Strength of a Child's Mind
Summary: Disaster and Harry Potter does not bode well… at all. And this particular disaster is determined to change both Harry's and the greasy potions master's lives!
Pairing/s: None.
Warnings: Severus!Father, Child!Harry. Spoilers up to the fifth book? Sirius not dead. Maybe something else but you'll see that.
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter.
Note: When Harry is with Voldemort, I will call him Coran.
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UPDATED: 6 January 2011
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Chapter Six
"Sorry sir-"
"-we didn't mean to-"
"-fall asleep while on active duty."
The potions master looked up as two sleepy redheads spoke. George covered a yawn as Fred tried to smooth out wrinkles on his shirt.
"No apologies needed," he said. "You stayed with Harry as long as I was gone, and obviously we all need to sleep."
"How come you're up before us, sir?" George asked curiously.
"Due to that little monster I'm used to few hours of sleep," Severus grumbled.
"Sev'rus!"
"When you speak of the devil," the man muttered to the roof.
Harry ran past the two, still dressed in his night-clothes and was caught by Severus who had gotten up the moment Harry had entered the room.
"I think I need to redecorate the whole floor with extra thick carpets," the man said with a smile. "You always run bare-foot."
"I like it," the boy protested.
"I know you do. Are you hungry, little one?"
"Yeah!"
"What about you two?" Severus asked the twins.
"Yeah…"
"A bit," Fred finished for his brother. They both added, "Sir."
"Please, sir makes me feel old," Severus groaned. "In here you may call me Severus."
Their jaws dropped.
-o-
Harry had tucked himself into a comfortable position in Severus' lap and refused to move, not that the man minded much. The two of them were seated in the couch, Fred and George having left only a little while ago after having eaten a healthy breakfast.
"Did you have fun yesterday with Fred and George?" the potions master asked, lightly stroking Harry's hair.
"Uh-hu. They read Gilgrad for me," the child replied and peered up at him.
"Again? You want to hear that one all the time."
"But it reminds me of Sev'rus… and it's nice."
"Is it now? If I remember right, Gilgrad is a much nicer man than me."
"You're nice," the boy protested.
Severus only chuckled.
"Besides reading Gilgrad, what did you do?"
"I made them exercise."
"Exercise?"
"Made 'em chase me around."
"Did you now?" the man asked.
"Uh-hu."
"Was that fun?"
"Yes, but I got really tired later," the boy said and looked up at Severus. "So we went to sleep."
"That sounds like you had a bit of fun with them."
"They are fun. But it's funnier watchin' you chase 'em around."
"… I do hope you don't walk around talking about it."
-o-
The Order waited for Severus to arrive from a sudden calling from the Dark Lord on Sunday. Normally he was never called away on a Sunday so they got worried.
Remus was reading softly to Harry, the boy resting against his chest, exhausted from the earlier game; being chased around the headmaster's office by Sirius. Now Black was resting on the floor, leaning onto a couch where Remus and Harry sat.
Severus suddenly dove in, face pale and said:
"He wants to meet Harry. I got one minute to bring him there."
"Did he say why?" Albus asked even as Remus lifted Harry over to the potions master's arms.
"He seemed… exhausted, and screamed at everyone to get out once someone entered the room," Severus said. "Don't know why he wants to see Harry."
"Where are we going?" the child asked, looking up at Severus, his small hands woven into the black material of the robe.
"We… we are going to meet Lord Voldemort again, you remember him?"
"Mm, I do. Wanna see him again."
"You better be in the same room this time," Moody said, his magical eye set on Severus.
"I can't guarantee that," Severus snapped. He whirled around and slammed the door behind him.
-o-
Voldemort perked his head up when the door opened and Severus come in, Coran on his hip. The child looked around and then locked vision with the Dark Lord. The potions master let him down and Coran ran up to the throne.
To Severus' shock, Voldemort smiled at the child and lifted him up on the arm of the chair.
"You can go and make the potion I wanted," Voldemort said to Severus. "No harm shall come to your child."
"Of course… my lord," Severus said and bowed. He sincerely hoped so.
As the man left the room Voldemort turned to the child again.
"How have you been?" he asked.
"Good!"
"Anyone giving you a hard time?"
"Nope! Drake took me out flying, and Pansy and I call him nicknames."
"I assume you are talking about young Malfoy?"
"Yes," Coran said and giggled. He leaned in closer and whispered, "Sev'rus went all hysterical when Drake took me out flyin'. It was funny to see."
"Oh, I can't imagine why," Voldemort teased. "How is it there otherwise? Have you met the headmaster of the school?"
"Yes, Dumbly."
"Dumbly?"
"Yeah, and Minnie or Minerva as she says. Dumbly dress funny."
"Oh, I do think he's colour blind," the Dark Lord said. "Does he still combine pink with yellow?"
"Once… my eyes hurt after that."
"I can understand that. Anyone else that caught your interest?"
"Moody or whatever they call him. Don like him, he's bad to Sev'rus."
"So you have met the Order?"
"Order?"
"A lot of people in Dumbledore's office."
"Kinda," Coran said. "They were loud, so I didn't listen."
"That's good. Don't listen to them," Voldemort said, shaking his finger and making the child giggle. "Come, let's go somewhere more comfortably."
He rose up and helped Coran down. The child took his hand and they walked out from the room. Voldemort steered them to the library, it had a lighter atmosphere that Coran would most likely enjoy. The man seated himself in one of the couches and watched Coran look around before the boy crawled up on the couch. Voldemort closed his eyes for a moment, rubbing his temples and Coran asked:
"Are you okay?"
"No, Coran… I'm not okay," the man said and looked at the child.
"What's wrong?"
"My time is ending," Voldemort said. "I have known that for a long time now, yet it was you who made me ease into the idea."
"Are you dying?" the child asked, small hands gripping his arm lightly. "My lord?"
"Don't call me that," the man said. "I am not your lord."
"What should I call you then?"
"You…" This was hard. The Dark Lord steeled himself for what he was about to say. For a long time he had despised anyone who dared call him by that name, but with this child… with this child it was easier to admit just who he was, and what was happening. He looked at Coran and spoke slowly, "You may call me… Tom."
-o-
Severus watched the potion simmer. It needed to simmer for a half-hour, it had been fifteen minutes already and then it would be done. A simple potion to be carried with the Death Eaters on raid if someone got injured it would temporarily stop the bleeding. Useful one that was used by pretty much anyone who fought.
"Hello Severus."
He turned around and kept his sneer inside. Bellatrix smiled at him, sweetly which meant something was wrong with her… although it was always something wrong with her.
"What do you want, Lestrange?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing much," she said and glided up to him. "Only to ask why our lord seems to enjoy your cousin-child's company so much."
"I have no idea what the lord might want, but I am pleased if to know that Coran is accepted by him."
"Well, he shouldn't be!" Bellatrix spat. "Your little brat is nothing, he shouldn't be allowed in the same room as our lord!"
"Go away," Severus said. "And do not think I will not hesitate to attack you if you every say something ill about Coran to me."
His wand was in his hand, directed on her heart. She looked at him, craziness shining in her eyes, and then she turned on her heels before storming out of the room. The potions master locked the door behind her.
-o-
Voldemort watched the child run up and down the room with Nagini playfully chasing him. The boy was giggling and managed to avoid the snake's advances. The Dark Lord had opted to stay in the couch.
The door suddenly opened and he looked up to see Bellatrix entering. He sighed; she was not someone he wished to meet right now.
But then he saw something that made his heart clench with an emotion he did not know. Her wand was on Coran who had stopped in confusion and now in fright. Bellatrix did not see it, her eyes alight with craziness and she shouted:
"Crucio!"
A shield was up around Coran within a fraction of a second, Voldemort's wand then swung back on her and he hissed out:
"Crucio."
Coran watched as the woman fell down and screamed. He touched the shield lightly and felt nothing but warmth. It felt like one of Severus' hugs… nice, and comforting. Nagini had her head on his shoulder, hissing soothingly into his ear. He could understand her, just like Voldemort could, but never replied. He never had a reason to.
Once Bellatrix stopped screaming, she could not find breath to scream, Coran walked forward, through the shield. He put his small hand on Voldemort's arm and said:
"I'm okay. You don't have do hurt her anymore. She didn't get me."
Voldemort found himself caving under the small voice and released the curse. She lay twitching on the floor. Coran crawled up on the couch and clung to Voldemort, turning his eyes away from her. Voldemort let him.
-o-
Severus was quite worried about Harry's silence. He never was silent, and after he had met Voldemort the first time he had been talking nonstop about the man.
He walked into the doors of Hogwarts and steered his way to the headmaster's office where he knew they were waiting for him and Harry.
As he stepped into the room everyone looked at him and the child.
"Why is he so pale?" Molly asked, eyes wide. There was a tone of accusation in her voice, and the potions master felt something loosen inside of him. He was going to snap sooner or later.
"I don't know," he got out between clenched teeth.
"You let Voldemort hurt him!" Moody screamed. Severus did snap this time.
"I would never let him hurt Harry, you idiot! I'm sick of hearing you accuse me of things I WOULD NEVER DO!"
Moody made ready for another scream, prolonging the argument when a book hit his face. He fell back, clutching his bloody nose.
Harry had not even looked where to aim.
"Harry… what's wrong?" Severus asked, backing away from everyone. The child was clenching his robes.
"I'm scared," Harry said and they all went silent.
"Scared of what? Lord Voldemort?" the man asked.
"No… I don't like them," the boy said and pointed at the Order. "They make Tom hurt. They are hurting him, and I don't like it."
"… Tom?"
"He wasn't my lord, so he told me to call him Tom," the boy said and looked at the potions master. Something was haunting in those green eyes. "Sev'rus… what's Crucio?"
They all tensed.
"Crucio…?" the man said. "It's… it's a curse, and it hurts really badly." It sounded ridiculous in his ears, that explanation as no explanation really made Crucio justice, but Harry seemed not to have noticed.
"Then why… why did she want to hurt me?"
"She who?"
"Tom said her name was Bellatrix."
Severus gulped at the same time he almost drowned in anger. Bellatrix had tried to hurt Harry?
Wait a minute…
"Was? As in past tense?" Severus asked.
"She tried to Crucio me, but Tom protected me. He said Crucio and pointed his wand on her, and she started screaming. I told him to stop after a while, because I didn't like it. After a little while he raised his wand again and said 'Avada Kedavra'. She stopped moving when it hit her. He told me Avada Kedavra resulted in death."
Harry suddenly started crying and Severus held him tightly.
"I know Tom did a bad thing, he killed someone," Harry sobbed, "but someone killed him as well!"
"What?" the potions master said. That did not make sense; it was Voldemort who had come with Harry into the potions lab.
"Someone is making him die," the child said and looked up at Severus. "He's going to die… I don't want him to die. I want him to live."
Tbc…
How did you like that? I like to twist myself into a net that I later have to try and clear out. Or maybe not like it but I'm awfully good at it.
Chapter seven: Harry starts to loose interest in anything else but Tom, and it seems like Voldemort has lost all interest in winning the war…
Until later,
Ja,
Tiro