Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Escaping This World	By : sablecurse Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 25481 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Chapter 6 – Beneath My Skin

Harry slowly woke, turning his head and burying it in the soft pillow in an effort to get more sleep. Still being awake after a few minutes, he gave up on the fruitless endeavor and sat up. He rubbed his eyes before groggily casting a clock spell.

'Wow. It's almost noon. I guess all the magic I used yesterday tired me more than I thought. That mental torture the old bastard put me through also might have something to do with it.' Harry scoffed and finally crawled out of bed. As soon as his feet touched the floor, Snilpy popped into the room, startling Harry.

Snilpy bowed. "Good morning, master. Did you sleep well?"

Harry smiled lightly. "Good morning, Snilpy. The bed was very comfortable and that might have been the best sleep I've ever had – thank you. I think I'm ready to learn how to work all the fancy things that are likely in the bathroom."

Snilpy nodded and led Harry into the bathroom. It was as fancy as Harry had imagined, but at least it was smaller than the Prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts. There was only so much luxuriousness he could take before it started to seem like overkill. The things that drew his eyes first were a large tub that would probably have the water up to his shoulders and a two-person shower with at least a dozen showerheads.

After a few minutes, Harry had learned how to work the nozzle-selection and temperature for the shower. He then learned from Snilpy that the tub was pretty much like a regular muggle one – just deeper and with buttons for jets, bubbles, and relaxation oils.

"I think I need the relaxation of a bath today, Snilpy. Could you please have lunch ready for me in about an hour? Also, I'll need someone to show me to the dining room when it's ready."

Snilpy bowed in confirmation and popped out of the room.

Harry started the bath filling and stripped down. Once the clothes were removed, the garments transformed back into the hospital gown they had once been. 'Hmm. Good thing I bought clothes. I guess the transformations don't hold once they are off. Still, it's good enough for an emergency.'

After a forty-five minute bath (using those wonderful jets), Harry emerged from the bathroom clad in a towel. He found the packages from yesterday and picked out the one from Twilfit & Tatting's. He opened the doors to the closet and set the shrunken shopping bag in the middle. He enlarged the bag and began sending clothes flying to various areas of the massive closet; the clothes were also enlarging as they left the bag, having been shrunk individually so they would all fit in a single bag. After the last piece of clothing flew into place, Harry began to pick out clothing to wear. He pulled out a simple black silk shirt and some matching wool slacks. After grabbing some black silk boxers, he went back into his bedroom and set the clothes on the bed. He dried off with the towel and dressed.

'I shall never wear boxers made from anything other than silk again. Man, these feel nice.' Harry chuckled to himself before heading into the bathroom. 'Time to try and tame the hair. I'm tempted to cut it for simplicity, but it actually stays flat this way.' Harry spent a good ten minutes drying and brushing through his hair. Just as he finished, Snilpy popped in next to him.

"Lunch is ready, master. I will show you to the dining room when you are ready."

Harry nodded and put the brush down before following Snilpy out of the room. They went to a dining room on the second floor and he did his best to memorize the way there. Harry sat down in front of a place setting that was laid out for him. Various French and British foods were on plates and bowls on the table nearby; these elves seemed to be similar to the ones at Hogwarts in that they prepared more food than anyone could eat.

Harry glanced at the house elf. "There's no way I could eat all this, but I plan to try. Please let the other elves know that I'd like to talk to them one at a time after my lunch. I'll leave it up to you to organize in what order they come. After that, I'd like a complete tour of the place."

Snilpy nodded in confirmation. "Would you like to have a newspaper delivered? We don't have it sent when no one is here and we didn't know if you would like one or not."

Harry tilted his head. He wanted to be left alone but also thought it might be a good idea to at least not be left in the dark or ignorant. "Yes, I'd like it delivered. Get The Prophet and the most reliable ones from other places around Europe. I want to see the news from various perspectives."

"Very well. I'll send owls out for subscriptions to The Prophet, Wizarding Globe, and Owl Oracle. I'll also send an elf out to get today's issues. Is there anything else?"

Harry shook his head and Snilpy vanished. Harry then proceeded to help himself to the fabulous meal.

Meanwhile at Slytherin Château

"Dammit! The wizarding world is completely ridiculous! Setting up a child to defeat a Dark Lord?" Salazar ran his hands through his unkempt hair and huffed out a breath. He had finally finished reading the last of the information on Harry that the books he had bought provided and he was not happy with what he had read.

'Calm down, calm down,' he thought. 'Argh - the wizarding world is full of idiots who hide behind a child to kill one person when there are enough of them to easily take him out if they would just work together. I guess I understand the meaning behind what he said last night about someone always wanting something more from him.'

Salazar tilted his head as he contemplated of something. The books didn't really say more than the facts. Harry Potter was one when his parents were killed, he survived a killing curse that somehow killed Voldemort instead, and he disappeared after that night until he started Hogwarts. After that, the books disagreed on exactly what occurred during his first few years at the school; however, they did all agree that Harry was in the Tri-Wizard Tournament during which another contender was killed. Only the newer books stated the circumstances as to how the young man died – he had been killed during the return of Voldemort.

Besides these facts, the book didn't include anything about Harry. Where was he during those ten years he was missing from the wizarding world? What was his favorite color? What were his interests? What foods did he love or hate? What were his views on various issues? The last one was the key question that he didn't find answers to in any of the books. If Harry was supposed to have close to the same ideals as Salazar (as the spell Slytherin performed to find his equal should guarantee), then Harry didn't hold the same views as the Light. That upset Salazar the most as it meant that they either gave Harry no choice in fighting for their side, pushed their ideals onto him and pressured or guilted him to fight, or just manipulated him into it – maybe a combination of the three. He needed someone who knew Harry better than most.

Salazar brightened as he got an idea. "Twixny!"

Twixny popped into the study where Salazar had spent the night reading. "Yes, master?"

"Twixny, I had found out who my equal is. I'm sure you know Harry Potter."

The elf's eyes widened. "We elves know of him very well. He is one of the few who knew where the Hogwarts kitchens resided and he always was very polite to us. He even helped a house elf who was being abused get freed."

Salazar laughed out loud at the idea. 'He sounds like quite the mischief-maker.'

"Do you know much personal information about him?"

"Most of us only know basic information. The elf that would likely know most is Dobby, the one he freed. Unfortunately, Dobby is not like most elves. He was abused and his education neglected by his old masters. His speech is lesser and his reasoning is sometimes odd. He would likely take your interest in Harry as a threat and would react negatively."

Salazar sighed. "Very well. I won't take the risk of asking him then. Please tell me what you do know."

The elf told him of the elves knew about his life in Hogwarts. Twixny explained that Harry was always friendly to anyone except the Slytherin, though it mostly seemed to be defensive on his part. He told Salazar of what was known of Harry's various trials and adventures within the castle. The elves had also seen Harry on his own and outcast from the others the past school year. Twixny relayed what he knew of the wizard's preferred foods and the ones that never touched his plate.

After the elf finished, Salazar tilted his head in thought before narrowing his eyes. "Yesterday, you mentioned that the headmaster had whispered about sacrifices. You believe the main one is Harry, don't you?"

Twixny nodded sadly. "Yes. The headmaster seems to believe Harry has to be the one to defeat the Dark Lord. His actions lately seem to suggest he doesn't care about the risk to Harry."

Salazar growled. 'Well, there is no way I'm joining with someone who tried to use my equal as some kind of discardable weapon. Looks like it's up to me to straighten out this Dark Lord. If he refuses to listen, I might have to make a side of my own or just escape with Harry 'til everything blows over.'

"Thank you for telling me about Harry. Now, where is that list of improvements I need to make to update my home?"

Twixny handed Salazar a long scroll of changes needed to bring the chateau up-to-date.

'Damn,' he thought. 'This is going to take all day and a lot of magic. Oh well. Better get started.'

Back at Potter Villa

Harry had just finished the tour of the home given by Susdey, one of the ten house elves Snilpy had introduced him to. The first floor was mostly dedicated for use of balls or for when there were a lot of guests. That floor contained a ballroom, immense dining room and kitchen, sitting room, music room, conservatory, and a couple of powder rooms. The second floor had a smaller kitchen and dining room for more informal meals, a large study, an immense library, an informal sitting room, several guest rooms, and the lodgings for the house elves. The third floor was dedicated solely to family and was taken up by two playrooms, a smaller music room, an art room, and a lot of large bedrooms. Harry was also informed that there was a boathouse at the pier on the back of the property.

Harry dismissed Susdey to prepare dinner and walked downstairs to the dining room. He picked up the copy of The Prophet that had been sent for.

"Damn." Harry read about the wards falling at St. Mungo's. 'I didn't mean for those to fall. The last thing I want is muggles finding out about us. I'll have to work on controlling my magic. The old fool really makes me lose my temper though.'

Harry finished reading the article and was surprised he wasn't named as the one who caused the ruckus at the hospital. It wasn't even mentioned that he had taken himself out of the war or vanished. 'Skeeter must be sick or something. But it's only a matter of time before it gets to the papers.'

Harry set aside the paper to eat the dinner that had come. He needed to finish his previously interrupted shopping tomorrow – better to get it done before there was a search out for him.

Slytherin Château

Salazar ate dinner, starved due to all the energy he had used up changing the castle. He used the most magic updating the bathrooms to modern standards. He also had to update some things he were told were ancient in style and also had to fix or replace a few things that he either forgot to protect with an impervious spell or had been damaged after the spell had worn off.

After dinner, Salazar was going to take a nice, long bath in his new bathtub and then pass out from exhaustion. Tomorrow, he was going to visit his last relative.

-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-ETW-

Song for this chapter: Constant Craving by k.d. lang

A/N: I didn't have Harry cast a 'Tempus' spell because it wasn't in the Lexicon. I want to say it was in the books, but that just might be all the fanfictions I've read influencing me. So, for now, he just cast a clock spell. After I reread the books, if Tempus is actually stated as a spell, I'll change it. Or if anyone knows for sure where it is in the books so I can confirm, I'll change it then.
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Escaping This World