Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Shades of Grey	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 103925 -:- 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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Chapter 8

Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi. You're the best, woman, and thank you!

For notification of update for this, or any of my stories, spend an e-mail to SpeedyTomato_updates@Live.com with the name of the story you want notified about. Thanks to Rogue for running that for me!

Holding a load of books in his arms, Severus stood at the open door to Potter's room and just watched the boy, staying silent. The young man had his back to him, doing nothing but staring out the window. He could see his reflection in the glass and there appeared to be some kind of pensive look on his face. From the Potions Master's point of view, that would be warranted. The visit to his parent's grave then to the house they died in had been something emotional for the young man. No, he hadn't been a blubbering mess and cried buckets of tears over it. The silence, though, and the look in his eyes had been enough to show there was plenty of emotional turmoil there. They had, as a matter of privacy for Potter, stayed out-of-the-way when the boy was at his parents grave to give him a chance to pay his respects privately. Severus did notice, once that was through, his eyes were red, telling him that some tears had probably been shed, something that would be normal, nor were they about to say anything to him about it. He thought, though, that seeing the house just as it had been left after the attack from the Dark Lord was more emotionally charged. The sight of it still was for him so he could only imagine what Potter felt. Potter had just stayed at the gate, not asking to go in, though that would have been something one would consider normal. Nor did he ask questions. Just silently looking at the house, gripping onto the fence. Then, since coming back, they had left him alone but had checked on him now and then. He had been very quiet, seemingly lost in thought, just staring out the window or petting Hedwig.

Looking at the boy, for once Severus was reluctant to disturb him. It had to be very hard to finally, though he knew, see the proof that his parents were gone and what had happened. In his experience, it was one thing to know something but an entirely different to finally see proof of it. That's what Potter was dealing with and it had to be hard. Honestly? For the first time since meeting the boy, he was feeling for him. It had to be painful.

He was trying to decide what to do, whether he should press on and discuss what he wanted to or leave Potter alone for a while longer when the boy's voice stopped him. Looking at his back, Severus said, tone as mild as he could get it, “Repeat that. I didn't hear it.”

Clearing his throat and raising his voice slightly, Harry said, “What do you want? I would prefer to be left alone for a while. Unless you're willing to answer some questions for me.”

Figuring that might be an opening to start until Lucius joined them, Severus stepped into the room and sat down, putting the books he was carrying on the floor beside him. “What questions do you want answered, Mr. Potter?”

Looking over his shoulder to see where Snape was, Harry then turned around to face him, not wanting to keep his back to the Potions Master if he could help it. Leaning against the wall, he folded his arms over his chest, then looked down at the floor and asked, “How did you know where my parents grave was? Is it a place that's that well known?”

Though it would be easy to lie to him and say it was well known, that was, after all, the truth of the matter, but Severus shook his head and decided to tell the truth on his end. “I knew because your mother and I were friends in school. I've visited it many times since she passed on.”

Curious, and slightly stunned, over that revelation, Harry cocked his head slightly to the side then asked, voice tinged with curiosity, “How did you know her? Just through school?”

This was not a place Severus wanted to go with Potter but he wasn't going to lie to him either. That wouldn't help things in the long run. With a sigh, he said, “I grew up not far from your mother and aunt. I knew Lily since we were young.”

Nodding, Harry eyed him closely then said, tone flat, “So, you knew Aunt Petunia as well?” When he saw his professor nod, Harry snorted then rolled his eyes and said, tone full of disdain, “Lucky you.”

“Quite,” Severus told him, tone heavily laced with sarcasm.

Though there were a ton of questions Harry wanted to ask about that, he found that he couldn't bring himself to do it. Though he did file it away as something to ask about later on. Finding a chair, Harry flopped in it and rubbed his eyes then said, tone weary, “What do you want anyway?”

Feeling dour about this, not sure if he really should try or not, though he knew it had to be done, Severus replied, “I wanted to talk to you about those spells we wanted to cast on you.” Seeing Potter's head come up then a glare leveled his direction, he held up his hand and said, “Let me finish. These spells won't just benefit us, Mr. Potter, but you as well.”

“And how in the name of Merlin's shaggy beard will they do that?” Harry asked, leaning back, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. Not only that, he made certain that he knew just where his wand was and that he could grab it in seconds.

“In figuring part of this out, we can block them. That will protect not only where we are but stop the pain you're getting from it. Then it'll allow us to figure out what is causing it.” Figuring it was time to give up a bit more of the truth, Severus added, “Both Lucius and I believe that Dumbledore seems to know something about the cause but getting anything out of him about it will take time. It's best that we try to figure it out ourselves.”

Snorting, Harry rolled his eyes then said, tone thick with sarcasm, “Even if you do get it out of him, it's doubtful that it'll be the whole truth. He's real good at only giving up bits and pieces of things rather than the whole thing.”

“Noticed that, have you?” Severus asked, tone as sarcastic as Potters. Grabbing the top book, he opened it to the page that explained one of the spells they needed to use then handed it to Potter. “That's one of them. I can assure you that both Lucius and I will do them verbally so that you can tell what we are doing. Before you ask, yes, it's possible to say it verbally and cast something different non-verbally but it's very hard to do and the results wouldn't be something we could work with. They would end up with readings that were messed up so there is no point in doing that. Neither Lucius nor I have the time nor inclination to even try that since these are fairly straight forward diagnostics, nothing more.”

Brow furrowed, Harry read through the spell and what it was supposed to do. Some of it he didn't understand because he didn't know the words but he got the gist of what it was supposed to do. Setting it aside, he asked, “Will it hurt?”

Shaking his head, Snape replied, “No. The most you'll feel is a slight tingling sensation. Nothing more than that.”

“And you're going to tell me the results, right?” Harry asked, one eyebrow arched.

“Indeed, we will,” Lucius said from the doorway as he came in carrying more books. Conjecturing a chair, he seated himself by Severus then put his load down. “Whatever we find, we'll reveal to you. We will also explain what we think it's related to and why it's important. Is that acceptable?”

Eying the elder Malfoy cautiously, Harry said, glancing between the two of them, “And it'll all be verbally done? No non-verbally?”

“All will be done aloud, Mr. Potter, you have my word,” Severus added.

Looking between the two, Harry was wary but was willing to give it a chance so he nodded but added, “I want to know the spells first though.”

“That's acceptable,” Severus nodded then passed another book to him for him to read.

Taking it, Harry shot the two men a wary look then began to read.

It took quite some time to do all the spells they wanted to. With some of the readings, they even ran a few more though took time to tell Potter what they were doing before they did. After recording everything they found on a piece of parchment, they sat down to suss out what it meant.

Harry was looking at the parchment after they handed it to him, brow furrowed, as he read it. Most of he didn't get since some of it had to do with terminology he didn't know. However, he did get enough of it to be slightly worried by what he saw.

Scanning to the bottom of the sheet, he saw the chunk about his magic being bound. That didn't make sense. Reading over what was there, he asked, tone distracted, “Alright, about this bit with my magic being bound... Is that something that's normally done?”

“Actually, no,” Snape said, leaning back looking at Potter, arms folded over his chest, brow drawn down in concentration. “I think that the only time I've ever heard of this is with children that are a danger to themselves, or others, when they are very young because of excessive bursts of accidental magic. Even then, it's removed once they are taught to calm down.”

“If that would have been the case with me, why wasn't it ever removed? Wouldn't someone have noticed? I mean, I've been in the infirmary at school enough times that someone should have noticed!” Harry said, distracted, rubbing his upper lip as he looked at the parchment. “And how much of my magic is bound? What could that cause, when it comes to me anyway?”

Leaning forward, elbows on his knees, Severus said, tone distracted as his mind turned over the problem, “Why it was even put on would be a mystery to me. From all I've heard, you never showed any reason for it to even be there in the first place. Surely, someone, somewhere, would have had to have a reason to do it. And, indeed, you are correct, Mr. Potter. As many times as you have visited Poppy, it should have been noticed in her diagnostic spells. In fact, I can see no reason she wouldn't have. It should have shown up right away even though it wasn't the cause of your issues. No one else would have noticed, but she should have. As for how much... the best we can determine is about half of it is bound. That... even a dangerous child whose outbursts have to do with fire, normally the most common reason for such a binding, wouldn't have had that much of their magical core bound. Why so much was done is beyond me.” Stopping, Snape thought it over then asked, tone distracted, “Before coming to Hogwarts, were there any bouts of accidental magic dealing with fire, high winds or other elemental types of magic?”

Still looking at the paper, Harry shook his head then said, tone bewildered, “No, not that I can remember. There was a changing hair color. Something that was probably an accidental Apparition to get away from my cousin and his friends then an incident of my hair regrowing after a haircut. There was the incident with inflating Aunt Marge...” Harry trailed off then lifted his eyes, looking at the two men. “None of those strike me as elemental in nature.”

“They aren't,” Lucius said quietly, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Nor would it explain why this was done.” Leaning over, he pointed to some of the readings on the paper then explained, “We couldn't detect with these spells that your magic leans that way either. It appears yours is the same as most others your age with no leanings to anything that would be dangerous. And, with what you described, those are a typical type of bout with accidental magic. Most children experience something similar during times of high stress or when they perceive they are in danger. The hair changing color is almost expected among wizarding children, among the most common outburst there is.”

Looking at what Lucius pointed out, Harry's brow puckered more, then he asked, tone thoughtful, “Did this damage my magic in any way? Or could it be the reason why I have some problems with some kinds of spells and other things? And can it be removed?”Stopping, he looked between the two men. No, he didn't trust them but they were at least answering his questions in a way that seemed truthful so he was going to keep asking them.

“It would, indeed, explain it if you had problems with some things. Even the most common things, such as making potions, no matter how simple, require magic. To have half of yours bound would affect that. And, yes, it can be removed,” Snape said, still thinking over the situation, trying to figure out the why behind something such as this.

“Will my magic have been harmed by this? Or will it, I don't know... rebound or something? And can you tell who did it?” Harry, on his end, was both confused and somewhat panicked by the fact that someone would have done something such as this. He had enough problems with many things that he didn't need something like this to hinder him anymore than he already was.

Shaking his head, Lucius said, tone schooled into something he hoped was soothing so the young man didn't panic, “Your magic wouldn't be harmed. Though, once the binding has been removed, there will probably be issues. You'll have to learn a bit more self control and have to go about things differently as you adjust to the power that you put behind things will be doubled. It may also require you to get a different wand. The one you have is geared to what your levels are right now and might not be powerful enough to handle the influx of power. As for telling who did it... we can't, though we wish we could. The binding is too old for us to determine that. There are traces of who did it but they are so worn that there is no way to determine who it was by now.”

Looking between the two, Harry said, trying to keep the anxiousness out of his voice, “It can be removed then? And when can it be done?” Up until this point in his life he hadn't thought much about his magic, other than it made him different from Muggles. Though hearing half of it was bound by someone when he was young was something to make him upset. He didn't know why but he felt violated in some way. Then there was how it could have affected a lot of things since learning that he was a wizard.

“It can be removed, Mr. Potter, rest assured. Lucius and I are both capable of doing so and will. It'll just take some time to figure out how to undo the spells that are there and to find a safe place where we can do it,” Severus said, looking at the young man. Figuring there were bound to be plenty of questions about both statements, he went on to explain. “Spells such as this are quite rare and not common knowledge. It's just going to take some looking them up. And once they are released, it will cause something like an extreme burst of accidental magic that can be damaging. It's always best to do such a thing in a secure area where no one can be harmed by it. It this case that would be either you or us. We will, though, do it as fast as we can figure it out.”

“If I do need another wand because of it, how is that going to be managed? I mean, it's not like you two are going to let me go to Diagon Alley to get one!” Harry huffed, glaring at his two kidnappers. Then, thinking about the incident in the graveyard and the way his wand connected with Voldemort's, he asked, “Is there any way to just, I don't know, adjust mine to where it can take it? I'm a bit reluctant to give it up with how it saved me.” He was still trying to figure that out as Dumbledore hadn't said much about it. It had, though, and he wasn't about to give up something that had helped in that way.

Sighing, Severus thought over what he had learned from both Dumbledore and Lucius about the incident. He could understand Potter's reluctance to give up something like that. However, it wasn't going to do him any good if it couldn't take channeling his magic right. “We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Mr. Potter. If it comes to you needing a new wand, we'll take you somewhere to get one, just not the normal place. As I don't know much about wand lore, I’m not sure if the one you have can be retooled to fit you. It also might not be wise. It's my understanding that the Dark Lord is trying to find out about the connection that happened. Since he saw the effects of matching his wand against yours, it's doubtful that he'll allow it to come to pass again. So, whatever might be in it that caused such a thing, will probably be worthless. Plus, you need something that is compatible with your magic and can channel it properly. You won't be doing yourself any good to use a wand that isn't right for you. Look at what happens with Longbottom since he's been forced to use his father's wand. He may be an accident waiting to happen but he would be far better off with a wand that is meant for him rather than one that has a sentimental attachment for his grandmother.”

Thinking that over, Harry winced at some of what he had seen with Neville then gave a sigh and nodded, “Understood. If I have to, I have to.”

Looking down at the paper, Harry thought that over then scanned the rest of the results that were there. His eyes drifted to the section about his scar. Not understand that part, his brow furrowed again then he asked, “This bit about my scar... I don't get it. From what you have here, it doesn't seem to even match anything to do with the rest of me. Everything you have down makes it looks like that part belongs to someone else. Can you explain it? I mean, even the magical readings are different. It shows the magic that is coming off it is dark and I don't even know any magic that would be considered dark in any way. Honestly, the only spells I know is what has been taught in school or are in our text books. None of those are considered dark I don't think.” Looking up, he glanced between the two men and waited for an answer. Glancing at the paper again, he added, “And the scar on my arm. This says it's a bond of some kind. What kind of bond is it? I don't understand that.”

“I'm sure you don't understand the readings as they are confusing but you are more correct on the topic, both of them, than you realize,” Severus told him, leaning back in his chair. “As they are two separate issues, let's start with the scar on your arm first, since it's the easiest one to explain.”

Nodding, Harry leaned back and waited.

“I'm going to start out by saying that the Dark Lord, even now, is a genius.”

“And a completely psychotic git,” Harry mumbled with a sigh.

Unable to stop himself, Snape's lips gave a slight quirk then he added, dryly, “Of that, Mr. Potter, there is no doubt. Even now, though, despite the madness that is predominant, he is still a genius. Very few could come up with the ritual that he did to give himself back a body. However, I do believe, and Lucius concurs with me, that, because of the madness, and what he anticipated would happen after his resurrection, he missed something in figuring it out. What appears to have happened is that he unintentionally marked you the way he does his Death Eaters.”

Eyes widening, Harry boggled at the two. “What??? He marked me? How? I thought that was a tattoo!”

“Normally, yes, it's a tattoo. The connection that tattoo makes, though, is a bond of a sort. Though you don't have the tattoo mark Death Eaters do, the scar essentially works the same way. From what we can deduce, the pain you are feeling is coming from when he summons someone to him.” Lucius explained. “We are figuring, it's more of a best guess on our part really, that because he used your blood, it's more of a direct bond with him than our Dark Marks are. You are feeling every summons he does. From personal experience, we both know the burning you feel is a summons. We also don't think he realizes what he did either.”

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Harry looked down, shoulders slumping. “So, in other words, there is nothing you can do about it? I mean, the only bonds I've heard of can't be broken. So, there isn't any way to make another to override that one, right?”

“Right now, we know of no way to block the summonings. If we did, Lucius would be blocking his as well. We are hoping the potions I am brewing might have a temporary effect until we can come up with something else.” Stopping, Snape glanced at his cohort, then continued, voice somewhat thoughtful, “We hadn't thought of another bond to override it though. I don't think, as powerful as the one that is created by the Dark Mark, there is one though. However, it does bear some looking into to see if we can't find something. Until we can figure out how to block ours, though, we're going to employ some stopgap measures to see if we can't minimize the pain.”

“Since, quite obviously, I'm not going to answer him,” Harry sneered at that thought then continued on, “there isn't going to be some other kind of side effect, is there? I mean, he can't torture me through it?”

“No, he can't do that,” Lucius assured him. “The worse he can do is what you've already felt; the burning. Though he can track you through it.” Seeing a slightly look of panic pass over Potter's face, he assured the young man, “You are safe here, however. The wards around this house are comparable to what is at Hogwarts, if not stronger. It'll block him from being able to do such a thing. You are safe here and he won't be able to find you.”

Relaxing, Harry nodded, somewhat relieved though disturbed that he was, essentially, a marked Death Eater. Looking back down at the parchment he held, he looked at the bit about his scar, trying to formulate more questions about that when he was drawn back by Snape clearing his throat.

“The mark might not enable the Dark Lord to torture you, Mr. Potter, but we believe your scar can do that.” The Potions Master said, schooling his voice to be soft so as not to panic the young man. Up until now, Potter had taken all the revelations well. This one was going to be the hardest of them and he didn't want him going over the edge about it either. At least not until they had some things figured out.

Looking up then back and forth between the two, he asked, “This has something to do with the odd readings, yeah? Why it seems to be that part of me is like another person?”

Sighing, Lucius nodded. “You are, essentially, more correct than you could ever know, Mr. Potter.” Grabbing the book with the information on Horcruxes, he opened it to the page he needed then offered it to Potter. “Read this. You probably won't get most of it but you'll understand enough that it'll get the most important parts across to you. Once you're done, we'll explain it the best we can.”

Nodding, Harry took the book and started to read. With each passing sentence, though he didn't understand some of them, the horror grew, his eyes widened and he was feeling decidedly ill. After getting to the part where they were created by an act of murder, he put it down and couldn't read anymore. Eyes overly wide, he looked at the two then whispered, tone horrified, “A part of him is embedded in my scar? That's what causes all of this?”

Rubbing his face in a weary way, Severus nodded then explained, “We think that's what it is. The readings lead us to believe that. It also explains what you just said about it being like it belongs to another person completely. It seems that way because it is. We don't think that he intended to make you one but it worked out that way because his soul was unstable since he had done this before.”

“Done this... before?” Harry whispered, completely horrified. “Why in Merlin's name would someone do something like this? I mean...it's horrible!”

“We fully concur on that sentiment,” Lucius sighed. “For immortality. That's the only reason.”

“Well, get it out of me! I don't want any part of that... that... that evil git in me!” Harry almost shrieked, panicking. The mere thought that he was housing some part of Voldemort in his body was enough to make him want to vomit all over then do something, anything, to get it out of him. There was no way he wanted to carry any part of that being around with him.

“Calm down, Mr. Potter!” Snape snapped gruffly, trying to keep the young man calm. “Right now, we have no way to do that. The only thing we've found that can do so is your death.” Seeing even more panic cross the young man's face, he held up a hand and said, “That's not even an option nor will we consider it. We are going to keep researching ways to get rid of it that won't result in your demise. That will take time, though. Until then, we're going to use the potions to block it from you until we can find something else. The Horcrux is the reason that you have the reaction you do to things with the Dark Lord. It's created a connection to you. Since he's been back, the connection is stronger. It's also a two-way street. He can use it to get into your head and implant things or, if you're emotional enough, feel that. I'm certain that you don't want that to happen.”

“No way!” Harry almost shouted, feeling more panic rise in him at the thought that Voldemort could manage such a thing. “These potions will stop it?”

“For now, yes. They purport to put up an artificial barrier for a time. They won't work permanently but it'll work for a time until we can come up with something else. Just, for now, don't let it bother you too much. We'll find a way to stop it until we can get it removed in a way that doesn't result in your death.”

Nodding, trying to control his breathing and keep more panic at bay, Harry said nothing, mind bouncing all over at what he had just heard. Quickly, though, one thought came to mind and he asked, “Do you think Dumbledore knows about this? I mean...” That's where he stopped. It was just a niggling, but he wondered if the headmaster did know.

Glancing at Severus, Lucius then answered, softly, “Very astute, Mr. Potter. We actually do think he does. Or at least has some leanings that way. It has to do with that diary the second year.”

Shooting Malfoy a glare since he was the one that introduced it to the school, Harry then snapped, “You mean the one you put in Ginny's things?”

Sighing, Lucius nodded, “Indeed, that one. I thought it was cursed, nothing more. However, since the topic has been brought up, we wanted to hear from you just what happened in the chamber and your observations. It'll be telling to us about the diary.”

Glaring at Lucius again, Harry thought it over, brow furrowing once more then it clicked. “You think the diary was one of those Horcrux things then?”

Sighing, Severus nodded, “We think so. In what happened, we might be able to figure out some way to deal with yours. We also would like to hear a few other things about it for informational purposes. Then, if there is no objection, we'd like to discuss the other encounters you've had with what we now know is the Dark Lord. They could be very helpful in things since most of it wasn't things the Headmaster chose to pass along. I only have partial information about the incidents.”

Though wary, sure that this was about more than they were telling him, Harry nodded, then began a run through of all that happened with the diary and chamber the second year, giving them as much detail as he could remember on it. Once that was done and he answered all the questions they had, he let them walk him through all the other encounters he had with the insane Voldemort since coming to Hogwarts. He wasn't sure what they might be after but he assumed this was important or they wouldn't be trying. Along with that, he was also going to make sure that, at some point, he figured out what they wanted the information for as he was certain it had something to do with him.

Later that night, after Harry had gone to bed and was asleep with the aid of a calming draught, Lucius and Severus were in the lounge sharing a much needed drink.

With a heavy sigh, Severus leaned back in his chair then said, “That damned manipulative old coot. Though Potter doesn't see it, I’m sure everything from that damned stone to the chamber was Dumbledore pushing them together for some kind of test.”

Nodding after taking a drink of his wine, Lucius replied, tone heavily laced with sarcasm, “No doubt there. That stone could have been placed somewhere far more secure than the school. I also don't doubt that the fact it came there the year Potter started was a mere coincidence. We won't even talk about putting that damned mirror where a student was bound to find it. Then you can't convince me that that manipulative old man never figured out how Myrtle had died if he had sussed out that Hagrid was innocent of releasing the creature. We're not even going to start on Potter getting entered into the whole mess last year. No, all of this has that old man's fingerprints all over it. He might not have set some of it in motion, but he damned sure let it go on.”

Nodding, agreeing with all of it, Severus sighed and sipped at his wine. “Lucius, tomorrow, when Potter's had a good night's sleep, we need to talk to him some more. From the way he put things, I think he understands, or is beginning to, that Dumbledore might not have his best interests in mind. Also, that he's being manipulated. We need to tell him what we think and assure him that even if he doesn't cooperate with us or do what we want, that he's here to stay and be protected. As it's the truth, in the long run, it might make it easier on all of us. Let him lay out any concerns he has about it then we can work from there.”

Staring at the wine in his glass, twirling it slightly, Lucius thought it over then nodded. “Yes, it might be time for such a talk. It can, after all, only aid things. Any trust that we can build with him will be most useful for all three of us.”

Draining his glass, Severus nodded. “Agreed. Now, though, I believe sleep is needed for both of us as well. I, too, believe I'll take something calming. Would you like to indulge as well?”

“I believe that I do,” Lucius sighed, draining his glass and rising.

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Shades of Grey