Me

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor anything associated with him. He's property of J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

Summary: Hogwarts is has closed for a year, and Harry is thrown in his room, locked from the outside world, forbidden to speak. What happens when he forgets he has a voice? When school starts up again, who's going to teach him to speak?

Warning: Possibly A/U, Mentions of Abuse. OotP Spoilers, HP/SS SLASH (Will be slash later on, much later, because I prefer to work it in, not just jump in. So don't pressure me.), Some bad language.

Author's Note: Thanks, Everyone, again, I'm still astounded by the response I'm getting. I'm afraid it's giving me a bit of an Ego. But I love, it, god, I love it. You're all too kind. I'm hoping to get Harry to school by next chapter. Maybe. I don't know. I did rather jump in with the Jackel/Harry kissing, but it's to show that Jackel and Harry's relationship will be based on lust, as Harry and Severus's will be based on love. The reason Harry never went to his friends over the course of the year is because Death Eater activity had increased immensely, since the news was out about Voldemort. Which is why new wards went up. I'm sorry, should've mentioned it before. As for Harry's wages.. being a 17 year old, I haven't got much of a concept of money and how things works, and I think that shows.

Ch. 3 - Discovery

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Harry moved to the bed and sat on it, lifting his hand to brush his fingers over his lips, staring fixedly at the wall.

He was just kissed, by a guy.

And he loved it.

--

Harry grinned, snapping out of the stupor he was put in from Jackel's amazing kiss. He needed to unpack.

He stood up and removed the shrunken truck from his pocket, and placed it on the floor on front of him. He removed his wand from it's resting spot, and pointed it at the trunk, resizing it.

He moved to his trunk and slowly starting unpacking. He put the books on top of each other in the draws of the night-stand. He put the cloths from the Dursleys, which he realize as he removed them reeked, on the floor beside his trunk. His school robes went on top of that, he'd have to get new ones, because he hit a growth spurt, finally, over the summer.

He stared absently into the trunk for a moment before closing it and moving it against the wall. With a sigh, he pocketed his key and picked up his bag of money, deciding to get his shopping done now. It was still early in the day, around 1 PM.

He moved out of the room and went down the stairs, closing the door at the bottom and locking it. As he started out of the Inn, he stopped by the front counter, picking up his pen and writing on the pad he had left there earlier. Mason turned around to face him, noticing his presence.

'I'm going shopping for some supplies and such, I'll be back later.'

"All right." Mason said, and grinned at him, looking up from the paper, "I expect you to start tomorrow at 9 AM, sharp. You don't need to tell me where your going or when or anything, I'm not your parent. Just so long you show up on time for work."

Harry gave a swift nod and headed out of the Inn.

As he stepped out, he did as Jackel told him and studied what was around him.

The Inn looked like a 2-story cottage, and had a nice little chimney to boot. Next to it stood 'Quigley's Potion Shop,' and on the other side 'Yvette's Ice Cream.'

Harry smiled, deciding he'd have to get himself some ice cream, and a lot of it ... later. He moved down the street, and things around him gradually became familiar.

He entered Ursula's Robes, and thankfully found it empty except for the attendant. Ursula-Harry decided that was a her name judging by her name tag-quickly moved over to him.

"My name is Ursula. How my I assist you today?" She said with a bright smile.

Harry smiled, too, and opened his mouth to speak, actually attempting to, and not succeeding. His face reddened slightly, and he shook his head, realizing he left his pad of paper on the counter at The Unicorn's Horn. He held out his hand and pretended to scribble on it with the other.

Ursula smiled and went over behind the counter, digging around for a moment before coming back to him with a pad of paper and a quill.

Harry smiled a thanks, and took the pad gently. He wrote, 'Sorry, I can't talk. I need Hogwart's Robes, and just some casual robes, too. Probably about 4 Casual robes and 3 Hogwarts.'

He handed the pad to Ursula, who smiled and said, "Of course, dear. What kind of 'casual robes' are you looking for, what colors?"

The "conversation" went on like that for about 10 minutes. Harry picked out a dark blue robe, dark green robe, blood red robe, and a black robe. He bought new socks and -- slightly embarrassed to do so-boxers. He also bought himself a new pair of shoes. He didn't have as large a sum of money in his bag once he finished paying. Just enough left to buy himself shampoo and such.

He found the items he needed-soap, cologne, shampoo, deodorant, etc., at the wizarding shop 'Wizard's World.' He found it to be much like the muggle Wal*Mart, just a wizarding version.

He entered The Unicorns Horn (which he had no difficulty find) with about 4 bags floating in front of him. He liked how the wizarding world had charmed shopping bags to float in front of the person.

Mason gave him a grin, "Welcome back." He said coolly, and then motioned to the white owl standing on the marble counter top. "This owl came by right as you left, she wont leave, I don't suppose you know her?"

Harry grinned and moved over to the counter, picking up the quill, which hadn't moved since he left, and wrote on the pad of paper, 'Yeah, she's mine. Her name is Undine. Which reminds me, I have some letters to write?'

As Harry wrote, Hedwig fluttered over to him and landed on his shoulder, nipping his ear affectionately. The owner of the inn grinned, reading the parchment.

"You know," Mason said calmly, "there's a store where you can buy a parchment, charmed to write what you think it should. That way you won't have to write every time you need to say something."

Harry smiled at the man and nodded, before taking up the pad of paper and the quill, heading to the 'Employees Only' door. He slid his key into the hole and unlocked it, stepping aside to allow his bags to float up the stairs before him.

When he got up there, Hedwig went and perched on the window cill, and his bags rested down upon his bed. The first thing Harry did was start a fire in his fireplace.

He placed all his new robes into his dresser, along with his practically empty bag of coins, leaving out the dark blue robes. He also put away the other articles he bought, leaving a pair of socks and boxers out. He placed his new shoes beside the dresser, and set his accessories up in the bathroom.

The next thing he did was shower, and change into his brand new sapphire blue robes. The muggle clothing he just wore went into the fireplace. All of his old muggle clothing went into the fireplace, including his old pair of shoes. He put each article in one by one, watching as it burn. With each article, the smile on his face grew bolder. Watching the oversized clothing burn was like watching everything that ever happened at the Dursleys, every thought of ever having to go back to even the muggle world, burn up and turn into ashes. Ashes that would soon be magically disposed of.

The next to go in was the school robes he had outgrown. He knew there was really no need for it, but he felt as if it was the last step to truly freeing himself, allowing himself to live his own life. It was a want to cleanse himself of the old Harry, leaving a nice clean Ishmeal O' Leary.

---

After the ceremonial burning of cloths, Harry couldn't think of much else to do than to empty out his trunk and go through all his old belongings.

There were pairs of socks from the Dursleys that were quickly cast into the fire. His broom, once shrunk to fit into the trunk, was resized and set beside his dresser, the broom cleaning kit on top of the dresser. The crystal ball Remus gave him was set cautiously aside, and all of Mrs. Weasley's sweaters were put carefully into the bottom draw of his dresser. The mirror Sirius had given him was repaired and set on top of his dresser, beside the ruined knife that once belonged to him. Harry put the photo album next to that, partially open.

There were other objects in there. Old text books, that truth detector Ron had given him was still wrapped up in that sock Harry had put it in. Harry didn't take it out, he could see the red lights of it flashing wildly within the sock. He guessed someone had put a silencing charm on it at one point.

---

Harry slid the shower curtain back and stepped inside, closing the curtain, allowing the hot water to wash over him. He reached for the new sponge he bought earlier in the day, and made sure to get it nice and soapy before scrubbing every inch of his body until his skin was raw.

That was his third shower in one day. He couldn't get the dirty feeling off him. All those days he hadn't been able to wash when he wanted to, those times he ran out of toilet paper, the scent of his cloths after months of wearing them. Even the smell of the robes he used as a bed. It was all coming back to him, the dirt, the stench, the feeling, stronger than it was before.

He washed his hair seven times, the feeling of greasiness plaguing his hair. He felt as if it'd never leave.

After much washing and scrubbing, red, dry skin and over-washed hair, the 17 year old slid down into a corner of the shower and let the water beat off him. He tried to think.

He didn't feel so dirty earlier on the bus; but then his mind was occupied by Jackel. Everything leading up to him burning his cloths, he hadn't had time to think, at all. Then, after hours of clothing burning, and the smell of unwashed skin, the attic, and other foul smells that radiated from the unwashed clothing, he had nothing to do. He kept on smelling the dirty cloths and feeling his hair stick to his head, feeling his body being all dirty, his teeth grimy. He couldn't stand it.

Now, with his skin scrubbed raw and hair washed so much it might possibly die and fall out, he felt clean again. How long until it came back, though? Would he always get reminded of that hell he lived in for a year and a half?

Harry cried out as the water suddenly turned ice cold, and he jumped to his feet, turning it off. He frowned, wondering how water could turn cold like that in the wizarding world, when he heard laughter down below.

Mason knocked on the ceiling a few times, and spoke loudly so Harry could hear him through it, "Water costs money, O 'Leary! Try to minimize your usage!"

Harry smiled slightly to himself as he started to dry himself off with a ruby red towel. He knew Mason was serious, even if he sounded like he was kidding.

---

The next day wasn't that bad. He was allowed to do his work with magic, with Mason teaching him all the proper charms. He had to clean the bathrooms and the rooms first thing. Mason had him run the bar for a while he went to run some errands, then set him out to clean the lobby. He had to clean the rooms that had been occupied once again at the end of the day, as well as the bathrooms.

---

That same day, while Harry just got out of the shower, here was a loud knocking on Harry's door.

The young man quickly put on his dark green, velvety robes after drying himself off. He flicked his wand, performing a simple drying spell, then tied his bandana on.

He fled the bathroom and ran down the stairs, opening the door, and grinning as he found Jackel in front of him.

"Ishmael!" Jackel grinned as Harry stepped backwards up the stairs to let him in. Jackel closed and locked the door behind him. Harry continued up the stairs until he reached his room. Jackel was up behind him, engulfing Ishmael in a hug the second the young man turned to him.

Their lips met softly. Jackel only meant to give Ishmael a quick peck on the lips, and then ask him how his day had been, before giving him the charmed parchment that he had bought especially for Ishmael.

He couldn't resist lightly running his tongue over Ishmael's lip, begging for entrance. Ishmael happily obliged, his lips parting and allowing Jackel to deepen the kiss. As a battle between tongues began, their hands were also working. Jackel's hands were inside Ishmael's robes, moving over the innermost layer of his clothing, before firmly grasping the other man's thighs and pulling his body tightly to him. Ishmael let out a low moan, one of his hands curling around Jackel's neck, the other searching for Jackel's hand. Finding it, Ishmael took it, and entwined his fingers though Jackel's, giving the hand a light squeeze.

The kiss broke, the two's need for oxygen had become too great.

Harry backed away, his face flushed. He smiled slightly at Jackel.

Jackel grinned at him. "That was a damned good greeting."

Harry smiled and moved to sit down upon his bed. Jackel moved and sat beside him.

"I've got something for you, I thought you might find it useful." As Jackel spoke, he removed a small thing from his pocket, as well as his wand. Setting the thing on the bed between he and Harry, he magically resized it.

Harry picked it up and grinned, the parchment immediately began writing.

'Thank you so much! Mason was just telling me about this yesterday, I was going to go get one. Merlin, how could I ever thank you?' The words appeared magically, and Ishmael handed the parchment over to Jackel.

Jackel read it, and set the parchment down, locking eyes with Ishmael and grinning at him.

Ishmael grinned back, and leaned to the slightly older man, moving a hand to caress his cheek before entwining his fingers into Jackel's hair. Both men leaned together at once, their lips meeting and becoming quickly heated.

Jackel moved his arms around Ishmael, pulling him onto his lap as the two kissed. Jackel quickly moved his hands, taking hold of Ishmael's and entwining their fingers. He gently broke the kiss, trailing kisses down then other's cheek to his neck. The younger man tilted his head to the side, which Jackel took as an invitation to lick and gently nibble his neck. Harry moaned low, pressing as tightly against Jackel as he could. Jackel emitted a groan, the deepness of it washing over Ishmael's body and sending shivers through it. The two caught in another battle of tongues, which Jackel quickly won.

The two broke apart, Jackel grinning at the sight before him. Ishmael was even more sexy with his face flushed, his full, red lips parted slightly as the air passed through them in irregular breaths. Harry could say the same about Jackel.

---

As the days passed, Harry got used to, and even expected the nightly visits from Jackel. Their fooling around went a little further with each passing night. Harry felt slightly nervous at what was to come, his mind telling him he wasn't quite ready for what Jackel might have planned. He wasn't ready to do anymore than just snogging and exploring. He still loved and looked forward to Jackel's visits.

It was about a week and a half later, that fateful day that Jackel came knocking at Ishmael's door. Harry was, once again, just getting out of the shower.

In his excitement to meet him, Ishmael dressed quickly, dried his hair, and flew from the bathroom, completely forgetting his green bandana.

Jackel noticed it gone almost immediately. Well, if you leave out the quick snogging session they had before they "verbally" greeted each other. Harry couldn't really verbally greet Jackel, but he could have his charmed parchment greet him. Anyway, Jackel noticed it after the two broke apart from their heated kisses.

Jackel grinned at Ishmael, "I see you're not wearing that bandana today."

Harry looked slightly confused.

Jackel reached his hand up to Ishmael's hair, "Your bandana, it's. What's that?" he was brushing a piece of Harry's hair to the side, revealing the very well pronounced lightning shaped scar on Harry's head.

Jackel retreated a few steps as Harry's eyes widened, realizing what's happened. He forgot his bandana. Jackel saw his scar.

"Bloody hell," Jackel muttered, "you're a goddamn liar. I've been up here with Harry Potter, snogging with him, under the false idea that he was a man named Ishmael O' Leary. Why? Why the hell didn't you tell the truth on the bus? Or even after?"

Harry slumped down into his chair, the parchment Jackel bought him floating over in front of Jackel.

'I'm sorry, I ran away from my Aunt and Uncles house, and I didn't want the Headmaster to find me, or anyone from. Hogwarts, for that matter. It was the only way I could keep it all secret. I thought about telling you.' Harry's eyes were downcast at the floor. He felt sick inside.

"But you thought I'd rat you out? Couldn't trust me with your secret? That's why you always worse that bloody Bandana. You must have charms all over you.." He stopped speaking suddenly, then, withdrew his wand from his robes, moving to Harry. He waved his wand over Harry, "Finite Incantatium."

Harry's hair quickly shrunk back down the size, his eyes turning back to their brilliant green color, and his other features disappeared to reveal to once hidden face of Harry Potter.

Jackel stared at him for a moment before speaking, "You're even more sexy without the charms." He said softly, almost drawing up to Harry to kiss him, before stopping himself. "Can you even talk? Of course you can, how else could you cast the charms? My god, why the hell would you lie about that? What else have you lied about?"

New words appeared on the parchment. Jackel read it.

'I can't talk, I really can't. I've tried and it doesn't work. I was sent a book of Silent Magic from Hogwarts. I suspect they somehow learned of my inability to communicate. I haven't lied about anything else. Honestly.'

Jackel started at the parchment for a moment before looking at Harry sadly, "I've got to go. Maybe I'll come back. I need to think."

Words appeared on the parchment, but Jackel ignored them, turning to the door.

Harry jumped from his chair, running in front of him to stop him. Jackel glared, "What the hell do you want?" he hissed, ignoring the hurt look in Harry's eyes. The parchment presented itself between he and Harry.

'Please don't tell anyone who I am. Anyone at all. I really am sorry, Jackel...'

Jackel read it, and shoved it aside, giving Harry a disgusted look. "Don't worry," He said calmly, his eyes hot with anger, "I wont say a word. Please move."

Harry hung his head and stepped aside, allowing Jackel to leave his room.

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Hope ya liked it, lemmie know what you think. Feel free to point out any errors, because I don't always catch them, and neither does my spell check. I read through it like three times, too!