A Hogwarts Intervention

Chapter 7: Christmas Gifts

Harry fell back asleep soon after they hand fed him, having opted to wait for a more reasonable hour before trying to leave their suite. When Snape found some of his personal items stored in various locations about the suite as they got dressed they concluded that their move into joint quarters was permanent, much to Severus' disgruntlement. The next thing they discussed, taking the chance with Harry sleeping after they ate, was something that bothered the Dark Lord, Snape's apparent need to destroy Harry's self confidence.

"Why do you continue to verbally assault him now that the ruse is no longer needed?" Voldemort asked softly as they sat at the table in the main room. The bed was were it had been the entire time, off to one side with Harry out cold as the transformation continued.

"Habit and the need to maintain the facade when we re-join the rest of the world," Snape admitted wearily as he morosely stirred his tea, refusing to meet the Dark Lord's gaze.

"A habit you will need to break," Voldemort instructed quietly as he played with his own morning drink. "You need to remember that Harry has not hardened in the way that we have. He will need the comfort we can offer him just as Lady Hufflepuff and Lord Slytherin reminded us. Can you honestly say that you never longed for comfort? That you do not still long for it in some small measure? I cannot, nor do I expect Harry or you to. Severus, I may be able to hear the fondness creeping into your insults but Harry might not be able to. This is something you will need to fix if we are to get on. I have already taken steps to do the same or did you not notice that to the two of you I am no longer the Dark Lord?"

"I noticed," Severus admitted almost sheepishly, eyes still locked onto his tea cup. "I will... try harder. Dumbledore will be suspicious at first as will most of the rest of the staff so we will need some sort of excuse or I and Po..Harry will find ourselves trapped in the infirmary."

"You are allowed to continue calling him brat," Voldemort pointed out with a huff. "But you need to make an effort so that he understands it is no longer an insult. If you find that you have difficulty or cannot change your verbal responses you have two options, offer him some form of physical comfort to help counter the effects or I will.. encourage you more strongly. I will not use pain but you may find yourself locked out of any potions lab or unable to use a cauldron until you've made the situation right."

"Thank you for the warning," Severus whispered miserably. Voldemort sighed heavily before getting up and coming around the table only to pull the potions master up from his seat and into a firm yet awkward hug. Snape instinctively buried his face in Voldemort's neck as he was gently held and soothed by the hand suddenly running through his hair.

"I do not want to punish you but if you allow yourself to continue hurting him it will hurt all three of us, including you," Voldemort chided softly, explaining even as he continued to hold the quietly shaking acerbic man. "You heard what Salazar said you are both my mates and Harry is deciding if we are his mates or simply family. Yes, we will sometimes hurt one another but it should never be intentional or we will be no better than those who have already harmed us. I know you had difficulty with his father but that isn't an acceptable reason to bully him, no matter how you try to justify it. Admittedly keeping your cover as one of my most loyal, especially with how unstable I had become, was a fairly good reason but we both know you could have found a way around that if you had tried. All three of us know what kind of harm that bullying and similar actions can do. What if one of us becomes pregnant? Would you subject a child to that environment?"

"No... I'm sorry," Severus choked, tears in his voice and brimming in his eyes. They were both thumped into as they found a green-eyed limpet suddenly attached to their sides. The group hug was the first sign that either of the men had that Harry was again awake and they both instinctively wrapped an arm around the new addition to the comfort session.