A/N: I really can't say how totally pleased I am at how well this story was received. And to think I wrote it as a lark one afternoon when I was bored.

Go me!

Also, a slight clarification. I try to post every week, folks. That doesn't mean I always make it. And with hurricane season coming up, and PAR living in Florida...,well..., you get the point.

This is the last chapter of this particular story. I appreciate all the reviews and kind words. And I will try to answer any questions you may have about this chapter one way or another. Sometimes I think the thing that keeps me writing stories is that I feel I have to post again to answer questions from the story posting before. I'm funny that way. But I look forward to entertaining you again with my next Dresden Files story. Look for it in the coming weeks.

Until then,

As always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Where as I do not own anything dealing with The Dresden Files, I do own this plot.

CHAPTER THREE: FAULT (PART THREE)

Some time later Bob roused himself back to consciousness to a feeling he wasn't completely familiar with. It took a few moments for him to even realize where he was as the feeling masked his surroundings. But as he took stock of the situation, the last thing he remembered was returning to his skull. So, as logic would have it, there was where he must be now.

But from his long experience with his earthly home, it was usually a fairly dark, cold, and lonely place. Where he was now was warm, comfortable, and for whatever reason, he felt anything but alone.

Focusing his power, Bob willed himself out of his skull.

Materializing outside of his skull, the spirit quickly oriented himself, recognizing the oak wood furnishings of Harry's room.

Turning about, the spirit stopped abruptly at the sight he met with.

Laying in the large, four poster bed, his comforter wrapped about his body, was Harry, peacefully asleep.

But it was the rest of the scene that touched even the cantankerous spirit's worn heart.

Tucked up under the boy's chin, and held in his arms so that it rested comfortably nestled against his chest, was Bob's skull. Held directly over his own small heart, the boy held onto the skull for dear life, leaving Bob with little doubt that no one could have gotten it away from the sleeping child without serious issues being raised.

Smiling slightly despite himself, Bob crouched down next to the side of the bed. Well, this certainly explained the feeling that he had awoken to. Unable to touch his mentor himself, the boy transferred all the love and concern he held for the spirit's well-being into the next closest object.

His skull.

It had been so long since anyone had bestowed those emotions on him themselves, he had almost forgotten what they felt like. The simple, unmistakable feeling of being loved and protected.

Even if only by a small, ten year old boy.

Glancing at the clock by the bed, Bob read the time as one in the morning.

OK. It was early. No need to rush things here. Besides, young children needed their sleep.

With a slight smile Bob stood back up next to the bed, the just as silently disappeared back into his skull.

(-------------------------------)

Early the next morning Harry woke just before the sun came up. Looking at his clock he saw that it was only five thirty. And thankfully, it was Sunday morning.

Sunday's were his uncle's day to sleep in, and he usually took full advantage of it. Which meant Uncle Justin wouldn't be up for another three to four hours, if not more.

Rolling over on his back, Harry hugged the smooth, faded white skull to his chest, refusing to let it out of his grasp. If Uncle Justin thought for one minute he was ever going to see that skull again, he was sadly mistaken.

Thinking over every crack and crevice he knew of around the estate, Harry began to mentally look about for a good place to hide it.

But as his thoughts wandered about the estate, a slight tremor shook the skull in his grasp. Looking down, Harry was just in time to see the thin wisp of energy emerge from the skull and materialize next to his bed.

Much to his surprise, the spirit didn't look any the worse for wear this morning. A sharp contrast to his appearance last night when Harry had found him in Uncle Justin's study.

Sitting up in the bed, Harry examined the spirit carefully for any evidence the whole thing hadn't been some horrible nightmare. But then, a dream certainly didn't explain what Bob's skull was doing wrapped in his arms this morning.

"I can't be permanently hurt, Harry." Bob replied, answering the child's questioning stare. "Any more than your uncle could kill me."

"So you just get better and he does it again." Harry stated. "And no one ever cares or stops him."

The spirit regarded the boy carefully. "I never said my existence was an easy one." He replied.

Harry hugged the skull tighter to his chest and Bob once again felt the warm, caressing sensation drift over him. Loved and protected. How had he ever forgotten what those two emotions felt like?

"I'll take your skull out to the woods this morning." Harry broke into his revelry. "I know the perfect place to hide it where Uncle Justin will never find it, so he'll never be able to hurt you again."

Bob frowned slightly. The boy had certainly done some serious thinking about things last night. Unfortunately, he hadn't thought this plan out very well.

"You think that'll keep me safe?" Bob ask.

The boy stared up at him, all wide eyes and hopeful expectations.

Bob sighed to himself. Reality check time. Again.

"Your uncle isn't going to let me go that easily, Harry." He explained to the child. "I'm far too valuable to him."

"So valuable he hurts you like last night?" Harry shot back.

"So valuable he makes sure he won't lose me." Bob corrected, pointing to the skull Harry still held tightly onto. "That skull is charmed nine way to Sunday by your uncle, to mention nothing of the spells the council has on it to make sure they don't loose sight of me either. Hide it wherever you wish, Harry. I'll be back on your uncle's desk by noon."

Harry's high hopes took a nose dive.

"Then there's nothing I can do to help you." Harry replied, lowering his gaze to the skull in his arms. "Nothing I can do to keep you safe."

Well, the boy wasn't the only one who had spent part of the night thinking things over.

"Actually, there is something you can do for me, Harry." Bob corrected.

Harry looked up again, a flicker of hope lighting in his eyes again. "What?"

The spirit's expression fell to as somber a look as Harry had ever seen on it.

"Stay." Bob stated, the word sounding more to Harry like a plea than anything else.

Harry's eyes grew wide. "Stay? That's it. Just stay?" He ask.

"No. There's more than 'just stay'." Bob replied. "Your uncle, Harry, is a very complex man. A man with plans for his future. And he has great plans for your future as well. Plans that could help you in your life."

The boy frowned. "What plans?"

"Your uncle doesn't share those confidences with me, Harry. I only know that your uncle didn't bring you here on a whim, just because the poor child needed a place to live. And I'm sure you'll learn about his plans for your future as you get older. As will you learn that life isn't nearly as easy as an adult as it seems as a child. And as a wizard in a non-magical world, Harry, things are likely to get very complicated for you as well. But the things your uncle can do for you, as well as things I can teach you, could make your life considerably easier. And while my life certainly isn't any picnic either, there are aspects to it, just as there are to yours, that can make it more or less pleasant. Last night wasn't the first time I have been subjected to Justin Morningway's temper. It was the first time he had ever gone that far."

"Because of me." Harry said quietly. "Because I made him so angry."

"It was not your fault, Harry. Nothing you did or didn't do is a reasonable excuse for your uncle's actions." Bob quickly stated. "The point is, it is very important that you stay here. And if you do, there are ways we can help each other, you and I."

Harry looked back up. "How?"

"As I told you, there are a great many things I can teach you, Harry. Things your uncle hasn't even touched on yet. You have great potential in you. Great power. With the right training, I'd easily wager there's very little you couldn't accomplish. Why, you might even figure out a way to break the council's curse on me."

The boy brightened immediately. Of everything Bob had told him, had predicted for his future, painting it as bright and promising as he believed it could be with a wealth of power at his fingertips, the boy centered only on one aspect.

"Do you really think I could, Bob?" He ask enthusiastically. "Do you think I could break your curse? That you could be free again?"

Bob couldn't help but smile slightly at the boy's single minded goal. That he might be able to help his mentor.

"Anything is possible, Harry." Bob replied. "But there's more to it than just how being here could allow you a better future. Try seeing this from my point of view."

The boy eyed the spirit carefully. "Your point of view?"

Bob got up and began to pace a short distance around the room. "Before you came here, Harry, my life, for centuries, has been nothing more to me than one long, endless void. I've had keepers who were far better than your uncle. I've had ones that were far worse.

But of all of them, Harry, not one of them, not one, has ever treated me like an equal. A servant, a slave, a mascot, a pet. I've experienced it all. But never once as a friend.

You are the first.

And in an existence such as the one I am chained to, that can make a great deal of difference.

For you see, for once, this time, I'm something more than my limited existence usually offers me. This time..., I am Harry Dresden's friend.

But if you leave, I just go back to being Justin Morningway's servant."

Harry turned towards the skull in his hands, thinking over what his mentor had said.

"It would mean a lot to me, Harry," Bob added softly, "if you would stay. And in return I can teach you things most wizards haven't even thought of yet."

Harry paused for a moment before looking up again. A wealth of expression in the child's two large brown eyes. "You won't leave, will you, Bob?" The boy ask in a quiet voice.

Bob smiled down at his pupil. "I shan't run away, if that's what you mean." He replied.

But Harry's expression remained set. "No. Not like that." He whispered, hugging the skull back to his chest again. "I mean like my dad." The child's voice dropped a bit lower. "You won't leave like that."

Bob's smile faded slowly as he crouched down next to the bed again. "I'm already dead, Harry. I can't die twice."

The boy turned his gaze back to the skull he held onto, giving no further answer.

"Harry," Bob prompted the child to look up at him again, "I'll make you a promise. That's only fair, yes? You promise you won't leave, so I'll make one to you, all right?"

Harry slowly nodded.

"All right then. If you promise not to run away, I'll promise not to leave you as long as I can prevent it."

"Prevent it?"

"Things can happen over which I have no control, Harry. Your Uncle Justin could give me to someone else. The High Council could take me away from him. But as long as I have any say at all in where I stay, it'll be with you, all right?"

"But what about Uncle Justin?"

"You leave your uncle to me, Harry. I've handled him before. I'll handle him again. Don't you worry."

And he would. Morningway had all but dumped the poor child on him to raise with the council's blessing. And raise him he would. But what he wouldn't tolerate any longer was interference. Harry was his now. His to raise. His to educate. His to protect and care for. To his way of seeing things, the others had given up their right to any such things the moment Harry had been placed in front of the cantankerous spirit with a handshake and a 'You'll love this, really!'.

"So," Bob ask, "do we have a deal, you and I?"

Harry paused for a moment, then nodded in reply.

"Is that a 'yes' that you'll stay?" Bob ask.

With every ounce of strength in him, Harry managed a smile for his mentor as he nodded again.

The spirit reached up and lightly laid his hand near the boy's cheek. "And who knows?" Bob added quietly. "Maybe someday, when your a great and powerful wizard in your own right, Harry, your Uncle Justin may just pass me on to you."

The smile grew just a bit. "Maybe someday." Harry whispered back.

Q&A

ScathingSarcasm:

Oh, I'm so glad that this has been updated! Granted, I am a bit dissapointed at it's length; the review's responses at the bottom made it seem a great deal longer. Never the less, I enjoyed it thuroughly. I have to say, Harry's attatchment to Bob is very cute. Adorable. And I love that even as a spirit, Bob tries to protect Harry. It seems very deep and meaningful to me. It maybe a bit cliche, the whole 'Sarcastic older mentor protecting the young innocent student' thing, but bullocks if we don't swallow it all up!

Anyway, I look forward to your other stories. There aren't nearly enough DF fics out there, so I would encurage you to write as much as you can; especially Harry-Bob Centric! Keep 'em coming, PAR!

Well, sorry about last week's update. I try to post once a week. It's doesn't always turn out that way.

Well, some people love the Q&A, others hate it. But understand that I have been doing this since I first posted on FFN years and years ago. The chance I'll stop doing my Q&A is somewhere between slim and nil as long as people ask questions or give me even the slightest thing to comment on in their reviews.

But OK, point taken. Last week's was a bit long. But it was a first time round Q&A. They always tend to be a bit long. (OK. Sometimes second round too.)

'Cute' might be pressing it a bit. Keep in mind, Harry is a ten year old boy. They tend to shy away from being called 'cute'. But that isn't to say that Harry hasn't formed a very strong attachment to his new mentor.

Cantankerous older teacher and young, whimsical student. Yup. Older than the hills. But it does seem to appeal and it's got people knocking on the door of this story several hundred time a day. I'm just so tickled!

I'm a self-proclaimed Bob fanatic and proudly wear my 'Free Bob' T-shirt. So it is very unlikely you see a story come from me that doesn't have in it at the very least, Bob. And face it, what fun is Bob without Harry? (And vice-versa.)

Delia Ra'Nar:

Oh, very good! I love the relationship you've built between Bob and Harry, and it really does make sense that it would be this way especialy right after his father died. Bob may be a smigin out of charictor, but he is interacting with a very different person then the Harry now, naturaly how the act around each other would have changed.
can't wait to find out what happens next. I hope Justin doesn't find out what Harry's done...bites finger nails
Till then
Delia Ra'Nar

Nature abhors a vacuum, so I'm told. And right now there's a great big one in young Harry's life where his father use to be. Suddenly, enter Bob. A nice, steady, male role model. Harry likes Bob. Bob seems to tolerate Harry all right. Space no longer for rent.

Many people commented on this story that Bob seems a bit OOC. But as I pointed out and as you have also, Bob is not dealing with a slightly jaded, 30-40ish something man here. He is dealing with a slightly traumatized ten-year-old boy. And currently, I'd like to think he's doing a pretty good job of it. But time will tell how long that lasts. After all, supervising a ten year old isn't a picnic.

I don't think Justin's so much worried about what Harry's done as is he just looking for someone to blame. To Justin, Harry is a tool. A very, very, very valuable tool. For the boy to be hurt, harmed, or to have anything happen to him that might even remotely render him useless to Justin is enough to pull a reaction out of the man that could almost make you believe he actually cares about his nephew in more than a 'what have you done for me lately' way.

kari:

love your story young harry is so cute. . . i can't wait for you to update.

Thank you, Dear. I'm very glad you are enjoying it.

PyroDragon:

Oh, this is nice! I liked the jaded adult Harry a lot and now you've got me absolutely in love with the little 10 year old version. Normally I don't like being around little children at all (Hey I'm a teenager what do you expect?) but Harry is just so cute. I also like how protective he is of Bob, very in character for a 10 year old who doesn't have anyone else to turn to. I'd like to know just how blind the High Council is? They've left a vulerable kid with a man who has serious anger issues, and if they actually bothered to investigate, uses black magick to kill. Good grief. Well, I can't wait to see where this goes, until next time!

What higher praise than for a reader to say they like a character. Thank you, Dear.

Single and childless by choice, Dear. I hear ya'.

I do not deal with children well in the real word, but they populate my stories like you wouldn't believe. They are just so darned cute to put into stories.

Indeed. Currently, Bob is all Harry has. We have no idea what the relationship between Harry and his uncle was really like, which, since we weren't told, leaves it open to interpretation. I looked the situation over and figured it was more or less that Justin Morningway was a user. He killed the boy's parents to get his hands on him, and to him Harry is nothing more than a tool to use for his own ambitions. But I doubt he much figured on the fact that taking on a ten year old boy is a far sight from taking on...say...a dog. Ten year olds need a lot of attention, educating, feeding, and watching. (Emphasis on the 'watching' part.)

Enter Bob. Permanent babysitter, mentor, entertainment, and overall captive audience. And after being passed around to one adult after another for several hundred years, a ten year old had to come as a welcome change of pace to him.

From Harry's point of view, the poor child just lost his only surviving parent, he's mostly alone and looking for some sort of solace.

Enter Bob...again.

With these factors in mind, I thought Harry and Bob were very well suited for each other. Basically, they each fulfilled a need in the other, no matter how loathed Bob may be to admit it.

I've often wondered that myself. I mean, they are always ready to jump on poor Harry. Every time the man does anything magical, they're on his doorstep screaming 'black magic' at him. Where the heck were they when Justin killed Harry's mother, not to mention his father? What? The Black magic Radar was down those two days?

Eliabrith:

Excellent continuation P.A.R. looking forward to the next bit, though Harry probably isn't...
Love the Harry & Bob relationship you're weaving and while Harry might not have intended taking Bob on his running away to be a rescue it's still in amy head a case of poor Bob has just become the first of Harry's "damsel's in distress" ;p
runs away before Bob can kill her
P.S. It's El-ia-brith. I blame too much Lord of the Rings

Glad you are enjoying the story, Dear. I doubt I will ever get as involved with these stories as I did in the Harry Potter category, where my current story is running 54 chapters (by my count...60-something by FFN's). Most of these will be short stories...maybe a couple of chapters long, like Fault.

Harry and Bob are easy for me to write. To me, the relationship more or less writes itself.

I never thought of it that way, but I suppose one could look at it that way.

PAR - I blame it on my publisher, who didn't like my real name and suggested I change it to something more...pronounceable. (When I started doing Fan-Fiction, I took the first letters of the name I wrote under - first, middle and last - and came up with PAR. I've used it ever since. It just works so well.)

Sophie moonbeam:

Love this story...and the fact that Harry clearly hasn't learned anything or changed since he was 8 years old, just the characteristic we want in a protagonist...Bob oughta teach Harry to play chess, it's clear he knows that that's why Justin took Harry

Thank you, Dear. I am so glad you are enjoying the story.

Just a quick question though. I was wondering if you'd mind if I used that suggestion of yours in a story...Bob teaching Harry to play chess? I have the most interesting idea for that.

All reviews are as of 05/26/2007.

And remember;

A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is important! Pay attention! It never fails!)