I'm A Slave For You-Chp34

I'M A SLAVE FOR YOU

The trio Charlie, Severus and Hagrid tried to catch their breath as they hid out of sight behind the huge mountain of rocks, praying to all gods of religion that they would not be found. Their clothes were charred here and there and covered with soot and ashes while they try to use wordless water spells onto their clothes to douse out whatever remaining fire that clung to them, eating away the fabric. On the other side, the old dying dragon, though his movements were slow and his senses and eyesight were not sharp enough to discover that they were hiding just right under his belly, was still dangerously close, his breath of fire sizzled and crackled as he looked for his tiny enemies that were here to snuff his very existence.

It had been almost five days since they stepped into this fiery battlefield and had this showdown with the dragon. Persuading the trainers to let Severus and Hagrid enter was quite easy because Charlie had been very reputable as a Dragon Keeper within the facility and done a very good job escorting the dragons to and from the previous Triwizard Tournament unscathed. That and also the fact that Charlie spoke very fluently in their language ever since he came to Romania to work earned him their trust. Severus and Hagrid were given a sort of fire-proof pass in case they come across other trainers and Keepers so that they would know that he and the half-giant had clearance to enter the reserve.

According to the records, the dragon they were supposed to put out of its misery just so happen to be a male Norwegian Ridgeback that had been terrorizing the reserves and its inhabitants for quite some time now. Despite being endangered, the Keepers and trainers were trained to know when a dragon has already outlived its lifespan and from there, decide whether they should prolong their years for special purposes or let them wither and die naturally. But there are certain dragons which instinctively knew their time was coming to an end but would not go down without a fight, so despite its failing body, it would go rogue and pillage, burn and destroy everything in its path to shout out the glory and magnify its existence. Once that happens, a certain Dragon Keeper would be assigned to go into the reserves and given special permission to put the rogue dragon to sleep, permanently.

During those five days, it was no walk in the park either. The first two days were spent trying to track the dragon down by following the trail of ruins it left behind due to the fact that the reserve itself is so huge so as to accommodate the number and size of dragons within it. On the third day, they were able to find it chomping away at a younger dragon, tearing off and swallowing its limbs and flesh without chewing. Charlie then knew the extent of viciousness the dragon was and how badly it became rogue. He had to put it down fast. While Severus and Hagrid offered to distract the rogue dragon, it was Charlie's job to take pictures and records of the young dead one's body and send out a signal to other trainers and/or Dragon Keepers to notify them a death of a dragon and to come and handle its remains. Too bad the young dragon that died was not the species Severus was looking for, or his quest for Harry's freedom would've over. Over the course of the next two days, the trio had tried different methods to try and approach the dragon so that Charlie could do his job but unfortunately, despite being old, the dragon was smart and knew the tricks of the trade, and knew instinctively that Charlie and his group were here to put him down. The Norwegian Ridgeback made it clear that he was not going down without a fight as he tried—almost succeeding—to burn the trio into a crisp, which led them to their current situation now.

After waiting for what seemed like forever for the dragon to crawl past them, the trio quickly made their way into a nearby forest, or what's left of it, to seek refuge and get a time-out after a tasking day out there nearly being scorched in Severus-Hagrid-Charlie ala flambé.

"Goodness, I ne'er knew yer job wuz dis tough, Charlie. But I hafta admit, it's quite excitin'!" Hagrid exclaimed as he took a long gulp out of his canteen he brought along from home. The poor half-giant was so dirty and so covered with the aftermath of fire that he almost resembled a huge black grizzly bear.

"Comes with the territory, Hag. Why do you think I never married?" Charlie said as he wiped the sweat off his brow, smudging the dirt all over his face.

"How long is this going to last, Weasley?" Severus asked as he threw away his outer robes that beyond charring. He looked at his hands and realized it had gotten so much dirtier than the day before. The last time he remembered being so dirty was when he had to clean himself after a day's digging for roots at the school grounds for his potions, and that was about a year before he bought Harry. He'd give anything right now to have a nice, long, hot bath, even more if Harry were in it with him.

"It depends, really. The last time I tried putting down a dragon was when I first became a Dragon Keeper and partnered with a senior before he retired," Charlie replied. "And that was about, what, 3 years ago? It took us almost two weeks of camping out, hiding and many burnt marks and broken bones that took months to recover, even with Skele-Grow and Skin-On solutions. Usually, a Dragon Keeper assigned to put down a dragon works alone or with one partner at most. This is the first time I've actually brought outsiders."

"Well, that sounds comforting," Severus rolled his eyes in sarcasm.

"What did ye had tuh put down?" Hagrid asked.

"It was a Hungarian Horntail," Charlie replied. "Not the one that was used during the Triwizard, obviously, but another one. She was one of a kind, that dragon. Despite dying any time soon, she managed to force a final mating out of another young strong one and by the time we were done with her, we discovered that during our mission to put her down, she had finally laid her eggs and kept it in a fairly hidden spot so that we would not find it, and had been ferociously defending till her last breath. Of course, eventually we did when we went to clear out her lair after having done burying her remains."

"Hav' they hatched?" Hagrid asked while he tried to untangle his long beard from the leaves and grass that stuck onto them.

"Yes, of course. We added them along with another batch of eggs that a young mother dragon was hatching—while she was asleep, of course—and they have hatched and grown beautifully."

"Yes, yes, that all sounds very fascinating and touching at the same time," Severus interrupted impatiently, "but right now, how are we going to kill off this one exactly?"

"Well, according to the calculations made by the other Dragon Keepers and trainers, this dragon is about to kick the bucket at approximately 5 months," Charlie looked at his barely surviving charts. "But by then, they would've probably burnt off the entire reserve and stomped into our territory. Back then, when we brought down the Horntail, we looked for the soft spot that separates between the neck and the chest, cut it open and cast a Killing Curse directly at the heart. Same theory goes for this one."

"Why not just blast the damn thing straightaway?"

"For two reasons: first and foremost, you should know by now that we were almost killed numerous times these five days just trying to get close to that damn thing, even harder when we do not have our brooms, and two, even if we can get close to it, we can't just simply spell them to death because their skin are spell repellant; their hide is too thick and the body size is too huge to allow the Killing Curse to travel fast enough throughout its body. There is a reason the knights back then go around wearing that stupid heavy outfit and waving their swords and shields about at them, you know."

Severus grumbled in reply. How could this get any worse? He cursed the man that sent him into this bloody mess.

"I suggest we go for lower ground this time, since he found our previous camping site and almost made toasts out of us," Charlie said as he got up, patting the dirt off him. "Judging by the way the dragon is moving right now, I'd say he'd be tired out for a while. We've led him far enough from harm's way and I doubt he can do any damage around here. The sun is finally setting. We'll retired for today," Charlie turned sharply at Severus before the Potions Master could protest, "and I mean it, Snape. We barely rested for more than three hours before you drag us around through the nose for these five days. We are tired, and so are you. Don't make me tell Hag to knock you out, because I can and I will."

Severus, seeing that he was fighting a losing verbal battle against the more expert of the situation, finally sighed and relented to Charlie's decision. It was true that they were lacking the sleep department ever since they got into the reserves. He was so anxious to get the job over and done with that his talent in being an insomniac back when he was still a budding student in Hogwarts burning the midnight oil almost every night kicked in, and he barely allowed the redhead and the half-giant to have at least forty winks before he shook them awake, alerting them the presence of the dragon was near. Thanks to adrenaline pumping through their veins, they were able to stay awake until their next shut-eye, but after five days of lack of sleep, they were all approaching their limit, even Severus.
Following behind Charlie's lead with his trusty map of the reserve as a guide, they scoured through the forest to look for a suitable lower ground to hide out from the dragon's pursuit. Once the sun was down and the moon was high above the sky, they finally found a small abandoned underground burrow that looked like it used to be occupied by dwarves before the whole place was made into the dragons' reserve. They decided this was the best place they could hide out and entered the burrow for their long-awaited rest. Removing their gear and cleaning themselves with a spell while mending their clothes with the Reparo spell, Charlie took out a large journal and started scribbling.

"Wassat yer writin', Charlie?" Hagrid asked.

"It's like my personal work journal," Charlie replied. "Only I update it when something exciting happens or when I learn something new about dragons. It keeps me informed and reminds me of what to do when something happens to the dragons or the people around it. I even jotted down my first mission to put down a dragon with my senior on it. Helps me remember things, since the mission alone was one of the greatest memories of my working career."

"Any explanation as to why you would rather stick your neck out to get barbecued instead of having a normal, less life-threatening job?" Severus asked while helping Hagrid to prepare dinner with all the pots and pans he brought along with him.

"Same reason why you would rather stick your hand into the cauldron and risk having your face blown away everyday instead of standing in front of the classroom babbling about theories and facts," Charlie replied. "I simply love the thrill of being in the presence of the most magnificent creature Mother Nature could ever create. There is always something new to learn everyday about them. They never cease to surprise me, just like you never cease to as well."

"What does that suppose to mean?" Severus raised a brow.

"I mean, look at you. One minute I see you standing behind the bubbling cauldron with your greasy hair framing your pale-as-a-ghost face back when I was still studying in Hogwarts and attending your classes, and now you're out here, getting yourself into dirt and grime and falling on your face running away from a fire-breathing dragon. Back then, you were never one of those who would be cut out to be in the harsh outdoors. You're always in that dark dungeon of yours looming over your cauldron thinking up new potions to make that we went as far as thinking that you could be a vampire or something until you started occasionally being our Quidditch referee. That slave you have must've gotten you right in the head to be behaving out of your norm like this."

"There is always a first time for everything," Severus replied quietly, not looking at the redhead and pretending to be very busy with boiling water. Have I really changed that much? he thought to himself. If he weren't among the people who had known him to be the Ice Prince of Hogwarts, he would've laughed at himself by now.

"I'll say," Charlie said as he continued scribbling on his journal. "That slave—Harry, right?—he must be a real looker for you to go on an all-out war with a dragon like this."

"Ooh, ooh! I hav' a picture of him!" Hagrid exclaimed as he brandished out a photograph from one of his inner pockets in his robes. "Ain't he juz tha' cutest thin'?"

"When in the world did you take a picture of Harry?" Severus demanded, his jealousy bug kicking in.

"Oh, dinna be such a sourpuss, S'vrus," Hagrid waved him off as he passed the picture to Charlie for him to see. "It wuz durin' tha' first time I met him. Such a cute lil' boy sittin' dere feedin' me Fang an' cleanin' up me hut. I wuz just comin' home afta a long day's patrollin' an' he wuz just sittin' dere pettin' me dog as he found tha' mince beef I keeps in tha' larder. He wuz so cute an' timid tha' I dinna hav' tha' heart to scold 'im fer trespassin' an' demand wut he wuz doin' dere in me home. He juz came up tuh me wif a letter from Dumble sayin' tha' he's his new slave an' tha' he wou' be runnin' errands fer him from time tuh time, which includes cleanin' me hut, an' gave me such a cute, sparklin' smile—as sparklin' as me hut tha' he cleaned—while callin me 'Hagger' tha' I canna help myself. I picks him up happily an' hugs him like a lil' doll, an' his laugh made me dinna wanna put him down! He is so…so…so cute!!"

"I can see that," Charlie grinned at the picture. "He is quite beautiful for a boy. Let him grow out his hair as long as Mione and let him wear a girl's school uniform and you can't even tell the difference of his gender."

"My Harry is not something toy doll that you can play dress-up with!" Severus grumbled as he snatched the picture to have a look as well. The picture portrayed Harry smiling happily at the camera while hugging the drooling, panting Fang by the neck close to his face before the boarhound turned to lick the boy on the face. Looking at the movement of his beloved's mouth and the facial expression, he could tell that Harry was squealing with delight at the affection the boarhound was giving him. He wished the picture wasn't that silent; he really missed the sound of his beloved's voice.

"Oh my God, Snape, is that a smile?"

Severus' mind shot back into reality as he looked up from the picture to see Charlie and Hagrid looking at him in disbelief. The Potions Master felt like he wanted to just crawl into the deepest, darkest hole he could find and rot to death. He had never once revealed his true emotions to anyone except Harry, not even his own hired help and not even to Albus, and yet now he was actually smiling at a picture like some young teenager who had seen the person he was going to marry. Well, that thought never escaped his mind, but to have people other than Harry seeing what he really was inside, he really felt that he had gone deep under with embarrassment. If only killing people to prevent them from spreading his secret was legal.

"Let this get out and I assure you I will do everything within, no, beyond my power to make sure that you two will regret you ever saw that."

"Oh, will you relax, you old bat?" Charlie guffawed and clapped the Potions Master's back. "I'm not going to let out your pretty little secret. It's not like I have anyone to tell anyway. Besides, it is actually quite refreshing to see this side of you. Makes you more…human."

"You make me sound like I'm not," Severus scowled.

"Well, ev'n me thinks yer like summat undead," Hagrid admitted. "Wat wif yer prowlin' an' glidin' 'round school like summat outta tha' grave…"

"I do not prowl around Hogwarts," Severus protested coldly.

"Point is, Snape," Charlie chided in. "You are one of the many living proofs that love can change somebody, no matter how stone cold they are, and it is by a sex slave, no doubt. I can see that you guys are going to carry on very well from here on as soon as you've free him from servitude."

"Watcha hav' in mind afta yer free him, S'vrus?" Hagrid asked as he took out three saucer plates for them and poured in the cabbage soup they were cooking. Charlie took out a loaf of bread and a cutting knife and started cutting their share of bread to go with the cabbage soup.

"None of your business," Severus replied, still adamant to keep up with his stone cold reputation.

"C'mon, yer already openin' up tuh us nicely. We promise we won't tell."

After much hesitation from Severus' part and a long silence between three of them, Severus replied quietly, "I suppose…I will court Harry like a regular couple should."

"Ooh, how romantic!" Hagrid cooed, his face practically looking like it was about to sprout roses and daisies at the thought of the Potions Master courting his little cute friend.

"Be sure to invite me to your wedding," Charlie teased. "It's the least you could do to repay me for getting you here."

"Yes, yes, whatever," Severus muttered, munching his bread. The trio soon ate in silence, feeling slightly relieved at the fact that they could finally eat in peace without having to worry that the smell of food or the light and smoke of their campfire may alert the dragon into hunting them down. Once they were done, they continued to do their own thing: Charlie writing in his journal, Hagrid cleaning and putting back their eating utensils before helping everyone to fix their burnt clothes and Severus reading and rereading the letters that were sent by Harry. Ever since he left to Romania, he had religiously written letters every other week to update Harry on his current situation, ending it with a 'Love you forever, pet' after note, and would wait in anticipation for Harry's reply. Sometimes he got Harry's scribbles along with doodles of stick people as Harry tried to write his reply in his limited way, with his doodles as an emphasis for words he did not know how to write; sometimes he would get full-fledged doodles with cute little speech bubbles and words pointed by arrows, almost like a little comic strip; and sometimes he would get full-fledged wordy letters, although he still had to work on his sentence structure, but he loved them all the same. Now that he was in the reserve, he could not write to him for fear of the dragon spotting his Hedwig and making barbecue chicken out of her and worse, giving away their position. He could only pray that Harry understood why he couldn't communicate like they used to and wait patiently for his return.

Stealing a look at Hagrid who was trying hard to mend a hole on one of their trousers, he realized that he had never really known Harry and how he was doing before they were finally reunited that fateful night. He had Harry update him about his days in Hogwarts whenever Albus allowed Harry to see him, but before that, he had no idea except to rely on the scribbles Harry drew about his days in Hogwarts (which he had it framed, by the way, except the part where Harry was beaten by the Head Cook—he tore that out with a vengeance and demanded Albus to do something about him hurting his beloved) on the night of their reunion. He wanted to ask Hagrid, who had been close to his beloved at some point, to tell him but he was afraid he would appear even more uncharacteristic than he should.
In the end, his mouth beat him to it.

"Hagrid?" Severus started out a little tentatively.

"Yes?" Hagrid looked up to meet Severus' dark orbs.

"How was Harry…when he first came into Hogwarts?"

"Ye dinna know?" Hagrid asked in a surprised tone.

"Something sort of happened that cause us to be…isolated for a while," Severus chose his words carefully. "I knew nothing of his life as a member of Hogwarts during that time period. I thought maybe since you have been with Harry for a while…"

Hagrid beamed. The facial expression said it all: he was only too glad to divulge all the wonderful moments he had been through in his friendship with the little boy. Charlie, who was still writing on his journal, stole a look once in a while and soon listened in, his pen strokes slowing down to catch Hagrid's tale.

"Hav' I a tale tuh tell ya!" Hagrid began. "Well, actually I dinna sees him too many times, but when I do, it wuz tha' time of me life! Other than tha', Ron and Mione usually comes ov'r tuh me hut tuh tell me 'bout his lil' adventures he has in tha' school. Tha' Old Married Couple tells me tha' in tha' beginnin', he wuz a jumpy lil' creature, always lookin' ov'r his shoulder tuh see if nebody's gunna hurts him or summat, an' he wo' nev'r lets nebody's tuh touch him. Ron told me he bit him once when he tries tuh call him wi'out lettin' him knows he wuz dere at first, and Mione sez he has takens a chunk outta him once tuh many times. I dinna knows if he ev'r bitt'n neone else, but Ron shows me tha' bite marks once an' I kin tell ye, he bites like one helluva viper."

"You make him sound like a snake," Charlie chuckled, a mental image of his brother screaming bloody murder while Harry sinks his teeth onto his arms forming in his mind.

Looks like he took my advice a little too far, Severus thought, remembering that it was he who taught him how to take a chunk out of anyone who dared to touch him.

"Mo' or less," Hagrid shrugged. "Neways, he eased down summat afta bein' in school fer a while, an' I havn't met him until tha' day wen I comes home tuh see him feedin' me Fang. Sometimes Dumble asks lil' Harry tuh accompanies me tuh do some of mah works tuh prepares me fer me classes. I swears he's born fer all them magical creatures. He wuz tha' only one tha' could see 'em Threstals wen I wuz catchin' summat tuh teach tuh me students, an' he wuz me seein' eyes tuh help me git some. A handful kin sees 'em wen I wuz teachin' 'em 'bout it, but he wuz tha' only slave I know tuh be able tuh see 'em critters. 'Em Threstals, along wif 'em other magical critters, ease up so nicely wif him, like dere his ol' friends or summat. Aragog, known tuh be tha' most vicious insects an' King of all 'em spiders, stopped his clan from touchin' him at first glance an' made a web fer him to jump an' play on like summat Muggle trampoline. Buckbeak dinna ev'n hafta wait fer him tuh bow tuh him; he juz came up tuh him like it wuz tha' most normal thin' tuh do an' lets tha' boy tuh git up on him. Ev'n 'em centaurs, tha' most unsociable creatures ev'r walked the wizardin' world, talked tuh him like they knows him ferev'r!"

"That sounds rather intriguing," Charlie commented. "Do you think that he could be related to a Creature Charmer?"

"Creature Charmer?" Severus echoed, being his first time hearing this kind of term.

"It's a sort of old, extinct and long forgotten group of wizards and witches who have the uncanny ability to subdue and charm magical creatures just by their presence alone," Charlie explained. "The magical creatures only need to take one glance at them and they would immediately be charmed to do their bidding, no questions asked and no loyalties wavered, as if they were meant to do it and their whole purpose is to serve them. Some said that this clan possibly stemmed from a marriage between a wizard/witch and one of the many children of Mother Nature whenever they assume human form, other said that it's probably a union between wizards/witches and wood elves. No one exactly knows for sure, but after many generations later, they slowly died out because of their elitism ideology and them only wanting to marry their own. Hearing you say that about this Harry, one of them must be the odd one out of the family and carried out the bloodline to the outside world."

"It is possible," Severus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Could his beloved have anymore surprises hidden under his sleeve?

"Well, Ron and Mione bin tellin' summat wonder tales while he wuz in tha' school," Hagrid continued his story. "'Em portraits were happy tuh hav' a friend tuh talk tuh since Harry is such a good listener. Many people can sees tha' portraits lookin' so much livelier wen Harry's round cuz they git tuh tell Harry all sorts of thin's an' shows off dere stuff. Tha' Fat Lady wuz extremely pleased tuh hav' him round cuz he's tha' only person who would tolerates her singin'. Ev'n 'em ghosts were happier an' less hauntin' round him, especially tha' Bloody Baron. Harry seems tuh be tha' only person who could be friends wif him. No other ghosts kin stand him, but ye shoulda seen tha' lil boy wif tha' Baron. If tha' Baron were summat alive, ye woulda swear they were like 'em grandpa an' grandson or summat. Moanin' Myrtle likes him tha' most. She seems tuh hav' a crush or summat wif tha' lil' kid."

Severus looked like he was going rush back to Hogwarts and exorcise the moaning little girl out of kingdom come.

"An' then dere wuz 'em students an' tha' servants. He has dis uncanny ability tuh bring in tha' most unlikely friends tuhgetha. He has helps Cedric Dig'gry tuh get back wif his girlfriend Cho wen dey hav' 'em lovers' spat. He has helps Luna tuh finds her lost shoes an' stop ev'ryone else from bullyin' her. He has helps Oliver Wood tuh git ov'r his worries offa losin' his Quidditch an' he ev'n helps Seamus an' Dean realize dere feelings fer each otha', an' many more otha' thin's, an' all of 'em ar' now reli close friends wif Ron and Mione. He ev'n went all out tuh helps 'em servants wif 'em problems ev'n though none of 'em reli treated him v'ry friendly. Juz the otha' day 'fore Dumble calls me tuh sees him an' makes me take tha' Unbreakable Vow tuh look out fer S'vrus, he has stops a servant who accidentally got pregnant from killin' herself and helps her tuh confront tha' father of tha' child an' persuades him tuh accept responsb'lity, an' also helps a servant who fells intuh tha' well wen he wuz drawin' water gives 'em Muggles calls CPR an' brings her back tuh life! How wonderful izzat?"

"Very," Severus replied, his heart swelling with pride at how much his beloved had done for the school and changed their lives for the better. "I suppose that is his real magic at work."

"Possibly," Charlie agreed, "or perhaps he truly has a heart of gold. Now I really want to meet this boy."

After about an hour of Hagrid jabbering about how wonderful Harry was and all sorts of escapades he had whenever Harry had to run and errand for him (including approaching a unicorn to get a little bit of its hair for wand makers, persuading a centaur to help confirm a prediction Prof. Trelawney made and helping him to locate a certain weed in the Forbidden Forest for Prof. Sprout with the help of some of Aragog's grandchildren), the trio decided it was time to get their shut-eye. Leaving the fire to a slow burn, they looked for any rugs they could find inside the burrow and pulled them up against their chin before bidding each other good night.

Severus, after allowing the image of his beloved Harry that he had learned so much and loved even more linger in his mind, slowly drifted to a slightly restless sleep.

--:--

"It is so nice to talk to you, Harry. It's been a while since I had real human company."

Harry smiled as the red bushy man reached over to pat his head, with Fang panting beside him. The man, whose waist reached the boy's head, lifted his billowing brown-going-to-red mane and looked up at the sky. Seeing the clouds slowly covering the moon, he knew he had to leave.

"Well, I must take my leave now, child," the man said as he patted Harry's head again and smiled through his bushy face. "I hope to see you again next time."

Harry nodded and moved a step back. The man turned and walked towards the lake, magicking his clothes at will and making it disappear in thin air before slowly, but surely, morphed into the Animagus form he had always resembled. His loud and proud mane shrinking back into his skull and his whole body growing bigger and bigger with numerous tentacles appearing from every part of his body, the man turned from his noble strong self into a huge Giant Squid. Raising one of his tentacles as if waving goodbye to Harry, he submerged into the lake and disappeared out of sight as if his presence had never existed before.

"Harry! Harry, where are you?!"

"Uh-oh," Harry stuck out his tongue at Fang like a child who did something wrong. He was actually only allowed a 10-minutes break from his nightly classes but he had wandered off too far to the lake and judging by the frantic voices, Ron, Hermione and Draco must've been looking for him. Before he left the lake to return to the trio, he gave one last wave at the lake, hoping that the Giant Squid would see him from below.

"Bye-bye, Godric."