The Fountain 6/?
Title: The Fountain 6/? Author: Eriador117 Pairing: Snape/Harry Rating: Adult Warnings: I am not putting warnings as I do not want to give away the plot. Everyone is over 18. Summary: Non-magic AU. Severus Snape is a world renowned archaeologist and needs student volunteers for his new project. What the students and Snape don't know is what it is they are searching for and Lord Thomas Riddle intends to keep it that way... Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Potterverse; I just play in it from time to time Beta'd by Rakina, thanks so much!
"Harry, we're almost here." Hermione shook him gently awake. Harry stretched, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and nodded at Hermione. Outside the train window, the platform was bustling with other passengers disembarking and greeting loved ones. Harry felt a pang beneath his breastbone that there would be no one here to meet them.
"Did you remember the map?" Ron asked Hermione.
"Of course. The Riddle Foundation has booked us rooms at somewhere called the Leaky Cauldron."
"The Leaky Cauldron? What do they think we are? Escapees from a fantasy novel?"
"It's just a name, Ron," said Hermione. "People staying at the Royal Oak don't have to be royalty, do they?"
Ron shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something that Harry couldn't hear, although he suspected it wasn't very complimentary.
The three of them had travelled down to London together to get everything organised for their trip, now only a few days away. Half the time Harry thought it was a dream, everything felt so unreal. The three of them pulled down their luggage from the racks and made their way to the ticket barrier, almost getting crushed in the crowds. Besides themselves, no one else seemed to be walking at a normal pace. Everyone was rushing hither and yon, their expressions desolate as they tried to catch their train or get off it and onto somewhere else. There was none of the friendliness here that Harry associated with Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.
"We can catch the tube to Charing Cross, the hotel isn't too far from Charing Cross station," said Hermione as she perused the map once more.
"Is there another way to get there?" Harry asked, his heart fluttering against his chest.
"Well, we could take the mainline train, but that takes a bit longer than the tube. Don't you like the tube, Harry?"
"No. I'm a bit claustrophobic," Harry admitted in a small voice. Anytime Dudley had his friends round; they had locked Harry in the cupboard under the stairs and refused to let him out. Young Harry had cried and cried, banging so hard on the door that his hands bled, but still they'd laughed and refused to unlock the door. His aunt and uncle didn't seem to think that Dudley had done anything wrong, that it was just all in fun. That was what made it even worse. Harry was sent to bed without even a hug or a word of comfort from his guardians when he was in such distress. He'd hated enclosed spaces ever since and he knew there was no way he could go down in those tunnels without panicking. What if the train broke down and they were stuck down there for hours with no air? Harry was already gasping just thinking about it.
"Well, we're not in any rush," said Ron. "We can take the train."
"Thanks," said Harry. "I just can't face it. Sorry."
"Don't be silly, Harry! Lots of people don't like being closed in; it's nothing to be ashamed about."
Harry shrugged his shoulders, remembering too the accidents he sometimes had while locked in the cupboard. Rather than the comfort and soft words that would have been offered to Dudley, Harry had endured lectures on how dirty he was and how he should be ashamed of himself, wetting his trousers like a toddler. Harry flushed with shame even now, remembering it.
***
The hotel was tucked in an alleyway in between Charing Cross Road and Stacy Street. They passed a sign for The Phoenix Garden, but Hermione hurried them along before they could explore it any further. A black sign in the shape of a cauldron hung outside a door, but there was no lettering or number on the front to indicate that this was indeed the hotel they were looking for.
"This must be it," said Hermione, but she didn't sound too sure.
"It can't be anything else with a bloody great cauldron outside it!" Ron assured her, pushing open the door. Inside there wasn't a lobby, just a small sign on the bar that read 'Reception' in gold lettering – the bar seemed to do triple duty as bar, restaurant and reception. Lots of the tables were filled with people enjoying lunch. Once they'd checked in, they all decided to have lunch together in the hotel restaurant, for after their long journey none of them were feeling up to trying to find somewhere else.
Replete after the hotel's 'famous cauldron stew' and homemade crusty bread, Harry was feeling a bit more human and decided to have a browse around the second-hand bookshops in Charing Cross Road. Sirius and Remus had given him a bit of extra spending money for his trip and he thought he might get a few books.
He thought Hermione would have jumped at the chance to peruse some bookshops as well, but she and Ron had decided to spend some time alone. Harry blushed, nodded and escaped before he had to hear any more about their love life. They agreed to meet up at seven for dinner.
Harry had always loved books but the Dursleys had never bought him any. They had allowed him to join the library though and Harry had read as many free books as he could get his hands on. The Little Whinging Library wasn't that big and after about a year of being a member Harry had read everything he'd wanted to there. The opportunity to browse second-hand bookshops was a rare treat and Harry was determined to make the most of it.
There were lots of shops to choose from on Charing Cross Road and Harry spent a happy few hours browsing and deciding which books to get. By the time he'd finished and was heading back to the hotel, a light rain was falling and he hurried along so his books wouldn't get wet. With his head down and his eyes on the ground he should have realised disaster was just around the corner. He bumped into someone and his books went flying everywhere, their pages getting more sodden by the moment.
"Sorry!" Harry said to the man's legs as he tried his best to gather up the books, but most of them were ruined. He didn't think the second-hand shop would take them back when it was his own fault he'd dropped them.
"My fault entirely," said a deep voice. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
Harry glanced up, his heart faltering. "P-Professor Snape!"
Snape smiled down at him. "Mr. Potter, how delightful to see you again."
Harry blushed and busied himself with gathering up the remaining books, the rain trickling down his neck as he bent down to the pavement.
"Oh dear. Your books are ruined. You must let me reimburse you."
"No, you don't have to do that. It was my fault, I was rushing."
"Nonsense. You must let me replace them, I insist."
Harry didn't know what to say. He didn't want to be thought of as a charity case, but the truth was that now he'd spent Sirius' money on the books he knew he wouldn't be able to afford to replace them himself and he'd been looking forward to having something to read on their trip.
"Um, okay," said Harry, mentally counting up the scant money he had left. "As long as you let me buy you a coffee in return."
"It's a deal," said Professor Snape, holding out his hand.
***
"Father? You wanted to see me?" Draco hovered by the open study door but he didn't step over the threshold into his father's kingdom until he'd been expressly invited. He'd learnt that lesson long ago. Lucius was standing by the mullioned window, sunlight glinting off his hair which was tied back with a velvet ribbon. On any other man the style might have looked effeminate, but it only made Draco realise how handsome and hard his father really was.
Lucius turned and smiled at his son. Draco felt a rush of pleasure so intense it was almost sexual. It had been such a long time since his father had smiled at him. He wondered what he'd done this time to merit his father's approval. Lucius normally ignored him or berated him in equal measure. His approval was difficult to gain and even more difficult to keep but Draco strived for it anyway.
"Ah, Draco, come in."
Draco took two steps into the room before he realised his father wasn't alone. Draco swallowed down the nausea that rose in his gullet on seeing the study's other occupant. Sitting at Lucius' desk and twirling a silver letter opener in his hands was the man Draco had hoped never to see again. His legs threatened to give way beneath him.
"You remember Lord Riddle, don't you, Draco? He used to visit us quite frequently when you were younger."
"Yes, of course." How could Draco forget the horror of those visits? "How wonderful to see you again, Lord Riddle." Draco wondered if either of the other two men could tell that he was lying. Riddle made his skin crawl; he always had. There was something odd about him and not just because of what he'd done to Draco. There was a cruelty behind his eyes, despite his ready smiles. Lucius didn't seem to sense anything amiss with the man and Draco wondered if his father was being particularly dense or if Riddle had some sort of hold over him. It wouldn't surprise him that Riddle would use blackmail to get what he wanted.
"Such a polite young man you've raised, Lucius. Handsome too. I'm sure all the ladies are fawning over him."
"Draco wouldn't be interested in all of that. I've raised him properly to get a good marriage. Draco knows he can't go chasing after everything in a skirt. I want no bastards sullying our family line. Draco knows he is to remain pure before marriage. There haven't been any girlfriends, have there, Draco?"
Lucius' voice compelled him to answer but Draco remained mute. He couldn't lie to his father but he couldn't admit to his wrongdoing either, not if he wanted to be able to sit down for the foreseeable future.
Riddle was grinning like a cat that had got the last of the cream. "Oh, Draco doesn't give his affections lightly. Not girlfriends, but girlfriend. A very special one. Pansy Parkinson is her name."
"What?" Lucius roared. "But you haven't slept with her, have you, Draco? Tell me it is just dates, that sort of thing?"
"Lucius, my friend, you are living in the Dark Ages if you think that young people nowadays keep themselves pure."
"Draco, tell me it isn't true..."
The hope in his father's voice almost broke Draco's heart. How had Riddle known about Pansy? Were they spying on him?
"I'm sorry, Father, I can't. We have slept together."
"Who is she? Who is this slut?" Lucius roared.
"It's not like that! We love each other!" Draco protested, hoping against hope that none of the servants had found the engagement ring hidden in his room.
"Love? Lust more like! She's nothing but a gold-digger and you were so stupid you thought with your prick rather than your brain!"
"Father, it wasn't like that! And anyway, she's not a gold-digger! She has her own money! She's the heir to the Parkinson fortunes."
"Who are these Parkinsons?" Lucius asked of no one in particular.
"I believe they run a chain of lower class supermarkets," said Riddle disdainfully. "New money. No taste, no class and no breeding."
"A shopkeeper?" Lucius ranted. "You threw away centuries of breeding for a shopgirl? I'm telling you now, Draco, that if you continue to see this girl or if she gets pregnant then none of you will see a penny of the Malfoy money! I want to you to stop seeing this girl at once."
"Father, please!"
"How dare you argue with me! I am ashamed to call you my son! I raised you better than this!"
"Now, now, Lucius, don't be too hard on the boy. I've seen the young lady in question, very pretty. Young Draco isn't the first to be led astray by a shy smile or a flutter of eyelashes."
"But he's no longer a virgin! He can't -" Lucius cut off his own sentence, making Draco even more curious. Why all this fuss about keeping him a virgin anyway? Riddle was right about one thing, his father was very old-fashioned in that regard.
"True, he is not of much use to us any longer, but he will be able to redeem himself and salvage this mess."
"How?" Lucius asked.
"Draco, I want you to tell us everything you know about Harry Potter."