Chapter 5
Clatter of dishes and chatter sounded from the kitchen as Draco led Dudley around the house. "And this is the potions lab. You're not allowed in here while Uncle Severus is making things, but if he invites you in, you should definitely come in and do whatever potion stuff he wants you to. He's a Potions Master, there's only like 10 alive in the entire world, so he's really good and there are thousands of people who would kill just to be taught by him in a personal one-on-one setting."
The noise from the kitchen drew the young men's attention before Dudley could offer a response and they quickly went to ensure that all was well. As they approached the cracked door, their breaths caught in their throat to guarantee their silence as they listened in. "Look, he can't stay in Surrey, the Death Eaters will kill him." Harry's voice pleaded.
A grunt of dissatisfaction followed from Severus. "We don't know that there… are any more Death Eaters worth… mentioning." He countered.
"Exactly!" Harry protested as he shoved the dish he'd washed into the drain board. "We don't know! There could be no Death Eaters as you'd like to believe, or there could be mass amounts of rogue groups. It could be just five random Death Eaters for all we know- but all it takes is one to kill him. We know that Lucius and Bella- two of the most horrible and well known Death Eaters ever, knew where he lived, and they likely still know. What's to stop them from relaying that information to captured Death Eaters in Azkaban just before they get out so they can go finish what they started? They might have shared that information with others before, and they know I want to keep him safe- Lucius and Bella saw with their own eyes that he has a connection to me and that I got mad when they threatened him. He needs a safe place."
Severus slammed the cabinet door and grabbed onto one of the dishes in the drain board to dry. "I don't want to spend my time teaching… another person who doesn't know anything about magic… I did my time- I worked at that blasted school… for almost 20 years! I am done teaching!"
Clenched fists loosened and Harry turned off the faucet over the sink. With a sigh the young man rested his hands on the counter in front of him and leaned onto it. "Fine, then I'll teach him." He offered with a glance towards Snape. "You won't have to teach him a thing- I'll cover everything I can, and I'll make Draco teach him potions since he's…" A grin erupted on Draco's hidden face and Severus raised an eyebrow towards Harry. The young savior gritted his teeth. "Since he's better at potions than me."
Platinum blonde hair fell back as Draco lifted his head in silent victory. Finally the bloody Boy-Who-Lived admitted that Draco was better at something.
Harry sighed and pushed himself off of the counter. "I'll pay. I'll up rent to 40 galleons a week for the both of us, I'll buy all his groceries, and I'll keep us both busy so you don't have to deal with us as much."
"Fine." Severus snapped as he opened another cabinet to return the dried dish to its spot. "As long as I don't have to… Continue to listen to your babbling… For another two hours, he can stay."
Relif sounded in Harry's sigh as the young man leaned back against the refrigerator and watched Severus walk into the main sitting room. Draco and Dudley soon entered into the kitchen and Dudley looked most perturbed. "Why do you care so much?" The young borderline asked of his cousin. "I treated you like… like-"
"Like a house elf." Harry supplied which only served to further his cousin's confusion. The young savior shrugged. "You said it yourself- you were doing what you were taught was 'right'. Besides, you apologized and you meant it this time, so I've decided to start treating you like I would family, and family doesn't leave family to rot on the streets or get killed by relentless wizards if they can help."
Confusion etched all over Dudley's face as the young man furrowed his brows. "What's a house elf?"
Black locks fell forward as Harry chuckled in the realization that Dudley still had much to learn of his world. "A house elf is a being." He informed his confuddled cousin. "They are sentient humanoid beings, like vampires, werewolves, merfolk, centaurs, goblins, gnomes, fairies, hags, and the like. Their levels of sentience vary and some prefer not to be classified as beings like centaurs and merfolk. But a house elf- house elves are a race of beings who the witches and wizards captured and enslaved, at least that's how Hermione tells it. From all I've seen, house elves love to serve and live to serve, so I don't see anything wrong with employing them as cleaners and staff if you've got the money, but Hermione says they're like that because our kind has beat the independence from them and through so many generations of domestication they've become complacent with being our slaves out of ingrained fear." The young man shrugged and sighed. "I suppose when you look at the history, she's right, but where they are now, despite trying to have freed them, they don't want to be freed, so some of us in the wizarding community have begun to pay them like we would any other witch or wizard who worked for us, give them vacations, and so on. If they're so determined not to leave when they're freed, we can at least make their stay a little more humane."
Through a mouth full of toast, Draco added on to the conversation. "But thome pepuh-" He swallowed his food and restarted. "But some people don't think like that. Some people, like my father, don't pay them. Those households keep them running around in dirty tattered pillowcases to cover their bits, and they'll scream at them and hit them and kick them and throw them against things if the elves don't do something right, and they are really slaves. They don't really give them the option to be freed either."
With a stretch, Harry cleared his throat and called for a house elf. "Vandy!"
In a silent apparation a small wrinkled elf with a long pointy nose and large tall ears popped into the room. "Mmyeesss Mistah Pottah?" He said as he looked towards the new tenant in his home.
The young savior smiled to Vandy. "Dudley's gonna need his clothes. Would it be too much to ask if you could please go to number 4 Privet Drive and gather some of his belongings? I can apparate you there for a second so you know where it is, but I can't be there too long, cause the Death Eaters have tried to capture and kill us there already." He asked.
Wrinkly ears flopped forward as the little house elf bowed his head. "Not a problem, Mistah Pottah." He glanced toward Dudley and looked expectantly. "Should Vandy get anything else for Mistah Dudley?"
"Uhhh." Dudley started. "No, just my clothes. Oh! And my wallet. It's in the desk in the hallway." He added.
In a crack of apparation, Harry was off with Vandy in tow. Mere seconds passed and the young man returned and gave a nod towards Dudley. "It shouldn't take too long now."
"I found something." Snape's mildly ragged voice called from the sitting room. The group made their way towards the man who offered Harry the book from Flourish and Blotts. "There were three suggested ways to pull… a borderline's dormant magical ability… from their body. The first was to induce trauma… unbeknownst to the person… I assumed you would not be… appreciative of that method… The second was a potion… and the third was a Nimagimancer… unfortunately we currently know of… no Nimagimancers so… we are left with the potion."
Disgruntled grunts came from Draco as he read over the ingredients for the potion in the book. "Phoenix tears? Fawkes went missing the night Dumbledore died, we don't know any phoenixes. And where the hell are we going to get a basilisk scale? The only one we know of is the one Potter killed back in second year."
"And like any reasonable person, I harvested some of the basilisk ingredients and stuck them in my vault." Harry bragged. "I've got 12 scales, 4 vials of blood, a tooth, and 4 vials of venom."
Moments later Vandy popped back in with a pile of neatly folded clothes and a wallet that sat atop them. "Your belongingses, Mistah Dudley." He said with another bow of his head before he glanced around to ensure he was no longer needed and poofed off once more.
A confused but appreciative noise came from Dudley's mouth. "I think I like house elves."
Silence fell over the group as they each contemplated possible ways they might get hold of some phoenix tears. Suddenly, Harry's black brows flew up and he grinned towards Snape. "The vault. 682, the potion vault, it was all the belongings of a Potion Master and he had so many rare things, maybe there are tears in there."
Severus stood and tugged the back of his robes from his chair. "Then let's go to Gringotts and get this… over with." He suggested as he went towards the floo to slip his shoes on from beside it.
Dudley frowned as his gaze drifted to Harry. "So… this is gonna make me magical, but I don't really know anything about magic other than what I've watched you do. Whose gonna teach me? Do you know enough to teach me? What if I accidentally blow something up, or kill somebody?"
Slender fingers rose to rub Harry's mouth and chin as he thought for a moment. "That hadn't actually crossed my mind- I just assumed I'd be teaching you everything but potions and Draco could teach you that."
"You have a mind?" Draco asked with a smirk. "And yeah sure, since you admit that I'm better than you I suppose I can tutor him in potions."
With a twitch, Harry's upper lip curled. "Sod off. I'm being serious. He's right, what if I don't know enough to teach him?"
Draco's shoulders raised in a shrug then he grabbed his outer robes from the rack beside the floo. "Then you start getting books on how to teach and on the subjects you need to teach. Look, you still have all your required reading from Hogwarts over the years, you can use those, and if all else fails, or if you doubt yourself that much, just ask Granger."
With a nod, Harry looked towards his cousin, but Dudley's mind was elsewhere. As realization hit that he had become the target of attention, the young Borderline asked what was on his mind. "What's a basilisk?"
Luck fell upon the group as vault 628 did, in fact, have bottled phoenix tears. Severus kept hold of the vial and soon Harry returned from his own vault with a basilisk scale which he handed to the renowned Potion Master. After Snape tucked the scale into his pocket with the proper protections, the group set off once more and made their way to Hogwarts, at Harry's insistence, where Hermione had last been seen.
Sure enough the young woman was still there, in the library where she offered her aid to Madame Pince in cleaning and sorting through the books that had been damaged in the war. Harry pulled his friend to the side and began to explain to her the situation involving Dudley, what they'd done, and what they planned to do.
Severus' own attention had been diverted and the man soon left the library with Draco and Dudley in tow. Quiet as they were, Snape knew they followed, but currently he didn't seem to care. Long yellowed fingers trailed across the cool stone wall as Snape's cold features softened and he made his way up the Grand Staircase. The young men's Feet stumbled over one another as Snape stopped suddenly at the fourth floor and made a sharp turn left towards the balcony. Creaks sounded as the dark wizard opened the door and stepped out onto the overhang in the shimmering sunlight. Coal black eyes raked over the grounds as Severus leaned against the rail. "Children screaming, running across the grass… athletes soaring through the air in practice flying… explosions sounding off from the dungeons that… echo throughout the entire school…" Snape's head shook slowly from side to side as his gaze lowered to his feet. "I don't think I shall be able to leave it all behind."
"I thought you hated all that stuff." Draco softly said as he approached the man to stand at his side and look out over the open fields.
Short bursts of laughter erupted from Severus as the man's head tilted upward and he looked to the Astronomy tower. "I do… I despise it with every fiber of my being." The man drew back and righted himself before he peered to the confused blonde boys before him. "But being here, seeing it all with the… supposed knowledge that I'd never return… I can't think of any place else I'd rather be… Even my home seems wrong when I could return here."
Days had passed and all seemed well at the manor until the third evening of Dudley's stay. A loud thunk came from the sitting room, followed by a clatter and crash as multiple things broke from impact. Draco rushed in from the bathroom with a toothbrush that hung from his mouth, and Dudley came from the kitchen with a sandwich in his hands.
From a pile of broken decorative plates that had previously hung on the wall Severus groaned and lifted his shaky hand which had a shard of porcelain stuck in the palm. "You incompetent brat!" The older man snarled towards Harry who stood on the other side of the room. "What did I tell you? This is exactly why you need to be bound!" He said through gritted teeth as he pulled the shard from his hand and stood. The crunch of the plates as they broke beneath his shoes pierced the group's ears through the still night air.
"I told you no!" Harry screamed at the man whilst he approached the broken mess. With his hand held out a soft pink light emerged from his fingertips and the broken plates repaired themselves. "It was an accident, and I'll learn to control it, but I am not, and I mean not going to allow anyone to bind my magic!" The young man put his hand over Snape's wound and when he removed his hand, the gash was healed.
Toothpaste dripped onto Draco's shirt collar and he banished the toothbrush back to its place and scourgified his mouth. The young Malfoy moved over to Dudley and quietly he whispered. "Did you see what happened?"
A growl left Severus' finally healed throat as he glared towards the blondes. "A new ability, courtesy of the siphoning. Apparently now he can throw people across the room by looking at them!" He spat. "And seemingly all of his reasoning skills have been siphoned out of him!"
Fury exploded from Harry in the form of a half scream, and the anger caused the mark to burn on the older man's arm which brought Severus to his knees. "You want to bind me!" Rage mellowed as Harry took a step back in full realization of his impact. Shakily he brought his clenched hands to his abdomen. "I-I'm sorry." He tried as he took another step in the opposite direction. "I'll learn to control it, I'll fix whatever I do, and I'll start meditating if I have to, but you're not binding me." In a flash Harry brushed his hair from his face and looked to Dudley. "F-Follow me, I need to show you where the first aid kit anyway."
Warily Dudley followed but he couldn't hold his tongue. "I don't really know what all is happening with you, but it sounds pretty bad. If you want, I can give you the number for my anger management group- same number for the therapist cause she runs it and all."
"I'm not going to anger management." Harry informed the young man as he fought with his body to keep any tears inside. Nimble fingers unlatched the first aid cabinet and he pulled out a tub from within. "This is burn salve, everything in here's labeled. They're easy to find." As he turned around he saw the fear in his cousin's eyes and the young savior sighed. "Look, don't worry. I'm going to find a way to control it, and like I said, I'll be there to fix whatever I fuck up. Like now." The tub tilted as Harry wiggled it and soon they made their way back to the living room.
Bright red skin on Severus' arm showed and sure enough there were two blisters that had formed in the wake of magical wrath. Harry knelt down to Severus, who glared at him as he sat back on his feet. "I'm sorry." Harry whispered as he opened the tub and pulled a dollop of the burn salve onto his fingers. Cold cream caused his thin fingers to glide effortlessly across the Dark Mark before him. "I don't think you're right about binding me, but you are right that I desperately need to learn to control myself. That's why starting tomorrow I'm going to be spending an hour after waking up every day learning to fight. That way I'll have something to take my anger out on and hopefully I'll be too exhausted to hurt either of you again. If you have other ideas, I'll be glad to hear them."
Nostrils flared as Severus huffed and the man's icy stare stayed strong. "I want an additional hour of practice from you a day. You will feel your emotions to the fullest of their capacity, I don't care how you make yourself feel them, but you will, and your target will be an inanimate form outside that we can charm to take the image of whoever you're pissed off at that day- myself, Draco, hell even the Dark Lord if that will get your emotions high enough." Heavy eyelids fell as relief from the burns spread throughout his arm and Severus pulled his sleeve down. "I don't care what time of day you do it, but I want you using every bit of wordless wandless magic you can and throwing everything you've got at that form. Over time you will see what physical symptoms you get before you do certain things, and you should be able to stop yourself once you notice yourself getting there. Agreed?"
Black messy hair bounced as Harry nodded and sat back on his own feet. "Agreed. I can do that."
"Then apology accepted." Snape said lowly before he stood and left to his room in a flurry of black robes.
As tensions died down, Dudley left the room to head for the bathroom and ready himself for his first lesson with Hermione. A cool breeze filtered in through an open window as the creatures of the night sang their mating songs in the distance. "Draco?" Harry asked as he stood and saw the blonde walk by. "Can you do me a favor?"
Grey eyes darted towards the ceiling as Draco thought for a moment then nodded his head. "I guess… and hey, since nobody else has brought it up, I've noticed that you've already gotten better at something with your powers- directing your anger. I didn't feel a thing so you can already direct and stuff to specific marks. Anyways, whaddya want?"
"I want to know if there's any way you can get me out of speaking at the Ministry tomorrow." Harry said as he smiled a bit with the knowledge that he had done something right. Pearly whites slipped from view as his smile faded. "Some goon got it stuck in his head that I need to make a speech, and even had the Minister go sign papers ordering me to appear there and take in some question and answer time. Papers with the summons are on the table over there."
Light shone from the tip of his wand as Draco went snatched the letter from the table. By the time he'd reread the summons twice, he'd nodded his head. "Yeah, I can get you out of making the big speech, but not the Q n A." He said. "We should have a mock session tonight so I can prepare you for public speaking and what not to say, cause I can tell you now, Skeeter's gonna be there and a couple other papers too. Plus, if you do public questions and answers like you did reading from the book in class, you're gonna need all the help you can get."
A/N: Definitions:
Nimagimancer (nuh•MAH•ji•man•sir) – Taken from the Latin words, Anima (soul) and Magicae (magic). A Nimagimancer is someone who comes from a family line of witches and wizards who can remove a core from a magical person and implant it into a squib or muggle. Since they can quite literally touch a witch or wizard's magical core and move it, they can also bring a Borderline's core to the forefront.
