All Hail the Dark Lord, Or Something Idiotic Like That

A New Friend pt12

A/N: Not my story! Original available on ao3

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"I will inform Albus we can trust you, but that we were not able to come to terms on a secrecy oath."

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"Merlin, was that proposed?!" Harry gasped, clearly knowing it was, but acting shocked at the information.

"I don't think I'm quite up to trying to get past those, not having had any legal training myself," Snape motioned to the bracelet of runes around Harry's wrist that he had been glancing at since he sat down and trying to put together what they combined to do.

"I'm surprised you figured out what they do," Harry laughed and scrubbed at the tattoo with his thumb fondly.

Snape's breath caught and he just barely stopped himself from noticeably gasping when he saw the line of scars on the top of Hadrian's opposite hand. He'd been so preoccupied with trying to figure out what the runes did that he hadn't looked at the man's other hand. While Hadrian clearly had many scars visible that Snape could see, those were the only ones that were so obviously clear what caused them. Blood quills were highly illegal and forcing someone to carve I must not tell lies into their hand was beyond dehumanizing and torture of a terrible kind.

Harry hadn't noticed the man's distraction and had continued explaining his runes that kept him from being contracted into anything against his very clearly stated will. Even then, it kept the oath or contract from taking his magic if broken. It would be very painful and unpleasant, but he'd keep his magic and life at least. It had been necessary multiple times for ill-conceived marriage contracts people had tried to force him into. Frankly, they were the first runes he'd inked onto himself that then led to the others.

Snape was still staring at the scars though. He knew Hadrian was from the Black family, and they were never known to be good or pleasant people. He knew that Regulus and his brother had not had good home lives growing up, even if he was less sympathetic to Sirius. Even if Hadrian's family had been struck off the family tree, that still didn't mean they were good people or that he hadn't grown up in a terrible home.

Percy reached over and put his hand on top of Harry's, having noticed where their professor's eyes had fallen. Snape looked up at him, and Percy gave a little shake of his head. The message of 'don't ask' was received, and Snape gave him a little nod in return.

"...and I can give you that oath, but it probably won't be as powerful as your leader is looking for because of them," Harry concluded, having not paid attention to the silent conversation going on around him. "So...you want me to mock one up really quick?"

"No," Snape shook his head firmly and stood to leave. "I will ask for lunch though, next Hogsmeade weekend? I assume you will be visiting Mr. Weasley anyway."

Harry's eyes widened some, surprised that maybe he'd possibly made a friend out of the man. Merlin, he didn't think he'd ever see the day he would be friends with Severus Snape. He had admired the man since he died in the war, saving them all. But he didn't actually think Snape would want to be friends with him. "Er, sure, yeah..."

Snape gave a sharp nod. "Expect my owl about visiting with your cousin and the decision reached concerning it," he said before giving them both a tiny smile and heading out of the pub, back to the school.

"Harry..." Percy looked over at his partner with a deep frown. "Just how much do you think your handwriting has changed over the years?"

"Of course you do," that didn't surprise him at all. Percy tapped a finger to the back of Harry's hand though, and Harry sucked his breath in. "Do you think he noticed?" He asked with wide eyes. Young Harry had never disguised his handwriting for anything, especially his essays.

"That it is there, yes, that it's Harry Potter's handwriting...I don't think so," Percy decided after really thinking through the man's minute expressions. "I think you should work on changing your handwriting on your essays some though just in case he sees your hand again and it sticks in his memory. Most people don't pay that close attention to handwriting, but he's both a professor looking for plagiarism and a spy...he would probably notice before most anyone else."

Harry grumbled and drank the last of Percy's whiskey who just huffed at him in exasperation. "Fine...now, I think I can stay out for another hour before anyone gets very anxious. I remarked to the general populous that I had just recently started seeing a very unspecified person in Ravenclaw while in the dorm yesterday to excuse random disappearances. How fast do you think we could get back to the castle and to your rooms?"

Percy smirked and canceled Harry's ward with his wand. "I'll take that challenge!" He pulled Harry up and out the door, planning to even beat Snape back to the castle.