.:writings on the wall:.
Hush, Sweet Harry
Title: Hush, Sweet Harry
Author: Chickalupe
Feedback: ooh, makes me feel all tingly… chickalupe@juno.com
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: HP/SS, RW/NL, HG/GW
Rating: R
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF
Warnings: AU, slash, minor/adult relationship
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling, literary goddess of all things HP, owns everything you see here. I just make the pretty boys do naughty things without her permission, but the boys secretly enjoy it.
Summary: Answer to Pansy’s ‘Hush Harry’ Challenge. When Harry accidentally becomes mute, he finds his only communication with the rest of the world is… Professor Severus Snape, the man who has made his entire life at Hogwarts miserable! Will they both live through this? Could it bring the two of them closer? Should one of them go ahead and reserve his cell in Azkaban now, for hexing the other into oblivion? These questions and more will be answered soon!
{{A/N: Answer to Pansy’s ‘Hush Harry’ Challenge, which can be found at http://adultfan.nexcess.net/aff/story.php?no=18297 . Like I *so* needed another plot bunny. I have like 2 WIPs that readers are about to break out the pointy plastic sporks on me over if I don’t update soon. Seriously, this one grabbed on and wouldn’t let go. The challenge was posted months ago, but I got mused big time… so here we are. I may not have followed the challenge to the letter, as I’m almost positive it was meant to be post-OotP, but that book makes me both sad and angry, so let’s pretend it didn’t happen; yes? **IN THIS STORY HARRY WILL BE 16, HAVING A SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH AN ADULT!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.** }}
{{PS- As soon as I read the challenge, a twisted version of ‘Hush Little Baby’ started playing in my head, and I couldn‘t shake it. This lullaby will be a running theme. I apologize in advance if I warp your childhood memories.}}
“spells”
[telepathy]
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Chapter One: Hush, Sweet Harry; Don’t Say a Word.
Harry was going to turn Neville into a newt. Harry was also going to turn Ron into a weasel like Malfoy always called him. And speaking of that annoying git, he would turn Malfoy into a ferret *again*. Then he would stick the three of them in a cage together and see who survived. Well, maybe not Neville; Harry was fond of Neville. But Harry couldn’t help feeling a little bit peeved at all three boys, and swore he would get vengeance for what they had done to him, albeit inadvertently. Just as soon as he had the ability cast spells again, that is.
Harry sighed heavily, but no sound came out. This was not new. He hadn’t been able to make any sound at all for almost two days that he’d been in the infirmary. He’d tried to talk, scream, cry, sing, laugh and whistle; but all to no avail. He was mute, and Madame Pomfrey didn’t know if she would be able to fix it. Dumbledore was, for once, stumped; McGonagall was frantic; Flitwick was researching madly; and Snape… well, Snape was a different matter altogether. Harry had found his thoughts inexplicably drawn to the dark Potions Master in the long, lonely hours he’d had to think. He was confused, that was what it boiled down to. If only Snape would act like he was supposed to! Maybe if Harry hadn’t heard what he had, if Snape hadn’t carried him to the infirmary…
**********
Only the first week of sixth year and Malfoy had already managed to provoke Ron into a duel. Ron, Harry, and Neville had all been walking to class together. Actually, Ron and Neville had been walking to class, and Harry was following behind them. He had always thought that Hermoine and Ron would end up together, but his two best friends had shocked him over the summer by both telling him they were bisexual; Hermoine admitting that she and Ginny were together, and Ron revealing his relationship with Neville. Harry was surprised, to say the least, but happy for them both. Apparently, same-sex relationships were more acceptable in the wizarding world, which relieved Harry to no end as he hadn’t quite figured out yet where his own interests lay. His only problem was that he now found himself a sort of fifth wheel, being the only one in the group not in a relationship.
Malfoy had bumped into them in the hall, and made some disparaging remark about Neville’s parents; which was extremely unwise considering Ron’s normally fiery temper, on top of the fact that he was now *very* protective of Neville since they had gotten together. Not to mention that Neville had grown more confident, and was less likely to put up with Malfoy’s taunts without retaliating. The insults had flew, and before Harry could try to play mediator all three had their wands out and were hexing each other.
“Confundus,” shouted Malfoy, at the same time that Ron cast “Petrificus Totalus,” and Neville threw out “Silencio.” All three spells met simultaneously in mid-air, and ricocheted off in a new direction-- all directly towards Harry, where he was standing to one side, out of the line of fire. He was knocked backwards by the combined impact of the spells, and felt his head connect painfully with the corridor wall. Things got dark, and fuzzy; but just then he heard the familiar voice of a certain Potions Master yelling angrily. “Weasley! Longbottom! Just what exactly do you think you’re doing, dueling in the hallway? Look what you’ve done to Potter there!”
“Harry!” Ron and Neville shouted in unison.
“Of course Potter would manage to hurt himself the one time he wasn’t involved,” he heard Malfoy sneer. As blackness claimed him, Harry tried to summon the energy to tell Malfoy to sod off, but the words wouldn‘t leave his tongue.
He regained partial consciousness a few moments later, to the sensation of being carried. “Stupid boy,” a usually sarcastic voice said, sounding uncharacteristically tender, almost concerned. “You can’t even go one week without getting injured. Stupid, stupid boy.” There was certain amount of fondness in Snape’s tone. Harry felt long, slim fingers gently pushing the hair off his forehead, and his mind swirled with confusion as sleep claimed him again.
**********
Harry had woken up completely the second time to find himself in the long familiar hospital ward. He saw Madame Pomfrey a few yards away and tried to speak to her, only to find that although his lips would move, no words would come out. He panicked, and began hyperventilating. He couldn’t yell, couldn’t cry; could only speak inside his own head. His hands flailed about, and thankfully Madame Pomfrey noticed his distress and hurried over to force a calming potion down his throat. Once he finally settled down, the no-nonsense mediwitch threatened to keep him fully sedated if he got overly agitated again.
Dumbledore and the professors were very distressed, and using all their expertise and old books to figure out how the spells had combined to make Harry unable to speak. Meanwhile, Harry had been mostly alone. His friends had visited when they could, of course, but communication was difficult with only hand gestures and mouthing words on Harry’s part, and writing everything down got very old, very fast. Neville and Ron had both apologized profusely, and Harry had managed to convey that he forgave them. He *did* forgive them. He was still planning to get his revenge, yes; but that had nothing to do with forgiveness, really. It was all a matter of principle.
In the past two days he had spent a lot of time reading his textbooks so he wouldn’t fall behind in class, much to Hermoine’s delight. When he wasn’t reading, he spent the rest of his time sleeping, and thinking. For some reason he kept remembering long, nimble fingers stroking through his hair. He remembered being in strong arms, cradled to a warm solid chest. He kept thinking of a silky voice, murmuring ‘Stupid boy,’ almost affectionately.
Yes, confused pretty much summed up how he felt.
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{{A/N 2: This chapter is dedicated to Juushika, for giving me my favorite review ever! She asked to have my babies, paraded and showered me with cookies, and also her chair smells like old lady perfume for some reason. Wonderful, really.}}
