Till the Sea Runs Dry (4/11)
Title: Till the Sea Runs Dry(4/11)
Author: faynia and stormypup
Pairing: Snape/Harry
Rating: R
Warning: Highlight for warnings *Implied Mpreg*
Word Count: 2,338
Genre: Romance, Angst, Drama, Mystery
Summary: (Sequel to Bonds of Water) Just when Severus is beginning to believe Harry will be happy living with him in the lake, someone decides that Harry needs to be free. No matter what the cost.
Beta'd by rakina and carpet_diemon.
Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three
Chapter Four
"No!"
"Douglas, I'm not going to tell you again," Harry said louder than he intended.
"No!" Douglas yelled back.
Shaking his head, Harry picked the boy up. Douglas began to fight and flail. "I gave you three chances, Douglas."
"No, no, no! I don't wanna go to my room!" he cried.
"Five minutes, then you can come out," Harry said, hoping five minutes would be long enough for his own patience to return.
Harry set Douglas on his bed and, ignoring his cries, left the room.
He hated this part of parenting. Harry wasn't very good at discipline and more often than not it was Severus who handled it. But Severus was in his lab, and Douglas had been out of control all morning.
Harry flopped down onto the couch, trying to ignore the occasional shout coming from Douglas' room. He was tired, and his head hurt, and he knew he was being short with his son, but he couldn't seem to help himself.
He rolled to his feet and went to his violin, taking it out of its case. Putting the bow to the strings, he closed his eyes and began to play. The melody calmed his irritation. When the music stopped a few minutes later, he sighed and opened his eyes. Douglas was sitting on the couch.
"I don't remember telling you that you could come out of your room," Harry said tiredly.
"Can you play some more, Daddy? It makes me feel good," Douglas answered, ignoring Harry's words completely.
Thinking they both could use a little peace this morning, Harry nodded and continued to play. The music washed over both of them, soothing and calming them.
That was how Severus found them when he emerged from his lab. Douglas was curled up on the couch, his eyes a bit glazed as he watched his father play. Snape stood silently, watching Harry lose himself in the music.
When Harry finally finished the song, he opened his eyes to find Severus watching. "Hello," he said, smiling softly.
Severus remained still, contemplating his mate before smiling in return. "Bad day?" Severus asked, recognizing the tune for what it was.
"Papa!" Douglas shouted, standing up on the couch.
Harry cringed at the shout and nodded. "Your son is being a bit stubborn today."
"Just today?" Snape asked, smirking. He looked at Douglas, and frowned.
"Daddy made me go to my room," Douglas told him with a matching frown.
"Were you misbehaving?"
"No."
Snape arched a brow.
"Yes," Douglas admitted.
Snape snorted.
"Douglas, go and pick up your toys and put them away," Harry said.
"But Daddy!"
"Douglas!" Snape interrupted before the boy could begin.
Douglas flopped back onto the couch with a scowl. After a moment of pouting, he went to do as he was told.
"Now he listens," Harry muttered.
"You're too easy on him."
Harry scowled. "It's hard to punish him for the same things I did."
"He must be punished or he'll never learn. Do you really want him doing the things you did when you got older? He must learn that there are boundaries."
"I know." Harry sighed.
"I've got to take a supply of Pepperup potions to the apothecary in Diagon Alley. Would you like me to take him with me?"
Harry shook his head. "Ariana is doing something with him in a couple of hours. It's part of his birthday present. You should probably get some groceries while you're out, then you won't have to go out again."
"Make a list."
"Is there anything in particular you want?" Harry asked, taking out his wand from his pocket and summoning a piece of paper and a quill.
Douglas came back into the room. "Daddy, I did it."
"You put them all away?" Severus asked.
"Yup."
"Every single one of them? You didn't leave any out?"
Douglas looked a little sheepish.
"Go," Snape said, pointing back to the direction Douglas had come.
Pouting again, Douglas left the room.
"How did you know?" Harry asked, irritated.
"He's five. I assume he's lying most of the time."
Harry snorted, shaking his head. "He doesn't always lie."
"No, but he doesn't always tell the truth either," Snape said shrugging. "As I said, he's five." He sat down on the couch next to Harry. "Put fresh vegetables on the list."
*****
Harry glanced at the clock in their living room as he cleaned the floor. He blinked a few times, his eyes narrowing. There had to be something wrong. He walked forward until he was standing below the family clock. Severus' spoon was on TRAVELING, his own spoon rested on HOME, but Douglas’…
"What's wrong?"
Harry didn't look over when the door opened. Severus’ spoon moved immediately to HOME with a clack.
"I don't-"
"Harry! Severus! You must come quickly!"
Harry turned away from the malfunctioning clock. It had to be malfunctioning; he refused to believe anything else. But he could still hear the odd whirring noise as Douglas’ spoon spun freely without destination.
Ariana's panicked look made Harry ill.
"No." He choked on the word, stumbling over to Severus' side.
Ariana swam in agitated circles outside the door. "He took him! He took Douglas! Oh, please hurry!"
Severus didn't wait for an explanation. When Ariana turned and shot toward the surface, he followed, transforming as soon as he touched the water.
Harry didn't even have a chance to let Ariana’s message sink in before Severus and the mermaid had taken off, and when it did he couldn't move forward. He couldn't move at all. He stared at the clock, but nothing changed. Douglas' hand didn’t pause over HOME or PLAYING or even SLEEPING. It simply continued spinning aimlessly.
Swallowing his fear, Harry forced his feet to move out the door, into the lake, and up to the surface.
He sputtered water from his mouth as he drew near Severus and Ariana. They were arguing in hushed tones, but their angry gestures told him more than he cared to know.
"What happened?" he gasped.
"Someone took Douglas," Snape said through clenched teeth.
Harry glanced up at him in confusion. "Someone?"
"She doesn't know who! Just a man."
"Don't yell, it's not helping!"
"He took our son!"
"Yes, but shouting doesn't help!" Harry bit out once again, head swimming. Missing. Douglas was missing, not here with them like he should have been.
"I'm so sorry," Ariana cried, rubbing at her eyes. "I just turned away for a second, and by the time I noticed I couldn't do anything."
"It's not your fault," Harry muttered, kicking his feet to keep afloat. Who would do take Douglas? Surely not one of the students, and Ariana had said it was a man, not a boy. And all the yelling wasn't doing anything but give him a headache.
"Like hell it isn't!"
Harry growled, glowering. "Stop it! Just go and find him!"
"I'm going to speak with the headmaster," Snape growled, swimming away in a fury.
"Harry, I'm so sorry."
"Ignore him, Ariana, I'm sure there was nothing more you could do," Harry said, but his voice was empty and hollow.
Cadmus appeared in the water before them. "Have you learned of anything new?"
Ariana shook her head sadly, her gaze flickering between Harry's withdrawn features and her father’s concerned expression. "Nothing. Severus just went to speak with the headmaster of the school."
"Potter."
Harry turned in the water and stared at the merman. "Yes?"
"Pull yourself together. You will be of no help to your son if you fall apart."
"I'm no help to him now,” he muttered and slipped beneath the surface of the water.
*****
"Headmaster, you must know something!"
"I'm sorry Severus, but none of the alarms went off, so it's someone the castle knows. It wasn't a Death Eater, thank the stars. They never would have got into the grounds. You must think, Severus, who would want to hurt you or Harry?"
"No one, Albus. There is no one else!"
"Allow me to make some inquiries. I think you should get back to Harry; I'm sure he's very distraught."
Severus felt the guilt settle upon him like a mantle. Harry. Harry would need him.
"I must go. Keep me informed."
Albus nodded, his fingers drumming on his desktop were the only indication of his nerves.
Severus left the office and stalked back towards the lake. When he reached the bottom of the lake, it was to find only Ariana and Cadmus. "Where's Harry?"
"He went into the water. I tried to go after him, but...he wouldn't let me," Ariana said sadly.
Severus stalked past them both and dove into the lake, making a straight line for home.
He found Harry curled up in a ball on Douglas' bed.
"Harry?"
Harry picked at Douglas' stuffed dragon. "It's my fault."
Snape blinked. "What do you mean?"
Harry shivered, curling in tighter. "I should have let him go with you. This- this never would have happened."
Severus sat on the bed, curling around Harry. "This is not your fault. If someone wanted Douglas, they would have found another way to get him. But I promise you this. I will find our son, and I will kill the person responsible for taking him."
Harry snuggled closer to Severus, unable to answer. His mind was spinning, running through lists of people and places and faces, but not one could replace the image of his son, his son sitting on the couch pouting, bouncing around the living room, sleeping beside him, hugging him, holding his hand. He choked back a sob that was rising unbidden up his throat. It wasn't fair. What had they done wrong?
Severus held Harry as he sobbed, lacking any way to comfort him. Could it have been Death Eaters?
"Why him? What did he do wrong?"
"He's done nothing wrong except to have us as parents." Snape's thoughts raced. Ransom?
Harry rolled over, burying his face against Severus' chest, inhaling deeply. Douglas' bed wasn't meant for two adults, but Harry couldn't find it in him to move off it.
"What did we do wrong?"
"We simply exist," Severus said, dropping his chin onto Harry's head. "I don't know where to start looking for him."
"I don't either."
"Come on, we need to talk with Ariana. Maybe she's remembered something," Snape said, kissing Harry lightly as he rolled from the bed.
"I hope so."
They exited their home and for once Severus didn't shift right away and rush ahead of Harry. Instead he waited, taking Harry by the hand and kissing his knuckles gently. Harry offered him a weary smile as he watched Severus transform.
"Come on."
Harry gripped his hand tightly, and they swam off towards the city.
When they reached the city’s tall gates the merpeople were whispering with each other. As they crossed into the city, they caught sight of Ariana, now crying on Cadmus’ shoulder.
As they grew closer, the whispers abruptly stopped. Harry drew closer to Severus as the merpeople watched them pass in disconcerting silence. The last time they had done that was in his fourth year; they hadn't been this quiet, even in that first week when Severus first brought him here.
"Ariana, we need to speak."
The mermaid nodded, long brown hair drifting in front of her face.
"Had you ever seen the man before?" Severus asked.
She nodded. "I've been thinking about it. I've seen him around the lake before. Not recently though, back when he was in school."
"How long ago?" Harry asked, eyes narrowing in thought.
Ariana frowned. "He looked to be about your age, Harry."
"Who would-" He let go of Severus, and let the water current carry him as he thought. His first thought was that it was a Slytherin, but why? Why now? Why not him and why his son? He was an easy enough target. If someone wanted to hurt him, they could easily have done it any day in the summer. His worst enemy in school had been Draco, but that wasn't even an option. Draco loved Douglas; he was the boy’s godfather, he'd kill anyone who touched him. "Think, think, think!"
He didn't look up until he bumped into someone. "Sorry," he mumbled, flushing in embarrassment.
The merman shook his head with a small smile. "No harm done, Young Mate."
Harry's cheeks just grew more heated at that comment. No matter how many times he got called that by the other creatures, he still flushed. Still, it served as a reminder that he wasn't alone. He glanced over his shoulder to where Severus was deep in conversation with Cadmus while Ariana hovered off to the side. Harry swam over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"We don't blame you," he told her once he caught her eyes.
"I tried to follow him, but I couldn't get past the shore," she said, breaking into tears anew. "I'm so sorry."
"Could you tell me what the man looked like? Hair, clothes, anything?"
"His cloak was just a solid blue, and he had the hood up."
Harry rubbed her back gently as she sobbed into his shoulder. There was nothing else for it then, and just because the kidnapper looked Harry's age didn't mean he was, exactly. There could be a year or two’s difference in their ages, or even more.
"Harry!" Severus waved him over. "I need to go and speak with my contacts, see if anyone knows anything. Will you be alright?" he asked, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Yes," he answered. He had to be, their son was more important than what he was feeling. He turned to Ariana. "Can I stay here with you?"
"You may," she said, smiling gently.
Harry nodded. "Go and find our son."
Severus turned to leave, but stopped and embraced Harry. "We'll get him back. I promise."
"Merlin, I hope so," Harry whispered, gripping his mate with all his might.
"I'll return as quickly as I can." He kissed Harry softly then left the city.
Next Chapter: Chapter Five
Author: faynia and stormypup
Pairing: Snape/Harry
Rating: R
Warning: Highlight for warnings *Implied Mpreg*
Word Count: 2,338
Genre: Romance, Angst, Drama, Mystery
Summary: (Sequel to Bonds of Water) Just when Severus is beginning to believe Harry will be happy living with him in the lake, someone decides that Harry needs to be free. No matter what the cost.
Beta'd by rakina and carpet_diemon.
Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three
Chapter Four
"No!"
"Douglas, I'm not going to tell you again," Harry said louder than he intended.
"No!" Douglas yelled back.
Shaking his head, Harry picked the boy up. Douglas began to fight and flail. "I gave you three chances, Douglas."
"No, no, no! I don't wanna go to my room!" he cried.
"Five minutes, then you can come out," Harry said, hoping five minutes would be long enough for his own patience to return.
Harry set Douglas on his bed and, ignoring his cries, left the room.
He hated this part of parenting. Harry wasn't very good at discipline and more often than not it was Severus who handled it. But Severus was in his lab, and Douglas had been out of control all morning.
Harry flopped down onto the couch, trying to ignore the occasional shout coming from Douglas' room. He was tired, and his head hurt, and he knew he was being short with his son, but he couldn't seem to help himself.
He rolled to his feet and went to his violin, taking it out of its case. Putting the bow to the strings, he closed his eyes and began to play. The melody calmed his irritation. When the music stopped a few minutes later, he sighed and opened his eyes. Douglas was sitting on the couch.
"I don't remember telling you that you could come out of your room," Harry said tiredly.
"Can you play some more, Daddy? It makes me feel good," Douglas answered, ignoring Harry's words completely.
Thinking they both could use a little peace this morning, Harry nodded and continued to play. The music washed over both of them, soothing and calming them.
That was how Severus found them when he emerged from his lab. Douglas was curled up on the couch, his eyes a bit glazed as he watched his father play. Snape stood silently, watching Harry lose himself in the music.
When Harry finally finished the song, he opened his eyes to find Severus watching. "Hello," he said, smiling softly.
Severus remained still, contemplating his mate before smiling in return. "Bad day?" Severus asked, recognizing the tune for what it was.
"Papa!" Douglas shouted, standing up on the couch.
Harry cringed at the shout and nodded. "Your son is being a bit stubborn today."
"Just today?" Snape asked, smirking. He looked at Douglas, and frowned.
"Daddy made me go to my room," Douglas told him with a matching frown.
"Were you misbehaving?"
"No."
Snape arched a brow.
"Yes," Douglas admitted.
Snape snorted.
"Douglas, go and pick up your toys and put them away," Harry said.
"But Daddy!"
"Douglas!" Snape interrupted before the boy could begin.
Douglas flopped back onto the couch with a scowl. After a moment of pouting, he went to do as he was told.
"Now he listens," Harry muttered.
"You're too easy on him."
Harry scowled. "It's hard to punish him for the same things I did."
"He must be punished or he'll never learn. Do you really want him doing the things you did when you got older? He must learn that there are boundaries."
"I know." Harry sighed.
"I've got to take a supply of Pepperup potions to the apothecary in Diagon Alley. Would you like me to take him with me?"
Harry shook his head. "Ariana is doing something with him in a couple of hours. It's part of his birthday present. You should probably get some groceries while you're out, then you won't have to go out again."
"Make a list."
"Is there anything in particular you want?" Harry asked, taking out his wand from his pocket and summoning a piece of paper and a quill.
Douglas came back into the room. "Daddy, I did it."
"You put them all away?" Severus asked.
"Yup."
"Every single one of them? You didn't leave any out?"
Douglas looked a little sheepish.
"Go," Snape said, pointing back to the direction Douglas had come.
Pouting again, Douglas left the room.
"How did you know?" Harry asked, irritated.
"He's five. I assume he's lying most of the time."
Harry snorted, shaking his head. "He doesn't always lie."
"No, but he doesn't always tell the truth either," Snape said shrugging. "As I said, he's five." He sat down on the couch next to Harry. "Put fresh vegetables on the list."
*****
Harry glanced at the clock in their living room as he cleaned the floor. He blinked a few times, his eyes narrowing. There had to be something wrong. He walked forward until he was standing below the family clock. Severus' spoon was on TRAVELING, his own spoon rested on HOME, but Douglas’…
"What's wrong?"
Harry didn't look over when the door opened. Severus’ spoon moved immediately to HOME with a clack.
"I don't-"
"Harry! Severus! You must come quickly!"
Harry turned away from the malfunctioning clock. It had to be malfunctioning; he refused to believe anything else. But he could still hear the odd whirring noise as Douglas’ spoon spun freely without destination.
Ariana's panicked look made Harry ill.
"No." He choked on the word, stumbling over to Severus' side.
Ariana swam in agitated circles outside the door. "He took him! He took Douglas! Oh, please hurry!"
Severus didn't wait for an explanation. When Ariana turned and shot toward the surface, he followed, transforming as soon as he touched the water.
Harry didn't even have a chance to let Ariana’s message sink in before Severus and the mermaid had taken off, and when it did he couldn't move forward. He couldn't move at all. He stared at the clock, but nothing changed. Douglas' hand didn’t pause over HOME or PLAYING or even SLEEPING. It simply continued spinning aimlessly.
Swallowing his fear, Harry forced his feet to move out the door, into the lake, and up to the surface.
He sputtered water from his mouth as he drew near Severus and Ariana. They were arguing in hushed tones, but their angry gestures told him more than he cared to know.
"What happened?" he gasped.
"Someone took Douglas," Snape said through clenched teeth.
Harry glanced up at him in confusion. "Someone?"
"She doesn't know who! Just a man."
"Don't yell, it's not helping!"
"He took our son!"
"Yes, but shouting doesn't help!" Harry bit out once again, head swimming. Missing. Douglas was missing, not here with them like he should have been.
"I'm so sorry," Ariana cried, rubbing at her eyes. "I just turned away for a second, and by the time I noticed I couldn't do anything."
"It's not your fault," Harry muttered, kicking his feet to keep afloat. Who would do take Douglas? Surely not one of the students, and Ariana had said it was a man, not a boy. And all the yelling wasn't doing anything but give him a headache.
"Like hell it isn't!"
Harry growled, glowering. "Stop it! Just go and find him!"
"I'm going to speak with the headmaster," Snape growled, swimming away in a fury.
"Harry, I'm so sorry."
"Ignore him, Ariana, I'm sure there was nothing more you could do," Harry said, but his voice was empty and hollow.
Cadmus appeared in the water before them. "Have you learned of anything new?"
Ariana shook her head sadly, her gaze flickering between Harry's withdrawn features and her father’s concerned expression. "Nothing. Severus just went to speak with the headmaster of the school."
"Potter."
Harry turned in the water and stared at the merman. "Yes?"
"Pull yourself together. You will be of no help to your son if you fall apart."
"I'm no help to him now,” he muttered and slipped beneath the surface of the water.
*****
"Headmaster, you must know something!"
"I'm sorry Severus, but none of the alarms went off, so it's someone the castle knows. It wasn't a Death Eater, thank the stars. They never would have got into the grounds. You must think, Severus, who would want to hurt you or Harry?"
"No one, Albus. There is no one else!"
"Allow me to make some inquiries. I think you should get back to Harry; I'm sure he's very distraught."
Severus felt the guilt settle upon him like a mantle. Harry. Harry would need him.
"I must go. Keep me informed."
Albus nodded, his fingers drumming on his desktop were the only indication of his nerves.
Severus left the office and stalked back towards the lake. When he reached the bottom of the lake, it was to find only Ariana and Cadmus. "Where's Harry?"
"He went into the water. I tried to go after him, but...he wouldn't let me," Ariana said sadly.
Severus stalked past them both and dove into the lake, making a straight line for home.
He found Harry curled up in a ball on Douglas' bed.
"Harry?"
Harry picked at Douglas' stuffed dragon. "It's my fault."
Snape blinked. "What do you mean?"
Harry shivered, curling in tighter. "I should have let him go with you. This- this never would have happened."
Severus sat on the bed, curling around Harry. "This is not your fault. If someone wanted Douglas, they would have found another way to get him. But I promise you this. I will find our son, and I will kill the person responsible for taking him."
Harry snuggled closer to Severus, unable to answer. His mind was spinning, running through lists of people and places and faces, but not one could replace the image of his son, his son sitting on the couch pouting, bouncing around the living room, sleeping beside him, hugging him, holding his hand. He choked back a sob that was rising unbidden up his throat. It wasn't fair. What had they done wrong?
Severus held Harry as he sobbed, lacking any way to comfort him. Could it have been Death Eaters?
"Why him? What did he do wrong?"
"He's done nothing wrong except to have us as parents." Snape's thoughts raced. Ransom?
Harry rolled over, burying his face against Severus' chest, inhaling deeply. Douglas' bed wasn't meant for two adults, but Harry couldn't find it in him to move off it.
"What did we do wrong?"
"We simply exist," Severus said, dropping his chin onto Harry's head. "I don't know where to start looking for him."
"I don't either."
"Come on, we need to talk with Ariana. Maybe she's remembered something," Snape said, kissing Harry lightly as he rolled from the bed.
"I hope so."
They exited their home and for once Severus didn't shift right away and rush ahead of Harry. Instead he waited, taking Harry by the hand and kissing his knuckles gently. Harry offered him a weary smile as he watched Severus transform.
"Come on."
Harry gripped his hand tightly, and they swam off towards the city.
When they reached the city’s tall gates the merpeople were whispering with each other. As they crossed into the city, they caught sight of Ariana, now crying on Cadmus’ shoulder.
As they grew closer, the whispers abruptly stopped. Harry drew closer to Severus as the merpeople watched them pass in disconcerting silence. The last time they had done that was in his fourth year; they hadn't been this quiet, even in that first week when Severus first brought him here.
"Ariana, we need to speak."
The mermaid nodded, long brown hair drifting in front of her face.
"Had you ever seen the man before?" Severus asked.
She nodded. "I've been thinking about it. I've seen him around the lake before. Not recently though, back when he was in school."
"How long ago?" Harry asked, eyes narrowing in thought.
Ariana frowned. "He looked to be about your age, Harry."
"Who would-" He let go of Severus, and let the water current carry him as he thought. His first thought was that it was a Slytherin, but why? Why now? Why not him and why his son? He was an easy enough target. If someone wanted to hurt him, they could easily have done it any day in the summer. His worst enemy in school had been Draco, but that wasn't even an option. Draco loved Douglas; he was the boy’s godfather, he'd kill anyone who touched him. "Think, think, think!"
He didn't look up until he bumped into someone. "Sorry," he mumbled, flushing in embarrassment.
The merman shook his head with a small smile. "No harm done, Young Mate."
Harry's cheeks just grew more heated at that comment. No matter how many times he got called that by the other creatures, he still flushed. Still, it served as a reminder that he wasn't alone. He glanced over his shoulder to where Severus was deep in conversation with Cadmus while Ariana hovered off to the side. Harry swam over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"We don't blame you," he told her once he caught her eyes.
"I tried to follow him, but I couldn't get past the shore," she said, breaking into tears anew. "I'm so sorry."
"Could you tell me what the man looked like? Hair, clothes, anything?"
"His cloak was just a solid blue, and he had the hood up."
Harry rubbed her back gently as she sobbed into his shoulder. There was nothing else for it then, and just because the kidnapper looked Harry's age didn't mean he was, exactly. There could be a year or two’s difference in their ages, or even more.
"Harry!" Severus waved him over. "I need to go and speak with my contacts, see if anyone knows anything. Will you be alright?" he asked, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Yes," he answered. He had to be, their son was more important than what he was feeling. He turned to Ariana. "Can I stay here with you?"
"You may," she said, smiling gently.
Harry nodded. "Go and find our son."
Severus turned to leave, but stopped and embraced Harry. "We'll get him back. I promise."
"Merlin, I hope so," Harry whispered, gripping his mate with all his might.
"I'll return as quickly as I can." He kissed Harry softly then left the city.
Next Chapter: Chapter Five