Hey y'all! :) Happy Sunday!
Thank you lilyflower101 for your comment! And don't worry, there will be a happy end for Salazar ;)
I thought I'd take the time and give you all an update on my stories (feel free to skip this and read the chapter first lol, it's kinda boring XD)
1. This story, Training Thomas, will have 15 chapters, and I just finished writing the last one. I am hoping to upload all remaining chapters this year.
2. I am currently writing another story called Transforming Thomas, which will also have 15 chapters. I am working on chapter 13 right now, and I am planning to publish that story in January since it's almost done. I struggled getting back to it for a while, and I am really glad I got it figured out eventually.
3. There's another story that I have not started writing yet, but I have the outline for it. It will be called Tackling Thomas, and it will involve some of your suggestions for further stories- the setting will be mostly in Hogwarts, Aurelius will play a bigger part, and a few more things. I am planning to write 10 chapters for that one, and hopefully, I will be able to upload it in February or March. There are no other stories planned after that one, at least not yet.
So, that's it for now :D I hope you all like this chap, Sal is going to show up for the first time, and Dumbles does as well. He is quite evil in this story, but I can tell you already that his punishment will be...gruesome.
Thank you for reading! :)
Oh yeah, and I am NOT a professional chess player, so please correct me if I am wrong here ;)
"I messed up."
Salazar slowly turned his head to face him, "what…do you…mean?", it was not easy for him to talk, but thanks to his determination, his speech got more fluent every day.
Godric sighed, covering his head in his hands, "it's hard to explain", he mumbled, even though it really wasn't- he just could not tell Salazar the truth about the bet, and what he was really doing with Thomas- his partner would be horrified.
He decided to go with a light version of the truth, "Thomas was being disrespectful and I wanted to discipline him, and Aurelius took the strike instead of him. He…I hit him in the face."
Salazar stayed silent for a moment, and there was something like sadness in his eyes- he felt guilty for being so useless and helpless, and he knew that his partner was stressed out with the trials, the Ministry, Dumbledore, and the boys- and even though he had so much on his plate, he had decided to take Tom in as well, just to do him a favor.
"Send…them to Hogwarts, maybe?", he suggested, "at least…for a while. You are…working…too much."
"I am", Gryffindor admitted, sighing again, "but Hogwarts is not safe for the boys- we tried with Sirius, and all they did was harass him, and blaming him for Dumbledore's arrest. I am not having him go through that again."
Salazar nodded, even though it caused him pain, "you should…talk to…Aurelius. He…is a good boy…wanting to…protect Tom. He…sees him as his…brother already."
"I guess so", Gryffindor did not like the idea of that- he was only keeping Thomas for a month, and then he would send him away. He was certainly not have this wild, rude boy running around in his house a second longer than necessary.
And from the look the boy had given him earlier, it was clear that the feeling was mutual- Thomas would be glad to see the back of him.
Maybe I should just stop that ridiculous bet- it's already been a week and there have not been any improvements.
He had hoped letting Aurelius train him for a while would help, but the boy had made it very clear that he was only going to listen to Aurelius, and not him.
I'll have to beat him into submission if I want him to obey me.
That thought was not pleasant- Gryffindor did not care much for the boy, but the idea of beating him until he was in enough pain to agree to literally anything he said repulsed him. He had hoped that locking him up, spanking him and starving him would be enough to make him obey, but so far, none of the punishments that had worked for his sons had worked for Thomas.
"What…are you thinking…about?", his partner asked, and Gryffindor forced himself to snap out of his brooding, plastering a smile on his face, "just…you know, which Healer I can contact next and…"
"You…should stop", Salazar's voice was fierce, "you went…to Iceland…and nothing. You have to…accept…"
"I won't accept it, I can't!", Godric interrupted him, his voice pained, "I will find a cure, I promised you I will!"
"I know", Salazar smiled, and then he lifted his arm with great effort, "my…hero", he winked at him playfully, and Godric's heart ached with despair. It was not fair, this life that his partner, the love of his life was forced to live now- bedridden, unable to walk or run, constantly being tired and in pain…
It should have been me, not him.
He thought about this often, and more so in the last week. Salazar would not have any problems with making Thomas obey him, and he would easily be able keep Aurelius and Sirius in line, and he would probably have gotten some information out of Dumbledore…
Everything is falling apart- and it's my fault.
"Let's go, baby bear- I am going to run a bath for you and tuck you into bed."
Tom did not move though, he just kept staring at him, "your…face…"
"It looks worse than it is", Aurelius told him, forcing himself to smile, "I'll take care of it as soon as you are sleeping tight. Come on", he extended a hand, and Tom immediately grabbed it, "but…are you allowed to…take me upstairs?"
"Don't worry, my father won't have a problem with that", Aurelius said through clenched teeth, fury in his eyes. He still could not believe that his father had really tried to cane the boy- and that he had locked him up down here without feeding him lunch or dinner.
"You will eat, take a bath, and then you'll go to bed", he led Tom into the hallway and up the stairs, "you must be hungry."
"I am", the boy responded quietly, holding his hand, "is…are you going to be in trouble now, Relius?"
"For protecting you from a cruel and unfair punishment? I doubt it", he was lying, he was certain his father was furious, but at the moment, he did not care. He had Tom to worry about, and he had to make sure Sirius had eaten dinner, because last time he had seen him, he was still studying.
They went upstairs, and he frowned when he spotted Sirius hunched over some books in the classroom, his face pale and tired.
"Let's go have dinner, baby boy", he told his brother, extending his other hand to him, "and then you two will have a bath and go to bed."
"What…happened to your face, Relius?", Sirius asked, staring at him, "did you hurt yourself?"
"It was an accident- nothing to worry about", Aurelius calmed him down, "come on, you have studied enough for today. You need to go to sleep, baby boy."
"Are you going to tell us a story?", Sirius asked quietly, gratefully grabbing his hand.
"Of course", he forced himself to smile, taking both boys to the dining room, relieved that Sirius had easily accepted his lie about the accident.
The house elves served them a lavish dinner, and then he put the boys in a bathtub covered in bubbles, but they both seemed subdued and drained, not even smiling at the bubble tower he built for them.
They were both rather clingy that night, and he ended up with one boy on each knee, both snuggling into him while he told them a story.
"Bedtime now, boys", he eventually said, and the boys instantly cuddled into bed next to each other, and he bent down to give each of them a goodnight kiss.
"Love you, baby boy…love you, baby bear…"
"I love you too, Relius", Tom whispered back, and Sirius yawned, "love you, big brother", he sounded sleepy, and this time, his smile was not forced when he tucked them in tightly, "I'll see you tomorrow morning- have some wonderful dreams."
The boys mumbled something, and he quietly left the room, exhaling deeply outside in the hallway.
His face still hurt, and he intended to go get an ice pack for it, but before he was able to make it to the kitchen, his father appeared, "we…should talk, Aurelius", he said, but without his usual air of arrogance.
"I let Tom come up and I just put him and Sirius to bed", he replied, bracing himself for another punishment, but his father simply nodded, "alright, thank you- I was actually going to…apologize to you. I should not have…I did not mean to strike you."
"I know- you meant to hurt Tom."
His father shot him an irritated glance, "well, he deserved it- clearly you can see now that his obedience was only an act- he listened to you, not to me, and that does not make him obedient."
Aurelius was too hurt and too tired to explain to his father why the boy had only followed his commands- and really, why was that his duty? His father was the one in charge, and he was sick of being treated like he was an adult when he was only sixteen years old.
Let him figure it out by himself.
"Maybe you should train him in something else for a while", he could not help himself to suggest though, "take a different approach."
"I could do that- there are plenty of things the boy does not know about", his father agreed, much to his surprise, "he can stay up here, and you can tell him I even let him see that…dog if he can behave himself for me- and I want to train him myself now, we'll start with an hour a day. You will bring him to the library in the west wing tomorrow at ten o'clock- I have a meeting with Fudge at noon, so I need him to be punctual."
"Yes, Father", he replied, an hour was doable- he would make the boy promise to behave himself, and knowing Tom, he would do about anything now to make him happy.
"Thank you, son", Gryffindor gave him a tentative smile, reminding him of a time when they actually had a good relationship, before everything had gone to shit.
"You are welcome, Father", he responded stiffly, the memories hurt- just as much as his face still did from the strike with the cane, "if you allow, I was going to go to the kitchen to get some ice- my face is still hurting."
"I am sorry", the apology sounded sincere, and Aurelius had to blink, "uhm…it's okay."
"I am sorry", his father repeated, and then he waved his hand, and the pain on his face instantly faded, "I know…this has not been easy for you, and…I am trying. I am really trying to get a cure for your dad."
"I know you are", and he was grateful for it, after every Healer in the country had given up on his dad, his father was the only one who was still desperately searching night and day for a cure, and with each new disappointment, he had gotten more and more angry and bad tempered.
"I have another meeting at the Ministry", his father now said, and suddenly, he looked just as tired as Aurelius felt, "I won't be back until midnight- are you going to be okay here?"
"Yes, Father."
I have been for the last months- not that you ever cared.
"Good", the Founder nodded with approval, "make sure the boy is at the library at ten o' clock tomorrow- and have him dressed appropriately."
"Yes, Father", he would make sure of that- even if Tom was going to fight him about it. He could not risk having the boy getting locked up in the basement again, or forcing him through another round of obedience training.
As expected, Tom was very reluctant to behave when he told him to meet Gryffindor at ten, and obviously, the boy was still angry about the strike with the cane.
"How could he just do that and walk away? I don't wanna spend any more time with him! I don't need no training!", and he glared at him angrily, "I wanna get Bacon and leave!"
"That is not an option right now, baby bear."
"Yeah, it is! You could just let me go! I hate all this!", and he slammed the towel he had been using to dry himself off after the shower on the floor, "wanna leave!"
"If you leave, there won't be any more bedtime stories, or bubble towers, or snuggling with me", Aurelius reminded him softly, "now pick up the towel and get dressed, Tommy."
"No! Don't want to!"
He sighed, and then he gently turned the boy around, delivering a smack to his bare backside, "time to get dressed, baby bear."
"No!", he was pushing now, still drained and confused from yesterday, and Aurelius was the perfect target because he knew he would never hurt him for real- he was safe with him.
"I think someone needs to stand in the corner for a while and think about how to be a good boy, hmm?"
"No!", he was sobbing, and he started to struggle when Aurelius picked him up and carried him to the corner, "five minutes, Tommy- and then we'll try again."
He dropped him off in the corner, making him face the wall, and then he put the towel around the boy's waist, giving him some comfort and cover.
He heard the boy stomp his foot, so he walked back, delivered another swat to his backside, and forced his feet apart, "six minutes now, Tom", he told him, his voice firm.
The boy sobbed again, but he did not stomp his foot again, and after two minutes, Aurelius could hear him crying quietly.
"Come here, baby bear."
He had barely finished his sentence when the boy turned around and ran towards him, his face wet with tears.
"'m sorry! Sorry!", he pressed his face into his chest, crying, and Aurelius gently picked him up, holding him close, "shhh…I know…all forgiven, sweet boy."
"Was mad at Gryffindor, not you!"
"I figured", he was smiling, enjoying to hold the younger boy in his arms, "you wanted to test me, hmm? See how much you could push the boundaries."
The boy flushed with shame, and Aurelius had to laugh, "that's perfectly normal, Tommy- it just means you feel safe enough with me to test the limits a little. And you know I would never truly hurt you, right?"
"Yah- don't wanna be spanked, though."
"Behave, then- it's not as hard as it sounds", he grinned when the boy rolled his eyes, glad to have him back, "now let's get you dressed- Sirius is probably eating all the pancakes without you already."
"I love pancakes!", his eyes lit up, and it warmed his heart, "hurry up and get dressed then, baby bear."
"Help me?", the boy asked, suddenly worried he would pick out a strange combination again, and Aurelius nodded, "of course."
He took the boy to his walk in closet, and soon he was dressed in a comfortable, navy blue sweater, grey jeans and some grey socks.
He carefully combed his hair, and Tom held perfectly still, and he held his hand the whole time to the dining hall, and did not even complain when Aurelius washed his face and hands after, they were sticky with syrup.
"Good boy, Tommy", he praised him, "ready to go?"
It was almost ten, they had spent too much time in the bathroom, and now it was really time to go.
The boy swallowed hard, grabbing his hand again, "are you…going to stay, Relius?", he asked quietly, but the older boy shook his head, "I can't- I have to help Sirius with his studies, and I have some work to do as well…but I will see you at lunch, okay?"
"I get to see Bacon if I am good, right?"
"Yes, Tommy- you get to see Bacon, and you get to pick a story tonight."
"And…we can…uhm…hang out?"
Aurelius smiled, knowing exactly what the boy meant by hang out, "yes, Tommy, we can snuggle as long as you want tonight."
The boy blushed, "that would be…that sounds pretty good", he pretended to be all casual, and Aurelius, who saw right through it, smiled to himself.
Sweet boy- you need all the love you can get.
He led him to the library, and the boy was perfectly obedient on the way there- holding his hand, walking at his pace, and being quiet.
When Aurelius opened the door to the library, he saw the boy tremble for a second, but then, he quickly regained his composure.
I can do this.
They entered the room, and Tom gasped in surprise.
Whoa!
The library was huge, and even though Tom did not care much for books, he could not stop himself from staring in amazement at the massive bookshelves going all the way up the ceiling, the thick rugs on the floor, and the spiral staircase connecting the ground floor with the upper level, where he could spot some armchairs and couches.
Gryffindor was waiting for him on the ground level, standing by a stone build fireplace.
"Good morning, Thomas", he kept his voice even, and Tom ducked his head.
"Good morning, Sir", he answered after a second of hesitance.
I'm doing this for Aurelius.
He could hear Gryffindor humming in approval, "thank you, son", he eventually said, "I will talk to you later."
"Yes, Father", Aurelius' voice was emotionless, and then he planted a soft kiss on Tom's head- and then, he was gone.
For a moment, there was a silence- a quite uncomfortable one.
Tom wanted nothing more than to run, to follow Aurelius, and to get the hell out of here- but he'd promised.
"We will do some training this morning- a different kind of training."
His heart started to beat faster, and he felt cold sweat on his back.
Different kind? The kind where he beats me with something else than a cane?
"Do you know how to play chess, Thomas?"
What?
"What?"
Gryffindor looked at him, eyebrows raised, "I asked you if you know how to play chess, Thomas", he enunciated every word, sounding somewhat annoyed.
"No…no, I don't…Sir."
"I thought so", his voice was dry, but there was a hint of arrogance in it, of judgment- and Tom bit his lips so hard they hurt.
I'm doing this for Aurelius.
"Part of your training is to learn all the things you do not know- things you need to present yourself as a well- educated, sophisticated young man", Gryffindor explained, walking over to a chess board, "and knowing how to playing chess is one of these things."
What if I don't want to present myself as a smug, spoiled young snob?
"I doubt that this will…work, Sir", he mumbled, trying to balance his words carefully, and he eyes the chess board suspiciously. It was clearly very old, and it looked expensive- the pieces were all made out of ivory, and he was already afraid to break them or mess up the board.
"It will work- all you do is have to listen to me explain the rules- and maybe by the end of the week, we can play a simple game."
By the end of the week- he does not seem to think I get the rules within a couple days, then.
It should not surprise him that Gryffindor thought he was an idiot- but what did surprise him was how much it hurt.
"Sit down", Gryffindor instructed him, and he sat, feeling somewhat numb.
"I will start by explaining the meaning of each piece to you- try to memorize them, Thomas."
"Yes…Sir."
I'm doing this for Aurelius.
And then Gryffindor started, slowly explaining every piece on the board- and Tom easily remembered them, drawing them in his head. Since he struggled so much with reading, he had to memorize a lot- and working in the pub had taught him to use his memory.
"I am not expecting you to remember all of this, obviously", Gryffindor said after he was done.
Obviously.
Tom looked down, feeling defeated already.
"Do you remember what this piece is called, Thomas?", he held up the king, and Tom wanted to huff with annoyance, but he kept his cool, "the king, Sir."
I mean, really?
"Good- and this one?"
"The knight, Sir."
This is boring…he really thinks I can't remember six names?
Apparently, Gryffindor did- because he asked him about every chess piece, and then he started to set them up, telling him what the goal of the game was, and which ways each piece was allowed to travel across the board- and it was strangely intriguing.
"For example I'd start by moving a pawn to d4, and then you would move a pawn to f5, and then I'd move a bishop to g5, you could then move a pawn to h6, and then I would have to move the bishop back to h4, and then you could move another pawn to g5, and then I would move a pawn to e4 and then…"
"And then I would capture your bishop by moving my pawn to h4, so you could move your queen to h5", Tom easily finished, moving the pieces across the board, "checkmate!", he smiled at the Founder triumphantly, "that was way too predictable."
"Was it now?", Gryffindor could not help himself, he had to smile back at the boy, "are you sure you have not played this before, Thomas?"
"Quite sure", the boy replied, "can we play for real now? This is kinda fun."
Gryffindor looked at him silently for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. He seemed to want to say something, but eventually, he just nodded, putting the chess pieces back in their original position.
"Go ahead, Thomas- you can be white this time."
"Fine by me", Tom replied, moving his pawn to e4, and after Gryffindor had moved his pawn to c6, he quickly moved another pawn to d4.
"Hmm…interesting", Gryffindor moved another pawn to d5.
Tom just smiled to himself, moving a knight to c3.
"Got you there, Thomas", the Founder took one of his pawn's off after moving his own from 5d to e4.
"Got you right back", Tom easily moved his knight from c3 to e4, capturing his pawn, and Gryffindor had to laugh, "you are good at this, Thomas."
I know- I am surprised, too.
He watched Gryffindor move a knight to d7, and he had an idea where this was going now, so he decided to take a risk and move his queen to e2.
"You sure about that, Thomas?"
"Not really", he admitted, but then he grinned in triumph when he saw the Founder move another knight to f6, and he moved his knight from e4 to d6, "what you call that?"
"Smothered mate", Gryffindor grudgingly told him, frowning, "you won, Thomas."
"Yeah, crazy, right? This training surely beats that other crap about obedience", he had gotten some confidence back by winning, "can we play again?"
"Certainly- and this time, I won't go easy on you. I want to make sure this is not just some case of beginner's luck."
Tom just laughed, enjoying this way more than he was willing to admit. They played again, and this time, Gryffindor did win- but it was a close call.
"Best of three?", the Founder suggested, and Tom nodded, "okay."
He wanted to win this, badly- for reasons he did not want to elaborate, and Gryffindor wanted to win just as much, so they played almost silently, concentrating hard.
It was fun, and it was exciting- and Tom easily forgot about why he was here, and he forgot about the punishments, the training, and the cell in the basement- he just played.
And he almost did win, but then Gryffindor captured his king, checkmating him, and the game was over.
"Well done, Thomas", the Founder looked pleased, "I am glad to see that not all of your training was a waste of time."
Tom bit his lips, he had wanted to win, and being defeated twice in a row sucked, "thank you, Sir", he forced himself to say, "can I go now? It's almost eleven o' clock, right?"
"It's almost one o' clock", the Founder corrected, amusement in his voice, "you made me miss a meeting with the Minister for Magic."
"You made me miss a meeting with Bacon!", Tom shot right back, "he's probably going crazy in the shed!"
"I'll let you go see him after lunch- and tomorrow, I am expecting you to be back here at ten."
"You gonna teach me somethin' else?"
"I will."
Tom stifled a smile, but he did not want Gryffindor to know that he was kind of looking forward to it, so he just nodded, "I'll be here."
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow then, Thomas."
"Yeah…see you tomorrow…Sir", he left the library, feeling…strange.
I'm supposed to hate him. I do hate him…right?
Well, even if he struggled hating Gryffindor right now, the good news was that the Founder still hated him- and he would let him go eventually.
Unknowing to him, Gryffindor had very similar thoughts at the same time, and by now, he was cursing himself for agreeing to that stupid bet- it had made everything so much more complicated.
I should call it off- tell them he's too wild.
He sighed, thinking of the smug faces of the men in his inner circle. They would gloat, and he was not sure if he could handle another blow right now- after his family was pretty much in shambles.
But then he thought of Thomas' face when he had checkmated him, the proud sparkle in his eyes- and he sighed again.
I cannot do that to him. I just can't.
Before he could worry about the bet though, he had to go see Fudge- who was waiting for him since an hour. Therefore, he apparated to the Ministry, making some small talk with a group of witches he ran into in the entrance hall, but before he could make his way to Fudge's office, a nervous looking man appeared next to him, "Mr. Gryffindor, Sir?"
"Yes?"
"I…my name is Jennings, I am working at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"My pleasure. How can I help you?", he asked absently, his mind going back to the bet constantly.
"Dumbledore requested to see you, Sir."
Gryffindor snorted, "does he have new information for me, then? Otherwise, you can let him know that he is wasting my time", he did not even try to hide the disdain from his voice. Dumbledore had ruined everything- he had destroyed his family, he had crippled his partner, and he had betrayed not only him, but a whole army of people who had fought for him, who had died for him…
Life in Azkaban is still too kind for that bastard.
"I…I am not sure, Master Gryffindor", Jennings had turned red, and he was sweating, which made him look even more nervous, "he…he is back at the holding cells here for another interrogation, and I went to see him this morning, and…"
"Thank you, Jennings", the Founder interrupted, not interested in listening to any more of his ramblings about Dumbledore, "I will take care of it."
"Thank you, Sir", Jennings said, even though he technically had nothing to thank him for- but people thanked him without a reason all the time, so Gryffindor did not bother to correct him.
He was too agitated to see Fudge now, so he made a quick turn and went to the stairs leading to the basement of the Ministry- where the cells were.
The wardens bowed their heads respectfully when they saw him, and no one questioned what he was doing here, so he made his way to Dumbledore's cell without any interruptions.
The former headmaster was kept in a single cell all the way at the end of the hall- and it was protected by a bunch of spells, a silencing spell being one of them, which meant that Dumbledore was not able to be heard unless someone entered his cell.
It disgusted him to be that close to the person who had ruined his life, but he did not have a choice in that matter.
"What an honor!", Dumbledore's pale eyes stared at him in mockery, "I see Jennings submitted my message?"
"What do you want, bastard?"
He was done being nice. He was so done with all the bullshit.
"Oh oh…looks like someone had a rough night…well, the work going in raising three boys, right?", and he had the nerve to smile at him now, an evil glint in his eyes.
"I've got two", Gryffindor responded, making the mistake of rising to the bait, and Dumbledore chuckled, "two, and the one you are betting for- makes three."
Everything inside him froze, "how do you…"
"I have my sources", Dumbledore said in the annoying sing sang voice he always used when he had to talk to him, "now, how is it going? The boy is as wild as an untamed horse, am I right?"
He was- but there was no way in hell he would agree with anything Dumbledore said, not even about the color of the sky, "it's none of your damn business- what do you want?"
"The same as you do- seeing Voldemort on his knees", Dumbledore replied, hatred in his voice, "I want him broken, and I want you to break him."
"I am not doing shit for you, Dumbledore- unless you give me what I want."
"Information about the poison."
"Yes", he said through clenched teeth, "we've been through this already- and I am done playing games, Dumbledore."
"No games- just a deal. A fair deal."
"You better not talk about fairness in my presence."
"Fine- a deal. I might be able to…remember the name of the poison, but for that name, I want to be at that meeting- I want to see Voldemort getting humiliated in front of your…army, and I want him to fear you so much that simply being around you is enough for him to piss his pants."
Gryffindor could only stare for a minute, "and…if I do that, you give me the name? I could just torture the name of that poison out of you."
"The spell protects me- I can only give you information willingly", and damn, did he sound smug about that, "this should be easy for you, since you are betting that you are able to train the boy up anyways- just think of it as another…incentive."
"You are crazy."
Dumbledore laughed, "I am going to spend the rest of my life in Azkaban, so forgive me if I want to make some…memories before I have to rot in a cell", his eyes were glinting, "what's it going to be, Gryffindor- do we have a deal?"
yeah...Dumbles plan is actually a lot more evil than it looks now...he's a piece of work in this fic. Lol.
Hope you liked it! I would love some feedback! :)
xoxo,
Antonie :)
