Served Cold
*Severus' POV*
Dumbledore was absolutely infuriating. It was a good thing for him that Severus loved the old man, or he would have throttled him a long, long time ago. It's still one of his favorite fantasies. It's below the one about Voldemort and the Crucio in his dungeons, Lucius with the Crucio in Malfoy Manor, and Potter with the knives at the Shrieking Shack; but it's still up there.
He's just-just…God.
The soon-to-be-dead Headmaster was lecturing Severus on the responsibilities of looking after a child. He tried to point out to the man that he did it every single damn year in this very school, but he just ran over Severus in a typically Dumbledore fashion.
Severus had to stop himself from sighing and shifting in his chair. Now the Headmaster was onto the Harry-needs-special-care-and-lots-of-love spiel.
Yes Albus, I know.
But he really is a special case and a victim and Harry Potter and am I really sure I want to do this?
Yes Albus, I am.
It's not Severus' fault the frustrating child somehow managed to worm himself into his affections. The child had gotten him feeling…oh, god, he can't even think it…paternal. Severus took a deep breath and forced down a shudder. This was so embarrassing. He should never have agreed to take the child in.
He was just so vulnerable and timid and fragile that Severus couldn't leave him to people who didn't know what he was going through and wouldn't be able to make it better. The boy reminded Severus of himself and he hated it. No child should have to experience what he had. He wanted so badly to help Harry, to make him into the smiling, happy, mischievous child that he'd seen small glimpses of. That was how he should have been. Severus want to give him his childhood back, and, in a way, give himself one as well.
He was so going to fuck this up.
* * * * *
The Professor swept into his chambers, bone-tired. Potter had been tremendously hard to deal with. He had to practically force the boy to stay still while Poppy examined him.
He shook his head, finding himself sitting in a chair with a glass of brandy in hand. Now how had that happened?
She had said there were signs of long-term abuse and malnutrition, as well as the more obvious-and very serious-physical injuries. Most of the bones in the boy's body showed signs of old breaks, often more than one.
Breathe, Severus. Breathe.
It was no use. He could feel the anger rising. He wanted to hurt them. How dare those muggles hurt a child as sweet as Harry! How fucking dare they!
Severus downed another glass of the alcohol and found himself getting slightly dizzy as he abruptly stood up. Oh, yes. He remembered now. That was the one Lucius gave him at a Christmas party...was it three years ago? No matter. He wouldn't put it past the arrogant bastard to have ordered the strongest stuff he could find.
That had to be why he was so-tipsy. He wasn't drunk. Really, he wasn't. Just tipsy. Right. Severus staggered over to his potions cabinet and pulled out a small bottle.
Sober-up potion. Just what he needed.
The Professor squinted at the words on the label a little. It was strange, they seemed…blurry. Huh.
He quickly gulped down the liquid.
Now, that was more like it. He felt empowered, refreshed, not tired at all. Unfortunately, he still felt…tipsy.
Damn.
He looked back at the bottle.
Well, this was just bloody wonderful. Perfect, really. He had managed to combine alcohol and a Pepper-up potion.
So, what's a drunk, barely-thirty-year-old, hyper wizard supposed to do with a bit of free time?
Severus grinned slowly, almost viciously.
Revenge. Yeah, revenge sounded pretty good just about now. Who first…he started rummaging through a desk, the one with his revenge drawer. It held all his notes about the people he needed to hurt, and of course, the List.
The List was a very long scroll of parchment detailing the people he wanted to get back at, in order of the greatest offence to the least. For some reason, he only took it out after he had consumed some kind of alcohol.
His sober self wasn't any fun. He could remember several occasions where he had tried to destroy the List. But really, that didn't make sense. The List was a good thing. It helped him to stay organized.
He was glad the protective spells he had put on the thing were still holding after ten years.
He'd have to hide the copy at home once Harry got there. Children could be much too inquisitive. Severus didn't even want to think about his reaction. He'd probably be shocked. Scared.
He flicked through the List. His mind was drawn back to Harry.
Harry.
And his relatives.
Severus' students would have been shocked at the genuine, anticipatory smile on his face as he briskly put the papers back into their proper place.
He had just gotten such a…lovely idea.
He also couldn't believe he had used the word lovely, even to himself.
He must be more drunk than he had thought.
Severus opened a secret compartment in a secret compartment in a concealed cabinet, and contemplated his Death Eater robes and mask.
He hated them. He hated what they stood for. However, tonight they would be very useful.
He could feel a sinister grin creeping over his lips as he slowly put on the clothing he hadn't worn in ten years.
Yes. They would be absolutely perfect for tonight.
* * * * *
He arrived at Privet Drive a few minutes later.
Severus took a minute to reorient himself. Maybe apparating while drunk hadn't been such a good idea. He shrugged. He had done it all the time when he was younger, but hadn't had much practice lately. Actually, no practice. It had been quite a while since he had last been intoxicated. He seemed to remember that little…episode…ending with Minerva's underwear appearing in the Great Hall. An utterly juvenile prank that had gotten almost all the ladies at Hogwarts angry with him, but still…
He grinned, remembering the look on his former Professor's face.
Priceless.
He mentally shook himself. Dursleys. Harry. Hurt.
Severus' lips curled into a silent snarl.
Past time those abusive muggle bastards got what they deserved.
He quietly unlocked the door with a spell and entered the house.
He closed it again with a quiet click. Slowly paced through the first floor, examining his surroundings. Severus pushed down his emotions, the effects of the alcohol. He couldn't let that interfere with this. Nothing was going to interfere with this.
He hissed angrily when he opened a random cupboard and saw that it contained a makeshift bed and a blanket. Unacceptable. Completely unacceptable.
The professor swept up the stairs, making no effort to disguise the sound of his movements. He stopped at one of the four doors and listened hard. He couldn't hear anything. No one had woken up.
Stupid muggles.
He smiled as he opened the door.
* * * * *
Severus shivered; stepping onto the road that led to Hogwarts. He'd needed some fresh air before going back to the school.
It was done. Finished.
He hadn't done anything elaborate. No reflected pain spells, no karma-ish 'what goes around comes around.'
What he'd done was take the Dursleys' son away. Dudley wouldn't remember them. Ever.
He knew a nice muggle family that had wanted a child for years. Severus had given Dudley to them.
It was petty, vindictive, and vicious. The two parents would be heartbroken once they found out.
He was glad. He needed another drink. He wanted to throw up.
The boy would be better off. The Dursleys might not have been abusing him the same way they abused Harry, but they were still abusing him.
Severus doubted they did it consciously. It didn't matter.
He wasn't sure what his main goal had been anymore. Hurt the two older Dursleys or help the son.
He hoped Dudley and his new family could be happy together. Maybe they could even get rid of his bratty and fatty-ness.
He wasn't really counting on it.
End Chapter 15
Hey.
I'm really sorry this took so long to get out. RL has been a nightmare. And so has Sev. He wouldn't cooperate at all. I just-I'm bad at him. I can't do a good Sev-voice. It's disappointing. I'm not really happy with this chapter, but it's the best I've been able to come up with. Sorry. *g*
To any people who wanted more explicit Dursley torture-sorry about that, too. I couldn't figure out something to do that I wouldn't feel ridiculous writing, or that would be too unoriginal. My theory was that the Dursleys really love Dudley, so it would hurt them more than anything else to take him away from them.
Also, I'm sorta one of those Dudley sympathizers. In the nature vs. nurture argument, I'm definitely on the nurture side. I think that if you wiped his memory clean and put him with a decent family, Dudley could be a pretty decent kid. I know, I'm weird and abnormal. :)
I've decided-pretty much by myself, since I've only got one reviewer that expressed an opinion *shakes finger disapprovingly at everyone else* that I'm going to go ahead with the ten chapter squish. That means that every ten chapters that I write will be combined into one. So, for example, if I had twenty right now, they would be changed to two. Any review answers on the reduced chapters will be deleted. Just to cut down on the space that would take up.
Thank you to all my reviewers. I love you, I love you, I love you! And, um, anyone who's still reading this after all this time-I love you even more. ;)
To: Rachel A. Prongs-Harry doesn't hate Dumbledore. He just thinks he's annoying and doesn't trust him. Plus, he's eleven. Most eleven-year-olds hate being treated like children. I can still remember that. And Harry's been through a lot more than the average eleven-year-old. Lol on the Ron thing. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do about Ron. I know Harry and Draco are gonna be friends. I've tentatively started planning a Harry/Hermione friendship, although lately I've been thinking about what would happen if smart!Harry and Hermione started competing for grades. Could be interesting (*eg*). Ron…well, I've had one person tell me not to make him a bad guy, but lets face it: Ron is a bigot. He discriminates against Slytherins, people he sees as pureblood stereotypes, and people he sees as "evil." I dunno. He could be salvageable. What do you want him to be?
To: Ms. Padfoot-Thanks for the Dumbledore critique. I'm really insecure about all characters that aren't Harry. *g* If you could tell me what you think about this Sev (meaning how badly he sucks), I'd be really really happy. You know, you're the only person who's given me an opinion about the ten chapters thing? :)
To: tobytdk-Thanks. I hope you're not too disappointed w/the Sev characterization. And I liked the painting thing too. *g*
To: angelhitomi-Thanks, I'll try. And, y'know, I'm kinda looking forward to the Harry living with Snape thing myself. In that not kinda way. :) I'm a very disorganized person. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with them once I get them inside that mansion.
To: Thanks. Harry won't just be friends with people in Slytherin. I'm not sure if he'll be friends with Ron and Hermione. With Hermione-they're either gonna be best friends or mortal enemies. Ron…well, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with him.
To: litine-Thanks. Complements good. :)
To: Lady Pheonix Gryffindor-Thank you. Always nice to hear. *g*
To: arcee-Thanks. I'm trying to make him different but still stay Harry, y'know? Tell me if you think I cross the line.
To: fyre-Glad you liked the Harry-thoughts. The hug was sorta OOC, but I'm going with the explanation that Harry's seen a lot of people give hugs, and now that he's got this friendly adult father-figure, he wants to try them for himself. It was really impulsive. He didn't think about it first. Also, I want to get Sev and Harry more comfortable with touch. The Fat Lady thing always bothered me. I mean, someone sits on the wall to your room for four years, you see her every day, but you still don't know her name? It's just tacky. I don't think Ron will be an enemy. He'll probably either be a friend, or just someone in the background. Draco will be Harry's friend, though. Sorry. I like Draco. ;)
To: White Rider-Thanks. Dumbledore is using Harry, but that's not why Harry dislikes him. Harry just thinks he's a condescending jerk. *g*
To: Naomi SilverWolf-Thanks. Good to know. :)
To: john-Thank you. Always nice to hear. *g*
To: Ian-Welcome. And, yeah, Harry and Draco are gonna be friends.
To: lilybbee-Thanks. And…thanks. I'm always worried about my characterizations. Glad to get another opinion.
To: azntgr01-Thanks. I try. :)
To: npetrenko-Thank you. And, well…I do the best I can…
To: candledot-Thanks. Lol about the Gryffindor thing-gee, y'think? And I'll try. I forget every once in a while, though.
To: shadow4284-Thank you. I love Slytherin Harry too. *Thinks for a minute* um, that's kinda obvious, isn't it? *sheepish grin*
To: Lord Master Omega-Glad to hear it. Originality is always good. I keep worrying that I'm unconsciously stealing plots from other writers.
To: trillium-Thanks. Dumbly is hard for me to write. Nice to know I'm getting something right. *g*
To: lilybaby-Well, okay, Harry doesn't like Dumbledore. That's partly because he doesn't trust him and partly because he makes him do things he doesn't want to do. If Dumbly did what Harry wanted, he'd be like, 'wow, he's the best Headmaster ever!' :)
To: frizzy-Thank you. I'll try. Love your 'Magnetic Attraction,' btw.
To: Schulyr-Oh, I'm definitely gonna continue this. Sorry it took so long to get out, but…yeah. I'm gonna finish it. Even if I lose interest in fanfiction (which I really doubt could ever happen), I'll still finish it. *g*
To: Sabrina451-Thanks, and definitely yes. Definitely. It's not gonna end until I finish it. :)