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Shades of Grey	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 103926 -:- Recommendations : 6 -:- Currently Reading : 21
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I make any money off this dance in the realm of strangeness and smut

Chapter List
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Chapter 3

To say Lord Voldemort was angry about the vanishing of Harry Potter would have been the understatement of the century. When he heard about the fire then that his Dark Mark had been over the house, the rage he had gone into surpassed anything most of his followers had ever seen. The being that had brought the news to him, one of the junior members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had been crucio'd on the spot for merely delivering the news. He had made it quite clear to all his followers that Harry Potter was to be left alone. It was him and him alone that was going to deal with the boy, not one of his Death Eaters. Sure, if one of them had the opportunity to grab the boy, they were to do so then bring Potter straight to him. They had been directly ordered to not attempt something such as this alone. But that's just what one or more than one of his followers had done. Not only that but no one had delivered the Potter boy to him. He was furious!

Already he had called most of his more junior followers to him so he could question them about what they knew but so far he had turned up nothing. Oh yes, he had thrown many a crucio during this time, something that tended to loosen tongues but no one seemed to know what had happened or who had done it. That, of course, hadn't improved his temper in the least. Leaning back in his chair, he shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose trying to calm himself so he could focus and think. He was certain that those he had spoken to didn't know where the Potter brat was. He had, of course, intruded in their minds to check and had found nothing so far. All that left were the members of his inner circle. He was certain none of them had taken the boy as they knew better and were in on plans dealing with what he wanted done. If they did manage to apprehend Potter somewhere, they were loyal enough to turn him over because they knew the penalty that would come if they didn't.

Drumming three fingers on his chin as he tried to think, the first thing that came to mind was the question of how someone, if it was one of his Death Eaters, had managed to get through the warding on the house Potter lived in. Many times since his resurrection, and before from what some had told him, there had been attempts to get through them but no one managed. Any being with a Dark Mark or that was attached to him were stopped cold by the powerful wards. He, himself, couldn't even go near them. Even now, after the warding had fallen, the aura that was left behind made him twitchy. He had gone there the night he heard, under a disillusionment of course, to see for himself. The whole time he was around the burnt out shell of a house it had made his skin crawl from the remnants of the blood wards. He didn't think that any of his followers, including the inner circle, were powerful enough to take down those wards. Even some of the wardsmiths that were Death Eaters hadn't been able to pull them down. Blood wards were notorious for being something that was all but impossible to remove, as had been proven in this case. So how had it been managed? That he didn't know.

The thought had come to him that, perhaps, it hadn't been a Death Eater that managed, that the Dark Mark had been nothing but an illusion but that, too, had been proven to be wrong. He had managed to have a couple of his followers retrieve the memories of a few Ministry workers that had been on the scene before the muggle fire brigade. Indeed, what had hung above the house was his Dark Mark. It had even given them fits to pull down, like it had so many times in the past. Only those that carried his mark, or so he thought, knew how to cast that spell. No one else, as far as he knew, could manage it unless it was the spouse, lover or one of the many spies he had that was unmarked. Those, he thought, were the next ones he should start questioning. Along with that, he felt that he should call on each of those in his inner circle to talk to them. Yes, he would most certainly question them about what they knew but also to see if they knew of someone that might have made plans to do this or were inclined to heroics to get in his good favor. Once he had a list of some names, he would look into those. Then, when that was done, he would call in Severus. Though he didn't have the closest relationship with that old fool Dumbledore, he had enough of one that he might be able to put out some feelers to see what the coot knew about it. He was certain that the manipulative old man had some idea of what was going on. He just had to find a way to pry it loose was all. Severus might be able to manage that one.

Deciding that plan was probably the best he was going to get, he straightened himself up then called the first of his inner circle to him. Lucius would be the one that could best tell him who might be up to what.

As Severus and Lucius had expected, Potter had been too amiable about the situation he found himself in. When they began laying out what they had planned, the boy had started arguing. He argued about everything, especially when he found out that once school started back he would be alone with Lucius. From Severus' point of view, that was something that he could understand. While there was no love lost between him and Potter, he was certain the boy trusted him at least slightly. However, from past encounters with Lucius, there was no trust at all involved, a wise move on Potters end. In this case, though, it needed to be there before the start of the term at Hogwarts because, up to a point when he was going to vanish, something that had yet to be determined, it was Lucius and Potter alone at the house. There was going to have to be some trust involved somewhere in this. That, of course, didn't mean the three of them had to like each other but tolerating was going to have to come into play or he was certain that Potter was going to end up hexed within an inch of his life before it was all said and done.

As things went on, the arguments grew louder. Though Snape's first instinct was to perform another Silencio on Potter to save himself the headache, he found that he was stopped by Lucius' hand on his arm as he raised his wand. Though puzzled at first, he quickly realized that Lucius was doing it so that the boy laid out all his concerns. He didn't think there was anything that could alleviate them all but it at least gave the two of them the foreshadowing of what they were. With that, they could work with it somewhat. Plus, once he got his 'rant' out of the way he might calm down enough they could reason with him slightly. Or as much as one could reason with someone like Potter. In the end, though, they were going to win no matter what. He was there and was going to stay. That was all there was to it. He could fight as long as he wanted but, eventually, he would give in to them.

As it seemed that Potter was winding down from his arguing/rant on the topic, he winced then rubbed his scar, his other arm seeming to twitch. The headmaster had, at one point, made it clear that Potter and the Dark Lord shared some kind of connection through that scar but this was the first time he had seen it. It was obvious from the look on the boy's face that there was some pain involved. The only thing that confused him was the twitching of his arm.

He wasn't able to ponder that long because a hiss from Lucius, with him grabbing his own arm, drew his attention. It was apparent that his friend was being summoned. Though the point was coming where both he and Lucius were going to ignore those summons, now wasn't the time to do that. Before that could happen, both of them had to find a way to block the powers of the Dark Mark's on their arms. As it was, if they didn't answer there was not only a great deal of pain involved but the Dark Lord could use it to track them down. Behind the wards on this house, they were hidden but it would give the Dark Lord a place to keep an eye on, something they didn't want. So, for now, they were going to have to be good little lemmings and appear when needed. They just hoped, until Potter settled down, that they weren't summoned at the same time. For now, it probably wasn't a wise idea for them to leave the boy alone. Who knew what he would do?

After sending Potter back to his room with the curt statement that they would continue the discussion after Lucius returned, he and his co-conspirator had a quick discussion before Lucius apparated to meet the Dark Lord. Worried over what all could go wrong when meeting with Voldemort, Severus stayed away from Potter while he thought over different ways to deal with things. During that time, Potter's owl turned up. Though surprised that the bird had managed to find her master, Severus quickly had the house elves take a perch to the boy's room then take the owl to him. He figured that having the bird around would calm Potter down somewhat. With that, he made a mental note to have Lucius cast a spell on Hedwig so that she didn't go beyond the wards. She was, after all, a rather distinctive creature that would stand out among the native birds so they didn't want her flying off and be noticed. Along with that, it wouldn't do to have the boy send her out with notes to his friends or someone else. They might be able to track her to the place. That would cause more issues than they wanted to handle right now.

An hour after Lucius left, Severus made his way back to where Potter's room was. Though he tried not to, he couldn't help but focus on all that could go wrong while Lucius was meeting with the Dark Lord. Though good at concealing his thoughts, his old friend was nowhere near in his league of things and if Voldemort was intent on poking around in his head, he might succeed in finding things that neither of them wanted him to. So, rather than focus on all that could go wrong, he was going to check on the bothersome brat to ensure that he wasn't doing anything foolish or that needed to be stopped before it could get out of hand. With Potter, and his propensity for impulsiveness, that very well could be happening.

Striding to the young man's closed door, he knocked once then let himself in before giving Potter a chance to answer. Being on alert, he gazed around, hand clutching his wand just in case. Quickly, he spotted the boy. He was standing by the perch the elves had put up, silently stroking the white feathers of his owl. It appeared that he had been quietly talking to her when he had walked in. Though Potter had glanced at him, he didn't say anything and went back to petting the bird.

Stepping closer to the boy, he noticed a pucker in his forehead and sweat beading on it. Not only that, he seemed to be shaking slightly, teeth gritted as if in pain. He also was reaching out to rub his arm here and there, wincing as he did. Frowning, Snape stepped closer, eyes narrowed as he looked at the boy. It did appear he was in pain. Before he could say anything, however, Potter spoke.

“Do you have a headache potion or something for pain?” His voice was soft and uneven, as though he were suffering.

Plastering his normal sneer on, he asked, “Why? What seems to the problem?” That was going to determine what he gave the annoying brat. It was obvious he was suffering in some way but wanted to understand what was causing it before he doled out something.

Sighing, shoulders slumping slightly, Harry shook his head then said, “Someone is upset today. It's been going on since I woke. But, as the day has gone on, it's gotten worse. He's apparently quite angry and frustrated. When he gets like this, my scar hurts, making my whole head throb. Today it's quite a bit worse than normal.” Though, normally, he wouldn't say anything to Snape about this, not trusting him enough to let him know. But, from the sound of what he and Malfoy had said, he was here for the duration until such time as either the Order found him or he managed to find an escape. With what the two had told him about this whole third front thing that they wanted him for, they planned on him helping them in some way, not as a plot to turn him over to Voldemort. They were, if he were here long enough, going to figure something out since the pain was something that would manifest enough that they would get suspicious. And, right now, as badly as he was hurting, he was willing to do a great deal to get something to stop it. So, giving up a tidbit, something Snape probably knew a bit about anyway, knowing Dumbledore, was something he was willing to risk to get some relief from his suffering.

Though, at first, Severus was confused by this it eventually dawned on him when Potter mentioned his scar. Apparently, it appeared that he was feeling some of Voldemort's emotions through it. With what had transpired the night before, he was certain that 'upset' was probably a grandiose understatement at what the Dark Lord was feeling. If Potter was feeling even a fraction of it through the scar, he would, indeed, be suffering. But that didn't explain why his arm seemed to be hurting as well. Looking down, he could see the boy rubbing it in an agitated way again, wincing slightly. Pointing his chin at it, he asked, bluntly, “And your arm?”

Shaking his head, Potter glanced back at him then shrugged. “I don't know what it is. Since that whole resurrection thing, the scar Wormtail carved into it burns sometimes. Today, it's been doing it a lot. It's not as bad as my head, but it's uncomfortable.”

That was something the Potions Master didn't understand. Stepping forward, wand still in hand in case this was a ruse of some sort, he grabbed the boy's arm and looked at it. Though Madam Pomfrey had done a good job of healing the Dark Mark Wormtail had carved into the boy's flesh as part of the resurrection ritual, there was still a very faint outline of it. Putting his hand over it, he could feel a heat radiating off it. From past experience with himself, he knew that was something that happened to his own Dark Mark after he had been summoned. It would remain as a reminder until he was in the Dark Lord's presence. Nor was it something pain-free when it happened. Frowning at he looked at it, rubbing it gently, he then looked up into the boy's face, seeing a pained expression there. Potter actually winced as he pressed on it slightly. This wasn't a good sign.

Releasing his arm and stepping back, he told him, “Wait here,” then went off to find a fairly powerful pain draught.

Striding back in, he handed it to the boy and waited for him to down it then motioned for him to be seated. Knowing that it was strong enough that some inhibitions and the ability to 'filter' what one said would drop, he waited to see the slightly glazed look in Potter's eyes then conjured a chair and sat down in front of him. This way, he could get some answers without having to argue with him over it as usually happened with the pain in his posterior brat. “Did it kill the pain or is there still some there?” He asked a bit brusquely. Honestly, he didn't think that there was anything he had, short of the most powerful that would knock the brat out, that would kill the pain entirely.

Swallowing thickly, having a slight problem focusing, Harry looked at his potions professor then answered, voice slightly slurred from the effects of the draught, “It's not killed it completely but it's dulled it enough I can live with it.”

Nodding, figuring if the brat could live with the residual pain then it was good. From the look of him, he was probably going to sleep for a while once he was done talking. “How long has the pain been going on?”

“Which one? The one in the head or the arm?” Harry asked, slightly confused as to what Snape was asking about.

“Both,” Snape sneered, wanting answers but more frustrated with himself for not making it clear what he was referring to. With the state the boy was in, something he knew all too well from having taken the draught himself several times in the past, things were going to have to be made clear or he wasn't going to get it, leading to more frustration on Snape's end of things.

Understanding, Harry nodded then gave a lopsided grin, one that obviously told he was under the influence of something powerful. “Oh, the pain in the head has happened since Quirrell in my first year. Though, since he was resurrected, it's been worse and happening more often. Now I get some images from it here and there as well as the pain. The arm... well, that's only happened since that night in the graveyard. Madam Pomfrey fixed most of the scar but not all of it. Since then, once in a while, it burns. But, today, it's been really bad.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Snape thought it over. None of it indicated anything good, honestly. The scar on the arm he quickly figured out. Because of whatever connection the boy had to the Dark Lord, the cut in the shape of the Dark Mark that had been made as part of the ceremony to give him his body back had somehow turned it into the real thing, allowing the boy to feel when Voldemort summoned someone. Until he and Lucius figured out how to block their own, there was nothing he could do to stop it on Potter. Even if they did come up with something, because of Potter's link to Voldemort, he wasn't sure that he could stop the pain. At this point, he thought the only thing that he could manage was to minimize it enough that it wouldn't bother him. That and he hoped like hell the Dark Lord didn't realize that that, indeed, he had marked Potter then use it to his advantage.

However, what he said about the scar was truly troubling. The pain he had known about from Dumbledore, as well as a connection of some kind, though the crazy old coot wouldn't let him in on whatever he thought that connection meant. It was pretty obvious the old man knew something but, whatever it was, he didn't know or could even take a guess at with the scant information he had. He also assumed that with the Dark Lord back that such a thing was likely to be more powerful, causing Potter more pain. However, he hadn't heard anything about the images the boy had mentioned. Wanting clarification on that, he asked, “These images... what are they like? Just pictures or do you hear talking as well?”

Blinking slowly, shaking his head trying to get rid of some of the 'wrackspurts', as Luna called them, he explained the best he could. “Mostly it's images but, here and there, I get some talking. Once in a while...” Stopping, his brow furrowed as he tried to think of a way to phrase this correctly and not sound like a total loon. Slowly, he then explained, “Sometimes it's like I can hear Voldemort's thoughts and feel his emotions. At least I think they're his thoughts. That's what they feel like to me. Today that's a lot of anger.” There was a part of his brain that was screaming at him for telling something like that to the enemy, or someone he perceived as such, but that filter that usually existed between his brain and mouth seemed to be down for maintenance right now as it just flowed out. Nor, really, could he find himself caring about it right now. That took more effort than he had energy at this point.

It seemed that his thought that this was 'nothing good' was probably the biggest, most universal in size understatement Snape had ever made. In fact, if Potter WAS seeing, hearing and feeling what the Dark Lord was, this was one of those 'bad things' that put most others to shame. Trying to keep his voice calm, he asked simply, so as to get the best answer he could from the brat, “This talking... is it the Dark Lord or someone else?”

Understanding what the snarky git was getting at, Harry brightened slightly since he could easily answer it. “Oh, both! Sometimes it's like he's talking to himself and other times to someone else. When it's to someone else, I can hear both sides of the conversation.”

Those 'bad things' were just getting worse the more the brat talked. Though not sure why there was a connection there, something he and Lucius better damn well figure out very quickly, he was more than positive that this whole thing was a two-way street. If it was then it wouldn't be long before the Dark Lord realized it and would use it to his advantage. That was NOT good. Part of the plan right now was to let everyone think Potter was dead. They needed that for as long as possible to get the advantage then use it. And shielding the boy from everything and everyone was the least of their worries right now, from the sound of it.

If, indeed, it was a two-way street, something he was positive was accurate just from the little he was gleaning from Potter, then the Dark Lord could use it to poke around in the brat's brain for all kinds of information that both he and Lucius REALLY didn't want him to know. Potter may not know where they were but that didn't mean that the Dark Lord couldn't use what the boy did know to lead him to this place. And the longer they stayed here, the more information Potter would have. Oh no, bad idea! He and Lucius had to figure out a way to stop the connection from Potter's end as quickly as they could.

Glancing back at the brat, he glowered slightly. Seriously, they needed more information about this connection before there was even an attempt to solve how to stop it but, from the shape Potter was in, he wasn't going to get it right now. The boy was out of it and in danger of toppling over then going to sleep at any second. Though he didn't like the idea of the brat sliding into a blissful oblivion while his mind was completely unguarded, there was nothing he could do about it right this second. Instead, he just shook his head then gruffed, “Sleep, Potter. If things get worse or you get more visions of some kind, come find me.”

Rubbing a hand across his face, Harry nodded then yawned. Flopping down on his side on the bed, he curled up, pulling the sheet over him then shutting his eyes. Within minutes, he was out cold.

Standing up, Snape glared at the boy then stormed out, heading for the library. Why was it that when any kind of simple plan was made involving Potter, things could never go easily?
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Shades of Grey