Oop... There's torture in this one... The Dursleys get some of what's coming to them...
-Xenia
Chapter 11: Still Of the Night
For Harry Potter, he could say life was always a rollercoaster. A mess of paths that he is taken down, and at the end of each ride, feels like he'd collapse in a heap of jellified bones.
But he had never really been on a rollercoaster, and he couldn't tell you just how jarring or exciting the experience could be.
No, he could only describe his life as a series of unfortunate lessons that he'd rather have learned on his own terms. Always eventful, and never as dull as he'd like it to be.
This summer was no different, as he was waiting on his mentor to come and make the Dursley's put him up for adoption, or better yet, grant full custody of him to a different family. He had only just gotten back from his trial, and the publicity that was surrounding him was even worse now. Everyone wanted to baby him now, when only a year ago they couldn't stand anything that he was involved in.
They labeled him a liar and attention seeking child, but now? Now he was supposed to just forget and be their golden boy savior?
The boy had been perfecting his Gryffindor mask for the last three years, he could make the world believe he wasn't as scarred as he really was.
Heros aren't supposed to be jaded. They can't have moments of weakness or hate their adoring public...
But all of those thoughts were trivial, Harry sighed while trying to finish up the Dursley's dinner. He was allowed a small helping of the lasagna he'd made, and with that he took himself back into the spare bedroom. It wasn't his and he knew it. It was still Dudley's second room, and despite him saving the prat, his relatives still hated him immensely.
They felt he had called the creatures to their normal little neighborhood, to act like he was saving the day. It was stupid, but then again so were his relatives, Harry mused darkly.
He sat on his cot and ate silently, rereading the missive from his mentor about the family he would be placed with.
Professor Snape hadn't said anything in halves. Harry would be leaving the Dursley's house of horrors if Snape had anything to do with it. And the man would make sure his gem was safe.
The family Harry was told about were called the Dunhill's. They were a wealthy pureblood family, like the Potter's were, but they were a big family, with enough space in their home and hearts for an extra child.
His mentor told him that they did not know of the child they would potentially take in, but from just his description they knew he deserved better than the life he'd had so far.
Harry almost wanted to scoff at that. Some part of him denied wanting a family, saying venomously that the freak deserved every lash they'd given him. Every rock thrown and meal denied. But a bigger part of him, the part that had known love from others, decided to take a chance.
As he was sat in his cousins other room, he let the time pass him by. His summer had been a bit fast paced, but overall good, filled with letters from his friends and the odd one from his mentor every couple of weeks. Even the other Weasley's sent him a letter or two, and Harry could have imagined being adopted by them.
How would he have coped with that? Harry liked to think that it wouldn't be too bad of a transition, but he also knew that he didn't want to be there all the time. The family was fun, and loving. They were loud in a nice way, and they truly cared for him, but Ginny had always given him looks that he wasn't ready to unpack.
The girl was kind enough, and pretty, but she still unnerved Harry in a way that he wasn't prepared for.
Lost in thought, three hours passed the boy wonder by, until he heard a distinct knock at the door.
He got up swiftly, knowing not to be in sight of the door, even if he knew who was visiting. His relatives still liked to pretend that the whole neighborhood didn't know he existed.
His Aunt answered the door, by the sound of her voice demanding to know who had come so late in the evening. The smooth voice of his mentor rang out, and the emerald eyed boy was beginning to get a bit antsy.
He wanted to leave the room, but a part of him feared the repercussions of opening the doors.
Still he got up and tried, only to find the door was locked up tight. His door had several locks and a cat flap on it, so he knew all the locks were in place.
When had they done that? Was he so lost in thought that he didn't even hear their footsteps on the stairs? In the end he just resigned himself to listening as his mentor spoke too low for him to hear.
After another half minute, his uncle was called, and added into the conversation turned argument.
His relatives were denying he lived there, or that he even existed in their family tree.
Snape was fed up, the boy knew. His mentor was never the most patient man when people around him were being irritating. A low growl shook the foundations of the house, and the bespectacled teens family fell silent.
The stairs creaked easily in some places, and he knew that his mentor was coming towards his room. He could feel a rising heat as the man got closer to the door. The locks rattled outside his door before falling one by one until all seven were on the floor, and his door opened.
There in the doorway was none other than Harry Potter's Potions Professor and Mentor. The man looked almost murderous as he looked around the room. He had been there just last summer, but he hadn't seen the outside of the room, and now he was furious.
As he breathed, smoke blew out from his nostrils, his eyes had become an almost electric blue, and scales seemed to have speckled his uncovered skin. He was a dragon as well!?
Harry was shocked to be honest, and rightfully so. His mentor was also a dragon kin, or something of the sort, Harry couldn't tell.
Another thing he noticed before his mentor calmed down was the claws on his hands, and how the tips of his fingers had seemed to blacken, holding the crushed doorknob in one hand and a melted lock in the other.
His voice came out as more of a hiss than the man likely intended, and as he spoke it took the child a moment to realize his mentor had a forked tongue and was speaking Parseltoungue as well.
"Mr. Potter... Harry, how long have they been locking your bedroom door?" The question was one that begged honesty, as Harry knew that his mentor knew about the cupboard.
Snape was aware of his unfortunate upbringing, but for the man to see it made Harry a bit self conscious.
"This isn't my room..." He whispered, gathering up the courage to speak again. "Its Dudley's second room, I'm only here because they didn't want others to know I never had a room."
The man in the doorway seemed to get even angrier than before, his eyes slitting, rather than just being that bright shock of blue. Not just his pupils either, as the whites of the Professor's eyes was steadily bleeding into a golden yellow color.
It was almost too much. Would Harry look like this if he lost his temper? How would he stop it, and would he look half as frightening as the man standing only feet away from him?
Severus noticed his little treasures wandering eyes. The boy was just as scared as he was intrigued, but Severus did not have the time to explain why he was partially shifting now, and not while in the school, when he visibly shows his anger.
He tried to keep his mouth from opening too wide, for he knew the fangs would further scare his mate into silence.
Taking a short moment to regrasp his control, Severus let go of the melted metal in his hands and instead moved slowly closer to the little dragon kin.
Harry wanted to be brave, since he knew this man, but his brain was also supplying the image of his mentor taking his anger out on Harry. He was scared, and for good reason. Never had he seen someone shift so seamlessly. Even when he saw Remus as a wolf, it still held nothing on the menace that rolled off of his mentor.
"Harry," the mans voice was smooth and sibilant as he spoke softly. "It is not you who has caught my ire. Your relatives will pay for this in blood, you need only say the word." His voice had returned somewhat to normal, and while his words were still dragged by the s's, he was now speaking English.
Which meant that Harry's relatives, who had hung back by the door when the partially shifted dragon barged into their home, could now understand his threats.
Uncle Vernon was ashen white, his cheeks a purple hue that belied his perpetual anger. He was frightened, but still headstrong, and would not stop arguing until he was dead.
Too bad Snape wouldn't have a problem with that particular challenge.
The man started talking, "Now see here, you freak--" but his voice was cut off by the taller thinner man lifting him above the railing of the stairs. One handedly...
The man was even more scared now, his only real defences was his superior weight, and even that failed him at the moment.
"What do you want?! Put my husband down!!" Petunia screeched, which woke Dudley and brought him out from his room.
The boy was stuck on one side of the hall, while his freak of a cousin was stunned speechless near the inhuman man. His parents were on the other side near the top of the stairs and he didn't know what to do.
"Sir?" Came the small voice from the door with the mess of melted locks.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?"
"What word would I need to say?" Harry asked, standing in the doorframe and staring at the scene.
His cousin looked about ready to pass out, and after a second look, so did his aunt and uncle. The adults seemed to realize that he had the fate of their lives in his small neglected hands, and they got even more terrified.
They knew that he couldn't raise a hand to them. He was weak, and unable to do magic outside of his little school. He was cowed to the point that he wouldn't even let the freaky lizard man harm them. Vernon had worked too hard to break the boys spirit, so he knew this at least.
"Hmm... how about Nighshade?" Snape smirked. He too could tell that his little Slytherin had made his decision, and when the boys mischievous green eyes looked back at him, he knew that this boy would be a force to reckon with when he grew up.
"Have they heard why you're here sir?" The boy whispered, looking for all intents and purposes like the small boy they expected.
"Ah, I had not the chance to... discuss the matter with youre relatives. Tell me Dursley, would you sign over full custody of Mr. Potter to a more deserving family?" He said it all so softly, his voice carrying around the upper floor of the house.
He was still holding Vernon up with little effort and Petunia was still blocked by the mans body from reaching her beloved son.
"What?!!" The three Dursley's exclaimed. They each knew what having the twerp gone would mean.
Sure they'd be happier to see the back of him, but he was also the only one who did the chores, the only one who cooked, the only one they could take their frustrations out on, then ignore the existence of. He was in essence their perfect servant-- i.e. slave-- and this man wanted to take the boy away?!
They each looked ready to protest, and only had the time to make varying noises of protest before a small voice cut through the thick silence.
"Oh... well then Nightshade." He said it so innocently, so meekly that Snape had to look back at the boy for confirmation. His body language was that of a small child looking to disappear, but his face and eyes held a wealth of malice and determination. He knew what he wanted to see happen, and if his relatives thought they could get out of this for one second, they were dead wrong.
Snape smirked wildly, his fangs now on full display as he stunned each family member and levitated them all down the stairs.
None of them could speak or scream, and as the tall man went around the room waving his wand and casting spells, they knew that unless Potter changed his mind, they would be in for worse pain than they'd been in last summer.
Harry followed the procession with his trunk behind him, fully dressed and smiling almost innocently, as if he knew they wouldn't last.
He sat on the sofa in the livingroom, a privilege he'd never been afforded, while they were almost in a heap across the floor. Crossing his legs, the boy took out a book, and began to read. He was humming softly while the lizard man was finishing up his spells. When the dark haired man looked back at them, he was very nearly fully human again.
The only difference were his eyes. Still a stark blue with slits, only the yellow had once again receded.
He paced slowly, almost as if he were perusing the shelves of his local market. He pointed his wand at them, and suddenly they could speak.
However they could not move, and despite their protests and threats of calling the police, the man did not react. He simply smiled unnervingly and looked to Harry.
"What shall I do first? Ah, yes..." the man reached into his robes and pulled out a vial of deep red liquid. Here he asked Harry for a drop of his blood, and after hesitating a bit, he complied.
He uncorked it, then after the intended blood was added, forced some of its contents down each of the captives throats.
"This will surely be an interesting scene." Snape mused, watching as the Dursleys twitched.
"You will experience every form of pain you have put Mr. Potter through since he was left in your care." The word care was spat into their general direction. "All at once..."
He smiled once again, before taking a seat across from his charge.
Lily's treasure watched the scene unfold, and as the group began to scream and wail in their agony, Harry looked over to his mentor concerned.
Catching on to the boys thoughts, Snape spoke. "Scream all you would like, swine, but no one will hear you, and no one will rescue your sorry arses from me. Unless Mr. Potter sees fit to release you from this."
He held up a purple vial then, an antidote, and placed it on the floor near the writhing muggles. They could only move as far as the twitching in their limbs as they experienced several bones break, hunger pains, headaches, sickness, the pain of internal bleeding, and bruises galore. Harry merely watched it all, lost in thought.
It didn't take a genius to know that this was wrong. That letting his mentor torture his relatives was a sick form of revenge, but he also knew that they would not learn otherwise. As bad as it was, he revelled in the pain they expressed so freely. So loudly they screamed, whereas Harry himself had learned that staying quiet meant less of a beating in the long run.
Nearly twelve minutes passed with the muggles screaming in agony, sweating and panting as their voices became raw from the torture.
"They can have it now... I'm bored." The boy spoke, aiming for nonchalance.
He wanted them to know what they'd done to him, but he didn't want them dead.
Snape administered the antidote, and as their captives lay twitching in pain, Harry asked if they would let him go now.
The family still thought to protest and Vernon spat in the boys direction.
Snape stood, and without a word kicked the man in the face, cracking his head against the floor. On his way back to his seat, he crushed the mans hand beneath his boot, causing a high pitched, whistling scream to come from the wider man.
The dark wizard sat back in his seat, pointing his wand at the broken hand, setting it back into place with the most painful healing spell he knew.
Harry was appalled that he could be so at ease with his mentor doing these things, but another side of him, the jaded angry bit that he kept locked away, came out to play.
He smiled happily as his angry mentor threw spells at his relatives, bending their legs and fingers backwards until they begged Harry to make it stop.
Snape simply kept going, saying that the pleas weren't loud enough, weren't sincere enough. Dudley had passed out from the pain several times, but Snape would only re-ennervate the big child when it happened.
"No rest for the wicked." He'd muse in Parseltoungue, causing Harry to giggle almost everytime.
Then the man would switch tactics, cutting their flesh like they had done to his mate. Burning their skin and hair like they had done to his mate. Only barely healing the wounds-- you guessed it-- like they had done to his mate.
He made sure not to speak so much as he worked, it wouldn't do to let Harry know that he was his Professors mate. Severus did not want the boy to feel obligated to be with him, nor for the boy to back away from the implications of the word.
A mate was someone who cared undeniably for another. There was usually a sexual leaning to the relationships, but if one mate was underage, then the other would not feel any urges or the need to complete the courting or bond until the younger was of age.
To Severus he was avenging the past of his charge. The whelp he had sworn to protect. The mate bond was just an added affect of their heritage.
Ridding himself of the thoughts, the man released the muggles off the spells, setting everything back into place, and feeding them a minor pain potion to stop the tremors in their limbs.
He had them under a diluted form of the Cruciatus, and as their nerves had finally calmed, he summoned the change of custody and adoption papers, and a muggle pen. Placing it on the table not far from the Dursley's.
The two wizards watched as the man tried again to protest, but cut himself off as he realized the state his family was in.
Glaring at Harry, he snatched the papers, signed them, and gave them over to his wife to sign as well.
Petunia was a mess, her hair in tangles, and sweat had soaked through her clothing.
She knew this man, knew how cruel he had seemed in their childhood, but lily had loved him like a brother, and it made her jealous. Her own sister cared more for some ugly little boy than she did for her, and it was this, paired with keeping her real family out of harm's way, that made her sign.
She threw disgusted glances at the man before deciding to make one last mistake.
She accused the man of being a pedophile, and only protecting the little freak so he could lure him into his creepy little life and bed. She then said that if he had friends, that that was all they were looking for from Harry too. That he was as much of a freak as he was a good for nothing. He'd probably only be good for sex in the wizarding world.
Harry saw red at this, for some reason he couldn't fathom the woman talking bad about his mentor or friends, and after she signed her name, he let himself kick her in the stomach, hissing at her to keep his friends names out of her pathetic mouth.
Inside, his little jaded heart was content with what had happened. Snape too took out a bit of revenge in amplifying the pain of Harry's blow to her stomach to nearly double.
He too was tiring of their pathetic anger and empty pleas. Standing up he told Harry to wait at the door while he felt with them, once and for all.
Harry listened and thanked his mentor, leaving the livingroom and standing by the door as his mentor spoke in a snide tone to his relatives.
"A pleasure I'm sure, now if you would excuse me, I must escort Mr. Potter to his new home."
He heard a few more spells and three thumps as his relatives fell to the floor. Soon Snape was leading him out, and locking the doors behind them. The blood wards deactivated just as they apparated away.
Landing somewhere in a large field of grass and purple wildflowers, Harry asked what the man had done after Harry left.
He grabbed his truck and after the man shrunk it for him, placed it into his pocket.
"I simply obliviated them of the nights activities, locked away most of their happiest memories, and planted the thought that you had simply run away and that they couldn't be happier. They will remember you, but always feel a horrid pain when they think or speak ill of you. Finally, I lifted the privacy charms around the house and covered up my magical signature in case some other witch or wizard comes looking for you in the next week or so." He explained, before leading Harry to a large estate surrounded by trees.
A/N: Ba-Da!! Chapter 11 is done!
I hope this one wasn't too much to read, but I just love torturing the Dursley's in my fics. Hope you all have a good night or day, and thanks for reading!!
-Xenia
