Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
The next day found Harry standing in the middle of his room being poked and prodded every now and again by an old wizard who looked suspiciously like he would fall over at any moment.
"Alright look here sonnie, you need to get out of these blasted pajamas. Tom why on Earth would you put him in something that doesn't fit him at all?!" Tom rolled his eyes and explained to him that it was all he had for the teen even though he knew his argument was falling on deaf ears. "Hmm," Harry felt his stomach being poked a little harder and winced. "Yes, off with the pajamas sonnie. I can't measure you properly when you have clothes on already. I'll be back in a few minutes." The old man promptly shuffled out of the door, leaving Harry and Tom on their own.
"He's right Harry. He can't possibly measure you this way, the pajamas will crumble up under his measuring tapes and cause your fit to be off. I can leave if you'd like." Harry shook his head, his body starting to shake ever so slightly. "N-no you can stay. I just...I don't want you to think differently of me…" Tom stood, taking Harry's hands in his.
"I understand how you feel. But I will have to see the extent of the damage they have done sooner or later. Frederick won't be back for at least half an hour, and I'm sure I can heal most of what hasn't healed already." Harry nodded, but didn't make any move to undress himself. Tom let go of his hands and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Tom's red eyes never left his, kindness swirling in their depths. When the shirt fell open, he closed his eyes. He didn't want to see the pity that would appear as soon as he looked down.
He heard the small gasp and felt a featherlight touch tracing the scar that trailed from his left shoulder to his right hip. Vernon had given him that on a particularly nasty day when he had lost two major deals in one shift. He winced as Tom's other hand gently caressed a blue bruise on his shoulder. Suddenly the hands were gone although he could sense that Tom was still there.
The hands were back, a warm feeling following them. His eyes flew open as the warm sensation grew warmer. Tom was applying some sort of salve to his injuries and to his surprise the bruises were going away. It was slow progress, but the blue faded to greenish yellow until it was the same as the rest of his skin. Tom didn't say anything, he just moved on to all the other injuries on his chest before moving around to his back. He felt the silk being gently removed from his back and slipped his hands out of the sleeves.
Something in the air changed as his back was revealed. Tom had stilled, a growl emanating from his chest. Harry's arms wrapped themselves around his front, embarrassment and shame making him hang his head. Suddenly the noise stopped, and Tom got to work on his back.
When Fredrick burst back into the room, he smiled. "Right as rain sonnie, I'll have your proper measurements in a jiffy now. Here now, put your arms up…" The measurements took a relatively short amount of time. Much less than the lecture he had received to begin with about wearing pajamas that didn't fit him properly.
After Fredrick left, Harry hung his head once more. His secret was out, or at least a part of it. He might not be able to read backwards but he knew enough to know what some of the words carved into his back were.
"Harry, would you come here? I didn't get to finish earlier." Tom's voice was soft, but there was no pity hidden within it. He went to stand in front of the man that was sat in an armchair. Without warning, he was pulled onto his lap and cradled to his chest. A gentle hand was repositioning his arm and then rubbing more salve into the wounds. The cuts warmed as his flesh knit itself back together. Only the worst of them left small silver lines. Tom repeated this on his left arm, although that one took longer as it was were the majority of the damage took place. Before he knew it, he was drifting off to sleep.
Harry woke to find himself in Tom's arms still. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. A quiet chuckle came from below his ear.
"Well, it seems you waking up is just as adorable as you sleeping. Now come, I believe it is time to teach you about potions."
Tom led Harry to the potions lab he had redone the night before. It didn't need much, just a good cleaning and lighter stone. He had replaced the table with a new one, and given the place several stools as well. Severus might be content to stand while brewing but Tom wasn't a fan of that for long periods of time.
He taught Harry the difference between most of the ingredients and explained what they do and how they react to one another. Harry seemed to keep up, although it was obvious some of the finer points he would forget. He walked Harry through the Wiggenweld potion, only to find that Harry had some rather good questions.
"But wait, why is wolfsbane going into a healing potion? Isn't it poisonous?"
"Well, yes it is poisonous. But only the leaves are poisonous, the flowers are rather good for pain relief. The mint emphasizes the pain relief properties and the wolfsbane actually emphasizes the healing qualities in the mint as well as the lionfish spines which on their own, also harbor toxic properties." Harry nodded and they continued with the potion.
"There, now I'd say that looks rather perfect." Harry beamed up at him.
"I think I'm going to like learning potions from you. It's amazing that I just learned about potions, I'm used to just doing what the instructions say and always making a mistake somehow. Class is very distracting, especially when the professor hovers." Tom nodded, understanding only too well. Dumbledore must have not wanted Harry to like anything other than Defense Against the Dark Arts, making sure that all the other teachers made their subjects as boring as possible.
"Well Harry, anytime you'd like to learn something just say so and I shall teach it to you. For now, it is time to eat. Come, I daresay you look like a cup of tea would do you good."
They sat down and Harry managed to finish all the fruit within half an hour. His cup of tea was half gone as well.
"Tom? Is it alright if I have some soup as well? The fruit is wonderful but…" He nodded, not needing Harry to elaborate. If Harry wanted soup, then soup he would get. It brightened his mood to see Harry eat more and he had a selection of soups brought up.
Harry managed to eat an entire bowl of tomato soup. Tom had kept up pleasant conversation, hoping to learn more about the teen in front of him. He still avoided most of the personal questions.
"Harry, why do you trust me?" He seemed to take him by surprise there.
"What? I don't trust you. I don't trust anyone. Not really."
Tom shook his head. "No, you trust me. You fell asleep in my arms yesterday and you trusted me to help you heal your back and arms. You trusted me when I sent you the journal and you trusted me when I came to get you." He watched Harry carefully, smiling slightly when he saw that he was blushing.
"You were the only one who cared enough to notice that I was being abused outside of Hogwarts." The words were carefully calculated and slow to leave his mouth.
"Believe it or not Harry, I have come to care for you. I would not harm you. I know that must be hard to accept, but it is the truth. You house a part of my soul, but mostly Harry I have come to care about what happens to you. I want to ensure your safety and well-being since I was the one to rip that away from you in the first place. Besides," Harry took a sip of his tea, "I think you rather enjoy being taken care of." He stood to leave as Harry sputtered around his drink.
"I-you...I don't…I'm not-" the younger man's voice raised in indignation.
"It's alright Harry, we all enjoy being looked after. Now, I will be retiring early tonight. Just knock if you need anything." He smiled at Harry and closed the door to his room quietly. He hoped that they would make more progress the next day.
Tom panted, feeling a tongue lazily graze a trail from one side of his chest to the other. His eyes were open, but he couldn't see anything. A blindfold, he thought. His arms weren't held down, but he did feel a heaviness in his limbs that prevented him from wanting to move. A semi-paralyzing potion? I wonder who it is I've trusted enough to do this. Not that I'm complaining...His thoughts were interrupted by a nip at his neck. He sighed in pleasure and rolled his head over to allow more access to the column of skin.
The mouth sucked on his flesh, nipping and kissing along the way until he was certain he'd be marked until the end of time. He felt hair graze his chin. It was shorter hair, ruling out any women he knew. Practically gasping for air as that tongue moved down his stomach to dash over to his hip, he took stock of what he knew.
It was a very short list.
The person with him had short hair, he had been drugged with a mild paralyzing potion, he was blindfolded and if the hardness pressing into his leg was any indicator he was with another man.
His thoughts flew away as soft lips met his throbbing member.
Gentle kisses were placed all over his manhood, dragging whimpers and pleas from his throat. Without warning, he was suddenly enveloped by the mouth, that devilish tongue darting out to taste him randomly. His hips tried bucking on their own, but were held fast by that potion. He tried to talk, but the words wouldn't form. He could only whimper and groan as the sensations dragged him to the precipice. Except, something was stopping him from sweet release. It's that damn potion. He whimpered, not caring anymore that he sounded as dignified as a legless toad.
The mouth started moving slower, the teasing ministrations becoming more drawn out. A nose pressed into him as the throat swallowed and hummed at the same time.
Tom bucked his hips into the air as he came. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he realized it had been a dream and that now he was in uncomfortably sticky pants.
Damn it Thomas, you haven't done that since you were twelve!
He cleaned himself off and lay back down before travelling back into his mind.
Seriously, what on earth are you thinking? His teen self was berating him something fierce for having such an explosive wet dream. He rolled his eyes while he tried to ignore the dreams that threatened to leak out of his link with Harry.
Harry woke up from the most bizarre dream he ever had. He had dreamt that someone was in his bed with him and was kissing him. Just kissing him. No groping, no sexual tension. Just languid kisses that spoke more of exploration and love than anything else. The only thing he knew was that it was a man he was kissing, if the lack of breasts were anything to go by. He fell back asleep, wanting to return to the calmness of the dream he had just left.