Forevermore

Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 15: Tattoos and Sweetness

Harry woke with a start. For a moment he looked around the blue painted room in confusion before memory came back to him. He was staying with his cousin at Benny J's flat. He was safe. Prince was here. And when did thoughts of Malfoy become comforting? He reached out with his senses, seeking out his anchor. An immediate sense of concentration grounded him, and Harry felt his own focus sharpen in response. He could hear a loud buzzing noise from the living room.

Harry slid out of bed and padded quietly out of the room. Just before he reached the living room a faint feel of pain startled him. Reaching instantly for Prince, he felt only the calm and focus and allowed himself to push away the slight ache. Coming around the corner he stopped cold. Benny J was draped over the arm of the couch with Prince hanging over him. The blond was wielding some kind of metal device that was hooked to some kind of motor. Dudley was sitting in the chair with a bright white bandage wrapped around one arm. Harry was just about to do something – yell, run, jump out and snatch the whatever-it-was – when he spotted Dudley's smile and sensed the underlying anticipation in the room. Chewing on his lip he made his way into the room where he could see better. As the metal device moved it left lines of black behind. Tattoos, they're getting tattoos. Harry relaxed completely and after checking on Prince – focus – he made his way to the kitchen for breakfast.

XXXxxx

Dudley jumped a bit when Harry appeared beside him nibbling at a banana. He smiled at his little cousin and scooted sideways so Harry could balance on the arm of the chair. From this angle he could see the beginnings of the tattoo, a celtic cross. He smiled as Harry took the seat offered, and leaned sideways towards his cousin.

"Tattoos! Benny J is getting a cross, which is cool. You can see the sketch on the table. I just got a phoenix, you know for rebirth and new beginnings. You wanna see?" Dudley tugged at the gause but didn't peal it back until he received a nod. "It's red and puffy now, but later Prince has some ointment that he says will make it heal faster. Some kind of secret recipe. It took ages to do. Did you sleep well?"

He watched carefully as Harry admired the clean lines of the tattoo, avoiding the question. Letting it go he turned his attention back to Benny and the emerging design. It shouldn't be so fascinating, but it was. Little by little the design emerged on skin. A dark bubble of color pooled on the skin as Prince continued and he could feel Harry tensing next to him.

"It's mostly ink, not blood." He reassured his cousin. "In a moment Prince will wipe it away."

"Why do it if it hurts?"

"It only hurts a little, and it means a lot. … Plus it looks cool."

Harry offered him a small smile and Dudley grinned back. He ruffled Harry's hair and turned his attention fully back to the tattoo.

XXXxxx

Prince settled in front of his computer and waited. He clicked through the video feed, pulling up the cameras from the fitness room where he'd sent Benny J and Dudley after lunch. Both were a bit tender from the new ink, but energized. There was only so much he could take of the "look at it now". I enjoy praise and awe as much as the next guy, but seriously…

He flipped the feed to the living room where the wizardling was relaxing with his kitten. The young empath was taking advantage of the absence of company to read his magic books in the living room. From the looks of things, Ree was making quite a bit of progress. As Prince watched Ree paused in his reading and jotted a note in the spiral notebook beside him.

The nightmare worried him. Price knew it wasn't a vision-dream or product of Ree's empathy, but that kind of fear wasn't healthy. The memory of fractured bones and finger print bruises was still fresh, and he couldn't help but wonder if that was the source of the dream. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but watching Ree reading made him hesitant to bring the topic back up.

On the computer screen Harry's brow furrowed and he shot a look down the hallway. Prince took a deep breath and focused his occlemency to push away the dark thoughts and project a serene mindscape. After a pause Ree settled back into the chair and resumed his reading. The talk can wait a little longer.

A/N: I was going to do a lot more with the dream, but writers block killed that. Hope you like the chapter. Good luck to all NaNoWriMos starting today!