Entry tags:

fic

Severus & Harry (Part 1), for isidore13
Title: Severus & Harry (Part 1)
Author: senjy
Giftee: isidore13
Word Count: 15,000 approx.
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Severus/Harry
Warnings: AU, underage sex (adult/17 year old), coerced sex, prostitution, references to child abuse (not of main character)
Disclaimer: The characters belong to JK Rowling, and some of the premise belongs to Fumi Yoshinaga. This is all for fun and no profit.
Summary: When Lord Snape makes his monthly visit to a brothel, he has no idea that the unwilling whore he meets will soon become so much more.
Notes: I did set it in 1846, but I must admit to being no historical novelist. I am sorry if there is not enough period detail for you, but I did the best I could. As mentioned in the disclaimer, pieces of the plot were inspired by a wonderful yaoi manga by Fumi Yoshinaga called 'Gerard & Jacques'.



A carriage came to a stop in a narrow backstreet, and a footman promptly leapt down to open its gilded door. As the occupant stepped out, he gave a low greeting in a cultured voice which did not need much volume to make it clearly audible.

"Good evening, Horace."

"Lord Snape," Slughorn effused, hurrying down cleanly swept steps that stood out from the rest of the street's dinginess. The fat maitre d'hotel swept an exaggerated bow and the creak of a corset sounded from within his outmoded clothing. "How are we this fine evening?"

"We are fine," Severus replied drolly, a smirk playing about his lips, "though impatient to get inside out of the cold."

"Ho ho! Of course you are, m'lord. Please come inside. I have a surprise for you!"

Severus nodded to his driver, and the coach moved on, heading back towards the brighter boulevards more suited to the vehicle's grandness and the strong beauty of the dark pair drawing it. Severus didn't give its departure a second thought, and with confidence bourn of familiarity he strode up the steps and into the hotel.

"I hope it is a pleasant surprise, Horace," Severus commented, once the door had been securely shut against the night and the law. He removed his top hat and placed it on an ornate sideboard. "The last surprise you reserved for me was not very pleasant at all."

The maitre d'hotel flustered at that. "I am sorry, m'lord, but I did not appreciate your tastes as I do now." He hesitated. "I have to tell you, m'lord, that this one is also young."

"How young?" Severus asked, a dangerous edge to the question.

"Oh, he is certainly no longer a boy," Slughorn hurried to assure him. "But perhaps, not yet a man?" he added with a sly smile.

Severus smirked in reply. Slughorn knew better than to present him with a child again. The man had lost a great deal of money when Severus had removed said child from Slughorn's keeping. There were some men, after all, who would pay a great deal for such services.

"Go on," he invited, intrigued by how eager Slughorn looked again, and by the comment that had suggested his companion for the evening was a virgin. Perhaps the surprise really would be worth the wait this time.

"He is untouched, my lord," Slughorn confirmed. "Black hair and the brightest green eyes you have ever seen. He is also blue blooded, my lord."

"What is he doing here, then?" Severus asked, a finger stroking his bottom lip.

"He was sold to me by his nouveau riche uncle," Slughorn explained, wrinkling his nose.

Slughorn's distaste amused Severus. Slughorn himself was really only a man from the slums who had been smart enough to understand the upper classes' desire for discretion when it came to indulging in "The Great Social Evil". Slughorn's hotel might be elegantly furnished and employ one of the best chefs in the city, but it was still a knocking shop.

"An orphan, then?"

"Just so, my lord."

"Lead on, Horace," Severus said in response to Slughorn's enquiring glance, and he followed the obscene man up to his suite for the evening.

As usual, his dinner awaited him beneath metal covers set out on a mahogany table. He came as much for the food as the sex, and he barely glanced at the door to the bedchamber, beyond which Slughorn assured him his companion for the evening was waiting. Severus dined at leisure, spending an hour over the extravagant meal and savouring the brandy that followed it. As he did so, he listened to the interesting noises coming from the other room, and smiled inwardly. It seemed that the boy had spirit, whoever he was.

Brandy enjoyed, it was time to sate his other appetites. Severus walked quietly to the bedchamber door and then thrust it open, taking the young man yanking on the bars across the window by surprise.

"I can assure you they are quite solid," he told the boy, his eyes sweeping over him and taking in every detail.

Slughorn had been right; it was indeed a pleasant surprise. The boy was clad in a long lacy nightshirt and likely nothing else. The shirt was too big and was slipping off narrow shoulders, showing that the boy's pale, creamy complexion was uniform. There was dark hair dusting the calves beneath the shirt hem and Severus was satisfied that he was old enough to be going on with; old enough that the boy's untouched status was all the more exciting.

"Don't come any closer," the boy snapped, releasing the bars preventing his escape and retreating back towards the bed.

"And what will you do if I don't listen to you?" Severus asked as he took a deliberate step forward.

"I – I will report you to the law! I'm a Potter, you know!"

Severus couldn't prevent a laugh. So that was how it was. By God, to have Potter's impoverished brat at his mercy! Yes, the boy did indeed have Lily's fine eyes, the eyes that had ensnared and led to the ruin of one James Potter, Eighth Earl of Godric's Hollow. Potter had been disinherited for marrying the beautiful but decidedly bourgeois Lily Evans. Severus had heard rumours that when Potter had died the whelp had gone to her side of the family. It seemed that they hadn't wanted the boy anymore than the Potters had.

He wanted the boy, though, and meant to have him.

Severus advanced a few more steps and was delighted when the boy scrabbled up onto the large mattress. The boy was meaning to climb down the other side, but Severus caught him by one delicate ankle and dragged him back.

"What is your name?" he asked, admiring the way the nightshirt had rucked up around slim thighs.

The boy refused to say and Severus had to catch a second ankle as a foot kicked out at him. Grinning down at his reluctant whore he dragged the boy further toward him, so that when he let go and leaned forward he was between the boy's legs. He quickly pressed the boy's arms back on the mattress and laughed when, with no other option open to him, the boy expressed his disgust by spitting at him.

"You really are quite difficult," Severus observed. "It's not at all an attractive quality in a prostitute."

"I am not a prostitute!" the boy yelled, struggling again but too skinny to upset his captor.

"I am afraid, my dear, that you are." The boy's eyes quickly widened and then narrowed; his lips were pressed into an angry line. "At least, you will be until you can pay Horace back what he spent on you, and that will not be all that soon if you discourage your customers in this manner. Perhaps we should dispense with these pleasantries. You have protested as your conscience admirably prompts you to, but I fear that your body is beginning to betray you."

The boy's blush coloured his pale cheeks beautifully and Severus almost took pity on him because of it. It was not the boy's fault that he was seventeen and unable to help responding to the gentle but firm rocking of Severus' hips.

"Please don't," the boy whispered, turning his face to the side and closing his eyes. "I'll never forgive you." It was disgustingly nobly said of the brat.

"Unfortunately I don't care about your forgiveness. I only care about my pleasure."

The boy gasped as he was manhandled again, and he pushed futilely against Severus' chest as he was pulled into the centre of the large bed. "I'll kill you!" he dramatically declared when Severus tried to kiss him.

Severus immediately pulled back and glared at the boy. His gaze was met by angry green eyes, which refused to look away. "I'll kill you," the boy repeated firmly.

Severus got up off the bed, leaving the boy collapsed in surprise on the mattress. He strolled to the door, aware that the green eyes were following him, hoping that he was about to leave. He could hear the boy's disappointment when all he did was turn the lock.

He turned back toward the bed. "Now, let us be sensible about this. Your uncle has sold you into prostitution. Your father's family have scribbled you out of the family tree, so your name is no protection. You are destitute. You are also trapped. I could do whatever I want to you within these four walls and nobody would care. I could kill you and all that Horace would demand is extra payment in compensation for the mess. You are at my mercy. You can either submit gracefully, or you can provoke me into doing something that I wouldn't particularly regret.

"This doesn't have to be unpleasant," Severus observed, smiling.

"It's sick and it's wrong!" the boy snapped back, obviously not swayed by Severus' speech. "Sodomite!"

"You are as offensive as your father was," Severus retaliated angrily.

He advanced on the bed again, but drew up short at the boy's next words. "You – you knew my father?"

It was tremulously said and made Severus respond before he had considered the consequences. "Barely, but yes, we were at Eton together, and then Oxford."

"What was he like?"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, irritated that he had somehow let things get out of hand. "It doesn’t matter," he muttered irritably. "The man was an arrogant fool who got what he deserved. I tire of this. Come here!"

The boy cried out as he was once again clasped by his leg. Severus enjoyed the feel of the boy's ankle bones pressing into his palms.

"I will make this pleasurable for you if you behave yourself," he told the squirming youth. "Otherwise, I am afraid this is going to hurt, a lot."

"Don't!" the boy protested, managing to get a hand under Severus' chin, pushing his face away when he tried to kiss him. They struggled for a few moments, Severus letting the boy have his head for a moment in the hopes that he would tire. Then Severus' patience ran out and he unceremoniously dragged the boy onto his lap and clamped an arm about him.

Severus was sitting on the edge of the bed with the boy's back against his chest. He widened his legs, pushing the boy's, which were dangling on the outside of his own, apart. His grip around the boy's torso was tight and the youth was skinny enough that Severus was able to hold both his arms trapped with just one of his own. Severus' other hand was cupping the boy's genitals and was the reason why the boy had frozen.

It was a shame that Severus could not see: the nightshirt hid the precious handful from sight. However, what he could feel pleased him. The boy's cock and balls were nestled in a healthy bed of pubic hair and, as he brushed his fingers through it, the boy's hips jerked of their own accord.

"What is your name?" Severus asked, repeating his earlier question. He tightened his fist slightly.

"Ha- Harry!" the boy gasped.

"Now, Harry, I advise you to relax and enjoy yourself for the rest of the evening." Severus shifted his grip as he spoke and smirked against Harry's ear when he felt the boy's cock begin to swell.

"Please don't," Harry whispered, turning his head first one way and then the other in his denial. He accidentally turned his lips against the corner of Severus' mouth, and quickly turned his head away again. Leaning his face against Harry's cheek, Severus could feel the heat of the boy's blush and hear the quickening breath as his ministrations below coaxed a reluctant but obvious reaction out of Harry.

"Oh, don't," Harry moaned, his head falling back on Severus' shoulder, his voice huskier than before.

Severus kissed the side of Harry's neck. "Just relax," he whispered, kissing where the ear joined the jaw. He felt Harry's muscles tense, as though the boy were fighting against something, and then slowly, hesitantly, Harry's face turned towards him, and the kisses he had been placing along Harry's cheek found the boy's mouth.

Harry moaned into the kiss and his whole body flexed in a wave, pushing his back against Severus' chest and his hips in the air. Severus changed his grip on the boy's cock again and slowly began to pump it. Harry's hips moved restlessly, brushing the boy's delectable arse against the rising signs of Severus' own pleasure. It was that much sweeter because it had been harder won than usual, and Severus slipped his tongue between Harry's lips.

Slowly, seamlessly as they kissed, Harry turned around so that he was straddling Severus' lap, and his skinny arms clung to Severus' shoulders as he yowled and thrust into Severus' fist. Severus used his freed hand to pull up Harry's nightdress. He brushed his fingers over nipples that were already tight and Harry drew in a sharp breath, before mashing his lips clumsily against Severus'. Harry pulled away from the kiss again to utter a few louder cries of enjoyment, his face turned up towards the ceiling. Severus dropped the nightshirt and wrapped his hand around the exposed throat, feeling Harry's noises of shocked enjoyment vibrate against his skin.

Sensing the boy was fast reaching his limits he squeezed the prick in his hand, and looked down between them at the sight he had uncovered. The boy's pretty prick was as flushed as his face and shoulders, Severus watched as Harry jerked twice in his grip and then spurted between them, soiling Severus' richly embroidered vest and crisp shirt-front. The boy was mewling almost without pause and when Harry finally slumped against him Severus gathered him comfortingly in his arms.

He allowed Harry a few minutes respite, but then his own arousal prompted him to move and he carefully picked Harry up, turned around and sat the boy down on the spot he had vacated. He pulled the boy's night shirt off with little resistance. Harry looked charmingly like he was about to go to sleep. It was still without protest that Harry allowed Severus to coax him up the bed so that he was lying back against the pillows.

It was a lovely sight, and Severus made a mental note to tip Horace generously when he left. The boy's skin was pale except where it was flushed pink from his previous excitement. The warmer colour covered his face, chest and shoulders, part of his stomach, and the tops of his inner thighs. The boy's spent cock lay against springy black curls and Severus saw that Harry's armpits also had hair. It pleased him to see it as the youth's chest and navel were completely smooth. Without taking his eyes off the dozing boy he pulled at the bow of his wide cravat.

Harry was just beginning to recover himself when Severus lowered his naked body on top of him. He started, but Severus cupped his cheek and whispered the kind of romantic nonsense he normally disdained, but which helped to settle the boy's nerves again.

"It felt good before, didn't it?" he asked. Harry nodded, eyes shyly lowered. "I can make it feel even better than that if you let me."

"You're going to do it, whatever I say, aren't you?" Harry whispered, a spark of his previous fight returning to him.

"Yes," Severus told him brutally, but honestly. "I want you. Feel." He pressed his groin against Harry's thigh and the boy bit his bottom lip. He looked confused, and unhappily so. Severus kissed him to distract Harry from his thoughts.

By the end of the kiss Harry had wrapped his arms around Severus' shoulders again, and was hiding his face against Severus' neck. "Do it quickly," he begged.

Severus laughed and shook his head, peeling Harry off him and laying the boy back. "It will hurt if I do it quickly. I want you to enjoy this as much as I will." He wondered what he would do if Harry said no to him again. This was the first time that he had dealt with an unwilling whore. Even the child Horace had presented him with had been resigned to his fate and profession.

Harry seemed to be thinking, his brow creased with the effort of it. In the end, he nodded and relaxed against the pillows. It wasn't perhaps the most enthusiastic of acceptances, but it would do. He would made the boy want it as much as he did, he would make Harry moan like the wanton slut he would forever onwards be.

It didn't take long of alternating kisses, bites and licks against Harry's sensitive nipples for Severus to reduce the boy to the desired state. Abandoning his chest, Severus kissed down the smooth stomach to where Harry's cock was already bobbing with interest again. He kissed the tip, making Harry whine and jerk his hips. He grasped those hips, the edges of the protruding bone settling into his palms as satisfactorily as Harry's ankles had. He made Harry scream when he took the cock into his mouth and throat.

Harry was almost hysterical when Severus finally stopped torturing the boy. He gave the hard and throbbing organ a kiss of farewell and narrowed his eyes, smirking faintly at the sight the boy made. His arms were thrown out wide, and he had spread his thighs, digging his heels into the mattress as he had tried to thrust up into Severus' mouth. Satisfied Harry was more than ready, he reached for the fragrant oil that was waiting on the bedside table.

Harry seemed a little confused and worried by the intrusion of the first finger, but not pained. He wriggled about a bit, obviously unsure of the strange new feeling. Severus stroked his thighs soothingly and then worked in a second. This time Harry sucked in a breath, but then he was chewing on his bottom lip again, eyes flicking from Severus to the window and back again as though he wasn't sure whether he should be enjoying or hating the experience. He clutched Severus' shoulder when Severus found the spot that he had been searching for. Harry's short nails dug into Severus' flesh as he tried to deny his pleasure, and then he let go of his bottom lip and keened loudly.

"Noisy brat," Severus muttered in amusement, stretching Harry as gently as he could and feeling unfamiliar pangs of concern whenever it seemed it was finally too much for him. By the time Severus was pushing his rigid erection inside he was thoroughly disconcerted and almost withdrew at Harry's whimper. This was his first virgin, and as much as he had coveted the idea of breaking a boy in, the reality was not as sublime as he had naively thought.

He was sweating heavily when he was completely seated inside, and trembling as he hadn't since his own first time. Harry was shaking too, and Severus feared that he was hurting him. Then something suddenly changed. Harry flexed his hips upward and the boy let out a pathetic but happy whimper. Severus moved carefully, wanting to enhance that small happiness. He pulled out until only his head of his penis was inside and then thrust firmly back in. There was a louder cry, half-pained, but still half-pleased. Severus thrust a second time, then a third. By the fifth they had both found the best position and Harry babbled feverish and embarrassing encouragements between Severus' heavy curses.

"Brat!" he yelled when he felt impatient heels pressing against his buttocks. He hooked Harry's knees over his arms and thrust harder.

Moments later, Harry splattered his chest and stomach with his come, and Severus grunted. Left with only his own pleasure to satisfy he bent the boy almost double so that he could thrust as deeply as possible. Harry wailed as his prostate was pounded against again and again, and then Severus lost his rhythm completely and shouted a final curse.

He submitted to Harry's clinging arms and tears until the boy fell into an exhausted sleep, and then he got up and dressed. He retrieved his frock coat from the chair he had dined upon and fished his pocket book out of the inner chest pocket.

He withdrew an obscene amount of money from it, more than enough to free the boy from Horace's clutches, and tucked it into Harry's fist.

Stepping into his hallway an hour later, he observed to his butler, "Make preparations for the country in the morning, Weasley. I tire of London."

---

It was three days after the night he had been debauched that Harry wandered slowly through Soho, caught up in his thoughts and memories and unmindful of the traffic and people that jostled him along. He was dressed in the round necked shirt, trousers and short jacket that Slughorn had so generously given him when he had handed over the money his customer had left. He didn't look like a street urchin, but Harry realised that was exactly what he was. He had nowhere to go, no way of feeding himself beyond the generosity of the cooks whose doors he had dared to knock on, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before the clothes he wore became too dirty and worn for that sympathy to last. At the moment he looked like a lost boy making his way back to his mother; as soon as he began to look like what he was, he knew that he would be driven away, not drawn inside to sit beside the fire.

There was a loud shout and he looked up, just in time to dart out of the way of a speeding cab. The near miss set his heart pounding and he shakily slipped down a side alley to lean against the wall and get his breathing back. He was not at all crying, he thought angrily, dashing the tears from his face. He was a Potter. He wasn't so weak.

He stood for a few moments with his hands tightly clenched into fists, battling against his upset. Then he slid down the wall and hugged his legs, hiding his shameful crying against his kneecaps.

It had been a shock, waking up that horrible morning to find the man gone and more money than he had ever seen clutched in his fist. He knew that the man had left it so he could buy himself out of Slughorn's contract, that the man had probably thought it a kindness, but Harry hated the fact that he had been bought and sold. If the man had truly wanted to be kind he would have taken Harry with him. Not left him to end up on the streets like this. He had taken Harry's virginity and then abandoned him, as if... as if he was a common whore.

His sobs grew louder and he hugged his body tighter. His memories of the night itself were confused. He wasn't sure if he hated the man completely, was grateful that he hadn't hurt him, liked him for setting him free, or despised him for having taken what he had wanted first. Harry didn't even know his name. He was just a stranger who had paid a lot of money to fuck him.

Harry punched at the ground, some of his anger taking over from the self-pity. He hated the stranger, he decided. Hated him and his unfashionably straight and long hair; hated his dark mocking eyes; hated that he had made him enjoy what had been done to him; hated that he had made him hope for a few desperate moments that he had found somebody who would look after him. It was this more than anything else that made Harry sick to the stomach; he wished that the man had just taken what he wanted and left, rather than being gentle and holding him afterwards. The stranger had lied to him with that embrace and Harry hated him for it.

Standing up again, Harry wiped the rest of his tears away with his fingers. He had to find a position in a household. That was what he should do. Though how he should go about that he had no idea. While Uncle Dursley had treated him like a servant, he had no idea how to seek employment as such.

He was making his meandering way again and pondering this when he became aware of a loud and angry conversation. He looked around him and realised that he had managed to wander right out the other side of Soho, along Regent's Street and was now on the outskirts of the park. The terrace beside him was intimidating in its grandness, and he approached the street railing cautiously to peer down at two servants standing by the door to the basement.

"How can you have lost him again?" the woman was asking stridently.

"Molly, you know what he's like, and with the park just there..."

"But we're supposed to be leaving in a couple of hours. What if we don’t find him in time?"

Harry chewed thoughtfully on his bottom lip. Perhaps if he helped these people they might tell him how he might seek employment. "Um, excuse me? Can I help at all?"

The servants looked up sharply and Harry smiled when he saw that the hair under the woman's cap was as fiery red as the man's. No wonder they had been arguing.

His smile faltered when he realised that the woman was shrewdly taking in his appearance, her eyes flicking to his bare head and the scruffy state of his hair.

"Yes, young man," the male servant – the butler by the looks of his gentleman's clothing – said before she could open her mouth. He looked harassed and Harry instantly felt sorry for him. "You can't see a boy up there can you? He's nine, hair as red as our own, blue eyes."

"No, sorry. Do you think he went into the park? I can go look for you," he volunteered eagerly.

"Would you?" the woman asked, surprised out of her critical stare. "Oh, would you? His name is William. We're in a hurry to find him because we're leaving town this afternoon."

"I'll go and look," Harry promised, and turned away from the railing.

Harry had only been in The Regent's Park once before, when it had first been opened to the public. That had been just over ten years ago and all he recalled was that his legs had ached after walking all the way around it. He knew he had little hope of happening upon the boy by accident and thought the quickest way to seek him out would be to first run around the outer circle calling William's name. He attracted a lot of curious stares as he went, but he was determined to find the child. If he did he was sure the servants would point him in the right direction.

He realised that he was coming near to the zoo and slowed down. The lure of the animals would be great to a boy living on the edges of the park he thought, and he looked out for any sign of the missing William. Sure enough, there was a boy much younger than himself loitering outside the entrance. He was quite smartly dressed, but Harry could see that the sash had gone missing from his tunic and his trousers appeared to have grass stains on the knee. His red hair was a much brighter shade than the servants' had been and was worn long and loosely tied back by a black ribbon. For a moment Harry felt a pang of jealousy that this striking boy should have people worrying about where he was.

He stopped a few paces away. "Good afternoon. Are you William?"

The boy turned at the sound of his name and Harry's eyes widened at the sight of the ugly scar that bisected his right cheek and carried on down his neck till it was hidden by his shirt.

"Yes?"

"My name is Harry. Er, Molly sent me to find you. Aren't you going away today?"

William smiled at him and Harry was surprised by how attractive the boy's face was despite the ugly wound. "Oh yes," he responded happily, "which is why I wanted to visit the zoo again before I left."

Harry moved closer to the gates and peered through the railings. "You've been inside before? I didn't think the public were allowed in."

"Oh, I've been in there many times," William told him blithely. "Except they won't let me in without Severus. He's a member, and I'm not. I did try to break in, but the guards caught me." This last was said with a small sigh. "I suppose I shall just have to wait till next time we are in town. Oh, maybe you can come next time!"

Harry stared at the boy. They hardly knew each other, and he didn't think that William's guardian, this Severus, would be too happy about a street urchin being invited along to a Society event. He blinked when he realised that William had swiftly moved on.

"Is Molly particularly angry?"

"Um, I think she was more worried that you were going to be late."

"That's because Severus agreed to let me go in her carriage with the servants. I particularly wanted to go with them. Apparently they take cake with them and share it out along the way. Come on!"

Harry was shocked to have his hand grabbed by William, and too stunned to do anything else, he let the boy drag him back to Cumberland Terrace.

They were received by a very relieved Molly, who bundled them into the kitchen and gave them milk and bread and butter. "Thank you, young man. William can be the very devil to track down sometimes."

William smiled happily at being described so and Harry felt his own lips lifting. He thought that William was very likely spoilt and incorrigible. It made Harry wonder how the boy had been hurt. Had it been another time he had run away?

"Thank you, Mrs Weasley. I – I should really get going now, but I wondered, could you tell me if you know how I might...?" he trailed off, embarrassed to be talking about his predicament with her.

"Yes, dear? And please, call me Molly."

"Well, I – I am trying to find employment. Do you know how I should look for it?"

Molly regarded him with obvious confusion. "But my dear, why would you want to work? Lawks!" She shielded her mouth with one hand. "Never tell me you ran away from home?"

Harry blushed and shook his head. "I don't have a home," he told her quietly.

"Gracious!"

"Yes, you do," William commented. He had been listening from his perch on the kitchen table. "You can come with me."

"Master William!" Molly exclaimed. "You can't just decide things like that!"

"Why not?" William asked. "Severus did. The child is coming with me, and that's an end to it. That's what Severus said to that stupid fat man – "

Harry's eyes widened when William's words were cut off by Mr Weasley's hand clapping over his mouth. "That's enough of that," the kindly man said, giving William a stern look but smiling slightly to soften the reprimand. "His lordship also said that you were not to speak of it."

"But Harry's a friend!"

"It is not polite conversation, William," Molly chided the boy. "You remember what his lordship said about trying to act more respectably."

"That I wasn't to speak to strangers and that I shouldn't kiss people just because they ask me to and that I definitely shouldn't – "

Mr Weasley once again clapped his hand over William' mouth, but to Harry it looked like William had been trying to provoke that response. His blue eyes were alight with laughter and Harry found himself smiling again; spoilt, incorrigible and impossible not to like.

There was suddenly a lot of loud activity coming from the house above and Molly, hurriedly cleaned away their mess. "Gawd, that'll be the carriages. William, take Harry with you and make sure you've got everything."

There was a pleased sound from William and then Harry had his hand snatched up again. He was dragged all over the grand house though he was unable to take much of it in as William rushed through all the rooms checking that he had not left something crucial behind.

"But I can't possibly come with you," Harry weakly protested.

"Don't worry. I know Severus will like you."

"But – but where are we going?"

"Suffolk," William informed him, clambering up into a carriage. "It's where the big house is. Severus said that he would meet us there because he's gone off to watch the Cesarewitch at Newmarket." He leaned back out of the carriage to look at Harry. "Please come, Harry."

Harry met the boy's gaze and for the first time saw a flicker of something melancholy in William's eyes. He felt that he was looking into the eyes of somebody who understood. As young as William was, Harry thought that maybe they had more in common than either of them would have liked. He looked at the hand held out to him. It was small and looked darkly freckled against Harry's pale skin.

Harry settled back against the velvet padding of the carriage and immediately had the air squeezed out of him. For a moment William's lips pressed squarely against his, and then William settled back, holding Harry's hand tightly while he smiled in the face of Molly Weasley's scolding.

---

The journey to Suffolk felt incredibly long to Harry, who had never been outside of London in his life. Each mile post they passed made him more anxious. As the other servants and William dozed to pass the time, Harry stared out of the carriage's window and worried about what might happen when they reached Lord Snape's ancestral seat. As insistent as William was, there was no reason in the world to suppose that his lordship would actually take him in.

Then again, it looked like Lord Snape had already taken in one boy. He looked down at the freckled hand still clasped in his own. William was leaning against Molly as he slept, but he had not let go of Harry's hand once. Looking down at their contrasting skin tones, he wondered where William had come from. Harry had always been proud that no matter how his uncle and aunt had treated him, he had the looks and bearing of the aristocracy. His skin was delicately pale; William's was dark in contrast. He was not from the upper classes, yet he was under the protection of a lord - perhaps there was hope for Harry. Perhaps Lord Snape had known his father and would take pity on him.

Harry bit his lip when he thought of the man he had been forced to sleep with three nights ago. He had known Harry's father, and hadn't cared at all what happened to him. He had forced Harry to submit to him, to enjoy what was being done to him. He had made Harry think that he had found a saviour.

Leaning his forehead against the cool glass, Harry promised himself that he would not cry again. He would not let that mocking voice haunt him anymore; those kisses; the way he had been held afterwards...

"Cold, Harry?"

Harry turned to look at Molly and nodded. The sun had been bright earlier in the day, but now the evening was upon them autumn's chill was beginning to sink into his bones. He gratefully accepted a rug to spread over himself and smiled when William snuggled his warm body against him.

"It won't be too much longer," Molly told him. "Here, eat a little."

"Thank you. You're very kind. I shouldn't really be here."

"Nonsense," Molly asserted. "How could we turn you away? You wanted work, and I'm sure there will be plenty of that for you to do at Snape Manor." She paused, her shrewd gaze sweeping over Harry. She sighed. "Yes, perhaps you shouldn't be here, but I wouldn't for the life of me wish you anywhere else. William has taken a shine to you, and the Good Lord knows that he could do with a friend."

Harry wanted to ask Molly where William had come from and whether he was Lord Snape's ward, but he thought that he had pushed his luck enough for one day. He had found somewhere to be for the time being, and he wouldn't jeopardise that to satisfy his curiosity.

True to Molly's prediction, it wasn't much longer before they swung through the gates of the estate and proceeded up the gravel drive. William was awake and in a state of much excitement. Harry thought it was a shame it was so dark, as he would dearly have loved to see the grounds William described to him.

Soon they were at the house and the servants jumped to. Harry stood shyly beside the carriage watching all that was going on. Suddenly, William gave a delighted yell and he streaked across the gravel towards the dim figure of a man on horse back. The man swung down and was immediately leapt upon by William. Harry watched as William was then lifted up onto the saddle and the man walked him away towards the stables.

So that was Lord Snape...

Coming back to himself Harry offered to help a couple of footmen carry a trunk into the house and the next hour was busily spent. He was tired, but also quite happy when he crawled into the bed that had been found for him. Tomorrow he was going to help out at the stables. Apparently, William liked to play there in the mornings.

He fell asleep on hopeful thoughts for the future.

---

Severus looked up at the sound of pounding feet and prepared himself for William's arrival. He pinned the boy with a glare as soon as he came into the room, and was pleased when the child came to an abrupt halt. The incorrigible brat gave him a shy smile and instead of subjecting Severus to one of his hugs, went instead to sit at his place at the breakfast table.

"Good boy," Severus murmured in the same manner he might praise one of his hounds. William beamed down at his eggs.

They ate in silence, and when William got up to go out to the stables, he only gave Severus another smile before exiting. It seemed that the boy could be broken of his training after all, Severus thought, running a long finger along his bottom lip.

He forgot all about William when the arrival of his estate manager was announced, and he greeted Flitwick politely, but with none of the familiarity the small man seemed to think was acceptable having managed the estates back when Severus had still been toddling about in dresses.

It was once their business had been concluded that he went up to his rooms to change into breeches and tall boots, intending to ride about the estate and take a look at some of the things Flitwick had mentioned to him. It was a relief to be away from town and its fashions. He never tended to bow to the ones he didn't like – he never curled his hair, which he liked to keep long, and he shaved cleanly every morning – but it was a relief to be away from the critical gazes of those who thought he should. Lady Malfoy had only the previous week teased him about his lack of sideburns and asked him whether he could grow a moustache. It was a pleasure to let the chill October wind tousle his hair as he strode across the yard without the top hat Lockhart had tried to foist on him as he dressed.

As expected, William came running out of the stables, screaming with laughter over his shoulder at whatever fool had been coaxed into chasing him. Severus stopped as William wound an arm around his legs and hid behind him. The young stable boy who had been chasing him came to an abrupt halt and Severus' eyes narrowed in recognition.

He had obviously been recognised in return because though the boy was clever enough to be still and silent, his brilliant eyes had the glare of insolence in them.

Catching sight of the head groom he called to him. "What's this, Filch? Have I a new stable boy?"

"Not yet, your lordship," Filch grumbled in reply. "'Tis the boy Master William brought with him. Mr Weasley asked that I give him a go on account of him being too short to be a footman."

Severus noticed with amusement how Harry's cheeks flushed at Filch's comment. It was true that Harry was half a foot shorter than the other footmen and would stick out like a sore thumb.

Grasping William's arm he drew the boy in front of him and bent slightly to talk to him, though he continued to look at Harry out of the corners of his eyes. "You did not tell me you had a new pet, William," he drawled. "Where did you find him?"

"At the zoo," William promptly answered.

"At the zoo?" Severus echoed, his lips twisting in cruel amusement at Harry who had now clenched his hands into fists. "A fitting place to pick up such a specimen, I'm sure."

"Harry's special," William agreed, mistaking his baiting words. "He's my friend."

"I hope he is better behaved than your other 'friends' have been," Severus said more sharply.

"I haven't spoken to anyone else, Severus, I promise!"

"Hmm." Severus looked down at William's dismayed face.

"I – I did kiss him. Was that bad? It was only to say thank you for coming with us."

Severus huffed out an irritable breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, cursing himself for having taken the boy under his wing. He should have given the vagrant to the nearest work house. He raised his foot and mock-kicked the boy on the back side. "Away with you! I need to talk with your new friend. You too, Filch. Boy, come with me."

He turned back towards the house, but realised that Harry was not moving. He rounded on the young man. "Well?"

Harry hesitated, seemingly struggling with his temper. Then he nodded curtly and began to follow Severus into the house. Severus took him into the library and smartly shut the doors behind them.

"What are you doing here?" he immediately demanded. "How did you track me down? If Slughorn – "

"I didn't know it was you!" Harry snapped back. "I didn't know your name. How was I supposed to know you were Lord Snape? I met William by accident. I certainly wouldn't have suspected that the great and kind 'Severus' would turn out to be you!"

"You expect me to believe that this is some sort of coincidence? No doubt you thought having taken one of Slughorn's whores in I would house another."

"I didn't – " Harry began, and then his eyes widened and his hands quickly covered his mouth in shock. He shook his head in denial. "No," he gasped. "Surely not – Surely not that young? You – you monster!"

Severus shook his head and held up his hand. "Obviously you hadn't known. Don't let your thoughts run away with you. The idea of sleeping with a child that young is as repugnant to me as it is to you. I took William away from Slughorn the night he was offered to me."

He gave Harry a curious look. The boy looked like he might be sick. It was obvious that he already cared a great deal for William.

"I apologise if any of his behaviour has shocked you," he said with a frown. He moved to the window and looked out at the orchard. William was darting in and out of the trees, fighting invisible demons. "I am trying to teach him to behave in a more proper manner, but sometimes.... He had been trained from a young age to be 'friendly' with any men who were put in his way. He is still far too eager to please."

He turned at the sound of Harry's hushed voice. "I – I'm glad that you were able to rescue him from that." The boy's eyes were filled with tears. "And, thank you, for giving me the money to buy my freedom. I – I won't impose on you any further."

"Wait!" Severus called, making Harry stop just in front of the door. "How did you meet William?"

"Mo – Mrs Weasley was looking for him when I walked by. I offered to help find him. I – I had hoped that she would help me find employment if I did."

"What kind of employment?"

Harry turned to glare at him. "Honest work!"

Severus walked to stand just in front of Harry. He could see the fear and anger conflicting in Harry's gaze. He raised his hand to Harry's cheek, brushed his thumb over the prominent bone. "What if I were to offer you a position here?"

Harry violently knocked his hand away. "No! I won't do that! Not again!"

Severus grabbed hold of his shoulders and ruthlessly shook him. "Stupid child! I meant real employment. I wouldn't dream of touching you again," he added, ignoring the part of his brain that was reminding him just how enjoyable touching Harry had been. However, he had never expected to see the young man again; he had freed him on a whim and was not about to drag Harry back into prostitution.

"What if I were to let you stay here as a servant? Would you be able to stomach it, being a Potter?"

"I have no choice," Harry replied grudgingly. "I have no money or family, so I must work." He raised his chin. "Even if it's as a stable boy."

"Nobly said," Severus mocked, "but there is no need to be so melodramatic. I will let you stay here, but not as a stable boy. You will assist me directly. You have some knowledge of society and its customs, albeit in a cit* household. You will be my secretary."

The boy looked as though he were about to protest with more admirable sentiments, but Severus cut him off. "Do not think I am treating you favourably. I have need of a secretary. You have merely presented yourself at the opportune moment. You can read and write?" He nodded curtly in response to Harry's quiet affirmation. "It will be harder work than you imagine. Now, get out of my sight. Go find Lockhart, my valet, and tell him I want you dressed as befits your new station. You will report to my study at four o'clock this afternoon."

"Y-yes. Thank you."

"Go!" Severus snapped and he watched Harry flee.

Carefully he closed the library door again and sank into one of the comfortable armchairs. He kneaded at his forehead and the headache that was coming on. Two of them now! He had thought before that he was collecting redheads. Now it seemed he had turned to collecting whores. It was clear that he would not be able to show his face at Slughorn's again, no matter that the man wouldn't know he had Harry under his protection. He didn't think he could face the place again, just in case yet another charity case presented itself.

Which was a shame, he thought, sighing regretfully as he rose to his feet again and tapped his riding crop against his boot. It had taken him a long time to find a place as suited to his position and tastes as Slughorn's had been. He would miss the food terribly.

---

Harry sat on his bed, the clothes Lockhart had found spread out beside him. He was trying not to break his promise to himself. Seeing Lord Snape again had been a big shock, and then to learn about the connection between William's past and his own... He punched at his mattress. Why couldn't Severus have taken him away as well? Instead of sleeping with him and leaving him behind!

He was confused by his emotions and the muddled reasons for his anger. He should be angry that he was now in the house of the man who had forced himself upon him. Instead he was upset that he had not been brought here at once, had been left to make his own way back to Severus' side.

Collapsing back, he stared at his low ceiling. Severus. His name was Severus. He was William's good and kind guardian. Again, Harry felt a pang of jealousy. Why had William been accepted as Severus' ward, when he had to work for his living? He squeezed his eyes shut against the unkind thought. Severus had done enough for him by paying for his freedom and giving him a position, and he truly didn't begrudge William his happiness. Good God! To think that William had been through what he had, and at such a young age!

Sitting up, he began to change. He thought that the clothing probably belonged to either Lockhart or Mr Weasley as they dressed the most like gentlemen and were about his height. Mr Weasley, he decided after a moment's further consideration. There was no way that Lockhart would share his clothing. The trousers were baggy on him, as was the shirt and vest. He tied the plain cravat easily about his neck. It felt good to be dressed so again, despite the ill fit.

Seeing that he was early for his appointment with Lord Snape, he decided to visit Molly in the kitchens and was immediately taken to task by John, the First Footman, for using the main staircase. Cowed, he found his way to the kitchens via the servants' stair, and had his spirits revived by a glass of milk and a slice of bread and butter. Molly talked with him as he ate, while her small army of scullery maids bustled about them.

At four o'clock he drew in a fortifying breath and knocked on the door of Lord Snape's study. He entered at the call to do so, and swallowed thickly at the sight of his benefactor.

Lord Snape had changed out of his riding dress, and while the man did not adhere to the fashions of hair cut and shave, in every other respect he was perfectly attired. Harry had not noticed it the night that they had spent together at Slughorn's, but Lord Snape fit the cut of his clothing very well. There appeared to be no padding at the chest and his slim waist suited the tight nip of his frockcoat's waist. The coat was unbuttoned at present and his vest was creamy perfection over a snowy white shirt. The cravat was a dark green and elegantly tied.

"Do I pass?"

Lord Snape's drawling voice snapped him out of his stare and he hastened to apologise as his cheeks filled with heat. He had just started to remember what the man had looked like naked and he was mortified that he should be so affected by his employer's looks. Lord Snape was not a handsome man! His nose was hooked, and his lips thin and coldly mocking, and yet... Harry had to push down a secondary panic at thinking of a man in such terms. Had he caught Lord Snape's perversion?

He apologised again and approached at Lord Snape's impatient gesture

"We will have to do a little more work before you are perfected," Lord Snape observed, turning Harry this way and that, tugging at his coat shoulders and deploring how skinny he was. Harry bit his lip on the ready retort that his lordship was not exactly thickset.

"To work, then," Lord Snape commanded. "Mrs Weasley will send us some tea presently, but I want you to have sorted that before it arrives." Harry found a pile of unopened correspondence in his hands. He was rudely shoved into a chair that had been set up at the end of his lordship's heavy desk and then pointedly ignored. Harry, left with no other option, went to work.

They had a short break to drink tea and eat a selection of cakes. Harry eyed Severus over the rim of his cup, wondering why it was that the man was sometimes Severus and sometimes Lord Snape in his thoughts, and why this habit had developed so quickly. He had only really known the man since this morning, after all. (He was making an effort to keep their previous knowledge of one another from his mind).

After tea, Harry was sent to the library with a list of books in his hand. Most of them were large volumes and it was heavy work fetching them back and forth for his lordship and submitting to the sharp criticisms if he picked up the wrong number in a series. His lordship would flick through them, make a couple of notes and then send Harry for the next book he needed. It was getting on towards dinner when Harry finally plucked up the courage to ask his lordship what he was researching.

"Can you not tell?" Lord Snape snapped at him. "Have you not even bothered to read the titles?"

Harry flushed with embarrassment and admitted that he hadn't really looked at them properly. He thought for a moment and commented that a lot of them seemed to be about animals.

"You aren't completely stupid, it seems. I am a member of the Zoological Society. I have a great interest in the natural world and history. The research is for my own pleasure, nothing more." His lordship closed the book he had been making notes from and sat back. He did not look at Harry as he said, "If you've a mind to educate yourself you have free use of the library. I would prefer it if you took an interest in gaining knowledge. Knowledge is power and can take a man far."

Harry swallowed heavily when Severus' dark eyes settled their gaze upon him. They seemed to burn his skin and he nodded fervently. "Yes, my lord. Thank you."

"Dinner will be soon," Severus continued, brushing his thanks aside. "You will eat with William and me. We don't stand on ceremony in a house of bachelors, so there is no need to change. I am sure William will be suitably grubby from whatever he has been doing all day."

Harry nodded and watched as Severus walked towards the door. Suddenly giving in to impulse, he darted forward and placed a staying hand on Severus' arm. Severus looked down at it and Harry quickly snatched it away again. However, he spoke his piece before his courage could leave him.

"About William. Is he – is he of sound mind?"

"That's an odd way of putting it," Severus muttered, turning slightly to face him. "Yes, he is, merely he had been conditioned to behave a certain way, and now I am teaching him to behave differently. I have only had him under my wing for six months. It will take a while to rid him of all his bad habits." Severus' lips twisted into one of his mocking smiles. "Such as kissing strangers."

Harry flushed. "I think he considered me a friend by then," he stammered defensively.

"But you know from experience how quickly it is that William makes friends. As I told you before, he has been conditioned by his past to be pleasing, and wherever he sees genuine kindness he clings to it with both hands. You are his friend for life now, Harry." Harry watched as Severus' gaze took on a faraway look and his brow pinched together in a way that made him look quite fierce. "But he is much better behaved than he was back in the spring," he confessed. "He used to creep into my bedroom at night and offer himself to me. He was so confused and upset each time I refused him, he thought that I was going to send him away if he didn't satisfy me...." Severus paused and Harry swallowed thickly. "I think he understands now that men should not want that from him. Still, be careful with him, he can be fragile at times."

Harry nodded. He was warmed by the fact Severus had told him this and trusted him to protect William. If he felt irritation that the same consideration had not been taken of himself, it was to be ignored, as was the confusing upset he still felt over Severus' earlier assurance that he wouldn't dream of touching Harry again.



Part Two