The Death Eater

Draco settled into a comfortable winged chair in Harry’s room, trying mostly unsuccessfully to read his Defence text as he watched over the feverish young man. With his NEWTs at the end of the year, this situation really couldn’t have come at a worst time. He growled and snapped his book closed, jumping out of the chair and beginning to pace. He had invited Severus to come to the Manor and the man should be here soon; within the hour hopefully. Draco was waiting most impatiently for him.

He walked over to Harry beside the bed, summoning and Elf to fetch him another glass of water. The Medi-Wizard’s orders had been to give Harry a drink every hour or two, and so far Draco had yet to miss an hour. The boy would have to be fed in an hour as well as have a drink; Draco could only hope Severus would not mock him for his caring attentions, but Harry had shown that he would only eat or drink from his hand.

He regretfully woke the sleeping boy, helping him to sit up. He slumped drowsily, but wakened further when he felt the straw from the glass poke at his lips. Draco had found the odd Muggle device to be a nuisance at first, but the Medi-Wizard had been right when he demonstrated how much easier it was to control Harry’s intake without him choking or spilling the drink. Unfortunately, Harry found it difficult to summon the energy to suck the liquid through the straw, so the act of drinking became a long and exhausting process. Much like lunch had been and dinner was likely to be.

Once Harry had drunk his fill and begun pushing ineffectually at the glass, Draco moved it away and tucked the boy in. So far his boy was not producing any sort of waste, a fact that Draco was equally grateful and worried for. He was not looking forward to dealing with that situation when it arose, but it would be one of the best indications that Harry was getting better. Within moments of Harry lying down, once again without the need to expel the liquid he had taken in, the boy was sleeping. Again.

Draco sighed and settled in a bit more in the big bed, stroking his hand tenderly through Harry’s hair. The boy still looked a fright; pale and drawn, with dark circles around his eyes and bloody, dry lips. He ran a gentle finger over one of the lips before summoning some of the balm to healer had left, rubbing it gently over Harry’s lips. The balm included vitamins, so as Harry licked his lips he would draw more into his body, but most importantly it would heal the deep gashes where he’s torn into his lips to prevent screaming, and would stop them cracking dryly. He sighed and settled again, leaving the balm on his bedside cabinet. Even Harry’s usually defiant hair had gone limp and lifeless.

When Draco woke up some time later after several disturbing dreams (several involving Harry’s hair, independently chasing him with lip balm), it was to Severus shaking his shoulder gently.

“What... Severus? But, you’re not due for an hour.”

“Indeed not, Draco, I am in fact several minutes late. You were sleeping.”

“Obviously.” Draco muttered as he bent over Harry. His lips were still nice and moist looking, but the small drool stain on the pillow indicated he’d been asleep for a while. “What time is it?”

“Time for dinner, according to your clock.” Severus drawled, sounding a little annoyed by Draco’s attitude. Draco ignored it for now.

“I’ll need to feed him, where is Wakka, he should have brought the dinner up by now.” Draco himself sounded annoyed now, which made Severus smirk internally. Obviously with his father no longer in residence to terrify the Elves, and the boy himself, Draco had allowed them to relax a little more. This at least boded well for Harry should Severus fail his appointed task.

“Master, Wakka brings food.”

“It’s late.” Draco replied, as though he’d personally been waiting and watching every minute the food had been late for.

“Wakka sorry, Master, Wakka made food better for Master Harry.” Apparently invoking Harry’s name was a magical cure-all for Draco, because the boy said nothing further and instead allowed the Elf to proceed unheeded in serving them.

“From now on if the food will be late, please send Yuna or Tidus to me so I’ll know.”

“Tidus says Master sleeping, not to disturb Master.” Draco flushed a little, and ignored the Elf. He also ignored the plate obviously laid out for himself, and began the process of waking Harry. “Would Master Sevvy like some food? Wakka made enough!” The Elf squeaked. Severus snarled wordlessly at the nickname a very young Draco had given him. The Elf had been warned not to use it in front of the elder Malfoys or guests, but if ever the kitchen Elf found he and Draco alone the name would emerge.

“Yes thank you.” He replied, settling in a chair situated rather out-of-place at the end of the bed. He presumed this was where Draco normally sat while watching over the boy, a supposition that was further supported by the NEWT Defence text resting on the cushion. “You intend to return to Hogwarts?”

“Of course, I need my education. No one there knows I have Harry, so I have no reason not to go.”

“Except that you will be leaving Harry here,” Severus paused to receive his plate, “and especially once he is pregnant I would assume you would find this difficult.”

“I did consider living in the flat in Hogsmeade with him and commuting in, many Seventh years have done it in the past, however I felt this would raise suspicions on me. I will Floo home at the weekends; the Headmaster cannot prevent me as I am considered legally an adult now and would have to return to maintain my Estate anyway.”

“Yes, this is true. Would you use my Floo?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I would appreciate that. I could use the Common Room fire, but that would raise attention that I don’t want.”

“No this is true. Very well then.” Severus continued to eat as Draco fed Harry, watching how weak and hurt the boy was. Draco had explained how he had gotten into this situation in his letter, and the Medi-Wizard had filled in the blanks for him. Nothing prepared him for actually seeing his haggard looking adoptive-Godson, however. He struggled to maintain his outward calm in the face of his inner rage at the people who had done this to the boy – to both of them. Harry had never before been his favourite person, but he meant a lot to Sirius and Remus and had wormed his way into Severus’ affections over the years. To see the normally bright, lively boy like this broke something deep inside.

“Why have you brought me here, Draco?” Severus asked, tiredness colouring his tone.

“Isn’t it obvious? Look at him Severus! Look at what I did to him!”

“I don’t think you whipped, starved, cursed and beat him, Draco. You may have exacerbated it a little but I have no doubt he deserved it.”

“No... No he didn’t deserve it. That’s the problem. He wouldn’t eat because he was feeling ill and still in pain, but I refused to listen to him.”

“Yes, but now you will listen to him. You appear to be taking good care of him, Draco; it was just unfortunate that he was not in a very good condition when you received him.”

“So... You think I should continue as I am. Just taking care of him.”

“I would recommend that, yes. He responds to you, he’s eating from your hand. The boy dislikes authority figures, so will likely rebel if you attempt to take authority over him. Now, you intend to... Impregnate him soon, yes?”

“Christmas day. I know it’s probably clichéd, but the Medi-Wizard said he would be back to full health by then anyway. I’ll take his... him, then.”

“How do you intend to do it? This is rape, you realise Draco.” Draco flinched, a tightness around his lips and eyes now. “He will not submit to you willingly, if at all; I doubt that seduction will work any better than force.”

“I wanted to force him. I’ve wanted him for so long, but he’s rejected my time and time again. I hated him as much as I loved him, wanted to hurt him, to fuck him, make him bleed and scream and beg. Looking at him now, knowing he’s done these things... It makes me sick. I can’t hurt him now, never mind if I want to, which I don’t. I know he won’t be happy submitting to me... But for the sake of his unborn children, I think I can persuade him. He’s almost as stupidly sentimental as I apparently am, he won’t want them conceived in violence and rape any more than I will.”

“You... intend to seduce him?” Severus asked, doubt in his voice as well as surprise.

“You could call it that, I suppose.” He picked up his own food and began eating it, leaving Harry to lean weakly against him and digest the precious little food he’d eaten.

“I think you are doing well without my assistance, Draco. You make me proud. Many others would have raped and beaten him by now and damned the consequences. That you are caring enough to feed him by hand, to wait, shows me exactly the kind of person you are, and gives me hope for you both, and your children.” Severus pretended not to see the tears gathering in Draco’s eyes, knowing this was a speech he had both desired and dreaded hearing from his father – it took a very different sort of man to make Lucius Malfoy proud. “I must leave now, shall I return tomorrow?”

“Yes, please Severus.” Severus bowed his head and left, returning to his chambers at Hogwarts; to a lonely sleepless night remembering the love in his Godson’s eyes for the final time before it became betrayal.

Draco led Harry to the bathroom once Severus had left, and perched the boy on the toilet seat. Harry was still weakly clinging to him, locked in fevered delirium but somewhat responsive. “Do you need the toilet yet Harry?” He asked, feeling a twinned mix of happy and sad when the boy shook his head. “Okay, I’m going to give you a nice bath, okay? No more nasty cleaning charms, a real proper bath this time.”

He smiled sadly when Harry just nodded his head, and began gently stripping the boy. He lifted him all too easily and laid him in the bath the House Elves had already instructed him to run. Despite the bath he’d given Harry this morning, he was still unsatisfied with the boy’s level of cleanliness, and his hair had not been washed in over a week. Draco was also somewhat worried that the messy mop of hair might be hiding a head injury, based on Harry’s actions. Therefore it was the head that Draco started at, massaging the soap through his hair tenderly and grinning happily as Harry moaned and leaned into his touch. Thankfully there were no sensitive areas indicating injury on his head, and no blood mixed in with the grime in his hair.

He moved swiftly to cleaning his body, glad that the injuries were already beginning to show signs of healing. He had almost finished when he felt Harry stiffen, before the bathwater began slowly changing colour. He frowned, before realisation dawned and he pulled away from the bath. He summoned Tidus at the same time as he brandished his wand to levitate Harry from the bath, rescuing his injured areas from the contaminated water. Tidus cleared and cleaned the bath quickly to Draco could replace Harry in the tub. He frowned at the boy, glad that his body was beginning to work but disturbed at the seeming lack of control he had over it. Harry was blushing, shamed despite his illness. Draco sighed softly and stroked and clean hand through his hair.

“It’s good, Harry. Well done, but next time try to warn me, okay? There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” The boy nodded shyly, still not looking at him, but the affirmation satisfied Draco. He conjured warm water in a stream from his wand and began re-washing his body, thankful that his swift movements had left him mostly un-contaminated. Harry was swiftly clean and bundled in a warm bathrobe to be escorted to the bedroom.

The excitement had obviously been too much for Harry, who was falling asleep where he stood, and by the time they were at the bed Draco had taken to carrying him. He lay harry down gently, at which point the boy promptly curled up away from him and fell asleep. Draco just laughed affectionately at him and fetched the cream to rub into his wounds.

The ones on his back were easy to do, but he had to struggle with the half-asleep boy to release his wrists to Draco’s care in order to re-bandage them. Similarly, Harry fought to keep Draco’s hands off his ankles, but he allowed him to re-apply the balm and perform a teeth-cleaning spell before he fell deeply asleep. Draco eyed his hair warily for a while before deciding it was probably safer for everyone if he just left that to itself (stubbornly telling himself it had nothing to do with bad dreams of that hair terrorising him). Once Harry was tucked up and asleep, Draco performed his own nightly rituals and collapsed in bed beside him, falling into a deep and easy sleep.

Severus returned the following afternoon, allowing Draco a welcomed break from caring for Harry. He loved the boy, and he’d found that once Harry had become ill and submitted without question to Draco’s care; Draco had slipped into a care giving, dominant role easily. Draco found himself wishing that Harry would allow him to care for him like this when the boy was in full control of his faculties, but he knew it wouldn’t happen. It was this knowledge that had lead him to depression as the morning wore on, especially as he began to notice signs of Harry strengthening already. Soon he’d be fighting Draco at every turn again.

Severus waited patiently, not even mentioning it as the boy ignored him at first to clean Harry and the mattress after another little accident. Since the incident in the bath the day before Harry had been conscientious enough to warn Draco the next time, however as he slept his bladder control was not as strong as it should be. Draco had worried this could be because of the kidney damage the boy had suffered, but a frantic call to the Medi-Wizard had assured him this was not so, and would likely only be a very temporary problem.

Once Harry was asleep, on his other side this time to prevent sores, and Draco had washed his hands, he and Severus settled in Harry’s sitting room.

“You clean him yourself?”

“It calms him, I don’t know why. His delirious mind seems to see me as some kind of a saviour, but the House Elves get a much worse reaction. I think it might be because they kept popping into the cell to check on Harry, but never helped him, whereas I removed him from it and kept him warm and pain-free.” Severus nodded, accepting Draco’s explanation, but his look was of concern.

“Yes, but it must be difficult for you. You look exhausted.”

“I am, but it’s my responsibility to look after him. I sleep when he does, eat when he does, and in the middle I study. He obviously doesn’t care if his followers are intelligent and have good grades.” Severus laughed at the disgruntled frown on Draco’s face.

“Certainly not, in the new world order all that matters is your blood. Listen Draco, I cannot remain for long; I have a rather volatile potion. However, how are you doing? And Potter, is he recovering well?”

“Harry’s getting better,” Draco replied, neatly side-stepping the question about himself, “He’s definitely getting stronger, which is good because he’s recovering, but it means we’ll soon be back to battles of will.” Draco looked a little disappointed about this, but Severus knew that inside he would rather have Harry as he was – fighting all the way – that have him only submitting because he was ill.

“May I check on him? I know you said the Medi-Wizard did a good job, but their potions and creams are generally sub-standard. I may be able to make something for you.”

“Certainly, Severus, anything you can do to help would be appreciated.”

Severus bowed to Draco and entered Harry’s bedroom once again. He stripped the sheets back to his waist and raised his wand to begin his examination, but the instant the sheets were lowered, Harry reacted, yanking them up and yelling. Draco raced in and sat with him, curling up beside Harry and soothing him. Severus noticed once again that Harry seemed to calm unusually easily for Draco, allowing the boy to strip the sheets down once again and bare Harry for inspection.

Severus worked rapidly to check the boy, grudgingly admitting that the Medi-Wizard had done a good job. “It appears that your Medi-Wizard uses me as a supplier, so your creams are of the highest standard. Perhaps I will make him a potion that will strengthen him. He will certainly need iron and folic acid supplements before he even conceives.” Severus continued to work, trying to be impassive in the face of still horrific injuries on the young Potter’s body. Thankfully any infection had left the injuries by now, and they had begun healing well. “You’ve taken very good care of him, Draco. Well done, I think he will be fine.”

Draco nodded and extracted himself from Harry’s grip. “Can you stay with him, he’s still going to feel clingy for a while after an inspection like that, and I need to use the loo.” Severus nodded his acquiescence and Draco left, allowing Severus precious moments to slip the enchanted pebble into Harry’s hand that would facilitate his escape. He tucked the blankets in closer for the boy and compulsively stroked his hair. He froze, however, as Harry reacted by pushing into his hand and murmuring “Dad” softly.

“Severus?” Draco asked, sensing that something had happened when he returned. Severus swallowed back the last of his reaction and turned to Draco.

“Draco, I shall take my leave now.” He looked at the boy in front of him, realising sadly that this was likely the last moment they would meet like this. “You’re doing very well with him Draco, you make me proud.” He moved swiftly across the room and, in a move that surprised both men, hugged his young Godson. He pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, ignoring the ironic connotations, and pulled away. “I shall see you shortly.” He finished, before whirling and leaving the room.

Draco sat shakily on the chair, still feeling the warmth of Severus’ arms around him, the first physical affection any of his parental figures had ever bestowed on him. He smiled sweetly, relaxing into his chair as his body glowed with the warmth of his love for his Godfather.

His happiness was sorely interrupted by Tidus, who came forward hesitantly. “Master Draco? Tidus sees Master Snape give Master Harry this. Tidus senses this will take him away soon.”

“Take him away? As in a Portkey?” Draco asked, his heart breaking in his chest at the implications.

“Yes Master Draco. Tidus thinks so, in half a clock.” The Elf frowned at the bad stone. Draco took is with a shaking hand, ignoring the Elf. He sat at Harry’s desk, still looking at the stone, before drawing a piece of parchment to him.

Half an hour later, a group of very anxious and hopeful Wizards and Witches received, rather than their expected prize, a letter instead, addressed simply to Severus Snape. They had failed.