Advent '10 - December 21st
December 21st - 4 days to go!
Ash shot a look at Harry who was glancing between them nervously.
"Nothing."
Savitar snarled and took a step forward. "You want to try that again?"
Ash swallowed and took a step back. He wasn't crazy. He wasn't going to be closer to Savitar than he had to.
"Savy…" Harry stepped between them, "nothing happened."
For a moment it seemed like Savitar was going to ignore Harry, push past him and kill Ash, but then he leant back slightly and the pressure in the room lessened a little.
Harry smiled at him but it quickly turned awkward when Savitar just looked at him. He scuffed his foot on the floor.
"Um, here." Harry thrust the present box at Savitar.
Things became even more awkward when Savitar didn't take the box from him.
"It's…it's a present? From me. To say sorry for obliterating your favourite…" Harry trailed off when Savitar turned his attention from him back to Ash. "You don't have to accept it." He said softly, "I was just trying to make it up to you."
Savitar didn't say anything and Harry let the box fall to him side. "Stupid idea anyway." He murmured to himself and grimaced.
Behind him Ash felt his heart break. Nobody upset his kids.
He didn't even care anymore that Savitar wanted to castrate him in the most painful way he could think of.
He glared at Savitar over the top of Harry's bent head.
Savitar looked a little startled and Ash used the reprieve to stare pointedly at his friend, then Harry, then the present and then back to Savitar again.
Savitar gave him one last half hearted glare and motioned for him to leave the room. Ash complied, patting Harry on the shoulder in moral support.
When the door had clicked closed, Savitar let out a sigh and wrapped his arms around Harry, squeezing tightly for a second before dragging him over to the bed.
Savitar sat and pulled Harry down next to him. "Okay, let's see it."
Harry flushed a little and looked away, "You don't have to force yourself to open it."
"Look, do you want me to have the present or not?" Savitar asked shortly.
"Well maybe I don't anymore!" Harry said in annoyance, standing up from the bed.
Savitar didn't let him get too far, grabbing his arm and pulling him back down onto his lap.
"Let me go." Harry huffed, trying to squirm away.
In response, Savitar wrapped his arms around him and pinned his arms to his sides. "I'm never letting you go." He murmured quietly into Harry's ear and suppressed a smile at the shiver and quick intake of air.
"Um," Harry swallowed, suddenly nervous, "okay then."
Savitar grinned. "You promise you won't run?"
Harry nodded.
Savitar loosened his grip and, true enough, Harry didn't try to run, though he did swivel around on Savitar's lap, the box balanced on his knees.
"So, this is a make up present then?"
"Yeah," Harry ducked his head sheepishly, "Sorry for ruining your clothes."
Savitar just brushed off his apologies and opened the box, staring at the wetsuit contained in it in bemusement.
"Do…do you like it?" Harry asked when it was obvious Savitar wasn't going to say anything.
"It's…different…"
"You don't like it. Well," Harry rubbed the back of his head, "you don't have to…I just thought that it might make up for…sorry. I can take it back and-"
Savitar shifted the box away from Harry when he tried to grab it. He put it down on the bed next to him and pulled out the wetsuit to get a better look at it, his arm tightening around Harry's waist.
"Now, I didn't say that…"
The wetsuit was certainly different than what he usually wore. For starters there wasn't one bit of black on it. Instead it was a bright aquamarine with a thick white stripe running up the side.
But that wasn't all. Oh no. Covering the body was a bright purple and green flower print.
Savitar stared at it. Then tilted his head a little to look at it from a different angle.
"So," Harry said uncertainly, "you…like it?"
"It's…strangely compelling."
Harry grinned and bounced a little in excitement. "I saw it and knew that it would be perfect! It's just you."
"It is?" Savitar asked in disbelief.
"Well, yeah." Harry said, nonplussed, "You are the ocean." He pointed to the blue, "That's the colour the sea outside is in the sun and that," he pointed to the white stripe, "is the colour of the sand. Also, it's a racing stripe. To make you go faster."
"And what about the flowers?" Savitar asked, looking at his new suit with a lot more interest now that Harry had started explaining, "I don't think I'm much of a flower person."
"They're the same type as the flowers lining the path down to the beach." Harry said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
And maybe to Harry it was, Savitar mused.
"The colours of the flowers?" He asked instead.
Harry flushed, "Well…the…the purple…" he finished the rest of the sentence in a mumble.
Savitar leant closer with a grin, until his face was centimetres from Harry's own. "You mumble a lot. Is it to get me to lean closer to you?"
"No!" Harry said, flustered.
"Then what was that about the purple."
Harry clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, the flush on his cheeks darkening for a moment. "It matches your eyes."
Savitar felt oddly flattered. "And the green?"
Harry just shrugged, "It's my favourite colour."
At this Savitar raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He drawled, "Because they look like the exact same shade as your eyes. And your hair."
Harry swallowed and shifted. "It's my favourite colour." He repeated stubbornly.
Savitar smiled. "Don't worry; it's becoming my favourite colour too."
Harry grinned at him. "So are you going to put it on then?"
"Yes." Savitar stood up and poofed away the wetsuit he was wearing. He grinned when he heard Harry squeak and turn around.
"You know, you could give a guy warning when you do that." Harry said.
"Maybe I didn't want you to turn around."
Harry just swallowed and glanced behind him hesitantly. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Savitar had already pulled on the new wetsuit and was threading his arms through the sleeves.
"Here," Harry said as he stood, "let me do it up for you."
Savitar turned around and Harry felt his heart pick up as he slowly pulled the zip up until it was resting at the base of Savitar's neck. He ran his hands over Savitar's back to smooth any wrinkles from the material and when Savitar turned around, he kept his hands pressed against his chest.
Savitar reached up and captured Harry's hands with his own.
"I really like it."
Harry smiled up at him. "It suits you."
"It also fits." Savitar smirked at him, "I wonder how long you were looking at me to be able to correctly know my size."
Harry flushed, "Um…I'm just lucky like that I guess."
"Don't worry," Savitar said quietly, leaning down closer, "It's a good thing."
He smirked at how red Harry had turned and sighed softly as he took a step back.
"Savy?"
"I have to go out for a bit Harry; you might not see me until sometime tomorrow."
"Oh," Harry dropped his head in disappointment and Savitar cursed himself when his chest started to ache. To appease his body he stepped back into Harry's personal space and tilted his chin up until he could look him in the eyes.
He stared at him intensely, trying to convey everything that he both could and couldn't say at this time. His thumb fluttered across Harry's bottom lip.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Harry's blinding smile was worth it.
Unfortunately, as soon as he stepped out Harry's bedroom, his bad mood returned and when he reached his office door he slammed it open.
Ash, who had been sitting patiently waiting for him, jumped and spun around. When he saw what Savitar was wearing his mouth opened and closed silently.
"What?" Savitar asked shortly, "You knew what was in the box. You were there when he picked it out."
"You are so whipped."
Savitar glared at him half heartedly before the papers on his desk caught his eye and the anger returned full force.
"Here." He said, thrusting the file at Ash. "This is everything that my minion's could gather on Harry."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Minions?"
"Blame Harry."
Ash snorted and made himself comfortable in one of the spare seats to read through the information. By the time he was finished he was as angry as Savitar.
"Did they really do this?" He asked in disbelief. "Made him fight without any training?"
Savitar just growled.
"His first kill was when he was eleven! He didn't get any counselling?"
"Do you see why I was angry when you arrived back? I had just finished reading that damned information!"
"And his Godfather is innocent and they still threw him away?"
Savitar got up to pace the room. "You have no idea how much restraint it took to not reveal myself when the rat betrayed his parents. If it wasn't for the fact that Vane was holding me back I would have just slaughtered that wannabe Dark Lord and saved Harry from everything.
"Screw the fates!"
Ash threw the file on the desk. "And now the same people want to watch as he's crucified for them."
Savitar snarled and punched the wall, watching as it cracked beneath his fist.
"When do we move out?"
"Now. We move out now. I've already contacted Zebulon. He's meeting us outside the entrance to that damned Ministry." He sneered.
Ash felt the demon in him stir in bloodlust. If he was a better person he might feel sorry for the people they were about to meet. But they had hurt what was theirs.
Instead he just felt glee at the chance for revenge.
London was cold. Snow dusted the streets and the group of weres standing outside an unassuming phone box was gathering some weird glances.
Not as many as Savitar was getting as he was still only dressed in his bright blue wetsuit. He had put on sandals though.
It was a toss up between the humans or the weres for who was looking at him in the most disbelief.
"Well?" Ash asked. "Where is he?"
"No need to be so impatient, I'm right here."
Ash whirled around to find Zebulon standing right behind him.
"I don't know why you had to drag me all the way out here though."
"Zeb." Savitar smirked at the scowl that crossed Zebulon's face.
"Don't call me that."
"Zeb." Savitar repeated, "As Britain doesn't have a Chuthonian guardian, you're the nearest one so it falls under your jurisdiction."
Zebulon scowled. "You brought me all the way from Greece for that?"
"No. Give us your permission to teach Hecate's descendants a lesson."
Zebulon pressed a finger to his lips in an exaggerated thinking pose. "And what if I say no? You did call me Zeb after all."
A creepy smile crossed Savitar's face. "You're saying no to me?" he asked politely.
Zebulon snorted. "Hell no. I don't care about the little wizards that much. Do what you like. Next time, don't pull me from Greece for this." He rolled his eyes and disappeared.
Savitar turned to face his gathered minions. "On my signal." He said, before disappearing and reappearing in the middle of the ministry lobby.
There was a few startled exclamations but mostly people ignored him. This just pissed him off that much more. He snarled silently as he looked around him. Completely complacent and not worth his time.
He'd wipe the whole lot out but he had a feeling that Harry wouldn't like that, so instead of just bringing the roof down on their heads he turned to the gaudy fountain and melted it.
There were shouts and exclamations of shock and alarm. Then suddenly he was surrounded by dozens of men and women in blue robes with their wands pointed straight at him.
He laughed.
"Surrender your wand and put your hands where we can see them!"
He smirked evilly, "Foolish mortals, do you think I need a wand?"
With just a thought he had the security force flying through the air and pinned to the walls.
"Minions!" he called out and started to laugh again as the lobby was suddenly and silently filled with almost every were under his command.
The people, who had stopped to watch what had happened, started to scream and run but, without needing Savitar to tell them, the were's captured them and cut off all escape routes.
Once the room had descended into hushed silence, Savitar stopped laughing. "Now," he said, striding forward until he was standing in the middle of the floor, "Take me to your leader."
Arnold Swing had been having a great day so far. The campaign against the new Dark Lord Potter had been going very well. His message had been getting out and people were almost begging him to stay in office for the foreseeable future.
So what if all the other Minister's didn't believe him? They wouldn't be laughing so hard when Potter took over their countries! And so what if no one had managed to find neither hide nor hair of Potter's friends? He kept that little titbit out of the papers by reporting that so far their defences were working and Potter had been unable to get into the country.
He was just relaxing back in his rather comfy chair with a cup of tea when his assistant burst through the door and landed on his desk, knocking all of his paperwork and the tea set on the floor.
"What is the meaning of this?" He raged at the unconscious man, "You've spilt tea everywhere!"
"I'm not sure he's able to hear you."
Swing looked up to see a brown haired man in the most ridiculous outfit he had ever seen step into his room. It was clinging everywhere! Hadn't the man ever heard of dignity? What was wrong with a nice concealing robe nowadays?
"Now, look here!" Swing drew his wand out and pointed it at the interloper. "Just who are you and what do you think you are doing barging in here like this without an appointment?"
The man smiled and Swing felt his blood freeze in his veins as the doors slammed shut and melted into the wall without the man so much as twitching a finger.
"I think we need to have a long chat. Don't you?"
"And so," Swing concluded, sweating nervously as he stood behind the podium in front of every single reporter in Britain, "it has been concluded that there has been a gross misunderstanding."
He swallowed heavily as the brown-haired man, Savitar, kept staring at him. "A-and, we find that Harry Potter is not a Dark Lord and has, instead, been working with a secret international taskforce to route out dark wizards from their bolt holes.
"That is why he was seen at the scene of so many catastrophes. Just…his team working at the forefront to keep us safe for another day."
He breathed a sigh of relief as the glare seemed to diminish slightly.
"Thank you, no questions."
He had almost made a break for it when an audible growl reached his ears over the mêlée his announcement had wrung. He scrambled back to the podium.
"Also! Sirius Black is innocent! He was framed and as such is found exonerated of all charges!"
Without sticking around another moment to find what his last statement had caused he tightened his grip on his wand and made a mad dash back to his chambers.
He needed tea and he needed it now.
Savitar was feeling very pleased with himself. He had gotten revenge, cleared Harry and his Godfather's names and had done so with no loss of life.
Loss of other things though…
He had a feeling Harry was going to reward him handsomely when he found out just how much he had restrained himself.
"You do realise," Ash said as they walked the halls of him home together, "that now that they're not after him Harry will want to go home to his family."
Savitar stopped and scowled, "No he won't."
"Savitar…" Ash trailed off, "his family, for the first time ever, is completely free from everything. He'll want to celebrate with them."
"Harry is mine."
"You'll have to share though."
"No I won't."
Ash rolled his eyes and Savitar glared at the floor petulantly.
"Fine, but I'm telling him tomorrow. I'm not having him rush off now and leave me."
Ash nodded. "As long as you tell him that his soul isn't being hunted anymore."
Savitar looked away. "Very well, but will you do something for me?"
"That depends…" Ash said warily.
Savitar quietly opened the door to Harry's bedroom and found him asleep on his back, balls of fur sleeping on his stomach and the bed around him, purring gently.
He closed the door. "Tomorrow will you take care of Harry's pets? They always sleep on his bed and I don't want them getting in the way."
Ash raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Do I want to know?"
Savitar grinned pervertedly, "Probably not."
"Does this have something to do with your sex dungeon?"
Ash laughed when Savitar choked and tripped over thin air.