Deserving (Final Chapter)

Title: Deserving
Author: Moon of the Sea
Beta: Ellie perverted.intellectual@gmail.com
Chapter 10



Five months had passed since the birth of his child and Harry had to admit that Severus had turned out to be an excellent father. Harry could not find fault with the care of his child. Severus, fed, bathed, read to, and made sure the baby took all his naps. He was growing strong and alert. Richard was beginning to take notice of the world around him and Harry swore the child was precocious. Harry would always go into the nursery before he left for work and kiss his little boy goodbye and he insisted Richard always smiled even when it was clear that the baby was still sleeping. Every evening when he arrived, Snape would be waiting for him with Richard in his arms who always giggled when his father walked out of the floo. Snape knew that it was out of amazement of seeing someone appear from the flames but Harry thought his child was just overwhelmed with happiness to see him.

Harry was in the sitting room making Richard giggle by lifting him high up and bringing him down in one thrust and Severus was sitting in a chair on the other side of the fireplace knitting, now a favourite pastime, when the floo flared up. Harry granted permission but could not believe the flood of people that entered his home.

“What are you going to do?” asked Poppy.

“You can not do this to him, Mr. Potter,” admonished Minerva.

“I will not do this to Draco and they can not make me,” warned Kingsley.

“Harry, Harry, I beg you, don’t do this to him,” pleaded Dennis.

“I know you wouldn’t do this to Severus, right Harry?” assured Mrs. Weasley who had stopped visiting when she heard of Harry’s despicable action during his child’s birth.

“If someone would be kind enough to explain to me what you all are going on about, then maybe, just maybe, I can answer at least one of your questions,” interrupted Harry rocking Richard from side to side.

“You mean to tell me that the Ministry hasn’t informed you?” asked Kingsley.

Harry looked over to Severus to see if he had gotten a special owl and Severus simply nodded the answer. Kingsley could not help but think that the gesture between them seemed warm. Were they finally getting along? Had Harry realized the error of his ways?

“Because of Goyle’s gruesome death the Ministry wants the Marked Ones to be married to their Guides. They are of the thought that if the Guide is willing to marry the Marked One then he means him or her no harm. If the Guide is unavailable to marry or simply chooses not to his Marked One will be placed on the available list for anyone to marry them,” explained Kingsley.

“I thought you were crazy about Draco. I would have thought that you would want to marry him,” the Chosen One huffed.

“I do, Potter, but I will not make a spectacle out of it. Have you not seen the Prophet?”

In all honesty since the birth of Richard Harry had stopped reading the periodical every evening. He was to busy playing with his newborn. He had to shake his head in the negative.

“The guides are making a mockery out of these weddings. They are making their male charges wear wedding dresses and the women wear provocative, revealing, red clothing,” informed Kingsley. “Everyone shows up to boo and mock the Marked One,” he continued, “Everyday the Prophet posts pictures of these mockeries. I will not allow them to humiliate my Draco in this way. He is the father of my child and deserves respect. I assure you Harry I will make sure he gets the respect he deserves. They can not make me do this; they can’t…” Kingsley carried on.

“Look I really can’t see the Ministry making you, the head of the Auror Department, do anything. Just calm down,” reassured Harry.

“Harry, does this mean you are not going to humiliate the Professor?” asked a hopeful Dennis.

Harry looked into his young friend’s eyes and understood that this was the perfect opportunity to mend things with Dennis.

“I have no intention of humiliating my son’s birthing parent.”

“So you will marry him in a dignified marriage?” questioned Dennis.

“I have NO intention of marring the greasy git and the Ministry can’t make me!”

Everyone turned to see Severus’ reaction but there was none and soon they turned their attention back to the Savior of the Wizarding World.

“But that means that the Professor will have to go to someone else. Harry, Richard needs the Professor,” cried Dennis.

“The Ministry knows that. They cannot take him away until Richard is a year old and then they can do with him as they wish,” concluded the Chosen One.

Dennis’s disparagement was made clear in a glare that could melt icebergs. Harry could feel now that he had lost the too short lived acceptance, but there was nothing to be done, he was not about to lie. Severus was to leave as soon as his child turned one. This was all supposed to be a punishment for the Marked One, not for him.

“And your child, Mr. Potter?” questioned Poppy.

“I will NOT allow the Ministry to take him away until my child has drained him of all possible nourishment.”

This earned him glared daggers from all the occupants in the room. Mrs. Weasley looked as if she was about to faint. Kingsley guided her to the floo but before she stepped in she turned to give her adopted son another disappointed look. The rest followed Kingsley and Molly into the floo leaving Potter with his child and Snape. It occurred to Harry that Snape had delivered his son over five months ago and he had yet to touch the man.

“Put Richard to sleep then go to my room and wait for me. You will be earning some coins tonight.”

Severus approached him and reached out for the baby. He turned and climbed the stairs without a word or an emotion on his face that could be read by Harry.

***

When Harry reached the bedroom he found Snape kneeling naked by the fireplace. For some reason he was finding it hard to hurt the man that was caring for his child but he didn’t want Snape to forget that this was a punishment: an attempt to atone.

“Face the mirror.”

Severus closed his eyes and let go a soft puff of air. He loathed the mirror. He despised being reminded of his ugly face. He dreaded the sharp contrast reflected on the mirror: the beauty… and the beast. He crawled to the mirror and waited. Soon his guide came into focus, and there he was: beautiful green eyes, unblemished skin, young healthy body all displayed in a successful attempt to uglify his own features. He closed his eyes.

“Open your eyes!” ordered the Guide, “Have you forgotten that this is a punishment? I think I have gone too easy on you lately,” he looked for a reaction from the man below but none came. Snape’s face was unreadable. “Offer!” was the sharp command. Severus lowered his forehead to the flagstone, brought his hands to his ass cheeks and spread them offering his hole for punishment.

Harry hated him so, the man never pleaded, never begged. He knew that the man suffered pain every time he was forced to serve his Guide, yet the marked man never tried to plead for a deal. Harry wanted so badly to make him cry, make him beg, make him plea, but it was not to be. He arranged himself behind Snape and aligned his manhood with Severus’ entrance and rammed into the hopeless man. Severus’ face contorted into a voiceless scream. Why? Why couldn’t he just let go and scream?

Another thrust, another scream not voiced.

Then Harry gave an especially viscous one making Severus let out an almost audible whimper before settling on a pounding rhythm. But Harry stood up without having reached completion and stared down at the man that was still in an offering position. Trying to catch his breath he contemplated his possibilities.

“Accio ruler!”

Severus had no idea what he had done to anger the Guide. Then he chastised himself, his guide did not need a reason to punish him; to make him pay for all his wrong doings. His thoughts were interrupted by the ruler coming down on his thigh. Harry let his rage take over and beat the man until his arm tired. He suddenly realized in horror that Snape’s backside was covered in whelps.

“Get up!” he ordered, not wanting to see the damage he had caused, but Severus was having difficulties standing. Harry summoned his wand and cured his charge. The bruises disappeared, but the pain was still there. The cosmetic change was for his comfort, not for Snape’s.

“You will have to finish me with your mouth. Do not fret I will still pay you for penetration.”

Nothing was farther from Severus’ mind. He looked up to see his Guide waiting for him in his chair by the fireplace. He decided he would crawl over to his guide by his own will rather than have his guide give him one more order. This time the chore was not difficult; his guide was already hard and leaking. He tried not to dwell on the fact that what he was placing in his mouth had been in his rectum. It was fast and messy.

“Go clean yourself up,”

Severus dared to get up, still in pain, and went to the bathroom. When he came out he walked towards the door but Harry stopped him and ordered him to bed by his side. He lay on his side not wanting to aggravate his lower half. Soon he could hear the soft sound of his Guide’s snores and as it was now a routine thing his Guide spooned him up in his arm and took a deep breath. Did the kid have any idea of what it meant to enjoy another wizard’s scent?

***


They were both in deep sleep when all of a sudden Severus sat up in bed, grabbed his robe, and then leap to the door. Harry woke up in a daze and had no idea what was going on but he decided it was best to follow his charge. How was he moving that fast after the beating? He was startled to find that he had followed Severus into the nursery.

“Kreacher!” yelled Snape.

Kreacher appeared in an instance.

“Get Madam Pomfrey at once,” ordered Snape as he lifted the child out of the crib and then turned to notice Harry’s stunned face.

“Please, Sir, conjure a bath for Richard,”

Harry was on auto pilot and whipped out his wand to conjure up a small tub on a table. Severus checked the water and found that it was the acceptable temperature and submerged the child in. Harry couldn’t understand why he was placing the baby in the tub and why he was doing so with the child’s cloth on. As he looked on, still feeling lost, he saw how Severus was stripping the child of his clothing and nappy.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” cried Richard.

“What are you doing?” screamed Harry as he was about to yanked his child away he felt the infant was burning with a fever. What was wrong with his child? He thought in horror and decided that Severus, being a Potions Master, was better equipped to deal with the situation.

Severus ignored him and continued to pour water over the baby keeping only his head above the water. Then he took Richard out and placed him on the changing table where he proceeded to dress him with a fresh set of pajamas. He then walked to the rocker and started rocking Richard to sleep. Almost instantly the child fell asleep. Harry was grateful to see that his child was no longer crying and approached the man and child on the rocker. He felt Richard’s forehead and saw with relief that he was no longer feverish. Poppy walked into the room with Kreacher close behind. She walked over to the rocker.

“Pixy fever,” informed Severus.

“It seems you got it just on time. Did you have a monitoring charm on him?” but no sooner the words had left her lips she realized how uncalled for the question was.

Severus lowered his gaze and shook his head.

“How on earth did you know the baby was sick? Usually pixy fever is fatal in magical babies.”

Harry was taken back by this statement. How did Snape know the baby was in peril?

“Well it wouldn’t be the first time that there is a connection between the birthing parent and the child, but it is by no means common. Lucky… lucky indeed. You will need some unicorn hair to tie on each of the posts on his crib. Once they find their way in they will continue to bring harm to the baby.”

“I am sure Rubeus,” but then he looked up to his Guide and corrected his mistake, “Professor Hagrid will provide me with four strands.”

She then took out some potions from her bag. “When he wakes up give him a few drops and make sure you do not leave the child’s sight until those unicorn hairs are secured on the crib’s posts. The pixies won’t take kindly to loosing the baby. Have the child’s father firecall Hagrid at once,” she said ignoring Harry’s presence.

Harry was too worried about his child to care and left at once to make the call.

Poppy took advantage of the time alone with Severus and cast a diagnostic charm over him.

“You are in pain,” she announced.

Severus nodded, “It is just a bit difficult to sit right now.”

“And you are rocking on a hard wooden chair?” she asked as she whipped out her wand, but Kreacher beat her to it and snapped his fingers casting a cushioning charm. Severus simply smiled at his little friend.

“Take this,” she handed him a pain reliever potion. He took it before his guide could return and object.

She made sure he saw that the bottle was placed among the child’s potions and winked at him. Kreacher took the bottles and placed them in the drawer of the night stand next to the crib. Harry entered at that moment and walked over to the rocker with the four strands of hair. The matriarch made no move to take them from him. Severus decided to intervene and held up his hand to take the hairs. Harry was mortified by the witch’s attitude but decided to hand over the hairs for his son’s sake. Severus gave the strands to Poppy who immediately rapped them around each post of the crib.

“Will that keep him safe?”

But Poppy was still not talking to him, so Severus had to answer.

“Yes, Sir, the unicorn hair will keep the pixies away. There is nothing to fear.”

“But what will happen when he is not in the crib?”

“The child must be deep in sleep and alone for the pixies to try to claim the infant. He only sleeps alone in his crib.”

Harry thought about this and decided he would not be taking any chances with his child.

“Kreacher, you are to sleep here every night. This is sure to be an improvement from that nest in the crawling space you sleep in.”

Severus decided to seize the moment, “Sir, if I may…”

“No, your place is in my bed; working.”

Severus was grateful that he did not go into details in front of Poppy, but by her face, he could tell that she was upset about the comment. She turned and left.

Harry took a deep breath as he saw here leave. “You may have Kreacher cure you. I don’t want you in pain while you care for my child.” He walked to the door then turned. “You may sleep with my child tonight,” said Harry as he also left the nursery.

Severus was at a loss about his Guide’s behaviour. Until tonight he had been treating him differently than at the beginning. It could not be described as kind but it could not be considered terrible either. He mainly let the Marked One be; barely talking to him at all. He sometimes even seemed to smile at him when the baby did something heart-warming. It was a pity that Poppy had to come tonight out of all nights. A night earlier and she would have found him in perfect health and would have informed the others that he was fine. And maybe Dennis and Molly would start stopping by again.

But tonight something had triggered his Guide’s rage. Was it the whole marriage thing? Why would this upset Harry? Severus knew that Harry would not allow the Ministry to separate him from his child. He was after all the Saviour of the Wizarding World. He brought his lips to Richard’s forehead. His child would be safe. He was practically a prince. A smile escaped the corner of his mouth at the double meaning of his thoughts.

***

Three days later as Harry was walking through the halls of the Ministry of Magic he heard the commotion. People were shouting out insults and pleas with equal fervor. Harry was stopped in his tracks when he realized that one of the pleaders was his boss Kingsley Shacklebolt.

“Kings, what’s going on?” he asked.

“They’ve taken them, Harry. Dilly just informed me that the Ministry entered our homes and took them.”

“Draco?”

“And Severus,” added the ebony man.

“What! How did they get in… the wards… that makes no sense. Where is my child?” babbled on the Auror.

“The children are with the elves,” informed Kingsley.

“Where do they have them?”

“That is what I wish to find out. As you can imagine they are not using MY aurors for these ‘missions’.”

Kingsley was interrupted by a wizard that Harry recognized as Mr. Single. The wizard was on a platform and placed his wand to his throat, “My fellow wizards and witches,” he began, “I do not understand what all the commotion is about. The information has been dissipated in our prestigious periodical The Prophet.”

“Prestigious, indeed,” scuffed a wizard near Harry.

“You should have all expected this. Now, those of you who wish to marry your charge will simply have to submit a request of marriage.”

“What if we do not wish to marry the scumbags?” yelled someone from the crowd.

“You know the law, Tanner; your charge will go up for grabs.”

Harry couldn’t believe his ears. There was no way they were going to take Snape away from Richard before his first birthday. He understood that Mr. Single was not the wizard to talk to so he walked to a small office down the hall.

The sign read Public Prosecutor (Mrs.) Hermione Weasley.


A/N Yes I know it is short but I wanted to meet my deadline. I am even posting a couple of hours before midnight. Again I am so grateful for all of your reviews. It seems I have made a couple of new friends that review each chapter; thanks.

Zega- I have done the happy dance when my favourite stories update so I do know what you are talking about.

Nikte- I am so trying to work in that slap for you but my muse is fighting me teeth and nails.

Elphaba-just had to say how much I love your screen name. Wicked is my all time favourite play and book. They are very different but I loved both stories. I am looking at my Elphaba Barbie as I write.

Most of my other great reviews wanted to know if Harry was ever going to change. All I can say is that change does not happen over nite.

Thanks for all your great reviews and as always if you do not have time to review please rate my story. It only takes a click at the bottom right side of your screen.


Your friend and humble servant,
Moon of the Sea