blood bound

chapter 11: Supper with The Dark Lord

They arrived in the entrance hall of one of the many random manors that Voldemort owned. The dark wood paneling and gleaming surfaces with rich tapestries told Severus that the staff, be they house elves or something else, took great care of the place. He wasn't given a chance to look around properly since almost the moment they landed Voldemort was moving again, down a hall and up a short flight of stairs only to enter a large room. The room was covered in bookshelves and books but it wasn't their final destination as Voldemort paid it no mind only crossing the room to a niche that turned out to be yet another short hallway hidden by an illusion.

The hidden hallway ended at a heavy oaken door carved with vines, trees, and forest life that opened to Voldemort's touch and a short burst of magic. The sitting room behind the door was cozy and already had a roaring fire in the giant fireplace along with a tray of refreshments set out on the coffee table. The delicate silver tray and service sat on a heavy yet simple dark cherry wood coffee table in front of a burgundy sofa with matching wingback chairs to either side, all facing the fire place. Voldemort easily moved to the sofa with Harry still in his arms as Nagini finally slid down to the floor to curl up at his feet as Harry continued his exhausted nap in the other man's lap. Severus stood off to one side, uncertain as to what he was supposed to do.

"Sit, and tell me about our little menace. You say that your past impressions have been inaccurate, tell me of the discrepancies you've discovered," Voldemort ordered softly, indicating one of the wingback chairs.

"The largest one that has jumped out at me is that there are indications I somehow missed that he is or was abused," Severus admitted bluntly, knowing it was a sore subject for both of them even as he watched Voldemort immediately tense, unconsciously clutching Harry closer. "I had apparently deluded myself into thinking that his defensiveness was arrogance or was caused by his own recklessness which led to the various dangerous situations he has dealt with over the years. This was not the case. His position was confirmed when he verbally attacked his relatives shortly before the meeting, with liberal hints that littered his answers when he submitted to questioning under veritaserum, which he willingly submitted to at the time. He is highly protective of me and of those he considers his and has repeatedly promised me that I will not be a slave despite being submissive to him."

"Then placing the two of you in a separate room until you've become more comfortable with me is going to be out of the question," Voldemort rumbled thoughtfully. "It also explains why he fought the bond so much and that he had to feed from you before he was willing to take my blood. Starving himself like that was dangerous and utterly unnecessary and I expect you to help me keep him from trying it again. Hopefully we can teach him that he is worth all of the trouble that he causes since I very much doubt that he believes it himself. Perhaps he would be willing to help punish the people that hurt him?"

"The most violent I've seen him is when he's protecting someone else," Severus pointed out quietly. "He also admitted that the hat wanted him in Slytherin as well as that Black and the Weasleys officially adopted him recently. The adoption at least is likely the reason that he allowed them to bully him into taking the Veritaserum despite only being willing to let me administer it and literally sitting in my lap during the entire questioning. He seems completely oblivious to any injuries he incurs to his own body or mind as long as whoever he is protecting is safe or otherwise achieves his goal, such as during a Quidditch match."

"We'll have to do something about that," Voldemort muttered before shifting the subject. "You said something about his relatives? Tell me about what happened."

"They were waiting on the muggle side of the barrier for him and their reactions along with the resulting argument were abominable," Severus admitted. "The three of us were to shocked to do anything but watch as he made it clear that he's never returning to them again, that there are people who actually want him, and that their treatment of him was inexcusable. I have no doubt that had the discussion been held privately his uncle and cousin would have resorted to physical violence."