Summary: Slash HP/ss: When a darker and very Slytherin Harry Potter has his life at Hogwarts clash with his abusive past, a certain muggle is given a taste of just why his parents always feared the boy with killing curse green eyes. Will there be death or redemption?

Rating and Warnings: M for slash relations, discussions of child abuse, and just plan harsh themes not meant for younger readers.

A/N This has now been beta'd

Wicked Game
Chapter One: A Darker Potter

Severus Snape looked up from the paper work on his desk when he heard the expected knock echo off into the dungeon room from the heavy door. "It is unlocked," he called out to the student he knew was responsible for the knocking.

The door swung silently open on its well oiled hinges revealing the tall form of a sixth year Slytherin. There appeared to be nothing amiss with the boy to cause him to have a meeting with his head of house but Severus knew better. "Ok Harry we're alone drop the glamours." He said quietly warding the room against all known magical and muggle surveillance.

With a small sigh Harry Potter did as his head of house asked. The glamours dropped to reveal many bruises in various degrees of healing and severity. Ever since Harry's first year and his surprising sorting Harry had been coming down here on September first to get his wounds taken care of before the other students and teachers could find out.

Severus thought back on that first meeting while carefully spreading healing salves over the cuts and bruises while Harry dutifully swallowed pain and regenerative potions.

He had been extremely surprised to find the son of his school day rival in his house. The boy was supposed to be some golden Gryffindor and yet he had been placed with the snakes.

He had been even more surprised later on that evening when he heard a tentative knock on his office door. Upon opening it he found the small child nearly in tears thanks to some heinous wounds left on him. When Severus wanted to go to the headmaster with the problem Harry begged him not to. Severus saw the desperation in the child's eyes and despite his better judgment he said nothing about it to anyone, on one condition. Harry had to come to him for healing at the beginning of every school year and he was to tell the truth about how he acquired the injuries.

Harry had kept his word and so had Severus. The boy had grown up in those years to surpass everyone's wildest hopes. Severus had been the only teacher to be honored with Harry's complete trust, and the potions master quickly became the boy's closest confidant and later friend. In all those years their relationship had never been even vaguely paternal. It was a friend and mentor type of relationship, well up until the last year.

The boy had grown up in Darkness the boy's magic now reflected that, Harry was still firmly against Voldemort but there was no denying from anyone who knew the boy well enough (both of them being in the room at the time) that Harry Potter was a dark wizard. He had a distinct dislike and open distrust in the headmaster after his fifth year and the painful Occlumency lessons Dumbledore had orders upon discovering Harry's connection to the newly arisen Lord.

Severus had been his life line that year, and if he hadn't had the extreme trust he had in the professor he would have been lead into a trap of Voldemort's devising possibly getting innocent people killed. Severus knew the problem was not Harry's ability to learn the art of clearing his mind that was the problem, Harry was a natural born occlumens and that was the only reason no one had discovered his abuse yet. The problem was Voldemort was already inside his head there was no way to keep him out. Dumbledore refuse to see reason and continued his mental rapes of the boy.

Harry had been using all of his skill to hide his abuse so his other barriers were lower then normal. Dumbledore was anything but gentle as he ripped through the layers of Harry's mind time and again. The man called it for the greater good and Harry wondered just what good having a mentally broken savior would do.

It was that year and the intense emotions surrounding it that altered Harry and Severus's relationship from one of a mentor to something more.

They hadn't done much to act on their new found feelings beyond lingering touches and quick kisses. Harry was too young yet to go any deeper into it then. He knew the fires of their feelings wouldn't be held at bay for much longer and neither of them had a problem with it. Things would work out the way they were supposed to, they had to keep that firmly in their minds at all times.

So it didn't come as any surprise when his student gave him a quick kiss when he was working the bruise salve into a particurly dark one on his high check bones.

When that was done Severus stepped back and observed his work. The salves and potions were already doing their jobs the markings on the boy's body disappearing leaving just Harry sitting there.

Harry had grown over the summer Severus was sure he now matched his height. The boy was decently muscled but had lost some definition from being trapped in at the Dursley's for the summer. His face had matured into a mixture of James and Lily no longer the carbon copy he had been that first year.

Harry had Severus to thank for his height and build, Severus had started the boy in his first year on a regimen of growth and nutrient potions that kept the abuse and neglect he suffered from in his younger days from physically affecting him in any permanent way.

Finally Severus spoke to Harry. "I don't know why you insist on going back there every year. You know you could have been removed from them immediately but you choose to keep going back, I don't think I will ever understand."

"To be honest I am not completely sure either, I just have a feeling that was where I needed to be. Plus if I hadn't gone their in the first place I probably would have turned out to be the golden Gryffindor everyone thought I would be, you would hate me for being my father's son, and oh yeah I would be weaker then a newly hatched chick. All in all I can take a few bruises." Harry answered back being brutally honest the way he had always been with Severus.

Because to give honesty you must receive it and this situation was no different. "It is more then a few bruises and you know it, it took you years before you could even let just your house mates touch you. You still jump at loud noises if you aren't ready for them, and you have difficulty making friends because for the longest time you weren't able to connect with people your own age. It took Draco. Blaise, and Theo until your third year for you to make friends with them. Those are scars from the abuse as well they are just the ones you can't see only feel." Severus said with the same brutal honesty which Harry wanted. He hated when people treated him like glass when the topic of his parents or other sensitive subjects came up.

"You know it wasn't just my past that made me reluctant to interact with people. How do you think the wizarding world would react to finding out their savior is a Dark wizard? I know no one in Slytherin would say a word but the more people that know the bigger the risk of being found out." Harry said evenly.

"I know I just wanted to remind you that what you have been through is more then just a few bruises. I don't ever want you to get the idea that anything they do is right no matter what you see you got out of it." Severus said seriously.

Harry didn't reply he just gave Severus a more forceful kiss then the last one. He knew Severus was right but that didn't mean he was going to admit it. His lack of a verbal response was all it took for Severus to know his point had been received.
When Harry finally released Severus from his hold he spoke again. "You need to go get some sleep, I know you haven't been sleeping well Voldemort is stepping up his raids." Harry said and as he turned to leave he threw back over his shoulder, "You aren't alone." If anyone but those two heard those words they would think Harry was referring to the lack of sleep but these two knew it meant more then that. It was a very slight reference to the source of Severus's knowledge on the subject of abuse.