Scarred Souls

*****************************************************



Title: Scarred Souls



Author: Misty Moonlight/Co-author: QueenBoadicea



Beta: QueenBoadicea



Pairings: Severus/Harry



Published: 12/10/2008



Summary: A widowed Harry must bond with Snape in order to save his daughter’s life. Sev gains a family, for better or worse, and the hearts of two scarred souls will be changed forever.



Warnings: Romance, Drama, Angst, Alternate Reality/Universe, Sexual Situations, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slash, Anal, Language, Humor, possible MPreg, Bonding, Original Characters, Family, non-canon, OOC, WIP



*****************************************************



Chapter 16: Phase Two





The laboratory was everything he could have wished. The basement was large, although not unduly so. He had no less than three separate tables of marble, wood and bronze, a good variation for anything he might care to mix. Potter had even done a decent job in getting the ingredients and supplies Severus had ordered.



He didn’t bother telling Potter this, of course. The arrogant boy was just as conceited as his father. He got plenty of praise from the papers. He didn’t need any more puffery from his bond mate.



“Snivellus, Lily would hate you for this if she knew. Haven’t you done enough to him?”



It was pointless playing on his sympathy; Snape had none. Once he was well and truly involved with the beauty of brewing, even his pestiferous invisible companions would be pushed to the background. They could only hector, jeer and complain, after all. They could offer no true impediment to his desires.



Severus waved his wand and the brass cauldron wafted through the air to land with a metallic thud, nearly on his toes. He frowned and stepped back. That shouldn’t have happened; his wandwork should have placed it neatly near the table so he could toss or sprinkle in the ingredients as needed. No matter. He prodded it again and, with a few more wand strokes, it wobbled to its proper place.



That was odd and he quickly checked his wards. They had not been tampered with and he was certain neither the inept Potter nor his helpless offspring could have breached them. Deciding he was just tired from the time spent popping here and there about town, not to mention the constant barrage from the twittering trio above his head, Severus proceeded with the potion.



He decided to make it a variant on Amortentia, only without the characteristic, telltale smell and opalescent sheen. He quickly reduced certain ingredients and began chopping.



He pointed at the base of the cauldron and muttered, “Incendio.”



A bluish flame flickered to life under the cauldron. A shrill voice, unlike any of the others that had plagued him of late, yelled, “Ouch! That’s hot!” and the cauldron bounced away from the flames.



Severus froze. That was definitely not normal. The cauldron fell to the floor with a tinny clang, rolled a few feet and then came to a halt. It didn’t move again.



The heads went absolutely silent. “Oi, what was all that then?” babbled the first head when it apparently regained its tongue.



“Don’t look at me. This your idea of a joke, Snivellus?”



Head number three only sniggered and giggled like a demented hyena.



Severus pointed his wand and the cauldron obediently rolled back into place—only to roll away again with a yelp as the fire was reset.



“Finite Incantatem!” he yelled.



The cauldron shuddered violently. Suddenly two human feet sprang from the bottom of it. It leapt to its feet, wobbled for balance and then began running around the dungeon.



Severus swore a blue streak before pointing his wand and trying one spell after another to stop the errant thing. It did no good; now that it was mobile, the cauldron neatly dodged his spells, yelling insults and shouting for help.



“Mudblood freak! You bastard! You sack of werewolf dung! You dirty louse! Stinking, big-nosed miserable excuse for a wizard! I’m not going on the fire again, you abusive sot! Help, help, I’m being repressed!!”



When it hopped onto the table and ran pell-mell through the herbs and plants that he had cut so painstakingly, Severus lost his patience completely. He lunged for the cauldron only to trip and fall as it jumped back to the floor, kicked him in the shins, and ran between his legs.



Severus gasped in pain as his knees collided with the hard stone of the basement floor. The heads cackled, the cauldron yelled bloody murder and his temper exploded.



“POTTER!”



********************************************************************



“Come on, Lily. Take just a little bite for Dada. Here comes the broom zooming in for a landing.” Lily giggled and opened her mouth to take a taste of the strained peas. Like most toddlers, she didn’t care for the taste of the stuff but Harry could usually persuade her if he levitated the spoon and zipped it around her head.



Harry loved the coziness of the kitchen. It was small but serviceable and reminded him of the kitchen in the Burrow. When food was cooking, the space was filled with warmth and hominess. It was paradise to share meals here with his offspring.



That peace was shattered when he heard the unmistakable yelling coming from the basement.



“Daddy?” Al whispered.



“Go upstairs, boys. Take your little sister with you, James.” He gave the order quickly and leaped to his feet, wand in hand, just as Snape came charging up from the basement like an enraged hippogriff.



The Potions master burst into the room, black eyes wild, his face frozen in a rictus of fury. The pink hair was exposed again, jutting in wild tufts all over his head, but it didn’t diminish the terror of his look in the slightest. “Don’t you go anywhere, you vicious little heathens! I demand you rectify the shambles you’ve made of my laboratory at once!”



Harry gave a long-suffering sigh. It was just one thing after another with the Slytherin. “What is it now, Snape?”



“Your hellions have gone too far. They have violated the sanctum of my brewing room. They must be punished at once.”



Harry scowled. “Snape, I’ve told you before. You’re not going to bully my children. Just what is it they’re supposed to have done now?”



“They cast a spell of some sort on my cauldron.”



“Snape, they can’t cast spells, you know that. They’re not even seven years old!”



“Potter, I have a cauldron running around on two feet like a mad toddler and screaming that its rights have been abused! How do you care to explain it? Do you have your very own poltergeist like Peeves running amok in your home?” Snape retorted snidely. “Perhaps your furniture is infected with St. Vitus’ dance and has somehow transmitted it to my equipment!”



“What?” The image of a mad runaway cauldron popped into Harry’s mind and he shot a glance to the twins. The two had burst out into giggles at Snape’s description only to hide it behind their hands when they caught their father’s stare.



“You heard me, Potter. I certainly didn’t curse my own pottery with mobility so your brats had something to do with it!”



“James, Al, is this true?”



James shook his head a little too hard. “Dad, Al and me haven’t been in his rooms or anything. Right, Al?”



“Yeah! We didn’t do anything!” Al protested.



“They’re lying, Potter,” Snape hissed.



Angry warmth flooded Harry’s neck at the accusation. He reined in his temper with difficulty. If they were ever going to make a peaceable home together, he couldn’t fly into a rage every time Snape got out of line. “Do you know anything about how this happened to Snape?” he asked the twins, carefully rephrasing the question.



The pair huddled close together, Lily wriggling to get out of James’s grip and away from the scary man yelling at her Dada. She whimpered and began to cry.



“No, we don’t know anything about a cauldron, Daddy,” James stated, trying to get a better grip on his crying sister. It was the truth. When they’d summoned Kreacher, they had only asked him to “do something” to Snape’s private workroom. They hadn’t outlined what he should do in so many words. So the running cauldron was a complete surprise to them.



It sounded wicked, though.



“Potter, I’ve had enough. I warned you to discipline your unruly rabble and you didn’t. This is the result. They think they can run roughshod over me. Well, that stops right now.” Snape raised his wand, prepared to cast who knew what kind of spell.



“Snape, stop! Before you go condemning my kids, just ask them what they did. You could always tell when Hogwarts students were lying to you. Don’t tell me James and Albus have an advantage,” Harry taunted.



The black eyes narrowed. “Very well, Potter. But rest assured I will find out if they’re responsible and they will be punished, like it or not.” Harry nodded, reached down and lifted Lily from James’s arms.



“Were you two in my lab?”



“No,” James and Al whispered.



“Did you cast any spells in my lab?”



“No.” This time James was the only one to answer.



“Do you know who might have casts spells in my lab?”



This time the boys looked distinctly nervous and Harry’s heart sank. They were guilty of something and if he knew it then Snape did too.



The older man didn’t wait for an answer. “Who?”



“We didn’t see anybody in your lab, Drac—I mean, Snape,” Al fumbled when he caught his father’s look.



“We haven’t been anywhere near it. Daddy told us not to,” James added staunchly.



“You are not answering my question. If you two weren’t there, it was someone else.” He bent a gimlet stare on Harry. “Was it you, Potter? If there is a wizard strong enough to get through my wards, it would be you.”



“No, Snape, it wasn’t me,” Harry lashed out in irritation. “I’ve got no reason to mess around in your lab. I’ve always hated potions, thanks to you, so I’m not going to bother with it now.”



“Then your children are somehow responsible or know who is. They will tell me or I shall use Legilimency on them both,” Snape threatened.



Al’s nose crinkled. “What’s Legi-legi-what?”



“You’re not doing that to my kids,” Harry said, stepping in front of them. “I remember how much that hurt from fifth year. I’m not going to let you torture my children.”



“Legilimency needn’t hurt, Potter. It only did so because I was trying to inure you against the pain of the Dark Lord’s attacks. I promise I will be gentle with your tender-skinned, feeble brats. But I am going to learn the truth.”



Harry glanced uncertainly from him to the twins. They were mischievous and, goodness knows, they had no reason to be kind to Snape. But he didn’t think this was a good idea. “What will you do if you find out they’ve done something?”



The thin lips curled. “Not so convinced of their innocence now, are you, Potter? Don’t worry. Unlike their overindulgent father, I shall see that they get the punishment they deserve.”



“No. Before you try anything with my children, I want to know what you intend.”



“They can start by cleaning the mess in my lab.”



“Snape, how many times must I tell you? They’re only. Six. Years. Old. They can’t even clean the mess in their own room!”



“Then this will be an excellent way for them to learn cleanliness as well as discipline,” Snape shot back.



“Not if you want them to do a good job. Wait until they’re older,” Harry argued.



“Very well. If they are found guilty, they will go to bed without their dinners for a whole week.”



Harry could feel the blood draining out of his face. “No. No starving my children.”



“Don’t be melodramatic, Potter. Missing one meal a day never hurt anyone, not even spoiled, over-indulged mewling imps like yours.”



Harry’s grip tightened on Lily until she whimpered again. He forced himself to relax. “I mean it, Snape. None of my children are going hungry if I can help it. Starving someone for discipline isn’t something I’ll tolerate. Think of something else.”



Contempt twisted Snape’s face unpleasantly. But something in Harry’s expression must have convinced him the Gryffindor wasn’t going to budge. “Very well. I shall remove all of their toys.”



“No!” squealed Albus.



“It’s only fair. You ruined my possessions; I get to confiscate yours,” Snape said with a nasty smile.



“Is this because you didn’t get to consullate my Dad?” James cried out, desperate to think of something to stop Snape.



Harry stared at him. “What? Consullate?”



“I presume he means ‘consummate’, Potter. My, my, I can’t believe you would discuss such a sensitive subject with your offspring,” Snape drawled.



Harry glared at him. “I didn’t discuss this with them, Snape. The whole conversation was too disgusting. You actually think I’d go over that with my children?”



“Then the little snoops must have been eavesdropping.”



The twins exchanged guilty looks. “Boys, how many times have I told you not to spy on the grownups?” Harry sighed.



“But we were afraid, Daddy! We thought he was going to hurt you with sex!” Al protested.



“Yeah, he probably only wants to ‘cause he wants to get into Grimmauld Place,” James added.



Snape’s expression didn’t change. But Harry thought he saw something in the shadowed gaze. “What do you mean, James?” Harry asked, not taking his eyes off his bond mate.



“Kreacher said the wards won’t let him into Grimmauld Place until he con-consullates you with sex,” the older boy explained, stumbling over the strange word.



Snape’s face had assumed the blankness of an impenetrable shield. He gave away nothing but Harry felt something leaden drop into his stomach. “So that’s it. You weren’t interested in starting a new family. You just wanted to get into Sirius’s old place.”



Snape shrugged elegantly. “What other reason?”



“All that nonsense with the tea things and pretending to be civil—what was that? Your pathetic attempt to trick me into sleeping with you?” he snapped.



“I’m a Slytherin, Potter. What do you expect?”



Harry couldn’t speak. He was caught between disgust and despair. While he hadn’t seriously entertained the notion of sleeping with Snape, he had hoped the man was softening towards him, towards his family, towards the idea of co-habitation.



It was no use. Snape was determined to be a cruel and manipulative bastard. Harry would have screamed at him but he was all too aware of his twins anxiously standing behind him, the weight of his convalescing daughter in his arms.



“Drop dead, Snape,” he said quietly as he led his children from the dinner table.



Severus glared as they departed. Somehow he’d lost this round to Potter—again. With sudden annoyance, he realized the twins had once more gotten away with their latest prank.



Well, this would be for the last time. When they got out of line again, punishment would be swift and severe.





TBC