Prophecy Child

It took a little less cajoling to convince the boy to eat breakfast this time. Lucius piled his plate with various items, intending to make sure there was something the boy would like. He needn’t have made such an effort – the child stuffed everything into his mouth with the same desperation, seemingly without tasting any of it.

Before Lucius could try to intervene, the Dark Lord spoke.

‘Harry. Harry!’ he spoke, not raising his voice too loud, but insistent on gaining the boy’s attention. Harry blinked, eyes darting around before landing on the Dark Lord’s chin. ‘You are eating too quickly. You will choke if you continue like that. Slow down and chew your food properly.’

Harry’s bulging cheeks reddened, and he ducked his head, trying to swallow down his overlarge mouthful. Unfortunately, as predicted, he began to choke. More unfortunate was his utter silence, meaning his face had gone past red and begun to turn purple before anyone realised. In their attempt to not make the boy too uncomfortable, everyone had been politely avoiding looking at him. When Lucius glanced down, noticing the boy hadn’t reached for anything else on his plate, he panicked at the sight of Harry’s eyes beginning to roll in his head.

‘Shit!’ he cried, grabbing the boy and thumping his back, trying to make him cough. Around the table, various people surged to their feet, helpless and staring at the small child.

Tom’s wand whipped from his sleeve and into his hand, and he flicked it at the boy, clearing the obstruction in his throat. A few tense seconds passed, the boy dragging in desperate gulps of air, face returning to a normal colour, and people slowly sank back to their seats, eyes still fixed on the situation. 

Nobody seemed quite sure what to do for a long moment, still and staring. The child seemed to suddenly become aware of his surroundings, eyes wide and fearful and darting between bodies and hands and doorways and… His small fist came up and began scrubbing vigorously at his chest, before Lucius laid a hand over it. Harry flinched hard, but Lucius stayed steady.

‘You’re alright, child. This is why we told you to eat more slowly. I think that’s enough for now anyway. Let’s head back to your room and brush your teeth.’

The child sagged in his chair, tears glimmering in his eyes, before he slid from his seat and began walking towards the door, heading for his room. Lucius gave Tom a heavy look, before following the boy upstairs.

Harry stopped at the doorway of his room, staring up at the sign on the door. His name. Tears gathered in his eyes again, but he gave no other reaction when Lucius encouraged him into the bathroom. He pulled a toothbrush from a drawer and handed it to the boy, who held it awkwardly.

‘You need to brush your teeth after you eat, b- Harry.’ Lucius instructed gently.

Harry glanced at the toothbrush, then Lucius’ chin, then the bathroom door, and back to the toothbrush. He lifted it to his mouth and gingerly began to run it over his front teeth.

Lucius stared, then took a moment to breathe calmly. ‘You need toothpaste, Harry. Here, let me help you. Have you brushed your teeth before?’

Harry shook his head, eyes on the floor. Lucius tried not to grimace. ‘Has someone else helped you brush your teeth before?’ Harry shook his head again.

Lucius added some paste to the brush, and slowly reached out, raising Harry’s chin with a finger. The boy flinched but didn’t flee, allowing his head to be raised. He opened his mouth at Lucius’ prompting, and held stock still as Lucius gently brushed his teeth.

It hadn’t been too long ago that he had done this for Draco – but Draco was more than able to brush his own teeth by now. Lucius was sure the Potter’s son was only a couple of months younger than his own son – surely he should know how to do such a task for himself? But he also hadn’t had any idea how to use soap or a washcloth… And didn’t seem to know how to use cutlery, if his complete ignoring of the utensils on the table at every meal was any indication. Lucius frowned as his thoughts continued, but the feeling of the boy trembling under his hand made him snap back to the present.

Evidently his facial expression had scared the boy, who was wide eyed and shaking and scrubbing his fist on his chest again.

‘It’s alright, child. I am not angry at you, I was merely distracted. Come now, rinse your mouth and we’ll head back downstairs. I’m sure you’re rather bored of this room – there must be something for you to play with downstairs. Do you like drawing?’ Lucius tried to keep his voice light, guiding the child out of the bathroom and back downstairs.

They headed for one of the larger sitting rooms, where there were many people gathered, and Lucius summoned a quill and some parchment. He sat the boy in a corner and directed him to do some drawing or writing. Lucius took a seat nearby, where he could see the child from the corner of his eye, and settled in for the meeting.

The meeting continued on for hours, Lucius – and everyone else – absorbed in the discussion on the various methods being used to further their Lord’s cause and suggesting ideas to improve in areas where progress was slower.

It was almost lunchtime before someone sitting near Lucius muttered, ‘What’s that smell?’ with a wrinkled nose. Several other people nodded, and began glancing around. Lucius pointedly ignored them, intending to set an example, but a loud gasp had him turning too.

‘What the fuck!’ someone shouted, and suddenly all eyes were on their corner of the room.

Lucius turned to see Harry, shirtless, wiping frantically at a spreading puddle of urine. The boy would occasionally lift his fist to scrub at his chest, before returning to the puddle, desperately trying to stop it spreading further.

It wasn’t the puddle that had caused the shout, however unpleasant it may be.

Gasp after gasp filled the room as more people caught sight of the child’s body.

The welts. The scars.

The protruding bones, each rib and notch of spine clearly visible.

The bruises, shaped like large hand prints, wrapped around the child’s arms, his neck, handprints covering most of his back.

Gasps turned to whispers, which turned to murmuring, the volume increasing and increasing until shouts filled the room.

The small boy’s panic grew, as he scrubbed and scrubbed, silent tears pouring down his face. Lucius finally snapped from his frozen state, and flicked his wand to vanish the mess. The boy reeled back, sheer terror in his eyes, as he pressed himself back against the wall. His fist was scrubbing so hard over his chest it had turned an angry red, and would probably start to bruise soon if someone didn’t stop him.

Lucius went to move, but then his Lord was there, dropping to a knee before the boy, whose arms flew up to protect his face. Silence fell abruptly, as everyone stared.

‘Hush now, ch- Harry. Nobody is angry with you. It is undoubtedly our fault for not taking you to the bathroom in time. This has been a rather long meeting, hasn’t it?’ Tom’s voice was soft, and he smiled slightly as he spoke, trying to put the boy at ease. Harry seemed not to hear him though, eyes darting around frantically, trying to watch everyone at once. His eyes darted to Tom frequently, being the closest person to him, but he gave no indication of hearing anything Tom had said.

Tom moved back a little, giving the boy more space. His eyes darted to Tom as soon as he began to move, but when he stilled, the boy began flicking his gaze all over again, assessing but clearly terrified.

‘Everyone out.’ said Tom, quiet but firm. Doubtless only the people closest to him actually heard, but they immediately turned and began chivvying everyone else out along with them. Once the room was empty, Tom moved again, settling himself to sit on the floor. He felt a little foolish – he hadn’t done this since he was a child himself.

‘Harry. Can you look at me?’ Tom asked gently. Harry’s eyes darted to his chin, then to a distant point in the room. Tom glanced over his shoulder and noticed a couple of people had remained behind, lingering near the door.

‘It’s alright, Harry, they will stay over there. I can ask them to wait outside though, if you prefer?’

Harry again gave no indication that he heard Tom. Tom’s brow furrowed momentarily, and Harry seemed to have no trouble noticing that. He pressed himself back harder into the wall at his back.

‘Harry. Look at me.’ Tom said, a little more firmly. The boy flinched, then cautiously lifted his gaze to Tom’s chin. ‘Can you look me in the eyes?’

Tom was not prepared for the boy’s reaction. His eyes grew even more wild, body shaking like a leaf, and a strange heaviness began to weigh on Tom. He felt it pushing him down, making him want to lay down and sleep.

Tom marvelled at the accidental magic from the boy. Unfortunate that the boy seemed to know – or at least, his magic seemed to know – a directed manner to subdue a considered threat. Incredible though – the power that this small child must hold.

Of course, as a Dark Lord, Tom held plenty of power too – enough to resist the child’s magic directed at him. Resist, but with surprising amount of effort and concentration.

‘Harry. You are safe. You can look wherever you choose, but will you nod so I know you are listening?’ Tom tried.

Hesitantly, Harry nodded.

‘Thank you. As I said, I am not angry at your accident. We should have assisted you to the bathroom earlier. This accident is not your fault. In future, perhaps you could let someone know when you need to use the bathroom?’

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He lifted his hands slowly and waved them around strangely, looking intently at Tom’s chin.

Tom shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Harry, I don’t know what you’re doing. Will you ask someone next time you need the bathroom?’

Harry’s brow furrowed again, and he gave a single hesitant nod.

‘Thank you. Now, let’s arrange some clean clothes, and we shall have lunch.’

Later that night, after dinner, after Lucius had taken the child to bed, the Dark Lord called his followers together again.

‘I am sure there are many questions regarding Harry Potter. Many of you saw the state of the boy this morning. I will not be sharing any details other than this. The boy is currently under my protection. Should further harm come to him, I will be most displeased.’

His followers glanced around uneasily, before one man, braver than the others, spoke up. ‘My Lord, I don’t mean to press for details, but I must know. How long has the boy been here?’

The Dark Lord gave the man an assessing look. ‘Three days.’

The man seemed to sag in relief. ‘Thank you, my Lord. None of the bruises looked to be any fresher than three days, by my estimation. I don’t mean to… My Lord, I have children of my own. The thought that y- that someone might do that to a child… I can only say I am glad to still follow you proudly.’

The Dark Lord’s gaze sharpened, then relented. ‘Understood, Walters. As I said, the boy is now under my protection.’

‘Yes, my Lord. If you have need of anything for him, I am willing to serve or assist as needed.’

‘Noted, Walters. You are all dismissed.’