Sorry that it has been so long! I've been so busy lately with school, but there should be a MASSIVE posting of new material for most of my stories within the next week or so. Midterms are winding down now so it's not as crazy. I hope you enjoy this. I find Severus to be rather cute at times.
Chapter 4: First Breakfast
Ra awoke slowly the next morning. Sitting up in the large, four-poster bed, he frowned, glancing down at his body. A strange ache had permeated into his body, from what he did not know. On Mr. Tender's orders, Ra had always been in good shape and athletic. The dance he'd done with Siren the night before shouldn't have left him winded, let alone sore.
Sighing softly, he ruffled Sprite's light blond hair. The younger boys were sprawled out around him, all still asleep. Sprite had been curled up against Ra's side like a kitten, his soft breath tickling the older teen's cheek. Faun and Angel were wrapped up in each other for additional warmth on Sprite's other side while Siren lay just beyond them. They had formed a protective sandwich, the strongest two on the outside and the younger ones on the inside.
There was a slight knock at the door and Ra bolted up out of bed. Rushing over to the door, he paused momentarily before opening it just a crack. He peeked out into the hall to find Severus waiting there. Smiling up at the man, he nodded once and pulled the door open further. The tall man sauntered into the room, glancing at the line of boys asleep on the bed.
"I suppose you slept well," he drawled quietly.
Ra nodded and scampered over to the bedside table for the everlasting quill and the parchment from last night. He quickly scrawled a message on it and held it out to the Potions Master.
"You don't need to thank me," Severus said. "Tom is the owner of the this castle."
Ra's eyes widened and he nodded furiously. He would most definitely thank the red-eyed man to the best of his abilities.
"Breakfast is going to be served soon if you wish to join us. It will only be Tom and myself, but don't feel pressured," Severus continued, hoping to not scare the boy.
With a smile, Ra hopped over to the bed and fiercely shook Siren's shoulder. The brunet slowly raised his head, eyes still drooping with sleep. Ra spelled out a series of words with his hands and the other boy nodded, sitting up to help wake the others. Severus watched from the far corner, astounded at the close relationship between the boys.
A few minutes later, Severus was leading the procession down to the dining hall. When they entered the room, six almost inaudible gasps could be heard from behind him. Tom sat at the head of the table, sipping a potion from a large golden goblet. The table was laden with foods of all kinds, probably more than the boys had ever seen in one sitting in their entire lives. Severus took the chair to Tom's right with Ra and Sprite beside him. The remaining three boys took the left side of the table. All of their eyes were fixed on the food.
"How did you sleep, boys?" Tom asked as he set down his goblet.
The six boys nodded their answer and Tom smiled.
"Very good. Now, feel free to eat. None of you had dinner last night as far as I know so you must be hungry."
Tentatively, the six boys filled their golden plates with eggs, bacon, toast, and a variety of different fruits. Severus watched out of the corner of his eye as Ra took a small serving before helping Sprite. He frowned a little, his eyes narrowing.
"Harry?" he asked quietly.
The young man turned to him, cocking his head to one side.
"You can take more than that if you wish," Severus said, motioning to Ra's plate.
Shaking his head, Ra signaled to himself and made a vertical cutting motion with his hand. Severus's frown deepened, understanding the basics of what he was saying.
"What is it Severus?" Tom asked.
"I think he's saying that he is not allowed to take more than that," Severus said slowly.
"Why?" Tom asked, frowning at his magical heir.
Ra blushed a little and pulled the piece of paper from his pocket. He quickly wrote a note and held it up. Tom hissed quietly under his breath.
"Harry, you don't need to worry about that any longer. Mr. Tender's rules no longer apply," he muttered angrily.
Ra's eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head, writing on the paper again. Severus leaned over to watch him as he wrote.
I-A-M-M-A-R-K-E-D.
"Marked?' Severus asked.
Ra lifted the bottom of his shirt, baring his abdomen to the two men. If it weren't for their Slytherin masks, they would have recoiled in anger. A word was inked just inside the left hipbone, the deep red color and the magic that emanated from it alerting the two wizards to its purpose.
"A contract mark," Tom said quietly. "What is it for?"
Ra paused, thinking about it for a moment. He glanced at Siren and they nodded to each other. Taking a deep breath, Ra opened his mouth in an attempt to speak. Nothing came out except for a whimper of pain as the dark-haired boy squeezed his eyes shut.
"So that's why you can't speak?" Tom asked.
Ra nodded and motioned to Siren. The slightly younger boy opened his mouth but from it erupted a scale of beautiful notes. As he continued to sing, words as black as night slowly appeared on his neck, written in scrawled Latin. Getting up from his chair, Severus slipped around the table to Siren, leaning down to inspect his neck.
"Be not the orator, but rather the musician," he translated. The Potions Master glanced at the other five boys assembled around the table. "So you can all sing, but you can't speak."
The boys all nodded fiercely, digging into their food.
"What does that achieve?" Tom asked.
"Also, why don't you just sing whatever you want to say?" Severus added.
Ra scribbled his answers and handed the parchment to Tom.
"Mr. Tender said that if we spoke we would displease our clients, but that singing well would make us worthy of them," the Dark Lord snarled. "Sick man."
Ra motioned for him to continue.
"He also said that we should only sing what is asked of us. Our opinions do not matter. The client always comes first," Tom read.
All six boys stared down at the plates before them, recoiling from the anger radiating from the two men.
"How could he do this to you, to young children?" Tom hissed. "I've given my Death Eaters contract marks in the form of their Dark Mark, but those were consensual!"
Severus shook his head a little, astounded.
"I wonder how he even did it," the Potions Master sighed. "Mr. Tender is a squib. Then again, Fudge, the most incompetent man in the world, managed to get in touch with him. He must be in contact with the Wizarding World somehow."
"I'll have to get Lucius on it," Tom snarled. "The fact that it is even considered tolerable to do such a thing sickens me."
"If anyone will find anything, it will be Lucius," Severus said in agreement. Noticing the quizzical look that Ra was giving him, Severus turned to the young man and asked, "Do you know what a contract mark is, Harry?"
The teen shook his head, although he straightened his back at the words. A flicker of excitement flitted across his face before it was buried beneath the cool mask he usually wore. Severus's mouth almost twitched. The boy was a keen learner it seemed.
"A contract mark signifies an important magical agreement between two people, usually that of master and servant, such as Severus and I," Tom explained.
Ra cocked his head to one side and nodded slowly in understanding. He glanced around at the other five boys, a frown spreading across his face.
"I don't know how he managed to make a magical contract with them, either. Muggles usually can't make such agreements since they have no inherent magic," Tom said slowly. "Do you remember the day he gave you those marks, Harry?"
The teen responded in the negative and the two wizards sighed.
"If I may, Tom, I'd like to take a closer look at the contract marks that Harry has. I may not be a Runes Master, but I do have some knowledge of these sorts of agreements," Severus said.
"That would be good, Severus. Thank you," Tom said as he picked up his goblet again. "Mind, I would search carefully for any sort of magic suppressors if I were you. Harry here was powerful enough to repel my magic when he was a year old, but I can barely sense any magic from him now. While you look at Harry, I'll show the rest of the boys to the front parlor. I think they could use an introduction to the rest of the house elves and perhaps even the owls. You can take the library. There are a few runes books in there that may be of help."
Severus nodded to the Dark Lord and turned back to Ra. "When you're finished eating, I'll examine your contract, alright?"
The boy's eyes brightened and he nodded vigorously before tucking into his meal once again. Severus ate at a much slower pace, eyeing the teen. Ra was small for his age, his hair dark and wild. He could see the strong resemblance to James Potter that he strangely hadn't noticed before. The boy even looked quite a bit like his brother, the insufferable brat Michael.
Sighing inwardly, Severus admitted to himself that the brat wasn't all that bad. His potions skills were lacking as were his overall grades, but he wasn't nearly the grandstander his father had been in school. Harry was even less so, quiet and gentle, much more like his mother. Upon looking closer, Severus could even see a faint resemblance to his once friend, Lily. Their eyes were the same shade of green and they had a similar stubborn chin.
When Ra had finished, the small teen waited for Severus's signal before silently slipping from his chair. He followed the Potions Master, his bare feet barely making a sound on the stone floor of Riddle Manor as they made their way to the library. Entering, Severus motioned for Ra to take a seat on the couch at the center of the round room.
"I'll just need to- Harry?"
Severus turned around to see the dark-haired teen biting his lower lip, knowing on it slightly. His hands were clasped in front of him and his green eyes lowered to the carpet.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked.
Shocked from his thoughts, Ra smiled at the man, nodding. Severus frowned.
"Don't lie to me," he said quietly.
Ra's smile dropped from his face and he shivered a little. Slowly, he got up down on his knees and crawled over to Severus, kneeling on the floor. He looked up at the Potions Master with pleading eyes. Shocked, Severus started to bend down too, but small hands grabbed his knees, forcing him upright.
"Harry, wh-"
He gasped as the boy grasped the buttons of his outer robes, skillfully slipping them from the holes. Before he could protest, the lower half of the robes were pulled open and the fly of his pants was down. Ra hooked his fingers in the hem of Severus's pants, starting to pull on them when a much larger hand grasped his wrist.
"What are you doing, Harry?" Severus asked.
Ra blushed a little, dropping his eyes to the floor again. The Potions Master was still using his real name. No one had ever done that before when he'd thanked them. It had always been just Ra.
Kneeling beside the boy, Severus took the pair of small hands in his own, clasping them tightly.
"Look at me, Harry."
The boy shyly raised his eyes, the blush spreading.
"What were you doing?"
Slipping his hands from Severus's, Harry made a short signal with his right hand, touching his pointer finger to his mouth and then moving it outward in a short line. Seeing the frown on the Potions Master's face, the boy mouthed his response.
Thanking you for everything.
Severus groaned and his face dropped into his hand. He shook his head, raising it just enough to look up at Ra's confused face.
"You don't need to thank me that way, Harry. I am not expecting nor accepting that sort of a… thank you."
Ra's eyes widened and he scrambled back away from the Potions Master. He bowed low on his knees, shivering slightly. He was in for it now.
Sighing, Severus stood and stared down at the scared down. This wasn't going as well as he'd hoped.
"Get up Harry and lay down on the couch. I need to look at your contract."
Leaping into action, Ra did as he was told, pulling up the hem of his shirt. As Severus leaned over to inspect it, the teen tensed, but slowly forced himself to relax. The Potions Master hadn't beaten him when he'd had his little indiscretion, as Mr. Tender called them. The man had been nothing but nice to him.
After a few moments, Severus nodded to himself and sat back on his heels.
"It is a complex one and old. Basically, it uses your ability to speak as a sort of tithe, or tax or sacrifice, whatever you want to call it, for the contract. However, unlike normal contract marks, this one is completely one-sided. Mr. Tender made it so that he himself didn't have to give anything up," Severus explained.
Ra nodded in understanding.
"From what I can see, this mark doesn't allow you to speak unless that bastard Tender allows it. We're going to have to find some way to break the contract if you, or any of the other boys, are ever going to be able to speak again."
Ra perked up instantly, his eyes widened. He would be able to speak again? He hadn't said a word since he was six. The idea thrilled and terrified him.
Standing, Severus motioned for Ra to as well. The teen slipped from the couch, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. His blush only deepened as he pulled his shirt back down again, playing with the hem.
"We'll have to go tell Tom. I'm sure we can find someone better to examine the contract deeper and break it for you all."
The dark-haired boy nodded. He would like that. Sprite and the others would be free.
"Now, that… thing you did earlier-"
Ra's head shot up, terrified.
"I don't want you to ever do that again if you don't want to," Severus said softly. "As I said before, you don't need to repay us for what we've done. You're Tom's heir and you deserve to be treated as such. Okay?"
Slowly, Ra nodded, ducking his head again. Severus sighed inwardly. He knew that this was as far as he was going to get for now, but at least it was progress.
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