The Rules of Life

Title: The Rules of Life

Summary: There was no Harry Potter at the Dursley’s when Dumbledore sent Hagrid to fetch him in first year. Where in the world is Harry Potter? This fic is SNARRY slash, Snape!Dom, Harry!sub.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of the other familiar characters. Harry Potter and this magical world belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money made from this.

Warnings: This fic is Snarry slash, which means two men in a sexual relationship – specifically, Harry and Snape. This fic also contains BDSM elements with Snape as the Dominant partner and Harry as the submissive. If you don’t know what this means then please don’t read the fic – you won’t understand most of what happens. The fic starts out before Hogwarts and contains elements of chan (just mentioning of it), dub-con and non-con (rape). Don’t read if you don’t like!!

Just a note: Severus said the destination for Harry when he went through the floo.

Aragon: THANK YOU for that information. I didn’t know the ‘London Eye’ (or as you call it, Millennium Wheel) only opened in 2000. Please, anyone else reading this, that was a mistake on my part and I apologize. I’m not going to really focus on “Time Frame” as such so you can interpret this fic any way you wish – either read it as if first year was 2000+ or just imagine the ‘London Eye’ was there already in 1991/2. Once again, I apologize for this mishap!

Pandora de Romanus: I think your comments and question will be answered in this chapter...

AN: Please don’t kill me!!!

It was going to be a long, hard year for them. Severus just hoped he would not be alone at the end of it.

Is that not bizarre – to hope that he would not be alone when all he had ever wanted was to be left in peace…

Chapter 6

Severus worked out a schedule according to which he and Harry could work. He would teach the boy ‘wandless magic’ every Friday evening for an hour – except when he had detentions to oversee – every Saturday for an hour and every Sunday for two hours. Spending more time than that would tire the boy out, and make him grumpy – not something Severus whished to experience any time soon.

Movement to the right caught his attention and Severus marveled again at the boy’s grasp of wordless, wandless magic.

Harry was levitating himself up and down while reading one of his prescribed textbooks. Since Severus had told him the truth, Harry had been immersing himself in his books and often borrowed some of Severus’s own books from his second year.

The school year started the next day and Severus had a very bad feeling about the coming year. He had learned to trust his instincts and feelings the hard way and was already planning how best to keep an eye on the boy.

Pushing the thoughts aside for later, when he was alone in his bed, Severus concentrated on Harry.

“Harry, I have here a timetable for your wandless lessons. I promised you I will help you with it and I intend to keep my promise. Look at it and tell me if any changes need to be made.”

Harry quickly took the offered parchment and scanned the contents. Nodding his head to indicate that it was all right with him, he settled back in his usual place where he unconsciously started levitating again.

Severus sincerely hoped the boy would not do so while in the presence of anyone else.


*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*


“That was adequate Harry; you may yet be able to defend yourself.”

Harry smiled that beaming smile at him and Severus glared at the boy. Not in the least bit perturbed, Harry turned to try the spell again.

Severus watched in confusion as Harry’s hands jerked to a halt and the boy’s eyes snapped open. It was October already and the boy had progressed well passed Severus’s expectations of this point.

Looking at the slightly glazed over expression on Harry’s face, Severus forced himself to keep quiet and let the boy come to him. Harry would have to learn to come to Severus for help with his problems.

Scared green eyes locked with his and Harry licked his lips nervously. Shaking off any traitorous thoughts the action provoked, Severus raised an eyebrow in enquiry.

Harry’s hand shot out to his side and a moment later, parchment, quill and ink made it into his hand.

”Did you hear that Master?”

Severus frowned at the question and looked closely at Harry.

“What did you hear? There is nothing and nobody else here Harry. The closest to us is the Slytherin common room and even that is far enough that we would not hear anything even if someone let a banshee loose there.”

Harry bit his lip and quickly scribbled another message.

”I heard something Master. It sounded like a voice, but very soft. It kept repeating ‘kill, kill, kill’.” Severus watched Harry closely and concern flooded him as he saw Harry shudder when he finished the sentence.

Reading the few sentences on the parchment, Severus could understand why Harry reacted that way.

“I did not hear anything Harry. Tell me immediately if you hear it again. If I am not with you at the time, write down the exact words and let me know as soon as you can. Is that clear?”

This time the quill did the writing and Severus glanced over the “Yes Master” for just a moment before he turned back to Harry.

“Good. Even in the Wizarding world, hearing voices is not a good thing. Do not tell anyone else about this.”

At Harry’s nod, Severus turned back to his book but the words did not take on any meaning as he kept thinking of what it could possibly be that Harry heard.


*--------------------------------------------------------*


“Thank you for allowing me to stay here and visit Harry, Professor Snape.”

Severus scowled at his beaming charge before giving a tight nod to Andy Zabini. The fact that one hopeful look and request from Harry would have Severus pack up all his things and escort Harry to the Middle East, should the boy wish so, was of no consequence at the moment and Severus refused to show his true feelings on the matter.

The boys rushed to Harry’s room to catch up on the week they had missed from each other, which, in their wise opinions, was ‘ever so long!’

In one week, it would be Christmas and Severus resigned himself to the fact that he would have two, possibly three miscreants running around on Christmas day.

One remembered incident lightened Severus’s mood somewhat. He remembered when Longbottom’s grandmother showed up on Halloween, dressed in one of Albus’s eccentric robes – where she got it, no one could tell – and then proceeded to do something no one else had ever been able to do.

Scare Albus Dumbledore.

Severus remembered Albus’s face as he first took in the very remarkable copy of himself, swooping down the isle after banging open the door of the Great Hall.

Mrs Longbottom – who only later gave away her identity – swept down upon the head table and soundly berated Albus Dumbledore on his poor conduct and dangerous manipulations.

Sounding, looking and even ‘twinking’ the same way the real Albus Dumbledore does, she managed to fool everyone in the hall – Albus included – for a moment that she was the real Albus Dumbledore, but from the future.

She explained in very graphic detail just how Albus’s manipulations would lead to the death of innocent lives and the incarceration of one of his very own staff members. Mrs Longbottom then proceeded to tell the whole school that, though a possible ‘candidate’ for the prophecy, Neville Longbottom was NOT the boy-who-lived and was not to be the next icon of hope in the wizarding world. Anyone who disagreed would have to go through him (– her…)

Needless to say, everyone – staff and student alike – were horrified at her words and her description of what ‘would’ happen.

After dismissing the students from the hall, the staff all gathered around the ‘time traveling’ Albus Dumbledore and Severus remembered how he was unable to repress the smile that spread across his face as everyone realized that Albus had just been soundly berated like a five year old by an old lady, five years his younger.

However, the matter was much more serious than any misdeeds a five year old could manage, but the picture of Albus cowering before an enraged version of him was truly an enlightening experience, as well as humbling.

The concealment charm was of such excellence that Professor Flitwick, a Master in charms, had trouble detecting it. Albus had been enraged as he realized he had just been soundly humiliated by a woman but the ill concealed rage in Mrs Longbottom’s eyes kept him from making a scene.

Severus doubted that many of the staff would take Mrs Longbottom’s words and warnings to heart but at least it was still not a well known fact that the ‘time traveling Albus Dumbledore’ had been a fake.

A few students might very well send letters home about the incident and after Christmas, Severus was certain that everyone in the British Wizarding World would know.

Footsteps nearing brought him back from the fond remembrance and Severus looked at Harry as the boy nervously shifted from foot to foot.

A piece of parchment thrust in his face had Severus leaning back a bit; he scowled at Harry, and then proceeded to read the message.

I heard the voice again Master. Not as clear as before but I’m sure it said something about being hungry and again said something about killing. What’s it mean Master?

Looking up at the boy, Severus scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know what it means Harry, but thank you for telling me, remember to do so in future as well. I will take it up with the headmaster again, after the incident with the other Albus the headmaster might be more inclined to listen to me.”

Severus still debated whether to tell Harry the truth about the incident but decided to wait until Harry’s friend left – it was not something he wanted spread around the world.

“Go back to your friend and play a bit. We can go into Hogsmeade tomorrow so be sure to go to bed early.”

Harry nodded and happily made his way back to his bedroom.

Severus sighed to himself and wished that one-day he would be able to earn Harry’s trust and the smile he usually reserved for his friends alone.


*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*


Harry gave Andy a weary look. The boy’s earnest expression did nothing to assuage Harry’s apprehensiveness. One thing he had learned since a young age was never to trust anyone or, in this case, any thing.

The quill and parchment in front of Andy came to life again as Harry directed his thoughts at it.

I don’t know about this Andy. Sure, you found it in the school, and you are right, the school should not have anything in it that could harm the students, but how do you know it was not another student who brought it? How can you trust something you picked up in a bathroom? Plus, you haven’t told me exactly what you were doing in the girls bathroom of all places!

Andy gave him a sheepish look but Harry just scowled at him.

“You know, it’s creepy how you pick up his mannerisms. I don’t remember you scowling like that when we first met.”

Arms crossed, Andy looked like a pouting three year old and Harry suppressed the urge to laugh, his friend could not sidetrack him this easily.

Don’t change the subject Andy! How can you trust something like this? Where does the answers, the information, the intelligence come from? This book is dark Andy, I’m telling you.

“Please Harry! Let’s just see what it has to say… it could be nothing, it could be something very important. Let’s just try it, please, just once…”

Harry suppressed a sigh; he had learned months ago that it was no good arguing with Andy over something the boy had already made his mind up.

“Thank you! Thank you!! Okay, what will we say? Let’s just start by introducing ourselves, okay?”

Harry nodded reluctantly and Andy started scribbling away.

Hi there! My name is Andy, my friend Harry is also with me. We are at Hogwarts.

They both waited with baited breath for some kind of response.

A minute later, the words disappeared. Harry watched it apprehensively; he had a very bad feeling about this.

New words appeared and the boys both bent their heads to read it.

Are you now? Well, I suppose I’ll have to introduce myself as well. I am Tom Marvollo Riddle, you may call me Tom. This is my diary.

Harry pushed the book away from him and stood up. He would not go through with this. Every fiber in his being was telling him that this was a bad idea and his instincts had never led him astray before.

Andy on the other hand, was once again scribbling something on the page.

Harry looked over his shoulder and realized that he had missed the previous sentence from ‘Tom’.

No, Harry is not the Harry Potter. His name is Harry Patterson, he is my friend and classmate, we both go to school in Hogsmeade.

Harry wanted to whack Andy over the head for giving out too much information and personal information – not to mention that it was incorrect. The thought of telling Andy the truth, that he really was ‘The Harry Potter’ flashed through his mind but Harry immediately dismissed the thought.

Oh, so are you both muggle borns? Were you not good enough to be accepted at Hogwarts?

Harry could practically hear the sneering and condescending tone but whatever he was going to do was too late as Andy was already writing a reply.

I am no muggle-born! I am pureblood and my line can be traced twelve generations back! We don’t know about Harry as he is an orphan, don’t make assumptions about things you know nothing of.

Hanging his head in his hands, Harry just closed his eyes and let Andy carry on with this new argument. If there was one thing Andy loved more than his family, it was arguing.

Half an hour later, the boy was still at it and Harry had to practically drag him away from the book.

They met Master Severus in the kitchen and Harry desperately wanted to tell the man about the book but every time he tried, Andy stepped on his foot or interrupted him.

Harry scowled at his friend but kept his mouth shut. He could always talk to his Master later.

Andy gave him a relieved look and Harry felt his insides twist at it. He was desperate to have friends, and Andy was a great friend, but could he continue like this, having to withhold information from his Master in order to have that friend?

Master Severus described the layout of the rest of their vacation and Harry decided to keep quiet for a little while still.


*-----------------------------------------------------------------*


Master Severus kept muttering to himself as Harry read his book and it was driving the boy to distraction.

He could hear something about a chamber reopening and something bad happening in the school. To tell the truth, for months now, Harry had been feeling a distressing cold descending in the castle.

His charmed quill and a piece of parchment descended on him from the bedroom, and Harry blinked at it. He had not even realized that he had used his magic to call for them.

Is something the matter Master? Are you alright?

Master Severus scanned the parchment as Harry levitated it up to eye level with his Master.

“I am alright Harry, thank you for asking. Yes, there is something wrong but nothing you have to concern yourself with.”

Harry pushed his hurt down at the dismissal and lowered his eyes to his book again.

He would just have to let his Master deal with whatever it was that troubled him. There was nothing he could do, and the feeling of worthlessness reared its head again. Harry ruthlessly squashed it down.


*------------------------------------------------------------------------*


Harry ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He had to get to Master Severus! Andy had been looking ill lately and today, he had failed to show up at school. It could just be a bug, a cold or something like it, but Harry had a very bad feeling about this.

As he entered Hogwarts, Harry watched in confusion as students all hurried in different directions, it looked as if most of the Slytherins had all decided to go back to the common room at the same time.

Maybe they had been ordered to do so?

Hurrying down to his Master’s chambers, Harry burst in through the door and was dismayed to see that his Master was not yet back.

Twenty nail-biting minutes later, the door to their chambers opened and Harry rushed at his Master.

Master Severus grunted as Harry slammed into his legs but Harry gave it no thought. Clinging to the strong legs for all he was worth, Harry began directing his thoughts at his quill.

Strong arms picked him up and deposited him on the couch as his quill and parchment made its way to Master Severus.

Andy… not there… ill for days… Master? What can we do? …. He alright?

The jumbled words reflected the jumbled mess in his mind and Harry gave his Master a sheepish look as he read over the words. Master Severus scowled at the mess on the parchment but his look softened somewhat as he looked at Harry.

“I will contact Andy’s parents to ascertain if he had stayed at home today. Do not worry yourself over it needlessly. For the moment, I want you to stay here in our quarters. There are very dark magic at work in this castle and I will not have you gallivanting about. Is that clear?”

Harry wanted to protest, to say that he wanted to go look for Andy, to find out for himself that his friend was all right but at the concern he could detect on his Master’s face, Harry stayed his protests.


Master Severus returned to their quarters late that night with a worried look on his face. Harry jumped up immediately but Master Severus put his hand on his shoulder for a brief moment and Harry’s tension eased for a moment.

“Andy’s mother informed me that she dropped him off for school this morning as usual, though a bit ill – as you mentioned – he refused to stay at home. I’m afraid no one had seen him since.”

Harry felt tears threaten but he had learned long ago to ignore such weakness.

There was a knock at the door and Master Severus stood and opened it. Blaise rushed to Harry’s side without a second look at his Professor and Harry couldn’t even summon a smile at the glare his Master sent the other boy.

“Is it true Harry? Andy didn’t show up at school today? Where is he? What could have happened?”

Harry lowered his head in shame and he heard a chocked sob from the other boy before he felt himself pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

“He’ll be all right Harry. You’ll see. He’ll be all right, won’t he?”

The desperateness in Blaise’s voice broke Harry’s resolve and for the second time in a year - so weak, so weak! - Harry let his tears run their course down his cheeks.

He held on tight to Blaise, knowing that if anyone deserved comfort now, it was Blaise.

Kill! Kill! Mudbloods and blood traitors alike. I shall have a feast this night!

Harry jerked back from Blaise as the voice penetrated his thoughts.

Turning scared green eyes to his Master, Harry quickly relayed the words to his Master with his charmed quill.

Something flashed in his Master’s eyes and Harry turned a hopeful look toward the man.

“Earlier this evening, the Chamber of Secrets was reopened - I belief that this could be where the young Mr Zabini was taken. The message read that ‘their skeletons will lie in the chamber forever.’”

Harry sprang up at once and hurried to grab his cloak while his quill wrote his newest thoughts.

We must go at once. We know now where he is, the Chamber of Secrets. We can save him!

Harry turned around after clipping his cloak in place and the expressions on his Master and friend’s faces brought him up short.

“Harry,” his Master’s voice had never been this gentle before and Harry felt his throat tighten. “Harry, no one knows where the entrance to the Chamber is. I will go with you, we will search the whole castle but I do not want you to get your hopes up Harry. No one even has a clue where to begin searching.”

The tightening in his throat threatened to suffocate him and the squeeze of a hand in his was the only thing that brought him back from the brink.

Turning a bewildered look on Blaise, Harry could see his own lost and haunted look reflected back at him.

This was not the time to break down however, and Harry squared his shoulders and nodded at his Master.

He would face this, whatever the night might bring; he would face it like every other obstacle he had ever faced.

*------------------------------------------------------------------*


It was quite a comical scene really. To see a professor cowering before three second years, but the humor of the situation was lost on Harry as concern for his friend took over.

“What is the meaning of this Mr Longbottom? Professor Lockhart, explain yourself!”

The Longbottom boy - Harry thought his name was Neville, but couldn’t be sure – started explaining the situation at the same time that Professor Lockhart made his excuses.

Master Severus silenced both at once and turned to the more coherent one, Neville.

“We were, that is… pipes… basilisk… I was looking and Hermione was looking…. We were… the chamber… and Moaning Mertle confirmed… and she died here…when the chamber was first opened… the mirrors! Open the mirrors?”

Harry had trouble deciphering the nervous boy’s ramblings but finally he thought he had the gist of it. Turning to his Master, Harry could see that the man was also working the ramblings out into more meaningful, coherent sentences.

“Let me get this straight: Somehow, you, Miss Granger and Mr Thomas came to the conclusion that Mertle was the girl who died fifty years ago. Not only that, but you deduced that it was a basilisk that was raging havoc in the school and that the entrance to the chamber is here in this bathroom? Is that about right?”

Neville nodded his head a bit uncertainly and Harry wondered what it was in his Master that scared the boy so much.

“There is hope for you yet, Mr Longbottom.”

The boy gaped for a moment before turning a confused look to his friends. They both shrugged and turned their attention back to their Professor.

“You say that you believe the basilisk is moving within the pipes?”

“Yes sir.” The girl, Harry assumed she was ‘Miss Granger’, answered primly.

Master Severus scratched his chin in thought, a habit Harry had noticed earlier that year, and suddenly turned to Harry with an odd expression on his face.

“Harry, I am going to conjure a snake. I want you to listen carefully and tell me if you hear anything, okay?”

Harry nodded hesitantly; he had no idea where this was going.

A medium sized snake materialized from the tip of his Master’s wand and Harry watched in fascination as the creature coiled in on itself.

Who disssturbed me from my sssslumber? What’ssss thissss? Humansssss! Danger!

The snake made to strike at one of the students but Master Snape immobilized it before anyone could come to harm.

Master Snape turned to Harry again and Harry wanted to run away as every eye in the room turned toward him.

Harry realized that his quill and parchment were not with him and turned to his Master with a helpless expression.

A long-suffering sigh was the answer to his expression before Master Snape conjured quill and parchment.

It asked who disturbed it from its slumber and then thought it was in danger from the humans.

Shock warred with disbelief on most of the faces turned his way but Master Snape just nodded his head as if some puzzle piece had fallen into place.

Harry was possibly just as shocked as everyone else was when Master Snape knelt down in front of him.

“Harry, I want you to listen to me carefully. What I am going to say now is the truth, I want you to trust me on this, trust me just this once Harry. Can you do that?”

Apprehension filled him at the serious look on his Master’s face and Harry gave a very hesitant nod. He did not know if he could ever trust anyone, even his Master, but he would surely try.

“I want you to listen to me now Harry. Listen and take to heart what I am going to say as it is nothing but the truth.”

Harry nodded again as his Master paused.

“No matter what anyone else ever told you, no matter what Damen Nott or Vernon Dursley every said to you, you are allowed to speak.”

Harry thought he heard a soft gasp from the girl behind him but he ignored it, no one else was doing anything.

“A friend’s life is in danger Harry and you are the only one who can save him. No one else. Believe in yourself Harry, trust that you can speak because you do have the ability. You are allowed to speak Harry, if there was ever a time where no one would blame you for speaking it is now.”

The earnest look on his Master’s face captured Harry in a way nothing ever had and he was nodding his head before he even realized what he was doing.

“Look at the sinks and see if you can find a snake engraving.”

The instruction directed at everyone in the room, brought everyone’s attention back to the matter at hand and there was a small scuffle as everyone hurried to do as told.

A short time later Harry was standing before the tap with a snake engraved on it. Master Snape stood right behind him and once again assured Harry in a soft voice that no one was going to be angry with him for talking.

Taking a deep breath, Harry asked the snake to open the entrance for them.

No sound came out.

A hand settled on his shoulder and Master Snape spoke one word: Belief!

Harry closed his eyes and for once in his life put his trust in the words of his Master. Believing that he was allowed to talk was the hardest thing he had ever done but as he opened his eyes with new resolve, Harry once again asked the snake to open the entrance.

Scratching and scraping echoed through the room as the stones and mirrors shifted. The proud look on his Master’s face brought tears to his eyes but Harry blinked them away.

The realization that he had found the entrance to the chamber and had opened it crashed down on him and Harry staggered for a moment. Strong hands steadied him and Harry looked back at his Master for a moment before he jumped down the pipe.

He could hear Master Snape cursing Harry’s reckless behavior but the adrenaline of the moment kept him moving and Harry didn’t mind in the least that he would be in trouble later for his behavior.

Everyone who had been in the bathroom joined them down in the smelly chamber and Master Snape quickly lit his wand as he led the way down the pipes.

There was another door at the end of a long passage and this time it was a bit easier for Harry to believe that what he was doing was right, was allowed.

The sight that met them as the door opened imprinted itself on Harry’s mind and he knew he would never be able to forget.

A young girl, no older than Harry, was sitting slumped on the floor, the head of a young boy – Andy, Harry realized – in her lap.

An older boy was standing to the side with a pleased smirk on his face. Harry had to look closely at him to realize that the boy had a bit of a transparent hue to him.

The soft sobs of the girl filtered into his mind and Harry felt dread clench his heart.

Stepping closer to the pair on the ground, Harry shook off his Master’s restraining hand. Blaise was right beside Harry and they took the last few steps at a run.

The closed eyes and utterly still body of Andy made Harry falter in his steps.

There was no rising and falling of his chest to show that he was breathing.

Blaise knelt down next to his brother and as sobs wrecked his body, Harry felt his own legs give out.

Harry registered the feeling of strong arms encircling his and turned his head into his Master’s chest. Hands rubbed soothing circles on his back but it had no impact on Harry and certainly did not sooth the turmoil in his heart.

A cackling laugh brought his attention back from his distressed thoughts and Harry turned bloodshot eyes on the boy he had noticed earlier.

“You cry now, the girl will be dead in a few minutes as well, save your tears for then.”

Another laugh followed those words and Harry looked down at the girl who still had Andy’s lifeless form in her hands.

The life seemed to drain from her by the minute. Words from the other boy penetrated his thoughts and Harry looked around for the diary of which the boy was speaking.

He knew that diary! Dread filled him as he realized that Andy had kept the diary and was now d…, no, he could not think about it.

Rage spurred his movements and Harry picked the diary up from the floor and began ripping out the pages.

It didn’t make any difference however as new pages kept appearing. The cackling of the other boy was quickly driving Harry insane and he looked around the room helplessly.

The dead form of the huge basilisk registered in his mind and Harry blinked. He hadn’t even noticed it before then.

Embedded in the snake’s skull was a small stick and Harry turned incredulous eyes on Andy’s still form.

The girl turned tired eyes up to him and explained softly that Andy had transfigured the stick into sword when the snake attacked. Though not a complete or very good piece of transfiguration, it worked in killing the snake.

“He first took off his robe and blindfolded the basilisk with it, but it was a near thing, even then. His had to do the spell five times before he got the aim right. He couldn’t look at the snake fully or he would have died.”

“It was one of the fangs that killed him.” Her breath hitched as she continued her story and Harry felt new tears forming in his eyes.

The girls breathing quickened and Harry realized that she didn’t have much time. Refusing to look at his friend, Harry extracted the fang from Andy’s arm and looking “Tom” straight in the eye, he stabbed the diary with all his might.

Everything else was a blur after that but Harry remembered the feeling of strong arms and soft words whispered in his ear as the subdued group made their way back down the pipes.

Andy’s body floated in front of him and Harry turned his head into his Master’s chest. He couldn’t look at it, couldn’t see it.

The first friend he had ever made, the first person to see him as a friend… de…d…, no, no, the thought was too painful to finish and with a last hitched breath, Harry closed his eyes and wished for sleep. Maybe, maybe when he woke up this would all have been a nightmare.


End Chapter 6

I’ll just run away for a while then, okay?


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