Harry found himself walking in the midst of a thick fog. He didn’t know how or when he got there, but he knew why he was there.
He was looking for his son.
No sooner he thought about him than he saw two dark figures in front of him. A closer look revealed that it was Lord Voldemort holding the hand of a young pre-teen boy. The smile on Voldemort’s face spelled trouble, and his instincts told him that the hand of the boy he was holding was his son. He ran as fast as he could, yelling after them.
“Cookie! Cookie, come back! It’s me, your mother!”
The boy turned around, revealing his lightning bolt birthmark just near his nape. Harry would’ve been happy that Cookie had acknowledged him hadn’t he been greeted with a pair of ice-cold brown eyes and a venomous reply:
“I don’t have a mother. Not anymore…”
--:--
“Harry! Harry, you alright?”
Harry turned slowly towards the voice, his cheeks wet and salty with tears and sweat. He saw Hermione looking at him worriedly with her hands on his shoulders, trying to comfort him like a mother comforting a child. Much have changed since he last saw her. With her hair that was now straightened and reaching her thighs and her bangs held back with tiny bronze hair clips together with her now matured face, she was a woman of great beauty—maybe even more beautiful than the last time she was dressed up for the Yule Ball during their fourth year.
“Harry! Bloody hell! Thank goodness you’re awake, mate. You got us worried, going out cold like that for almost 3 days!” Ron approached him from the other side of the bed. He, on the other hand, had lost most of his freckles and his unruly hair finally smoothed down to an equivalent of Fred and George’s hairstyle. He looked tanner and built now, and had lost that timid, cowardly look that used to take up residency on his face during his school years.
“Welcome back to the living, Potter. Though I have to say I find it surprising to associate the Golden Boy with night terrors,” the sarcastic tone of Draco prompt Harry to turn to see him leaning on the foot of the bed. He wore his hair almost as long as his father’s, tied neatly with a black ribbon. Nothing much had changed on him, except that he was getting more and more like his old man. An apple that didn’t fall too far form the tree best described Draco Malfoy right now.
As he looked around, trying to bring his dream-like state of mind back to reality, he realized that he was in the familiar grounds of the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. He was lying on the same bed he had been lying on for the past 7 years of his school life. At the entrance of the Hospital Wing, there stood Severus Snape leaning on the wall while Remus and a strawberry-blonde man in an Auror’s uniform coming in hand in hand. Severus Snape still remained the same cold, expressionless Potions Master, but his hair had a few noticeable streaks of gray in between. Remus still looked the same with his clean cut hair and hand-me-down clothes, but the strawberry-blonde Auror was someone new. Sirius was nowhere to be seen. He had expected all the fathers of his child—well, in essence, that is—since Voldemort had mentioned about them playing the part in creating Cookie, but so far, he’s missing out one.
But none of those mattered now. What mattered most to him now was that his baby son was in the hands of his archenemy. His son Cookie was now in enemy lines, and who knows what horror or twisted ideas Lord Voldemort was able to manipulate into his young son’s mind. He had seen and heard everything while he was under the Dark Lord’s captivity in spite of his drugged state. He remembered the horrible taste of sedatives every time he got close to regaining consciousness. He remembered hands touching him and removing his shirt every time he was needed to feed Cookie. He remembered being carried into the hallway with the Levitation Spell and being chained onto the wall before being cast the Cloaking Spell. He heard the entire process of speeding up Cookie’s growth though he couldn’t see a thing hidden behind the spell. He heard everything Voldemort and Wormtail said to his Cookie, whom Voldemort named Prince Naga. He was shocked to find out that Wormtail had been spying on him in his Animagus form, and was horrified that he and Voldemort were using his mean words when he was pregnant to turn Cookie against him. His heart shattered with guilt and pain as Cookie took in every word Voldemort said and him made the decision to join his league.
He didn’t deny that he had said a lot of things he shouldn’t have said and he hadn’t expect Cookie to remember them even in the womb. He wanted to scream out to Voldemort to stop manipulating Cookie. He wanted to just break out of the chains he was in and hold Cookie and apologize for everything he had said. He wanted to tell Cookie that he loved him more than life itself and he wanted to make up for the venomous words and hate he used to feel towards him. His heart ached with joy when he heard Cookie calling him ‘Mother’ and when he saw how beautiful he grew up to be, yet his heart broke when Cookie’s eyes changed from innocence to hatred and vengeance. It was the worst sight ever—even worse than death.
“It’s…It’s my fault…” Harry finally breathed out the words as he went to another bout of tears. “I couldn’t protect my son…I made him into a monster…”
“Oh, Harry…” Hermione’s voice trembled as she reached over to hug him. Harry buried his face into his hands.
“It’s my fault…It’s my fault…”
--:--
“Potter.”
Harry gave a sideways glance at Severus Snape who came in with a green jar in his hand. He had that same old look on his face, so Harry still couldn’t figure out what was going on in his head, no matter how hard he tried. He sat up slowly as Severus stopped at the side of his bed.
“Remove your pants, Potter. This ointment would help ease the wounds of your traumatized female parts,” Severus ordered in his usual no-nonsense tone as he sat on the bed.
“Where’s Madame Pomfrey?” Harry asked, surprised. “I thought she handles all the medical stuff.”
“The mediwitch is wanted in another city for today. They were running out of staff for the Quidditch medical team. I just so happen to have some of her medicines as backup in my lab. Now remove your pants.”
Harry nodded awkwardly and tried taking them off under the covers, but Severus grabbed the covers and swished them off him, revealing his bare lower body.
“No need for hiding and being all self-conscious now, Potter. We’re both men.”
“That’s only half true,” Harry felt like blushing as he spread his legs for Severus to do his job. He didn’t know why but the thought of Severus Bloody Snape staring at his naked lower body embarrassed him badly. He almost wished he had his blindfold on right now.
Harry’s breath hitched as he felt Severus touch his female parts with his ointment-covered fingers. It felt a little bit icy and tingling and smelt like mint. The feeling of Severus’ fingers rubbing against his extra genitals made his heart race and his face heat up. As he clutched the bed sheets he realized that he was being aroused. His breathing quickened as Severus rubbed more ointment onto him, and he noticed for a flicker of a second that Severus’ sallow cheeks slightly gained colour. Was he aroused too? Or was he just embarrassed to be touching someone so intimately? Somehow, surprisingly Harry felt a little hurt seeing Severus reacting this way when he has been one of those who shagged him like there’s no tomorrow.
When Harry felt the muscles near his stomach clench, Severus’ hand soon pulled away. He had to admit he felt a little disappointed as he watched Severus nonchalantly closed the lid of the jar and wiped his hands on his hanky. Severus noticed him staring and asked, “What are you looking at, Potter?”
“Nothing,” Harry looked away at first, then considered before saying, “I, uh, was wondering if…well, you know about your…um…connections with Co…I mean, Naga.”
“I have been informed.”
“Voldemort said that you were the one who brought me back home after he duffed me up. Do you remember?”
“I remember it vaguely. It comes and goes but I try not to dwell upon it.”
“He said Wormtail obliviated your memory on that.”
Severus went silent for a while. He seemed to try to take in the reality that he had been manipulated yet again in his life. Finally, after a long silence, he said, “I should’ve known better.”
“It’s beyond your control, Snape. It’s not your fault,” Harry tried to make him feel better.
Severus nodded.
“At least you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to do if Naga actually belongs to you.”
Severus didn’t reply. He picked up the jar and walked towards the Hospital Wing entrance. He stopped and stood there for a minute or so before saying without facing Harry, “This doesn’t change anything between us.”
“Understood,” Harry sighed as he watched Severus leave. Always the hard-headed, self-denying man, he thought. He would never change.
A few moments later, he heard a short greeting from beyond the entrance before seeing Remus and Sirius-Kiaran popped their heads through to make their presence known. Harry smiled at upon seeing them. After Severus’ ‘calming’ slap, he learnt about how Sirius got out of the Veil and came in the form of the newly employed Auror and all that history. He didn’t care what form Sirius was in, as long as he knew that his beloved godfather was still around even after death.
“How are you holding up, son?” Sirius-Kiaran asked, stroking Harry’s unkempt hair.
“I’m not throwing anymore fits, if that’s what you mean,” Harry chuckled. “How about you? How are you going to carry on in this world when you can’t leave the Ministry building for too long in spirit form and you can’t invade someone’s body forever?”
“Well, I haven’t thought about that yet, I must admit. But I’m sure Albus can think of something. He said he’ll look up on ways to help me carry on walking around among the living without having the feeling of throwing up all the time.”
“I guess,” Harry smiled. He trusted Albus Dumbledore. He may have had grudges with him in the past, but deep down inside he knew Albus would do anything that is within his power to help anyone in need.
“I’m…I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you, Harry,” Remus apologized, his face filled with guilt. “I made a mistake on my werewolf change. I didn’t know what got into me.”
“Hey, no big,” Harry waved it away. “I’ve been through worst, if you know what I mean.”
“Thank goodness you get turned into a werewolf only when you’re bitten. I know I’ve scratched you up real bad. I didn’t puncture you or anything now, did I?”
“Heavens forbid if that ever happened! No, don’t worry your socks off. You grabbed my throat in your mouth real bad but you didn’t bite through. I never experienced any change after your ordeal.”
“I guess I have to apologize too,” Sirius-Kiaran voiced out awkwardly. “I thought I was doing the right thing to make you forget your pain.”
“You did the right thing, Siri. I did forget. Thank you for breaking me. Ever since you, well, kinda died, everyone’s been trying to break me.”
“We just wanna let you know that,” Remus said as he reached out to hug Sirius-Kiaran’s arm, “no matter what happened between us, we still love you like our own son.”
Harry watched quietly at Remus’ display of affection. He had always known that Sirius-Kiaran and Remus had this thing for each other since the day he saw them hug at the old manor during Sirius’ escape from Azkaban in his third year. His suspicions were confirmed when he accidentally peeked on them kissing in a room after the meeting of the Order. He knew then that if he were to leave the Dursleys and stay in Grimmauld’s Place, this was what he had to put up with, well, in a good way, that is.
After a little small talk, both Remus and Sirius-Kiaran kissed Harry goodnight on the cheek and left. 2 minutes later Draco appeared at the entrance leaning on the wall like he used to whenever he needed to insult Harry by surprise. It was Hogwarts all over again.
“Well, well, well. Fancy seeing three fags puckering up on each other,” Draco said in his usual teasing way.
“Bug off, Malfoy. One rescue is not enough to make up for what you’ve done to me in the past,” Harry said irritably. “Besides, you’re a really bad fucker.”
“Watch your tongue, Potter. I wouldn’t have had sex with you if it weren’t for the fact that you’re a fucking prick! Don’t get me wrong, Potter. I didn’t do it because I had a fetish for you or even a crush on you or whatnot. You pissed me off real bad, and I wanted you to feel hurt. It was just an act of anger. Nothing else. Nothing’s gonna change between us. You’re still the same bloody prick you used to be and I still don’t like you one bit. You’re lucky that kid has nothing to do with me.”
Harry wasn’t angry. He didn’t look the least bit offended. He knew Draco was jealous. He didn’t really hate him like he claimed he was. In fact, Harry smiled and said, “You mean you’re lucky the kid has nothing to do with you. I’ve felt worse hurt, Malfoy. The Dark Lord your father is so proud of definitely delivered more hurt and pain than you can imagine, believe me. At least you gave me a good time, even if it was only for a little while.”
Harry thought Draco blushed a little in awkwardness. Draco looked away for a while and muttered, “Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Potter. You weren’t much of a good fuck anyway.”
“At least we can be a little bit more civilized with each other. For starters, we can associate each other in a slight friendly matter, like calling each other by our first name.”
Draco was silent for about 5 seconds before mumbling hesitantly, “Whatever, Harry.”
“Now that wasn’t so bad, was it, Draco?”
Draco huffed and left the room. Harry lay back on bed, feeling suddenly relaxed after being able to get his feelings towards his archenemy off his shelf. He wondered if he and Draco would ever become friends. Tough chance, but not impossible. Soon he let out a yawn and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to claim him.
He was only half an hour through his sleep when he felt like someone was watching him. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Ron propping his head on the bed and staring at him intently. Harry rubbed his eyes groggily and yawned.
“Ron? What are you doing here?”
“Sorry to wake you,” Ron apologized. “I was trying to make sure you’re alright.”
“I’m fine, thanks for your concern,” Harry replied as he turned his body around to face Ron. “So how did the proposal go? Did I miss out anything good during the graduation party?”
“You missed a bloody hell tons of good stuff, mate. The whole school was cheering and clapping and going stark raving mad. Even Ginny was so impressed that she didn’t tell on me for drinking myself silly. Colin Creevey went into one of his picture-taking frenzy and all that and…”
“So how did Mione take your ‘extra outdoor activity’ with me?” Harry popped out the question Ron wished he never asked. Ron blushed like hell and looked at his twiddling thumbs.
“You should’ve seen her. She was ranting and raving and crying like a schoolgirl when I tried to apologize to her. She was beating me on the chest—which bloody hell hurt, by the way—and I had to hold her tight to stop her from giving me any more bruises. She even threatened to break off the engagement and leave me. But she eventually calmed down after almost an hour of crying in my arms and finally said that the past is the past and that I was young and stupid back then.”
“So she forgave you?”
“Yup. She forgave me and kept the ring. I waited until she’s asleep before I came down here.”
“Ah, deciding to take your insomnia out on me, eh? What would you do if you find out that Naga is yours?”
“Bloody hell, I don’t know! I mean, I might take responsibility for it but I don’t think I could live with the guilt, not to mention the thought of betraying Mione.”
“So be thankful he isn’t. Although I’m not so glad about Voldemort being the father.”
“I’m sorry, Harry. If only I could…”
“Don’t blame yourself for the past, Ron. Like Mione said, we were young and stupid back then. We’re still gonna friends, right?”
“Always.”
--:--
“Father.”
“It’s a fine mark on you, my prince,” Voldemort said as he took Naga’s left wrist and regarded the Mark. “You make a fine powerful wizard after me.”
“I wish nothing more than that.”
“Remember, you’re a prince born of privileges. You are Naga Marvolo Riddle, heir of Lord Voldemort and future ultimate wizard who will reign supreme and be feared and revered by all.”
“I will remember that always.”
Voldemort nodded in approval before getting up and leaving his son’s room. Suddenly Naga stood and said, “Father, I have a plan.”
“What sort of plan?”
“Something you’ll find deliciously interesting.”
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