Senile Old Men and Other Weird Things
He fell.
Crashed to the carpeted floor. His injuries were screaming to be heard, and he felt dizzy. Harry cursed under his breath. This couldn't last much longer. His injuries usually healed much faster than normal people's-especially when he gave the healing a little freakish boost. He knew he would get better even faster this time. The meal he had eaten earlier with Severus was huge by his usual standards. It would definitely help to rebuild his strength.
He carefully began to push himself to his feet. Looked up and stumbled back down to the floor in surprise.
Severus stood over him, hand outstretched. He looked concerned.
"Harry, are you all right? Portkeys sometimes cause dizziness, disorientation." The professor scrutinized his face, noting the pain the boy was doing his best to conceal.
There was a short pause. Harry gathered his thoughts.
"I take the question back. Clearly, you are very not all right. Perhaps the more appropriate question would be: do you need immediate medical attention?"
"What? Of course not." The boy retorted, alarmed. Doctors and nurses were so nosy, always asking questions. Telling the truth was Not Allowed.
"I'm fine. Just a little shaken from the…" He struggled to remember the word. "…the portkey." He gave the skeptical professor his brightest smile, carefully free from all pain. He rolled his eyes.
"Honestly, you adults are too overprotective." It was a word he had use Dudley use once, talking to his parents. He had wanted to go somewhere alone with his friend Piers-the city? Harry couldn't remember. Personally, he thought it was a very big word for his cousin. He'd never had the chance to use it before. It felt good.
Severus let it go. For now.
Harry inwardly sighed in relief, and took the opportunity to look around. He was in a big room, tastefully decorated in black, silver, green, and white. Warm mahogany bookshelves lined the walls, matching the wooden tables. Squishy leather and velvet couches, chairs, and pillows were scattered throughout the room, along with a lone rocking chair. There were four doors, one on each wall. Harry wondered where they went.
The thought was fleeting as his gaze returned to the bookshelves.
Snape smirked, taking in the boy's rapt expression. "Just a few of my favorites. The rest are back at the manor."
Harry turned awestruck eyes on Severus. "More?"
He subtly began sidling closer to the fascinating books.
The Professor gave a slight laugh. "I don't think so, Potter. You can look at them later."
He moved forward and pulled the boy back, too quickly for the distracted Harry to flinch away.
"Leave the books you bought here. We need to talk to the Headmaster."
Harry obediently dropped the books on a nearby table and followed him out of the room.
* * * * *
Harry ducked under Snape's arm as they entered the stony corridor.
They had already gone through a neat, elegant room that Severus referred to as his "receiving" room. Harry thought it rather looked like a sitting room or parlor, especially after the Professor's comment that he almost never went into it unless he had guests.
Next they had gone into a smaller room, the Snape's office-
"Some of the older and more…adventurous students think I sleep in here-mostly because I always catch them when they try to sneak in here and steal potions ingredients. What they don't know is that I have an alarm I can hear both in this office and in my rooms that goes off when an unauthorized person enters."
Harry had decided he'd file that information away for future consideration.
-and through the larger room with the desks. The boy assumed it was the classroom. Severus hadn't said anything.
Now he followed behind the man, doing his best to keep up. It wasn't working very well. Snape didn't just walk, he stalked. Quickly. Gracefully. Elegantly. Faster than a truck going at sixty damn miles per hour. This had to stop. Harry gulped in a little more air.
"Severus? Could you maybe slow down…just a little bit?"
Snape cast him a puzzled glance, and then comprehension washed over his face-along with a little bit of guilt.
"Of course, Harry." Then, grudgingly, "I'm sorry."
"S'okay." Harry tried on a smile. It fit. "You've got longer legs than me. Most people do."
Once the Professor had slowed down, Harry surreptitiously glanced around.
Suddenly, he froze, staring at a painting.
"What?" The woman smoothed down her pink dress self-consciously. "Portraits can have weight problems too, you know. And…well, if I'm a bit large, you're downright anorexic!"
The boy gaped.
"Well? What is it?" She sniffed, offended. The child was getting on her last nerve! She was quite ready to leave her painting and go visit her friend Marissa. She'd certainly want to hear about That Rude Boy Who Had Stared At Her In The Headmaster's Corridor.
"Um, I'm very sorry if I've offended you, but…did you just talk?"
Snape looked like he was settling down to watch a show. The only thing he was missing was the popcorn.
"Did I just-oh." The woman seemed to calm down a little bit. "Are you a muggleborn, dearie?"
"I-I was raised by muggles, but my parents were wizards." He became more confident at her sympathetic expression. "They died a long time ago."
The portrait gasped. "Oh, my poor child…I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, I don't really remember them that much." He gave a sad little shrug, and did his best to recall in detail his last beating. When he shyly raised his poor little eyes to the painting, they were tearful.
"Well, you just tell me if you have any trouble here, alright? You get lost, someone's picking on you…you just tell me and the Paintings of Hogwarts will teach them a lesson they won't forget!" She seemed quite fierce.
Harry almost smiled in spite of himself.
"Do all the paintings in Hogwarts talk?" He was genuinely curious.
"Yes, all wizarding portraits do-unless they can't talk, like if they're mute or an animal."
"Oh." Harry gave himself a minute to digest that. "Huh. That's interesting." He grinned. "Are they all as nice as you?"
"Of course not! Some of them are quite horrid." She shared a conspiratorial smile with the boy.
"Do you have a name?"
"Do you?"
Harry flushed. "Sorry. Um, it's Harry."
"Nice to meet you, Harry. You're such a polite boy. None of my children have asked my name in…oh…decades. I'm Janice."
Severus walked over to Harry quickly, evidently getting impatient. "Yes, well, terribly sorry we can't stay to chat longer, Janice, but we really do have to go to talk to the Headmaster."
She gave him a tentative smile. "Severus! I didn't see you there."
He glared.
Her smile faltered. "You're not still holding a grudge after all these years, are you?"
He glared.
"Right, then. Better go off to the Headmaster, Harry, it was nice meeting you, hope to see you…um…again…"
Harry gasped as she fled from the portrait, leaving it empty.
Snape sighed, exasperated, and set off down the hall again.
They stopped at an extremely large and ugly stone gargoyle a few doors down.
Harry stared at it apprehensively, almost expecting it to start talking to him.
Severus smirked, and said something about chocolate.
"Huh?" Harry watched in shock as the gargoyle moved aside and the wall behind it split in two to reveal something that looked very much like a muggle escalator.
He and Snape stepped onto it, and it brought them to an oak door.
The Professor knocked sharply.
The door opened and Harry stepped closer to Snape. He looked around.
Oh. My. God.
The room was beyond words.
It was circular, with a lot of weird…well, things scattered around. He couldn't figure out what they were. There were tons of paintings-all of really old people. Odd. There was also a huge claw-footed desk, and behind it a shelf supporting a shabby pointed hat.
He circled slowly, taking everything in, and noticed a beautiful gold and red bird by the door.
Harry stepped back behind Severus as another door opened and a very old man walked into the room.
He fought to keep from scowling when the man smiled kindly at him. His blue eyes were twinkling. It was creepy.
"Hello there, you must be Harry. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, young man."
Harry hated it when people were condescending.
The old guy-Headmaster Dumbledore?-gave Snape a mildly curious glance. "I must admit, however, I am confused. Professor Snape was not instructed to bring you to Hogwarts."
The boy tensed. He had known this was too good to be true.
Severus quickly replied. "Albus, I think we need to talk-in private, please."
"Alright, Severus. Harry, feel free to make yourself at home here until we get back. The lemon drops in that bowl are quite excellent, if I do say so myself."
Um, sure. Oooookay.
He investigated the room until Severus and the Headmaster got back. There really wasn't anything that interesting in it. At least, he didn't think there was. He still couldn't figure out what most of the things were.
Harry looked up as the two men entered the room. Severus came around to stand protectively behind him.
Dumbledore's eyes were missing their twinkle. "Harry, I am so sorry. I swear, if I had known, I would have had you removed from there immediately."
Okay, now Harry was confused. What the hell was the Headmaster talking about?
"Huh?" Came his dignified response.
"The Dursley's. You'll be removed from there right away, of course. You have to believe me, I had no idea."
"Okay, I believe you." Humor the old man. Still don't know what he's talking about.
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "I had thought about sending you to an orphanage, but Severus convinced me that wouldn't work out."
Harry shot a grateful look at the Professor.
"Maybe you should stay with the Weasley's for the next month, until school begins. I believe that have a son about your age."
Stay with people he didn't know? Another child-likely to bully and make fun of him as Dudley had? Harry didn't think so.
"Professor Dumbledore? Are there any other options?"
"Well…" The Headmaster looked like he was calculating the answer to some incredibly complicated equation in his head. "You certainly can't stay in the school. I'm sure almost any wizarding family would be willing to take you in, but the Weasley's are the people I recommend." He popped a lemon drop into his mouth. "Really, you'll like them. Couldn't find a nicer family anywhere."
Inwardly, Harry squirmed. He didn't want nice. He didn't want to be "taken in." He wanted safe.
He wanted Severus.
"What about the Professors?" He decided going for the more obvious approach wouldn't hurt. After all, subtle definitely wasn't getting through to the Headmaster.
He felt Severus stiffen slightly behind him.
"The Professors?" Dumbledore sounded puzzled. "Most of them are away on vacation. They won't be back until two weeks before the term starts."
Oh, my god, how clueless can a person be?
Snape sighed. Cleared his throat. "If Mr. Potter prefers to, he may stay with me."
The boy whirled around. "Really? That would be so cool!" He grinned widely. "Thanks Severus."
He impulsively leaned forward and gave Snape a hug. The Professor rather awkwardly patted his back.
Dumbledore stifled a laugh. Severus glared at him.
"All right, then." The Headmaster's voice was scarily cheerful. "That's settled. Harry, you will reside with Professor Snape when not at Hogwarts."
"Kay." Harry worked on toning down his smile. Maybe the Headmaster wasn't so bad after all.
"However, you will be spending the night here, in the hospital wing, so Madame Pomfrey can keep an eye on you after healing your injuries."
Scratch that. Hate. Dumbledore.
Harry allowed himself to be brought down to the hospital wing, protesting until Severus threatened to rescind the boy's invitation to stay with him. He was immediately silent, and submitted to Madame Pomfrey's examination without complaint.
She fussed at and scolded him, and yelled loudly at his absent relatives. Harry didn't like her that much. She was too melodramatic.
His last thought before falling into sleep was about how comfortable his soft, squishy bed felt…
End Chapter 14
So, you guys like? I think that was my longest chapter ever. And, um, sorry for taking so long with the update? I'll do better, I swear! *g*
Kay, so, a few things. In my opinion, Sev is rich. As rich as Harry. Which is why he has a manor. Y'know, just in case anyone was wondering. :) Also, that portrait? That was the Fat Lady from the Gryffindor common room.
I hope my Dumbledore is in character, but I'm pretty sure he's not…help?
I'm thinking about squishing every ten chapters together into one chapter. It'd probably make things easier for the readers. Any opinions?
Reviewers-Thank you. I'm giving you all one hundred pieces of cyber-chocolate! And maybe, if you're good, some chocolate covered strawberries. Chocolate is pretty much my religion, so I hope you guys realize how huge the sacrifice I'm making really is. *g*
To: Avlyn-Thanks, and yeah, while confused!Harry is adorable, I would probably confuse myself, too. 'Sides, I'm trying to stay as true to the book as I can.
To: rayvern-lol, and thanks. Um, you know…Slytherin stuff. Like spells and personal opinions and…stuff.
To: angelhitomi-Thank you, hope you like the new part!
To: Fallen Dragon-Thanks, and, well, I try. It doesn't work that well, but…I try. *g*
To: Ms. Padfoot-lol. I know, I hate when it does that. And I've got a Harry, Snape fixations, too. They're my favorite characters.
To: Rachel A. Prongs-Good. And it won't be slash. Well, not unless I write a sequel to this. And then a sequel to that. And then a sequel to the sequel to the sequel. Um, that means, if I extend this to cover his fourth year, it will be slash. But otherwise, not.
To: fyre-lol. I'm glad. I spent some time thinking those titles up. *g* Okay, thanks. That helps. And, I'll definitely at least try to make them 3-d. Don't know how well I'll actually do, but don't I get points for trying? :)
To: ryleeblack-Thanks. And, hope I covered some kind of portkey reaction.
To: john-Glad you liked it. Compliments are always good. ;)
To: Skull Bearer-lol. I liked…Morgan, I think his name was? Um, well, anyway…*g* I'm trying, and thanks.
To: candledot-lol. Thanks. Hope I can live up to your expectations…
To: arcee-Good, and thanks. *g*
To: Ian-lol. Um, Harry is just turning eleven.
To: Silver Ice-Hmm, I'm not sure. I've considered it, but it is against the rules, and a lot of other authors have done it…then again, I love parselmouth!Harry, so…I dunno…
To: Calen-lol. You think he's disrespectful? :)
To: Mikee-Good, and thank you. Hope you like this part too.
To: Rhiannon-lol. Yeah, me too. And, Sev's one of my favorite characters, so…
To: White Rider-Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.