Silent Suffering

Spells

'Thoughts'

::Parseltongue::

::Parseltongue Spell::

Harry could feel himself waking up slowly, only to find that he had curled up in an extremely comfortable bed with something warm and heavy on and around him. He opened his eyes to see Tom Riddle asleep in a chair next to his bed and remembered that he was in some house with Voldemort, who was his mate? And had helped heal him.

Harry looked away from the slumbering man and was a little ashamed by the girlish shriek that came out of his mouth when he realized that what was wrapped around him was, in fact, Riddle's extremely poisonous snake, Nagini, who had wanted to eat him.

Harry tried to scramble up the bed, away from the snake, but his bones were still strengthening and he, therefore, could not move in such a way. Harry looked up when he heard Riddle's laughter as Nagini let out a string of irritated hisses.

::Why are you moving about like this hatchling?:: the large snake hissed out displeased, ::I was having dreams of fields of rabbits just for me::

She slid off him and instead curled herself up at the end of the bed.

"It's not funny Tom, that your familiar almost gave me heart failure when I first woke up because I recognized her as the giant snake that has been looking forward to eating me," Harry said quietly, staring back down at Nagini.

Tom quieted down quickly. He reached out his hand to grip Harry's chin and gently turned the boy's head to look at him. "My apologies little one, I had not taken into consideration your last interactions with Nagini. She simply wanted to protect you because you are special to me," Tom said gently, stroking Harry's cheek.

Harry blushed, his creatures preening under the careful attention of his mate. He glanced down, "Thank you."

Tom pulled back carefully and waved his hand, casting a tempus charm. The time 7:21 showed itself in bright blue in the air before disappearing.
"It is still early, would you like me to get you breakfast before retrieving Narcissa?" Tom asked cautiously.

Harry shook his head, staring at the blanket covering him. He wasn't accustomed to eating yet and he had a special diet. He certainly did not want to have to deal with any of that while he was being watched so closely.

Tom narrowed his eyes and stared at Harry, "I think that we shall both have something small anyway. This way Narcissa is not awoken so early."

Riddle called for his elf, who appeared a second after her name being said. "Tilly. Bring us something small for breakfast. Some fruits and toast perhaps."

Tilly left for the food and was back no more than 20 seconds later. The little elf came with a platter of various fruits, a stack of toast, and a jar of strawberry jam. She put the tray on the bed and popped away, returning not a minute sooner with a glass of water for Harry and coffee for Tom.
"Thank you, Tilly," Riddle said. With that, the small elf popped off, as Harry looked on with horror at the arrangement in front of him. His stomach turned just looking at it.

Riddle clearly noticed his discomfort because he spoke up, "Do not feel as if you must eat it all. That would be unnecessary. Just consume what you would like and we shall leave it at that."

Harry looked up at the man and, when accidentally encountering the crimson eyes staring back at him, quickly looked down at the plate. He gently picked up a peeled orange and tenderly ate it. As he ate, his thoughts turned toward those of where he was. Never had he mentally prepared himself to be treated as a guest in a home with Voldemort, the man who had been attempting to kill him since he was a baby. With this thought, Harry realized that he should be completely terrified at the moment. No matter how comfortable his creatures were around their supposed mate, his base human instinct would be to panic in some form of self-preservation. Thinking about how he felt at that moment, Harry realized something that did scare him.

He didn't care.

Harry couldn't bring himself to care if Voldemort was going to hurt him or kill him. He wasn't scared of anything the man might do because, to be frank, he just couldn't care anymore. Harry realized that he may have found a good solution to his problems with emotional overloads.

"Harry?"

The small boy jerked his head towards the voice. He realized that he had been thinking for too long and was being stared at by Voldemort.

"Are you going to kill me? Or just use me?" Harry asked in an empty voice. He didn't realize how frightened he made Tom feel at that moment. The voice had no care in it, just the blunt words of someone who was slightly disinterested.

"I will let no harm come to you willingly, whether it be my fault or that of someone else. I have spent years searching for someone who would compliment me in the way that I have yearned for in a mate. I know it might take a bit for you to become accustomed to me in an amicable fashion, but why would I do any of this for you if I've planned to treat you poorly afterwards?" Tom said gently, attempting to avoid any provocation that may result in an explosion from the young, scared man in front of him.

Harry stared blankly at Voldemort, the handsome gentleman that he had known to have been trying to murder him since the age of 1. He tried to feel some semblance of concern that the man in front of him may be lying or even relief that he wouldn't have to worry about being hunted every time he left his house now. All the small fae could feel was the stinging of his wounds against the fabrics of the elaborate bed he had been placed in. He looked away towards the large open window, in lieu of responding because he knew that nothing he said would make a difference. He didn't want to see his mate looking at him with that concerned look. He didn't want to think that his life could get better because he has been stuck in a terrible situation for 15 years. Harry did not want to allow himself to have any hope, because whenever he had dared to, it was crushed.

The two men sat in silence, one wishing he could return to his true family and the other fretting over the mental fragility of his younger mate. Finally, Tom moved to call a house elf and ask her to bring Narcissa and Severus to their rooms. A few minutes later both witch and wizard entered the room. Tom had stood when both entered, and walked out the door, gesturing for Severus to follow him.

Out in the hallway, Severus and Tom stood together in uncomfortable silence. Tom looked back towards the door that Harry was residing behind for the time being and quickly snapped his head back towards his potions master. "How did Harry say he was wounded?" he asked the dour man.

Severus hesitated, knowing that what the child told him must have been a lie, "He had said that he fell down a flight of stairs. When I made him show me his injuries it was clear that it was not just a tumble down the stairs so when questioned again he proceeded to claim that he had been in a fight with some muggles."

Tom stared at Severus, and the man let him into his mind to see the memory of Potter in his office just last night. Tom turned back towards the door as he spoke, "Those wounds aren't from a simple street fight with muggles. Nor are they from falling downstairs. I want to know exactly what happened to him, Severus."

"My lord, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so interested in the boy? I understand that he could be vital for the war, but never in all of my time knowing you have you been so invested in one person," Snape asked knowing that he may face fury for asking. But instead of anger or indignance, Tom just looked at the man with sorrow-filled eyes.

"He is the mate I have been waiting so long for. I finally found him and he can barely tolerate me. My own mate fears me," Tom whispered the last words.

Snape was in shock from this news. He knew that Marvolo had been in search of his mate for so long, but also knew that he had given up hope on finding him. It was uncommon for mates to be born so far apart from each other. Snape reached out to lay a reassuring hand on Tom's shoulder and spoke, "You have shown him kindness and will continue to. Potter will come around to you eventually. Even he couldn't resist the pull towards you as his mate."

With those final words, both men joined Narcissa and Harry back in the bedroom. When they walked in, they were met with the sight of Lady Malfoy still performing healing tests on Harry.

"Well Harrison, your bones have all healed correctly. They still have some strengthening to do, but you should be fine. Your body is still fighting off some infections, so I will be sending you back to Hogwarts with a potion to help aid you in the process. I will also send you back with these two balms. You are aware that someone else must apply them because they are better activated with another's magic. You are more than welcome back here if you wish for me to apply them, and even if you don't darling," As Narcissa spoke with uncharacteristic warmth, she placed the potion and both balms onto the bedside table for Harry.

Harry glanced up at her, "Thank you for your help Lady Malfoy," he said quietly.

She gave him a gentle smile, "Call me Cissa dear." Narcissa proceeded to exit the room, leaving behind the three men. Harry continued to lay in the bed, staring at the door where Lady Malfoy had left in confusion, while the other two men watched him.

Harry turned to look at the two men lingering by the door, "I would like to return to school now."

Tom nodded his head, "Of course, it is early enough that your absence will not have been noticed by anyone other than Slytherin. Your belongings are in the nightstand on your right. Severus and I will be outside the door when you are finished."

Harry watched as the two men once again excused themselves to the hallway. He knew he may have been rude in saying he wanted to leave so abruptly, but all he wanted was to curl up in his bed and rest by himself. As soon as the door was closed, Harry gingerly got up and opened the nightstand to find his robes neatly folded along with his wand and wand holster placed on top.

He changed out of the pyjamas someone had spelled onto him, and back into his robes, careful of his wounds. Harry strapped the wand holster to his arm, securing the wand inside it, and slipped on his shoes.

Once he was ready, Harry slipped the two jars of balms that Narcissa had left for him to bring with him, walked over to the door and opened it. Riddle and Snape were standing into the hallway, so Harry kept his eyes on the ground and closed the door behind him. Tom did not think he could extend the time he spent with his mate so reluctantly he spoke up, "Follow me, then."

Harry followed the two men down a flight of stairs and back into the study he had originally arrived in. His body felt so much better now that he had been properly healed for the first time in his life, he was shocked at the outcome of his visit here. Harry felt like this couldn't actually be his life, like something was bound to go horribly wrong at any moment as it usually would.

Tom watched as his mate and Snape walked up to the fireplace in his study, "Severus, you may go. I will send Mister Potter through in a moment."

The potions master looked at the young boy whose eyes were glued to the floor and back to the crimson eyes of the dark lord before nodding, "Of course. Severus Snape's Office, Hogwarts," he said and stepped through the floo.

Harry felt an urge to be near the older man still in the room with him, but he also felt disturbed by this as there were very few people in his life that he had ever felt the urge to be close to, and it had taken him years to build that kind of comfort.

Tom studied the young boy standing near his floo before deciding to speak up, "Harry, I know that I have wronged you in the past, but I would like it if we could begin to get to know each other. Additionally, any time you wish to escape from Hogwarts, for any reason, you are more than welcome to go to Severus and use his floo to come here, whether it be to see me or Narcissa or anyone else. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you."

Harry felt uncomfortable as it was clear that Voldemort wanted to connect to him, but he catalogued what the man said into his head for later. "Okay, thank you. I suppose we will need to get to know each other if we are truly mates," he said continuing to look anywhere but at the other man.
It pained Tom to have to give up his mate so soon after finding him. All he wished to do was whisk him away to woo and charm him during their courtship, but he knew this was not a possibility while harry was not sure of which side of the war he wanted to be on, especially when the light expected him to be their saviour.

Tom nodded, "Then I suppose you should be leaving. It's hardly a quarter past 8, so I'm sure some of your dorm mates will be up. I'm certain I will be seeing you soon, Harry."

"Goodbye," Harry said glancing up at those crimson eyes before leaving through the floo network, landing back in Snape's office. Severus watched as Harry tumbled out of the fireplace and onto the floor, before slowly righting himself.

"Follow me, Potter. I'll bring you to the Slytherin common rooms," Snape said before turning around and leading them through the dungeons. They finally stopped in front of a portrait of an elderly man with a small snake coiled around the arm of his chair.

Harry stopped in front of the portrait as Snape turned to stare at him and speak, "Potter I have already spoken to your dorm mates, they will not give you a hard time while you are living with them as long as you are also respectful of them. I have already spoken to Slytherin prefects about classes being cancelled, and there being a trip to Hogsmeade this upcoming weekend, so our house already is aware. You were not in the common room after the feast to hear how Slytherin house operates, so if you have any questions you may ask your year mates, prefects, or me. The main rule is Slytherin's stick together. If you have a problem within Slytherin house it is not to be shown outside of this house. We show a united front because the rest of the school is already divided from us. If you have any problems you can come to me, and Potter . . . I may have been mistaken in my beliefs about you. The password for the common room 'Felix Felicis'. Ensure that you have somebody else applying those balms."

With that, Snape said the password to the man in the portrait and it swung open. Harry followed the professor into the common room and looked around, noticing that it looked similar to how to did when they snuck in there in his second year.

Snape pointed towards the stairs and as he was about to speak Draco cam down the stairs, "Ahh perfect. Mister Malfoy, please show your new dorm mate to his room will you."

Draco looked surprised at seeing Harry and nodded his head. At seeing the confirmation, Snape turned and left the common room without another word.

"Come on Harry, Follow me," Draco said. Harry followed Draco up the stairs, and down a short hallway towards the door that led to their rooms.
He opened up the door to reveal an enormous room with 4 beds, his trunk at the end of the bed at the far end of the room. There was also a simple desk and chair against the wall opposite each bed. At one wall there was a door which Harry assumed also led to the lavatories.

Harry looked towards Draco in surprise, "Wow these are really nice rooms. Aren't there two beds missing though? There are six of us?" He asked, concerned.

Draco laughed and walked over to what Harry assumed was his bed and sat on the edge, "Yeah apparently six of us in here is too much so Crabbe and Goyle are in the rooms adjacent to us. Mostly because they snore the loudest and never cast any silencing charms on themselves. So, what happened during your detention that you never came back? We were getting a bit worried."

Harry shook his head and walked over to his bed, "Snape realized I was in pain and made me see a healer is all. I'm actually just gonna lie down for a bit, I'm still feeling pretty tired."

Draco looked at Harry sceptically, but nodded, "Alright. I'm just gonna wait for Blaise and Theo to be done getting ready so they know that you're here now."

Harry, feeling drained, nodded in response. he kicked off his shoes and placed them beside his trunk, stripped off his outer layers until he was in just his pants and undershirt and crawled under the blankets in his bed, drawing the curtains around the bed closed. As he lay there, he heard Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini, the two boys he had met on the train, exit the bathroom and ask Draco why he was still waiting for them up there. He heard them asking why Harry wouldn't be joining them for breakfast, but Draco telling them that he was still just tired. Eventually, all three boys left the room, and Harry was by himself.

Left to his own thoughts all Harry could think was how could he have let this happen. Why did he let anyone get close enough to realise there was a problem, because yes he may be in less pain now, but in the end, he always ends up causing more damage. He, ultimately, told complete strangers about his inheritance because of his pain-induced delirium, and then got stuck in the same house as the Dark Lord, who has been trying to murder him for years, who it turns out is his soul mate. Slowly, Harry drifted into a fitful sleep, plagued by his anxieties.