: EXTRA 2Summary:
Fluff warning!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for .)
Chapter Text
"Well, here we are," Harry said, face alight with nerves and equal excitement. "Tom, I can't believe we're actually doing this."
The surly eyed man next to the twenty-one year old gave an even deeper scowl than the one he wore just moments before. "Yes, I can hardly believe it either," he said with clear sarcastic enthusiasm. "It has always been my dream to open up my home to a messy, whiney—"
"Oh, hush Tom," Harry scolded, shooting a glare in his lover's direction. "I know you're doing this only because I've always wanted one, but I think you may actually grow to love the one we get, or at least enjoy their company."
Tom snorted in a sheer example of incredulousness. "I really don't think—"
For the second time in a row, much to his chagrin, Tom was interrupted from finishing his sentence, though this time it was by a person other than Harry.
"My Lords!" an elderly yet sprite woman exclaimed breathlessly from the doorway of the building Tom and Harry stood before. Her grey hair was pulled back in a severe sort of bun reminiscent of McGonagall, but the ecstatic smile (even in the face of the powerful Minister and ex-Lord Voldemort, revealed to the public only last year after a successful election—Harry's, the late Dumbledore's, plus others' endorsements prevented complete panic and mayhem upon the reveal) on her aged face bore little resemblance to Harry's old professor.
"Please, please come in! We've been expecting you. I must say, it is quite the honor."
With a final look in Tom's direction that clearly said, "Behave," Harry approached the woman easily, his excited grin once again in place on his countenance. With the obvious reluctance of a man who knew exactly what he was getting himself into and wishing he could escape his fate, Tom followed in a grim, stately manner after Harry.
The facility was clean and bright, the walls obviously covered in fresh paint and the wooden floors buffed to a mirror shine. It was a far cry from the orphanage Tom grew up in, and it left the man feeling a sense of ironic bitterness. How was this fair?
"Oh Tom! Just come look at them!"
Harry's obviously enamored call from a room off the left distracted Tom from his memories and brooding. Dread growing within him, he went in the direction his lover's voice had come from and walked into the room which all the...the things were gathered, Harry standing a short distance away eyeing each and every one. This sort of line up Tom was familiar with, despite the glistening paint and polished floors.
Harry's green eyes were bright with shining, joyful emotion, but there was a hint of dismay upon his features. He turned and looked up at Tom.
"How can we possibly choose?"
Considering the question, Tom looked once again at the choices. There were blonds, brunets, boys and girls...there was one obvious solution.
"Don't. We can still leave."
Harry looked positively aghast, and Tom nearly winced. Despite what he said, he realized it was too late. Harry had already seen them, and he wouldn't be leaving without one.
"How can you say that? Just look at their faces! You remember how it was..."
"Harry, how is this possibly the same thing?" Tom snapped, waving his hand over the heads of the cretins. He signed when Harry's bottom lip poked out just enough to be considered a pout. And damn, was it attractive.
Tom sighed, and once again resigned himself. This really was happening.
"Might I make a suggestion?" the woman who had greeted them before said, slightly timidly.
"Yes, please," Harry voiced eagerly. The woman forged herself at the young man's obvious enthusiasm.
"Why don't you go up to them, try and get to know them a little? You'll know the right one when you see him or her."
Nodding eagerly, Harry stepped forth, many pairs of eyes watching him with unguarded anticipation. Tom, refusing to move, stood by the wall and watched. What did it matter? It's not like whichever one Harry chose would ever come to care for Tom the same way as he or she was certain to do with Harry. Harry had a different personality than Tom did, and had an uncanny knack of drawing others in.
Tom saw the moment Harry spotted the one he'd unconsciously been searching for. A breathtaking smile overcame his features, and even in that moment Tom felt himself soften just a bit. He never forgot the reason he had even agreed to this—he did it to make his Harry happy. If it involved bringing one of these into their lives, then so be it.
Harry was now kneeling next to one with dark—most likely black—hair, placing a trembling hand on top of small creature's shiny locks. The object of his attention stood tensely, looking up at the young man with quiet yet adoring eyes. The thing then had the indecency to brush his grubby paws against Harry's trouser leg in an imploring gesture, and gave the most impish, toothy grin up at him. Laughing, Harry reached down and picked the cretin up.
Righting himself, Harry stood carefully, the brat nestled against his chest. His green eyes found Tom's.
"Him. What do you think?"
Tom scrutinized the would-be invader to their home.
"It looks stupid."
Harry shot him a glare. "He, Tom. It is a he. And he does not!" He dropped his chin to whisper in his new charge's ear. "Don't listen to him—your other daddy is just trying to be funny," Harry said while giving Tom a pointed look.
Tom studied the determined expression of Harry's face and sighed for the millionth time that day, not even bothering to react to Harry's use of "daddy" in reference to him. "If that's the one you want, I won't stop you from getting the mu—"
"Shh! Don't say it!" Harry looked anxiously at the thing (Tom still wouldn't think of it as anything else) as if worried it knew what Tom was about to say. Really, sometimes Tom wondered about his lover.
"Hmph, I still think a pureblood would have been better."
"You know that doesn't matter to me," Harry expressed, still cuddling the thing to his chest. He kissed to top of its head. "Really, you know there is no difference." Looking over at the woman still waiting by the doorway, he said to her, "We want him. Where do we sign?" That was all that was left, since they'd already filled out paperwork weeks before and the foundation had reviewed their files to ensure the adoptee would be going to a good home.
The woman beamed in obvious delight. "Excellent! I knew that sweet little gent would find a family soon enough. Come, we can go to the office to finish things up."
Smiling excitedly, Harry trailed after the woman, cooing all the way to the thing in his arms. Tom felt a twinge of worry when he noticed he was already feeling the beginning stages of jealousy. He knew that much of Harry's time would now be taken up by this thing, playing with it, teaching it, holding it. All Tom could think was there was no way the thing was ever coming into their bed with them, not even for nightmares or whatever. That was Tom's territory.
Harry, in his eagerness, had already finished signing half the paperwork by the time Tom reluctantly placed himself in the doorway of the office. The young man looked up at his lover.
"Okay, Tom, your turn!"
Tom thought to protest, but knew it was pointless at this stage and the arguments they'd had before. Harry wanted it to theirs. A few scrawling signatures, and the deal was done.
Tom wondered the prudency of getting Nagini to eat the new addition within the week.
"Will you give him a new name? He is young enough."
The woman's question drew Tom's attention towards Harry as the young man thought in intense silence.
"I think I'll name him after my Godfather." Harry turned in his seat to look over his shoulder at Tom. "Is that alright with you?"
Tom sneered, feeling a sense of satisfaction when the woman pressed herself firm to her seat back in intimidation. See, he still had it in him—it seemed as if many people had forgotten who he'd been before. Perhaps it was the lack of death and destruction on his part. Sometimes, like today, he really missed that...
"What would I care? He's," Tom emphasized to Harry, "yours."
Harry huffed. "He's both of ours, Tom."
"Hardly."
"You are such a mean bastard."
The woman hunched further into her chair at the causal shrug of agreement Tom cast his lover. Harry, for his part, only smiled and shook his head, not really angry.
Now that the paperwork was signed, the caretaker gathered them up and placed them into a file, closing it with a sense of finality. She glanced up with another smile. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Harry gushed, kissing the dark-haired head of his newly adopted charge. Rising from his seat in a flurry of hyperactive motion, Harry sidled up to and pressed himself against Tom's side, the thing sandwiched between them to Tom's dismay. "Let's go home."
With one last, wry glance at his pristine surroundings, Tom wrapped his arms around his younger lover and Apparated them to their front foyer.
His shirt felt wet.
"Oh! You poor thing. That is usually what happens to everybody their first time Apparating," Harry cooed over the beast that had puked all over the front of Tom's robes.
"You can't be serious."
"It's just a little vomit, Tom, it'll come out with a charm just fine. He couldn't help it."
"Harry..." Tom growled lowly, a warning in his voice.
Just then, Nagini, upon scenting that her Masters were home, slithered into view and sent the youngling in Harry's arms squirming and crying in fright when it caught sight of her. When it couldn't break free, it buried its face into Harry's shoulder, whimpering.
"Great, you got one that was afraid of snakes," Tom commented deprecatingly.
:Is that it, Master?: Nagini queried, twining her body around Tom's feet, her head propped up on a coil so she could look at the house's new addition. :It looks wimpy. If it is, I can eat it and you can find one better suited.:
Harry gasped, appalled. :Nagini! He is not a snack, nor is he something you can just get rid of and look for a replacement! He is young, he'll toughen up as he gets older. Now,: he said, prying his frightened charge from his shoulder and placing him on the ground right in front of the terribly venomous and overly large viper. :Make nice.:
Nagini looked up at Tom, as if to say, Do I have to? When Tom did nothing but wave his hand in defeated acquiescence, she flicked her tongue out. That little gesture set the little one howling, and it flew behind Harry's legs, cowering. The wizard sighed. Exasperated, Nagini untangled herself and headed back the way she came, hissing about having to put up with another runt in the house. Tom gave a pointed look at Harry.
"What?" the younger of the two exclaimed. "She hated Lady at first too, but got used to her just fine eventually."
"That's because when she is not Lady, Bellatrix will shine her scales and find her the biggest game to chase and eat."
"I still think Bellatrix, and Lady for that matter, are lying when she, they—whatever!—say that they don't remember anything after changing one way or the other," Harry grumbled. The summer before Harry's Seventh Year, Tom had come up with a way to imbibe Bellatrix's Dark Mark with a Parselphrase-triggered Transfiguration spell, which allowed either Harry or Tom to change her into a snake and back. Instead of getting Harry an actual, honest-to-God-born-this-way cobra, Tom had insisted he continue carrying around the transformed Bellatrix, giving him easy access to a powerful dueler for protection should he need it. Currently, Bellatrix was human and banned to the care of her husband—Harry really didn't want her around in either form when he brought their new addition home.
A cry drew their attention to the youngling sitting at Harry's feet.
Tom, not wishing to deal with the thing anymore, turned on his heel and followed Nagini out the room, calling out behind him, "That thing better be toilet trained!"
Harry watched Tom's retreat with a soft smile on his face, knowing it was going to be a long road before his lover could accept the addition to their little (atypical) family. At his feet, little Padfoot made another whimpering sound, so the young wizard knelt down next to him and drew his fingers through the puppy's inky black coat.
"Don't worry, kid, you're going to love it here. It might take Tom a little while to warm up to you, but he will eventually. He may be a bit of a reptile person, but if you continue with those puppy-dog eyes and adorable expressions, then how can he possibly resist?"
Mollified by Harry's comforting, Padfoot yipped and wagged his tail hard enough his bottom shook side to side. Harry chuckled at the sight, and swept the young puppy of a non-discriminant breed off the floor.
"Come on, Padfoot, let's show you the rest of the house and your brand new bed! Tom wants it to be placed somewhere ("Anywhere!") other than the bedroom, but maybe just for tonight it will be okay..."
Padfoot yipped in reply and wagged his fleshy tail even harder.
Notes:
Lol, if I did it right, you had no idea it was just a dog! Hope you liked it XD I randomly thought of it one day and typed it up. It's hardly a proper sequel or epilogue, but I thought it was cute