And on with the story…
Chapter Three
Harry woke up with a splitting headache. This wasn't a particularly unusual situation so he barely gave it a moment's thought as he gathered the energy, or perhaps strength, to open his eyes.
Harry woke up in a strange room; he was willing to bet in a strange house. This also wasn't a particularly unusual situation, so again he barely gave it a moment's thought. The room seemed large, with floor to ceiling windows taking up one entire wall, a glass door set in the middle lead outside, but Harry really didn't care right now where too. He was lying on very soft dark blue sheets on a dark cheery wood four poster king size bed, with matching bedroom furniture around it. The walls were off-white, set with two doors. Harry could really care less, he was really much more concerned with how he was going to manage standing, getting home, and then doing all his chores. But for now, the first problem…
'Stand!' the order seemed to take awhile for his body to receive but once it did he managed to stand on soft carpet the same color as the bed sheets, shocked to find himself still dressed. With the ease of someone very used to 'the morning after', meaning that while he looked like an arthritic 90 year old he still somehow managed it in an amazingly short period of time, he began to take full stock of himself.
Based on his body, he had drank a great deal, drugged a great deal, fucked a great deal, and managed to avoid any fights… translation- sore muscles, bad headache, and he really wasn't prepared to attempt any food, but otherwise fine. Now for the next step in this routine.
'Getting home. First problem- where am I?' Harry usually found that the direct approach worked fairly well in this sort of situation. With that in mind Harry headed towards one of the closed doors, hoping to luckout, he found a hall with skylights showing the blue sky above. 'Score one for HJ." Looking down the hall both ways Harry saw closed doors ending in a turn one way, but leading off to a balcony with stairs in the other. Heading for the stairs Harry really hoped there was coffee down there.
He could hear voices downstairs, but couldn't quite be bothered raising his hooded, bloodshot eyes to look, so it was a bit of a surprise when a small whirlwind slammed into his legs as he stepped off the last stair. Looking down he saw that the whirlwind was a small boy, probably about 2, with black hair, pale skin with the slightest tan and when he looked up Harry could see his dark blue eyes, tiny button nose and thinish red lips. He was dressed in khaki green shorts and a dark blue T-shirt with a dragon on it. Harry was so shocked by the shirt 'Did that dragon just breath fire?' that he almost missed the whirlwind start speaking.
"Hi Harry, daddy sez brekfist, tum on!" that was about all Harry managed to make out before the whirlwind started dragging him across a large family room, and through a door all the while talking a mile a minute in some half language that for the life of him Harry couldn't understand. ((Hi Harry, daddy says breakfast, come on!))
Through the door Harry was met with a sight he never thought to see, Severus Snape, wearing jeans and a dark green T-shirt, was sitting in a bright and sunny dining room done in different tones of yellow, with a large oak table and chairs, while open French doors lead outside to a brilliant day. Sitting next to an empty high chair was a lady; she had light brown hair with blue eyes, the same nose as the little boy and tanned skin. Her beautifully curved body was draped in a cream summer dress with blood red roses on dark green stems. The table was piled high with various breakfast foods, but Harry couldn't have cared less right now.
The sight which he had just met was enough to slap Harry's brain into the impression of action. He could suddenly remember in blinding color and surround sound everything that happened last night, 'my son'. For all of a quarter of a second Harry started to panic again before he decided to take a more tried and true track for him. He shut down. He told his mind that now was not the time for this- focus on the immediate situation. Harry was used to situations where he a) didn't really have any clue what was happening and b) didn't want to be there, so he simply applied his hard learned lessons to this situation too. Appear confident, and get the hell out of there as soon as you can…
"Good morning professor. This young whirlwind here said something about dragging me to breakfast." Harry gave his best effort at a smile though he knew it probably looked like the sickly imitation it was, and ruffled the hair of the boy still holding his hand.
"Indeed Harry. Sit down and help yourself to breakfast." Deciding that at this point his other options were limited Harry sat down at a seat far enough away from Snape and his family to give himself space but not so far as to be rude. The boy headed over to the high chair and the lady helped him up into it. "That whirlwind is my son Tainen and this is my wife Cassi."
Making some random noise in his throat which he hoped Snape took as agreement, Harry dove into the cup of strong black coffee he had poured while Snape spoke. He didn't even attempt to make a reply as he finished his first cup and poured a second, this one he nursed, taking only a small sip before sighing, and closing his sore eyes.
"Eat Harry." It was a soft order carrying with it a gentle rebuke, a tone he had never heard from Snape before. That didn't mean he was any more inclined to take this order then any other order Snape had ever given him.
Harry knew his smile looked forced as he opened his eyes to meet Snape's. "Thank-you sir, but I'm really not hungry this morning. If you could show me out of here I'll be on my way back to my relatives. They're bound to be very worried about me after I didn't return home last night"
Something seemed to flash briefly in Snape's eyes before he got it under control. "We'll talk about that after breakfast, eat." This time the order wasn't so soft, and Harry knew that refusing again would lead to trouble. In his highly delicate state, Harry really wished to avoid trouble. With a half concealed sneered of disgust at Snape Harry spooned some fresh fruit onto his plate, the only thing he felt even remotely confident he would be able to keep down.
Having felt the unease building between her husband and the boy she now knew was her stepson Cassi grabbed the first topic she could in the hope of distracting them both. Unfortunately, Cassi was rather uneasy herself, and in her panic choose extremely poorly indeed.
"Is that a tattoo on your chest?" There was no reprimand in her voice; the question was an innocent attempt at conversation. However it was hard to miss the way her husband's head suddenly snapped toward Harry. 'Oh Merlin'
Harry saw his father 'oh gods no, stay away from there HJ' saw Snape stiffen at the question and realized rather belatedly that his tattoos were visible under his top. Cursing himself for forgetting to hide them in his secret way he knew it was because he normally didn't hide them during the summer that he had forgotten.
With the same false ease he had used earlier to hide his discomfort Harry smiled at Cassi, this time the smile managed to appear sincere to the room, and he appeared totally at ease as he answered. "Yes ma'am. On my chest I have a white Lily woven through the antlers of a stag."
Knowing full well what that tattoo symbolized Cassi forced herself to reply, "Oh please, call me Cassi." Despite her husband's unease, and her own, this conversation seemed to be working as a first attempt to engage her stepson so she decided to continue it. "On your chest? Do you have others? I think I can see something on your arm." She hoped this answer wasn't going to bite her in the arse as well.
"Umm, yeah, I have several. On my arm is an Australian Island Taipan, it's charmed to generally stay perfectly still except for it's eyes which watch the closet person continuously, and if touched it moves as if it's striking but it's a tattoo, so of course it's not. It's commonly called the 'Australian fierce snake', and it's the most poisonous muggle snake on the planet, but not the most deadly. It has the power to kill but rarely does, preferring to be left in peace."
"On the back of my left hip is a golden snitch which is charmed to fly all over my body. I'm a seeker. On the front of my right hip, kinda draped across my hip and stomach is a Hungarian Horntail Dragon, charmed so as it appears to breath fire and can also fly around my torso a bit. I once faced one in the Triwizard Tournament. On my left inner thigh is the Chinese symbol for temptation. On my back I have Thestral wings which are sitting closed against my back most the time but are charmed to flare open at will. Around my left ankle I have a simple black chain with a muggle padlock, it's charmed to never move no matter what. Of course they all have standard muggle repellent charms on them so muggles just see the unmoving original."
Cassi didn't know what to say, desperately searching for a response she offered a weak "They sound lovely", before helping, Tainen who was now finished his breakfast, down from his chair. "If you'll excuse us, I'd better get Tainen cleaned up."
With that she headed upstairs, not missing the tensing of both her husband and stepson now that the convenient distraction that was her presence was departing.
Now that she was gone Harry knew he was going to have to acknowledge Snape, luckily the coffee was hitting his system and seemed to be doing away with his hangover. Oh, this morning or all mornings, he was thankful for his ability to get over a hangover with just a little caffeine!
Snape's POV
The second the teenager entered the room he could tell that he was uncomfortable, Merlin a blind man in Africa could tell that he was uncomfortable. Still, with that typical backbone which had always annoyed Snape, Harry ignored his discomfort and politely offered a greeting and then sat down.
Harry went straight for the coffee and Severus barely caught himself before taking the coffee back and telling Harry he was too young to drink it. That would not have gone over well. The careful rebuke and soft order to eat was all he felt he get away with, without being flatly told where he could place his recommendation.
It shouldn't have surprised him that Harry wanted out of there as fast as he could go, hell really it didn't surprise him. But not surprising and not hurting are two different things and Severus knew his hurt must have shown in his eyes briefly before he got it under control. That was why the next response came out somewhat snapped.
He really didn't know what they were going to discuss after breakfast. He had spoken with Cassi earlier, told her everything, all about last night. And now he was going to have to face his son in the daylight and somehow try to make this right, somehow try to convince him to try, hopefully convince him to come stay with them for the summer but, realistically, hell, all he was hoping for a cessation of overt hostilities in private and an agreement to at least talk together at some point.
His wondering attention returned to his nearly full-grown, and yet brand new, son with whiplash force. He supposed he should be getting used to it after yesterday. Tattoos? TATTOOS? Somehow Severus hadn't noticed the tattoos on his son's chest, back and arms despite the fact that in the light of day they were clearly visible through the see-through T-shirt. He bristled with this new information about the teen. TATTOOS! It just kept getting worse! At this point Severus wasn't sure he'd be surprised if it turned out Harry had a kid running around out there somewhere too.
And Damn that child if he didn't answer cool as day, his earlier discomfort seemingly forgotten with this new topic. A Tattoo that symbolized his mother and James. On his chest, right over his heart.
And there were more. The most poisonous muggle snake on earth, which while deadly, rarely killed, gee, was he trying to say something! Of course a snitch, can't forget that. The bloody dragon he fought and beat in that stupid tournament. The Chinese symbol for temptation, he didn't go into the reasons behind that one but in such a sexual position we can all guess.
Thestral wings, a creature of death, on his back, and a part of him. Another I notice he didn't feel the need to really explain the symbolism of. Slightly disturbing, but not too bad. A simple black chain with a muggle padlock? It's charmed to never move no matter what? The lack of explanation, as well as leaving this tattoo for last, seemed to make it stand out in Severus' mind. It seemed so innocent, a slightly odd choice for a tattoo but okay. Yet Severus had the sinking feeling that it was actually really important and he was failing his son in some way neither of them knew by not knowing what it meant.
And then breakfast was over and Cassi was gone and oh Circe help him now… the tension was getting so thick so fast.
Please, Oh Please, oh Pretty Pretty Please R&R!
Will dance for reviews…