TBGCTBGC
He Defines Me
Chapter Two
"It can’t be him, he’s dead."
Albus leaned forward in his desk, "I am not suggesting this is James, Severus. I am telling you that it is his son, Harry. There is little other explanation, no other way he could have James’ face and Lilly’s eyes, be the right age, and there are other indicators, magical ones."
Trying desperately to come up with anything else, Severus put his head in his hands, "But he has no memory of them. Besides, what magical indicators? I didn’t even get magic off the boy. Perhaps it some fluke of genetics and he’s just an unlucky muggle."
The elder man sighed deeply, "The collar is a magic prohibitor. Harry has told me he’s worn it since he was five, it was a birthday present. Apparently Voldemort must have realized how strong he was going to be and decided to cut it off at the pass, so to speak. Severus, why is this so hard for you to believe?"
"How could I not have known? Am I that blind? I owed James my life and I couldn’t repay it, how could I fail to protect his son?"
Standing up, Albus stood next to the professor and placed a hand on his shoulder, "It was no ones fault, Severus. Voldemort stopped trusting you the moment he found out the Potters were expecting him. Now, stop this and go see to the boy, he seems very curious."
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Harry, that was what the old man had called him, was indeed curious, but seeing as he was unlikely to get answers anytime soon, he’d settled on desperately searching for something to read. He really wasn’t suppose to be able to read, Master got very upset when he even opened a book to look at the pictures. He was never hurt for it, just reprimanded about the outside world tainting him.
He had just found something that could be interesting when the door opened and shut quietly. Shoving the book under the chair next to him, Harry crossed his legs and pretended he’d been sitting there the entire time, a game he was very good at.
Harry saw the man named Severus stop short as he came into view and remembered he had taken the cloak off. It was itchy. Master wore thick clothes, but every time Harry had tried them on he’d only found them to be restrictive and stuffy. Instead of picking the cloak up, the man left the room and went through another door that Harry had stared at for some time. He wanted to know where it led, but didn’t really think he was suppose to go there, so he stayed in the room with the fireplace and chairs. He’d noticed the absence of a bed, or his cage, but assumed those were in the room he hadn’t gone in.
The man returned, throwing something white and fluffy at him. Unraveling it, Harry eyed the long sleeved shirt with disdain before looking up at Severus, trying to confirm that he was expected to put it on. When he received a curt nod he pulled it over his head, doing his best to ignore the scratchy feeling against his skin. "Why do I have to wear this?"
After a moment, the man sat in front of him looking as though he was waiting for a reaction. Harry wasn’t sure what sort of reaction he was supposed to give, so he simply waited. "Harry, wearing... well, nothing, is inappropriate."
"Inappropriate? Why?" Inappropriate was interrupting Master when someone was talking, inappropriate was throwing a fit around guests, or forgetting his table manners, it had nothing to do with uncomfortable clothing.
After a long pause, the man’s mouth twitched, "It just is, so keep that on. We’ll find something that fits later. What I need you to understand is that form now on you are staying here. You’re not my pet..."
"Of course not, I’m His pet." Silly man, did he think Harry was stupid?
"No, Harry, you’re not anyone’s ‘pet’ anymore. Do you know what Hogwarts is Harry?"
"Of course, Master says it’s the place full of people that don’t like him, and that I should never go there." Now he was looking as though he’d ate something horrible. "That’s where we are, right? Because you said so when we were on the outside."
Severus was having a hard time figuring Harry out. He’d expected one of two reactions. Least likely was gratitude, if the child had been raised in captivity he was more likely to be fiercely loyal and demand to be taken back. This complacent acceptance as very nearly infuriating. "You do realize I brought you here against His wishes?"
Harry scoffed slightly and shrugged, "It doesn’t matter. He’ll come get me eventually, I am his pet, he takes care of me, so I’ll just stay here till he does."
"He doesn’t know you’re here."
"He’ll find me."
"I’m a spy, a traitor to his cause."
"So?"
"You trust me to take care of you till he comes?"
"I have no reason not to."
"I took you away."
"But you haven’t hurt me. In fact, I think your very nice."
"Insufferable brat!" Harry didn’t flinch. Severs didn’t know what had com over him. He was trying to get some kind of emotional reaction, anything, but even yelling hadn’t done it. Looking at the relaxed face, he reached out and ruffled the hair,
Tell you what? You can pretend he’s coming for two weeks. If he doesn’t come by then, you accept that he won’t?"
Harry smiled and shrugged, "I know he’ll come, even if it takes years, I know he’ll come. I’m his pet."
Closing his eyes, Severus decided the day had been far too long already, besides, the boy was too stubborn to budge at the moment. It could take a while before he started to see his new position, Severus would just have to watch for signs that it was sinking in, "Off to bed then."
Standing up with youthful agility Harry bounded towards the bedroom but to stop at the door. "Mister, where is my bed?"
Severus stood and walked up behind him, pushing him through the doorway, "You’ll sleep on mine tonight, we’ll have a cot brought in later."
"But, mister, I always sleep at the foot of Master’s bed. Not in it."
Bugger. Severus had forgotten the cage. But if Harry’s behavior so far was anything to go by, it would not be hard to get him to sleep in the bed, "Come on, then, no sleeping at the foot of my bed, it would give me the creeps." True to form, the boy got into the matress and allowed himself to be tucked in.
Harry, had other ideas. It wasn’t that he never slept on the bed, just never alone. As soon as the man had turned the lights off and stepped out the door, Harry crept to the crack and waited patiently for the lights in the other room to go out. Then he listened till the breathing became heavy and even, a sure sign that someone was sleep.
Slipping out the door he crept across the room and found the man asleep on a large couch. Laying himself on the floor, Harry tried to shake the earlier conversation from his head. Master would come, he was his pet after all.
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Severus woke to the familiar burning sensation up his arm. Taking deep seething breaths, he sat up, nearly stepping on the small body next to the sofa. As he toes brushed against it, he looked down to find Harry, eyes opening groggily, a frown painted on his face, as though something were bothering him, and his voice heavy with sleep, "He’s calling."
Reaching for the boy’s right arm, he looked for any sign of the dark mark. Same as the night before it was missing, "How would you know that? You aren’t marked."
"Of course not. I would never have something that garish." Harry pulled the buckle on the left wrist cuff, exposing the inside, and a strange glittering, green and silver serpent tattoo, coiled around his wrists like a bracelet. "It does much the same as yours. He can use to call you, or if he uses someone else’s I’ll feel it. But it doesn’t hurt, just tingles funny, and I’m not suppose to go when it does."
After a moment of staring, Severus nodded and stood, reaching for his cloak, "You will stay here, in this room." Before the boy could ask where exactly Severus expected him to go, the man stepped out and shut the door.
-tbc-