"The house-elf that was watching us. She pulled you out of the water, while I went to get your father. Do you remember?"
"My father's dead," Harry mumbled, and the words hit Severus like a Centaur's kick to the chest. "Car crash . . ."
"No! Harry—" Draco started, but Severus interrupted.
"Draco, if you would be so kind," he said, and nodded his chin at the chairs near the doors. The boy gave him a glare, but moved away like he'd been told. Meanwhile, Severus put his hands on Harry's shoulders and looked into those green eyes he'd so loved on Lily's face. "Harry, I am your father, and I am right here."
"Sending me back," the boy mumbled again, his gaze still not focused.
"I am doing no such thing!" He wanted to shake the boy, but instead merely tightened his grip on the bony shoulders. "You are my son, and I will never send you away."
"M'hand got wet. Disobeyed. Have to go back if I disobey."
"No, Harry. No." Merlin, is that what the boy thought? That he was here on a temporary basis, that the least infraction of rules would have made Severus send him back to those god-awful people? How was he going to make Harry understand otherwise? His voice came out rough when he said, "Listen to me well, Harry. I don't care what you do, you could do anything at all, but I will never, never send you away. I will never send you back to those people. You are my son and always will be. Do you understand me?"
Light flickered in those green eyes, briefly, and Severus rejoiced when Harry truly met his gaze at last. So much trust rested in there, still, and hope, and Severus vowed to become worthy of it or die trying. "Never send me 'way?"
"Never, " Severus agreed in a whisper and pulled the boy close. Harry wrapped thin arms around his neck and buried his face in Severus' shoulder. As silent tears drenched his neck, Severus pressed his cheek to the side of his son's head and the tightness in his own chest eased, just a bit. Ah, what anguish, love.
TBC . . .
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Next chapter: Laying down the rules . . .
A/N: And the question of why Harry hates baths is finally answered! Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed! If you have any questions, or comments or corrections, please let me know. Next chapter should be out by Wednesday. Probably.
*Chapter 24*: Chapter 24
Whelp -- Chapter 24
By jharad17
Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Honest. She's rich, blond and British. I'm not.
A/N at end, and slightly longer than normal. Apologies in advance.
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Aside from having dinner with Draco in his quarters, Severus spent the rest of the afternoon with Harry, sitting by his bed in the infirmary. The two boys settled next to each other, leaning back on plumped pillows and talking softly, while Severus read from his newest Potions Quarterly and listened discreetly to their conversation. Draco hadn't apologized again, as well he shouldn't – groveling was fine on occasion, but excessive groveling from a Malfoy would be intolerable – but he was surprised to hear Harry ask Draco again if he was hurt.
"I heard you scream," Harry told him, earnest even in his very quiet voice. "I thought the squid got you."
"I didn't scream," Draco insisted. "I was just calling your name. You know, in a concerned way." Draco paused and nudged Harry lightly with his shoulder. "Anyway, did you know you blew up the squid?"
Severus stopped with the page of the journal half-turned, and listened carefully, as Harry whispered, "I never!"
"You did," Draco sounded a little smug. "It was disgusting, really. Blue slime all over the place. You got the tentacle that had you, and two others, too, I think."
Harry looked miserable and pulled his lower lip in between his teeth. "I just wanted it to let me go, so I could help you."
"You were the one in trouble. I didn't need any help." Draco smirked. "Comes from having a better broom."
"Oh, yeah," Harry said, and his lips turned downward even more. "I s'pose mine's gone, innit?"
"It fell in the lake. I didn't see where it went after that."
Harry nodded, and Severus could tell the boy was trying hard not to cry as his fingers toyed with the blanket he was tucked under. Severus' gaze flicked to Draco for an instant, quick enough to see the look of indecision before the blond offered, "You can use mine sometimes, if you want."
Severus smiled behind his journal as Harry said, "Really?"
"Sure. But, er, we can't fly over the lake again, right?"
Harry's eyes got big. "Right," he swore. "No more lake."
Another, longer pause, then, "Why are you scared of the lake anyway?"
"I wasn't scared," Harry hissed, sounding scandalized by the very idea.
Draco frowned at him. "All right. Why didn't you like it, then?"
A much longer pause. Severus held his breath, waiting to see if Harry would tell his friend about what Petunia had done. He'd seen the memory of it in the woman's head, the night he cast Legilimens upon her, but Harry didn't know that he knew. Harry, in fact, didn't know he knew anything at all about the Dursleys, except what the boy had told him himself. And, he had yet to tell the boy that he'd seen Vernon and Petunia and meted out punishment. That could wait for another time, however.
Draco waited patiently, too, a feat for which he had likely received training from his father, and Severus had almost decided that his son wasn't going to answer at all before Harry opened his mouth again. "I don't like water like that. Deep and stuff."
"But why?"
Harry gave a little shrug and stared at his hands. "I almost drownded," he said, so softly Severus had to strain to hear.
"Honest? Where? How?"
Once more Harry surprised him. "Bathtub. I was real little."
"You're still little."
"Well, I was littler."
Draco wrinkled his nose, and Severus knew the boy wanted to correct Harry's speech, but was frankly shocked when Draco passed on the opportunity and instead said, "I probably wouldn't like lakes either, if I'd nearly drowned."
Harry gave him a small smile, and their conversation turned to the tea they'd had with Hagrid and how drooly the gamekeeper's dog was. Both of them were laughing inside of a minute.
Severus finished turning the page and picked up reading again.
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"Father," Harry whispered, and Severus opened his eyes from where he was dozing on a Transfigured chaise longue. Draco was sleeping in a bed on Harry's other side, since Poppy had refused to let him take Harry back to their quarters, and Severus refused to leave either boy alone for the night. The boy's nasal snores were extremely un-Malfoylike.
Severus had told both of them a night time story – which Poppy apparently found uproariously amusing, to judge by her expression – and tucked them in, then read to himself for a while before closing his eyes. He'd assumed, with the sleeping draught Harry had been dosed with, that the boy would not wake till mid morning. But it was only 2am, now.
"Yes, Harry?"
The boy's eyes were hidden in the little bit of light from the moon that shone through the infirmary windows, and his face lay in shadow. Even so, he saw the boy swallow hard and fight to keep his gaze steady. "I'm sorry, 'bout the squid, and my broom, and getting my hand wet, and getting hurt again."
"I know you are, Harry. We'll talk about it tomorrow, with Draco, too."
"Yes, si – Yes, Father."
Severus hesitated, but he knew he was going to need to address this issue sooner or later. Eventually, the boy would need to face his fear of water. He'd tried to, Severus knew, and if it hadn't been for the squid, he might have gone a step toward overcoming it. But now . . . Very slowly, Severus raised the chairback until he was upright, and moved his hand forward so it rested on the blanket next to Harry's.