Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Fatherhood ❯ Soulmates ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: See 1st chapter

 

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Soulmates

 

“As much as it irks me to tell you, I must. We are soulmates, Mr. Potter.”

 

“Ah?”

 

“Now that you are of age, it is of absolute importance that you are bonded to your soulmate as soon as possible. As long as you aren't grounded by your soulmate, your already negligible magical strength will diminish, and then it will be even easier for the Dark Lord to kill you.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“We need to perform a bonding ceremony at the coming full moon to pool our strength so that I can support your fight against Voldemort.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“Once we are bonded, we will be able to hear each other's thoughts, feel each other's feelings, and be able to find each other, no matter where we are and how we are hidden.”

 

“I see.”

 

“… Mr. Potter?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Have you been listening?”

 

“Oh, I have been listening. I was just wondering how much nonsense you were going to spew on your own.”

 

“You might be seventeen now, but you are still a student here! I would do you good to respect your teachers, Mr. Potter! I can assure you that I am not very happy about this turn of events, either, but I dislike seeing the Dark Lord rule even more.”

 

“How do you know we are soulmates?”

 

“…”

 

“Yes, I am waiting?”

 

“I have seen it during your Occlumency lessons.”

 

“Mhm. And how fast are my powers going to deteriorate if I'm not bonded to you?”

 

“Within a year, you should loose half your strength.”

 

“Then, since you haven't had a soulmate for over 20 years, your magical strength has been reduced how much? Somehow, I don't think you can go into the negatives.”

 

“No, there is no `negative magical power'! And the drain will only start as soon as both partners are of age.”

 

“Oh, some kind of magical fail-safe? Say, have you already felt your powers diminishing, compared to a year ago, or so?”

 

“Not yet. But since your birthday was only five weeks ago, I don't expect much to happen yet.”

 

“Very interesting. What if I tell you that there is no such thing as soulmates?”

 

“That is preposterous, Mr. Potter! There have been soulmate bondings for centuries!”

 

“Oh, stuff that crap you're trying to feed me! I'm not going to let myself get dragged into the insane scheme you and the headmaster have concocted. There are several mistakes you have made: First, there were no silencing spells on Dumbledore's office last night. I heard the two of you arguing down to the gargoyle. I wonder how he managed to convince you to go along with his insane spiel, I couldn't hear that part.”

 

“Eavesdropping on the headmaster, Mr. Potter? I think that will be a hundred points from Gryffindor, and detention with Mr. Filch for the next five months!”

 

“Suit yourself. Secondly, Hermione has turned 17 during October last year, and since she's heard of the soulmate rumor, she's done some research into it. Turns out it was just that, a rumor. Otherwise she couldn't have finished her 6th year exams that well, could she? She definitely hasn't been bonded to anyone yet. And thirdly, I have turned eighteen, not seventeen.”

 

“Mr. Potter, you astound me once again. I have it on good authority that even muggle children learn basic math in their elementary education. You were born in 1980, and we have 1997 now. Counting with the help of your fingers and your toes, even someone as illiterate as you should be able to calculate their age correctly.”

 

“Lay it off with the insults, will you? You're just irked that I'm not playing along like the naïve little Boy-Who-Lived. And I've turned eighteen.”

 

“Then, care to illuminate on how you came to such a stunning miscalculation?”

 

“Easy. Ever heard of time-travel?”

 

“Time turners cannot turn you back more than 24 hours, Mr. Potter. Think of a better excuse.”

 

“Oh, but it wasn't a time turner. It was a full-blown rip-in-time-space-continuum, or some other nonsense like that. It appeared on my birthday, sucked me in, and just three weeks ago, I managed to get back to 1997 again.”

 

“Indeed? Your lying skills are abysmal, Mr. Potter. But don't let me discourage you. Who have you been staying with? The Hogwarts Founders, since even you should know enough about them to fake a few memories? Or Merlin? Perhaps some ancient warlock who has imparted the secrets of elemental and wandless magic on you?”

 

“… Uric the Oddball.”

 

“Uric the… So jellyfish hats are no muggle fashion?”

 

“No, they are not. Sorry, wearing it has become a habit. You're just lucky I remembered to get dressed this morning.”

 

“… Do I want to know?”

 

“Oh, I'm quite sure it's nothing like what you're thinking, unless you've got a really, really sordid imagination.”

 

“…”

 

“Just joking! Good grief, banging around with Voldemort isn't that bad!”

 

“Banging - Voldemort - The Dark Lord was here in the castle last night!?!”

 

“Nah, I went to him after having to listen to what you and Dumbles were discussing. He laughed himself sick, too.”

 

“How long have you been sleeping with the Dark Lord?”

 

“Oh, I can assure you, we haven't been sleeping.”

 

“Just answer the question, you imbecilic moron! Do you have any idea how much damage you have done!?!”

 

“Damage? I didn't do any damage. More like I prevented it. Or have you heard of any raids or Death Eater activities during the last three weeks?”

 

“How - what - “

 

“I'm sure you already know the `how'. As for the `what', as long as I can keep him busy during the night, he can't do any planning. And then, during the day, he's too exhausted to do any planning. And without plans, there are no raids.”

 

“Then how come you aren't exhausted during the day?”

 

“Oh, I took control of my soulbond with Voldemort.”

 

“You did what?”

 

“Oh, come on, after all the crap you've been telling me about soulmates, you can't tell me you haven't even heard of soulbonds?”

 

“For your information, I am very familiar with the concept of soulbonds. But I'd like to hear what kind of convoluted ideas you have about it.”

 

“Just admit it, you don't know what I'm talking about.”

 

“Potter!”

 

“Alright, alright. Considering what you've been saying, maybe you do know about soulbonds. They are pretty much the one-sided version of your fictional soulmates. The initiator can hear the recipient's thoughts, influence the recipient's feelings, draw on the recipient's magic, and always know where the recipient is. The recipient can only do those things if the initiator allows him to. Come to think about it - was that what you and Dumbles were trying to do to me?”

 

“… No.”

 

“If you say so… Aren't you curious how the soulbond came into being?”

 

“Somehow, I think you are going to tell me whether I like it or not.”

 

“That's right! Well, when he shot the killing curse at me, a piece of his soul came with it. Somehow, I connected his soul to mine before the killing curse could act, meaning that I was able to reflect the `killing' part of the curse onto him. On the other hand, it was me who kept his soul alive until he found another body. And since I didn't know about the soulbond, I couldn't prevent him from using it against me, resulting in that mess from 5th year. But during my time with Uric, I learned that I was the one in control, and once I returned, I immediately turned the tables on him.”

 

“So you are controlling the Dark Lord now?”

 

“Well, not really controlling, but…”

 

“But what?”

 

“Have you noticed how my homework grades are astronomical this term?”

 

“Since your essays are even lengthier than Ms. Granger's, I have been wondering who you have been copying from.”

 

“Well… hm… whenever Voldemort starts thinking about purebloodedness and world domination and such, I can hear it through the bond, and then I kind of … well, how to word it…”

 

“You kind of what? Out with it, Mr. Potter, that could be important!”

 

“Well, whenever he starts with his spiel, I give him the urge to do my homework!”

 

“I knew it! Another 100 points from Gryffindor for cheating, and we're going to see the headmaster right NOW!”

 

The whole Hogwarts staff room broke out into laughter when Severus Snape, glowering Potions Master, and Harry Potter, smirking Defense Master, bowed to Albus Dumbledore. Finally, even the ever-grumpy dark-haired man couldn't keep back a slight twitching of the corners of his mouth.

 

In between chuckles, the headmaster nodded. “My dear boys, what an excellent performance. And, Mr. Potter, those hundred points Severus just took from you will be refunded for finding a creative excuse for cheating on your homework. During my whole teaching career, I haven't heard that one yet.”

 

Harry Potter cheered indignantly. “Hey, and what about those 100 points and the detention for disrespecting a teacher?”

 

“Well, Mr. Potter,” Severus Snape purred, “if you have managed to keep a Dark Lord too busy to think about world domination, surely convincing a Potions Master is well within your ability?”

 

To the amusement of the assembled teachers and ghosts, the two of them hastily excused themselves, probably to do a bit of - convincing. Minerva merely smirked and crossed out another item on her list. After making sure that the two of them were out of earshot, she asked into the room.

 

“Any other ideas to add to the list?”

 

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A/N: I don't think this chapter is as funny as the last ones, but that whole `soulmate'-stuff and the travel-back-in-time-to-miraculously-get-stronger have been annoying me for quite some time. And then, all those horribly unimaginative HP/TR-pairings… I'm always open for new suggestions on what Severus and Harry could be talking about.

 

Sakiku