Wish Two - The Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow

A five year old was cradling a torn book as he sat inside the cupboard underneath the stairs. Tears filled his eyes as he did his best not to cry out from ache knowing full well the consequences of having to suffer another round of beating the moment his pained voice reaches his uncle's ears.

Little Harry Potter couldn't help but keep on dreaming of possibly escaping his relatives into the unknown world. Unfortunately, his attempt to do so last summer led him to realize how harsh reality can be when he was forcefully returned to his abusive relatives despite his great show of fear and visible marks. People didn't want to be bothered. They did not care unless it benefits them. Their belief that the children are better off with their family no matter what the case cannot be said the same in these circumstances.

But the young child did not give up hope to humanity for all he wanted was to be like Dorothy to see the good in everybody.

Dorothy loved. Dorothy was brave. Dorothy had the brains.

Reading the infamous book the Wizard of Oz for like a fiftieth time, Harry's lovely emerald eyes twinkled with mirth. Despite the neighbors' belief that he might as well be a waste of space, Harry was incredibly smart regardless of being young. Besides the child was forced to grow up and adjust quickly to survive. He studied the books his cousin Dudley chose to throw away and in turn he was much more aware of what should be and could have been.

And yet Harry was still a child full of wonder for his imagination did not fall short in comparison to other children his age. He kept on wishing that one day he would be transported into the Land of Oz and to have magic at his disposal. He thought of the lion that lacked courage, the scarecrow that had no brains, and the tin man that is bereft of a heart. They, who in the end, earned what they desired and more.

The book gave him hope, a reason to live and taught him that not everything is at it seems. In the end of the day, it lessened his burden.

"Harry?"

"Seb? Lucky you! You came just on time!"

Sebastian instantly looked back in suspicion. The last time the older man said those exact same words was when they both ended up in some sort of trouble with the lunch ladies. Fortunately, the women adored Harry enough to let it slide.

"Come with me to the rooftop before she comes back!" Harry said while shoving a book, a sketchbook, and other objects that he couldn't quite identify from his position inside the Iron Man themed duffel bag.

"She?"

"My friend, 'Mione! She can be quite stubborn at times but… I'll explain later. We really have to go! Dobby can only distract her for a short while before she gets suspicious." Grabbing Sebastian's hand, they left the room in a rush.

"Harry! Wait a minute! Your health! You shouldn't be running around like this. Black will seriously kill me if you-" Sebastian was breathing heavily at the pace Harry was going.

"Hush, my friend! I won't allow it," Harry said with a rather dashing smile, "So quickly! We are off to a journey!"

Jogging upstairs, the boys did not see a curly haired woman standing in front of the empty room looking like a devil to anyone who walked by, "Harry James Potter!" she said seething in anger.

As the two reached their destination, Harry at once plopped down onto the floor with his bag and laughed freely. Sebastian on the other hand gasped harshly for a lungful of air while glaring at the other man, "Contrary to popular belief, Harry, I detest anything related to physical workouts."

Looking back at his newly found friend, Harry merely smiled in his predicament. Even after having done his one week detention with Sirius, Sebastian continued to visit him when he could which was most of the time. "Geez Sebby," Sebastian twitched at the nickname, "You should seriously find the time to exercise. Just what do you on your free time?"

"Hn. Stuff."

"What? Chasing women?"

"…"

"Plotting world domination?"

"Not necessarily… Father is already doing that. I'm aiming small! Just the school!"

Silence reined.

Few seconds later, Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing, "I was just kidding! You are way too honest, Seb! Are you sure you're a Slytherin? "

Sebastian refused to respond and swore to himself, 'Only to this man-child I cannot lie… But I will never EVER tell him that.'

"Well then, come and sit down, papa's boy!" the man-child teased.

Growling, he retorted, "I am not!"

"Sure sure," Harry said trying to placate the young man.

Choosing to evade the topic instead, Sebastian said, "Who was she then? The woman you were trying to escape."

"Hermoine Weasley. She was my best friend alongside with her husband Ron. She was like the smart cookie in our group of misfits," Harry said fondly.

"Why were we running away from her then?"

"Well… She can be quite nagging sometimes especially now that she is a mother. She seems to have made it her sole mission to find me a lover so that I won't get lonely being in the hospital. And because of that I fear for the possible disruption of my bachelor life every time she comes and visits."

Sebastian snorted, "That's adorable. The term bachelor doesn't seem to fit you."

This time, Harry twitched, "Even I can have a love life! It's not as though I'm a monk. I just believe in true love."

"As I said before and will continue to do so, that is seriously adorable," Sebastian said pinching his friend's cheeks.

Pouting, he shoved his hand into the red and golden duffel bag and procured a book to lend the younger man, "Knowing 'Mione, we are staying here quite some time."

"Hmm… Wizard of Oz? That's quite some book you've got."

"I'm usually not much of a reader but I'm very fond of the series. I even got the whole collection!"

"Yeah? I am more of movie type of person but I'll give this a shot."

Lying down on the floor, Sebastian began to read. Harry then took out his sketchbook and drew whatever came to mind. Comfortable silence ensued between the two. From the rooftop, the faint sound of children laughing, birds chirping and trees rustling were heard.

Sebastian took a quick peek at his companion as he recalled the days he had spent with the gorgeous man. He didn't have to look at the older man in a romantic sense to appreciate (mainly due to his huge crush with the innocent Luna) but he is most certainly not blind not to notice his stunning features.

Harry was truly special. Mysterious in a sense but was incredibly kind. The people love him and he never fails to reciprocate and yet he looks so terribly broken.

"Hmm? You seem to be staring at me quite intensely, Sebastian. Should I be worried for my chastity?" Harry teased.

"What?! No! Of course not… I was just curious. I mean I just realized I don't actually know much about you…" Sebastian couldn't help but blush. He felt so of out of character right now. Where was his suave when he needed it?

Harry then giggled… And it was bloody endearing! And mind you he was straight as a ruler.

"Well… I wanted to be a detective actually. But with my health… Well it's obvious that my body cannot handle too much strenuous exercise."

"Huh... I thought you would have wanted to be a policeman with your unconceivable sense of justice but my guess was close enough."

"Well if we are gauging this in terms of personality then you are simply perfect as a lawyer! With your crude mind and smooth talking skills you just might be able to trick your opponents to spill the truth," Harry grinned almost like that Cheshire cat from Wonderland.

"I have no idea how you made me feel insulted yet complimented at the same time."

"It's a talent, my friend."

"Lawyer huh…"

People more often than not ask him what he wants to do with his life after he'll graduate. Does he want to go to college? Take over his father's business? Make a new one? Become an actor? Sebastian never did respond. At this point the only thing that he ever desired was the approval of his father and to see him proud of having him as a son.

He was well aware that Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. wasn't an easy person to please. He wouldn't hesitate to rid those he deemed as liabilities or threats to achieve his goals. Even though no one really knows what he is truly trying to accomplish. For Sebastian, it looks as though he is trying to dominate the world. Knowing his father's ego was so much greater than his, he would literally bow down to the person who can put down his father down a peg or two. No real offense but the man seriously needs something to spark his life.

Sebastian would sometimes see his father's reddish brown eyes look dull and bored. His first thought was letting him meet Harry but he wasn't that sadistic to place his friend in such an uncompromising situation. Knowing the most devious underground boss all too well, he would eat him alive.

The young boy wondered how he would have turned out if Harry was his father. Knowing the man he might have been a prank master in the making but in the end Sebastian wouldn't feel as though he was starved of affection by his supposed father.

Harry chuckled, "You're frowning again, Seb. Look you ruined my drawing of you," he said showing his masterpiece of Sebastian looking broodingly as he stared at the book.

"… Wow. You're actually good at this. To be able to successfully capture my sexiness in one frame is a gift, Harry," Sebastian responded with a smug look on his face as he took the sketchbook for a closer inspection.

"I used to suck at this actually. But with nothing better to do and constant practice you're bound to get better at it."

After a few minutes of appreciating the sketch, Sebastian said, "Can you draw someone for me?"

"Sure, why not?"

Severus Snape was a man of few words. Despite all of his flaws, he only ever loved one woman who never did reciprocate his feelings. His choices in life was based on what he deemed would benefit greatly into his future. And yet most of his success resulted in a greater loss in his part. Some of his choices weren't the best for it often times than not went against his morals but it was the lesser of the two devils. Yet he still carries this heavy burden full of regrets. Losing his childhood friend as well as unrequited love because of his own selfishness to achieve greatness made him cynical and spiteful in life… He couldn't afford the same mistake twice.

Although, joining the ever growing underground organization, Death Eaters, is not much of a mistake but more of a necessity. But having the greatest student that had ever walked upon the halls of Hogwarts as a boss is something his pride wouldn't even dare to admit. Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. may have been young when he started the organization with the claims of overthrowing the government and yet, no one really knew or even dared to ask the true reason why he himself began plotting against the regime. But not once did he lack the charisma and talent to lead his people to some sort of improvement and success.

The only thing Snape hated was that Lord Voldemort, as the boss liked to call himself behind the scenes, ruled by fear and fear alone.

"Severus."

Snape nearly flinched at the tone but his face remained impassive. Reminiscing is becoming a bad habit of his in the past few days. He nearly forgot that he was presently in a meeting with almost all the Inner Circle in the Riddle manor near the village of Little Hangleton. The only one missing was Bellatrix Lestrange who was temporarily out of commission from her last mission. They were rumored to be the trusted advisers of the man behind the chaos wrought about in the country. Although, having the word trust in the same sentence as Voldemort? It is practically an overstatement.

"Yes, Lord Voldemort," he responded.

"Do you have any news from the Order of Phoenix? Have they actually caught on to our grand schemes?"

"Not that I'm aware of. They merely argued on whether or not they should raid your warehouse in Godric's Hollow to possibly find evidence against you."

"Hmm… How unusual. Isn't that so? But useless nonetheless," Voldemort's tone twisted to one full of mockery. Chuckling, he added, "Dumbledore is getting rusty these past few months. Either he is trying to put our guards down or he is just that desperate…"

His chuckles only served to make the blood of all the people in the room run cold.

"My lord, if I may voice out my thoughts."

"Speak Lucius and it better not waste my time."

Despite being almost the same age, Lucius Malfoy cannot help but suffer unbearable fear every time he spoke to his old friend. They've been together since high school. But now that he thought about it, had Voldemort ever consider him as a friend? Day by day, Lucius can't help but feel as though his blonde hair would eventually turn pure white from the stress. However, for his only son he swallowed his fear and said, "There seems to a traitor in our circle…"

The weight of the silence was almost choking them.

"Explain," Voldemort said while his voice devoid of any feeling.

"My suspicions are not entirely unfounded, my lord. There seems to be transactions connecting with the Order of Phoenix these past few months on the times when we have assumed that they finally lost trail."

Handing over a thick folder to Voldemort, he continued, "At first I thought of it as mere coincidence but someone's been feeding them information. Right now the information may not be useful or harmful to us but the locations that the Order has been sending their goons has something in common. Despite the places being insignificant in our current schemes, this type of information shouldn't have been known by the public nor does the government even know the specific areas and details of the storehouses."

"Basically this traitor wasn't really that good at digging the right information but knows well enough where to look at."

"Yes, I believe so. Fortunately, the traitor must have had a hard time narrowing it down due to the number of places that we all own especially when combined."

"Do you have anyone in mind, Lucius? For some odd reason, I already know who could be behind this pathetic act of betrayal against me," he was about to continue when he suddenly felt his ears ringing and his head began to pound.

"They say when a person is in absolute fear and backed into a corner then he either succumbs to the inevitable or becomes the most unpredictable."

'What?' Voldemort frowned at the sudden memory, 'Whose voice was it again?' Even he found it odd to not be able to recall such velvety voice.

While the underground boss was distracted, the traitor stood and screamed, "I can't take this anymore! You ruined my life Voldemort!"

A loud explosion was heard from the outside. Peter Pettigrew took it as a sign and fired.

The gunshot was practically resounding in everyone's ears as it was going forth its intended target yet only one person was able to move in time.

A loud thud was then heard as someone fell to the ground.

"Harry!"

Lying on the said person's lap, Sebastian stared at the petite, curly haired woman in annoyance as he was interrupted from his reading (and his peaceful time not that he'll admit to it). Harry on the other hand was paling quite considerably at the heat of her glare.

"Ack! 'Mione! Hi there! How are the kids? Care for some cup of tea?"

Hermione's scowl turned even more frightening, "Don't act all buddy to me right now! You skipped your scheduled check-up with Dr. Lockhart for like the fifth time!"

"But that man is such a pain… I had to listen to how handsome and amazingly smart he is every bleeding time."

"Narcissistic he may be, however, he is still one of your doctors."

"Even when he does his supposed job he doesn't even look like he knows what he is saying… I prefer Dr. Ollivander any day," mumbling Harry added, "Even if he sometimes acts weird..."

Hermoine sighed in defeat, "Harry… You have to do this. For my sake… For all of our sake…"

Hermoine Jean Weasley née Granger was vain enough to consider herself pretty especially when standing alongside her gorgeous best friend. In all actuality, she used to be an awfully insecure girl mainly due to her buck teeth and outrageously curly hair as a child. Meeting Harry Potter changed her life. From a stuck-up know it all she learned to be more open and flexible to more things. Her arrogance was leveled to confidence. And instead of isolation, she had friends she could count on.

Somewhere deep in her heart, she used to love Harry romantically. He was always there for both Ron and her even when the two faltered to be his friend somewhere along the way. But not once did he look her way nor at anyone's way. Hermoine could only speculate that he might have already been incredibly in love with someone else. She never knew who it was though or if there was actually a person.

Yet this time she still loved Harry but more of a familial affection. Ron somehow squeezed his way into her heart before she even knew it. For the couple, Harry was literally their beacon of light when they had to go through series of challenges and trials just to get where they were today. Those were even the days she tentatively regarded as the best days of her life in spite of the headaches she suffered afterwards.

And all she wants right now is to see Harry happy and most of all, alive.

Using her last trump card, she cried in tears, "Please Harry… I don't want to lose you."

"But- 'Mione… I-" she cried harder, "Eep… Ron is going to kill me… I just-"

"I never knew devils can cry."

The moment was shattered.

"What did you say you brat!?" she screeched.

"Ack…" Sebastian turned on his charm, "I said how you're extremely fetching in that purple dress."

"You better have… Wait who are you? And why are you in Harry's lap?" she questioned. This time her glare was aimed at the younger man.

"Sebastian Riddle-Gaunt. It is a pleasure to have a pretty woman such as yourself as an acquaintance," Sebastian said still not moving away from Harry's lap.

Hermoine didn't even blink at his words and responded, "Hermoine Weasley. I can't say the same in my case. Now get off."

"No," he finally glared at the woman.

"'Mione. He's Padfoot's student actually so he's all good."

"I see… Hold on... Riddle? That name somehow sounds familiar… Well whatever. Just come with me already Harry. I predicted your attempt in escaping and changed the time for your schedule with Dr. Lockhart."

"Eh?! So cruel," Harry grimaced, "But fine. Geez 'Mione, you are way too meticulous about these things."

"You're going already, Harry? Can I still accompany you to eat dinner later?"

Gently patting his head, Harry replied, "Yes, as long as you did your homework already. I don't want Padfoot accusing me of being a bad influence. Besides, it shouldn't take too long unless he starts bragging about himself again…"

"No worries. I did it already when I was in school," Sebastian said as he slowly stood and gave the book back to Harry.

Sebastian was about to leave first but was pulled down by the older man who whispered into his ear, "Buy us some dinner outside the cafeteria. I have something I want to celebrate."

"Harry let's go."

Carrying his duffel bag, Harry left and threw a conspicuous wink at the amused Sebastian and followed the woman to the stairs, "Got it, 'Mione."

Smirking, Sebastian muttered to himself, "It's a date then."

Sebastian was quick to return to the hospital after buying their meal in the Leaky Cauldron with the thought of Harry appreciating something familiar in his taste buds. But his footsteps halted when he saw his father talking on the phone as he was walking impassively behind a familiar group of people.

As he looked more closely, the inner circle was uncharacteristically rushing to the hospital. The most noticeable was Lucius looking haggard.

"Father?"

The incredibly handsome man looked back with a single arched brow in query, "Vladimir." His reddish brown eyes shown an emotion Sebastian couldn't quite place whether it was disdain or worry he wasn't able to confirm for his father's eyes quickly turned detached.

Instantaneously, he responded to the unspoken question, "I'm here visiting my friend. Father, is someone sick?"

"Severus was shot. And I expected you to be at home by this time, Vladimir."

"Wha-"

Tom continued speaking as he discretely gestured one of the inner circles to come, "I want you to go home this instant. You'll only be a liability if my enemies see you here." Sparing a glance at Rabastan, he said, "Take him to the Slytherin mansion near his school and don't let him out of sight. Take more guards if necessary."

"Father I have plans with-"

Waving his hand to disrupt whatever reasons his son might give, Tom added, "No excuses. You're going back. Rabastan now."

"God damnit! Father!" Sebastian screamed as he was once again dismissed by his own father for like the hundredth time.

"Young master, I have to bring you back home or else…"

Pushing Rabastan aside, he rushed to his father, "I'm staying here whether you like it or not! I already promised that I'll meet my friend. Furthermore, I'm sick and tired of you dictating my life every f*cking time!"

"Vladimir this is not the right time for you to argue with me. I'm busy and there is still much to handle."

"You're always busy with this or that! You never f*cking find the time for me. And I'm your son!"

"Rabastan."

"Yes sir."

Fury flashed in Sebastian's eyes and he punched Rabastan's aristocratic face. Trying to calm himself, "Father please at least take your the time to listen. I'll even try to help."

"… I don't have time for this…" Tom looked at his son in disappointment, "You should know your priorities, Vladimir. Do I need to remind you that as well?"

Clenching his fists, the young man felt unbearable pain in his heart of having been rejected once again by his father. The overwhelming feelings of frustration, loneliness, desperation, and anger were never a good combination.

'I can't take this anymore. It hurts…' With that thought in mind, he ran into the hospital looking for a secluded place to think before he humiliates himself further. He needed someone to ease this pain. He thought of women; of Luna as well but one person persists in his mind, 'Harry.'

The one called father stared at his agitated son running inside the building and sighed quietly. When Vladimir was left in his doorstep fourteen years ago, Tom was adamant to place him in an orphanage or even let the Lestranges adopt the baby. He was just beginning his career and didn't have the time, dedication or affection to take care of a child and a new born baby at that. But something in him refused to perform such acts. Was he actually overridden by guilt?

Tom himself knows as to how cruel he can be. He should be incapable of feeling guilt. He was more or less known by his peers of having no heart. Men cannot help resenting yet at the same time respect him. Women desire him and envision themselves of possibly changing his harsh nature. Essentially, he is someone to be feared and he relishes at that very fact.

That was why his inner circle was dubious at his sudden change of heart. They worried for the baby yet they could not go against their leader. Fortunately for them, he was able to handle taking care of Vladimir. But even with his money, he couldn't give much affection to his son. Despite lacking in terms of parental guidance, he still prides himself of having Vladimir. 'But it's useless to feel anything at this point of time. I've come this far and I won't let a single rat ruin my plans.'

Tom glared and said, "Rabastan, I'll only tolerate your incompetence just this once because Vladimir seems to be in his rebellious phase and at such a bad time. But once he cools his head take him back home as instructed and don't let him out of sight."

Rabastan could only nod in response.

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

— George Bernard Shaw

A/N: Finally was able to introduce Voldemort. If all goes well then the two should finally meet in the next stage.