The Boy Who Bitched

Chapter 9

It had been a few days, and things were still hard, but Harry had been consistently eating and getting out of bed. Tom told him that if he could go 3 straight days withholding a routine that they could go get the seeds and go shopping. He knew Harry would withhold his deal, and that is why he went ahead with contacting the newspapers. He was going to make his and Harry's relationship known. He had originally planned to keep him having Harry still alive a secret, he hadn't planned on both the boy and himself catching feelings. Harry was supposed to be no more than his bitch, but things change, sometimes for the better. 

Tom had to make sure there were both picture perfect, but he didn't want to set Harry off or stress him out. He put Harry in a royal green picnic dress with spaghetti strap sleeves. It flattered him beautifully. The weather was getting colder and the leaves were slowly changing, so he matched it with a warm set of silver robes. He had one of the house elves brush and curl Harry's hair so it nicely framed his face and sat  just slightly on his shoulders. The elf also applied just a little bit of makeup, Harry felt beautiful for the first time in weeks. He didn't wear makeup much but with how much he always enjoyed it he might would ask Tom if he preferred he wore it more often.

Tom matched with Harry perfectly, he was wearing green slacks and a green button up with a silver robe that was identical to Harry's. They looked perfect. Before they left, Tom made Harry sit down in the sitting room on the large sofa. After Harry's rage fest it gave Tom a reason to redecorate the wing. A lot of the furniture and furnishings had been extremely outdated, it was time to modernize. The process had been very therapeutic for him, he coped with loss in different ways and filling his time with interior design helped him immensely. He was trying his best to make lemons out of lemonade. The large green sofa sat in the middle of the small room on a large fluffy carpet. Harry loved the feel of the carpet on his bare feet, the couch however was a bit too stiff for his liking. The snake pattern was very hypnotizing however, and the couch was trimmed with silver fabric, Tom was so predictable with colors and Harry appreciated that. For the shoes, Tom had picked Harry some small silver heels, he had put a charm in them so Harry's feet wouldn't be sore as they shopped. He kneeled on the floor in front of the boy and carefully put the shoes on, taking time to make sure he strapped them correctly. Harry loved how special Tom was making him feel, Tom hadn't forgotten any detail of his outfit and it flattered Harry so well.

Tom stood up, making Harry look up at him. He bent down and yanked at the boys collar, it ripping off the boys neck easily. Harry gasped at the sudden aggressive movement. "Daddy got you an updated collar to wear sweet boy," Tom said loving how the boy was hanging off of every word. 

Harry sat with his mouth agape. Tom then pulled a silver collar out of his robe pocket. It was absolutely beautiful, a major upgrade compared to the plain black one Harry had been wearing. It had a name tag added to it, Tom's name, and an intricate snake design on the other side. Harry was overwhelmed by the gift, it was beautiful. He loved when Tom claimed him like this, it meant the whole world would know that Harry was his. He lifted his neck up eagerly, allowing Tom to put the new collar on. It made his outfit all the more stunning, he couldn't wait to lift his head high everywhere he went today so everyone could see that he was Tom's.

There were finally ready, there were going to floo to Diagon Alley. Harry couldn't remember why but he knew the floo made him nervous. He hung onto Tom for dear life as he felt the feeling of being sucked through a straw overcome him. Tom landed gracefully, every bit of him being as perfect as it was just a second prior. Harry looked disheveled and felt slightly nauseous, the only thing preventing him from falling was Tom's tight grip on the boy. Harry rubbed down his robe and patted his hair down before taking Tom's hand for them to start on their adventure.

He held his head up high, grateful to feel the fresh air on his face and have Tom be proud enough of him to take him out in public. Tom had been very clear to the photographers to be sneaky, he wanted this day to be as normal as it could for Harry and he didn't want the photos to look staged. Truthfully they weren't, the photographers had just been tipped off and Tom and Harry just decided to be photo ready. They first stopped at the shop that Tom knew would be the hardest, the plant shop. The owner, a lady by the name of Madam Adelaide, had been a devoted follower to Tom since the beginning. She hadn't showed much interest in being in Tom's inner circle, but that was okay, her outside support was enough. He had tipped her off yesterday, requesting for her to keep the shop closed to the public so she could just focus on Harry, he hadn't told her any of the details but she happily obliged.

 Harry stopped and took a deep breath, his shaky hand reaching for the door. He and Tom walked in, hand in hand. The front desk lady was incredibly friendly, she listened intently to Harry and Tom's story. Tom stood back and let the boy say and do what he needed, this was for Harry, if Harry needed anything he would ask. They went back and forth for a good 30 minutes, Harry taking time to look at every seed and bean type before deciding on his final choice, a green bean plant. It was simple, but when nourished they could grow big and strong, something bean would never get to do. Harry serenaded the women into a a hug, she was surprised but gave it right back. Harry thanked her repeatedly while they checked out, he refused to let the seed packet go and put it in his convenient dress pocket. Tom paid her extra for the favor and being so great with Harry. 

They didn't have any specific stores to be after that. Tom had told Harry he had no budget, and encouraged him to buy things for a new hobby. Everything had been going great, Harry was smiling, he had picked out a few fun outfits, and had decided to relearn crochet. They were window shopping across the alley, Tom knowing exactly when to pose perfectly for the camera when suddenly an older red headed woman launched herself at Harry grabbing his hand, "Harry, it's me Molly, come with me I can take you-," Harry quickly jerked his hand from the strange lady deeply confused. 

She was stunned by the boys action, she decided to try a different approach. "Ron is dead, but some Order Members are alive an well, we can take care of you." 

Harry stepped back from her gripping to Tom tightly. "I am sorry for your loss, but I don't know you please leave me alone." She continued rambling on, but making no further attempts to grab Harry," Tom I wanna go home, I don't like this."

 Tom grabbed Harry tighter and took another step back before apparating them both back to the mansion. "That was so weird, she seemed so familiar but I don't-" he stopped mid sentence suddenly confused and lost on what he had been talking about.

 He stood in the middle of the sitting room for a second, struggling to regroup his thoughts. Tom realizing that it was a memory potion at work, tried to redirect the man. He took the boys robe off, Harry suddenly remembered the seeds and got straight to work. It took a lot less time than he had expected, but he still placed it in the window sill. He sat down at the desk chair, staring at the pot filled with a single seed that would soon be a sappling, feeling peaceful for the first time in a long time.