Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Balancing Without A Net ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not make any money from the writing of this fanfiction.

 

Warnings: Abuse - physical, sexual, and emotional. Male/Male slash.

 

Chapter 7

 

Harry chose `carpe noctum' for his password. The elf in the portrait had quirked an eyebrow, but accepted the phrase without questioning it. Stepping into the first room in the suite, he was pleasantly greeted by Caius, Selena, and Lunaris. As he pet the animals, he took a look around.

 

The first room he'd walked into appeared to be both living room and study. An elegantly carved wooden desk and chair polished to a dark sheen sat in a corner out of the way, next to a tall, wide bookshelf that already contained a handful of books. The floor was the same polished wood; the walls were a calm beige color. There was a large, dark blue carpet embroidered with gold that covered much of the center of the floor; on top of that rug, directly facing the large fireplace, was large, overstuffed dark blue sofa with a large elegant coffee table - again polished dark wood - sitting in front of it. Directly to the side of the coffee table, facing the entrance, was an overstuffed armchair the same color as the sofa. Harry was relieved not to see the room decorated in Gryffindor colors; as fond as he was of red and gold, he'd grown a bit sick of it in the Gryffindor dorms. The only thing that bothered him about the room was just how large everything was; he was already one of the shortest people in his school year, and all of the large furniture just made him feel smaller.

 

“Master Harry,” the portrait's quiet call broke through the nekoshin's thoughts. “Professor Lupin wishes to speak with you.”

 

Harry sighed. “Let him in.”

 

The portrait swung open, and Remus stepped through. “Glamour and shirt off, now,” he ordered.

 

Harry scowled at him. “I'm mostly healed, Remus.”

 

Remus scowled back. “Then you wouldn't need the glamour. Now, Harry.”

 

Harry looked away, and muttered the counterspell to the glamour. There was a moment of silence, then Remus gently lifted one of Harry's still-bruised forearms, pulling back the sleeve and inspecting it carefully.

 

Harry watched as fury began to darken the werewolf's tawny eyes, and spoke quickly to calm him. “It doesn't hurt anymore, really. Fred and George gave me some balm, and it helped a lot.”

 

“You promised you'd write to me if this happened again, cub,” Remus said very softly. He was not calm.

 

Harry flushed. After a moment, he mumbled, “They left me alone because I threatened them with Sirius. It wasn't until my Inheritance hit that Vernon lost it, and I got out a couple of days later anyway.”

 

Remus released his arm and stroked a hand through Harry's hair. “Harry, you should tell someone about this.”

 

“I told you and Siri.”

 

“Only because we found out by accident,” Remus said sternly. “Cub, if you don't tell the authorities, the Dursleys won't be punished for their behavior. And they should be punished.”

 

Harry shook his head. “I'm never going back there again. I'm not going to let what they did haunt me. If I drag out my ancient history, it'll just give the Prophet another excuse to plaster my face on their front page again. Half the people in Britain will think I'm being an attention-seeking git, and the other half will be full of pity for `poor, pitiful Harry Potter.' I've had enough of both to last a lifetime, thanks.”

 

“Harry -“

 

“No, Remus,” Harry said firmly, and his tone told Remus to drop the subject. He did, though he was determined to bring it up again later. Not too soon, though; Remus was going to contact Sirius at the earliest opportunity. The Dursleys had been warned. It was hardly the werwolf's fault if they chose to ignore those warnings.

 

Remus looked around. “Very nice, Harry. Have you looked at the other rooms?”

 

“Not yet.”

 

A lively bark and a bit of meowing drew Remus' attention to the floor. “Well, hello.” He crouched down and smiled at the animals inspecting him curiously. He offered a hand for them to smell and smiled when the puppy licked it enthusiastically. “You must be Caius.”

 

Harry nodded. “The kitten to the left is Selena, the one on the right is Lunaris.” The kneazles sniffed politely at Remus' offered hand; Lunaris, the more active of the two, batted at it playfully for a moment, then licked his finger delicately.

 

Remus scratched Lunaris gently behind her ears, and the other two immediately demanded similar attention. “You lucked out in pets, Harry.”

 

Harry tilted his head. “How so?”

 

“Most dogs run far and fast from werewolves, and cats aren't far behind them. Your three are far more brave than most.”

 

Harry cracked a smile. “Fits, then, for a Gryffindor, right?”

 

Remus smiled back. “Right.” He started to straighten up from the crouch he'd used to reach the animals, and all three immediately protested, pawing at his legs. “Oh.” Remus' amber eyes visibly went soft, and Harry hid a smile.

 

“Keep them company for a bit?” he requested. “I need to unpack.”

 

Remus hesitated, but the pleading cuteness of the animals won him over. He sat cross-legged on the floor, and all three animals immediately climbed all over him. Harry left his delighted pseudo-godfather on the floor and headed through the door on the opposite side of the room from the main entrance to enter a medium-sized bedroom.

 

The bedroom was decorated in the same colors as the living room, but Harry was relieved to see that the furniture was not oversized. The bed was a full-sized four-post affair - bigger than his old dorm bed but not ridiculously large. There were several squishy pillows of varying sizes on the bed, decorated in a blue that was a few shades lighter than royal blue color that dominated the bedspread and the carpet on the floor. A small but elegantly designed dresser and mirror stood opposite the bed. Another door to the side of the dresser opened to reveal a very nice Jacuzzi bathroom done all in white marble. A glance back into the bedroom showed Harry another smaller door set discretely in a corner, leading to a fair-sized closet. Overall, Harry was pleased with his new rooms.

 

His trunk, Hedwig's cage, the kittens' litter box, all of the animals' toys, and various odds and ends he'd accumulated at WWW were stacked neatly at the foot of the bed. He unpacked his robes, hung them in the closet, and tucked his meager collection of decent-fitting muggle clothing into the dresser. His trunk was dragged into the closet, then he turned his attention to what was left. He eyed the litter box and animal toys and made a mental note to ask the house elves if there was a separate place from his bedroom to put them.

 

Three framed photographs were set carefully on the dresser: one of his parents, grinning and waving, just out of Hogwarts; one of Sirius and Remus, snapped during a stolen moment in Hogsmeade, the two of them rough-housing in the deep snow outside of the immediate village; and one of Harry, Fred, George, Seamus, Dean, and Hermione clowning around at WWW - well, the boys were clowning, Hermione was shaking her head in exasperation and pretending she didn't know them.

 

There was a box of books on a variety of random subjects that he brought to the living room and lined neatly on the bookshelf. The nightstand and graceful silver lamp Fred and George had given him as a housewarming gift were unshrunk and situated beside his bed. He'd been curious as to how the lamp was going to work without electricity; the twins had created a magical light orb that turned with a snap of the fingers and off with another snap. It occasionally needed to be magically charged up again, but that was no trouble for Harry. His Firebolt was set to lean against the wall of his bedroom, the broomstick servicing kit next to it. Hedwig's cage went in the closet; her perch was set on the other side of the bed from the nightstand.

 

Harry returned to the living room to grin at Remus. All three animals had fallen asleep in his lap, perfectly content. “Will you carry Caius?” Harry asked, crouching down and gathering the dozing kittens into his arms. Remus nodded, and followed Harry into the bedroom with the puppy.

 

Harry set the kittens into the little plush sleeping box he'd left at the foot of the bed, and tilted his head to indicated the separate box next to the kittens' for Caius. Remus gently set the sleeping puppy down and followed Harry back into the living room.

 

“I need to go get ready for the Welcome Feast tonight,” Remus said, resting a hand on Harry's shoulder. “I'll see you later, cub.”

 

Harry smiled up at him and gave his pseudo-godfather a quick hug. “See you.”

 

Remus strode out of the private rooms with two things on his mind. The first was calling Sirius on one of their two-way mirrors and making a plan to deal with the Dursleys. The second was to hunt down Rowena Ravenclaw and demand an explanation as to why he smelled mating pheromones coming from the two male Founders whenever they looked at Harry. Harry had been hurt enough in his life; Remus wouldn't tolerate older men eyeing his cub like a piece of meat. As for Sirius' reaction to that little tidbit of information…Remus smirked.