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Freedom Bound in Chains	By : TaintedSensibly Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 58477 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 13
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Harry Potter characters. I did not make money from this story.

Chapter List
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Mind Arts
Severus stepped out of the floo not knowing what to expect. At the request of his teacher, Cyrus Greengrass, he’d admitted his gift for Occlumency. Not wanting to reveal all his cards, however, he had maintained his surly, unhappy-with-life attitude. The result was that Lucius was now suspicious about his true loyalties, but he was still confident that Severus could be manipulated.
After an interrogation and Severus giving carefully constructed answers, Lucius had decided to allow him to teach his son. He had then sworn Severus to secrecy to ensure that anything he saw in Draco’s mind would not be shared or used against the boy. Severus knew from Dumbledore that the boys had suffered terribly, but he didn’t know the specifics. Lucius’s intensity during the vow made Severus wonder just how severe the abuse had been.
He’d seen the papers, of course, and the photos of a blank-faced, blond child standing next to a messy-haired Potter who had looked distracted and bored, much like his wretched father would have. Not even a press conference about him seemed to hold Potter’s attention long. The photo didn’t prepare Severus, however, for the stillness that Lucius’s child possessed.
Seven years old and petite, Draco sat in a padded armchair in front of Lucius’s office desk. It had been turned to face a second armchair meant for Severus. The child turned only his head as Lucius opened the office door. His eyes were grey and unblinking, his expression composed, as he tracked Severus’s progress across the room. Just before sitting, Severus turned to look as he heard the office door shut and was surprised to see that Lucius had left without a word or even a veiled threat. He had warned Lucius that he’d want to be alone with Draco during this lessons, but he had expected some resistance.
Curious, Severus took the seat facing the child. Draco wore a plain Muggle t-shirt, blue jeans, and battered sneakers. His hair was straight and framed his face, falling just shy of his shoulders, much like Severus’s own pitch-black hair, but where Severus’s hair was lank, thin, and oily, Draco’s was shiny and thick. He’d have been a beautiful child if he weren’t so thin, his features sharp.
A small hand reached up to hook one side of his bangs behind an ear, and as an arched, white-blond brow began to lift in amusement, Severus was startled to realize he’d sat for several minutes in perfect silence just staring at the boy. Straightening, he gave the child his most intimidating stare that made many First-years quake.
“I am Professor Snape. I’m here to teach you the art of Occlumency.”
“I know,” the child answered, unimpressed. His voice was steady and pitched slightly lower than other children his age. “You should know that everyone who looks in my mind has gotten sick.”
That was interesting. He eyed the child, but he could not detect any emotion in the child’s face. “Does that bother you?” he asked curiously.
“Should it?” Draco asked back, never once looking away from Severus’s direct stare.
Deciding now was as good a time as any, Severus silently and wandlessly cast, Legilimens. Instantly, he was pulled forward by a powerful current of magic and slipped behind those cool grey eyes.
A dark and smothering jungle emerged from the darkness. Hot humid air pressed against him, making his hair stick to his cheeks and neck. The chirps and squeals of animals surrounded him, and he spun around as a violent but short fight erupted from behind large green leaves. There was a shriek followed by the stillness of death.
Severus could feel the eyes of a hundred hungry creatures watching him. Looking down he saw slick vines that would trip him up if he tried to push through the bushes as most Legilimens would. They would look for a clearing, so that they’d have room to breathe in this oppressive environment. They weren’t Severus, however.
Black eyes bright with challenge, he smiled. He hadn’t merely entered someone’s mind. He was facing traps and defenses. Draco was naturally Occluding at a rudimentary level. No one would suspect a child as young as Draco to have enough conscious control over his mind to form an active defense. They would have assumed this was merely Draco’s mental landscape and would have pushed past without precaution, only entangling themselves further. No wonder the boy had made the others sick. They hadn’t known what they were dealing with.
Severus crouched, ignoring the cries and rustling surrounding him. With concentrated thought, his teaching robes morphed into plain black jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt. He also materialized a band so that he could tie his hair back off his face. Comfortable and focused, he gently ran a finger over a vine that lay criss-cross across the jungle floor.
“This is a good first shield, subtle and disorienting. It will trip up most wizards who are passively trying to get a feel for your thoughts.”
Severus’s voice was pitched low, his tone calm, his mask falling away. It was too hard to maintain a fabricated persona while simultaneously examining and teaching a raw and untrained mind. Standing, he rolled his shoulders.
“There will be those who will not be gentle or passive,” he warned, and a machete with a gleaming blade appeared in his hand. “If this were your unprotected mind, I could seriously injure you, but I am only going to attack your defenses. It will cause you pain, but you will not be harmed.”
Lifting the blade, Severus swung it ruthlessly down, severing a palm frond and a few hanging vines. The sounds of the animals and insects increased into a cacophony of panic and rage. Severus ignored it and swung again, forcefully creating a path deeper into the jungle.
There was no warning hiss or growl. Just a flash of silver eyes, black scales, and fangs before something heavy and hot crashed into him, tackling him to the ground. Severus had milliseconds to act. Water exploding from his pores, he screamed, flinging the hybrid monster away from his mental body.
Drenched by his own defensive spell, Severus sat panting, his eyes wide as the creature climbed to all fours on massive clawed paws. It stood dripping, revealing green poison pooling in a snarling mouth full of sharp teeth.
Severus had thought he was prepared for more defenses, but he hadn’t thought the boy had already managed to create a guardian construct. As the beast crouched, death in its eyes and preparing to leap, Severus did the only thing he could. He fled.
Collapsing back into his chair, he sat panting, staring in wonder at the small boy in front of him. Sweat dampened his skin, reminding him of the jungle in the boy’s mind. Draco looked slightly paler and was also breathing hard, but he still looked calm. He blinked at Severus, his hands rising to hook his hair behind both ears.
“That animal…” Severus did not know how to form his question. It was Draco’s, but it also felt more developed than Draco’s mind could attest. There was something he wasn’t seeing.
Draco leaned his head back against the armchair, his eyes half-closed as he gazed back at Severus. “It’s been like that since the fairies.”
Severus’s eyes widened. “Fairies?”
The boy shrugged. “Got caught in their world for four months until they let us go.” Suddenly the boy smiled, and it changed his face completely. He looked young and bright. “At least you’re not puking.”
Severus shook his head in wonderment. Did the child not realize how incredible his tale was? But Draco’s good humor was contagious and he found himself smiling back. “You have incredible focus and self-awareness for your age. I feel confident that you will be able to defend your mind from most attacks.”
Draco leaned forward. “Most?”
“Most,” he repeated firmly. “I’m not about to full out attack your mind to see if you can withstand it. You have mastered the basics of Occlumency. This is good because learning to protect your mind is not why I was summoned here.”
Draco leaned to the side, propping his cheek on a fist. “You’re here to stop the memories from attacking me.”
Severus nodded, stringy black hair falling into his face. “Yes. I will show you what to do, but you’ll have to let me through your defenses. I need to be able to see your memories to show you how to contain them.” He eyed the boy curiously. “Will you be able to do that?”
Surprisingly, Draco shrugged. “It’s not like I care if you see them. I’m not scared or trying to keep them secret. Everyone seems to think I should, but what happened, happened.” Expression suddenly fierce, he added, “I’m more interested in making sure it never happens again, and I can’t do that if I lose track of what’s really going on around me.”
Severus nodded understanding. Taking a deep breath, he fell back into Draco’s eyes.
He was standing in the jungle once more in his long-sleeved shirt and jeans, but this time it was silent. Stepping carefully, watching the vines for any tremor of movement, Severus reached forward and pushed through the screening bushes. They slid wet and hot against his skin, clinging unnaturally but letting him through. It grew darker and darker until Severus realized the vegetation was gone and he stood upon a spiderweb of interconnected thoughts, feelings, and memories held together by steel strands. Bracing himself, he reached forward and plucked a strand.
He was slammed to his knees as physical pain screamed through his body. A bed - a man’s gleaming, hungry eyes - tied, bound, gagged - and so much PAIN! Mentally curling up into a tight ball of endurance, a mad thing with only one thought… survive!
Severus jerked away, horribly shocked. His edges blurred and he nearly lost his grip on Draco’s mind. The web still sprawled before him. The steel threads vibrating as the echoes of that memory rippled through the boy’s mind. Severus hadn’t even entered the memory fully, just brushed it, and he’d been brought to his knees.
This boy had been tortured for days, months, possibly years. That level of pain had sharpened the child’s consciousness to a degree that was animalistic. It had shredded Draco’s reality matrix so that it only barely functioned as a normal person’s. When Draco experienced something that matched a sensation from those memories, his mind wouldn’t simply remember, it would return to that moment, anchored by sheer physical misery.
In a way, Draco was still there now, in that room being tortured. Part of his mind would never leave. The torment he had survived went deeper than blood and bone. It had carved deep crevices in Draco’s soul that were impossible to blunt or erase. His personality had been forged by that pain, and he’d return again and again until his mind broke down into true insanity. Draco would then step into the role of torturer, becoming a serial killer that would hurt people terribly in an effort to force his reality onto the world.
Severus felt sick and began to hyperventilate. He had to flee, run, get away! It didn’t matter that steel bands were holding the blood-soaked tapestry together. No matter how strong willed, eventually that strength would give out and the hellish flood would be free. It was only a matter of… Was that gold? … Severus squinted. Gold static was running down the threads, dancing and flaring.
Taking a step back, he looked and saw that it moved over every inch of Draco’s matrix. He’d never seen anything like it. It was clearly not from Draco’s mind and yet it was inseparable from it. Very, very carefully he set his finger to the steel web and let the gold lick at his skin.
- anxiety love trust fear self-hate submission need despair desire pain pleasure - a flood of emotion strummed through him. A memory triggered before Severus could escape…
He was in a mind pared down to the bare essentials - no humanity, no awareness of tomorrow or yesterday, just the cold, hard now of survival - when suddenly it hurts a little bit less. Down in the swaying dark of hell, a naked, bruised boy looks up at you with a desperate desire to please. Something soft and warm against your ever-cold skin. Human touch that didn’t hurt, touch that warmed and soothed. It sent shivers down your spine, made you tremble in reaction, almost like shock. You watch as the boy sacrifices what he doesn’t even have to give just to make you feel better. It lights something up inside you that had been dark and dying: protectiveness, love, gratitude. It’s yours again, and you will protect it, if you have to die trying, you will protect it because it’s yours now. This fragile being with big green eyes, so lost and so very broken…
Severus reeled away from the too vivid sensations of Draco’s first interaction with Harry. Maybe it was a combination of the trauma and Draco’s young age, but everything felt so real. He shivered and pulled his mind in close and tight so as not to touch anything else.
At least there was hope. The bond to Harry had created a focus, an anchor, that would rival the torture of Draco’s past. It supported the steel frame of sanity that the boy had created by sheer force of will. As long as Harry was alive, Draco would always be able to come back from his horrific memories, and merlin forbid, if Harry ever died, Draco would thankfully follow not long after. The bond had literally saved what was left of Draco’s mind and soul. Without it, he would have become something too horrible to name.
Concentrating, Severus pushed words and concepts from his mind into Draco’s. He wanted to be done here as quickly as possible. * Get a feel for where I am. This is your memory matrix, the web of your identity and consciousness. Feel how it all connects. *
Severus deliberately reached out and fished for the time in the Ministry. To do this, he called up his memory of the paper and focused his mind on the photo of Draco and Potter holding hands on a stage in the Ministry lobby. He felt the reverberations of Draco’s version of that memory and hooked it, brining it to the surface of the boy's conscious mind, making Draco remember that moment.
* Your present is constantly spinning connections and associations to things in the past or things you already know. Doing this, new knowledge and experiences attach to your web and continue the narrative of your reality. When you were at the Ministry, something reminded you of a time in the past. It linked into your web using that similarity, but instead of a brief association, that memory flooded into your present. *
Severus was there with Draco, on the stage, slowly feeling numbness spread as he lost his hold on reality. * You knew it was coming. You could feel your matrix warping. Memorize what it felt like. Pin-point the exact moment you became aware of the connection being made to a memory consumed with pain. It is then you will have to act.*
He held on as long as he could, but the memory that had overwhelmed Draco was beginning to bleed through. Severus choked as he felt a too large plastic rod thrust into his mouth. The pain in his jaw was sharp but was soon overwhelmed by the burning agony of his cheeks and throat as it began to pound against them.
Severus pulled away, feeling like he was struggling through a nightmare. With great force of will, he reoriented himself and broke the connection between their minds. Immediately, his vision was filled with the dark bookshelves and leather books filling the office, and he bent over, hands braced on his knees, as he sucked in deep breaths of clean air. Touching another mind was never pleasant, but this had been particularly horrible. As nausea churned his gut, he had a sense of enormous sympathy for whoever else had entered Draco’s mind.
…
Draco watched as the pale man curled over his knees, oily hair curtaining his face from view, but most of his attention was on Harry. Shock unease confusion - jumped and rattled through the bond. Harry had heard Snape in his mind as well as Draco had, and that unsettled them both. Harry was Draco’s! No one else’s belonged that close to Harry’s mind and heart.
* Come here, * he called, voice precise and sharp.
Head-pounding, his bond to Harry raw, Draco glared at the man across from him. Snape wasn’t aware of his dangerous mood, of course, as he was still busy trying not to puke. The office door opened, and Draco immediately turned to see Harry. The little boy’s eyes were wide, his lips parted as he breathed quickly from both distress and from running here. Leaving the door open, he hurried to Draco’s side.
Draco caught Harry by the arm and yanked him close. He slid to the edge of the armchair, pressing his feet firmly on the ground. Harry was pliant in his hold and easily sank to his knees when Draco applied pressure to his shoulder. Harry knelt sideways between his legs, and he curled one arm around Draco’s leg, his forehead pressed hard right above Draco’s knee.
Snape sat directly in front of Draco, a mere two feet away. He could easily touch Harry’s shoulder if he reached out. Draco stared into the man’s dark eyes, challenging him, almost daring him to try and touch the boy on the floor.
Severus sat up, his vision swimming for a long second. This was Potter, messy hair and black-framed glasses and all, but he hadn’t been prepared for how green his eyes were. It was like a dagger through the heart. He was so overwhelmed with old hatred, bitter jealousy and grief that at first he didn’t know what he was seeing.
Draco had made the boy kneel between his legs. Potter was kneeling! Eyes silver and fierce, Draco stared Severus dead in the eye as he slipped his fingers under the back of Potter’s collar. Potter was wearing a collar! The boy immediately began to gasp as the collar pulled tight around his throat. His face slowly turned red. Severus felt his mouth drop open, but no words came out. He was too overwhelmed. His heart thundered in his chest, and he was concerned he’d actually faint along with Potter, who also looked to be about to pass out.
Draco’s heartbeat calmed as Harry submitted, and he thrilled in the fact that Snape was watching. He hadn’t thought Snape could reach through him to Harry like that, and a primal part of him needed Snape to know Harry was off-limits, that he was Draco’s utterly and completely.
* Mine. You belong to me. I take care of you. I love you. You’re mine, * Draco purred, filling Harry’s mind with his words and voice, erasing the echoes of Snape.
Just as Harry’s rasps became weaker and the arm curled around Draco’s leg fell lax, Draco let the collar go. Harry gulped in air, smiling faintly as his head spun with the rush of oxygen back in his lungs. His limp body was held firmly between Draco’s thighs, and he felt at peace, claimed and protected by Draco once more.
- trust relief love -
Severus watched as Potter seemed to mold himself to the inside of Draco’s leg, his head resting on the blond’s thigh. His eyes were closed behind his glasses, his pink lips parted slightly as he sank into deep and even breathing. Draco began to pet the boy’s messy hair, and he looked up to see that the blond’s expression was smug.
Draco gave Severus a smile. “This is my Harry,” he all but purred. “Harry, this is Snape.”
Severus could only stare helplessly as Potter turned his head so that he was looking up at Severus and polite as can be, as if he weren’t kneeling between the blond’s legs and had just been strangled, said, “Hello. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Dobby,” Draco called.
Severus had no idea what to think or feel right now. The customary pop followed and an anxious, “Yes, Master?”, was heard. He didn’t look to see the elf, his eyes held by Draco’s grey.
“Two ginger ales and cold rags please,” the boy ordered.
The elf left to do as he was commanded and soon returned with the requested items.
Severus accepted the cool towel and dropped it over the back of his neck. It took him a few more minutes to attempt the drink. He watched numb as Potter came to life. The child took the towel from the elf and came up off his knees so that he stood between Draco’s legs, facing the blond. Draco titled his head back, hands resting on Potter’s waist, and closed his eyes as Potter gently bathed his face. When the rag lost its chill, he turned Potter around and scooted back, letting the boy sit on the end. He rested his chin on Potter’s shoulder and wrapped the smaller boy in his arms.
Severus sipped at the cold ginger ale the elf had given him, and he had to admit it made him feel better.
“You didn’t show me how to stop it,” Draco suddenly spoke, not moving from his comfortable position wrapped around Potter.
Potter blinked his green eyes, watching Severus calmly, and Severus had to look away, heart pounding once more. Lily!
“I will teach you a spell,” he said roughly. “You will have to perform it silently and wandlessly on yourself with pin-point accuracy. It’s a variation of the Obliviate, which erases memories. This spell will form a temporary bubble around the memory of the flashback. You will still feel the emotional effects, but you won’t remember and therefore won’t lose track of reality. However, the bubble is temporary and you will eventually have to let the flashback come. The effect of the flashback should be milder, however, as the spell will have given you time to understand the trigger.”
Draco’s left foot began to bounce, reminding Severus of an agitated cat’s tail. “Why does it have to play out later?”
Severus stared grimly into the child’s eyes and told him truthfully, “Because there is no escaping the past.”
Harry turned his head, trying to see Draco, expression concerned. The blond sighed and rubbed his cheek gently along his, asking, “How long do you think it will take me to learn this spell?”
“I have no idea,” Severus admitted. The boy’s mind was way to unique to even begin to guess. “It took me almost two years and I am naturally gifted in the mind arts.”
Draco abruptly sat up, scowling. He looked a mess. His hair was damp and falling around his face, dark circles ringed his eyes, and he looked dehydrated. In spite of all that, his expression was fierce. “Two. Years.”
“There is no easy fix,” Severus snapped, eyes narrowed. Draco wasn’t the only one to feel like crap. “You know that.”
The boy’s scowl darkened for a second before he relented. “I know.”
“You’re managing the flashbacks pretty well,” Severus offered. “And they don’t happen often.”
“Only when I can least afford them to,” Draco drawled wryly. With another sigh, he hugged Harry close before pushing him away so that he could stand. He took Potter’s hand firmly in his own, saying, “Thank you for your time. I look forward to learning the spell from you.”
Severus had nothing to say. He watched the boys leave the office utterly dumbfounded, but he didn’t have time to stand there gaping. Lucius had returned. Lucius shut the office door firmly behind himself and strode over to his desk, placing himself behind it and facing Severus with his fingers linked and resting on the desktop in front of him. Severus blanked his expression and simply stared back at him, waiting for Lucius to make the first move.
“How was the lesson?” Lucius asked casually, but his eyes were too piercing to be anything but predatory.
“It was a good beginning,” Severus answered as if from far away. He blinked, realizing he was in shock. He had to leave. He stood abruptly. “I will need to see Draco once a week. Please contact me with a convenient time.”
He turned and walked carefully toward the door. He waited for Lucius to call him back, but he never did. The door opened easily under his hand, and he was dismayed to see his fingers trembling. Clenching his hands into fists, he made his way as quickly as he dared to the receiving room and the Malfoy floo.
…
Lucius turned his chair and stared thoughtfully out onto the Malfoy woods. Severus had tried to hide it, but he hadn’t been well. Pale, skin clammy, eyes too wide and face too blank, Severus had not been well indeed. It made Lucius feel queasy, knowing his son’s mind made powerful wizards so ill. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself a moment of quiet to just grieve the damage that had been wrought on his son’s mind and body and be grateful that Severus hadn’t refused to return.
Chapter end.
A/N: If you haven’t checked out Pixi56 at Archive Of Our Own yet, you really should. She has uploaded new art for this story that is really amazing. And if you have visited her page, you might want to check in again. She now has drawings of little Harry as well as Draco!
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Freedom Bound in Chains