Chapter Text
"Absolutely not." Harry denied instantly with a stubborn glint in his eyes that only a Gryffindor and Potter could possess and promptly sat down on the small yet comfortable couch under the Burrow's rooftop with steaming cup of tea in his right hand
Bill Weasley sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration and pursed his lips with a determined and almost pleading look in his eyes. Harry stared at the wall on Bill's right blankly, not meeting his gaze also and trying not to feel bad about the entire situation.
He took an experimental taste, it was scalding on the tips of his tongue but he didn't mind it. "Harry --" Bill began and then continued to sit down on the couch to probably give a motivated speech to sway him.
"Nope," Harry cut him off, popping the 'p' while he was at it for good measure, as he gently blew over the tea for it to cool down a bit. He leaned back onto the sofa and finally allowed his body to relax after getting back from the Ministry to visit Hermione.
"Just – just listen what I have to say first, alright?"
His friend older brother didn't wait for him to respond as he ran his hand through his shoulder-length ginger hair, "I know you don't like Lord Slytherin very much." Harry withheld a snort at Bill's comment as the other continued without missing a beat,
"But he's willing to pay alot, Harry, I mean it. I would've asked someone else to get the job done but the man himself personally asked for you to get the job done."
. . . . "He was also very insistent about it too."
Bill added in a afterthought as if that will help Harry change his decision for not helping the Slytherin Lord with whatever project he was doing in bloody Egypt of all places. It didn't.
Harry gave a scoff of disbelief before clenching his jaw in growing annoyance. "So what? We're going to bend over backwards for the man now? Just because the bastard has some money?"
"– What if I was already booked, huh? What would you tell the guy?" Harry asked as he crossed his leg over the other and took another sip of tea and was glad it was now warm and not burning hot anymore.
Harry understood what Bill was trying to explain to him. He does, but it didnt mean he has to agree with it entirely. Silence settled between them, heavy and uncomfortable as they both were lost in their thoughts, subconsciously ignoring the elephant in the room, as always.
His boss didn't answer him.
Bill doesn't desperately need money, they both know this fact, his group was doing explendidly well on their own. He- they wasn't dependent on the Ministry like other Curse-breakers to give them money or any sorts of vaulables they might need. The ministry doesn't pay them either, instead they rely on their clients--their source of income to pay them.
In other words; Bill Weasley had built a business from the ground up to employ Curse-Breakers along with apprentices from around the world to work independently without any corruptions and bribery taking place in front of them.
To work freely, without someone breathing down their neck all the time.
And obviously the ministry didn't like that very much– can Harry really blame them? They were practically taking away their clients--money right under their noses and they can't do anything about it, because if they did, it would simply show the accusations were right.
(Plus, it would make the ministry look like an envious lot)
Harry admired Bill Weasley, alot really. He was the first person to bluntly speak up about how low the ministry has fallen publicly along with the crazy amount of bribery that takes place inside.
Ron's brother wasn't doing this for the money, no. He was doing this for the publicity that Lord Thomas Slytherin clearly has.
It was such a Slytherin move. No one would believe a Weasley would come with such an idea.
Harry breathed out slowly, licking his lower lip as Bill glanced up at him, his eyes holding curiosity. "Why me though?" He continued, "why did he specifically picked me when there is dozens of other curse-breakers he could choose from?"
Let's not forget when Thomas Slytherin made the other Curse-breakers cry just by the cruelty of his comments.
That was Ministry employees. Not you.
Bill had the gall to send him a completely unimpressed look as if asking him, 'are you seriously asking me that?'
"Harry, the other said lowly, staring straight at him,"you are literally one of the best Curse-breaker's in Wizarding Britain at the moment…you do realized that,..right?"
"Uh, well, I'm not the best–"
"Harry." Bill's said, his tone exasperated and thick with fondness that it made Harry quirk a small smile in response.
He took another grateful sip and exhaled softly before speaking up, uncertainty evident in his voice before he could hide it. "What if I can't do it? like, what if I can't break the curse?"
What if I mess up?
Bill eyes soften, "then you go home Harry. You don't need to overwork yourself, you matter more than some curse." Harry shoulders relaxed slightly as he closed his eyes just for a few minutes, genuinely thinking about the offer.
Harry could do it, he will do it. He just wasn't sure if he could handle Lord Slytherin though. The man was perfect, a little too perfect Harry mentally added to himself. Thomas Slytherin was fake, he didn't know what it was but there was just something completely off about the older man. He was simply just too good to be true.
Harry would be lying if he said the man wasn't attractive, the other was devastatingly handsome, which was good in the political area, to say the least.
Aristocratic features that have had many mistaken him for being a Pure-blood. High sharp cheekbones with calculating gray eyes that seemed cold but when you look back there was artificial warmth shinning in the other's eyes along with pink lips that stretched into a charming fabricated smile, revealing pearly white teeth that appears a little too pointy for it to be considered human, absentmindly reminding Harry of serpent fangs for whatever strange reason.
Long black eyelashes, Hermione has pointed out too him jealously one day when the man was on the front page of the Daily Prophet, Harry had noticed there was not one strand of hair sticking out from the man dark brown hair that was always neatly combed. The Daily Prophet seemed to have grown quite an obsession with the rising young lord, always on the front page nowadays with infamous reporter Rita Skeeter sharing a cup of tea as they mull about political changes the man wants to make in the Magical World.
Always polite, spilling lies through his teeth on both light and dark side as it made them eating out the palm of his hand without even knowing it.
Harry will always resent when people assumed stuff about him;
"He's the boy-who-lived, he must have had a lavish life."
"Look at him. Potter walks around like he owns the damn place!"
He knew to never assume--judge something just by looking at someone, but yet something was wrong about this man and he doesn't know what it was.
Does he even want to know the answer? No, he doesn't.
No one was perfect, Harry had learned from a young age, not how much his relatives wants to believe–lie to themselves.
To everyone, the Dursley's family was good, always kind, always loving. Everyone except to Harry, their own blood.
To the the public, his relatives was such a perfect well-mannered family, no one will know about the lashes that left multiple bruises on his body, the marks that is still with him to this very day. Mercilessly locking away a child in a cupbored under the stairs as if he was some kind of rabid animal. The starvation he faced during the days when he did something wrong or the many times Harry had thought that they were going to kill him every single time his relatives raised their hand against him.
No one will know about the bullying his cousin and friends had Harry endure; 'Harry Hunting,' they had called it. No one will know about him simply wishing to vanish so he won't be a problem anymore to anyone. Praying that someone would take him away from this place.
That's when Hagrid came in. Practically whisking him away to a new world where magic exists. Showing him a place that was hidden to the muggle world, where anything was possible and it was magical.
Maybe living inside an abusive household for many horrible years, Harry had learned to spot who was fake and who weren't.
He blinked away his sad childhood memories and straightened his posture and faced Bill properly, naturally Bill sat up-right too, subconsciously following his movements and listened to what Harry had to say.
He gulped down the rest of his tea, the warm drink going down down his throat smoothly as Harry leaned forward slightly and placed the flower-detailed porcelain cup on the low mahogany coffee table.
"What date will Lord Slytherin expects me to arrive?"
Harry haven't agreed to anything yet, he was asking simply basic questions to gather information to make his decision properly.
"Next week Monday actually. He wants you there at 7am sharp, y'know the saying 'early bird gets the worm?' He's a person like that." It wasn't surprising really, the man seemed like an early-riser.
Harry....he can work with this, he will have enough time to pack all his requisite items for work and personal stuff for himself. Bill cleared his throat lightly,
"there will have be a guard escorting you Harry. Many people has been reported missing lately around the area where Lord Slytherin project is located. The man himself personally suggested that you should have someone with you."
His older friend held up his hand in a placating gesture before Harry could retort, "I agree with him mate, I know you can take care of yourself perfectly well but I think it's better to be safe than sorry."
Harry pursed his lips as Bill placed his hand down, playing with a silver ring on his tumb.
"If it makes you feel any better, I can ask Ron to be your escort. He isn't working on any new cases far from I heard." Bill suggested lightly as Harry's eyes snapped back up to meet his boss's gaze.
Marginally his shoulders relaxed as if tension was leaving his body just by hearing Ron's name, Harry already knew that his best friend wasn't working on any Auror cases at the moment but he just couldn't believe his luck. He wonders if Ron will accept to go to Egypt with him.
He swallowed thickly as his eyes flitted up to Bill who was already looking at him, waiting for his decision. There was nothing holding him back from accepting the offer so there was nothing he should be worried about, the only negative thing he would need to face was the man's horrible attitude towards his employees. No one can be better than his relatives at bringing him down.
"Fine," he breathed out as a happy grin appeared on Bill's face, his eyes lighting up as he continued, "I'll go suffer myself under Lord Slytherin's hand for your happiness."
Bill stood up adruptly as Harry copied the moment a few seconds later, "great choice mate! I'll need to make a visit to the Auror office later..." Bill mumbled the last bit to himself, the Weasley mind already quickly weaving plans just like his siblings as Harry rolled his eyes half-heartedly, already use to the behavior.
"Oh wait." Harry said, rocking on the heels of his feet and cocked his head to the side.
"You didn't tell me the name of the Pyramid, which is it?" He inquired softly, later he would look up the location to gather more information, he sure as hell wasn't going to a place across the world without knowing anything about it first.
Bill froze, his entire body went rigid as he turned to look at Harry with wide bright eyes that eerily resemble's a deer. He rubbed the nape of his neck sheepishly, avoiding his eyes which was uncharacteristic of him to do. Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the the other.
"Uh well, it's The Great Dark Pyramid actually....the one associated with You-Know-Who..."
Harry stared at Bill soundlessly for a solid minute as the boy shifted nervously from foot-to-foot, chewing on his lower lip before glancing quickly at the door, probably thinking he can escape.
"What!?"
The ginger winced at the shrill note of Harry's voice as he gave the Weasley a horrified look that might make people assume that the world was coming to an end.
" I can explain Harry, really--" Bill said quickly, inching closer to the door as a almost scared flashed in his eyes. Harry walked forward, Bill wisely took a step back in response.
"Oh really? When were you going to tell me that I have to work on the same bloodly Pyramid that almost took my life? When?"
Merlin's beard, Harry was already regretting agreeing on this damn trip and he wasn't even in there yet.
It was downright impossible. It was something that has never happened before in history, it was something worthy of being written in books, because how can one explain that he somehow got striked by a fucking Pyramid?
His mother and father--when they were alive had decided a little family-trip, a simple vacation to spend some family bonding that was much needed considering the fact James Potter was once Head Auror and Lily Potter was Head Healer in St. Mungo's they didn't have enough time to relax like how they use too when they both were teenagers.
It was Lily's idea to check out the Dark Pyramid just out of sheer curiousity of wanting to know more about the late ruler of the World, who can blame her? Sirius had informed when he had asked since Harry was too young to remember– he was only five at the time what it had happened.
Harry was in his father's arms, hitching a free ride when the trio had neared the Pyramid but then again Lily wasn't the only interested one in Pharaoh Vol-de-mort tome. He had somehow managed to escape his father's tight grasp just out of childish curiosity and excitement and completely ignored the bright yellow tapes that said, 'Warning, proceed with caution.'
His mother had always teased him that he was too nosy for his own good and one day he might get in trouble because of it. His mother was right –she always was– he indeed got in trouble with a deceased king that does not like being touched, at all– even though he touched the Pyramid, not the man himself.
It was a simple touch, he had placed his palm against the ancient structure and looked up with wide eyes when he realized how utterly tall the thing was. It loomed over him like a giant and it made Harry felt little, weak and defenseless but before he could move away, the structure shook almost as if waking up from a deep slumber.
Who the hell knew that a Pyramid could be sentient? Definitely not him.
The structure lit up with bright green light that blinded the entire area, even knocking people off their feet at the unexpected magic that washed over everyone like a huge wave.
The pyramidion –the top of the pryamid– Harry had learned the word after when he woke back up on Britain soils in St. Mungo's with his parents hovering over him and the doctors pale expressions watching him like a hawk– seemed to brighten, filling with beautiful verdant green magic, almost as if preparing for something.
He was too memorized by the light that he didn't even realized his instincts was telling him to run.
The green light burst from the top as it hurled down towards him with inhumane speed and the only thing Harry could've think of at that very moment when he closed his eyes and accepted his fate with was that he should've kept his hands to himself.
It striked his body mercilessly and Harry felt at peace. No pain, no discomfort, nothing.
He never told his parents what he had felt. Harry didn't think they would've took it well.
That day in St. Mungo's late at night Harry learned about the Unforgivables at a very young age and it seemed the Killing Curse was Pharaoh Vol-de-mort's favorite to use to those who had defied him. The scar on his forehead that eerily resemble a lightening bolt as it ran down his eyelid marked him –Harry Potter–the only sole survivor of the Pharaoh's attack and the Killing Curse.
That's how the name, the; Boy-Who-Lived was born from the ashes.