Right! Shadow's here, and I really hope you like him as much as I do. Same procedure as with Ayda – tell me what you think and I will decide how much he shall reappear.
Now a word to one of your questions, or rather requests: I am not going to turn this into a sexual abuse story! Primarily because my interest isn't to heap more and more suffering on poor Harry's shoulders until he breaks. I am interested in how he dealt with his dark past, and how Snape is going to deal with it when he realizes all the things he didn't see (but you probably noticed that intention already). So no worries in that respect!
And thanks again for your wonderful reviews! I felt ten feet tall every time I checked my inbox (and that's not because I am actually ten feet tall, lol)! Keep them going, and I'll keep writing!
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Meeting ShadowThey finished their lunch in silence and returned to another set of Dursley memories, all of them as gruesome and confusing as the two they had already went through that morning.
Snape didn't try to produce a reaction in the other man any longer, concentrating instead on the boy whom he watched growing up and become more proficient in his dealing with loneliness, pain and fear than a boy not even ten should ever be.
Potter-the-child was surprisingly efficient in hiding things and managing on his own, and Snape no longer wondered about the boy's later uncanny ability to get into mischief. Not that he didn't think him a nuisance anymore, but some things about Potter that had itched him without end over the course of seven school years became quite logical and explainable in these hours of watching his memories.
All in all, when they stopped for the night they had managed six memories and Potter had grown to the age of nine.
"Another day of Dursleys, I think," Potter commented as they left the laboratory and took their tea in the kitchen once more, "And then we'll be starting with Hogwarts."
"Oh what joy," Snape muttered, hiding a yawn behind his raised hands.
He hadn't slept much the night before Potter's return and he hadn't slept at all last night.
"I'm sorry Professor, I didn't notice you were so tired."
Snape was hard pressed not to utter a scathing remark about how much exactly he cared about Potter's consideration, but suppressed it with great effort.
"I propose you just retire early then," Potter continued. "While I go and visit Shadow."
Snape hands came down from his face and onto the table hard in an instance.
"Definitely not, Potter," He said coldly. "You are not leaving my presence whatever the matter. You need someone by your side to watch the fits and help you out of them. And I will not risk the well-being of our world for your visiting old friends. Write him a letter or something, invite him for breakfast or whatever you do when you're feeling sociable, but you won't leave this house or digress from our work."
"I don't think Shadow's someone you'd want to invite for breakfast, Professor," Harry replied with real shock in his voice. "And he isn't a person for visiting friends anyway," He added. "In fact, I've never seen him leave his place without an escort of at least ten of his men, and I do think the house would be a bit crowded by them."
Snape cocked an eyebrow, curiosity about Potter's strange choice of friends once more gripping him.
"Then just write him a letter and tell him that you can't meet him at the moment, as your treatment is too important to be interrupted. He will have to understand that, I'm afraid."
Now the shock on Potter's face mingled with mirth as he obviously tried to imagine telling the strange Shadow a no.
"He wouldn't accept that, sir," Potter objected. "He'd probably think something was wrong and arrive here in full force, and I can assure you: You definitely don't want to experience that."
And yet again, the curiosity level in Snape rose another few degrees, but he wouldn't give Potter the satisfaction to ask when his questions hadn't been answered anytime before. To Snape's liking, Potter was already all too much dominating their conversations, and it wouldn't do to give him the upper hand with this Shadow-business.
But still, Snape reflected as his hands curled around a steaming cup of tea, if this Shadow was anything like Ayda, he would be well able to interrupt their work worse than a short visit would do. And he didn't want Potter's friends crowding this place, mistrusting Snape like Molly Weasley had done, and making his job even harder and more tedious.
"Visit him in the morning then," He proposed tiredly, mentally patting his shoulder for his good behaviour and will to compromise.
There Albus, he thought, No one can ever accuse me of being unable to deal with Potters again.
But to his utter disgust, Potter didn't seem satisfied by this compromise at all. In fact, he looked outright amused at the idea.
"I'm afraid Shadow doesn't do mornings, Professor," He said. "We'll have to visit him tonight."
And though he had sworn himself this wouldn't happen, especially not twice a day, Snape's patience snapped.
"For God's sake Potter, who is this mysterious Shadow you are making such a fuss about? I have always thought your choice of Hogwarts friends ridiculous, but this curiosity shop you have assembled after you vanished is completely ludicrous!"
Sudden anger blazed in Potter's eyes at that, their colour quickly turning the pale green shade Snape remembered from the Dursley memories.
"Don't ever attempt to judge my friends, Professor," He snarled, his voice colder than ice and threatening in a way Snape could not fathom. "If you think mine lacking, keep in mind that you don't even have any friends."
Seems I've finally struck a nerve there, Snape thought with satisfaction, filing away the boy's sore point carefully for further use. This knowledge gave him the patience to give in to Potter's wish when he repeated his request after a few minutes of strained silence.
"Let's visit him, then," He conceded with a superior smirk. "But remember that we don't have all night for this."
They apparated to a little forest and Snape followed the light that glowed from Potter's palm along little paths amid the trees, until they reached a country lane, which led them through fields towards a building of impressive size.
"They have anti-apparition wards all around the place," Potter explained with a backwards look to his Professor. "They don't overly like wizards, I'm afraid."
"Is this a bunch of druids again, Potter?"
Instead of an answer, Potter pointed towards a sign attached to the front of the house, resembling the advertisements of old, traditional inns and pubs.
"See for yourself," He offered and directed the light from his palm towards the shining metal. Before the dark red background, a hooded and cloaked figure stood tall, under it was something written in a script Snape couldn't read. Unfortunately, he had encountered this style of writing often enough to know exactly what it meant.
Snape stood shock still, taking in the sign and its meaning.
"Vampires?" He breathed. "Are you out of your mind, Potter?"
"I think we already discussed the madness-part," Potter answered lightly. "Besides, they aren´t as bad as their reputation. And you aren´t forced to come with me, you know? It will only take a few hours…"
"Out of the question, Potter," Snape growled. "But I´m warning you – if you manage to get me turned, I will make it my personal aim in unlife to hunt you down and kill you."
"Fair deal," Potter grinned once more, and, without a moment´s hesitation, pushed open the door that led into the vampire inn.
Outwardly calm, his firm steps showing nothing of the acute dread that had seized him the moment he had realized where they were, Snape followed Potter into certain death.
I have always expected to finally die for the cause, he thought, mentally composing a letter to Albus, But this is just ridiculous: Dear Albus, Unfortunately I have to retire from my teaching position as the bloody Boy Who Lived managed to get me turned on my second evening with him. Please forward all my possessions to Transylvania, where I will settle down to frighten idiotic peasants into oblivion.
Well, at least he would end his life knowing that Potter's stupidity had finally caught up with him, but somehow, that thought served little to lighten his mood.
With Potter's entrance, the room had fallen completely silent. Snape was able to remain hidden in the shadows by the door, at least for the time being, but he had no illusions about his chances against a vampire. Not to think about his chances against the seven or so dark creatures that were standing by the bar, their eyes fixed on Potter.
On Potter, who was walking directly towards them, an unreadable expression on his face.
He didn't get far. Before he had reached the middle of the room, a vampire stepped into his path, blood lust glinting in his eyes.
"Now, what have we here," He began the universal stupid sentence all bullies on earth seemed to know from their cradles onward. "A tiny little human walking into our lair. I am glad you came, human, for I was really…"
"I wouldn't finish that thought if I were you," Potter interrupted him calmly.
He hasn't even drawn his wand yet, Snape thought with rising astonishment, I always said he had a death wish, but of course no one believed me!
The vampire just leered at him, exposing canines that were all too sharp and long to Snape's liking.
"And why wouldn't I, human," He asked, moving yet nearer to Potter.
"Apart from the fact that your poor little brain would be hopelessly overwhelmed by such an attempt?" Potter mused aloud and Snape had to keep himself from banging his head against the wall. "Well, I guess because you don't want to be hurt, deary."
That said, Potter looked the inhumanly strong creature directly in the eyes and smiled brightly.
With a snarl, the vampire closed the distance between them, one clawlike hand raised for a strike, and Snape expected blood, torn flesh and panicked screams, vampires rushing in on their prey and shredding it to pieces.
But something wasn't quite right, he noticed after a moment of holding his breath. There was no blood at all, and the only sound was a rather anticlimactic, helpless whimper.
And it was coming from the vampire.
Instead of ending as a messy lump of flesh, Potter had somehow sidestepped the dark creature, not without aiming an elbow at his solar plexus (a technique that seemed to work even with the undead), and a knee at his groins. Before the vampire had even noticed that his prey was not, in fact, finished off by his strike, Potter stood behind him, his left hand at his opponents throat (Snape had no idea how this had come to pass, but he swore to watch it in slow motion the moment he returned to the pensieve), and was pulling the vampire gently towards the knife that had somehow appeared in his other hand, pointing at the poor creature's back.
The result was the rather pitiful display of a vampire dangling between two evils – a knife in his back and a hand at his throat, and Snape could practically watch how his poor little brain tried to catch up with this rather dramatic change of circumstances. Where did my prey go, the steadily reddening face seemed to ask, And where did this fighter come from?
Snape led out a sigh that sounded too relieved to his own liking, but he hadn't forgotten about the other vampires. Even if Potter had defeated one of them seemingly without doing anything, the other seven were enough to finish him quite easily.
But the other vampires were watching silently as their kinsman was being destroyed single-handedly by a human, their faces as expressionless as a glacier. Finally, one of them straightened, but instead of the furious attack Snape had expected, the blond man just sighed with irritation.
"Stop playing around and show him your sign, brother. He´s new."
"I noticed that," Potter commented coolly, and twisted the struggling vampire´s head around, still keeping hold of his throat. He re-sheathed his knife with a movement too quick to be followed by the eyes and exposed his own neck, brushing his hair. Snape could see a small, golden tattoo where the artery ran.
The incapacitated vampire made a sound that rather reminded Snape of a terrified first year, and went limp in Potter´s hand, who released him slowly. The vampire tore off, vanishing as fast as if he had seen the sun.
Not bothering to watch his retreat, Potter turned around and walked towards the light haired man who had addressed him as brother. Silently, they clasped hands and embraced shortly.
Then, the blond raised his head and called out to the darkened room.
"Harry has arrived, brothers! Pay him your respect."
And from the shadows they came, milling around Potter, flashing their teeth in welcoming smiles, patting his back or clasping hands. There had to be at least twenty of them, all moving with the dark, predatory grace so common to vampires, all strong enough to snap any human´s neck in a heartbeat. Treating Potter as one of their own.
Snape couldn´t help but gape openly at the display. He´d had his fair share of confrontations with vampires and knew even more about them. They had stood on Voldemort´s side during the war, fulfilling tasks so gruesome even the Death Eaters would shrink from them. They had bowed to the Dark Lord for reasons Snape had never managed to find out, but never had they treated a human as their equal.
And never, never had he seen such joy on their face, such acceptance. These vampires, Snape decided, were grossly out of character. And whenever something unbelievable like this happened, you could be sure Potter was behind it. It was all rather ludicrous.
Hidden in the shadows, Snape had been ignored by the vampires so far. But now that the first welcoming seemed to be over, one of them, an Asiatic looking woman in tight jeans and a leather top, fixed her eyes on him.
"Who's that stranger lurking in the shadows, Harry," She purred. "Finally got yourself a human slave?"
Snape bristled at the comment, but so did, he noticed to his surprise, Potter.
"That one hasn't been funny the first time, Makiko," He said reproachfully. The vampire woman even had the audacity to blush at the reprimand, Snape noticed in shock.
"Master Snape is my friend and healer. He should be as welcome among you as I am."
Of course he wasn't as welcome as Prince Vampire-charmer Potter, and Snape was quite happy about it, for he wasn't sure if he would have survived the close proximity to so many fangs, but they did make room for him, and a few even shook his hands, telling him how much they "appreciated that he cared for their Harry".
Their Harry? What had happened to the world he had known and loved, for goodness sake?
Finally, the room's inhabitants settled down again and someone produced two glasses and a bottle of very fine wine for their human guests. Potter had taken his place among the bar crowd as if he was at home here, and was sharing a conversation that reminded Snape worryingly of their meeting with Ayda – names and facts thrown around in an off-handed fashion that made abundantly clear just how well these vampires knew Potter. And how well he knew them.
"Shadow's furious, you know," The blond finally interrupted the stream of jokes and stories. "He didn't tell us why exactly, but whenever someone mentioned you during the last week, he snarled, kinda like when he offed that French clan leader some years ago. Did something to anger the Lord?"
Potter paled. And that got Snape really nervous.
"That bad?" He asked in a rather small voice. "I'd better see him directly, then."
"Do that," the blond nodded. "And come by more often. We missed you."
And again the handshaking, embracing and – in the case of some women – kissing started. Snape would have liked to scowl and offer some scathing remark, but it somehow didn't seem wise to him. Even if they seemed to like Potter, they were still vampires.
Thus it took them a rather long time to leave the bar through the back door that was guarded by two grotesquely huge, bulky vampires that punched Potter friendly in the shoulder and asked him when he would find the time to "spar with them again."
Behind the door lay a set of wooden stairs, which Potter ascended with Snape on his trail. On the first landing, Potter turned around to him, probably to explain the unexplainable thing that had happened just now, but Snape shook his head decisively.
"No Potter," He said wearily. "This time I'm sure I don't want to know."
Potter nodded. "Alright, Professor," He accepted, his voice slightly worried. "But please, behave respectfully around Shadow. He can be rather dangerous, you see."
Dangerous. Well. Good to know or he would have been unprepared, Snape thought numbly, following Potter up the stairs.
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A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry – now you haven't met Shadow after all, but I bet you can imagine what kind of creature he is by now, no? It was stopping here or leaving you with the cruellest ever cliffhanger a page later…
I'll try to update asap, but it depends a bit on your reviews, dearies (smirks evilly and leans back to wait)!