A/N I want to give credits in this chapter to my ex-boyfriend. I got the title of this chapter from him. The other person I want t give credit to is LucainSalesia. Our talks are very inspiring and help me very much writing. (The 'kitchen-talks'…)
Furthermore…WARNING: This chapter contains femslash! Not like, not read. But it's nothing serious…until now…
Another thing. Votes are 12 yes, 3 don't care and 3 no. hope you can live with Sirius in the story and don't stop reading.
Disclaimer: It's not mine.
Thanks to my beta JoSchmo666. You are great.
Chapter six – Join the Dark Side—Believe me it's the good one
It had been days since Harry had first awoken in Pertho's room, and he had to say that he felt quite good where he was. He got enough to eat, a soft bed to sleep in, could spend his days how he wanted, and, best of all, there were no beatings and no expectations. In contrast to what he had first thought, Tom had never tried to persuade him to change over to his side of the war. He had not even brought this topic up at all whenever they were in the company of each other, which was actually quite often. Only in the afternoon would the man go to his office for a few hours doing whatever he did there. Most likely some paperwork or planning raids. Harry never noticed him actually going on one or even having a Death Eater meeting. He was sure they would ask him to stay in his room in that case.
At the moment they were all sitting in the library, Pertho and Tom playing chess with Nagini curled up in the witch's lap not far from him. He sat in one of the soft chairs, pretty much curled up too, with a book about potions. He had come to quite like, at least the theoretical part of the subject ,even if he would not after the end of the last year, be able to take it any more. He was quite sure that he had not been able to receive the necessary Outstanding in his OWLs. Pity, really. Just as he had developed an interest in potions, he wouldn't be able to take it any more at Hogwarts.
Hogwarts. He did not really know what to do about it. Should he go back? He couldn't. Not with having spend the summer in the Dark Lord's stronghold. While Tom had promised not to harm him, he was quite sure that he would not let him go with the knowledge he had. He knew that Tom was observing him the whole time but he did not know why.
He was watching the gorgeous black haired man as well, but he was a lot more subtle about it. He knew that the man would never see him like he did. After all he was only a scrawny bad looking little boy who had absolutely no attractiveness. Furthermore was he not even sure if he would be able to do anything sexual any more. Not after what had been done to him. Tom knew. He knew at least a part of what had happened and Harry was sure that the Dark Lord would never want something dirty like him. His uncle had made no secret of what Harry was. A dirty little whore who nobody would ever want and much less be able to love.
"You worry too much and too little," he heard Pertho say, amusement clear in her voice. Even though she had startled him out of his thoughts he was not upset about it. He pretended to read on and not to hear them.
"You know that you don't make any sense, don't you? Are you sure there's no damage left?" Tom said and Harry had to agree with him. The witch really didn't make that much sense. Maybe the coma had done some damage. Or what had caused the coma. He still did not know what, exactly, it had been that had caused her to be out for several years.
"Oh, I do make perfect sense. In one direction you worry too much and in another you worry too little"
"Do I? Care to enlighten me? Or do I have to die oblivious to your almighty wisdom?" Harry had to suppress a snort. Over the last days he had come to enjoy the teasing the two did. They sometimes seemed to speak in riddles, but he didn't really care all that much about that. They were close to each other. He could see that much but he didn't know how close exactly. Pertho was, by looks, as old as he was but Tom was, when you took this as an indication, in his twenties too. Both of them were quite attractive. Quite? Scratch that, they were attractive like hell. They were bloody gorgeous even, but somehow they did not act as if they were lovers. More like brother and sister.
"Yes, concerning Harry you worry too much. He will forgive you. Just be patient and be there for him." What should Harry forgive Tom? That he had killed his parents? He did not know how to feel when it came to this topic. Or that the man had tried to kill him several times? Actually, he had felt better when he had died one of those times rather than at the hands of the Dursleys, which he was quite sure would have happened this summer. But on the other hand he felt safe where he was now and had long since forgiven the man who had saved him for trying to kill him. And with the knowledge of the prophesy he now understood him. If the thing was even real, what he now doubted a bit too. After all, not that much Dumbledore had said about Tom seemed to be true, at least as long was Pertho was safe and sound.
"And where do I worry too little?"
"In our game."
"Oh, how did you come to this conclusion?"
"Because the last three moves I made were illegal and you didn't notice," she grinned.
"Brat," Tom mumbled good naturedly.
Yup, definitely brother and sister.
"Love you too," Pertho said and started to stroke Nagini, who was currently napping in her lap. "Besides, I think you should go down. Severus will arrive shortly. He wants to speak to you."
Only moments later Tom stood and left the room.
"Where is he going?" Harry asked once the door was closed.
"To his study. Severus arrived moments ago and wants to talk to him."
"Do you know Snape well?" Harry inquired after some time.
"I knew him for many years. He came to us in the Easter holidays of his seventh year. I have looked out for him ever since. Personally he knows me because he is a member of the Inner Circle."
They sat in silence for quite a while. At one point Harry put together all the Gryffindor courage he could find and asked:
"How long have you known Tom? You two seem very familiar with each other."
"You would seem familiar too, when you haven't left the side of each other willingly since 1934."
Harry blinked at her. 1934? They had known each other for over sixty years? But Pertho didn't look much older than him. But on the other hand Tom himself didn't look like he would soon be seventy.
"How come that you look so young then?" he asked, "you must be nearly as old as he is but you look like you're in your teens and Tom like he's twenty-something."
"I can change my appearance," she smiled at him. "Though I mostly only change the age. Tom has the same gift. We are very similar in many aspects."
They sat in silence again until Pertho suddenly said, "They are coming upstairs."
"Who?"
"Tom and Severus." She had buried herself in the book again, which she had taken to hand sometime during their conversation as Harry heard the door open, not able to see it from his spot in the aisles.
"Pertho?" he heard the unmistakable voice of his potions professor whisper unbelieving. "You're alive? How?" only moments later he could see the man at the young woman's side not even noticing that there was somebody else in the library beside them but maybe it was better this way, because Harry was sure the man wouldn't have gone on like he did, if he had seen him there.
"I'm sorry. I failed you. I failed to protect him. Please, you have to help me to convince the Lord to go and get him. Dumbledore," his pleading voice made way for a feral growl, "He not only knows, but he encourages what is happening to him and he even participated."
It looked like Dumbledore was destroying more lives than his by what he was able to gather from Snape's cryptic speech.
"He did what?" Pertho hissed in a mixture between Parseltongue and English and everything in the room that was not heavy enough floated into the air. Harry vaguely wondered how Pertho was able to understand Snape so well, even though the man didn't really say anything understandable as Nagini flew from Pertho's lap and Harry felt more frightened than he had ever before in his life. Tom was at the side of the other two in an instant.
"Severus, do you have any calming draughts with you?" The potions master nodded.
"What do you need?"
"Two of the strongest ones you have."
The Potions Master handed two vials over and Tom only fleetingly looked at the label before pouring them into the mouth of the witch, gently rubbing her throat to make her swallow it.
Once she slipped into unconsciousness, the floating things went back down and the air which had been full with raw magic, calmed down again.
"What the hell was that?" Severus asked.
"That was Pertho pissed off. I bet the old fool is establishing one record after the other with pissing her off. I bet nobody else has been able to do it, this often in such a short amount of time," the Dark Lord said.
Harry wondered vaguely what that meant, but he decided that he would not pry. If they wanted to tell him, they would at some point.
"You mean this has happened before?" Severus asked unbelieving.
"Yes, albeit only once this strong. That time Hogwarts got pretty badly damaged but she was able to set everything back together somehow and made everyone forget but us two. But that doesn't matter at the moment. I'll take her up to her room. Maybe you can entertain our guest while I'm away?"
'Fuck,' Harry thought, had Tom to tell the man that he was here? Sure he had known since the first breakfast that Snape was on Tom's side again, and would not give him away to Dumbledore but nevertheless, he would have felt better if no one but the two knew he was here.
Harry squirmed in his seat under the gaze of his professor and searched for something to say. Finally he settled for, "Erm…hi Professor Snape?"
Snape seemed at a loss for words himself but after some time he found his voice again.
"Potter, what the hell are you doing here?" the Potions Master demanded to know once he had. Harry winced slightly trying to find an answer. Finally he settled for the truth.
"I … eh … got kinda teen-napped a few days ago," he offered.
"You got what?" the potions master asked dumbfounded.
"Teen-napped. Because I am not a kid any more but a teen…" The growled 'Potter!' Harry expected never came.
"When?" his professor asked instead his mind going a thousand miles an hour trying to find out when the boy could have been taken. The only date that came to his mind was two days before the last meeting, the day, as he had now found out, that Dumbledore had been there to take part in the boy's torture. What they did was nothing else. Potter had then vanished for an hour from his relatives' house. But the boy had come back, surely because he had nowhere else to go after Black died. The boy had become quite numb after that, Severus had noted. But still, that left the question of when Harry had been taken and when it had been then, why Dumbledore hadn't said something to him. He hoped that Harry had come been brought here earlier so that he had not been more violated than he had been the summers before.
"The day after the beginning of the summer holidays," Harry said and Severus closed his eyes. So it had been after Dumbledore had 'visited' the house. "I think Pertho made up a doppelgänger who went back to the Dursleys after I had been taken, so that nobody would notice that I'm gone. It's kinda ironic really, the first and most likely only time I leave the house and promptly I get kidnapped." Harry didn't tell his professor why it would have been the only time he went out. He was quite sure that he wouldn't have been able to walk once his uncle had gotten his hands on him again.
Severus knew that the man had left shortly after Harry had been able to escape, and therefore only the Muggles had seen the clone and they would have easily been fooled by it. So the old man still trusted him. Good. At least one good thing in the current situation.
"How are you?" the potions master inquired carefully after some time.
"What?" Harry asked dumbfounded, taken aback by the question.
"I asked how you were. This is Voldemort's castle, in case you haven't noticed," Severus snapped, sarcasm now lacing his voice.
"Oh you mean this. Pretty good actually." Better than I would be at home. "Pertho and Nagini are quite mothering and Tom allowed me to stay as long as I want. They are all pretty nice."
"Tom?" Severus asked unbelieving. Even his Inner Circle members were not allowed to call the Dark Lord by his first name any more. Besides…nice wouldn't be a word he would choose when describing the man.
"Yes, Tom," the Dark Lord had come back. "It's about time you start to call me that again as well Severus. I'll tell the other Inner Circle members as well in our next meeting. And now, tell me again, why you came here in the first place," Tom said jovially.
Severus blushed. He had made a complete fool of himself. Harry looked at his professor in surprise. Severus Snape blushing?! Wonders never ceased. But then another thing occurred to him they seemed to talk about him.
"It was me you have been going on about?" he asked quietly, unbelieving. "You talked about me the whole time?"
"Yes, to be honest I came here to persuade the Dark Lord, excuse me, my Lord, Tom, to get you away from the Muggles."
Harry paled. He knew that there was only one reason for all of this and he didn't like it one bit. Snape knew what had happened to him. He did not want anyone to know, least of all people Snape. He felt so dirty because of what he let his uncle and that man do to him. It was bad enough that Pertho and Tom had seen him hurt. He couldn't take it if his teacher knew. The man had provided the stuff of his nightmares especially in his first years. Furthermore the man was a Slytherin. No doubt he would take advantage of the knowledge.
"I won't tell anyone," Severus was quick to assure as soon as he saw his student stiffen.
"Why?" Harry asked, "why would you d this?"
"Because I know what it feels like to be helpless," Severus answered and Harry immediately thought about the memory he had seen the year before.
"Wait a minute," Harry said suddenly, something else dawning on him. "That man was Dumbledore…urgh… I think I'm gonna be sick."
"That was exactly my reaction," Severus said, but suddenly Harry started to tremble as if it had finally sunken in that the foreign man that had raped him had been Dumbledore.
"That was Dumbledore? How dare he, that son of a bitch…"
The teen broke up and only trembled. Tom was at his side in a second.
"Do you have another calming draught, Severus?" he asked as magic gathered around them. "One not as strong as the one I gave Pertho." Tom gathered the teen in his arms and murmured soothing things to him.
What astonished the potions master the most was that the boy did not protest. Maybe he was too far gone to register what was going on around him. Severus searched his pockets for the required potion and handed it to the Dark Lord who gently coaxed the mouth of the teen open and poured it down his throat like he had done with Pertho, but not before he had checked here too if it was the right potion. The man then rubbed soothing circles on the teens back to further calm him down.
What then happened took the potions master totally off guard. As Harry Potter slipped into an uneasy sleep due to the draught, he snuggled into Tom's robes and sighed as if he was very content where he was and the only thing the Dark Lord did was to pull him closer and hold him securely against his chest. The man then accio-ed a book to him and looked expectantly at Severus as he sat down on a couch with Harry in his lap.
"Now that all is settled, do you want to join us here? I believe there are some new books that could interest you. Although, at the moment Harry is reading the one that should be the most interesting for you but I believe that he won't be too bothered if you borrow it while he is asleep."
"Of course, my Lord. I'd love to stay for a few hours. But I have a question first. Do the others know?"
"What? That Pertho is alive? The Lestranges know because she helped Bella out of her depression and crossed ways with the brothers on her way to her the day after the meeting, when she had seen her for the first time after waking up and now she has talked to the woman ever since. If you mean that Harry is here then the answer is no. Nobody knows and I intend to keep it that way. He is just starting to get comfortable with Pertho, Nagini and me around him. Furthermore even when I tell the others that someone is living here I won't tell them that it is Harry."
That surprised the potions master. He would have thought that the Dark Lord would at least tell his Inner Circle that the weapon of the enemy was in his castle and not under Dumbledore's thumb any more. At least for the time being.
"Why would you do that?" Severus asked dumbfounded.
"To be honest I don't know. I don't know how the other Death Eaters would react to him. Besides we would have to give them an explanation of why he is here and I don't want him to get hurt in any way after what the 'Light' and those disgusting Muggles did to him. It has already left deep scars on his mind and they would only deepen if he had to relive it. They maybe would pity him and that is the last he needs and wants," Tom answered and pulled Harry closer subconsciously. The move didn't go unnoticed by Severus on the other hand and he started to doubt his sanity. The Dark Lord held Harry bloody Potter and the boy didn't only not seem to care but actually enjoy it. Could someone please slap him? He surely was hallucinating, wasn't he? The whole situation was just too surreal. If he had walked in on this sight he sure as hell would have left the room, closed the door and then taken a deep breath. After that he would have walked back in, in the hopes it had all been an illusion or a hallucination.
Severus went over to the table where Harry had sat moments ago and picked up the book. He marked the page for the boy before he looked at the title. Battle potions? That was pretty advanced stuff. Nothing he would have thought to interest Harry because the boy wasn't exactly on good terms with potions.
"Does Harry understand this?" Severus asked, but judging how far the teen had already read he seemed to actually enjoy the read.
"Yes. I mean sometimes he asks a question when he doesn't understand something but he's got a pretty good grasp of it. Better than one would think after the stories you told me about him. Are you sure he can't continue potions next year? I think he would really like it."
"I have already made that possible to keep an eye on him," Severus said absent-mindedly. "Wait, you'll let him go back to Hogwarts?" That was the last thing the potions master would have expected. If it wasn't for the obvious closeness the two seemed to share now, then for the fact that Harry knew much too much about them. He was a security risk.
"If he wants it. If he doesn't, could you tutor him? I think he appreciates the subject now very much and knows quite a lot, even after the short time he has been here. I believe he hasn't read a book about any other subject besides this one. I think Pertho got him hooked up with the first book she gave to him on the evening he woke up."
"Woke up, my Lord?"
"Yes, woke up. He was pretty bad when we brought him here. Pertho healed him but he was out of it for some days afterwards."
"How bad was it?" Severus asked dreading the answer.
"Bad. She was pretty tired out afterwards. I didn't recognize him until I saw his face. He shied away from touch, at least mine. He let Pertho touch him after she assured him she wouldn't hurt him and not let me hurt him. I don't think he recognized me then."
"He seems to be more comfortable to touch now," the potions master observed and again noticed how Tom pulled the boy closer.
"I think he's starting to feel comfortable around us although it's more prominent when he's asleep."
"Asleep?" Severus asked. "How would you know that?"
The Dark Lord seemed to be a bit embarrassed.
"I have … eh… kinda comforted him a few times when he was having a nightmare," Tom mumbled. Severus rose an eyebrow at that. He hadn't thought that their relationship was that close. Now they were again at ironic.
"You don't even know the half of the irony, Severus. But Harry doesn't know anything of this. And I don't know how he would react to it."
They sat in silence for quite a long time. Both caught up in their books, Tom reading around Harry still in his lap.
It wasn't until nearly three hours later that Harry started to stir and Tom quickly sat the boy beside him causing Severus smile at his master's actions. Like a schoolgirl and her first crush. He snorted at the thought. The sound finally woke the teen and he looked around sleepily. Upon seeing who he was in the company with, his eyes widened and he shied away from them.
"Calm down, Harry, nobody is going to hurt you," Tom hushed the boy.
/"He's right, little one,"/ Nagini hissed as she emerged from the shadows of the aisles, /"They are not going to hurt you and if they try I will bite them."/
/"Why thank you, Nagini, I love you too,"/ Tom said mock indignantly.
/"I know. I am a very loveable snake,"/ Nagini answered. Harry laughed at this and the two men were left speechless and mesmerised. Never had they heard something this pure and both asked themselves how the boy could still be this innocent after all that had happened to him. None of them had heard the boy laugh before even Severus who had had him in school for five years now. Tom promised himself to get Harry laugh more in the future.
"Harry," the oldest wizard addressed the youngest, "as soon as Pertho is awake I will call an Inner Circle meeting. To tell them that she is still alive and well. She has been friends with many of them and they are surely worried about her absence."
"Do you plan to tell them I'm here in the meeting as well?" Harry asked nervously.
"No, as long as you aren't comfortable with them knowing. I didn't plan on telling them that Harry Potter is here, but I will have to tell them that I have a guest here because I planned to grant them entrance to the library again. It has always been our meeting place and now Pertho's back, there will be more of those again. Maybe you can get to know the others without them knowing who you are, as long as you wear a mask and change some of your features, like lengthening your hair or changing your eye colour a few shades darker. Would you be comfortable with that or do you want me to not grant them entrance to the library?"
Harry was a bit taken aback. Tom really would regard his wishes in his own castle?
"I'm okay with that as long as they don't try to kill me," Harry nodded. He was a bit afraid that some of the Death Eaters still held a grudge against him and would try to hurt him. Especially Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy.
"You don't have to worry about Bella trying to hurt you, even if she knew it was you. Actually she would quite like to see you," Tom said and the other two rose an eyebrow at that so that the Dark Lord elaborated. "She is the one Pertho talks to every morning. The loss of Sirius Black hit her hard too. Her intention was to stun him and bring him here to explain things to him, because he felt betrayed by us which was what drove him into Dumbledore's clutches. But he fell through that veil before she was able to get to him. Ever since then, she has ceased to speak properly. She has been a lot quieter since we freed those in Azkaban, not in the least like the lively person she had been before that night nearly fifteen years ago, but now she's only been a walking shell until Pertho started to talk to her, but she still blames herself for Sirius' death. Bella wants to apologize to you for taking Sirius from you. Pertho told her to do it in person the next time you two meet."
Bellatrix Lestrange wanted to apologize to him? And what was Tom going on about Sirius? The man hadn't even known him personally as far as Harry knew but his thoughts were interrupted as Severus spoke again.
"Is there anything else you want to address in the meeting, my L-Tom," Severus quickly corrected himself after being on the receiving end of one of the Dark Lord's glares.
"Yes, we need to keep Dumbledore busy. Otherwise he might notice that Harry is gone and none of us wants that now, do we?"
"What do you have in mind?" Harry inquired curiously.
"Oh, I thought about a raid. Anywhere you want?"
Severus blinked. Again. Had the Dark Lord just asked Harry Potter of all people to pick a target for a raid?! He vaguely wondered what the boy would do.
"No. Not at the moment. Maybe if you give me some possible targets, I can tell you if there is someone living nearby who needs a good shock."
Severus stared at Harry unbelieving. Had he just heard right? Harry would help the Dark Lord to plan a raid? But on the other hand, this way he could prevent anyone getting hurt who actually liked, even though the potions master had the feeling that there were not that many people who fitted that description.
"Hmmm… I think I should include the Inner Circle in the planning. It has been too long since we planned a raid together."
Harry looked at him strangely.
"You did this together in the past?" the boy asked.
Tom nodded and conjured a mask.
"Fancy to join us?" the man asked.
"Sure, why not."
"But we really should wait until Pertho's back. She'll want to come, too. It has always been a meeting time where all sorts of stuff was discussed."
Harry looked at Severus and only now noticed what book he was reading.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, "That's my book. I haven't even finished. I found it first!"
"To be exact, this is my book. I can take it away if you kids aren't able to compromise with each other."
Harry pouted at this and the two men had to smile.
"You can have it. I was just reading it while you were out. I intended to give it back to you as soon as you woke up again. Can't hinder you reading a potions book, now can I?" Severus said handing a blushing Harry his book back. The potions master then vanished down one of the aisles and returned moments later with another book. Tom had already taken his back up and continued to read.
They sat in silence buried in their respective books. The only sound was the occasional rustling of the pages or clothes as one of them changed their position. Harry and Tom never noticed how close they sat to each other. Severus on the other hand did and asked himself again and again whether he was going insane.
Sirius Black on the other hand was sure he was going insane. He had thought he had coped pretty well after he had escaped Azkaban but now…now he was sure he had lost it. He had tried to stay sane for the sake of his godson but now that he had lost him too… there was nothing to fight for any more. And who could blame him. He was sitting here with sixteen fucking DEITIES for Merlin's sake!
It couldn't be real that there were sixteen deities sitting here and watching what was going on in the real world on some kind of television like thing. Only this thing was cinema size and these … beings … were eating … popcorn.
"Hey, Courage," Death exclaimed, "that's my popcorn. You already stole half a bowl from Cowardice. And that's no achievement. Because it's only Cowardice."
Sirius groaned. That had already been going on for the last three weeks since he had woken up here.
"Oi!" Cowardice shrieked. "That's discrimination!"
"Not if it's true," Life sing-songed.
"Maybe we should see what Fate's up to. It's been a while since we last checked," War suggested.
The scenery on the screen changed until a library with two persons could be seen. Wait, not only two persons. There were two persons and a snake.
Snake?
"Merlin's balls," Sirius muttered. "That's Lord Voldemort."
The Slytherin heir and the young woman with him were playing a game of chess but the man seemed distracted. What was the Dark Lord looking at?
"You worry too much and too little," the woman said and Sirius had the unnerving feeling that he knew the voice but he wasn't able to see her face, so he couldn't be sure
"You know that you don't make any sense, don't you? Are you sure there's no damage left?" the Dark Lord asked and most of the deities snorted at that. Sirius had to admit that the man seemed right. The woman made no sense, but damage from what?
"Oh, I do make perfect sense. In one direction you worry too much and in another you worry too little" Well, maybe she wasn't that far gone. Now that she explained a bit she made at least a little sense.
"Do I? Care to enlighten me? Or do I have to die oblivious to your almighty wisdom?"
Fifteen of the deities laughed at that but Wisdom exclaimed sulking, "She's not me and he knows that damn well."
"Yes, concerning Harry you worry too much. He will forgive you. Just be patient and be there for him."
Harry? Which Harry? Sirius knew only one Harry and he dearly hoped that he was not there. And why should this Harry forgive Voldemort? What had the man done? Why would the Dark Lord need this Harry to forgive him? In his thinking he missed a part of the conversation.
"Harry," Love said excitedly, "her bonded's mate is there. Oh that is so sweet. You think they will get together?" she asked the deity beside her.
"Sure," Destiny said, not seeming to worry in the least that it would happen. "But it will take some time and we will surely have fun watching them get there."
"Because the last three moves I made were illegal and you did not notice," the woman could be heard saying.
"Brat," Voldemort mumbled and Sirius had to ask himself why the Dark Lord was so different from how he had been for so long.
"Love you too," the woman said and started to stroke the snake that was currently napping in her lap. "Besides, I think you should go down. Severus will arrive shortly. He wants to speak to you."
"Wait, Snivellus?" What was he doing there outside a Death Eater meeting? It seemed his suspicions had been true. He had known that the bastard was a spy for Voldemort and now that he had the proof he couldn't warn the others. He felt so utterly useless. Knowing what was going on but being unable to do something, anything.
"Oh, that's going to be so much fun! When those two get together it's always so sweet how they dance around each other with what one knows and the other not," Peace exclaimed sounding like a teenie with their favourite soap.
"Yeah," Betrayal laughed, "you always liked those two. But you're right. They always brought the most entertaining situations in this century."
"But don't forget the Marauders. Their jokes have been funny sometimes, too," Loyalty put in as they watched Voldemort going down to his study. Sirius swelled with pride that he and his friends were liked by the deities.
"Severus, What a nice surprise. What brings you here?" the man greeted and everyone could see that the one spoken to seemed highly uncomfortable.
"I found out interesting things, my Lord, no, not interesting, I'd rather say disturbing and I am here to ask for your help,"the younger replied and Sirius waited for the crucio he was sure to come for Severus' bold speech.
The Dark Lord on the other hand just led him into his study and nobody missed the surprised look on the potions master's face.
"That's exactly what I meant," Peace said. "This will be so fun because Tom doesn't act the way the others are used to at the moment and they don't know how he will react to what they do."
"Sit down, Severus. Firewhisky?"
Sirius gaped at that. That was not how he knew the Dark Lord now. The man was a maniac and had betrayed their faith. He was not the charismatic 'young' wizard they had met twenty years ago. Every one of those traits they had admired had been lost, hadn't it?
As the Dark Lord gave the drink to the potions master the younger wizard eyed it sceptically as if it was poisoned.
"Always the suspicious one, isn't he?" Magic asked smiling.
"It saved his life more than once," Desperation reminded.
"It isn't poisoned, Severus."
"Unfortunately," Sirius muttered.
"Now, what did you want to tell me?"
"First of all, before I tell you why I came here I have to apologise. I know you can't possibly pardon what I did-"
"I know that you haven't been loyal to me since my resurrection to before the last meeting, now, why have you come here?" Voldemort interrupted.
"You know? How?" Severus asked dumbfounded, "and, with all due respect, why am I still alive?"
"Actually," Sirius grumbled. "That is a very good question. Why doesn't he kill the traitor and get over with it?"
"I had a feeling from the beginning but I was only proven right in the last meeting but then you had already come back to me. So why kill you? You are a good spy and an excellent Potions Master. Besides, I need someone inside Hogwarts and who would be better than you, as they already know and trust you. Now I ask again, what is it you wanted to tell me?"
"Was it that new snake of yours, my Lord, that told you? It wasn't Nagini that was with you in the last meeting. She seemed to know who exactly was not loyal to you and who was. It was like she read our minds and no Occulumcy shield, no matter how strong, could keep her out."
"New snake? There was only one snake in the library, wasn't it?" Sirius asked.
"Hush. Shut up. I want to hear this!" Ignorance shushed. "It's getting interesting…"
They were now staring at the screen, absent-mindedly munching popcorn.
"If she knows that much, does she know then, what Dumbledore does?"
"Some things she knows, but unfortunately only what has to do with her charges and then not a priori, I fear. Otherwise some things would have gone differently."
"What does Dumbledore do?" Sirius ignored Ignorance and asked nevertheless.
"I think we will know in a few moments," Wisdom answered.
Severus seemed skittish again and everyone asked himself what exactly he was about to ask to have him so riled up.
"My Lord, I have to ask for your assistance and for asylum."
"Is that so, Severus? Are you finally coming to the cause of your visit? Why would you need asylum?"
"Yes, my Lord. I don't ask for asylum for myself, but for…"
"Yes?" Hate asked impatiently.
"Yes, Severus, I'm listening. Who do you ask asylum for?"
They saw how Severus Snape got up and lowered himself to one knee much to the surprise of everyone.
"I, Severus Septimus Snape ask you, the Dark Lord Voldemort, formerly known as Tom Marvolo Riddle for asylum in Slytherin Castle against all and every outer forces for one Harry James Potter."
"What?" Sirius screeched, "are you mental you slimy bastard? This maniac will kill him! He's perfectly safe at the Dursleys."
"Calm down and listen. He will have a reason for this and you should hear him out. Otherwise you will do exactly what brought you here: rash decisions."
"And why would you do this, my dear Severus?"
"Because Dumbledore does more to the boy than just to direct his every move while he's in Hogwarts. You know that Harry lives with his aunt and uncle, don't you, my Lord?"
"Yes I do. And when has he become Harry to you, Severus?"
None of the deities missed the teasing tone Voldemort said the last part in.
"He has always been Harry in my mind, my Lord. I doubt you know it, but I gave Pertho an oath to keep him safe from all harm, as far as I know about it, and it came to my attention that he is not safe where he is."
"Oh I think he is," Sirius growled and was surprised to hear Voldemort say the same.
"You don't understand, my Lord," Severus pleaded. "He being abused where he is."
"No, he isn't," Sirius nearly pleaded. It couldn't be true what the slimy git said. Again he heard the same sentence from the Dark Lord.
"Yes, he is," Severus was becoming frantic slowly but surely and it amused the deities greatly for a reason unknown to him. "His aunt and uncle abuse him. Maybe even at this very moment."
"Severus, I know, but I assure you that he is perfectly safe and content, where he is at the moment."
"If he is really being abused at the Dursleys, how can he be perfectly content?"
"My Lord," Severus was really desperate now. And now everyone, even Sirius, had to smile a bit at the desperate tone the man used.
"Please, I beg you. Help me to get him out of there. They don't only abuse him mentally if that is what you think, but also physically and sexually. And the worst is that Dumbledore knows and not only knows but that man encourages them and even participates."
"What?" Voldemort hissed lowly. "The old fool, how dare he? I knew everything but that last part about Dumbledore, but still my answer is the same. I won't remove him from where he is at the moment. And don't try to convince me otherwise, Severus, it will be in vain."
Not only Severus' insides froze but Sirius' too. The man knew that his godson was abused and did nothing? Damn, they had looked up to him because he had wanted to put a stop to the abuse of magical children through Muggles and now the bastard sat there and didn't give a damn about what happened to Harry.
"You are not the man I pledged my allegiance to. I don't know you any more."
"You're damn right," Sirius growled, never having thought that one day he would have the same opinion as Snivellus.
"Severus, stay," Voldemort said as the younger wizard made to storm out of the study and everyone winced at the tone the man used, Sirius being sure now that the potions master would be killed. Even though he had never gotten along with Severus Snape, he didn't want the man dead even if it was only because he could maybe do something about what happened to his godson.
"I believe there is something I should show you, Severus. Come with me."
Sirius was puzzled but the deities seemed to know what would happen next as if they had seen this many times before. Nevertheless they seemed totally wrapped up in what was happening. Like a particularly thrilling scene in a movie.
They could see the two men go up the stairs and after a few minutes they were standing in front of a door, that Sirius recognized as the door to the library.
"You remember this room?" the Dark Lord asked.
"Of course, my Lord. I've spend many hours in the library with Pertho, yourself and the other Inner Circle members. Are you doing this on purpose? To make me feel worse?"
"No Severus. Go inside."
There was the woman again as the potions master walked inside and now he could see her face.
"Pertho?" Sirius breathed and heard Severus do the same. He had thought the woman was at least missing, having not heard of her in the last couple of years.
"You're alive? How?" Severus on the other hand seemed to have thought her dead. A moment later the potions master was at her side.
"I'm sorry. I failed you. I failed to protect him. Please, you have to help me to convince the Lord to go and get him. Dumbledore," his pleading voice made way for a feral growl, "He not only knows, but he encourages what is happening to him and he even participated."
"He did what?" Pertho hissed in a mixture between Parseltongue and English and everything in the room that was not heavy enough floated into the air. Nagini flew from her lap and Sirius had a feeling that whatever was happening with the woman was not good.
"Aww, now it's getting really interesting. Let's see what is going to be destroyed," War said excitedly.
"But that man really is able to set records. Dumbledore I mean. I mean how often has he been able to piss her off in the time she has had to do with him?" Peace put in.
"Dunno," Destiny said. "There was the time when he knew she and her Bonded were being abused in the orphanage and sent them back there nevertheless. And then there was the time when he tried to kill her the first time. That time was great. She blew up half the castle then," she chirped and seemed far too happy for what she had said.
"When he faked the prophesy, and killed the Potters and nearly got Tom while locking the boy's core and then blaming Tom for it," Hate gave her bit of thought.
"Wait. Voldemort didn't kill James and Lily?" Sirius asked.
"Neither did Bella and the rest of her family torture the Longbottoms," Love added and then turned to the others. "But you forgot the second time he tried to kill her and tried to blackmail Severus into serving him with her."
"And when he gave Harry to this Muggles and sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trial."
"But she was quite pissed off when she woke up and saw how Tom had become again for real," supplied Cowardice.
"Severus, do you have calming draughts with you?" The potions master nodded.
"What do you need?"
"Two of the strongest one you have."
"Too bad. Her Bonded already knows what to do when she gets in this mood," Loyalty pouted.
The Potions Master handed two vials over and Tom only fleetingly looked at the label before pouring them down into the mouth of the witch, gently rubbing her throat to make her swallow it.
Once she slipped into unconsciousness, the floating things went back down and the air that had been full with raw magic calmed down again.
"What the hell was that?" Severus asked.
"That was Pertho pissed off. I bet the old fool is establishing one record after the other with pissing her off. I bet nobody else has been able to do it, this often in such a short amount of time," the Dark Lord said.
"You mean this has happened before?"
"Yes, albeit only once this strong. That time Hogwarts got pretty badly damaged but she was able to set everything back together somehow and make everyone forget but us two. But that doesn't matter at the moment. I'll take her up to her room. Maybe you can entertain our guest while I'm away?"
"Guest?"Severus and Sirius said at the same time and the point of view changed so that another part of the library became visible to them and there sat Harry Potter with a book in his hand.
"My godson is there?" Sirius asked unbelieving. "I have to get him out of there."
"No, you don't," a new voice said and the man whirled around. "He is perfectly content and well cared for where he is."
"Pertho?" Sirius asked.
"Here it's Fate," the woman smiled.
"You are Fate?" the man asked unbelieving. "You are a deity?"
"Yep. That would be me. The seventeenth deity," she answered and flopped down onto the couch beside him. She laid an arm around him. "Now, my dear Sirius, how are you with fourteen women around you?....at the moment." She winked at War, Cowardice and Courage who were male.
"What?" Sirius exclaimed, "There are more?"
"Why of course. You really thought it was only us seventeen? There are also Clumsiness-"
"That's Tonks," Sirius interjected.
"Afraid not. Believe me she's not the worst. Then there still are, for example, Grace, Gluttony and Modesty left. And more. These are only the ones who come here most frequently. And you still haven't answered my question. How are you with fourteen women and three very handsome men around you?"
"To be honest it's dreadful," Sirius said and feared already the retribution of the deities but all of them only laughed. "I think I'm slowly going insane."
"Mortals are never able to enjoy our company," Magic giggled.
"And I thought Azkaban was bad…" Sirius mumbled.
"You sure do your best to put them off, girls, of that you can be sure," Fate said smiling at the others. Then she turned to Sirius. "So I guess you want to come back with me when I go back?"
"You can go back there?"
"Why of course. What do you think I'm doing all the time. It's boring to just sit here and do nothing-"
"Hey, we're not just sitting here," Destiny cut her off, as she came over and sat down on Fate's lap, straddling her.
"Really? What else are you doing here?" Fate asked innocently.
""Weelllll…" Destiny drawled. "Maybe I should just show you what else we do. You know how lonely I get when you're not here."
"Really? I'll pity you once I have time, but you know … I'm always so occupied. Humiliate Dumbledore, getting Severus to humiliate himself so that you guys have fun-"
She was cut short, as Destiny covered her mouth with her lips.
"Thought you'd never do this," Fate murmured around the other deity's mouth. Sirius, who had been around the eight couples over the time he had been there, now felt uncomfortable. Mostly because he had known one of the participants of the kiss long before this.
"Right, break, could you please stop? I thought you were together with Magic, Destiny," Sirius said.
"Oh, as a matter of fact, we are," Destiny said, indicating her and Fate just as Magic came over to join them.
"Oh…oh my goodness. Too much input."
"Yup," Fate chirped, "that's the right notion."
Sirius stared at them blankly.
"Oh my," Hope said. "Now you have broken him. That's been too much for the poor human."
Destiny shrugged.
"Now that there isn't anyone here any more who can be offended…"
She leaned down again to capture Fate's mouth in a passionate kiss just as Magic started to stroke the newcomer's long hair as she knew the other liked it and kissed a trail down the side of the others neck.
AN: Was the slash scene bad? I hope you guys don't mind. It wasn't really planned that she's together with another female but as I was writing down the deities they made just a nice pair. There won't be more than cuddling and a bit of kissing between them beside you want it. As for now. Hope you enjoyed reading and leave me a review. farawisa