Bonds of Affection

The following morning, at breakfast the four of them sat down to eat together. Severus expected a strained silence, or awkward glances, but nothing of the sort occurred. Hermione only snickered a little when Harry shifted in his chair with slight discomfort.



“Shut up,” Harry warned her.



She nodded, with a mostly straight face. “We are off Muggle London today,” she told them. “We are going shopping.”



“We are?” Ron blurted out, obviously surprised. Hermione shot him a meaningful glance, and Ron nodded quickly. “Oh yeah, right... that ... thing ... we ... really needed to buy.”



“We won't be back until eight in the evening,” Hermione said sweetly, and waved goodbye to Severus and Harry. Then they got up hastily and left.



As soon as they departed, Harry walked over to Severus, throwing his arms around him.



“Your friends are very considerate,” Severus said wryly.



“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “I just don't see Hermione and Ron shopping for ten hours straight.”



Severus flashed him a positively evil smile. “Indeed. I can do all manner of wicked things to you, without having to silence you.”



“Do your worst,” Harry dared him with a smirk.



Severus laughed softly. “Harry... never say, Do your worst, to a Death Eater. That's just not a good idea.”



Harry freed himself from Severus' embrace and settled himself on his lap, straddling his thighs. Harry's fingers stroked Severus' neck and he shut his eyes blissfully.



“You've had relationships like this before,” Harry said softly.



“No,” Severus said firmly. “Never like this.”



“But you had slaves.... or submissives....?” Harry prodded.



Severus nodded reluctantly. He'd had his share, during his involvement with Voldemort. But it had been different then. Back then, he was not a loving Master, and they were not based on affection. They were about control, power... conquering the mind, breaking down the resistance, until the slave became subdued and pliant... ready to serve the Dark.



“I had a few,” Severus agreed. “But – it was different. I had them, so that I could bring them to Voldemort. I never failed.”



Harry tensed slightly. “Like he thinks you are bringing me to him,” he said quietly. “That's why he chose you...?”



Severus nodded a bit. Undeterred, Harry continued to hold on to him.



“I always figured you'd have a dungeon or something in your home,” Harry said with a strained smile. “Hermione and I used to make bets on it...”



“Really,” Severus said, unamused.



“Do you?” Harry demanded. “I know there's a downstairs part to the Manor that you haven't shown me. Is that where it is?”



Severus grunted derisively. “You have quite a vivid imagination, Mr. Potter.”



“I want to see it.”



Severus pushed Harry off his lap and stood up abruptly. He cleared the table, and walked into the kitchen, bringing in dirty dishes with him. Harry followed him closely.



Severus dumped the dishes into the sink, and turned the water on. Harry stood behind him, achingly close, buying face in his back. “You miss it,” Harry whispered with confidence, his breath penetrating the Severus' shirt, and falling on his back, sending a chill down his spine. “You want it.”



“You sound pretty sure of it,” Severus said grimly.



“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “I watch you... I observe... notice things about you. I can tell what you want. Like with our first time... I just know things about you.”



Severus had not moved. “A perfect slave,” he said without happiness. “What have I turned you into...”



Harry's hands went around his waist. “I am not complaining, am I?”



“It's locked,” Severus said gravely. “I locked it the day I returned to Dumbledore, and asked him to take me back. I never opened it since.”



“Your own Chamber of Secrets,” Harry mused quietly. “Take me there.”



Severus spun around and stared at him. Harry's face was absolutely serious and untroubled.



“You are scaring me,” Severus said bluntly.



“I am scaring myself a little,” Harry conceded. “But I still want to see it.”



Severus shook his head. Not that, he thought, his entire body filling with both dread and horrible longing – longing for cruelty, absolute power, and owning another.



In front of him, Harry sank to his knees, and pressed his head against Severus' legs.



“Look,” Harry whispered softly. “I don't think I will ever be some sort of ... I dunno.. crawling, docile little pet. But I want to know all of you. And I want to give you everything you ever wanted.”



Severus stroked his hair gently.



“You already do.”



“I could give you more,” Harry insisted. “Show me. Please.”



Severus extended his hand to Harry and Harry grasped it firmly, lifting himself to his feet. Together, they walked through the manor, Harry holding on to Severus' hand, as if afraid to let go of him. They walked down the spiraling staircase, and reached a wall. Severus uttered a spell, and revealed a massive locked entrance, guarded by numerous bars and padlocks. Severus said a series of spells and the locking mechanisms moved of their own accord. Liberated, the doors swung open before them, allowing them in. Severus stepped in first, and Harry followed him closely.



The darkness in the giant room was absolute, and when the door shut behind them, Severus placed his hand on the back of Harry's neck. He sensed that Harry was trembling under his touch.



Severus drew him close and pressed lips to Harry's forehead. “Are you sure you want to see?” he asked softly.



“Yes,” Harry whispered with dread in his voice. “Show me.”



“Flamma”, Severus said, and instantly, the room, or rather, hall acquired shape and size, illuminated by torches that were attached to the walls. Massive chains hang from the ceiling, restraints were attached to the walls. One of the walls contained nothing but instruments of torment and control hanging from it; tools that Severus had not used in over a decade.



Harry walked up to the wall, his eyes fixed on one thing – a coiled flat strip of metal with a ring in front, and a locking mechanism on the back. “A collar,” Harry whispered.



“Yes,” Severus confirmed. “It signifies ownership.”



“I know,” Harry said quietly.



“How?” Severus demanded. “The book? Or ...”



Harry shook his head. “I just do,” he murmured. “May I take it in my hands?”



Severus glanced at him with curiosity. Somehow, instinctively, it seemed Harry knew that the collar could not be touched without the Master's permission. Harry took it in his hands, his eyes fixed on it.



“Come to me,” Severus said softly, and Harry walked towards him, with the collar in his hands.



Without a prompt, Harry knelt before Severus, handing the collar to him. Severus took it from him quickly, his fist clenching around it. He was about to start walking back to the wall, to put it back in its place, when Harry bowed his head low, offering himself to him.



“What do you want?” Severus asked gently. “Harry...”



Harry was looking down, as he spoke with difficulty. “I want you to make me yours. Completely. I feel as if I am a part of you – wanting to be lost in you. Or maybe found in you. I feel like I have never been any other way. Maybe I just couldn't put it into words until now.”



Severus was shaking his head. “No.”



He was not a suitable owner for anyone. Not given his history, his involvement with the Dark, not in the view of how he had wielded his power formerly. The best he could do was hold back, as much as possible, and not allow the grim reality of the past to seep into the present, and taint the beauty of what he currently had.



Harry lifted his head and looked up with a serene smile. “I know what you are,” he told him. “I know what you have done. I want you. I want you to own me.”



A long silence followed, and neither of them moved. Harry bowed his head again, clasping his hands behind him, offering up his neck. Severus watched him with ache, longing, terror, and desire coiling around him, as if a serpentine presence that subdued and ensnared his senses.



After what seemed like an eternity, Severus stepped forward and put the collar on him. Harry's entire body shuddered slightly at the faint clicking sound of it locking on him.



“Be mine, then,” Severus told him firmly. He hooked a finger into the ring in front of the collar, and lifted Harry to his feet. Harry stood up effortlessly, looking at Severus; his face untroubled and radiant.



“Yours,” Harry answered blissfully.



... to be continued ...