Binding Us

91-100

The newfound freedom wasn't really freedom and they noticed that soon enough. Yes, they could separate during the day, the bond did not create any feeling of lack between them. But as soon as they found each other, they had such a need to touch that it was difficult for them not to just end up in their sheets. Also, they tried to meet up at least once an hour to avoid Tom trying to take Harry from the face and non-existent beard of an absolutely embarrassed and shocked Barty Crouch. The man who trapped him in the Triwizard Tournament was back in his life and Harry was making sure to make him pay a little. Because unlike the mask he had shown while playing the mad Auror, Alastor Mad-eye Moody, Barty was a cream of kindness and one of Tom's best doggies.

Yes, doggie. Harry would not budge, Tom would whistle at Barty that he would arrive with a delighted look, ready to bite anyone's calf for his beloved master.

So, while Tom could worry about conquering the world better, Harry had his theoretical lessons with Severus in the morning and his practical lessons in the afternoon with Barty. Although Tom continued to teach him black magic himself, probably to ensure his psychological balance. And probably to calm their instincts too.

That morning, instead of teaching classes in the manor, Harry had made Severus follow him into the gardens. Sitting under the well-restored patio, he enjoyed the rays of the sun while the man, grudgingly, explained to him certain things about metamorphosis. You might think they were alone, but Barty was keeping an eye on things, as ordered by Tom who didn't trust Severus. Rightly so, obviously.

He's planning to attack Azkaban soon, right?
Harry thought about it. It had been one of Tom's priorities in their early days, he wanted his supporters back to accelerate his plans.

…Yes, Prince, it’s on the agenda.
Of course, Barty doesn't say when, just in case. Severus looked like a statue, frozen at the implications of this information. Harry smirked.

You would like to warn Dumbledore, wouldn't you?
… No. This would put you in danger if the Lord was injured or caught.
As if my well-being is your concern.
Harry shook his head, it was good for the professor to try to score points. He slammed his hands on the stone table, Harry looked at him, saw this dark blue filled with conflicting emotions.

Yes it is. Does that bother you, Potter?
You are incomprehensible. You hate me for things I'm not responsible for but you want to protect me? Are you sure you have the ideas in place?
Barty snorted, Severus looking even more irritated as Harry put his quill down. After a murderous look at Barty, Severus explained. Harry listened to him. It didn't make him hot or cold. His apathy was taking its toll..

92
This was also the subject he broached with Tom during dinner, under the nose of Barty who never left them. Harry often forgot he was there, Barty was a sort of part of the scenery... Or a pet, that's it. Although he knew that the partisan understood everything, he could not bring himself to worry about it. And he didn't know if this fact frightened him or reinforced the idea that everything Voldemort was doing now was of no use. So he said that Severus had told him about the promise he had made to spare his mother and that it had done nothing for him. Nothing at all. Tom's smile made him want to throw his peas in his face though.

I know. I'm starting to get it too.
You talk about it like an illness.
It is true that it is not one of them but many would say that this is why we are sociopaths to be eliminated from society.
I'm not a sociopath!
Not yet, my dear prey, not yet.
Harry gripped his fork a little too tightly. He wasn't... He loved people! He adored his godfather, his friends. He missed these people... But less than before the consummation of the link. They were shadows in his mind, he thought about them, he wanted to protect them from what Tom would do and at the same time, he knew they had lost them. How could they accept what he had become? Would they believe him if he said he fought his hardest? He dropped his cutlery, more upset by the idea that he was losing his humanity than the idea that these people might be angry with him for losing himself. They hadn't been there! They had no right to judge him!