S: Welcome Back! Cries Why I can I never write anything without angst in it?
Warning: Dark themes, malexmale relationship (HP/SS), OOC characters,
Disclaimer: I find it easiest to say I own nothing, because it's true,
and if you sue you'll own nothing too -.-
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Chapter 2
You Aren't Serious Are You?
"Harry, I'm being serious." The tall man's voice held none of the hidden joking it usually did.
"No you're not. Because as far as I remember Sirius has four legs." The man rubbed the bridge of his nose in a sign of irritation and Harry couldn't help grinning. It was one of the lamest jokes they had been passing back and forth for years now, one that always served to put Sev's teeth on edge.
"Potter." The tone of voice was one that Harry hated. It held that aristocratic sting to it and it was one that always meant play time was over. It wasn't used often, but when Severus did, Harry was forced to listen, it was similar to Harry's backstreet growl, it meant business was to be conducted.
"I'm listening." They were still in the large hall and the people were still watching them. Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, he tried to play cool in front of large crowds, but he still held a paranoia for them. A reason reporters only ever came alone or in pairs.
"If this is Hogwarts." A hand on his shoulder and he leaned into the support, the man aware of his aversion for large numbers of people. "then this should be a good place to conduct research, maybe even put out a new branch, lift the game for the Weasley twins. " Harry looked up at his husband, the mischievous gleam that others never saw in the dark eyes caught him and he grinned.
"If this place is magical, then Magical it shall be." The boy sung, a small melody already forming in his mind. His husband may have been the most respected alchemist of the time, a great inventor of chocolates and other sweets, but Harry Potter-Snape was known for the way he could twist people and emotions with his catchy tunes, his advertising jingles and the way he played with words. He was also, unknown to many, the one who played with the bolts and screws of the great chocolate factory in the bowels of the world first created by Willy Wonka. He fixed and invented machines, working on what the eccentric man had first accomplished, creating his own, or continuing where Charlie Bucket had left off.
"Perhaps it would be best if you were to remind us once more who this Willy Wonka is? Mr Harry Potter-Snape, was it?" The man who had first spoken, stood at the head of the table, his voice reaching them clearly even as they stood almost at the exit of the room.
There was magic in that voice.
Harry could feel the way the man's self-assurance, and faked innocence, the magic weaved into the voice to try and control them grated along Severus's nerves in the way the hand tightened on his shoulder.
"We would be delighted, just leave a message at 1800Wonka, and we'll get back to you with an appointment." It was a sentence that the two had spouted more than once, but Harry had never heard it said in this cold tone. "Come on Harry." The hand on his shoulder had moved down to his elbow and he was being guided out of the hall, his husband walking almost in his footsteps. It was a protective gesture that Harry often chaffed at, but the weirdness of this situation was starting to get at him. He waved at the shocked look of the old man, his large fake grin back on his face.
"Toodles!" He called out as they disappeared from the hall.
They were walking fast down the corridor as they heard the silence of the hall they left break in a swell of sound. Harry had to almost jog to catch up to the taller man.
"Um, Sev… do you know where you're going?" Harry asked nervously, his husband had that dangerous air about him. The man didn't stop his fast paced walk.
"No idea." The grin shot back at him had Harry jogging a little faster so they were abreast.
"Do you really think this is Hogwarts?" He asked, the idea still seeming a little unreal to him. The frown on the older man's face confirmed his suspicions.
"It has to be." He shot Harry a look. "And now we know why he left."
"That man really does seem like our Albus, doesn't he?" Harry smiled.
"I told you. A psychopath." Severus replied and Harry shook his head. No matter how much Severus grumbled, they both felt connected to the goat they had back home.
He had been rescued from an old farmhouse that had somehow manage to escape the growth of the city. It had sat abandoned for years under the shadow of the tower buildings that had gone up around it, yet no one had payed it any attention. Harry had always said it had a sense of magic around it, a shield that made it unnoticeable, Severus had always said it was due to the presence of the goat. But neither had mattered when Malfoy Construction Co had moved into the city, the building had been torn down to make way for a structure of metal and glass. A skyscraper to match the rest of the perfectly unified city.
Only the Chocolate factory with its spiralling red and white chimneys that Harry had insisted painting, the colour scheme that Severus had refused to agree to. A patchwork of fire engine red, gold, and bright purple that was always associated with Willy Wonka had transformed the factory into a landmark. Harry had made the factory a statement in itself, people came to admire it, everyone knew what those three colours stood for, the curled double letters WW etched in gold.
The Malfoys detested it.
It clashed so horrendously with the rest of the unified city and that was probably the main reason Harry had wanted to paint the factory. There had to be something individual, unique in the world of glass and metal that now dominated the globe.
Before in the endless rows of brick red and black roofs, Willy Wonka's factory stood out, pure white. Ivory caught in the world of grey streets and black soot, a world in itself, defiant of the constrictions around it. Now the curving bright colours contrasted with the world of glass, hard reflective edges of metal, and Harry loved the way the factory was now seen as a symbol of childhood memories, simple, colourful joys, the sweet things in life.
Harry frowned pulling himself out of thoughts of home and pushing his mind into working out where they were at the present.
"If this is a different world… do you think we all have doubles?" Severus shot a look back at him, Harry could see the way he absorbed the question, the gears working behind his dark eyes.
"It could be possible, we have doubles, and I swear that boy with the red hair beside your double was related to the Weasleys, Albus does seem similar to our own, and the sever woman with her in a bun looked a lot like Minerva."
Harry blinked, he hadn't even though of that. Minerva was a good friend of their's, an older woman who owned a flower shop at the corner of their street, one of the buildings on their block which held old world charm, saved from reconstruction, by the fact it was actually a part of the chocolate factories deeds.
"Harry!" The voice caught their fast pace and they stumbled to a stop. A man with three parallel scars that ran across his nose and his cheek stared at Harry, from the doorway of a room just ahead of them.
"Er yes?" He backed up a little and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He gave a grateful glance up at his husband.
"Severus?"
"Those are our names." The dangerous voice of his husband rumbled low against Harry's back as he lent back into his chest.
"Are you feeling alright Harry?" The man had stepped forward, a concerned look on his face. Harry noticed he had familiar amber eyes.
"Don't touch him Remus! He's an impostor!" The man drew back surprised, and Harry turned to see a dark haired man running up behind them, followed by a group of people, including the old man, and Severus's double.
"What's going on Sirius?" The man who must have been Remus glance at Harry and Severus before turning back to the others who had raced up and where all now pointing sticks at them.
"Sirius? Remus?" Harry looked back and forth before the two men before he grinned up at his husband. "How cute are they! Look at them, they're just so gorgeous! Just gorgeous!"
Everyone stared at him and Harry couldn't help bouncing a little on his toes in his excitement as he cooed.
"They look better as mutts." His husband toned behind him and Harry turned to smack him lightly on the stomach.
"No they don't! They make such cute people!" He cocked his head at Remus. "I'd have to say Remus is definitely hotter. But he still looks so thin, no one's been feeding him properly." The man looked down at himself before looking at Harry with an extremely puzzled look on his face.
It had been when Harry was young, just new to the streets, when he had encountered the two stray dogs. Sirius and Remus. The two had taught him to live off the streets, they protected him and had become like uncle's, he in turn had tried to provide for them with his human form whatever he could, whenever he could, often it meant stealing food. They had looked out for each other.
They had become a pack.
They now lived with him in the factory, leaving occasionally for the streets when the comfortable life become too dreary. Sometimes all Harry wanted to do was pack up everything and go with them, but he knew he couldn't. They had freedoms he didn't.
"What is it you are actually talking about? And what is you business here at Hogwarts?" The old man with the long beard broke through Harry's inspection of the two men.
"Oh, we're just passing through." Harry waved his hand flippantly, the rest of his reply cut short.
"Look here, whoever you are-" The voice was low, sharp and dangerous and Harry blinked as the man with the long dark robe stepped forward intimidating, using the dark drawl of his husband.
"Severus." The old man's tone held a warning in it but the other didn't heed it.
"How dare you think that you can come here and embarrass me in such a manner. Dressed like a muggle, totting Potter as your husband." The word was spat out like a disease. Harry realised the man was talking over his messy haired head at the mirror image of himself. "Did you think I would not retaliate at the way you have sullied my image, attempted to humiliate me. If I find out this is another prank by the Weasley twins I will-"
"The Weasley twins are already here?" Harry interrupted, feeling disappointment surge through him. "Damn it! They must've known about this place for years, must've set up a branch if they're already known here. Why didn't they tell us?" The Weasley Twins, red haired, freckle faced mischievous young men, a few years older than Harry had befriended him during one of the many mishaps he had found himself in when he had been on the streets.
They were known pranksters, and had used their tricks to become a bit of a legend among the street folk, having escaped more than once from the grasp of the law. They had divulged their secret ambition to Harry that when they were old enough, when they had the resources they would establish their own business. Harry hadn't doubted them, as they had already found out much about business life from the factories they had worked in, established a credibility as incredibly hard workers, and incredible inventors.
When Harry had moved into the chocolate factory, he hadn't forgotten his friends or his past in the glow of his new life. He had helped provide a concrete foundation and base for the two, helping to establish their business. It had remained a secret to this day that the Willy Wonka company had funded the formation of it's 'arch-nemisis'.
Harry had been there when they had opened the champagne to celebrate their first year anniversary, their climb in the candy and prank business, when they had surpassed the sale of Willy Wonka's wonderberry gum, with their Bubble burst, a Bubblegum, that unlike Wonka's non-bursting gum, burst at any given time in a huge sticky mess and a loud explosion. A favourite for school boys - it had been banned from classrooms.
They had shared celebrations, complained about falls in sales, pranked each other on more than one occasion and swapped and traded inventions and ideas.
Like the time Harry had complained to Severus about the fact that Willy Wonka never had an adults only section in his company while the Weasley's business boomed from their "Sweet as Candy" section. Severus had merely rolled his eyes at the suggestion, but Harry knew he'd been affected when he had even invented a type of candy that once rolled flat could be used much in the same way as material. The Weasley's had grown in fame with their Cherry flavoured edible underwear.
"The only thing they've started is their own branch of anarchism within these walls. They shall be missed when they leave these halls for good."
Harry blinked as a small man squeaked in reply.
"The Weasley twins must be another double." Harry's husband mused, to clear Harry's confusion. "Or quadruple." He smirked and Harry only shook his head.
"Do not ignore me." The tall man with his raven hair out strode forward. "I don't know who you think you are to believe that you will get away with this, but no one sullies the name of the Snapes. This prank was obviously to insult my heritage with such a display of muggle attire."
There was a deathly silence caught in the glower of the dark haired man dressed in robes.
Harry held his breath, not sure how his husband would react to the offensive tone.
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--- To be con't
A/N: I apologise for not updating this sooner, hopefully once I get Confusion under control again, this will be update a little more often.
And I'm sorry for the darker twist this is taking, but hope you like it anyway.
fingers crossed for reviews