A Bunny Tale Part 2

The Knights of Walpurgis

Although Severus had purchased dress robes for Harry, he had yet to see him in them. He was slipping potions into hidden pockets in his robes when Harry entered the room and said, "I think my tie is broken."

First, he noticed the colour was wrong. He had ordered bottle green with silver trim, not a vivid crimson. While crimson was not the shade he would've chosen for Harry, the dark red gave the small, youthful coney a sharp masculinity to his features. Perhaps it was the dress robes more than the colours, but Harry filled his robes and stood tall. No one would ever guess he was a pet instead of an honoured guest. Unaware of Severus's appreciative gaze, Harry fiddled with his neck cloth.

"It's not a tie; it’s a neck cloth,” Severus explained. He pulled Harry over towards the mirror and planted him in front of it. "This particular kind is tied in a bow.” Moving slowly, Severus demonstrated how to wrap and tie the cloth around Harry's neck. Harry stared at Severus's fingers as they manipulated the folds of the cloth and smoothed the neck cloth into place.

When he was finished, Severus said, "Remember, affirm you are my nephew, deny any rumours to the contrary, and invite anyone who insists on pestering you to speak to me on the matter. I expect you to remain in my sight and near me at all times." None of the Knights would be so foolish as to try to drag Harry away to molest him, but the Malfoy Mansion was not a place in which to wander off.

Summoning a salve to tame Harry's wild hair, Severus ran his fingers through the disobedient strands as he continued his lecture, "I expect you to behave around the other coneys."

The bright green eyes widened, but Harry said nothing.

"Yes, there will be other coneys there. And Harry-" Severus cast a cleaning spell on his fingers, turned him around, and stared into his eyes.

Harry said, "I won't even look at them. I swear."

"You had better not." Severus tightened his grip on Harry's upper arms. "There will be people there who would have you taken from me in an instant if they knew. If you want to remain with me, then you must not reveal that you are a coney." Especially not to Bellatrix. Maybe Dumbledore could take Harry for the evening and swear to keep him out of trouble? No, if relatives were invited to Lucius's party, then it would look suspicious if he did not bring Harry along. Besides, it was too close to the full moon.

"What if they use Legilimens on me?" Harry asked with a frown, his vivid eyes full of worry. It was his least favourite spell, even more hated than The Killing Curse or the Cruciatus. When Severus had gone through the list of 'spells which Harry must immediately report upon hearing,' Harry had listened without interruption, his eyes determined and his mouth set in a straight line. Throughout it all, no matter what Severus said, he hadn't shown any concern. He had even nodded through the Unforgivables as if he were an expert on their use. Only Legilimency had drawn his fear and questions. For the next day, he had refused to meet the eyes of anyone other than Severus, even the other students, until Severus assured him that no student could master Legilimency, and he needn't worry about any staff at Hogwarts.

Releasing Harry and scooping up more of the salve, which seemed to make the mess on Harry's head only marginally better, Severus said, "Relax. Never maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds and fake shyness if you must, but do not worry about it." He didn't want to tell Harry the real reason he wasn't concerned. He had already set up a red herring: that Harry was his illegitimate son. It had been easy to set up, but it was not a rumour he wished to propagate more than absolutely necessary.

~

Narcissa welcomed them into her home with her usual aplomb. She looked an empress, draped in sea blue silks decorated with waving vines of gold dotted diamond flowers that teasingly curled and uncurled their petals. Her upswept hair had been piled precariously tall on top of her head and glittered with jewellery that matched her robes. Despite her namesake, she was not the type to usually wear garments that even Severus, who knew nothing about fashion, could tell were worth a fortune. Whether Lucius was trying to butter her up or improve his standing amongst the Knights remained to be seen.

Narcissa stretched out a thin, pale arm and offered a bejewelled hand to be kissed as she addressed Severus, "So good to see you, Severus, it has been far too long. Welcome to our home."

"It is my pleasure." Severus motioned to Harry. "My nephew, Harry."

"Of course." Her eyes flickered over Harry as one might gaze upon a hall stand.

If Lucius had informed Narcissa about Harry's true nature, then surely he had also told her of the need for discretion and for Harry to be treated as human. He covered up her faux pas by excusing himself and steering Harry towards Lucius who was ensnared in Bellatrix's company.

Severus gave a short nod as he reached them. "Lucius, Bellatrix."

They had only begun the standard greetings when Bellatrix interrupted, "Is this your nephew?"

"Yes, this is Harry."

Harry stepped forward, a smile plastered on his face. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Charmed." Bellatrix's smile was as fake as her breasts. "You don't look at all like your uncle; I suppose you take after your mother."

"Yes," agreed Harry, his smile becoming as artificial as hers.

"You grew up in England?" she asked, her eyes sharp, ready for a moment of weakness.

"There and other places." Harry's fake smile never left his face.

"One would think you an Auror, Bella." Lazily, Lucius draped an arm over Harry's shoulders. "If you wish to examine him, do so later. Right now, I want to hear about your new acquisition."

"Ah, yes." Her lips curled up in a triumphant smile. "He should return any moment."

"He?" Lucius's eyebrows arched. "You didn't-?"

A side door opened and a handsome, tall coney strode into the room. All eyes fixed on his broad shoulders, thick torso, chiselled stomach, and thick arms and legs. Silvery blond hair poured down his back, ending just above his well-sculpted buttocks. A kouros come to life, perfection defined his form from the pert, pink ears framed in lush white fur to his wide, white smile with rows of even teeth. He drank in the attention, soaking it up as he marched across the room, seemingly oblivious to his near nudity. The only covering he wore was a loincloth which did nothing but accentuate the large bulge at his groin. Even his feet were bare, like a house-elf's, and he held out Bellatrix's drink with a flourish. Bellatrix took it and turned away from the coney who folded his hands in front of his groin and fixed his eyes on his mistress as if he expected her to fire an order at any moment.

"A gift from Rudolphus," she informed them. She had been stringing the deluded fool along for years. It was unlikely she would ever give in to his requests for marriage, but he seemed to believe that he could eventually buy her love.

"Severus, you must have a coney of your own," she purred. "They can give you a pleasure unparalleled."

She bragged only because she believed he would never be able to possess one of his own. While it was true he could never afford a coney of idealised perfection like Bellatrix's, he had Harry. The simpering, submissive way Bellatrix's coney gazed at her did not impress Severus. He could imagine sex with her flawless coney; with his beautiful body and natural servitude, he would be and do everything Severus wanted. That was the problem.
The smile on his face was genuine as he answered, "Your coney is quite aesthetically pleasing, but I prefer my partners to have a bit more autonomy. Complete control is so easy to obtain."

"Of course," she shot back. "But challenge does not equate with value."

"I agree. There are many I could never obtain and I am glad of that fact." He looked at her pointedly. "Besides, I've heard that they will sleep with any wizard or witch available to them. Does that not concern you?"

Her eyes lit up. Holding out a spidery arm, she jangled a charm bracelet. "This key-" she stroked it with her fingertip, "-prevents him from obtaining any pleasure without me. He is unable to express his satisfaction or reach its culmination unless I allow him."

Of course she would insist on complete sexual control. Rudolphus was insane to desire her.

"Fascinating." Severus made his escape, leaving Harry with the gathering crowd of Hogwarts students until dinner. When dinner was called, Harry slipped from Draco's side to Severus's with a questioning look on his face. Taking him by the arm, Severus led him to his seat at the table.
.
Dinner was typical of meals at Malfoy's parties, which meant it was an overblown affair with waves and waves of rich, scrumptious food artfully decorated and sculpted to perfection. Harry, normally one to dive right into a good meal, stared at what he was offered with confusion and did not try to eat until after Severus had confirmed that it was edible. It wasn't until the meal started that Severus realised he had been remiss in not teaching Harry proper dinner manners and worried the kit would embarrass him. But Harry waited to observe which utensil Severus selected for each dish before picking up his own and copying the Potion Master's actions as best he could.

Harry was the only coney allowed to sit at the table. The rest knelt behind their masters, eating the table scraps which were passed back to them. Although foremost focused on his food and Severus, Harry's eyes would drift towards the other coneys in the room when they weren't otherwise occupied with his two biggest obsessions. Severus supposed that an interest in coneys would not be out of character for a poor Squib who had been raised apart from the wizarding world and did not try to correct him when he stared at Bellatrix's coney licking juice from her fingers. Half the table was openly staring anyway, the rest of them pretending not to.

It was undeniably sexual, but then, nearly everything the other coneys did was sexual. The coney had an expression of pure rapture on his face, his blue eyes bright and his cheeks flushed. He licked the fingers with promise, letting everyone at the table know he would do exactly the same for them if he were allowed. With his easy self-confidence and open sexuality, there was no doubt that he would love to be intimate with each of them in turn and would probably be quite adept at pleasing all of them.

Severus glanced at Harry, subdued in his chair despite his bright robes, ignoring the other wizards and witches except as was required by politeness, glancing at the other coneys with an expression that spoke of many things except desire. Bellatrix might own her coney, but he didn't belong to her, not in the way that Harry belonged to Severus.

Resisting the urge to run his fingers through Harry's wild hair, Severus focused on his meal.

After dinner, Lucius called a Knights’ meeting. Harry reluctantly left with the coneys, children, and non-member spouses.

As soon as the opening ceremonies were finished, Lucius announced, "I propose that next year Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament. Our brethren at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons have agreed to participate and will send their best students to compete."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd, but Lucius ignored them. "Our children need pride in their heritage and race. The tasks will be designed so that only those wizards and witches of the highest quality -- the most pure -- will stand a chance of winning. Our Quidditch teams are contaminated with Mudbloods and, if the Ministry will not support our restrictions, then we will have to find our own ways to instil in the youth of the general public our ideas about purity and honour."

Bellatrix asked the question no one else was willing to bring up: "How will we be ensured that only Purebloods are selected? We know that our students are top quality, but we cannot say the same for the other schools."

"The entire system may be rigged or we shall aid the Pureblood student or students who are selected by the Goblet." He didn't need to argue that at least one Pureblood would be selected; most of those in the room would be surprised if even a single non-Pureblood was chosen. "If we do decide to select the champions ahead of time, we must be sure to pick only the ones we want to represent the wizarding world. I've compiled a list of possible candidates..."

The debate stretched on for hours, and they hadn't decided on a Hogwarts champion by the time they moved on to the next subject: the Gringotts bank rate and whether they should change it.

~

As soon as the meeting had been concluded, Severus found Harry with the students who were playing Quidditch on the Malfoy’s miniature pitch. Harry sat in the box, keeping score, his chin in his palm. When he saw Severus, he dashed over.

"Are we going home now?"

Severus had not planned on leaving until later, but Harry looked so hopeful, he couldn't tell him no.

They escaped back to Hogwarts together, with Harry starting to strip off his clothing as soon as they walked through the door. "There were loads of coneys there. Do most people own a coney now?"

"No." Severus threw his cloak to the side and undid his cravat. "Most of Lucius's guests are upper class and wealthy." He stared at Harry's long back and round buttocks as the coney bent over to remove his trousers. "Bellatrix has a handsome coney, doesn't she?"

One leg caught in the end of his trousers and Harry stumbled, catching the edge of the sofa for support.

"I saw you watching him." Thoughts of having the both of them, together, filled Severus's head.

Harry's back stiffened.

Severus continued, "You were staring at him from across the table." He swept over and wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders. "I wish I could have shown you to them," he murmured in Harry's ear. "If you had been on your knees, licking my fingers, no one would have given him a second glance." He raked his fingers through Harry's hair and popped open the buttons on his shirt.

"Would you like that? To have them all staring at you." He slipped his hands inside Harry's shirt and pinched his nipples. "Wanting you."

"I don't want them," said Harry fiercely, his body stiff.

"But they'd want you." Severus kissed and licked the soft skin below Harry's ear as his fingers swiftly undid the rest of the buttons.

"I'd bite them." Harry reached back and clawed Severus's hair. "I'd cover my body with poison."

"Which one?" Harry's cock throbbed in Severus's right hand while his left hurried to free his own, pressed painfully tight in his trousers.

"Foxglove," gasped Harry, his fingers tightening in Severus's hair, his hips thrusting. "I'd make a salve to increase its potency and keep it on my body. You and I, ah," he moaned as Severus nipped his ear, "we'd be immune."

"You'd kill a wizard just for touching you?" Restoring Harry's flattened ears and tail, Severus trailed his fingers through the soft black puff of fur. "You're a very naughty coney." He pushed Harry over the edge of the sofa. "I wouldn't be able to let you out of my sight."

"No!" Wiggling his arse, Harry reached backwards to snag Severus's hand and push it down his crack towards his hole. "I wouldn't- Not just for touching me. I'd put it under my clothes."

"Here?" Severus rubbed the puckered flesh teasingly.

"Oh!" Trembling, Harry spread his legs further apart. "Yes. Under my smalls. Where no one is allowed to touch me."

"No one?" Shifting away, Severus pulled off his clothing.

"You're allowed!" Harry whirled around, his ears flattening further.

"Where am I allowed to touch you?" Severus shrugged off his shirt.

"Everywhere!" Harry licked his lips and his ears pricked up.

"Where do you want me to touch you?" Feigning nonchalance belied by his thick erection, Severus let his eyes sweep over Harry's body.

"Everywhere!" Pink came into view as Harry's ears shot up further.

"Tell me where."

Hopping up on the edge of the sofa, Harry stuck out his ass and spread his legs wide. "In here," he moaned, one hand flying to stroke down his crack.

His wanton innocence was too much to resist, and Severus wasted no time enfolding him in his arms and touching him everywhere he desired.

Later, as they lay in bed panting, Severus made sure to impress upon Harry the danger of what he had just suggested.

"Do you know what would happen to you if you poisoned a wizard?"

"They'd kill me," said Harry, his head pressed against Severus's chest.

Stroking Harry's soft ears, Severus said, "Exactly. Which is why you must never do it. If anyone harms you -- in any way at all -- tell me about it, and I will take care of it."

Shifting, Harry propped his head up, resting his chin on Severus's sternum as he stared at him with vibrant eyes. "What will you do?"

"Whatever is necessary."

~

On the day the students returned from their holiday, Dumbledore turned to Severus and said, “Thank you for the magazines, Severus,” with a twinkle in his eyes. “I quite enjoyed them. Fascinating articles.”

"My pleasure," said Severus with a dismissive flick of his hand, watching Harry run between the tables, greeting his friends. He finally ended up sitting with Draco and the two of them pressed their heads together, exchanging whispers throughout dinner.

After dinner, Poppy stopped Severus on his way back to his rooms. "Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?"

"Certainly." Severus followed her to her office.

She closed the door and set up wards. "I sent Harry's blood and hair samples to different companies." She reached into her desk and removed a thick stack of scrolls. "Judging by the results of all the tests -- sent to both wizard and coney companies -- he is a normal, healthy coney. The only peculiarity was his scar. I sent a closely cropped picture of it to a friend of mine who is a curse expert. I figured you might want it removed in order to disguise any marks which could identify Harry."

Seeing Severus's look of dismay, she added, "You have nothing to worry about; my friend owes me a favour and is very discreet. He said the scar was caused by a Killing Curse."

Severus scoffed. "That's impossible. A Killing Curse close enough to cause a scar would've killed him. Unless coneys are immune?"

She shook her head. "As far as I know, they aren't. He says it was probably caused by a curse that either glanced off another object or killed another person first. I can't imagine anyone wanting to kill Harry. He's completely harmless. I asked him where he got the scar, and he said that he fell."

Did Harry claim to have obtained all his injuries by falling? No wonder Poppy had become so suspicious. Severus would have to teach him how to properly lie to authority figures. "Thank you." Severus accepted the scrolls from her. "I'll ask him about it."

~

Harry lay naked in bed, reading a potions textbook. He jumped out of bed when he saw Severus, tossing the book aside, and ran towards him. Snape pulled him into his arms and kissed him. Breaking the kiss, he asked, "How did you get the scar on your forehead?"

Harry's face darkened. "The Ministry tried to kill me."

Severus had expected to hear many answers but not that. For a moment he could do nothing but blink at Harry. It couldn't be true. While the Ministry did put down creatures, they did so with potions rather than spells. Not to mention, if the Ministry wanted Harry dead, he would be dead. Tired of being told lies, Severus said in a cold voice, "The Ministry does not use spells to-"

Harry tore himself from Severus's arms. "THEY USE SPELLS!" he yelled, his ears flat. "I'M NOT LYING!"

Severus had never seen Harry so angry; his chest was heaving, and his eyes were flashing. Even his budding erection had died. In a soothing voice, Severus said, "Come here.”

Harry crossed his arms and didn't move, glaring at Severus through narrowed eyes.

It was the first time Harry had disobeyed him openly. He wasn’t lying. Keeping his voice calm, Severus asked, “Why would the Ministry want to kill you?"

"I don't know."

"Did you bite someone?" Severus asked warily.

A tremor ran through Harry's body, and his face twisted in anger. "Yes, but only after they tried to kill me!"

It didn't make any sense. If the Ministry had tried to kill Harry, why was he still alive? Why hadn't it shown up on Harry's records? The Ministry had no reason to put down harmless coneys. The only thing Severus could think of was that perhaps they were culling the litter, but why wait so long to kill runts? Could they not tell at birth?

Severus walked over to sit down on the bed. "I believe you," he said to Harry who was shaking with rage. "Come, sit by me." He patted the bed.

Harry stalked over and dropped himself down on the bed.

"Why didn't they kill you? How did you end up with me?"

Sucking in several deep breaths to calm himself, Harry said, "They wanted to kill me. They were going to, but this witch made them stop. She...." Harry closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "She said I just needed to be properly trained. She took me to her house and...." in a smaller voice, he said, "trained me to be a coney."

"She had sex with you?" asked Severus, appalled.

"No!" Harry shuddered and shook his head violently. "No! She made me clean, cook, do the laundry."

It sounded quite reasonable, but Harry spit out the words as if they had been forms of torture. Severus reached out to pet his ears. "Is that why you hid from them when we were in Diagon Alley?"

Harry nodded.

Severus kissed him on the forehead. "You have nothing to fear from them. I won't let them take you from me." Harry gave a tentative smile and wrapped his arms around Severus.

Harry drifted off to sleep after a few hours of sex, but Severus couldn't sleep. He lay awake in the bed, one arm wrapped around Harry, who lay draped across his chest.

Why on earth would the Ministry want to kill Harry? What had made them change their mind? Sure, Harry could be quick with his teeth and his fists, but he seemed convinced that their murder attempt came unprovoked. And why use an Unforgivable?
Harry sighed softly in his sleep and nuzzled Severus's chest. Severus stroked Harry's flaccid ears.

It didn't matter what their reasons were for wanting to kill him; Harry belonged to him now. If they tried to take him away, Severus would raise so much red tape and appeals, they'd stand no chance of removing him within their lifetimes. If it came down to it, he could permanently disguise Harry as a human.

Severus picked up a floppy ear and turned it slightly in his hands. He could remove the tail and fix the ears, building human ones out of the coney parts. The blood would be a give away, but maybe there was a potion or a spell....

There were always ways to circumvent the Ministry's rules, but he preferred a bigger challenge. Turning Harry human enough to pass even blood tests without revealing his true nature seemed an impossible task. It was a challenge that had to be met. Hopefully, he'd never need to go through with it. He'd miss Harry's fluffy black tail and ears too much.

Severus wrapped his arms tightly around Harry and drifted off to sleep. He would make sure that no one could ever take Harry away from him.


[[And that's the end of A Bunny Tale, Part 2! I'll post three (the final part) later. Have a very Happy Easter!]]