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Bonded chapter 8 - looks
🕑 Added 2022-01-21 20:31:54 +0000 UTCChapter 8 - Looks.
"Thank you for your help, Mr Potter." A woman waved as she left the shop.
"Anytime," Harry called before depositing the money she left into the till. "what's up, Hermione?" Harry asked when he saw Hermione walk over with a pile of books and Ron behind her.
"I still can't believe you get to work here!" Hermione's voice was part jealous but also amazed.
"It's only for this summer," Harry shrugged. "I might come back next summer, but that's not been decided yet."
"Still," Hermione dumped the books on the till. "I bet it's amazing working here. Are you allowed to read the books here?"
"Yep," Harry nodded as he began looking through all the books that Hermione had dropped. "or at least the ones that aren't age-restricted. Though I was told that if I damage any of them then I have to buy them, which is fair enough, I suppose. I've also got a small discount on any purchases now or in the future."
"That's brilliant!" Hermione gasped.
"You couldn't have got a job at the quidditch store?" Ron joked.
"What is it with you and quidditch?" Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I don't know, why are you so obsessed with books." Ron rolled his eyes.
"Books are educational, Ronald."
"Yeah, well brooms are fun."
"So are books."
"Only if you live in a library."
"Guys," Harry interrupted. "as entertaining as this is, I'd like it if you buy your books before more customers arrive." He added, causing them to both blush slightly.
"Oh, we don't get them for free?" Ron frowned.
"Not if I want to keep my job, mate." Harry chuckled. "I had asked about a friend and family discount but apparently that's a no, in the past some people had abused that and taken out far too many books." Harry and Ron both couldn't hello but stare at Hermione.
"What?" She asked defensively, though the small smile on her face rather ruined it.
"Good thing, I guess." Ron grinned at Harry.
"Yeah, I can imagine the owner's face after Hermione buys every book that she can get away with." Harry grinned back.
"I have a book budget, thank you very much," Hermione sniffed, crossing her arms.
"Let me guess, your parents set it up," Harry smirked as he began placing Hermione's books in a bag.
"How did you know?" Hermione blinked.
"Because I imagine that they would know how likely it would be for you to spend all the money you have on books." Harry chuckled.
"Very funny." Hermione gave them a false laugh, but she didn't really correct Harry either.
"Wotcher." A voice caught the attention of the three.
"Hey Tonks," Harry smiled at the approaching auror.
"Hi, Harry." Tonks grinned as she stopped at the till.
"Oh Tonks, meet Ron and Hermione, my friends at school." Harry gestured to the two. "Guys, this is Tonks, she's one of the aurors around the alley, I met her a short while ago."
"How did you two meet?" Hermione asked curiously.
"I was chasing a guy with my partner when Mister Gryffindor over here decided to tackle him for us," Tonks answered before reaching a hand over to ruffle Harry's hair.
"Gerroff." Harry amusedly swatted her hand away.
"Harry, you tackled a criminal!" Hermione turned on him. "What were you thinking?!"
"Honestly, it's one of the tamer things he's done over the year," Ron commented.
"Hush Ronald," Hermione glared at him before turning to Harry. "that was very dangerous, Harry. I can't believe that..."
'Who does she think she is?' Venom asked Harry while Hermione continued to lecture him. 'You weren't allowed to use magic, what did she expect you to do? Stand by and do nothing? Does she even know who you are?'
'She means well.' Harry defended.
'Maybe she does, but what right does she have to lecture you? If it wasn't for you then she'd be studying books by herself when Voldemort got a body and she'd be a lifeless statue.'
"Hermione," Harry raised his voice slightly to cut the girl off. "in case you haven't remembered, me doing stuff like that is why you're still alive. Second of all, I already got lectured by the aurors so you can probably understand why I'm not in the mood for a second lecture by a girl who is in the same year as me." By the time Harry had finished, Hermione was staring at him with a surprised look, so was Ron.
"He is right," Tonks spoke up. "we did lecture him about that already." She frowned at Hermione.
"I'm sorry," Hermione blushed. "I didn't mean to..."
"It's fine," Harry sighed, cutting her off. "really." Hermione nodded awkwardly before dropping some money on the till and picking up her books.
"Do you two mind if I talk with Harry for a bit?" Tonks asked Ron and Hermione.
"Oh no, of course not, come on, Ronald." Hermione grabbed Ron by the wrist and dragged him off before he could respond.
"Really bossy, that one is." Tonks shook her head before turning to Harry. "How are you?"
"Still alive," Harry shrugged. "how about you?"
"Surviving," Tonks gave him a brief smile before she pulled out her wand and waved it around the two of them.
"Privacy charms?" Harry asked.
"Yep," Tonks nodded. "there's something important I think you should know, but I don't think I'm really supposed to tell you. Don't tell anyone I let you know, okay?"
"I won't, I promise." Harry stared into her violet eyes. "What is it?"
"It's about Sirius Black," Tonks sighed. "I think he's after you."
"Me?" Harry blinked. "Let me guess, it's because I beat his old master, right?"
"Probably part of it," Tonks confirmed. "but that's not just it. Do you know why Sirius Black was locked up in the first place?"
(.)
Harry rubbed his face as he lay down in his bed, struggling to process what he had learned. He was glad that Tonks had told him, but it was still hard to think about. Sirius Black had betrayed his parents and told Voldemort where they were hiding, and if that wasn't bad enough then you could also add in the fact that he had murdered a bunch of muggles and one of his parent's closest friends. And now he apparently wanted to finish the job. Harry had tons of thoughts going through his head right now.
'Why didn't anyone tell me? And why was it that the only person who did would risk her job to do so? Did they think that I'd run away and try to find him or something? Was not knowing somehow supposed to make him safer from the mass murderer that was chasing after him? Would anybody else have ever told him this?'
'Probably not,' Venom spoke up, reminding Harry of the alien's existence. 'but it doesn't really change things.'
'What?!' Harry asked with disbelief. 'How doesn't this change things?!'
'We knew that Black would likely be coming after you, now we just have extra motivation for why he is coming after you. And now we have extra motivation to get stronger, you will get stronger and I will still be your secret weapon against Black and any other wizard that tries to harm you. When Black finds us, I can eat him.' Venom offered.
Harry paused, usually he would quickly reply with a 'no, Venom, you can't eat him.' But right now, he could not help but think about it. The idea was certainly tempting since if anyone deserved to get their head eaten off by an alien then it would be Sirius Black, literally the man that guided Voldemort to killing Harry's parents. But...if Harry let Venom eat Sirius Black, then what would that say about him? Would he stop Venom from doing so again? Who else would he let Venom eat after?
'Think about it,' Venom told Harry. 'but if you don't want me to eat him then you should probably work on getting stronger. Practise your magic, make it harder for him.'
"Yeah," Harry spoke out loud. "yeah, you're right." Harry agreed before getting up and grabbing a book on the nightstand next to his bed and began looking through it. "I'll practise the freezing spell, I should probably work on my fire spells as well."
'Must you?' Venom asked. 'I don't like fire.'
'I won't be using it on you, you big baby.'
(.)
The next morning Harry let out a mighty yawn as he woke up from a rather nice sleep, he tiredly rubbed at his eyes before letting his fingers run through his hair. One brief headshake later he stood up and tossed his discarded shirt over his shoulder before he headed towards his bathroom with another yawn popping out of his mouth. He stopped in front of the sink and opened the tap, once the water was suitably cold enough he splashed some on his face repeatedly, Harry rubbed the water over his face and eyes before he looked up into the mirror. A gasp escaped Harry's lips a second later, he stared at the mirror with disbelief.
"Venom! Did you do this?!" Harry blurted out as he stared at himself.
'Yep,' Venom sounded quite proud of himself. 'you like it?'
'Like it? I love it!'
Harry couldn't help but be amazed as he stared at himself, Harry's abs looked like something out of a fitness magazine, sure they were noticeable before, but now they were even better. The small amount of fat he had on his body had been reduced, leaving him with a much leaner and much more defined body. Harry also couldn't help but notice that the majority of his scars had faded, he couldn't see any more belt marks or bruises or anything else that he had been left with thanks to the Dursley's. The only scars left were the scar where the basilisk had bitten him and the signature lightning bolt scar on his forehead. If that wasn't good enough then there was also the fact that Harry had added a couple of inches to the size of his muscles.
"This is amazing!" Harry whispered.
'Thanks, I haven't managed to heal everything yet,' Harry couldn't help but notice the thoughtful tone in Venom's voice. 'but soon.'
'Well, thanks still.' Harry sent before he realised something, his vision was perfect yet wasn't wearing his glasses. 'Venom, you fixed my eyes as well?!'
'You're welcome.' Venom sent back and Harry couldn't help but imagine a grinning mouth with tons of spiky white teeth. 'Hmm, perhaps we should get you a haircut as well.'
'A haircut?' Harry frowned, looking at his wild mess of hair. 'I haven't had a haircut in years.'
'You could have another one if you wanted.'
'Hmm, I'll think about it.' Harry eventually decided.
'Fair enough, do you want to get a tattoo as well?' Venom asked.
"A tattoo?" Harry blinked. "Not likely, mate."
'It'd look cool,' Venom told him.
'I...will think about it.'
'The girls would love it.'
'I will think about it.' Harry repeated before remembering that Hermione and the Weasleys would likely be downstairs, he imagined that it was going to be a fun conversation explaining this.
(.)
"Harry, dear, what happened to you?" Mrs Weasley asked as she, Ron, and Hermione were staring at him along with the rest of the present Weasley family, all with varying degrees of shock. Harry couldn't really blame them, he did look really different.
He was taller than before, not as tall as Ron, but definitely taller than before, almost reaching Ron's height. He was also a bit more muscular but that wasn't really that noticeable given the clothes he was wearing. He supported a pair of black and white trainers, blue jeans, a white T-shirt under a black jacket and was no longer wearing his glasses. All in all, Harry felt pretty cool.
'I wonder how they would react if I told them that an alien created these clothes.' Harry thought to himself.
'You could find out,' Venom suggested in an amused tone.
"It's just some new clothes, Mrs Weasley." Harry shrugged.
"Just some...just some new clothes?!" She repeated with disbelief. "This is more than just some new clothes!"
"Blimey Harry, you shot up a bit, haven't you?" Fred - or was it George - stated, staring at Harry.
"He has, hasn't he?" George - or was it Fred - agreed.
"I had some medical potions," Harry told them, remembering the script that he and Venom had agreed upon. "that's why I've been eating a lot before. The nutrient potions made me very hungry and I needed all the food." The group stared at each other for several moments, remembering that Harry had indeed been eating enough to rival Ronald, which had been surprising given how little the boy used to eat before.
"What about your eyes?" Hermione asked. "Where are your glasses?"
"I don't need them anymore," Harry smirked. "I can see fine now. I think it might be due to the potion, I heard some eyesight problems can be fixed over time. I'm going to go and ask Madam Pomfrey when we get back to Hogwarts."
"Are you sure?" Mr Weasley asked. "We can take you to St Mungo's hospital right now." He offered
"No, thank you, Mr Weasley." Harry politely refused. "I feel fine, honestly, I'll just check with Madam Pomfrey when we get to school. If things get worse then I'll tell you, promise."
"If you're sure." Mr Weasley didn't look particularly happy but didn't push it, thankfully.
"Blimey, guess you're no longer the runt of the group." Ron laughed.
"Ron, don't be insensitive," Hermione told him off, something that started another round of arguing from the pair. Eventually, the group all started conversing with each other, Harry suspected it was mostly a way to tune out Ron and Hermione's argument which now seemed to have moved onto their obsessions with quidditch and books.
"Percy," Harry sat down next to the eldest of the Weasley brothers here. "can I ask you a few questions about the school's electives?" Harry asked.
"Oh?" Percy puffed his chest out slightly and stared at Harry, his eyes seemed to have grown slightly brighter. "what do you want to know?" He asked with a small smile.
"Is it possible for me to switch my electives?" Harry asked. "And do you think it's a good idea to take arithmancy and ancient runes?" He added. As much as people might have made fun of Percy, Harry knew that he was the best person to ask when it came to school rules. Harry wouldn't be surprised if Percy read the school rulebook from start to end every day before going to sleep
"Oh yes, you can," Percy nodded. "just contact Professor McGonagall, you can switch if you ask now and you might be able to switch if you ask early in your fourth year. As for those two subjects, I highly recommend taking them. They're incredibly useful and if you do well in both then you'll have a ton of job opportunities available to you, including quite a few at the ministry."
"Hmm," Harry nodded as Percy continued to go on about the benefits of each subject. 'I am thankful for his help, but he is getting a bit too into this.' Harry thought as Percy continued talking.
(.)
A.N. Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter. I'm thinking of changing Harry's look, I just feel like that's the sort of thing Venom would encourage. I don't plan to make lots of massive changes like Harry being covered head to toe in piercings and tattoos. (Maybe one tattoo later, I'm undecided on that)
I was thinking more like a change in haircut, perhaps the same hairstyle he had in the third movie (short), maybe spiky hair, or maybe no hair on the sides and spiky on top. What do you guys think? Should I just stick with his regular hair?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, feel free to leave a review.
Comments
Hannibal St.Michael
I like the trope that Potter men have cursed hair, that no matter what you do with it, it'll always look he just woke up. I have a question about the brain eating. Is there any side benefits like intelligence or memory absorbtion? Because if Harry wants to up his potion skills there is a prime sacrificial Potions Professor that he could use, with the added benefit of inside knowledge about Voldemort and the first War.
Christian Jeffress
Thanks for another excellent chapter, I just hope he doesn’t actually kill or eat his godfather lol. As for changing up his looks, I think that should be fine, especially with venom being able to alter things slightly one way or the other. If a venom can give him a tattoo as well, it would be cool for him to have a Japanese style back tattoo, maybe depicting some of his accomplishments, and things he wants to remember, such as having a bed of Lily flowers and a stag. You could also have a burning two-faced demon on his back, a giant serpent surrounding his back, and after third year, cloaked monsters fleeing from him, with some interpretation of him at the center of his back. Maybe a half face venom and his face.
