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Bonded chapter 7
🕑 Added 2022-01-19 16:35:34 +0000 UTCChapter 7 - Meetings
A small smile appeared on Harry's face as he said goodbye to his latest customer, the young green-eyed wizard currently found himself behind the till of the book store, Flourish and Blotts. Yesterday, after he finished his meeting with Tonks he had headed over and was able to gain a summer job here. He hadn't expected to be put on the till the first day but he liked to think that he had adapted fairly well. The manager had shadowed him at first, but after a couple of hours, he had decided that Harry was capable of doing the job without supervision.
Nearly everyone had recognised him, he wouldn't be surprised if tons of people rushed over to the shop to get served by 'Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived'. Perhaps that was why the manager has let him sign on so quickly, he wouldn't be surprised.
"Excuse me," A voice said, Harry looked up and found a rather attractive woman staring at him. She was tall, slim, and very pale with blue eyes, long blonde hair.
"Yes Ma'am?" Harry asked in a polite voice.
"I wish to buy this book," The woman said as she placed a green book on the counter. "I would also like to have the Hogwarts third yearbook set."
"Of course, do you want some of the elective books as well?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I do," The woman nodded. "I'll have the third year books for ancient runes, care of magical creatures and..." The woman paused, a look of distaste and disapproval appeared on her face. "...divination."
"You don't like divination?" Harry asked curiously before walking over to grab the books.
"I've heard plenty of rumours and facts about the current divination teacher at Hogwarts and I find her lacking in more than one way," The woman rolled her eyes. "I am well aware that many students simply take the class for an easy grade, though I had hoped that my son would have done better than that. Besides, even under a competent teacher, it's an imprecise brand of magic that very few can actually master." She seemed to be enjoying having someone to complain to, to Harry it seemed like she had really wanted someone to listen to her.
"Really?" Harry asked, putting the elective books on the till counter.
"Oh yes," The woman sighed. "I told my son the very same thing. What electives have you chosen, Mr Potter?"
"Ah, I was kind of hoping you had missed that." Harry gestured to his scar before answering. "Well, I had chosen care of magical creatures and divination, though the last one was mostly because my friend was doing it. Is it really that bad?" Harry frowned.
"Oh, it's ghastly," The woman said quickly. "if I was you, I'd do my best to transfer out."
"Hmm, I'll give the other two a look then," Harry said thoughtfully, he was in a book store, he was pretty sure that he couldn't have picked a better place to learn about the two.
"Really?" The woman sounded mildly surprised. "You would listen to a random stranger?"
"I don't really see the point in not listening to what sounds like good advice," Harry shrugged. "besides, I haven't made any choices yet. I'm just going to take a look at them and if I like them then I'll send a letter to Professor McGonagall."
"Hmm," The woman gave him an appraising look. She opened her mouth to speak when another voice interrupted.
"What's taking so...Potter?!" A surprised voice blurted out, Harry sighed as he saw the surprised face of the school bully, Draco Malfoy. "You...you're working in here?" Malfoy blurted out after having recovered from his shock, his lips curling up into a wide smile.
"Yeah, what about it?" Harry asked.
'Let's eat him.' Venom suggested in a soft voice, causing Harry to nearly jump. He had almost forgotten about the symbiote due to how quiet he had been.
'No, you're not eating anyone, he probably tastes horrible anyway.' Harry sent back.
"The great Harry Potter," Draco said in a mocking voice. "fallen down to a store assistant." Draco laughed loudly.
"I've gotten a summer job, Malfoy." Harry rolled his eyes. "It's this thing that people do..."
"Oh, this is hilarious," Draco interrupted with another loud laugh. "what's the matter, Potter? Run out of money? Did Weasley steal it?"
"No, Malfoy," Harry at this point was honestly quite tempted to just let Venom out and have him put Malfoy in his place, he had no doubt that seeing Venom's bright white teeth would cause Malfoy to go even paler. Heck, he might even cause Malfoy to wet himself, Harry would pay top galleon to see that. "I'm using this job to keep busy and the money is just a good bonus."
"Hey Potter, if I give you a galleon, will you dance for me?" Draco laughed.
"Malfoy, I don't know how much you usually pay boys to do things for you, but I assure you that you don't have enough money to afford me," Harry replied in a dry voice, Draco opened his mouth to respond but paused as he realised what Harry was implying.
"How dare you?!" Draco's face turned bright red as he glared at Harry.
"If you don't want me to say things you don't like then stop saying things I don't like," Harry glared back. "you want to make fun of me? Of me? Because I have a summer job? Or is it because, unlike you, I don't plan to spend the rest of my life having 'daddy dearest' pay for everything."
"You filthy little..."
"Draco!" The woman snapped, having watched the whole exchange with eyes that had grown wider and wider the whole time. Though, they have now narrowed and aimed at Draco. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked with a sort of forced calm.
"What?" Draco blinked. "I didn't do anything." Judging by the look on her face, that wasn't the answer she was looking for.
"Oh? Because I have a list compiled in my head."
'I have an alien in mine.' Harry thought to himself.
'Firstly, you interrupted my conversation with Mr Potter," The woman began. "secondly, you started mocking him for having a job, thirdly you behaved quite rudely and fourthly you made a scene. Thank Merlin that there isn't anybody else here at the moment or by the end of the week the alley would be filled with rumours of the Malfoy heir thinking himself better than 'lowly shopkeepers'."
"But Mother, I..." Draco began but was quickly interrupted.
"I'm not finished, Draco." The woman, that was apparently Mrs Malfoy, cut him off. "Mr Potter has made a valid point, look at him, only thirteen years old yet he is responsible enough to start trying to earn some money instead of wasting his family's money." That comment caused Malfoy to glare at Harry, in response Harry gave him a small wave and a cheeky smile. "We will be going home now and we will be discussing your behaviour with your father."
"What?!" Draco looked horrified. "But I..."
"No excuses," She handed Harry the money before waving her wand over the books, shrinking them and sending them into her bag. "thank you for your service, Mr Potter." She nodded to him before walking away, Draco shot Harry another glare before he walked away.
"Come back anytime." Harry couldn't help but shout. Malfoy stopped, for a second it looked like he was going to do or say something, but instead he continued walking after his mother.
'Pussy.' Venom's voice interrupted Harry's thoughts, a small laugh escaped Harry's mouth at Venom's comment about Draco, thankfully he was able to get himself under control by the time the next few customers had arrived.
(.)
Harry arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron, a small yawn escaped his lips, while his job may not have been very physical, it had been pretty tiring for a thirteen-year-old. After leaving the bookstore, Harry had gone to buy some chocolates that he promptly ate as soon as he could, something that Venom appreciated.
"I don't see why I had to lock Scabbers away in my room when your hairball is the menace that's causing all the problems around here." A familiar voice complained, causing Harry to stop just as another voice responded to the first.
"Honestly Ronald, it's not Crookshanks's fault! He's just a cat." A more feminine voice argued, Harry's lips curled into a smile as he looked across the room and saw his two best friends, the redheaded Ronald Weasley and the bushy-haired Hermione Granger. Though, Hermione was noticeably different from before, because instead of carrying a pile of books, she was carrying an orange cat that looked somewhat like a small tiger. It wasn't a particularly handsome cat, given that its flat face gave off the impression that it had run headfirst into a wall.
"Looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me." Ron snorted.
"He is not a pig, he's a cat." Hermione glared at Ron before she began whispering to her cat, apparently called Crookshanks. "Ignore the mean boy." Harry couldn't help but smile as he watched the two of them bicker, that was rather normal for him given how often the two of them would argue about the biggest and smallest of things, and right now he could do with some normalcy.
'I'm glad to have my friends with me.' Harry thought to himself.
'I'm your friend.' Venom's voice interrupted.
'Are we friends?' Harry wondered.
'Why wouldn't we be?' Venom asked, sounding curious.
'You entered my body without permission for one.' Harry rolled his eyes before he walked over to Ron and Hermione.
"Besides, your rat is old and disgusting." Hermione was saying to Ron.
"He's not disgusting! Besides, he at least doesn't go running around and chasing over people's pets." Ron argued. "He's better than that hairy mess you like."
"I'm gone for a short while and as soon as I come back I find you two at each other's throats." Harry chuckled amusedly, causing both of them to snap their attention towards him.
"Harry!" They both said cheerfully, Ron reached out and pulled him into a hug while Hermione shifted Crookshanks to one side so she could reach for a one-armed hug just as soon as Ron had let Harry go. However, she was interrupted when Crookshanks tried to swipe at Harry who just about managed to move back in time.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione said disapprovingly when the cat began hissing loudly and aggressively at Harry. "What has gotten into you?"
"I told you that the bloody thing's a menace," Ron said, shaking his head.
"Crookshanks is not a menace," Hermione glared at the redhead before looking down at her cat. "there's probably something here that's upsetting him. I'll take him back to my room, give me a minute." Without waiting for a response, she turned and headed upstairs.
"Bloody mental," Ron said in a mix of fondness and irritation, not noticing Harry's thoughtful face as he watched Crookshanks be carried away. "so," Ron turned to Harry who blinked before giving Ron his full attention. "what have you been up to?"
"Me? Nothing really." Harry shrugged.
"Right, so I suppose there wasn't anything involving you blowing up your aunt," Ron smirked.
"What? How do you know about that?" Harry frowned.
"Dad knew," Ron answered.
"How did he know?" Harry asked. Ron opened his mouth to answer but paused, a thoughtful look on his face.
"I don't know," Ron eventually admitted. "either way, what was it all about?"
"The stupid woman wouldn't shut up," Harry said irritatedly. "she kept insulting my parents and wouldn't stop, eventually I just lost it and she ended up floating away."
"Ha," Ron let out a small laugh, shaking his head with amusement. "you know that Hermione is going to lecture you about this."
"Ron, I won't ever last a day without expecting a lecture from her." Harry joked.
"Fair enough," Ron barked out a laugh. "Merlin knows that I do the same. Oh yeah, did you know that we had all gone to Egypt?!"
Harry ended up shaking his head with disbelief as he arrived back in his room later that evening. Ron had told him all about what the Weasley family had gotten up to in Egypt, it sounded like great fun and Harry was happy for them. But that did lead Harry to wonder how much money was spent, obviously quite a lot. Apparently, the Weasley family had won a lot of money earlier in a prize draw and had decided to spend it all on their holidays.
Harry had exchanged looks with Hermione upon hearing that, he and the muggle-born witch both non-verbally came to an agreement as they understood what the other was trying to say. They both thought it was pretty stupid to waste all that money on a holiday when the family was so poor, but they both knew it was probably best to not express that particular opinion.
'Still, it had been nice meeting the Weasley's again.' Harry thought to himself as he plopped down onto his bed after greeting Hedwig.
'I suppose,' Venom replied. 'they're quite loud though.' Harry barely suppressed a laugh at that, Venom wasn't exactly wrong. Harry honestly couldn't imagine the Weasley's without them being loud.
'We all have our faults.' Harry pointed out.
'We do not have any faults,' Venom disagreed. 'though, with that being said, you should probably keep eating more if you want me to fix your body.'
'What?' Harry sent back.
'It'll look out of the ordinary if you are suddenly fully healed,' Venom told him. 'eat more and if anyone asks then tell them that you've had some potions, that way we'll have an excuse for why you'd look different.'
'But I don't know what potions do that.'
'You work in a book store, Harry, I'm sure you can find out," Venom said in a patient voice. 'and while you're at it, lookup acromantulas.'
'What? Why?'
'You escaped their nest last year, they're still there and they are threats to us. We need to get rid of them or at least find a way to fight them off.'
'But they're in the forest, I don't...'
'So you'd kill a massive snake under the school but won't do anything about the massive man-eating spiders next to the school?' Venom cut him off. 'They're dangerous, Harry, to us and everyone else. They tried to eat you.'
'But I...'
'If you want then we can leave them there, hope you don't feel bad about any people they might end up killing.' Harry could have sworn that the symbiote was grinning.
'I hate you and myself.' Harry sighed.
(.)
A.N: Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter. I'm going to go and post the first chapter of this story on fanfiction now, I was going to wait until after posting a chapter for Reborn but I'm impatient and the chapter is taking longer to write than I'd like. I'm sort of in that state where I know I should write it and I want to write it, but I also want to do everything but write it if that makes sense. Either way, I'll be posting the first chapter up and I'm going to try and get Reborn posted up as soon as I can.
Thanks for reading, feel fee to leave a review.
Comments
Q
Perhaps, perhaps not. We'll have to wait and see, won't we?
Q
Thanks, that's the focus of the story, the relationship between Harry and venom. Glad to hear that I'm doing it right.
Hannibal St.Michael
Could Harry possibly have an unexpected ally in Mrs. Malfoy somewhere later in this story or am I reading too much into this?
Christian Jeffress
Another really fantastic chapter, and I am glad that venom is working with Harry to improve and diversified his skills, as well as his body. Really enjoying the interaction between the two, it’s honestly the highlight of the story.
