Dancing With Both Eyes Closed
By: warwithdarkness
Paring: HP/DM or DM/HP as a main pairing, others will most likely pop up later.
Rating: M for Mature
Warnings: slash, relationships between two males (of the sexual kind), violence, language, AU, angst, character death
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it.
Chapter Four
Sometimes They Surprise You With Their Pain
Harry woke up to the sound of flute floating in the air. Not even bothering to open his eyes, he burrowed further into his covers. Taking a deep breath he smelled roses.
'Roses!'Pushing the sheets off in one quick movement he got to his feet. Looking around Harry felt the weight of familiarity flow through his bones. A dresser and desk were against the wall across from the door and the lavish bed behind him was so large that it took up almost half of the room. A plush burgundy carpet covered most of the floor except for where there was an empty cauldron in the corner of the room. The room itself was dark except for one lit candle hanging from the ceiling.
Moving towards the window, Harry pulled the heavy cream curtains to the side causing a rush of moonlight to flow into the room.
'I'm at the bordello.' Harry thought to himself as he looked out over the garden where various couples were snogging and groping each other. Right below his window was a man playing the flute, holding a captive audience as his hips swayed to the music. 'How did I get up here and where's Snape?'
Turning away from his view of the garden, Harry silently strode over to the heavy wooden door. Slowly he brought his hand to rest on the golden doorknob, his fingers wrapping around the cool metal.
"Are you seriously going to go out dressed in that attire? You'll have men and women fondling you before you reached the end of the hallway." An amused voice said from Harry's right.
Masking his surprise, Harry turned to face the man that was draped in the shadows that the candlelight couldn't vanquish. His magic begged him to strike out at the man, use it to hurt him.
"Really, Snape?" Harry smirked, ignoring the need to attack the older man, "Are you saying that I'm attractive? Do you want to molest me?"
Snape glided out from the corner with a snort. "I see in the years of your absence you are still as perverted as ever."
Hiding his smile behind his hand at the familiar routine, Harry said, "I'm offended, Professor!"
The smirk that had graced Snape's face fell, his white face paling even more at the title. "I'm a professor no longer, Potter. I hope that you will not call me that again."
Harry stilled, not knowing what to say. 'What happened? Why is he so—'
"Please, Potter. Will you stop thinking for a moment? Get dressed before I gouge out my eyes." Snape snapped, cutting off Harry's thoughts.
Harry looked down at himself, and seeing only a pair of briefs quickly turned to the dresser and pulled out some of the bordello's clothes. Picking them at random, Harry put them hastily on before turning back to his ex-professor.
Snape was leaning against the wall, his coal black eyes locked on Harry's body. Shifting uncomfortably, he pulled some of his black and white hair to cover his scarred bad eye. "You have more scars than I remember. I healed you before you left and you didn't have half of the ones you have now! What the hell happened, boy? What happened that last week before you disappeared? Where did you go? We found you six months ago and you've been alive all this time? Didn't you think for once that maybe they needed you?"
Snape took a deep breath his nostrils flaring as he glared at Harry who stood frozen at the sudden onslaught of words. Snape opened his mouth to speak but Harry spoke first.
"They?" Harry whispered, his good eye moving to settle on Snape's face. "Not we?"
The older man's lips tightened and his hands clinched. Harry was oddly calm. He thought that he would be angry but he only felt tired. The sadness and guilt was crushing his ability to be angry at the man in front of him, and the magic that had been buzzing in his veins since he had first picked up his wand had stopped, leaving a depressing peacefulness. "That's all you have to say? You stand there and question my need for you to be there? I don't need—"
"Liar." Harry murmured.
"What?" Snape's face became blotchy with anger.
"You need me or else you wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to get me here. Don't try and deny it, old man. It won't work" Harry said as he took a few steps towards the stoic man who was shaking slightly in suppressed anger. "I promise I'll answer your questions if you answer mine, but not right now. I don't think I could handle it at the moment." Harry frowned.
"Harry, you can always talk to me about what's on your mind."
"I know, Hermione, but I don't want to talk about it right now."
"All right then, but don't hold it in too long. You don't need to bear the burden alone. Sure the prophecy may have been about you and Voldermort but that doesn't mean you have to do everything by yourself."
"I know, you don't have to keep reminding me." "Hmm, sometimes I feel like I have too." "Fine. We are going to talk soon and you better not run away again." "I didn't run away, you greasy bastard!" Harry snarled, his eye narrowing at the man. "I was dying and he sav—" Three gentle knocks at the door interrupted him. Snape gave him one last frown before sliding over to the door and opening it. A woman dressed in a flowing green dressed bowed and smiled at Snape."I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but Yuuri is here."
"Thank you, Mercedes. If you could, send him up?" Snape smiled congenially, all traces of anger and frustration gone from his face.
"Yes, sir." With that, Mercedes was gone and Snape shut the door.
There was silence for a moment before Harry asked, "Why are you here?" He crossed his arms and starred at Snape. "Don't they know that this place used to house the Order? There was a massive attack here, how could they not?"
Snape frowned and sat on the bed. To Harry it looked strange to see the dark clothed man sitting almost regally on the blood red sheets. "There was no confirmation that the Order's base really was here. The rumor only lasted about a year before it died out and everyone forgot about the battle that was fought here."
"But how? So many people died! How could they just forget!" Harry exclaimed, angered by Snape words.
"People forget what is not important to them. Who cared about the whores that died here?" Snape shrugged.
"Do not call them that again." Harry growled.
"We're just prostitutes, we don't know how to fight off werewolves and Death Eaters."
"That's why we are teaching you. So you can protect yourselves and each other."
"I don't think this is going to work. I mean, sure most of us are wizards and witches, but none of us have had any training…"
"It's not hard, I promise."
The creaking of the door pulled Harry out of his thoughts. The light that flooded the room momentarily blinded him, but when the door shut once more Harry gasped.
"What are you doing here!"
"It seems, lovely, that you figured it out." The purple-eyed man smiled, his white teeth glowing in the candlelight. The man gracefully strolled over to Harry and brushed away the hair that covered his eye. "So much better without the illusion. Much more real, don't you think, Severus?" The man caressed Harry's cheek with his fingers. Harry's magic became alive once more, flowing through his veins and seemingly pooling at where the man's finger's touched his face. Harry wanted to move away, but it felt so good to be close to him.
"Snap out of it, Potter! He's being foolish." At Snape's harsh words, Harry backed away, his magic falling back into its calm state.
'What the hell was that?' Harry thought frantically as he stumbled backwards. 'That didn't happen the last time I saw him. On the contrary, his touch was…odd.'
"No need to be alarmed, love. It's a natural reaction for someone who is losing control." The man, Yuuri, stated as he swiftly moved to stand in front of Harry. "You think you have control, don't you, lovely? You're losing it though; I can feel it. A wounded and terrified stag caught and bound."
Harry blinked up at the man whom Snape seemed to trust and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Yuuri's face fell and his lips pursed together as he looked at the shorter man. Harry was practically backed up against the wall with the man looming over him. Snape watched them, his obvious interest showing on his face. "Why do you lie, Harry Potter? Is this what has become of the man who saved the world? Can you even accept who you are, lovely? You hide behind illusions and you do not acknowledge your own problems. Are you set out to destroy yourself? Do you want not want to live the life that was meant to be yours?"
"I do not want to be Harry Potter."
"What?"
"I said that I do not want to be Harry Potter."
"Why?"
"Because…because…of everything."
"Of everything? Isn't there something in this world that makes you want to be you?"
"Of course!"
"Would you have these things if you weren't Harry Potter?"
"No, maybe not."
"I…I don't want to hurt them anymore." Harry murmured, as he seemed to fall into purple eyes. "I don't want to hurt anymore." His eyes began to sting and the tears started to roll down his cheeks. Yuuri was right; he was at a breaking point. Harry could no longer keep his emotions under control and so he burst out, "Why am I like this? I can't manage my thoughts or my feelings. And my magic…it wants me to do something! Anything! It wanted me to hurt Snape for fuck's sake! It's calm now, but what if it wants me to do something that…that…"
"Shh, lovely. It's scary, I know, but it's not your fault. It's not your fault." Yuuri wrapped his arms around the now weeping man. Harry resisted at first, magic pooling at his fingers as if to force the man away from him, but Yuuri's gentle soothing noises lulled him into a sleep like state.
"What was that?" Snape asked as he watched Yuuri hold the younger man as he slept on the floor under the window. He was rocking slightly and humming under his breath.
"What was what, Severus?"
"That?" Snape pointed vaguely towards them. "What is wrong with him and his magic?" He snapped as he stood up and strode over to them.
Yuuri sighed, his whole body relaxing, not at all bothered by the underlying anger in the other man's words. "He told you of his plans that week he disappeared, right? He told you what it was he was after."
"Yes, the brat came to me for help." Snape growled, his black eyes glittering.
"You knew what could have happened when this lovely being found it and destroyed it?" Yuuri asked, his graceful fingers tracing the scar that was across Harry's blind eye.
"He either lived or died, and obviously he lived."
Yuuri smiled gently, "No, he was supposed to have died that night. He wasn't supposed to leave that place alive."
"What?"
"He was supposed to have died along with the power that infused itself into him. When he destroyed it, residual magic seeped into the closest magical being or object. It is like a kind of survival technique for the original object."
"But—"
"He was alone when he destroyed it, wasn't he? The evidence that we found showed that he had already killed Voldermort before he entered the chamber. He was the only being for miles around when he broke it. The initial shock of the foreign magic to his system should have killed him," Yuuri's smile grew into a grin. "But destiny intervened and he was saved."
"So, you're telling me that Potter has been infected with the power of the staff?" Snape inquired, his eyes wide as he stared at the sleeping man.
Yuuri nodded. "I'm surprised he hasn't gone insane from the amount of power that flows in him. I can feel it in him, Severus, the magic that is begging to be used. It is just below the surface. It will consume him if we do not do anything soon, and then we will all be in trouble." Harry shifted slightly, burrowing his face into Yuuri's neck, whimpers escaping his lips. "Quiet, lovely. It is only dreams."
Snape gave Yuuri a calculated look before he squatted down until he was eye level with the purple-eyed man. "Why do you care about him so much, Yuuri? It is odd for you to be so attached to a human."
Yuuri smirked and licked his lips. "I like you well enough, Severus."
Snape grimaced, his face contorting into disgust. "Obnoxious blood-sucker." He said, knowing that he would not get an answer out of the man.
"Hmm, I may be a vampire, but obnoxious I am not." Yuuri said, his fangs elongating. He hissed at Snape before returning his attention back to Harry who was still asleep in his arms. "By the way, we must do something about Draco Malfoy."
Snape's face became blank at the mention of his favorite student. "What do you mean? I sent him out to look for Potter and you found him first. He should be back within the next day or two."
"Actually, Severus, Draco found him first. He talked to him and called him a few choice names and then disappeared with another one of his one-night stands. He didn't even realize that it was this lovely here that he was talking too." Yuuri said, his purple eyes dark with anger. "He's too busy being the rich and famous war hero to do much of anything except have a nice night of pleasure."
Snape frowned, his lips tightened together, "I'll have a talk with him when he arrives. In the mean time keep an eye on Potter, don't let him out of your sight." Snape stood up once more. "And explain to him who you are when he awakens. He might even let you feed from him, Merlin knows he did it often enough for the Coven leader when they were at Hogwarts."
Yuuri's eyes flashed, "Julius? Julius feed from him?"
Snape arched an eyebrow. "Yes, Potter was one of the volunteers that offered their services to the vampires during their stay. They did it about once a week under the supervision of Flitwick and myself."
The tension left Yuuri's body at that information and nodded. He didn't say a word as Snape left them there and started to hum quietly as the moon rose further and further into the night sky.
Author's Note: Another chapter come and gone…I'm not a big fan of this chapter, but what can I say? I know Snape is out of character but I need to twist his character a bit. Draco will make an appearance next chapter and some questions will be answered while new ones are asked. Oh! And if you are wondering about Harry and Yuuri's relationship…Let's just say that Harry will be with Draco, not Yuuri. Thanks for reading!
Don't forget to review! It would be much appreciated.