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Chapter Text

Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you shall renew your son!

Flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master!

B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe.

Lord Voldemort had risen again.

Except, the man that rose from the cauldron wasn’t at all what Harry expected. He was expecting some kind of monster, the stuff of nightmares, something comparable to the boogyman. But, in truth, the man that emerged from the cauldron was just that; a man. He looked fairly normal, not dissimilar to the Tom Riddle of the Diary. He just looked older, more dignified and a lot less angry. Also, a lot more naked.  

“Harry Potter,” Voldemort said in his deep, smooth, and strangely calming voice. It was almost hypnotic, listening to him speak. His voice made you want to listen; it made you want to pay attention, “I have been waiting a long time for this. To speak with you.”

“We’ve actually met a couple of times at this point,” Harry said as Voldemort finally put some bloody clothes on.

Voldemort laughed, “I suppose we have, although not in many years, Harry, and I don’t suppose you remember our interaction when you were a baby.” Then, Voldemort walked over to the gravestone where Harry was tied up, and with a wave of his hand, Harry was released and fell to the ground with a thump.

Harry looked up, “I do, actually. Remember Halloween night,” Harry said.

Voldemort raised an eyebrow, “And how is that?”

Harry shrugged, “Dementors. They make me relive it.”

Voldemort hummed.

Harry tried to stand up, but the acromantula bite and the significant blood loss made it quite difficult. He stumbled, and Voldemort was there in a second to steady him. Harry looked up, noticing that he looked surprisingly concerned for him.

“So not to be a Debby Downer or whatever, but when are we going to get to the you killing me bit, because I’d rather just get that over with if possible,” Harry said, looking at Voldemort in confusion.

“I don’t want to kill you, Harry. I want to talk to you.” Voldemort replied.

“That would be a first,” Harry muttered under his breath.

“To my knowledge, I have only tried to kill you the once,” Voldemort said with a raised eyebrow.

“Well then your knowledge is a bit fucking shit,” Harry said with a wry laugh and then began counting off on his fingers, “When I was a baby, when you were attached to Quirrell, and you were looking for the Philosophers Stone, and in the Chamber of Secrets.”

“There is much you don’t know, Harry, and much I have to explain. However, considering I haven’t been in the Chamber in over 50 years, I find that one hard to believe,” Voldemort replied.

Harry scoffed, “Your bloody diary possessed Ginny Weasley, opened the Chamber of Secrets in my second year, petrified a bunch of people, tried to kill Ginny, set a basilisk on me, I had to kill the basilisk by the way, and then I stabbed the diary with one of the fangs and then you disappeared.”

Voldemort tensed, “That is a problem.”

“Problem?” Harry questioned, his brain still not really processing what was happening.

Voldemort sighed, “That diary contained a piece of my soul, Harry.”

“What the fuck!” Harry exclaimed.

“I experimented with magic that I didn’t understand when I was younger; I made Horcruxes. I intended to reabsorb them all, but the diary is well and truly destroyed,” Voldemort said wearily.

“ Master, the snivelling rat man is bothering me. May I eat him?” Harry heard a hissing voice say from somewhere behind him.

Harry laughed, “ Can I watch?” 

Both Voldemort and the snake stared at him.

“ You didn’t tell me he was a speaker, Master,” The snake said to Voldemort.

“ I did not know, Nagini,” Voldemort replied, looking at Harry in fascination.

Harry blushed, “I thought most people knew; everyone found out in my second year, they all thought I was the Heir of Slytherin.”

Voldemort reached out and brushed Harry’s hair away from his scar, causing Harry to recoil, expecting the burning pain he usually felt when Voldemort was near, but there was none. Voldemort pressed one of his fingers to his scar, and both he and Harry gasped.

“Mine,” Voldemort whispered reverently.

Harry yanked himself out of Voldemort’s grasp, “First of all, ew, how old are you? Second of all, no, I don’t belong to anyone.”

Voldemort laughed, “No, Harry. Your scar contains one of my Horcruxes.”

“I fucking beg your pardon?” Harry exclaimed.

“I don’t know how it happened, but you are one of my Horcruxes, Harry,” Voldemort answered.  

“Bullshit,” Harry denied.

“ He must be protected, Master,” Nagini said, looking at Harry, “ He smells of hurt and sadness.”

“I do not smell of sadness,” Harry huffed.

Harry was sure that if snakes could roll their eyes, Nagini would have done so.

“I need to call my followers now. Will you be ok here, Harry?” Voldemort asked, looking at him with genuine concern. Harry just nodded, utterly bewildered.

“Wormtail!” Voldemort snapped. The snivelling man made his way over on his hands and knees, causing Harry to sneer. “Your arm, Wormtail.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, my Lord,” Wormtail cried, holding out his stump to Voldemort.

Voldemort sneered, “Your other arm, Wormtail.”

Wormtail let out a harsh sob but held out his arm for Voldemort. Voldemort pressed his wand to the Dark Mark, and not a moment later, pops of apparition sounded in the graveyard.

“Harry!” Harry heard a voice call out, and he snapped his head almost violently to find the source.

“Sev!” Harry used all his strength to pull himself up and run into the potion master’s arms.

“Are you ok?” Severus Snape whispered into his ear.

“I’m fine. I got bitten by an acromantula, though,” Harry replied sheepishly.

“Idiot boy!” Severus said before pulling out a potion and shoving it down Harry’s throat.

“Interesting,” A voice drawled behind them, and both Severus and Harry stiffened.

“My Lord, I,” Severus started, but Voldemort cut him off.

“Think nothing of it, Severus. We will speak later. Tend to Harry; he is obviously more injured than he let on,” Voldemort said with a raised eyebrow in Harry’s direction before walking off.

“Harry?” Severus mouthed at Harry, who just shrugged and shook his head in confusion.

“My friends,” Voldemort spoke softly, “How long it has been. How long it has been since we have stood together. How long it has been since we planned the change of the Wizarding World. I do not begrudge your denouncement of me. By the end of the war, I was not myself. I had lost sight of our goals, of our plans. And, unforgivably, I went after a child,” Voldemort pointed to Harry, “As you can see, I have not harmed Harry Potter since he so graciously helped return me to my former glory.”

Harry snorted derisively, and Severus shot him a look, “Sorry, continue,” Harry said, gesturing for Voldemort to go on.

Everyone in the circle tensed, but Voldemort just laughed. Harry was pretty sure that made the Death Eaters even more tense.

“Severus?” Voldemort turned to look where Severus still had Harry cuddled to his chest.

“Yes, my Lord?” Severus asked, unconsciously tightening his hold on Harry.

“I need you to return to Hogwarts, you can inform Dumbledore of my return, but I need you to make sure that my other spy escapes Hogwarts tonight,” Voldemort said.

“Do you mean Not-Moody?” Harry asked.

“Not-Moody?” Voldemort asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“Well, he’s obviously not Moody; his magic feels all wrong like it doesn’t fit his body somehow,” Harry said, looking at Severus, who was watching him in confusion.

“You can feel his magic, Harry?” Voldemort asked softly as the rest of the Death Eaters turned to look at Harry as well.

“Well, yeah. Can’t everyone?” Harry asked, looking at Severus.

“No, Harry. I do not know of anyone that can feel magic like that,” he replied.

“Oh,” Harry responded, looking back down and picking at the hem of his shirt.

“Shall I take Harry with me, my Lord?” Severus asked, desperately hoping the answer was yes.

“No, Severus. He will be coming with me,” Voldemort replied.

Severus tightened his hold on Harry even more.

“I swear he will not come to harm by mine or any others hand,” Voldemort spoke softly as he handed Severus a portkey for him to give to Not-Moody.

Severus nodded jerkily but let Harry go, “I’ll see you soon, Harry,” and disapparated away after kissing Harry on the head.

“Lucius,” Voldemort spoke again.

“My Lord?” The blonde man said with a bow.

“Myself and Harry will be staying with you at your Manor for the time being until I have a proper place set up for the both of us,” Voldemort said.

“It would be my honour to host you and Heir Potter,” Lucius spoke reverently.

“Heir Potter?” Harry asked, turning to Voldemort.

“You are the Heir to the Potter line. You received your heir ring from Gringotts when you turned 11, did you not?” Voldemort asked.

“I don’t even have my key,” Harry mumbled.

Lucius looked at Harry, “Mr Potter, did your magical guardian not speak to you about this?”

Harry looked at Lucius, “What’s a magical guardian?”

Lucius rolled his head skywards, “This explains so much. But, just so I have this clear, you don’t have your heir ring,” Harry nodded, “you were never given lessons by a magical guardian when you were younger,” Harry shook his head, “Do you know who had your voting rights on the Wizengamot?”

“What’s the Wizengamot?” Harry asked.

“Merlin help us,” Lucius groaned, “When you rejected my son’s friendship on the train, it was not because he was the heir to a dark family, was it?”

“No, he was being a little prick; I’d never even heard of the Malfoy’s before I met him,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

“Harry,” Voldemort said as he turned to look at him and placed his hands on his shoulders, “Where did you grow up?”

Harry scrunched up his face, “In the muggle world with my aunt, everyone knows that. I didn’t even know I was a wizard until Hagrid came to deliver my letter.”

“We will need to take Mr Potter to Gringotts as soon as possible, my Lord,” Lucius said, looking at Harry as though he had never seen him before.

“Yes, that seems to be the case,” Voldemort murmured under his breath. Then, he turned back to the rest of his followers, “For now your orders are to go about your lives as if nothing has changed, I want no one to act like I have returned, I will call you all at a later date when I have freed the rest of our friends from Azkaban.”

A chorus of “Yes, my Lord” rumbled through the Death Eaters, and they all disapparated.

“Wormtail!” Voldemort barked, and the man crawled over again. Voldemort pointed his wand at Wormtail’s stump. A beautiful silver hand emerged from the stump, and Wormtail watched it with fascination until Voldemort once again pointed his wand at him, and Wormtail locked up and fell to the ground. Voldemort threw what looked like a coin onto Wormtail’s body, and it disappeared.

“That should be enough to get your godfather a trial, or at least start the process,” Voldemort said as Harry looked up at him with wide eyes.

Voldemort picked up Nagini and wrapped her around his neck before he placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder, “Come, Harry. It’s time to go.”

Harry just nodded, feeling entirely out of sorts, and suddenly he felt like he was being pulled through a tube before landing quite undignified in an opulent hallway.

“Lucius,” Harry heard a voice call out, “Is everything ok?” There was a slight gasp, and then the voice said again, “My Lord?”

“Hello Narcissa, it is good to see you again,” Voldemort said, sounding very sincere.

Harry finally regained enough of his senses to stand up from the floor with a groan, “That was more awful than the portkey. I hate all Wizarding travel but brooms.”

Voldemort chuckled, “I’ll make sure to have a broom for you next time,” Voldemort turned back to Narcissa, “Narcissa, may I introduce you to Harry Potter.”

Narcissa Malfoy turned her sharp gaze onto Harry, “Well, this is quite a shock. Welcome to Malfoy Manor, Heir Potter.”

“Um, thanks?” Harry said, looking confusedly between the adults in the room.

“Narcissa is a healer. I’ll be trusting her to look after you,” Voldemort said to Harry.

Harry paled dramatically, “I don’t need a healer. I’m fine.”

“You do need a healer, Harry,” Voldemort said a bit more forcefully, slightly concerned by Harry’s reaction.

“Then I want Sev,” Harry said.

Voldemort looked piercingly at Harry, “Severus is not a healer, Harry.”

Narcissa reached out to touch Harry’s shoulder, but he jerked back almost violently. Her eyes widened when she saw the sheer panic in Harry’s eyes. She withdrew her hand and smiled at him, “That’s fine, Harry. We can wait for Severus.”

Harry let out a breath and relaxed, completely missing the silent conversation between Narcissa and the Dark Lord.

“We need to find a way to get Mr Potter’s things from the school without arousing suspicion,” Lucius said after a minute.

“Oh, I can do that,” Harry said brightly. He was about to say something else before he made a pained face, “Actually, Mr Malfoy, could you please leave the room?” Harry asked apologetically.

“Pardon?” Lucius asked.

“My elf, he, um, doesn’t like you much,” Harry said.

“Ah,” Lucius said with a wince, “Dobby?”

“Yes,” Harry said with a nod.

Lucius nodded and left the room.

“Dobby?” Harry called.

Dobby appeared before them with a pop, “Master Harry Potter sir, calls for Dobby?” 

“Hi Dobby, can you please get my stuff from Gryffindor Tower and bring it back here?” Harry asked the little elf.

Dobby looked around with wide eyes, “Is Harry Potter sure?”

“I’m perfectly safe here, Dobby,” at least, he hoped he was.

Dobby looked at him sceptically, “If Harry Potter says so,” before popping off before returning a moment later with Harry’s trunk and his Firebolt.

“Does Master Harry Potter bes needing anything else from Dobby?” Dobby asked.

Harry smiled, “No, thank you, Dobby.”

Dobby turned a fairly impressive scowl for a house elf onto Voldemort and Narcissa and said, “Dobby bes watching you,” before popping away.

Both Voldemort and Narcissa turned slightly bewildered looks onto Harry, who just laughed, “He’s very protective.”

As Lucius came back out to join them, Harry felt the magic in the air shift, “Someone’s coming.”

“How could you possibly,” but Lucius was cut off by the arrival of someone via portkey.

A young man arrived in the foyer. He was slight, with sandy blonde hair and a light smattering of freckles over his face. Harry had never met the man, but he recognised his magic, “Hey, it’s Not-Moody!” 

The man, who up until that point had had his head bowed, looked up at Harry, “Potter?”

“Hi,” Harry said with a wave.

“Sorry,” the man said in confusion, “Did you just call me Not-Moody?”

“Yeah, I recognised your magic,” Harry said with a shrug.

“You recognised my… you know what, I don’t even want to know,” the man said, with a shake of his head.

“Harry, meet Barty Crouch Jr,” Voldemort said.

“Huh, you look less dead than I imagined you would,” Harry said, causing Voldemort to snort.

“I like you, kid,” Barty said with a laugh.

“It’s been a long day, and I would like to settle Harry into his room,” Voldemort said, looking at Narcissa.

Narcissa bowed, “Of course, my Lord.”

Narcissa led them through Malfoy Manor. In Harry’s opinion, it was excessive, but it made Harry understand Malfoy a bit better. It would be hard to grow up here and not turn into a bit of a tit with an inflated sense of self-worth.

Once Narcissa had settled Harry into his frankly ridiculous room and bid both him and Voldemort goodnight, Harry turned his sharp gaze onto Voldemort, “Why are you doing this?”

Voldemort sighed, “That is a long and frankly confusing question, Harry, and I don’t think we have the time to go through it tonight.”

“Just give me something, please,” Harry practically begged.

Voldemort sighed, “I have made a great number of mistakes in my life, Harry, but there is nothing I regret more than the attack on your family,” Harry’s eyes widened, “Just before your mother married your father, she took a blood inheritance test and discovered that she came from a squib line, descending from the Gaunt’s. She was desperate to find anyone related to her in the magical world, and that’s how she found me. I spent a lot of time with your mother and your father. I almost had them convinced to join my side until I was delivered a prophecy promising my demise at the hands of a child, their child. I wanted to ignore it desperately, but it was like, without my consent, something in my brain snapped, and I was consumed with the desperate need to destroy you. Lily cut off all contact with me and went into hiding, but obviously, I found her. When I killed your parents, Harry, it was like I was a passenger in my own mind, like I had no control over what I was doing. Then when I tried to kill you, my spirit was ripped from my body, and I saw what I had done. I was so overcome with grief I fled to Albania, that was where Wormtail found me. I don’t know who or what was controlling Quirrell, but I promise you, Harry, it wasn’t me.”

Chapter Text

The next morning, it was a very subdued Harry who made his way down to breakfast. He hadn't said a word after Voldemort had left the night before, too overcome by confusion. Voldemort was right; his explanation left him with more questions than answers. He sat quietly at the table, having only spoken a soft 'hello' to Voldemort and the two Malfoy's.

Harry was half-heartedly nibbling on a piece of toast when he heard a very familiar screech.  

Harry's head snapped up, and with a bright smile, he called Hedwig down to him. She let him stroke her feathers and ate a bit of bacon from his hand before she held out her leg for Harry to take the letter attached to it.

Harry inhaled a sharp breath when he saw the very familiar scrawl.

Harry,

Wherever you are, I can only pray that you get this. We're so scared. Cedric ran out of the maze screaming about a portkey and that you just disappeared. We waited and waited outside the maze, but you never came back. Everyone tried to get us to leave, but we wouldn't. Hermione punched Fudge; you'd be so proud of her. I don't know what's happening, but all your stuff was gone when we got back to the tower, so I'm hoping that means you're alive.

Wherever you are, please, just let us know you're ok. If anyone can find you, it's Hedwig.

We love you, Harry.

Stay Safe.

Stay Strong.

Ron and Hermione.

"Harry? Are you ok?" Voldemort reached out to touch Harry's shoulder, but Harry pulled back furiously.

"Don't touch me, don't fucking touch me!" He yelled, tears streaming down his face, "This is your fault!" Harry shoved the letter in Voldemort's face, "I should never have come here! I should never have come with you!"

"Harry," Voldemort started, but Harry was in too much of a rage to listen. How could he have been so stupid, so callous? He left his friends, no, his family, behind without so much as a note to run off with fucking Voldemort. What the fuck was wrong with him. He was a selfish asshole. He needed to get out. He needed to see his family. He needed Ron. He needed Hermione.

Harry slammed his hands down on the table, and all the cutlery flew upwards, embedding itself in the ceiling.

In the next second, Harry felt an overwhelming sense of calm rush over him, and he turned a slightly unimpressive scowl onto Narcissa, "Spelling a calming draught into me?"

"Well, I'd rather not see any more of my home destroyed if that's alright with you," Narcissa said with a raised eyebrow.

Harry at least had the decency to look sheepish; it wasn't Narcissa's fault, after all.

"You may write to your friends, Harry. You aren't a prisoner here," Voldemort said, his voice a bit sad.

"Oh," Harry murmured, suddenly feeling very embarrassed by his outburst, before sitting down and looking down at his hands.

"I understand this is a lot for you, Harry. But I promise you are not a prisoner here. You are free to do as you wish, as long as you are careful," Voldemort spoke softly before slowly reaching out his hand to touch Harry's shoulder, and this time, Harry didn't pull away.

"Sorry about your ceiling, Mr Malfoy, Mrs Malfoy," and with a wave of his hand, Harry floated the cutlery down from the ceiling, "Hermione always tells me I have a volatile temper," He said with a sheepish expression, "Last time I got that angry, I blew up my aunt, so I think we're all pretty lucky."

"You blew up your aunt?" Lucius asked with raised eyebrows, "Did she explode?"

Harry laughed, "No, more like a balloon. She floated out of the house, and the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad had to chase her all through Surrey to deflate her."

"And what did the woman do to deserve such a treatment?" Narcissa asked.

Harry scowled, "She insulted my parents, insinuated they were unemployed drunks who got what they deserved, then called my relatives good, hard-working people," Harry scoffed, "As if good, hard-working people would keep a child locked in a cupboard for ten years."

A glass shattered, and Harry realised what he had said, "Oh shit," He forgot that Calming Draught tended to make him lose his filter.

" What did you say?" Voldemort hissed, his anger so strong that he slipped into Parseltongue.

"Nothing," Harry squeaked before slapping his hand over his mouth to stop any more Calming Draught induced babble.

Harry was saved from answering any more questions when the elves popped in with the Daily Prophet, but he could see from the look in Voldemort's eyes that this conversation was not done. Harry sighed and picked up one of the newspapers and was not at all surprised to see what the two stories taking up the front page were.

PETER PETTIGREW FOUND ALIVE.

Rita Skeeter Reports

Yes, my dear readers, you read that correctly. This morning Ministry for Magic workers were shocked to find the supposedly dead Peter Pettigrew bound and gagged in front of The Fountain of Magical Brethren, his Dark Mark on display for everyone to see.

Now, readers, you may be wondering where you know the name Peter Pettigrew from, so let me remind you. When the Potter's tragically lost their lives during the fall of You-Know-Who, it was Peter Pettigrew who announced to the world that it was notorious mass murderer Sirius Black who was responsible for selling the young Potter Family out to You-Know-Who; he was then tragically killed by Black along with 12 muggles. And for this act of heroism, he was awarded a posthumous Order of Merlin, First Class.

BUT IS THAT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? With Pettigrew being found alive and well, and bearing the Dark Mark, this reporter can only wonder what the real story is.

Is Sirius Black actually innocent?

Don't you worry, my loyal readers, because this reporter intends to find out the real story.

HARRY POTTER MISSING!

Rita Skeeter Reports

The Wizarding World is still in a state of shock as Harry Potter has still not returned after his disappearance at the end of the Third Triwizard Task.

Harry Potter, aged 12, is and was the youngest entrant in the famed Triwizard Tournament hosted this year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

There has been no trace of the young Mr Potter since the end of the third task. Mr Potter's two best friends, muggleborn Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, reportedly refused to leave the entrance of the maze when Mr Potter did not return.

Now, this reporter had the grim duty to report many strange happenings regarding Mr Potter this year, but when the culmination of those strange happenings results in his disappearance, this reporter wonders if there might have been something more sinister going on.

If anyone has any information regarding the disappearance, I urge you to contact myself at the Daily Prophet.

"I'm 14!" Harry exclaimed, throwing down the paper, "Although at least she didn't insinuate that me and Hermione were dating again or that my eyes were swimming with the ghosts of my past, " Harry said in a mocking tone.

"It did lack her usual flair," Lucius replied with a quirk of his mouth.

The rest of the breakfast was relatively pleasant, and Harry excused himself, after another apology to the Malfoy's about their ceiling, to write to Ron and Hermione. He could feel Voldemort's eyes on him as he left, and he knew the man was going to want to talk to him about his little outburst sooner rather than later. He was just hoping he could put it off for as long as possible.

Grabbing a spare bit of parchment from his desk, Harry penned a note to his friends.

Hey guys,

I'm so unbelievably sorry for making you so worried. I can't even begin to explain what happened.

I need to explain in person, so please if you can meet me the day after holidays start in Diagon, I promise I will tell you everything. But, please don't tell anyone that you're coming. I don't know who we can trust right now.

Please know that I'm safe, and I love you guys more than anything.

Love, 

Harry

"Dobby?" Harry called out.

"Is Harry Potter safe?" Dobby asked frantically the second he popped into the room.

Harry reached out to grab the little elf's hands, "I'm fine, Dobby, I promise. I need you to do something very, very important for me, can you do that?"

Dobby straightened with a determined look on his face, "Dobby can be doing anything for Harry Potter."

"I need you to take this letter to Ron and Hermione, and it's super important that you only give it to them when they are alone, do you understand?" Harry asked, handing Dobby the note.

"Dobby bes understanding, Harry Potter," he said with a determined nod of his head before popping away.

About an hour later, a knock at the door startled Harry from his reading.

"Harry?" Harry winced when he heard Voldemort's voice float through the door. Harry sighed and stood up, making his way to the door.

"Yes," Harry said with some trepidation as he opened the door.

"Lucius and I are going to take you to Gringotts," Voldemort said, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief, "Don't think that means I have forgotten about what you said at breakfast, Harry. We will be discussing that," Voldemort said with a raised eyebrow, and Harry groaned.

Voldemort took a look at what Harry was wearing and sighed, "Are these muggle monstrosities all you have?" 

Harry looked down at Dudley's cast-offs and sighed, "Yeah." 

"You can borrow some of my clothes until we can get a tailor in for you," Voldemort said before turning and making his way to his room.

Harry quickly followed after him, "I don't think your clothes are going to fit," Harry said sceptically.

"Re-sizing charms, Harry. Why you haven't learnt them to fix your ghastly wares is beyond me. Unless it's a fashion statement?" Voldemort asked.

Harry snorted, "Not so much. I just didn't know re-sizing charms were a thing."

"Clearly," Voldemort replied as he led Harry into his room.

Once Harry was dressed in 'Proper Wizarding Attire' as Voldemort stated, the man did some fancy transfiguration, so his face was disguised from the public. He made his nose a different shape, his hair slightly longer, and his eyes a different colour. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that could be done about the scar, hence the lengthened hair to try and cover it up.

The two met with Lucius in front of the floo in the greeting room, and Harry's only thought was what fucking kind of house has a greeting room.

"Last time I used the Floo, I ended up in Knockturn Alley, just so you're aware," Harry said with a pointed look at the Floo Powder Lucius had handed him.

"Try to avoid that, if you please, Mr Potter," Lucius drawled.

Harry laughed and stepped into the fire before throwing down the powder and yelling, "Diagon Alley." 

He landed with a thump on the floor of the Leaky Cauldron. Luckily, there weren't many people around, so he quickly got up and brushed himself off and waited for Voldemort and Lucius to step through, which they did with much more grace than Harry did. 

The odd group walked swiftly toward the towering white marble of the Gringotts building. People seemed to move out of their way as they walked, unsurprisingly. Both Lucius and Voldemort had a presence about them that moved people out of the way. Harry just sort of bumbled along after them.

Approaching a desk with a free Goblin, Lucius cleared his throat. "We need to speak to the Potter Account Manager."

The Goblin looked piercingly over the desk at Harry, giving the distinct impression he could see through the transfiguration Voldemort had done on his face, and for all Harry knew, he could; Harry was not at all well versed in the intricacies of Goblin magic.

"Better late than never, I suppose," The Goblin intoned before hopping down from his desk and leading the group through the halls of Gringotts and knocking on a door.

"Mr Potter, Lord Malfoy and Lord Gaunt here to see Ragtar regarding the Potter accounts," The Goblin spoke to the closed door. After a moment, the door opened seemingly on its own, and the Goblin gestured for the group to go in. 

Lucius and Voldemort pushed past without a word, but Harry turned and said "Thank you," with a slight bow before walking in, missing the quite comical face of a gobsmacked Goblin.

"Lord Malfoy, Lord Gaunt and Mr Potter, I must say, this is not a group I would have expected," The Goblin, who Harry assumed to be Ragtar, said as the three of them took their seats in front of his desk, "What can I do for you today?"

"It has recently come to our attention that Mr Potter not only was never granted his heir ring, he was also never told of his duties as an heir to a noble house. His magical guardian gave him no instructions, and he has also never been in possession of his key," Lucius said, desperately trying to keep the sneer out of his voice.

Ragtar looked piercingly at Harry, "Is this true, Mr Potter?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, sir."

Ragtar hummed and pulled something out of his desk before sliding it to Harry, "So you are saying that you did not sign this document before your 11th birthday, stating that you wish to wait to take up your heirship and that you understood the implications of such an act?"

Harry creased his eyebrows in confusion, "I've never signed anything for Gringotts, I didn't even know that I was a wizard until I was 11, so if someone came up to me and asked me to sign a document for a goblin run bank, I would have told them they were barmy."

Ragtar laughed, something that seemed to shock Lucius and Voldemort quite a bit, "Is this your signature, Mr Potter?" Ragtar pointed a long and gnarled finger at the document where there was a flourishing signature above the name Harry James Potter.

"I wish my signature looked that good," Harry said, picking up the document to examine it, "But no, that's not mine."

Ragtar clicked his fingers, and the document burst into flames in Harry's hands. Harry yelped and pulled his hands back.

"Excellent," Ragtar said with a clap, "I was always sure that it was a fake, but I could never prove it until now," Ragtar pulled out a blank sheet of what looked like very thick parchment. He also pulled out a silver knife and a silver bowl carved with runes that didn't look like any runic alphabet that Harry recognised, "Your hand, if you will, Mr Potter?"

Harry looked at Voldemort, who nodded slightly before Harry held out his hand for Ragtar. The Goblin grabbed his hand and sliced a long thin line across his palm. Harry barely flinched, much to Lucius and Voldemort's confusion. When the bottom of the silver bowl had been coated in Harry's blood, Ragtar emptied the contents onto the parchment, which flashed gold for a moment before Harry's blood began to form words.  

Harry James Potter (Half-Blood)

Born: 31st July 1980 (14 years old)

Emancipation date: 31st October 1994

Parents: 

James Charlus Potter - Pureblood - Born: 27th March 1960 - Died: 31st October 1981

Lily Potter neé Evans - Squibborn (Gaunt Line) - Born: 30th January 1960 - Died: 31st October 1981

Godparents:

Sirius Orion Black - Pureblood - Born: 3rd November 1959 (Azkaban Escapee)

Alice Longbottom née Fortescue - Pureblood -  Born: 7th August 1959 (Permanent resident of St Mungo's)

Guardians: 

Muggle: Vernon and Petunia Dursley

Magical: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (No longer applicable due to emancipation) 

Lordships:

Potter (can claim Lordship due to emancipation)

Black Heirship (First In Line)

Gaunt Heirship (Can only claim if there are no living Gaunt's) 

Claimable Vaults:

Potter Trust Vault - 687

Black Trust Vault (only claimable with heirship)  - 265

Potter Family Vault (claimable due to emancipation) - 688

"Looks like we can skip right over the Heirship then, Mr Potter," Ragtar said, once he had taken the test back from Harry. He pulled out a box where a beautiful ring was in the centre of a scarlet pillow. It wasn't quite as gaudy as Harry had expected, having seen the Malfoy Lordship ring. It was a small gold signet ring, with a ruby P stamped in the middle. Harry picked it up and slipped it on his left pinky finger, where it re-sized to fit him perfectly.

"Excellent, if you are interested in claiming the Black Heirship, I will need to get the Goblin who runs the Black accounts in here," Ragtar said.

Harry shook his head, to the surprise of the occupants of the room, "I want to speak to Sirius about it first."

"Of course, Lord Potter," Ragtar said with a bow of his head. 

Harry startled slightly at the title, but he supposed that he would have to get used to it.

"We also need a full accounting of his vaults, both the Trust and the Family vault," Lucius said to Ragtar.

"Of course, Lord Malfoy," Ragtar said before pulling out two leather-bound portfolios and handing them over, "Current to the end of the financial year." 

"Thank you," Harry said when it was clear no one else would.

"It was my pleasure, Lord Potter," Ragtar said as Voldemort and Lucius stood up and ushered Harry out the door.

Back at Malfoy Manor, Harry had left Lucius in charge of looking through his portfolios, as he would have absolutely no idea what he was looking for. The Malfoy Lord seemed quite pleased by this task, to Harry's bewilderment, but he just shrugged and let the man get on with it.

After wandering around the manor aimlessly for about half an hour, Harry stumbled across Voldemort in the Malfoy's impressive library. Taking a deep breath, Harry knocked lightly on the door.

Voldemort looked up, "Yes, Harry?"

"I have a question," Harry asked warily.

"Of course, I'll answer any questions you have," Voldemort replied with a smile.

Harry shifted from foot to foot, "If we're related, why were you so shocked I could speak Parseltongue?"

Voldemort smiled, "Your mother couldn't. It never manifested in her, so I wasn't expecting it from you either,"

"Oh," Harry replied softly, "Do you think it's because of the Horcrux?"

Voldemort tilted his head and thought for a moment, "It could be solely because of the Horcrux, it could be that the influence of the Horcrux awakened a dormant ability, or you could have had it from birth; unfortunately, I do not know."

"Oh," Harry repeated, still looking a bit awkward.

"Did you have any other questions, Harry?" Voldemort asked softly.

"Not right now," Harry said.

Voldemort frowned slightly, "Will you tell me about what you said at breakfast now I've answered one of your questions?"

Harry narrowed his eyes, "My family," the word was said with a derisive snort, "and I don't get along. Never have, never will." 

Voldemort sighed, "Harry, you said they kept you in a cupboard for ten years. That isn't just not getting along."

Harry's lips quirked, "Technically, I never said they kept me in a cupboard. For all you know, it could be my cousin."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow, "Was it your cousin?"

Harry's lips quirked even further, "I think that's another question, and since you haven't answered another of mine, I don't have to tell you."

"Harry," Voldemort groaned, but Harry had already turned on his heels and marched from the room.

Chapter Text

“So it’s true then,” Harry heard a voice drawl from the door. He looked up to see Draco Malfoy leaning against his door frame.

Harry huffed, “Depends what you’ve been told.”

Draco swaggered into his room and sat down gracefully on the floor in front of him.

“Yes, Malfoy, I would be delighted for your company. Please come in,” Harry drawled in his best imitation of Draco.

Draco laughed, surprising himself if the look on his face was anything to go by, “Imagine my surprise when I got home, and my mother informed me that Harry Potter was now living here, as was the Dark Lord.”

Harry laughed, “Imagine my surprise when I was told by said Dark Lord that I would be living at Malfoy Manor.”

Draco inclined his head, “Touché.”

“I’m surprised Sev didn’t mention it to you, honestly,” Harry said with a tilt of his head.

“Sev?” Draco asked, bewildered, “You call my godfather Sev?”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a shrug.

“But you two hate each other,” Draco exclaimed.

Harry smirked, “Do we? I wasn’t aware,” before turning back to his book.

Draco clicked his fingers in Harry’s face to get his attention, and Harry looked up incredulously, “Did you just click in my face ?”

“You were ignoring me,” Draco huffed.

“Are you an actual child?” Harry asked.

“Excuse me!” Draco exclaimed.

“You’re excused,” Harry said with a nod.

Draco blustered for a long minute as Harry tried very hard to smother his laughter. 

“I’m glad to see you two getting along,” Voldemort said from the doorway.

Draco immediately jumped up into a bow with a reverential ‘My Lord’; Harry just rolled his eyes. 

Draco kicked him in the side and hissed, “Show some respect.”

Harry scoffed, “He’s like my uncle or some shit. I’m not going to bow to him.”

Draco threw an utterly dumbfounded look at Harry,

Voldemort laughed, “Technically, my mother was your great-great-aunt, so I believe that makes us cousins three times removed, as your mother was my cousin twice removed.”

Harry scoffed, “Still not bowing.”

“Wasn’t your mother a mudblood?” Draco asked, looking at Harry.

Harry scowled and threw out his hand, slamming Draco into the wall.

“OW! What the fuck, Potter?” Draco exclaimed.

“I hate that word, don’t use it around me, or you’ll find yourself thrown into more walls,” Harry said menacingly.

Draco looked like he was about to throw an absolute belter of a tantrum, but Voldemort cut him off, “Harry, don’t throw Draco into walls, Draco, don’t use the term mudblood in front of Harry,” Voldemort looked at Draco piercingly, “I was also very fond of my cousin, and you will do well to remember that.”

Draco swallowed nervously and nodded. Voldemort smiled slightly too sharply to be considered nicely, “Excellent. Harry, I came to get you because the tailor is here for you. Draco, you may join. I assume you will have opinions.”

Harry groaned, but Draco absolutely lit up, “Come on, Potty, let’s make you look respectable for once.”

When it came to clothes, it turned out that Draco Malfoy was a storm in the shape of a man. Harry almost felt bad for the tailor. Draco kept barking out orders about the colours Harry should wear, the cuts of the clothes, Draco even had opinions on his underwear, which Harry found utterly humiliating, and he was sure he would never live this down. Harry kept throwing ‘help me’ glances over at Voldemort, who was just leaning against the wall with a very amused smirk on his face, the fucking prick. Though, to be fair, Harry was not sure who was more scared by the whole experience, him or the tailor. He had obviously never worked with a Malfoy before because Harry couldn’t imagine that this was some new personality trait of Draco’s that he had just developed overnight. This amount of unwavering pretentiousness and superiority was honed and crafted since birth. Harry snorted loudly at the image of a five-year-old Draco ordering a tailor around.

“What’s your problem?” Draco asked, crossing his hands over his chest.

“Nothing, Malfoy. Just continue to scar the occupants of this room with your opinions of my underwear. Tell me, how long have you been watching my arse to know exactly what type would work best for me?” Harry said with a smirk.

Draco turned an utterly hilarious shade of red as both the tailor and Voldemort tried to cover their amusement.

“Fine! If you don’t want my help, see if I care!” Draco huffed.

“I don’t want your help,” Harry replied dryly.

“Well, you need it!” Draco exclaimed, throwing his hands up and turning back to the tailor to bark more orders.

Harry sighed. It was worth a try.

When the torture, sorry, fitting, was finally over, Harry exhaled a long and relieved breath and made his way back to his room.

“So, what are we doing now?” Draco asked as he jogged up alongside Harry.

“We?” Harry asked incredulously. 

Draco rolled his eyes, “Yes, we. Until I can get my friends over here, you’re my only choice for company, so come on, Potter, what are we doing?”

“I have a question for you, Draco,” Harry said, coming to a dead stop to look at the blonde boy.

Draco stopped, “Sure.”

“Has anyone ever told you no?” Harry asked, and Draco looked like he was about to stutter some indignant response, but Harry cut him off, “Like I’m genuinely wondering whether anyone has ever told you no, I just don’t understand how someone can be so entitled, it’s utterly baffling to me.”

Draco sneered, “Like anyone has ever told you no. Saint Potter, the darling of the Wizarding World, has everything handed to him on a silver platter, probably has everyone around him falling down at his feet to make him happy.”

To Draco’s bafflement, Harry actually laughed. He laughed so hard that he had to clutch his side and lean against a wall to steady himself.

“You’re funny, Malfoy. How did I never notice that before,” Harry said, still laughing, “You don’t know anything about me or my life, Malfoy. I spent my whole childhood with people who hated me. Did you think my clothes were a fashion statement? That I liked to dress in clothes five sizes too big for me? Is that what you thought? You know your dad said something funny to me; he said that you thought I rejected your friendship because you were the heir to a dark family. I had no fucking idea who the Malfoy’s were before we met. To me, you were the kid in Madame Mulkins who said that muggleborns shouldn’t be allowed at Hogwarts, who looked down at me because you were better than me. You were the kid who insulted my first friend. I don’t and didn’t give a flying fuck about your family, Malfoy. You were a rude, entitled little shit that reminded me of the cousin who tormented me on a daily basis. That’s why I didn’t want to be your friend. So grow the fuck up and until you do, leave me alone,” and with that, Harry stormed off, leaving an utterly gobsmacked Draco in his wake.

Harry wasn’t expecting to see Draco for a while after his little outburst, so he was more than a little surprised when the blonde came back into his room a couple of hours later.

“I’m sorry,” Draco said as he sat down in front of Harry.

“What brought this on? Bored of being on your own?” Harry sneered; still a bit riled up from before.

Draco winced, “My mother gave me a bit of a dressing down when I went to complain about you to her.”

Harry huffed out a laugh, which turned into a full-on cackle as he imagined Narcissa scolding Draco.

Draco huffed, “Alright, laugh it up, Potter. My mother is bloody terrifying.”

Harry sighed, “Why are you apologising?”

“Because you were right, I don’t know anything about you. Though, to be fair, you don’t really know anything about me either. We’ve just both sort of assumed things about each other,” Harry tilted his head in acknowledgment; Draco wasn’t wrong.

Draco stuck out his hand, “Draco Malfoy, I’m incredibly insecure, and that manifests itself in pompous pretentiousness.”

Harry laughed and shook Draco’s hand, “Harry Potter, years of childhood trauma have made me incredibly angry and distrusting.”

“Excellent,” Draco said with a clap, “Now that we’ve dealt with that, shall we play quidditch?” 

Harry actually had quite a good time with Draco; he was actually a pretty nice guy when he wasn’t prostrating and acting like an all-around asshole. He had a similar dry sense of humour to Harry, and they bounced off each other pretty well. They were continuously throwing insults at each other, that wasn’t something they could quite let go of yet, but the insults were said with jest rather than the usual hateful fire.

“Harry, when you go meet your friends, I want you to take Draco with you,” Voldemort said the next day as he was transfiguring Harry’s features, so he wasn’t recognisable.

Harry scoffed, “Yeah, because that’ll go brilliantly.”

“I don’t want you going off on your own, Harry, and the choices are me, Lucius, Narcissa, Barty or Draco. So take your pick,” Voldemort said with a raised eyebrow.

Harry groaned before stomping out of Voldemort’s room into the corridor, “DRACO!” 

“WHAT?” 

“WE’RE GOING OUT!”

“WHERE?”

“DIAGON. I’M MEETING RON AND HERMIONE, AND APPARENTLY I NEED AN ESCORT!”

“FINE! GIVE ME 20 MINUTES!”

Harry stomped back into Voldemort’s room as the man was shaking his head, “Was the shouting really necessary, Harry?”

“No, but it annoyed you,” Harry said with a shrug.

Harry met Draco in the greeting room, and after Draco had laughed for a solid five minutes about Harry’s new face, the two flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. Through notes passed with Dobby, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had agreed to meet at the Leaky Cauldron at 2 pm. It was only 1:45 when they arrived, but Hermione was nothing if not punctual, so Harry immediately began searching out the pub for Hermione at least, if not both her and Ron.

Harry’s eyes immediately landed on the two sitting and looking around, at a table in the corner.

“Hermione!” Harry yelled before running up and pulling the startled witch into a hug. 

“Harry? Is that you?” Hermione asked after Harry had pulled back from the hug.

Harry blushed, forgetting he looked completely different, and Hermione probably thought some random stranger had yelled her name and hugged her, “Sorry, someone changed my face so I wouldn’t be recognised.”

“Thank fuck you’re ok!” Hermione yelled, pulling him back into a hug.

“Um, mate,” Ron said, looking over Harry’s shoulder, “Is that Malfoy?”

Harry grimaced, “Yeah, he’s my bodyguard for the day.”

“I’m not a bodyguard, Potty!” Draco huffed indignantly.

Hermione and Ron turned indignant looks on Harry.

“I’m staying at Malfoy Manor,” Harry said quietly.

Ron paled, “Mate, you better tell us what’s going on right now because my mind is conjuring up some very terrifying scenarios.”

Harry sighed, “So I need you to listen to the end. No matter how much you want to interrupt, you have to promise to listen until the end.”  

Ron and Hermione looked sceptical but nodded anyway. Harry began to explain everything that happened from the last task onwards. He told them about Voldemort coming back, about the Death Eaters in the graveyard, about what Voldemort had told him about his parents, about his trip to Gringotts, and even his tentative cease-fire with Draco, who had huffed in amusement and said, “We’re friends, Potter. Don’t deny it, you lurv me,” to which Harry responded by hitting him on the back of the head.

“Mate, that’s fucking bonkers,” Ron finally said after a minute of slightly awkward silence.

Hermione looked thoughtful, “So your parents, who I assume, as the only living Potter’s at that time, were key financial contributors to the war effort, were going to change sides?” 

Harry looked at her in confusion, not really sure where she was going with this, “Yeah….”

“And then all of a sudden there was a prophecy that their child would be the one to destroy You-Know-Who,” Hermione said, the thoughtful expression never leaving her face.

“Yeah..” Harry said again.

“And You-Know-Who just suddenly snapped and went after them?” Hermione clarified.

“Yeah…” Harry repeated.

“And that doesn’t sound bloody suspicious to anyone else?” Hermione said, looking at the three boys like they were idiots, “He went mental off a half baked prophecy and killed the last member of his family, who by his own admission Harry, he was very fond of.”

“What are you saying, Hermione?” Ron asked.

“Well, we know from Sev that he delivered the Prophecy, he’s told you that already, Harry,” Harry nodded, “And we know that the prophecy wasn’t complete,” Hermione hummed and tapped her chin, “I’ve been thinking about this a lot, tell me why would Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, hold an interview for a teaching position at a school that is just up the road, at a pub that is more than well known for its less than scrupulous clientele?”

“Oh shit,” Harry breathed when he finally caught onto what Hermione was saying, “It was a set-up.”

“Does everyone call my godfather Sev?” Draco whined, Harry hit him again.

“We need to get our hands on that prophecy,” Hermione said with finality. 

“My father can get us into the Ministry,” Draco said, and everyone looked at him, “Well, the prophecy would be in the Hall of Prophecies. So my father can get us into the Ministry, and there are a couple of Death Eaters still in the Department of Mysteries so that we can get the prophecy,” Draco said with a shrug.

Ron laughed, “I never thought I’d say this but, Draco Malfoy, I could kiss you right now.”

Draco looked him up and down before smirking, “Acceptable.”

Ron looked at him, slightly horrified for a moment before all four of them burst into laughter.

The group stumbled through the floo of Malfoy Manor not 15 minutes later, and Harry took off running towards the study, where Harry instinctively knew that Voldemort would be. Bursting through with very little grace, Harry panted out, “It was a set-up!”

Voldemort looked up from his desk, just as Ron, Hermione, and Draco stumbled in after Harry.

“I’m going to need a bit more context, Harry, and perhaps you should introduce me to your friends,” Voldemort said with a raised eyebrow.

“Right, of course. Voldemort, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Hermione, Ron, Voldemort,” Harry said, gesturing between the three, “Now, the prophecy, it was a set-up.”

If possible, Voldemort’s eyebrows climbed even higher, “You think the prophecy was a set-up?”

“Yes, Mr Voldemort, sir,” Hermione squeaked out, more than a little terrified to be in the presence of the Dark Lord.

Voldemort snorted at the title Hermione had bestowed on him before gesturing for the group to sit in front of him.

Hermione cleared her throat, “So I’ve been thinking about this ever since Sev told Harry about the prophecy at the beginning of the year, and then Harry told us what you told him, and it all just sort of clicked. Dumbledore did the interview in a pub, just down the road from Hogwarts, which in itself is weird enough, but when you take into account it was during the height of the war, and that pub was known for hosting shady characters, it makes it even more strange. Now when you add to that what you’ve told Harry about his parents being close to changing sides in the war, Dumbledore was about to lose what was probably his main financial backing. It would be like if the Malfoy’s decided to change sides,” Hermione cast an apologetic look at Draco, but he actually looked pretty smug about it, “Anyway, all of a sudden, a known Death Eater suddenly hears a prophecy the basically predicts the end of the Dark Lord’s reign, and Dumbledore doesn’t think to Obliviate him of that knowledge. He just lets him run off with a half-baked prophecy that promises the demise of his Lord by the very people he is about to recruit. It stinks of a set-up.”

Voldemort sat back in his chair, his mind spinning with everything the girl had just told him. How had he never thought about this? How was it that a 15-year-old girl had come to this conclusion before him? “We need to get that prophecy.”

“That’s what we were thinking,” Harry said excitedly, “So Draco said that his dad could get us into the ministry and that there are Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries who could get us into the Hall of Prophecies, and then Ron and Draco kissed,” Twin slaps hit Harry on the back of the head as he laughed. 

Voldemort hummed, “It is an excellent idea, well done, all of you,” Draco and Hermione beamed; Ron looked a bit gobsmacked, and Harry just smirked.

Voldemort sent a summons to Lucius and explained the plan to him. Ron and Hermione, unfortunately, had to go home, but Harry had promised to let them know what happened. Voldemort decided against going with them, so a still glamoured Harry, Draco, and Lucius made their way to the Ministry with a note from Voldemort to give to Rockwood when they made their way into the Department of Mysteries.

Harry’s initial reaction was that it was way too easy for them to get all the way to the DoM without anyone interrupting them. They didn’t even have to check in because they were with Lucius. The security at the Ministry was an absolute joke.

Once they reached the DoM, Rockwood had told them that only Harry could go through, so Harry made his way through the quite frankly terrifying spectacle that was the Hall of Prophecies to row 97, where he saw a crystal orb labelled: 

S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D

Dark Lord

and (?) Harry Potter 

Quickly putting the orb in his pocket, Harry made his way back out to where Draco and Lucius were waiting anxiously. Harry nodded quickly to the Malfoy’s, who proceeded to usher him out of the DoM and the Ministry back to Malfoy Manor, where Voldemort was pacing in his study.

“How do we hear it?” Harry asked, looking at Voldemort.

“Smash it,” Voldemort said, and Harry nodded before picking the orb out of his pocket and throwing it at the ground.

Immediately, Harry heard Professor Trelawney’s voice, so similar to when she gave the prophecy about Wormtail.

“The one with the power to match the Dark Lord approaches… Born to family who once defied but now align, born as the seventh month dies…but the Dark Lord must mark him as his equal, for neither can survive without the other…tied together by destiny…torn apart by deceit…Together they will triumph…Apart they shall fall…For if either dies at the hand of the other, neither can survive…The one with the power to match the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies….” 

Harry let out a shaky breath, “Oh shit.”

Chapter Text

“Well, that was a lot,” Harry said, looking at Voldemort with trepidation.

“That was not what I heard,” Voldemort breathed.

“I know,” Harry said with a nod, “ The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…. Born to those who have thrice defied him… born as the seventh month dies….”

“Severus really did tell you everything, didn’t he?” Voldemort said with a wry chuckle.

“He doesn’t keep secrets from me,” Harry replied with a nod.

Voldemort tilted his head, “Why is that?”

“Because I don’t keep secrets from him,” Harry said with a shrug.

“Well, that was frustratingly vague,” Voldemort huffed.

“Thank you,” Harry said with a bright smile, “I do try. Well, I’m glad we don’t have to kill each other because that would have sucked.”

Voldemort snorted, “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

Harry sighed, “Alright, well, it’s been a bloody bizarre day, so I’m going to bed, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Harry,” Voldemort said softly as Harry left the room. 

Two days later, Harry’s clothes from the tailor still hadn’t arrived yet, so he was stuck wearing Voldemort’s re-sized clothes. Not that he was complaining too much, Voldemort had very nice clothes, but still, he would like some of his own at some point. He should probably head out to muggle London at some point as well because whilst wizarding clothes were all fine and dandy, Harry did want some muggle clothes of his own that fit. Maybe he should take Draco with him; he had a feeling the blonde boy would love Harrods.

Harry stepped out of the shower, threw on a pair of pants, and walked back into his room, still towel drying his hair.

“Master Harry must be coming with Missy right now!” A little elf squealed the second Harry had walked back into his room.

“Is everything ok?” Harry asked the startled little elf.

“Master Draco requested Master Harry be brought to him immediately! Master Harry was in the shower so Missy could not interrupt, so Master Harry be coming with Missy right now!” Missy said, wringing her hands.

“Ok, Missy, I’ll come now,” Harry said, trying to placate the elf. Missy reached out her hand and popped Harry right outside Draco’s room.

“Ok, Draco, what was so bloody important that you had an elf come and get me? I’m not even dressed!” Harry exclaimed as he walked into Draco’s room in nothing but a pair of silk pants that Voldemort had lent him. Why Voldemort had silk pants, Harry was not sure he wanted to know, but they were bloody comfortable.

“Well, that’s something I never thought I’d see,” A voice Harry had never heard before drawled from behind Draco.

And that was how Harry Potter was introduced to Theodore Nott. Half naked and blushing from head to toe.

“Shirt, Draco!” Harry exclaimed.

“No, I think I’m quite enjoying the view,” Draco smirked.

Harry stuck out his hand, and a shirt from Draco’s wardrobe flew out into his hand.

“I’m going to eviscerate you,” Harry hissed as he put the shirt on.

“Wandless and wordless summoning?” Theo said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah?” Harry said, looking at Theo with confusion.

“How long have you been able to do that?” Theo asked, fascination alight in his features.

“Always?” Harry said again in confusion.

“Don’t question it, Theo,” Draco said with a sigh.

Theo turned an incredulous look on Draco, “Don’t question it? That’s insanely advanced magic!”

“No, it isn’t. You just think, and it happens,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

“Potter, that’s not how it works,” Theo said, looking at Harry like he was barmy.

Harry held out his hand again, and a book from Draco’s bookshelf flew into his hand, “Yes, it is.”

“ Power to match the Dark Lord, ” Draco muttered under his breath.

“I knew you were listening, you cheeky bastard!” Harry exclaimed as Draco shot him a lop-sided smirk.

“I’m so lost,” Theo said, looking between Harry and Draco, who just laughed at the quite frankly startled look on Theo’s face.

“Oh Draco, I had a question for you,” Harry said brightly.

“Alright,” Draco replied.

“Do you want to come to muggle London with me?” Harry asked, “I want to go shopping, and I think you’d enjoy some of the department stores.”

“What’s a department store?” Draco asked.

“Ok, picture Madame Mulkins or Twilfitt and Tattings but like the size of Diagon Alley. Plus, I think you’d like some of the High-End stores,” Harry said excitedly.

Draco pulled a face, and Harry turned his puppy dog eyes full-on at Draco, “Please, Draco?”

“Can I come?” Theo asked, looking between Harry and Draco.

Harry pointed at Theo, “See, Nott wants to come! Come on, Draco. Please? You know I won’t be able to go on my own!”

Draco immediately crumbled under the force of Harry’s puppy dog eyes and pout, “Fine, but we’ll have to go to Gringotts first so that we can exchange money.”

“Yay!” Harry exclaimed and ran out of the room to get ready.

“He has you wrapped around his little finger, Draco,” Theo said with a snort.

Draco rolled his eyes, “You should see him with the Dark Lord.”

Once Voldemort had transfigured Harry’s face and his clothes into more muggle attire, much to Voldemort’s distaste, the three boys made their way to Gringotts, where they exchanged enough galleons into muggle money to make Harry baulk, but Draco just rolled his eyes and said if he was going to do this, he was going to do it properly. They made their way out of The Leaky Cauldron onto Charing Cross Road, where Harry directed the group to the tube. They didn’t really need to take the tube, they could have easily just walked or taken a taxi, but Harry desperately wanted to see the two pureblood boys go on the tube.

Draco took one look at the tube and almost had a panic attack, and Theo looked like he was regretting every decision he had ever made that got him up to this point. When they finally got off at Oxford Circus, Draco looked like he either wanted to kiss the ground or start throwing around unforgivables. Theo was looking around wide-eyed. Harry didn’t think either boy had ever seen the absolute insanity that was muggle London, so it was an eye-opening experience for both of them.

Draco was unsurprisingly obsessed with Savile Row the minute they walked onto the street. He dragged Theo and Harry from shop to shop until he finally settled on the fanciest tailor he could find and got himself and Harry a couple of suits fitted. However, Theo thought his father might straight-up murder him if he came home with a muggle suit, so he opted out.

Harry decided to save the boys the indignity of another tube ride and hailed down a taxi to take them to Knightsbridge. They made their way to Harrods, and Draco turned into his usual storm in the shape of a man, throwing outfit after outfit at Harry to try on, whilst Theo smirked in the corner of the changing area.

“I should bring Mother here,” Draco said after throwing Harry yet another shirt that he thought looked exactly the same as the last nine Draco had given him.

“I don’t know if I would survive both you and Narcissa, Draco,” Harry said with a sigh as Theo burst into laughter.

After spending an obscene amount of money, Harry dragged the boys to have High Tea at the Mandarin Oriental, not because he particularly wanted to have High Tea, but because he desperately wanted to be able to shove it in Petunia’s face if he ever saw her again. Draco seemed to enjoy it, his upper-class pretentiousness coming out in full force, which Harry seemed to find more amusing than annoying these days, especially when it was directed at others and not him.

“Potter, have you ever considered getting your eyes fixed?” Theo asked when the boys were in the taxi going back to The Leaky Cauldron.

“We both just survived a day of shopping with Draco, Nott; I think you can call me Harry,” Harry said with a smirk, “And honestly, I didn’t even know that I could.” 

“Harry then, you can call me Theo,” Theo replied with a lop-sided grin that made Harry’s heart speed up slightly, “There’s an eye specialist in Diagon. They should be able to do it for you. You have such pretty eyes, and it’s a shame you hide them behind those glasses,” Harry blushed, and Draco hit Theo on the shoulder, which made Theo smirk.

Draco huffed, “Apart from the pretty eyes comment, he’s got a point, Harry.”

Harry fluttered his eyelashes at Draco, “Are you saying I don’t have pretty eyes, Draco? I guess it’s just my arse that you’re interested in then.”

“Fuck off, Potter,” Draco said with a laugh.

The boys made their way back into Diagon towards All-Seeing Eye, which, according to Theo, was the best eye specialist in Diagon. Harry wasn’t even aware there was one, let alone several. The eye-witch (Harry wasn’t entirely sure what the appropriate name for her was and was a bit embarrassed to ask) took one look at his glasses and shook her head before shuffling him to a dark room out the back, telling him to lie down and putting a potion in his eyes. It tingled and was slightly uncomfortable, but it didn’t hurt like he imagined it would. He was told that he had to stay in the dark room with his eyes closed for half an hour, and then he would never need his glasses again, which seemed like a good trade-off to Harry.

“See, such pretty eyes,” Theo said when Harry finally came back out, Harry rolled his eyes to cover his blush, and Draco just sighed in exasperation.

“I see you had fun,” Narcissa said as the boys came back through the floo laden with clothes.

“Mother, you have to come to Harrod’s!” Draco exclaimed, “It was amazing!”

Narcissa laughed, “I’m sure we can make a trip sometime in the future, Draco.” 

Harry groaned, and Theo just laughed at him.

The next day Harry received an owl from Hermione with all his holiday homework. Harry honestly wasn’t sure at this point whether or not he would be going back to Hogwarts; Voldemort had made no mention of it, and considering he was still considered a missing person, Harry wasn’t sure how he was just going to rock back up to school in September. Still, just in case, he thought it would be best to try and get it done. Plus, now he had access to not only all his school books but the absolute enormity that was the Malfoy library; and he thought he might as well take advantage. He was sitting with Nagini in the library working on his potions essay when his calm was quite abruptly interrupted. 

“WHERE’S MY GODSON?” Harry heard Sirius’ voice boom through the halls of Malfoy Manor.

Harry jumped up and sprinted as fast as he could towards where the voice was coming from.

“I SWEAR TO MERLIN IF I DO NOT SEE HIM RIGHT NOW, I WILL RAIN HELLFIRE DOWN ON ALL OF YOU!”

Harry quickened his pace as much as he could and skidded to a halt in the foyer, where Sirius currently had Narcissa’s, Lucius’, Barty’s, and Voldemort’s wands pointed at him.

“Sirius!” Harry yelled before running at the man and jumping into his arms.

Sirius caught him and pulled him close, “Are you ok? Have they hurt you?”

Harry held tightly onto his godfather, “No, I’m fine, I promise.”

Sirius breathed out a sigh of relief as he stroked Harry’s hair, “Never do that to me again! I was so worried about you.”

Sirius looked around at the occupants of the room, “Crouch, you look pretty good for a dead man.”

Barty laughed, “Your godson said much the same thing.”

“Hello, cousin,” Narcissa said.

“Narcissa,” Sirius replied frostily, holding Harry a bit tighter.

“How did you find me?” Harry asked quietly.

“Ron and Hermione,” Sirius huffed, “Remus smelt you all over them when they came to Headquarters.”

“Headquarters?” Harry asked, finally dislodging himself from Sirius to look up at him.

“Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore is under the impression the Voldemort is back because Snivellus,” Harry glared, “Sorry, Snape, told him.”

“I know,” Harry sighed.

“You know he’s back?” Sirius asked, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, he’s over there,” Harry said, pointing to Voldemort.

Sirius looked over at Voldemort and quickly moved Harry behind his back to point his wand at Voldemort.

“Siri, stop. He’s not trying to hurt me!” Harry said, putting himself between Sirius and Voldemort, “He’s my uncle.”

Voldemort rolled his eyes, “Cousin three times removed, Harry,”

“Nope, I’m gonna call you Uncle Voldemort, much more amusing,” Harry said with a smile over his shoulder.

“James wasn’t related to Voldemort, Harry,” Sirius said warily.

“No, but mum was,” Harry said, looking back at Sirius.

“No, she….” All of a sudden, Sirius doubled over in pain, clutching his head.

“Sirius? What’s going on?” Harry asked worriedly.

Narcissa hurried over and started casting diagnostics on her cousin, “We need a Legilimens; I think there’s a memory charm on him that’s trying to break.”

“I can do it, but I need his permission,” Voldemort said, kneeling down in front of Sirius.

Sirius nodded his head quickly, and Voldemort pointed his wand at him and muttered Legilimens . There was a tense silence for a long couple of minutes before Sirius gasped. Harry was next to Sirius in an instant, “Are you ok, Siri?”

“That motherfucker!” Sirius hissed, “Lily told me, she and James told me they were going to change sides, and she told me about her family. I was going to talk to Reggie; I’d organised to meet him, and then the prophecy happened, and Dumbledore, the bastard, he wiped the knowledge from my head, I never went to meet Reggie. He must have waited for me, but I never showed. I never showed,” Sirius’ voice broke slightly, and Harry pulled him into a hug. Then, after a moment, Sirius huffed out a sad laugh, “Any more life-changing revelations for me today, Harry?”

Harry winced, and Sirius’ eyes widened, “Harry?”

“The prophecy was a fake,” Harry said quietly.

Sirius turned a thunderous look onto Voldemort, “You killed my best friends because of a fake prophecy?” Sirius hissed, he looked like he was about to reach for his wand, but Harry put a hand on his arm.

“We think something happened to him, Siri. I don’t think it was his fault,” Harry said quietly.

“He killed them, Harry! How could it not be his fault?” Sirius exclaimed.

“Black,” Voldemort started softly, “I’m going to tell you exactly what I told Harry about that night. From the moment I heard the prophecy, it was like I wasn’t myself. When I went over to that house, it was like I wasn’t even in control of my own body. I loved Lily; she was family, and whilst I had never had much interest in family before, the moment I met Lily, she was very special to me, James as well. I felt like a passenger in my own body, and it wasn’t until after my killing curse rebounded off Harry and my spirit was ripped from my body that I saw what I had done. Lily and James’ deaths are some of my greatest regrets, and it is something I will never be able to atone for,” Voldemort finished sadly.

Sirius stared at Voldemort with wide eyes, “Well fuck.” 

Chapter Text

“You know you can’t tell anyone where I am, right, Siri?” Harry said once they were alone. The other adults had left them after it was deemed that Sirius wasn’t going to try and kidnap Harry from them.

“Moony already knows; I’ll just tell him you’re safe. I promise I won’t tell anyone else,” Sirius promised.

Harry sighed, “I just can’t figure out what Dumbledore’s end game is.”

“Dumbledore isn’t the kind of man you want to be able to understand, Harry. Even before I went to Azkaban and I thought the world of him, I still understood that the man sees the world as a chessboard, and he sees himself as the master. He plays with people because he sees them as pawns in his game. So even though I thought he was a great man, I never fully trusted him,” Sirius sighed, “And then I went to Azkaban without a trial, and all my trust in him disappeared. I only went anywhere near him for you.”

“Did you see the Daily Prophet?” Harry asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

“No, Dumbledore has kept it out of Headquarters,” Sirius said with a sigh.

“So you don’t know that Wormtail was arrested?” Harry asked with wide eyes.

Sirius stilled, “What did you say?”

“At the graveyard, after Voldemort did the ritual to come back, he sent Wormtail, bound and gagged, to the Ministry!” Harry said excitedly, “And Lucius is working on getting you a trial! They’ve rescinded your Kiss On Sight Order! Dumbledore didn’t tell you?”

Sirius had many conflicting emotions running over his face, “I could be free?” He whispered as if he never thought it would be possible.

“You could be free,” Harry said with a smile.

Sirius suddenly grimaced, “Does this mean I’ll have to thank Lucius?”

Harry laughed, “You have no issue thanking Voldemort, but Lucius is where you draw the line?”

Sirius sniffed, “He’s a Malfoy, Harry. I have to draw the line somewhere.”

Sirius couldn’t stay much longer after that; there was only so much time he could stay away from Headquarters without drawing suspicion. Currently, everyone thought he was up in his room with Buckbeak, moping about Harry. Remus, and to Sirius’s eternal surprise, the weird Black house elf, whose name was Kreacher, was covering for him. Apparently, Kreacher had overheard him and Remus plotting how to get to Malfoy Manor, and the weird elf thought that meant that ‘Blood-Traitor Master must be becoming proper Lord Black’, which made Sirius snort.  

It also reminded Harry he needed to speak to Sirius about taking up the Black heirship. Sirius had actually burst into laughter when Harry had told him and explained that he and James had signed the Heir papers when they were roaring drunk because Sirius thought it would be hilarious for there to be a half-blood Heir Black. Neither he nor James actually realised they made it official but that Harry should absolutely take up the heirship because it would make his mother roll over in her grave. Harry thought that was a perfectly acceptable reason and decided that he would go to Gringotts the next day to pick up the ring.

Eventually, Sirius gave him a kiss on the head and promised that he would visit as much as possible and that he was glad he was safe.

“Love you, Siri,” Harry said as his Godfather got ready to activate his portkey.

“Love you too, kid. You look good without glasses, by the way. You’ve got more Lily in you that way,” Sirius said with a soft smile as Harry beamed, “I’ll be back when I can.”

“Bye,” Harry said with a wave as Sirius activated his portkey.

The following day, Voldemort accompanied Harry to Gringotts to take up the Black heirship. Much the same as last time, they were led to Ragtar’s office because he was still Harry’s main point of contact as he was the Potter Lord and would only be Heir Black. Ragtar greeted Harry warmly and called the Goblin in charge of the Black Accounts, whose name was Bloodfang, in to present the Black heir ring to Harry. This ring was far more ostentatious than the Potter ring, unsurprisingly from what Harry knew of the Blacks. It was silver, with a big square setting, where sat what Harry assumed was a black diamond, with the words ‘ Toujours Pur’ wrapped around it. Harry snorted, Always Pure indeed. Generations of Blacks must be rolling in their graves.

Harry placed the ring on his right pinky finger, where the bloody thing went all the way up to his knuckle. He much preferred the understatedness of the Potter ring, but hey, the Blacks were drama queens.

“Excellent, Lord Potter-Black,” Bloodfang said with a toothy grin.

“Will I be Harry Potter-Black for everything now?” Harry asked.

“You can be, or you can just be Potter-Black on official documents it’s up to you,” Ragtar replied.

“I think I’d like to be Potter-Black,” Harry said with a smile; he knew Sirius wouldn’t mind. Not to mention the utter terror he would instil into just about every teacher at Hogwarts with the last name of the two biggest menaces before the Weasley Twins if he ever went back to Hogwarts. He really should talk to Voldemort about that.

“Potter-Black it is then,” Ragtar said with a nod. 

“Am I going back to Hogwarts?” Harry asked once he and Voldemort left the bank.

“Would you like to?” Voldemort asked, looking down at Harry, “I could tutor you if you wanted.”

Harry hummed in thought, “I would like to go back to Hogwarts, but we would need to come up with a valid reason for me being missing for three months.”

“Whatever you want, Harry, we can make it happen. And really, we only need to keep you hidden until we can get Black a trial and he can get custody of you,” Voldemort replied.

Harry faltered, “I thought I would be staying with you,” Harry said quietly.

Voldemort stopped and looked down at Harry, “Of course, if that’s what you want, Harry, but with Black almost firmly on our side, you know we can all stay together, right?”

Harry exhaled, “Oh, that would be good,” Harry said, and Voldemort smiled at him.

Harry spent most of the rest of the day in his room surrounded by books. He was getting through his holiday homework at a good pace, which was an absolute bonkers concept to Harry, who was used to cramming most of his homework in on the train or at the Weasley’s like he did in second and fourth year. After a few hours, Harry decided to pack up his homework and read some of the books Hermione was always ranting and raving about. He was currently most of the way through The Great Gatsby, he thought it was a bit pretentious and slightly stalkery if he was honest, but it wasn’t bad.

“Hey, Pretty Eyes,” Harry looked up and saw Theo leaning against his doorframe. 

“Theo,” Harry replied with a roll of his eyes, “What are you doing here?”

“A bunch of us came over to hang out, Draco was going to come up and invite you, but I volunteered,” Theo said with a smirk.

“What an arduous task to walk all the way to my room. You truly are a prince among men, Theo,” Harry said as he fanned his face dramatically.

Theo sighed dramatically, “It is a burden that I carry to be so chivalrous all the time.”

Harry laughed, “Is dramatism a Slytherin trait? Or is it a ‘friends with Draco’ trait?”

Theo snorted, “Come on, Pretty Eyes, come hang out with us.”

“Only if you stop calling me Pretty Eyes,” Harry responded.

Theo smirked, “Not a chance.”

“Ok,” Harry responded before laying back down and picking his book back up.

“Oh, don’t be like that!” Theo said, walking into the room and kneeling in front of Harry’s bed, “Do you want me to beg? Because I will.”

Harry scoffed, “I’m busy.”

It was Theo’s turn to scoff, “You look it.”

Harry rolled his eyes but continued reading.

“Fine,” Theo said with a sigh before standing up and grinning wickedly at Harry. Harry’s eyes widened as Theo put his arms under Harry’s legs and his back and quite literally scooped him up and carried him out of the room.

“Put me down, I swear to fucking Merlin, I will kill you!” Harry yelled as Theo continued to carry him all the way down the hall towards Draco’s room.

“Not a chance, Pretty Eyes,” Theo smirked at him, “I don’t think you’d hurt me; you like me too much.”

Harry huffed, “Is inflated self-importance a Slytherin trait as well?”

Theo laughed as he kicked the door to Draco’s room open, “I bought Potter. He was being difficult.”

“Yes, he does that,” Draco drawled as Theo deposited him on the floor between him and Draco.

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and stared daggers at the boys, “I’m going to start a rumour that you’re not a natural blonde,” Harry hissed at Draco and then turned to Theo, “And you,” Harry waved his hands and Theo yelped, suddenly drenched in ice-cold water. Then, Harry turned a bright smile to the rest of Draco’s friends, who were looking at him in shock, “Harry Potter-Black, nice to meet you officially.” Draco shot him an odd look at his introduction, but he just smirked and winked.

“Blaise Zabini,” Blaise leaned forward with a smirk on his face, holding his hand out for Harry to shake, “I think I’m in love.” Harry laughed and shook Blaise’s hand.

“Pansy Parkinson,” Pansy said, with a calculating look on her face, “You know when Theo and Draco said you were here, I thought they’d actually gone round the twist. You look good without your glasses, by the way.”

“See, Pretty Eyes, I told you it was a good move,” Theo said to Harry, who waved his hand again and dumped a fresh round of ice water on him.

Blaise placed a hand on his heart, “Be still my beating heart; I am most definitely in love.”

Theo rolled his eyes, “You’re in love with a new person every week, Blaise. Harry, can you please dry me off?”

Harry smirked, “No, I don’t think I will.”

“Harry!” Theo whined.

“Theo!” Harry whined right back as the other three burst into laughter.

“Fine,” Theo huffed and stood up and sat on Harry’s lap.

Harry yelped, “You fucker!”

“Dry me off now, Pretty Eyes?” Theo asked, turning around to flutter his eyelashes at Harry, who just huffed and waved his hand and dried them both off.

“You can get off now,” Harry said with a scowl.

Theo smirked, “No, I don’t think I will.”

“Don’t make me make you,” Harry said.

Theo jumped up quickly, “I’m up, I’m up!” But when he sat back down, he was still sitting very close to Harry.

“So Potter-Black?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry smiled at him, “Yep, picked up the heir ring today,” Harry flashed the heir ring at Draco.

“So you’re Heir Potter and Heir Black?” Pansy asked, the calculating look back in her eye.

“Nope,” Harry replied brightly.

Pansy creased her eyebrows, “You’re not Heir Potter?”

“Nope,” Harry said brightly again.

“Are you not a Potter?” Blaise asked carefully.

“I am,” Harry replied with a slightly mad smile, wondering just how long he could drag this on for.

“I’m so confused. So you’re Heir Black, but not Heir Potter?” Pansy repeated.

Harry laughed, deciding to put the poor girl out of her misery, “I’m Lord Potter, Heir Black.”

“Fuck off!” Pansy exclaimed, “How did that happen?”

“Goblet of Fire, you needed to be an adult to enter, so when my name came out, I became emancipated. At least that’s what I’m assuming because the 31st of October was my emancipation date,” Harry said.

“Is that why you entered?” Blaise asked, leaning forward.

Harry scowled, “I didn’t enter.”

“It’s just us here, Harry. You don’t have to lie,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes.

Harry scowl deepened, and he got up and stomped to the door, “BARTY!”

“WHAT?” 

“COME HERE!”

Harry stomped back and sat back down on the floor with his arms crossed over his arms.

“Yeah, kid?” Barty asked as he popped his head into the room, startling the rest of the occupants.

“Were you polyjuiced as Moody all year?” Harry asked.

“Yeah,” Barty said with a shrug.

“And did you put my name in the Goblet of Fire?” Harry said with a raised eyebrow at the Slytherins.

“Yep,” Barty said, popping the ‘p’.

“Ok, thanks Barty,” Harry said brightly.

“No worries, kid,” Barty replied before waving and taking off back down the hall.

Harry leaned back with a very satisfied expression as the Slytherins just looked between Harry and the recently vacated door, utterly gobsmacked. 

“Was that Barty Crouch Jr?” Pansy asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah, he’s not dead,” Harry replied with a shrug.

“What the fuck is your life, Potter?” Blaise said with a shake of his head.

Theo leaned over to Harry, “You know, I never believed you put your name in,” Theo said with a smirk.

Harry scoffed, “Bullshit, I saw you all with those impressive little ‘Potter Stinks’ badges. Don’t try to gain favour now, Nott.”

Theo put his hand over his heart, “Back to Nott are we, Pretty Eyes?” 

“I swear to fucking Merlin!” Harry exclaimed as the rest of the Slytherins laughed.

The rest of the night was pretty enjoyable. The Slytherins were quite good company. They couldn’t match Ron and Hermione by any stretch of the imagination, plus Theo’s constant flirting was a bit much. Not that Harry didn’t enjoy it, because he did. Theo was funny, and he was gorgeous in that sort of bookworm that could kill you kind of way, but no one had really paid that kind of attention to Harry before, and he wasn’t entirely sure how to deal with it.  

Harry had ended up sleeping in Draco’s room with the rest of the Slytherin’s that night and had woken up the next morning with Theo pressed against his back, his head nuzzled in Harry’s curls, and his hand splayed across Harry’s hip. Harry was used to waking up early because of the Dursley’s, so he was awake well before anyone else, which was lucky because it meant he had the chance to slip out before anyone else woke up. Theo made a slight mewling sound when Harry moved, which was more than a little adorable.

Harry tiptoed out of Draco’s room and made his way back to his own to shower and get ready for the day.

“Damn, I thought I’d catch you in those silk pants again,” Harry jumped about a foot in the air when he walked out of the bathroom and found Theo lying on his bed, Harry’s copy of The Great Gatsby propped up in front of him.

“What the fuck, Theo?” Harry exclaimed when he finally got his furiously beating heart back under control.

“You left without waking me up, rude, by the way,” Theo said with a shrug.

“So you thought you’d just follow me into my room and wait for me to get out of the shower?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Would you have prefered me to follow you into the shower?” Theo asked with a smirk.

Harry turned bright red and spluttered out indignities which Theo just laughed at.

“Why are you doing this?” Harry asked with a scowl.

Theo raised an eyebrow, “Flirting with you?”

Harry threw his hands up in exasperation, “Yes!”

Theo tilted his head to regard Harry for a moment, “Because I like you, Harry.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Sure.”

Theo regarded Harry for a moment, “Why wouldn’t I like you?”

“Why would you? I’m not special,” Harry retorted.

“On the contrary, I think you’re very special,” Theo said seriously.

Harry scoffed, “Whatever, Theo.”

“You don’t think you’re special?” Theo asked.

Harry laughed, “No, not at all.”

Theo hummed, stood up off Harry’s bed and walked towards the door, stopping when he got there to shoot a serious look at Harry, “I’ll show you just how special you are, Harry. Don’t worry, I’ll make you see it,” and then walked out. 

Harry stood frozen for a long moment, staring at the door. His heart hammering out of his chest.

Chapter Text

“What’s up your arse today?” Harry asked as he walked into Voldemort’s study just in time to see him throw a glass at the wall.

Voldemort startled, obviously not hearing Harry come in, “Sorry Harry, I didn’t mean for you to see that.”

Harry shrugged, “It’s alright. We all get mad sometimes.”

Voldemort sighed, “I’m trying to figure out a way to get my followers out of Azkaban, but I can’t come up with any viable plans that aren’t just breaking them all out and burning the place to the ground.”

Harry sat down at the desk across from him, “Well, how did Barty get out? I mean, considering everyone thought he died in there and he obviously didn’t, how did he go about that?”

“His mother polyjuiced as him and had his father break him out,” Voldemort said.

Harry shrugged, “Well, why don’t you do that? I mean, get some muggles, preferably like murderers and stuff and not just random ones off the street, do some permanent transfiguration, knock out the guards for the night and swap them with your followers.”

Voldemort looked at Harry, and looked at him, and looked at him. Harry began to shuffle in his seat awkwardly when the silence dragged out for just a tad too long.

“Why is it that I am constantly being outdone by teenagers?” Voldemort groaned, “First, your Miss Granger figures out a set-up that I had been blind to for 15 years, and then you come up with an incredible plan to get my Death Eaters out of Azkaban off the top of your head.”

Harry laughed as Voldemort buried his head in his hands. Then, Harry left Voldemort as he started pulling out blank sheets of parchment to write plans furiously.

“What are you up to, Pretty Eyes?” A voice drawled from behind him.

“Fuck me dead, Theo! What are you doing here?” Harry said after he’d settled his beating heart.

“I stay here for most of the holidays,” Theo said with a shrug.

“Why?” Harry asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

A dark look passed over Theo’s face, a look Harry knew too well; it was the same look Harry got when someone mentioned the Dursley’s, “You know what, it’s none of my business,” Harry said quickly.

Theo’s face flashed with surprise before it was quickly covered up by a more impassive mask, “So come on, what are we doing today?”

“Where’s Draco?” Harry asked, looking around.

“Is my company alone not good enough for you, Harry?” Theo asked with a smirk, “Must I fight Draco to the death for your affections?”

Harry laughed, “You’re so dramatic.”

“Harry? Are you still out there?” Voldemort called from his study.

“Yeah, just give me a sec,” Harry turned an apologetic look to Theo, “Looks like any grand plans for wooing me are on hold for now. I’ll come and find you when I’m done with Voldemort, yeah?” 

Theo raised his eyebrows at him, “He lets you call him that name?”

“Yeah, he’s my uncle,” Harry said with a shrug.

“Cousin three times removed, Harry!” Voldemort called out.

“Don’t listen to my conversations, you weirdo!” Harry called right back.

Harry turned back to look at Theo, who was looking at him with his jaw dropped, “Draco was right, that’s so weird.”

Harry laughed, “Don’t miss me too much.”

Theo dropped to his knees, “My heart yearns for you every day, Pretty Eyes, counting down the seconds until I see you again,” he said with a hand on his heart.

Harry rolled his eyes, “So fucking dramatic,” before turning to walk back into the study before Theo could see the pleased smile on his face.

“The Nott boy?” Voldemort asked with a raised eyebrow as Harry walked in.

Harry blushed, “Shut up.”

Harry and Voldemort spent the rest of the afternoon fleshing out Harry’s plan to get the Death Eaters out of Azkaban. Obviously, it wasn’t quite as simple as swapping them for some muggles and getting out. Still, considering the Aurors rarely went anywhere near the top floor of Azkaban, which is where most of Voldemort’s inner circle were, Voldemort didn’t think it would be too difficult. First, they needed to get the Azkaban guard schedule from the Ministry so they could figure out the best time to strike. There were only ever two guards on at night as opposed to four during the day, so night was the best time. Harry’s plan to use muggles was also a bit difficult. They would have to break into muggle prisons and find people who had no living relatives and had been convicted without a shadow of a doubt because Harry especially didn’t want the lingering doubt they’d subjected someone who was wrongfully convicted to Dementors, Voldemort didn’t care so much, but it made Harry more comfortable, so he agreed. After that, the permanent transfiguration was the easy part, and transporting them was just a matter of portkeying the lot of them onto the island.

Harry also reminded Voldemort that these people had been in Azkaban for going on 15 years and would need an army of healers and mind healers also, which meant finding dark sympathisers they could get to make unbreakable vows. 

It was going to be an arduous task, but Harry was pretty happy with what they had planned, especially considering it only took them the better half of an afternoon. If the smug, satisfied look on Voldemort’s face was anything to go by, he was happy as well.

Harry made his way out of the office and towards Draco’s room to see if he and Theo were around because he wanted to play quidditch. Harry knocked on the door, and Draco looked up, “Quidditch?” Draco lit up, and Harry looked around the room, “Where’s Theo?”

“Is my company not enough for you now you have Theo, Harry?” Draco asked with a pout.

Harry groaned, “Fucking Slytherin’s, are you all so dramatic?”

Draco laughed, “Theo doesn’t like quidditch anyway.”

Harry shrugged, “Alright if I remember correctly, I owe you a try on the Firebolt. ”  

Draco beamed, and once the boys had changed into quidditch robes, Draco dragged Harry bodily towards the manor’s pitch, practically floating on air at the prospect of getting to try the Firebolt. 

Harry grabbed the Firebolt out of the shed and handed it to Draco, who looked like someone just handed him his firstborn child, and then he was off, whooping and laughing as he sped his way around the pitch. Harry grabbed Draco’s Nimbus 2001 and sped off after him. The two boys raced around the pitch for a while, Draco having just the slightest advantage with the Firebolt, but even Draco couldn’t deny that Harry is, was, and always would be, the better flyer. Draco grabbed a snitch, and the two boys played a few seekers games. Draco caught the snitch once to Harry’s three times, but the look on his face when he caught it from right under Harry’s nose was so comical that Harry almost fell off his broom he was laughing so hard.

Eventually, Narcissa sent out an elf to let the boys know that it was time for dinner, so after packing their brooms away and getting dressed for dinner, which was always formalwear, much to Harry’s distaste, the boys made their way into the dining room, where Voldemort, Lucius, Narcissa, Barty and Theo were already seated. Harry made apologies for being late, which Narcissa waved off easily.

“I thought you were going to come and find me when you’d finished with the Dark Lord,” Theo asked, leaning over to speak quietly in Harry’s ear.

“I was going to, but I wanted to play Quidditch, and Draco said you weren’t a fan, so I didn’t want to bother you,” Harry said with a shrug.

Theo hummed, “True enough. I do like to watch you fly, though. I could see you from the window in the library, and you looked amazing.”

Harry blushed, “Thank you.”

Voldemort cleared his throat lightly, and the table turned their attention to him, “Harry and I spent the afternoon coming up with a plan to get the rest of my followers out of Azkaban,” The tables attention snapped from Voldemort to Harry, who, still sporting the blush from Theo’s compliment, blushed even deeper and looked down at the table, “I believe we should have everyone back here hopefully in just under a fortnight.”

Both Barty and Narcissa looked like they were about to burst into tears, and they both looked at Harry with thanks shining in their eyes.

“Is there anything you can’t do, Pretty Eyes?” Theo asked with a smirk.

“Shut up,” Harry mumbled.

“So I started that book you were reading,” Theo said.

“ The Great Gatsby? You’re reading The Great Gatsby? ” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s not too bad for a muggle book,” Theo replied with a shrug.

“Really? You like it?” Harry asked.

“It’s not bad,” Theo replied carefully.

Harry laughed, “You hate it, don’t you?”

Theo looked like he wanted to deny it, but one look at Harry’s face, and he groaned, “I hate it! Even I think it’s pretentious, and my best friend is Draco Malfoy.”

“I heard that!” Draco snapped, and Harry and Theo laughed.

“It’s one of Hermione’s favourites, personally I think there isn’t one character in that book who is even vaguely redeemable,” Harry said with a laugh.

“Oh, thank Merlin! I was genuinely worried about your tastes there for a minute,” Theo said with a laugh.

The next day, Harry made his way to Voldemort’s study, about to really test the bounds of what ‘you can do whatever you want, as long as you’re safe’ really meant. Harry took a steadying breath and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Voldemort said, and Harry walked into the room; suddenly very nervous, Voldemort looked up and saw Harry standing awkwardly at the door, “Is everything ok, Harry?”

“Um, I was wondering what your opinions of me leaving the country are?” Harry asked, his voice a bit more high pitched than it usually would be.

Voldemort shot him a confused look, “Permanently?” 

“No, no! Just for a day or two. It’s just that, I’ve never been out of the country, when the Dursley’s would go on holidays they would never take me, I always had to stay with Mrs Figg, so I thought, maybe, I could go somewhere outside of England for a couple of days,” Harry said in a rush.

Voldemort looked at him piercingly, “Where do you want to go?”

Harry sighed, “Paris. I know Draco speaks french, so I thought I’d take him and Theo with me if Narcissa is ok with it.”

Voldemort took a deep breath, “Ok, Harry, here’s the deal. You can go to Paris if you talk to me about the cupboard.”

Harry stiffened, having assumed that given the length of time it had been, Voldemort had forgotten about the cupboard thing.

“My Hogwarts letter was addressed to Harry Potter, The Cupboard Under The Stairs ,” Harry started out softly, “The house had four bedrooms, my aunt and uncles bedroom, my cousin’s bedroom, my cousin’s second bedroom, and the guest bedroom, but for ten years they kept me in the cupboard under the stairs, unseen, unheard, unwanted,” Harry looked up at Voldemort, who despite having a carefully blank face, Harry could see that his magic was in a storm. 

“Where are they?” Voldemort asked through his clenched jaw.

Harry shook his head, “It’s not worth it.”

Voldemort let out a shaky breath, “Ok, Harry, you can go to Paris. Go let Theo and Draco know, and I’ll organise it with Narcissa.”

Harry smiled at him softly, “Thank you.”

“Thank you for telling me, Harry. I know that was a lot for you,” Voldemort replied, and Harry just nodded at him.

Harry didn’t immediately go to Theo and Draco; he just wanted to be on his own for a while. He made it all the way back to his room and shut the door before he let the tears fall, and when they started, they didn’t stop. Harry let out huge heaving sobs. He cried for the childhood he had lost; he cried for the family he could have had, and he cried because it had been so long since he’d been able to without getting punished.  

He wasn’t sure how long he lay on his bed, curled in the fetal position and crying his heart out, but it must have been a while because he suddenly had a very excited blonde burst into his room.

“We’re going to Paris!” Draco yelled as he barged into Harry’s room; Draco took one look at Harry’s face and sobered, “Harry, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Harry said with a sniff, “So when are we going?” Harry said with as much brightness as he could muster.

Draco looked like he wanted to push, but Theo put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, “Father’s arranging a portkey for us later this afternoon,” Draco said softly, “and Mother says that you can go as yourself.”

Harry’s head snapped up, “Really?”

Draco nodded, “Yeah, The Dark Lord wants us to spend most of our time in the muggle areas of Paris, but if we go into the magical district if anyone sees you there, it can help with the backstory that he’s building for you for when you go back to Hogwarts.”

Harry smiled a genuine smile, “Brilliant, do you know where we’re staying?”

“One of the Malfoy properties on the 8th arrondissement,” Draco replied with a shrug.

“The Malfoy’s have properties in muggle Paris?” Harry asked, genuinely shocked.

Draco sniffed haughtily, “The Malfoy’s have properties everywhere.”

Harry laughed, “My apologies, you know I should probably find out where the Potter properties are.”

“That information will be in you Gringott’s Portfolio. I know Father has almost finished all the accounting,” Draco said with a shrug.

“Oh sweet,” Harry said brightly, “Alright, I guess I should pack then.”

“The elves have already packed for you,” Draco said, “Did you not see the trunk in the corner of the room?” Draco pointed over to where there was indeed a trunk that Harry didn’t recognise in front of his door.

“Oh, well, I should at least get dressed then,” Harry said with a laugh.

Draco beamed, “Let me pick something for you! That’s why I came in.”

Harry shrugged, “Alright.”  

Draco ended up picking a pair of dress trousers and a button-up tee-shirt for both him and Harry. Theo wore much the same thing. Considering they were staying in muggle Paris, they decided to stick to muggle clothes, which Draco took great joy in telling them meant more shopping.

Trunks in hand, the group waited in the foyer for their portkey to activate. It would activate right into the apartment, where Narcissa had already sent a couple of elves to make sure the place was stocked up. Lucius had gone to Gringotts for them and exchanged another absolutely stupid amount of galleons into muggle money. Why wizards hadn’t gotten on the debit card bandwagon was anyone’s guess. It would make life so much easier.   

The portkey activated and whisked them off to the Paris apartment. Harry, as per usual, landed on his arse. Draco and Theo landed with ease and then saw Harry on the ground and burst out laughing. Harry grumbled a bit before standing up and looking around. The apartment was beautiful, exactly what Harry would expect from the Malfoy’s. The boys claimed the rooms they wanted and then met in the kitchen as the elves had also left some fruits and cheese’s out for them, which they tucked into happily.

“Where do you want to go first, Harry?” Draco asked once they’d finished eating.

“Should we just take a walk around and see what’s nearby?” Harry asked.

Theo nodded, “Sounds good.”

The boys took a leisurely stroll around where the apartment was. Theo and Draco pointed out the best restaurants they could go to, Harry had offered to cook, but the boys looked at him like he was an idiot, so he shrugged and let it go. Draco picked no less than 17 stores that he wanted to visit tomorrow, so gleefully informed Harry and Theo that they would be leaving the apartment immediately when the shops opened the next day.  

The boys went into a lovely restaurant for dinner. Draco and Theo bullied Harry into getting the snails but jokes on them because he actually really liked them. 

After dinner, the boys made their way back to the apartment; Draco wanted to get an early night to wake up bright and early to go shopping, which Harry was fine with. It had been a long day, and he was more than happy to go to bed early.

“Hey,” Harry heard Theo’s voice from the door as he settled into bed.

“Don’t you have your own room, Theo?” Harry asked with a laugh.

“Yeah, but yours is nicer,” Theo said with a shrug, “Can we share?”

“That’s the line you’re going with? Your room is nicer. Can we share?” Harry asked with a laugh.

Theo laughed, “Well, I’ve committed to it now.”

Harry considered for a minute, “Yeah, alright.”

Theo beamed and ran full speed at the bed, almost jumping right on top of Harry.

“Watch it!” Harry yelled, but he was laughing.

Theo wiggled under the covers and pulled Harry close, “Night, Pretty Eyes.”

“Night, Theo.”

Chapter Text

“Harry, have you seen Theo? He wasn’t in his OH WOAH!” Draco’s eyes widened when he walked in and saw Theo curled around Harry.

Harry’s eyes snapped open, “Um, found him?”

Theo snorted into Harry’s hair.

“Well, just hurry up. We have lots to do today,” Draco said before turning and walking out of the room.

Harry groaned, “The one day he wakes up before me.”

Harry tried to get up, but Theo whined and pulled him closer, “Five more minutes.”

“No five more minutes, up now!” Draco yelled from out the door.

Theo groaned, “I’m going to kill him, slowly and painfully.”

Harry laughed and disentangled himself from Theo to get in the shower.

Once Harry was dressed, he walked out into the kitchen where Draco was waiting, tapping his foot with his arms crossed over his chest.

“What took you so long? And where’s Theo?” Draco asked.

“I got ready as quickly as I could,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “I’m assuming Theo is doing the same thing.”

“You didn’t get ready together?” Draco asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Harry just rolled his eyes again.

“The shops don’t open for another two hours, Draco. So why do we need to be up at the arse crack of dawn? I was having a very pleasant time in bed,” Theo said when he walked out to join them.

“We have to go out to breakfast and make sure we’re the first people in when the shops open!” Draco exclaimed.

“They’re not going to magically sell out of the stuff you want if we’re not the first people to walk in there, Draco,” Harry said, rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time that morning.

“Yeah, well, shut up!” Draco huffed.

Draco eventually managed to drag both Harry and Theo out of the apartment to get breakfast. Draco distinctly reminded Harry of an over-excited puppy, and it would have been adorable had it not been stupid o’clock in the morning, though to be fair, Harry thought that listening to Draco speak French might have been worth the rude and abrupt wake-up call. Harry kept shushing Theo when he tried to talk to him so he could listen to Draco talk, something that made Draco very smug if the look on his face was anything to go by.

“Pay attention to me!” Theo whined.

“Learn to speak French,” Harry said with a laugh before turning back to Draco, who really could have just been reciting the phone book for all Harry knew, not that he cared in the slightest.

When they’d finished their breakfast, which was absolutely incredible, Draco dragged them off to the first of what was likely to be an immeasurable amount of shops.

Harry and Theo mostly just sat and watched as flustered sales assistants threw clothes and bags and accessories at Draco, who was racking up an impressive tab. Harry was reminded vividly of a movie he’d seen Petunia watch, Pretty Something? But this shopping trip with Draco reminded him of the shopping montage in that movie. When Theo had asked what he was laughing about, and Harry tried to explain it to him, he then had to go into a 20-minute discussion about what a movie was, what a VHS tape was, and what a TV was. Harry didn’t think he did a very good job at explaining it, and the joke was pretty much ruined by the end of it, but Theo didn’t seem to mind; Harry thought he might just like hearing him talk.

“We have to go to Place Cachée. I need to go to Gringotts,” Draco said with a pout when they left the ninth store of the day.

“How have you already run out of money?” Harry asked, exasperated.

The group made their way to Montmarte, where Place Cachée was located. They quickly made their way to the French Gringotts, where the Malfoy’s also had vaults, as did the Black’s, as Harry found out when he met the Goblin in charge of the Black’s French accounts. Once Draco had changed the Bezants into Euros, the group made their way back out into Place Cachée.

“‘Arry? ‘Arry, is zat you?” Harry’s eyes widened when he heard the melodic voice of Fleur Delacour.

“Fuck,” Harry cursed under his breath and turned around just as Fleur had caught up to him.

“Zank ze Goddess, you are ok!” Fleur yelled as she pulled him into a hug, “Gabrielle and I have been so worried! What are you doing ‘ere?” Fleur asked, looking between Harry, Theo and Draco.

“Um, so, I, um,” Harry floundered, trying to come up with a story, “I ran away.” Harry blurted out.

“Excuse-moi?” Fleur asked, looking very confused.

“Look, after the third task, the cup was a portkey. I don’t know where it was supposed to take me, but it took me to some random field in the middle of nowhere, and I was going to go back; I really was, but then I thought, why should I? And, I mean, I’ve never been out of the country before, so I went to Gringotts and got some money out and then flew the muggle way from England to Paris and I’ve been here ever since,” Harry said, very impressed with the story he’d come up with off the top of his head. Harry pointed to Theo and Draco, “I ran into these two a couple of days ago, and they’ve been showing me around.”

“Zat was very irresponsable, ‘Arry,” Fleur scolded lightly, before sighing, “But wiz everything zat ‘appened to you zis year, I can understand ze urge.” 

Harry let out a relieved sigh, “You can’t tell anyone I’m here Fleur, please,” Harry begged, “They’ll just drag me back, and I’m not ready for that,” Harry turned his puppy dog eyes on Fleur and watched as the quarter-veela practically melted. 

“Of course, ‘Arry, your secret iz safe wiz me,” Fleur said with a smile.

Harry beamed and pulled her into a hug, “Say hello to Gabrielle for me?”

Fleur smiled at him, “Of course, enjoy Paris ‘Arry,” she said with a wink.

Harry turned back to look at Draco and Theo, who were looking at him with wide eyes, “You are bloody brilliant,” Theo said, with awe in his eyes.

Harry laughed and took a mock bow, “Thank you, thank you. Now I believe we have 700 other shops Draco wants to visit before we leave.”

“Did you run into any trouble?” Voldemort asked when the boys had finally arrived back that evening.

“Not trouble, per se, but we ran into Fleur Delacour,” Harry said with a shrug.

“The Beauxbatons Champion?” Lucius asked with concern.

“Yeah, she recognised Harry, and he just spun this absolutely brilliant story off the top of his head,” Draco gushed.

Theo laughed, “She thinks the portkey for the last task was dysfunctional and instead of going back, Harry ran away because he wanted some time to himself.”

Voldemort hummed, “It’s not a bad story, actually. We may need to move up your introduction back into society, though.”

“Nah, she won’t tell anyone,” Harry said with a shrug.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow, “And just how do you know that?”

“Because I asked her not to,” Harry replied and then turned his puppy dog eyes onto the adults in the room. Lucius and Voldemort melted, and Narcissa actually cooed at him. Theo and Draco laughed, which seemed to snap the adults out of their trance.

Lucius laughed, “He’s good.”

“It’s how he gets away with so much,” A voice drawled from the doorway, and Harry lit up.

“Sev!” Harry dropped his bags and ran to give the potions master a hug.

“Hello, brat,” Severus said with a smile.

Harry heard Theo choke and turn to Draco to hiss, “Sev?”

“I know. It’s bloody bonkers, right?” Draco replied.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked Severus.

“I came to let the Dark Lord know what Dumbledore was up to and to see you,” Severus said with a smile.

“Hey!” Draco exclaimed.

“Yes, I came to see you too, Draco,” Severus said with a roll of his eyes as Harry laughed.

“Yes, everyone is excited that Severus is here,” Lucius grumbled as the rest of the adults laughed, “Actually Harry, I’ve finished going through your accounting, and there are a few things I wanted to bring to your attention, so whilst Severus is with the Dark Lord, we can go through that if you’d like?”

Harry shrugged, “Sounds good.”

Whilst Severus was off with Voldemort, Lucius took Harry into his study and opened up his Gringotts portfolio, where there were more than a few entries marked.

“We’ll go through your trust vault first; there isn’t anything much of note apart from the payments to your relatives, which I assume you knew about,” Lucius said before flipping the page.

“Wait, sorry, payments to my relatives?” Harry asked.

“Yes, £200 a week, to the account of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, HSBC bank,” Lucius looked up at Harry, “Did you not know about this?”

Harry laughed dryly, “No, I most certainly did not. Can we put a stop to it immediately?” 

“Of course, I’ll help you write to Gringott’s after this,” Lucius said with a nod, “The next thing is your withdrawals for school. I just want to make sure that the money that was taken out by others is exactly what you were given,” Lucius pointed to the marked withdrawals by Molly Weasley in Harry’s second and fourth year.

“Yep, those are right,” Harry said, letting out a relieved breath. He didn’t know what he would have done if he found out that Mrs Weasley had taken money from him.

“Ok, the last thing is the payment for The Leaky Cauldron in your third year,” Lucius said.

Harry broke into laughter, “Fudge is such a fuckwit!”

Lucius snorted, “You are correct; however, I would like to know the context.”

“I guess he never said it explicitly, but he did heavily imply that the Ministry paid for my stay in The Leaky Cauldron, not that I paid for it myself,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

“Ah, yes, that does sound like Cornelius,” Lucius said with a laugh, “Well, that’s your trust vault settled. The Potter Family vault is a bit more concerning,” Lucius said seriously, opening up the other portfolio, “So there isn’t any money missing. Still, there have been quite a few artifacts taken out of the vault, including one right before Yule of your first year, some sort of cloak?” Lucius asked, looking up at Harry.

“That fucker!” Harry exclaimed, “Your father left this in my possession before he died, MY ARSE!” Lucius looked slightly startled by his outburst, so Harry quickly explained, “Dumbledore gave me a cloak that belonged to my father for Christmas my first year, with a note saying ‘ your father left this in my possession before he died, it’s time it was returned to you’, but the fucker just took it out of my family’s vault,” Harry sighed, “Alright, what else is missing?” 

“The original works of Linfred of Stinchcombe, who was the founder of the Potter Family, and a famous potioneer, a golden telescope invented by Henry Potter, a genealogy book written by Hardwin Potter, and several pieces of jewellery,” Lucius replied, looking over the portfolio.

“Excellent,” Harry replied sarcastically, “Any way we can get that stuff back?”

Lucius winced, “We can write to the Goblins, but as he was your magical guardian at the time, he did have the right to those items.”

Harry sighed, “Right, well, that sucks.”

“I do have better news for you,” Lucius said carefully, as he pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket, “I’ve secured your Godfather a trial date, which means you can take up your seats in the Wizengamot, and if Sirius names you the Black proxy, we can have those seats in the run during sentencing.”

Harry’s face split into a wide grin, and he grabbed the parchment from Lucius. The trial was in four days. Four days and Sirius could be free.

“We need to get the summons to him. Do you think you could get Dobby to take it to him?” Lucius asked.

“I may have a better idea,” Harry said, the grin still on his face, “Kreacher?” Harry called.

“Nasty Half-Blood Heir calls for Kreacher; what a stain on the Noble House of Black it is for the Nasty Half-Blood Potter to be the heir,” Kreacher said when he popped into the room.

“I don’t think he likes me much,” Harry said, looking between the old elf and Lucius.

“The Nasty Half-Blood Heir is with Lord Malfoy?” Kreacher asked, looking wide-eyed between Lucius and Harry.

“You will treat Lord Potter with respect, elf,” Lucius snapped.

Harry turned a scathing look onto Lucius, who wisely decided to shut his mouth, “Kreacher, you can say whatever you want about me, it doesn’t bother me, but can you take this to Sirius, please?”

Kreacher looked at Harry before reaching out and grabbing the parchment from him, “Nasty Half-Blood Heir is very strange, very strange indeed,” and popping away.

About five minutes later, Kreacher popped back in, “Half-Blood Heir made Nasty Blood-Traitor Lord cry. Kreacher is liking the Half-Blood Heir now. Nasty Blood-Traitor Lord be telling Kreacher to give this back to Half-Blood Heir,” Kreacher handed some parchment to Harry before smiling at him, which was honestly terrifying, and popping away.

Harry laughed, “I like him. He’s fun,” Lucius just shot him an incredulous look.

Pup,

I can’t believe you managed this. I can’t even begin to thank you (not Lucius) enough. I’ve signed the Proxy papers for you. I love you so much, Harry.

I’ll see you in four days as a free man.

Sirius (Remus sends his love).

Harry laughed as he showed the letter to Lucius, who just rolled his eyes. 

Four days later, Harry and Voldemort, who had glamoured himself to look just slightly less like Tom Riddle, walked into the Ministry of Magic building for the most anticipated trial since Grindelwald was supposed to go on trial before his escape in 1927.

Most people didn’t pay much attention to Harry and Voldemort as they walked past. Voldemort was practically an unknown wizard in this form, and the wizarding world had never seen Harry dressed in wizarding attire and without his glasses.

“Ready?” Voldemort asked as they stood in front of the doors to the courtroom. Harry nodded, and Voldemort pushed open the doors.

“Excuse me! This is a closed courtroom. All public and press need to be up in the stands,” Fudge blustered as the two men walked in.

“I am aware of that Minister Fudge,” Harry drawled, trying for his best imitation of the Malfoy’s, “I’m here to claim my seats.”

“And what seats would those be?” Fudge asked like he was talking to an imbecilic child.

“As the Lord of the Noble House of Potter and Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black, I hereby claim those seats by birthright and proxy, so mote it be,” Harry intoned as the courtroom went deathly silent.

“As the Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Gaunt, I hereby claim those seats by birthright, so mote it be,” Voldemort said with a smirk on his face. Harry turned to see Dumbledore go deathly white and the rest of the courtroom burst into a cacophony of disapproving noises.  

“Mr Potter! Not only has the entirety of Wizarding Britain been looking for you, but you are far too young to be the Lord of your House!” Fudge blustered after banging his gavel to quiet the noise.

“Well, they obviously haven’t been doing a good job, have they?” Harry said with a raise of his eyebrow, “And unless you are suggesting that I have somehow duped the Goblins into giving me my Lordship early, I am clearly old enough to be the Lord of my House.” 

“You are a child!” Someone from the crowd shouted.

“Yes, a child that was forced BY THE MINISTRY into a tournament designed for adults! As such, magic has granted me emancipation and the ability to claim the seats of my house!” Harry replied.

“Please calm down, Mr Potter.” Fudge said condescendingly.

“I am calm, and it’s Lord,” Harry snapped.

Fudge swallowed nervously, “My apologies, Lord Potter.”

“Great, now can we get started on this absolute travesty of a trial to correct the wrongs that were done to my Godfather 14 years ago?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

You could have heard a pin drop in the courtroom as Harry and Voldemort took their family seats.

“Trial of Sirius Orion Black - Monday 3rd July 1995, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge presiding. Bring in the accused,” Fudge boomed across the courtroom.

The doors opened, and Sirius literally swaggered in with his lawyer, looking every bit the Lord Black that he was.  

Fudge cleared his throat, “Sirius Orion Black on the 1st of November 1981, you were indicted for and charged with the wilful murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles,”

“Objection!” Sirius’s lawyer, Lisandra Abbott, called out.

“Yes, Miss Abbott,” Fudge said, in a manner that suggested she was an idiot.

“My client was never once indicted or charged on any of those offences,” A gasp ran through the courtroom, “He was transported straight from the scene of the crime straight to his cell in Azkaban until he escaped in August of 1993.”

“I beg your pardon!” Fudge exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, Minister Fudge, was I speaking too fast for you?” Abbott said with a raised eyebrow. Harry could see why Sirius had hired her, “My client,” she spoke a lot slower, drawing out the words, “Never had a trial and was therefore never indicted or convicted.”

“That can’t be right!” Fudge blustered, rifling through the papers on his desk, “He must have had a trial!”

“Miss Abbott is correct, Minister Fudge,” Amelia Bones spoke up, “There is no record of his original trial.”

Fudge blustered for quite a while longer. Honestly, could the man do anything other than bluster?  

“My client demands a trial via veritaserum,” Abbott said when it was clear Fudge wasn’t going to say anything.

To say what happened next was the biggest embarrassment that the English Ministry of Magic had ever faced would have been an understatement. Sirius admitted under veritaserum that not only had he not been the secret keeper for the Potter’s, he had never been a Death Eater, nor had he killed the twelve muggles. The unspeakables had brought in Sirius’s wand for testing in front of the court, which showed that not only had he not cast the curse that killed the muggles, he had not cast any spell at all the day leading up to the attack. Sirius had then revealed that when Barty Crouch Snr had taken him to Azkaban, the man had told him to his face that he would make sure that Sirius never got a trial. Honestly, the man was lucky he was dead; otherwise, he would have been looking at a very long stretch in Azkaban.

The deliberations had lasted less than five minutes, with the Wizengamot voting unanimously to release Sirius and scrub his record.

“Whilst we have the courts attention,” Abbott drawled after the sentence had been handed down, “My client wishes to claim guardianship over one Harry James Potter. As he is already emancipated, this would only be in regards to his muggle guardianship, which is currently held by Petunia and Vernon Dursley, who have already agreed to sign guardianship over to Lord Black,” Abbott floated a document over to Fudge who, looking vaguely ill, just nodded.

“Guardianship of Harry James Potter awarded to Sirius Orion Black,” Fudge banged his gavel, “Court dismissed.”

Harry jumped out of his seat and ran down towards Sirius, jumping into his arms. Sirius buried his face in Harry’s hair, which started to feel suspiciously wet.

“An excellent outcome, my boy!” Harry heard Dumbledore exclaim as he walked over to them, “Now Harry can come back to Headquarters with us and tell us where he has been this whole time.”

Sirius put Harry down and turned an utterly fake-looking smile onto the old man, “Actually, Dumbledore, I think I’ll be going with Harry for the moment.”

“My boy, I really think that,” But Sirius cut him off.

“Oh, and you can get the fuck up out of my house,” Sirius said before leaning forward and actually patting Dumbledore on the cheek, “I want you gone by the end of the week. The rest of the Order is welcome to stay, but you,” Sirius narrowed his eyes at the gobsmacked Headmaster, “You can get the fuck out. Goodbye, Dumbledore,” Sirius turned around to where Voldemort was standing, “Lord Gaunt, a pleasure to finally meet you. I can’t thank you enough for looking after my Godson.”

“The pleasure was all mine, Lord Black,” Voldemort said, his eyes shining with amusement, “Shall we head off?”

“Ready when you are,” Sirius replied, before turning a scathing look towards Dumbledore, “Stay the hell away from my family.” 

Chapter Text

“Harry!” Hermione yelled as soon as she came out of the floo.  Harry ran at her and pulled her into a crushing hug.

“Hey, mate!” Ron said with a smile, pulling Harry into a hug as soon as Hermione had released him.

“You got rid of your glasses!” Hermione exclaimed as she took in his appearance, “and look at your clothes!”

Harry blushed, “I took Theo and Draco shopping in muggle London. Draco was an absolute menace the second I got him into Harrods.”

“I take offence to that, Harry!” Draco yelled from the other room.

“He was far worse in Paris,” Theo commented as both boys walked into the room.

“You went to Paris?” Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

“Mate! That must have been brilliant!” Ron exclaimed as well.  Ron had gotten a lot better with his jealousy since their fight during the Triwizard Tournament, especially after Harry had finally broken down and told his two best friends all about the Dursley’s after Ron had to wake Harry up from a screaming nightmare.

“It was! The Black’s have a property in Paris as well, so we’ll make a family trip of it sometime,” Harry said, beaming at his friends.

“So, Pretty Eyes, are you going to introduce me?” Theo said with a smirk at Harry.

“Pretty Eyes?” Ron mouthed at Harry, trying not to laugh.

Harry huffed, “Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Theo Nott, the bane of my existence.”

Theo gasped dramatically, “I’m wounded by your harsh words, my dearest,” Harry waved his hand and doused Theo in ice water, “Stop doing that!” Theo exclaimed.

Ron laughed loudly, “Oh, he got you with the ice water. You must have really pissed him off.”

Hermione laughed too, “Ron’s gotten the ice water treatment a few times.”

“Not as much as Fred and George,” Ron pointed out.

“Who else has gotten it?” Hermione asked, “You, Fred, George, Seamus once, anyone else?” 

Ron hummed, “Oh Dean, that one time when he followed Harry around quoting muggle love songs at him for a day!”

“Oh my god! I’d forgotten about that!” Hermione laughed.

Harry huffed, “Yeah, yeah, ok, I’ve doused a lot of people in ice water. Can we move on now?”

“You haven’t done it to me,” Draco said with a satisfied smirk.

“Want to change that?” Harry asked, holding up his hand.

“Nope! That’s fine!” Draco said quickly as Harry laughed and waved his hand to dry Theo off.

Harry turned to Ron, “So I thought that you, me, and Draco could play quidditch for a bit whilst Theo and Hermione talk about books and other nerd stuff, and then Sirius wants to take us all out to dinner, sound like a plan?”

“Nerd stuff?” Hermione exclaimed indignantly.

“Yeah, Theo’s just finished The Great Gatsby, and I’m sure he’d love to talk to you about it,” Harry said with a shark-like grin in Theo’s direction.

Hermione gasped and turned to Theo and immediately started prattling off about the intricacies of the characterisations as Theo shot Harry an absolutely scathing look, to which he replied with a wink.

“Well, that’s Hermione occupied for a couple of hours. Quidditch?” Harry said with a laugh.

Ron looked at Harry with a piercing look, “Has he actually read The Great Gatsby ?”

Harry snickered, “Yeah, he hated it.”

Ron snorted, and the three boys made their way out onto the Quidditch pitch.  Harry let Ron use the Firebolt, and he borrowed one of Draco’s spare brooms.  It was a pretty chaotic game; they mostly just played free-for-all with the quaffle.  Harry was actually really impressed with Draco. He made an excellent chaser.

“Why don’t you play chaser, Draco? You’re clearly a better chaser than you are a seeker, no offence,” Harry said with a laugh when they flew back down to meet Theo and Hermione, who had come out to watch them.

Draco blushed and muttered something under his breath.

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch that,” Harry said.

Draco huffed, “I wanted to be better than you at something.”

Harry laughed, “Well, that worked out well for you, didn’t it?”

“Fuck off, Potter,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes, but he was smiling.

Theo and Hermione walked up to meet them in the middle of the pitch.

“You were brilliant as always,” Theo said to Harry before scrunching up his face, “You fucking reek, Harry.”

Harry smirked, “Does that mean you don’t want to give me a hug?” 

Theo’s eyes widened, “Don’t even think about it.”

“Come on, Theo. Give me a hug,” Harry whined, holding his arms out and walking over to Theo.

“Don’t fucking touch me until you’ve had a shower, you animal,” Theo replied as he started to back away.

Harry just smiled wider and started chasing after Theo, who was running away as fast as he possibly could, “You’re hurting my feelings, Theo!” Harry yelled as he continued to chase Theo around the pitch.

“Are they always like this?” Ron asked, turning to look at Draco.

“I caught them in bed together in Paris,” Draco said with a smirk.

Hermione grinned, “Do you reckon Sirius knows about that yet?”

“You fucker!” Draco, Ron and Hermione turned to see Harry tackle Theo into a hug.

When Harry had finally let a very disgruntled Theo out of the hug, the group made their way back into the house to get ready for dinner.  Apparently, they were going to some fancy French restaurant the Malfoy’s had picked out, so Narcissa spirited Hermione away to pick something from her wardrobe.  Harry got the distinct impression that Narcissa had always wanted a girl she could dress up and was delighted at the prospect of getting Hermione all dressed up.  Harry re-sized some of his new clothes for Ron before getting dressed himself.

“Did it have to be French?” Theo whined as he came into Harry’s room and threw himself down on the bed.

Ron, who was currently struggling with his tie, turned to look at Theo, “What’s wrong with French?”

Theo sighed dramatically, “Harry’s going to ignore me all night to listen to Draco speak French.”

Harry sighed wistfully, “It’s so romantic.”

Theo huffed, “I can be romantic.”

“Really? I haven’t seen it,” Harry remarked dryly.

“Shall I quote poetry to you, my heart?” Theo asked, fluttering his eyelashes.

Harry smirked, “Only if it’s in French.”

Theo groaned, and Ron laughed, “You two are ridiculous.”

When Draco and Hermione met the other three in Harry’s room about half an hour later, Harry took one look at Hermione and whistled, “If only I were straight,” Harry said with a wistful sigh.

“You and me both, Harry,” Hermione said with an equally wistful sigh at Harry as the others laughed.

The group went out to the greeting room to meet with Voldemort, Lucius, Narcissa, Sirius, and Remus, who had arrived a few minutes before they came down. Harry pulled Remus into a hug as the rest of them greeted him.  They then made their way through the floo to La Pomme d'Or, the restaurant the Malfoy’s had picked out, which was an ultra-exclusive restaurant in Diagon Alley. Despite having lived essentially in the lap of luxury with the Malfoy’s for almost two weeks, Harry was still greatly uncomfortable with displays of wealth like this. It made his skin itch, like he shouldn’t be there. Years of living with the Dursley’s and being told he was less than trash had really done a number on him, and it was making him feel out of sorts.  He could tell that Ron and Hermione felt much the same way.

Harry was shifting uncomfortably in his seat when he felt Theo grab his hand under the table, and he started rubbing his thumb in little circles on the back of Harry’s hand to help settle him.  Harry sent a grateful smile at Theo, who smiled back at him softly.

The dinner was incredible, if not one of the oddest dinner’s he’d ever been at.  If someone had told him last year that he would be sitting at dinner with Voldemort, Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, Theo, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus, he would have laughed in their face and then sent them to St Mungo’s, but the group got along incredibly well.  Even Remus, who probably felt the most out of sorts, having not been around for much of the group's interactions, was having an animated discussion with Voldemort about Defense Against the Dark Arts and its practical application within the wizarding world. Despite his grumbling, Harry could tell that reuniting with Narcissa was doing a world of good for Sirius. He had lost so much of his family, and so being able to reconnect with his cousin had lit a spark in him that Harry hadn’t seen before. Even Ron and Draco were getting along well; it seemed that, like with Harry, Draco had dropped the cold and pompous exterior, and he and Ron had a lot more in common than either of them were probably willing to admit at this point.

When the group made their way back to Malfoy Manor, the adults sequestered themselves in another room, at least Harry assumed, to get roaring drunk.  Ron and Hermione both flooed back to Headquarters, and Draco made his way off to bed.

Theo grabbed Harry’s hand, and the two walked towards Harry’s room.  Theo pulled Harry into a stop in the doorway, and Harry looked up at him.

“Goodnight, Harry,” Theo whispered, his eyes slowly taking in Harry’s face until they came to a stop on his lips.

Harry took in a shuddering breath, “Goodnight, Theo,” before moving forward slightly and pressing his lips softly to Theo’s.  Theo wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and pulled him closer as Harry moved his arms to drape around them Theo’s neck.  Theo ran his tongue along Harry’s bottom lip, and Harry opened his mouth to let Theo deepen the kiss.  Theo tightened his hold on Harry’s waist as he moved his tongue to explore Harry’s mouth.  Harry melted closer to Theo as he let him take control of the kiss.  

When Theo finally pulled back, Harry smiled up at him, “See you in the morning.”

Theo smiled back softly, “See you in the morning,” before pressing another soft peck onto Harry’s lips.

Harry watched as Theo walked off down the hall before turning back into his room, the smile never leaving his face.

The next morning, Harry heard a knock on his door, opening it, his smile faltering slightly when he saw Theo’s tense expression, “Is everything ok?”

“I have to go home for a couple of days.  My father,” Theo swallowed, “Has requested my presence.”

Harry’s face creased in concern, “Are you going to be ok?”

Theo looked at Harry, slightly startled, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Harry smiled at Theo sadly, “I know the face of someone who doesn’t want to go home, Theo.  I used to see it every time I looked in a mirror,” Theo looked like he was about to deny it, “You don’t have to tell me anything, but just know I’ll be there if you need me, ok?” 

Theo swallowed again and nodded, “Ok.”

“Bye,” Harry murmured as he gave Theo a soft kiss.

“Bye,” Theo replied sadly before turning and walking away.

Three days later and neither Draco nor Harry had heard anything from Theo, and both boys were starting to get very worried.  Draco had told Harry that Theo usually wrote every day, just to let him know that he was ok, and the fact they hadn’t heard anything wasn’t a good sign.

“What can we do? It’s not like we could storm Nott Manor and demand to see Theo,” Draco said, vividly remembering the time he did just that, and it had not gone well.

Harry hummed, “What if I asked Voldemort to call Theo’s father, and then we send Dobby to go over and check on Theo? I mean, we know house elves can get through any wards that wizards put up.”

Draco hummed, “That could work. Do you think the Dark Lord would go for it, though?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, he will.”

Draco nodded, “Ok, go ask then.”

Harry quickly made his way through the Manor towards Voldemort’s study, knocking lightly on the door.

“Come in,” Voldemort called.

Harry took a deep breath and walked into the room, “I have a favour to ask.  Draco and I are worried about Theo. Would you be able to call his father, so we can send an elf to check on him?”

Voldemort studied Harry for a moment before nodding his assent.  Harry let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you.”

Back in Draco’s room, the two waited about five minutes before calling Dobby and asking him to check on Theo.  The two waited with bated breath for Dobby to come back with a report.

What they didn’t expect was for Dobby to come back with a battered, bruised, and half-dead Theo in his arms.  Dobby quickly floated Theo onto Draco’s bed as both Draco and Harry ran over.

“Theo! Theo! Can you hear me?” Harry said, leaning over Theo to try and check for a pulse.

“Hey, Pretty Eyes,” Theo managed to stutter out before his eyes fluttered closed again.

“Fuck!” Harry yelled, “Missy!”

“Yes, Master Harry?” Missy asked as soon as she popped in.

“I need you to get Narcissa right now, please!” Harry begged the little elf as he clutched desperately to Theo’s hand.

Missy popped away and almost immediately popped back in with Narcissa.

“What’s the matter?” Narcissa asked before her eyes fell on Theo on the bed, “Missy, I need you to get my kit and any potions in my stores right now!”  Narcissa dropped to her knees and began casting on Theo as Missy popped back in with her kit and potions.

Harry dropped Theo’s hand and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Draco asked through tears.

“Thoros Nott and I are going to have some words,” Harry said darkly before stomping out of the room.

Harry’s magic was so tangible in the air that he wouldn’t be surprised if everyone could see it.  It was crackling like an electrical storm, desperately craving release.  It had been a long time since he’d been this angry, and his magic was out of control.

The door to Voldemort’s study flew open as he reached it.  Voldemort’s eyes widened when he took in Harry’s appearance.

“You,” Harry hissed, his glowing green eyes settling on Thoros Nott.  Harry threw a hand out, and Thoros was thrown hard into the wall, “There is nothing in the world I hate more than a child abuser,” Harry said, throwing his hand out again, and he heard bones break, “Do you want to know why?” Harry yelled over Thoros’ screams, “Because they are WEAK!” Another bone broke, “PATHETIC!” Another broken bone, “And I have dealt with them MY WHOLE LIFE!” Another broken bone.  Harry crouched down in front of Thoros, looking at him dead in the eyes as the man howled in pain, “Come near Theo again, and I will kill you. Do you understand me?”  Thoros whined something unintelligible, “I said DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” Harry thundered in the man's face.

“Yes!” Thoros yelled, trying desperately to get away from Harry’s wrath.

Harry scoffed, “Pathetic,” before turning on his heel and walking away. 

“Harry!” Voldemort called after him. Harry stopped and turned around, desperately trying to get his magic under control, “Where is Theo?”

“Draco’s room,” Harry said, and Voldemort walked swiftly with him through the Manor and back to check on Theo.

Narcissa was still casting on Theo when Harry and Voldemort walked into the room.

“How is he?” Harry asked shakily as he sat down next to Draco, watching as Voldemort went over to help Narcissa.

Draco turned teary eyes on Harry and pulled him into a hug, “I don’t know, Harry, but it’s not good.”

Harry held tightly onto Draco, “He’ll be ok,” Harry said, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or Draco, “He has to be.” 

Chapter Text

Harry and Draco kept a vigil at Theo’s bedside after Voldemort and Narcissa had done all they could. He still hadn’t woken up yet, but he was doing a hell of a lot better than when Dobby bought him in.

“I should have checked on him sooner,” Draco whispered.

“It’s not your fault, Draco,” Harry said with a sigh.

“I knew he wasn’t safe there, but I let him go back anyway,” Draco said as if Harry hadn’t spoken.

“And Ron once pulled bars off my windows with a flying car, and his parents send me food via owls, but it’s not their fault when my uncle slams my head into walls,” Harry replied softly, not taking his eyes off Theo, “There was nothing you could do, Draco.”

Draco looked at Harry for a long minute, “Ok, there’s a lot to unpack there, and we will be coming back to that later.”

“Whatever you want, Draco,” Harry said with a soft laugh.

“I almost died. Do you think you could keep the noise down,” Theo croaked, cracking his eyes open slightly. 

“Theo!” Draco jumped up and ran over to the bed.

“Was I hallucinating, or did a house elf wearing a tea cosy come and get me?” Theo asked, looking between Harry and Draco.

“Dobby, he was wearing one of Hermione’s S.P.E.W beanies,” Harry said with a laugh.

“Ok, I’m most definitely hallucinating because not one word of that made sense,” Theo croaked out before coughing.

“I’ll get mother,” Draco said with a smile.

“Hey, Pretty Eyes,” Theo said, turning his head to look at Harry, who was sitting on the bed, still holding Theo’s hand.

“Hi,” Harry said softly, “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got the shit kicked out of me,” Theo said before wincing.

“Well, you look like you got the shit kicked out of you,” Harry replied.

“Jeez, tell me what you really think, Harry,” Theo said, rolling his eyes and then wincing again.

Harry laughed, “You don’t want to know what I’m really thinking, Shiny Hair.”

Theo shot him a very confused look, “Shiny Hair?”

Harry shrugged, “Well, you call me Pretty Eyes, so I’m trying to come up with something for you, and you have very shiny hair.”

“No, Harry, absolutely not,” Theo said seriously.

“Fair enough,” Harry replied with a laugh.

Draco walked back into the room with Narcissa and Voldemort walking in behind him. Harry let Theo’s hand go so Narcissa could look him over and walked over to where Voldemort was leaning against the wall.

“Where’s Thoros,” Harry asked.

“In the dungeon, it should be Theo’s choice what to do with him,” Voldemort replied.

Harry hummed, “Did you heal him?”

Voldemort shrugged, “Only enough, so he didn’t die. You did quite a number on him, Harry.”

Harry scoffed, “I should have done more.”

Voldemort looked at him piercingly, “Are we talking about Thoros, Theo, or are we talking about you?”

“All of the above, I guess?” Harry said, “And I’ll thank you not to turn everything I say into an existential crisis, thank you very much.” Voldemort shot Harry a soft smile.

“Harry can do it,” Harry heard Theo say from over on the bed.

“Harry can do what?” Harry asked, looking at Narcissa.

“Rub my bruise paste on,” Theo said with a smirk.

“Are you seriously turning life-threatening injuries into a way to flirt with me?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s what I do best,” Theo replied.

“You’re insane,” Harry said with a soft laugh.

“Thank you,” Theo replied as brightly as one who almost died could possibly muster, “Now come and heal my injuries.”

Harry rolled his eyes and walked over to Theo’s bed, grabbing the bruise paste from Narcissa. Starting with his face, Harry softly rubbed the bruise paste in little circles on each of his bruises before working his way down Theo’s chest and then down his legs before sitting him up and working on his back.

“You’re suspiciously good at this, Harry,” Theo said, turning his head slightly to look at Harry.

“I’m intimately familiar with bruise paste,” Harry replied softly. Theo hummed.

“I feel like I’m an actual pervert right now,” Draco muttered from the corner of the room.

“So no different than usual then,” Theo said with a smirk.

“Don’t make me undo all of Harry’s hard work, Theo,” Draco said with a scowl.

“Nah, you wouldn’t. You love me,” Theo replied.

Harry lay Theo back down on the bed and put the bruise paste on the bedside table before turning to Narcissa, “Twice a day for three days?” Harry asked her. Narcissa raised an eyebrow, “Like I said, intimately familiar.”

Voldemort walked over to Theo’s bed and sat down, “Your father is in the dungeon, Theo, it’s your choice what you want to do with him, you don’t have to choose now, but have a think about it, ok.”

Theo swallowed but nodded with a soft ‘thank you’. Voldemort nodded and ushered Narcissa out of the room with him, leaving Harry, Theo and Draco alone.

Theo turned to Harry, “Are you going to give me a kiss now?” he asked with what Harry assumed was supposed to be puppy-dog eyes.

“And get bruise paste in my mouth,” Harry shuddered, “No, thank you.”

“Stop making me feel like a pervert!” Draco exclaimed.

Theo ignored him and pouted at Harry, “Please, I almost died.”

“How long are you going to play that card?” Harry asked with a laugh.

“I would say for between three and six months,” Theo replied with a shrug.

“Good to know,” Harry said before giving Theo a soft kiss. Theo lifted his hand to cup Harry’s cheek and slipped his tongue in his mouth.

“Ergh, you two were already insufferable enough, and now I have to deal with you kissing as well,” Draco groaned.

Harry pulled back from the kiss to laugh softly.

“Now that Theo’s awake, are you finally going to tell me what you did to Thoros?” Draco asked, looking at Harry.

“I just returned the favour, that’s all,” Harry replied.

Theo shot Harry a sharp look, but Harry just shrugged, “I’m not going to apologise. He hurt you, so I hurt him.”

“That doesn’t sound very Gryffindor of you, Harry,” Draco replied with a raised eyebrow.

Harry shrugged again, “Probably why the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin.”

Theo raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you telling me that you argued with the Sorting Hat to put you in Gryffindor?”

Harry smiled brightly, “Yep.”

“Why?” Draco asked incredulously.

Harry sent a smirk at Draco, “You.”

“Me?” Draco asked, gobsmacked.

“We’d met twice at that point, and neither time worked out particularly well for us, and I didn’t want to spend seven years in a house with you. Plus, all I’d heard about Slytherin’s was that they were all evil, and the man that killed my parents had been in Slytherin, so I told the Hat to put me anywhere but Slytherin,” Harry said with a smile.

Both Theo and Draco looked at him like he was bonkers before Theo burst into near-hysterical laughter, “Harry Potter would have been in Slytherin if not for Draco Malfoy! Wait till I tell Blaise and Pansy; they’re going to love that!”

Theo was pretty much confined to the bed for the next couple of days, so Harry and Draco spent nearly all their time in there with him. Harry taught them to play Poker, unsurprisingly, Draco had a terrible poker face, Theo on the other hand, was almost impossible to beat, and Harry wondered whether or not he’d created a monster, and he worried for the rest of the occupants of Slytherin when Theo returned to school.

On Theo’s last day of bed rest, he finally decided what he wanted to do with his father.  Voldemort had come to speak to Harry about some of the final details of the Azkaban breakout that was happening the next day, and at Theo’s request, Thoros was going to be transfigured into one of the Death Eaters they were breaking out. Voldemort smiled and said he’d transfigure him into Rodolphus Lestrange. Apparently, the two hated each other, and it would just add insult to injury. Theo would continue to stay with the Malfoy’s until he was of age and could claim the Nott Lordship, Voldemort having already had Thoros sign the documents preemptively for Theo’s 17th birthday. Everyone was already used to Theo staying with the Malfoy’s, so it wouldn’t raise any questions.

The next day, healers and mind healers alike descended on Malfoy Manor, one for each of the freed Death Eaters. Narcissa would be working with her sister, and as such, didn’t need to take an unbreakable vow, but for the rest, Voldemort had asked Harry to act as the bonder, his power being of a similar level to Voldemort’s. To say that the healers were shocked when Harry walked into the room was an understatement, but they all took it in stride.

Voldemort also asked Harry to help with the permanent transfiguration, basically turning it into a tutoring lesson. Harry took great pleasure in making Thoros watch as he turned him into Rodolphus Lestrange. The utter disgust on his face was priceless.

When Voldemort called his Death Eaters in to let them know they were breaking into Azkaban tonight, they encountered a problem that neither Harry nor Voldemort had thought of. Only Severus and Lucius were capable of casting a Patronus. Voldemort would be speaking with the Dementors tonight to gain their allegiance, but until then, they needed people capable of casting a Patronus. Lucius had suggested asking Sirius, but Harry shut that down immediately.

Which was how Harry found himself standing in the rain, on an island in the middle of the ocean, freezing his arse off, with Prongs cantering around him and the rest of the Death Eaters, chasing after Severus’ doe and Lucius’ peacock Patronuses.

Eventually, Voldemort came back with the allegiance of the Dementors, and Harry was ordered to stay as the rest of the Death Eaters made their way through Azkaban to swap out the doppelgängers for the real Death Eaters. 

Voldemort portkeyed himself back to Malfoy Manor with Harry and immediately told him to go back to his room and not to come out until it was explained to the newly freed Death Eaters that he wasn’t to be harmed.

Harry nodded and quickly went back to hang out with Draco and Theo.

“You were gone for ages,” Theo said as he pulled Harry down to sit in his lap.

“Yeah, ended up having to go to Azkaban for a bit,” Harry responded lightly, “Draco, did you know your dad’s Patronus is a peacock?” 

“Hold on, back up,” Theo said, pulling Harry’s head back, so he was looking at him, “Why did you have to go to Azkaban?”

“Oh so, only me, Sev, and Lucius can cast Patronuses.  Lucius suggested they ask Sirius, but I thought that was the dumbest idea in the world, so I ended up having to go,” Harry replied with a shrug.

“You can cast a corporeal Patronus?” Draco asked, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, since I was 13,” Harry said with a smile.

“Show me!” Draco demanded.

Harry raised an eyebrow, and Draco sighed, “Please, can you show me your Patronus.”

Harry pulled out his wand, “ Expecto Patronum ,” and Prongs burst out of his wand and cantered around the room, shaking his head slightly, “Meet Prongs,” Harry said brightly.

“You named your Patronus?” Theo asked.

Harry laughed, “My dad’s animagus form was a stag, and his friends named him Prongs, so to me, this is my dad.”

Theo hummed and pulled Harry into a kiss as Prongs faded away, “You are utterly incredible, did you know that?”

Harry smiled but just shrugged, “It’s not that hard. I could probably teach you some time if you wanted.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Not too hard, he says, could teach us some time, he says.”

“Harry, there are many adult wizards who can’t produce Patronuses. I mean, only two of the Death Eaters could do it,” Theo pointed out. 

Harry just hummed and shrugged.

A couple of hours later, a knock on the door interrupted their game of Poker. Theo was cleaning up, as per usual, so Harry got up to answer the door.

“Hey, what’s up?” Harry asked Voldemort, who was standing at the door.

“I’ve spoken to all the freed Death Eaters, and they know that you are not to be harmed. I want you to come and meet the Lestranges,” Voldemort said.

“What? Why?” Harry asked.

“Well, all the other Death Eaters will be leaving here with their healers in the morning, but the Lestranges will be staying, so it’s important that you meet them,” Voldemort replied.

Harry swallowed but nodded and followed Voldemort out of the room. As they approached the room where the Lestranges were being housed, Voldemort turned to Harry.

“I’ll be with you the whole time, ok, don’t worry,” Voldemort said with a smile before turning the door.

The room was dark, which shouldn’t have been surprising to Harry. The Lestranges had spent near on 14 years in a dark cell in Azkaban; too much light wouldn’t be good for them. Narcissa was in there, as was Barty, so with Voldemort there as well, Harry felt relatively safe.

“Bella, Rodolphus, Rabastan, this is Harry Potter,” Voldemort said quietly to the three, who had just turned to see who entered the room.

Bellatrix tilted her head to study Harry, “He’s very small.”

Harry huffed but refrained from saying anything.

Bellatrix stood up on shaky legs and made her way over to where Harry was standing. Voldemort tightened his grip on Harry’s shoulder, but Bellatrix just stood in front of Harry, tilting her head from side to side, before breaking into a manic smile and pulling him into a hug.

“I want to keep him,” Bellatrix said, turning to look at her husband, “Dolphus, can we keep him?”

Harry’s eyes widened as he looked up at Voldemort desperately, who gently pried the manic witch off Harry.

“No, Bella. You can’t keep him,” Voldemort said seriously.

“But he’s like an itty bitty baby,” Bellatrix pouted.

“I’m not that small!” Harry exclaimed, unable to hold it in any longer.

Harry heard a snort from across the room, “Kid, we just spent 14 years in Azkaban, and somehow you only look slightly more healthy than we do.”

“Dolphus!” Narcissa snapped, ah, so that was Rodolphus.

“It’s true,” The other one, who must be Rabastan, said with a shrug.

“Yeah, well, you got a whole cell; I got a fucking cupboard, so,” Harry huffed.

“Harry,” Voldemort scolded gently.

“Sorry,” Harry murmured.

“You’re very pretty,” Bellatrix said from the floor, having sat down directly in front of where Harry was standing, “Do you want to marry Rabastan?”

“What the fuck?” Harry exclaimed, wide-eyed.

Narcissa, Voldemort, and Barty were all trying to cover their amusement as Harry looked between the three in utter bafflement.

“Well?” Bellatrix asked again, with a smile on her face.

“I think my boyfriend might have a problem with it, honestly,” Harry finally said with a huff when it was clear no one was going to help him.

“That’s a shame,” Bellatrix said with a shrug, “I would have liked to have you in my family.”

“He’s the Black Heir, Bella,” Narcissa said to her sister as she came over to get her off the floor.

“Really?” Bellatrix asked, “Is that because of Sirius? Did we get him out as well?”

“Sirius escaped about two years ago, Bella; he’s staying at the Manor,” Narcissa replied with a smile.

“Little Siri is here?” Bellatrix asked excitedly, “Can I see him?”

“I’ll ask him, Bella, don’t worry,” Narcissa replied.

Voldemort turned to Harry and indicated that he could leave if he wanted to. Harry gave a grateful nod and quickly left the room.

“So, how was it?” Draco asked when Harry walked back into the room.

“Bellatrix told me that I was small and pretty and asked if I wanted to marry Rabastan,” Harry replied with a huff.  

“Am I getting dumped, Pretty Eyes?” Theo asked with a smirk.

Harry smiled at him wickedly, “It’s always good to know my options.”

Theo scowled before pulling Harry into a searing kiss, “Still want options?” Theo muttered against Harry’s lips when he pulled back.

Harry laughed, “I’m good for now.”

Chapter Text

“Harry?” Narcissa called softly from the doorway.

“Narcissa? Is everything ok?” Harry asked, slightly concerned as he wasn’t used to Narcissa seeking him out.

Narcissa sighed and walked into the room, “I was wondering if you’d be able to talk to Sirius for me. I’ve been trying for days, but he’s flat out refusing to see Bella, and she really wants to see him.”

Harry sighed; he’d been worried about this, “Sure, but I can’t promise anything.”

Some of the tension from Narcissa’s shoulders dropped, “Thank you, Harry. Anything you can do would be amazing.”

Harry knocked lightly on Sirius’ door.

“Narcissa, I told you,” Sirius threw the door open, “Oh, sorry, Harry. I thought you were Narcissa,” Harry winced, “Ah, she sent you?” Harry nodded, “I already told her I don’t want to see Bellatrix,” Sirius huffed.

“Why not?” Harry asked, following him into his room.

“Because she’s insane!” Sirius exclaimed.

“No more insane than you were when you escaped from Azkaban, Mr only one will die tonight, ” Harry replied with a raised eyebrow.

Sirius snorted.

“You know the first thing she did was ask if they’d broken you out as well?” Harry said softly.

Sirius turned back to look at Harry, “Really?”

“Well, after she tried to marry me off to Rabastan,” Harry said with a laugh. “She really wants to see you, Siri. So just give her a chance. I’ll go with you if you want.”

Sirius sighed, “Fine, I’ll go if you come with me.”

Harry smiled, “Alright, let’s go then.” 

“Did she really try to marry you off to Rabastan?” Sirius asked as the two walked towards the Lestrange’s room.

Harry snorted, “Yeah, she told me I was small and pretty.”

Sirius laughed loudly, “She used to say the same thing to Reggie all the time.”

Harry knocked on the door, and Narcissa opened it, exhaling a relieved breath when she saw Sirius. Sirius walked past, and Narcissa mouthed a grateful ‘thank you’ to Harry.

“Siri, you came,” Bellatrix murmured softly, “I thought you didn’t want to see me,” Her eyes were filled with tears when she looked up at Sirius.

“Oh, Bells,” Sirius breathed and dropped onto the floor next to Bellatrix and pulled her into a hug, whispering apologies into her wild hair.

The two cousins sat like that for a long while until Bellatrix looked up and spotted Harry, “Oh look, the pretty one is back!”

“Harry, Bella. His name is Harry,” Narcissa said gently.

“I know that,” Bellatrix said, looking at Narcissa like she was an idiot, “But he’s my pretty one.”

Harry laughed, “Hi Bellatrix, how are you feeling today?”

Bellatrix hummed, “I’d be better if you agreed to marry Rabastan.”

“Stop trying to marry me off to the poor kid, Bella!” Rabastan groaned as Sirius roared with laughter.

“Are you sure you have a boyfriend, Pretty One?” Bellatrix asked seriously.

“Harry doesn’t have a boyfriend!” Sirius yelped, utterly horrified.

Both Narcissa and Harry turned incredulous looks onto Sirius, “Are you blind, or just incredibly dense, Sirius?” Narcissa asked.

“It’s not Draco, is it? Tell me you’re not dating Draco!” Sirius exclaimed.

Harry laughed, “I’m not dating Draco, Sirius.” 

Sirius sighed, “Well, the only other person you spend a lot of time around is the Nott kid,” Sirius’ eyes widened, “Are you dating the Nott kid, Harry?”

“Sirius,” Narcissa said with a roll of her eyes, “How did you not know this? They’re practically attached at the hip. Theo calls him Pretty Eyes, for Merlin’s sake.”

“I just thought they were friends! Me and James were like that!” Sirius groaned.

“Ew, Siri, did you snog my dad?” Harry asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

Rodolphus snorted, “Wrong brother.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “No way!”

Bellatrix giggled in delight, “Yep! I caught them together in a broom cupboard once!” 

Sirius looked like he was about to be sick, “You’re lying! James and Reggie? No way!”

Bellatrix was now laughing so hard that she was rolling on the floor, and Narcissa was covering her mouth to try and hold back her laughter.

“THE BETRAYAL!” Sirius shouted to what Harry assumed was supposed to be the heavens, “JAMES, WHY?”

“Oh Siri, don’t be dramatic,” Bellatrix said, patting his cheek when she had finally calmed down enough to speak, “Shall we go through the list of who you got caught with in broom cupboards?”

“YES!” Harry yelled at the same time Sirius shouted, “NO!”

“Let’s go back to the fact Harry has a boyfriend! Or try to marry him off again, Bells!” Sirius said desperately.

“No, I think I’m quite enjoying this conversation, Siri,” Harry said, clutching his side from laughing so hard.

“The betrayal, Harry! First your dad and now you! Will the torment never end!” Sirius wailed dramatically.

By the time Harry and Sirius had left the room, Harry was absolutely loaded with blackmail material against his godfather. Apparently, he and Remus had been caught in some very compromising positions throughout their time at Hogwarts, and Harry couldn’t wait to remind his mild-mannered surrogate godfather of the time that Professor McGonagall caught him and Sirius literally with their pants down behind the Quidditch Pitch.

“So,” Sirius said, drawing out the word as Harry groaned, “You have a boyfriend.”

“I still can’t believe you didn’t know,” Harry replied with a roll of his eyes, “It’s not like we’ve been hiding it. Would you prefer me to start snogging him in front of you?”

“Harry!” Sirius groaned.

“Sirius!” Harry groaned back mockingly.

“I want to meet him,” Sirius said.

Harry rolled his eyes again, “You have met him.”

“But not as your boyfriend!” Sirius whined.

Harry groaned, “Fine!”

Sirius’ face split into a Marauder’s worthy grin, and Harry was suddenly quite worried for Theo. 

Harry pushed open the door to Draco’s room and pointed at Theo, “Sirius, Theo, Theo, Sirius. Apparently, Sirius didn’t know we were dating.”

Sirius swaggered into the room and sat down next to Theo before he even had a chance to stand up and greet him.

“So, you’re dating my godson,” Sirius said with a raised eyebrow at Theo.

“Yes, Sir,” Theo replied with a respectful nod.

“And what are your intentions with my godson?” Sirius asked.

Harry groaned, “Don’t be a dick, Siri.”

“It is my duty as your godfather to make sure this young man is good enough for you, Harry,” Sirius said, turning a haughty look in Harry’s direction.

“Intentions, sir?” Theo asked, looking bewildered between Sirius and Harry.

“Do you want to marry him?” Sirius asked.

“Ah, well, um, we haven’t known each other all that long,” Theo stuttered out.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, “So you don’t want to marry him?”

“That’s not what I said, I mean, I just,” Theo replied with wide eyes, looking between Sirius and Harry.

“So you just want to have sex with him, then?” Sirius asked with a shark-like grin.

“Ok!” Harry yelled, “Get out, right now! Or I tell Remus about that thing on the Astronomy Tower.”

“Ok, leaving now!” Sirius said, jumping up and running out the door, “Be good to my godson, or I’ll go back to Azkaban for a murder I actually committed this time!” Sirius yelled as he ran down the corridor.

Harry threw the door closed and groaned, “I’m so sorry!”

“Your godfather is fucking bonkers, Harry,” Theo said, looking genuinely terrified.

The following day, the Lestrange’s were released from their room for the first time, which obviously meant the first thing Bellatrix did was scour the Manor looking for Harry.

Harry was pretty sure the woman had opened every single room in the Manor because when she finally got to Draco’s room, she slammed open the door and, upon spotting Harry, jumped up and down and clapped wildly.

“I found you!” Bellatrix yelled.

“Well done, Bellatrix,” Harry replied with a laugh.

She then scanned the occupants of the room, and when her eyes landed on Draco, she absolutely lit up.

“Is that my little nephew?” Bellatrix asked, coming into the room to sit directly in front of Draco, much the same way she had done to Harry when they first met.

“Hello, Aunt Bellatrix,” Draco said, looking only slightly nervous at being face to face with the albeit slightly unhinged witch.

Bellatrix leaned forward and pinched Draco’s cheeks, “Aren’t you just adorable!” Then, she turned to look at Harry, “Not as adorable as you, Pretty One, don’t worry.”

“You are very pretty, aren’t you, Harry,” Theo said with an amused smile as Harry huffed.

Bellatrix then turned her surprisingly sharp gaze on Theo, looking him up and down calculatingly, before shrugging and saying, “You’ll do,” she then smiled slightly manically, “So, what are we doing today?”

The Black vs Lestrange Quidditch game was probably the most violent quidditch match Harry had ever been a part of.  

Harry honestly shuddered when he imagined the Slytherin vs Gryffindor games back during their school years if it was anything like this.

Bellatrix was an absolute terror on a broom, but with her and Sirius as opposing beaters, it was carnage. They didn’t have keepers, and it seemed that Draco and Rodolphus were more interested in knocking each other off their brooms than actually scoring any goals. Lucius seemed to be running some sort of betting pool with the spectators, and Harry was just watching the whole thing, wide-eyed, from his vantage point above the pitch.

A glint of gold flashed in the corner of his eyes, and Harry was off, swerving to avoid Bellatrix’s bludger, before wrapping his hand around the snitch and holding it triumphantly.

Harry flew down to the ground and was immediately pulled into a searing kiss by Theo.

“You won me 50 galleons, Pretty Eyes,” Theo said a bit breathlessly when he pulled back.

“If you could stop molesting my godson, that would be great,” Sirius huffed from behind them.

Harry grabbed the back of Theo’s head and pulled him back into a kiss whilst simultaneously giving Sirius the finger.

“No one told me you were that good!” Bellatrix exclaimed excitedly as she flew down onto the ground to ruffle Harry’s hair.

“He literally out flew a Dragon, Bella,” Barty said with a roll of his eyes.

“And he’s the youngest seeker in a century!” Sirius exclaimed proudly.

“Got on the team all because Draco over there wanted to be a prick,” Harry said with a laugh.  

Everyone turned to look at Harry, “What are you talking about?” Theo asked.

“Our first flying lesson?” Harry said, looking between Draco and Theo, who were just staring at him blankly, “Draco stole Neville’s remembrall and threatened to throw it into a tree?” The boys were still looking at him blankly, “Are you serious?”

“No, I’m Sirius!” Sirius said brightly.

Harry doused him in ice water.

“I’d never been on a broom before, but I wanted to save Neville’s remembrall, and after you threw it, I dove after it, like smack bang in front of McGonagall’s window, and she essentially drafted me onto the team,” Harry explained with a laugh, “I can not believe you don’t remember this!”

“Are you telling me that it is my son’s fault that Slytherin hasn’t beaten Gryffindor in three years?” Lucius asked with a raised eyebrow at a very red-faced Draco.

“Yep!” Harry replied brightly before skipping off back into the house.

Bellatrix spent the next couple of days mostly following Harry around until one of the Lestrange brothers or Barty would come and drag her off until she managed to escape and find Harry again. Narcissa apologised over and over again when it happened, but Harry didn’t really mind. 

Harry had also been receiving a lot of letters from Dumbledore, which had become more and more threatening in the recent days. Bellatrix took great joy in burning the letters and then describing in vivid detail exactly how she would kill Dumbledore. Harry had to give it to her; she was very creative.

“Lost your shadow for the night?” Theo asked, looking around Harry’s room. Theo was understandably wary around Bellatrix and her ability to pop up out of nowhere.

Harry laughed, “Yeah, Rodolphus came about 20 minutes ago to get her.”

Theo sighed, “Thank Merlin,” before coming into the room and pushing Harry onto the bed. Harry let out a surprised yelp, which quickly morphed into a moan as Theo crawled on top of him and pulled him into a long, slow kiss. Theo slipped his hands under Harry’s shirt and lightly trailed his fingers over Harry’s chest, causing Harry to shiver and move his hands to tangle into Theo’s hair.

Theo pulled back slightly and looked at Harry with a smile on his face.

“What was that about?” Harry asked slightly, breathlessly.

Theo leaned down and kissed Harry on the nose, “Bedtime. Theo rolled off Harry and settled himself in Harry’s bed, arms behind his head and wiggling his eyebrows at him.

Harry scoffed but got in bed next to Theo with a smile on his face.

“Harry! I need to ask you a quest… WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY GODSON’S BED?” Sirius shouted after he’d thrown open the door and seen Theo and Harry cuddled up together in bed.

Harry woke up and groaned, “It’s a fucking curse. Theo, you’re never allowed to sleep in my bed again, first Draco finds us and now Sirius.”

Theo rolled over onto his stomach, buried his face in the pillows and threw the doona over his head, “I’m not here. There’s no one here but Harry.”

“You’ve shared a bed before?” Sirius wailed, looking like he was about to cry.

Harry threw the doona off himself and walked over to Sirius, pushing him out the door before he could cause any bodily harm to Theo, which he looked like he very much wanted to do.

“What question was so important that you have to wake me up at 7 am, Siri?” Harry asked once he’d pushed Sirius into the corridor and closed the door to his room behind him.

“You had a boy in your bed, Harry!” 

“Yes, Sirius. Your powers of observation are unparalleled. Your parents should have named you Sherlock,” Harry replied dryly.

“A boy, Harry!”

Harry waved his hand in front of Sirius’ face, “Are you broken?”

Sirius huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, “You’re too young to have a boy in your bed, Harry.”

“I’m almost 15, Sirius. Don’t forget; I know exactly what you were up to when you were my age,” Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

“Do as I say, not as I do, Harry!” Sirius replied, throwing his hands up in the air.

Harry sighed, “What was your question, Sirius? Because I want to get back to bed.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes, and Harry groaned, “Just ask your question.”

Sirius huffed, “What do you want to do for your birthday?” 

“Seriously,” Harry baulked, “You woke me up to ask me what I wanted to do for my birthday?”

Sirius’ face dropped slightly, “It’s the first birthday I’ll be able to spend with you that you remember.”

Oh, now Harry felt like a bit of a dick, “Siri, I’m sorry. I’ve just never really made that big of a deal out of my birthday, so I didn’t really think about it like that.”

Sirius reached out and brushed Harry’s hair out of his face, “I know, pup. It’s why I wanted to do something for you this year.”

“Well, let’s just do something small here, I guess. Get Ron and Hermione over, and we’ll just have a small party,” The look on Sirius’ face was downright terrifying as he nodded and ran back down the hallway, quite suspiciously in the direction of Bellatrix’s room. 

“Something small, Sirius!” Harry shouted after him, even though he knew it was futile.

Harry let out a mournful sigh and walked back into his room, where Theo was still hidden under the covers.

“Is he gone?” Theo asked, his voice slightly muffled in the pillows.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” Harry said with a laugh.

Theo rolled over and groaned, “Next time, we’re sleeping in my room.”

Harry leaned down and pulled Theo into a kiss, “Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Text

Although he didn’t need to this year, staying up until midnight on the 30th of July had become a sort of tradition for Harry. Stay up until midnight to wish himself a happy birthday because, before Ron and Hermione, no one else would. Plus, there was the fact that the Dursley’s took perverse pleasure in making his birthday as miserable as possible. 

It may seem strange to some, but considering how unbelievably drastically his life had changed in the span of a month, this little bit of tradition was important to Harry. It was 11:55 when a soft knock startled Harry out of his slightly depressing musings. Harry got up to see who it was, slightly confused when he opened the door and saw Theo and Draco standing there with a cupcake and a candle.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked as he ushered the two boys into his room.

“It’s your birthday in five minutes, Harry!” Draco exclaimed excitedly.

Harry looked between the two boys, confused, “Yes, and we’re having a party tomorrow.”

Theo rolled his eyes, “He does this with everyone’s birthday, Harry. Don’t try to fight it. It’s futile.”

Draco smiled and dragged the two boys down to the bed with him, placing the cupcake with the candle in the middle of them. They sat in silence; Draco literally did not let them speak during the countdown until the clock struck midnight, and Draco lit the candle.

“Make a wish!” Draco exclaimed, practically vibrating with excitement, handing Harry the cupcake.

Harry took the cupcake and closed his eyes before blowing out the candle.

“Now eat!” Draco said, practically shoving the cupcake in Harry’s face.

Harry took a bite with a bemused smile on his face before his eyes widened, “Is this treacle tart flavoured?”

“Yep,” Draco beamed, “You always eat it in the great hall, so I know it’s your favourite!”

Harry laughed, “It’s a bit creepy that you know that, Draco.”

Draco blushed and started to stutter out some kind of justification, but Harry just leaned over and pulled the blonde boy into a hug, “Thank you, this is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.” Draco blushed even deeper.

Theo leaned over and gave Harry a soft kiss, “Happy Birthday.”

The boys stayed up talking for another couple of hours until all three of them fell asleep in a sort of weird pile, and Harry’s last thought before drifting off was that maybe making some new traditions wouldn’t be so bad.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!” Sirius yelled as he burst into Harry’s room. He took one look at the weird pile of Draco, Harry, and Theo and groaned, “Two boys, Harry! Even I didn’t do that!”

“Fuck off, Sirius!” Harry groaned before opening his eyes and seeing that it wasn’t just Sirius in the room, “Oh, shit.”

Theo and Draco’s eyes flew open to take in the very amused faces of not only Sirius but Remus, Voldemort, Narcissa, Lucius, Barty, and the Lestrange’s staring down at them.

“Good birthday, Harry?” Barty asked with a wink, causing Lucius to smack him on the back of the head.

Harry groaned, “This is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me, and Moaning Myrtle once watched me bathe.”

“She always was a bit of a pervert,” Voldemort replied with a laugh.

“Sometimes I forget you’re like a million years old,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, finally getting out of bed, “Should I call you Grandpa Voldemort instead of Uncle Voldemort from now on?”

Voldemort raised an eyebrow, “You can if you have a death wish.”

Harry laughed, “Duly noted.”

Sirius pulled Harry into a hug and kissed the top of his head, “Happy Birthday, pup. Get ready. We have a big day ahead of us!” 

Harry groaned, “I said something small, Sirius!”

Narcissa was next to pull Harry into a hug, “Sirius is a Black, darling. We don’t understand the meaning of the word small.”

“Well, that would explain Draco’s ego,” Harry replied with a shrug.

“Oi!” Draco exclaimed as the rest of the occupants of the room laughed.

“Me now! Me now!” Bellatrix exclaimed, pushing past everyone to pull Harry into a crushing hug, “Happy Birthday, Pretty One!”

Harry hugged her back just as tightly, “Thanks, Bellatrix.”

Sirius clapped his hands, “Ok! Breakfast is in 20 minutes, so everyone get ready!”

After one last round of Happy Birthday’s, the adults left, leaving the boys to get ready. Harry dressed fairly casually, much to Draco’s annoyance, but it was his birthday, and he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

Harry wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he walked into the dining room, but explosions of glitter and indoor fireworks that spelt out ‘Happy Birthday Harry’ were definitely at the bottom of his list. 

The second the glitter had dissipated, Harry found himself pulled into a hug by Hermione and Ron, “Happy Birthday!”

“Thanks, guys,” Harry replied with a bright smile as he pulled back.

“Quick question,” Ron said, “I’m not hallucinating, right? Those are the Lestrange’s?” 

“Yeah,” Harry replied.

Ron shrugged, “Ok, cool. As long as I’m not going bonkers.”

“Pretty One!” Bellatrix yelled, “Who are your friends?”

“Mate, what is it with Slytherin’s and calling you pretty?” Ron asked, bemused.

Harry turned a heartbroken look on Ron, “Are you saying I’m not pretty?”

Ron blanched, “Well, I mean, that’s not, but I mean.”

Harry burst into laughter, and Ron crumpled, “You’re such an arse, Harry!”

“Everyone, this is Ron and Hermione, my best friends in the entire world,” Harry said, throwing his arms around them.

Bellatrix gave them both very calculating looks, and Harry could feel them tensing before she shrugged and said, “You’ll do,” before turning back to talk to Sirius.

Harry laughed as he felt Ron and Hermione exhale in relief, “She said exactly the same thing to Theo.”

“Happy Birthday, brat,” Severus said with a smile before pulling him into a hug.

“Didn’t want to be part of the bedroom wake-up, Sev?” Harry asked with a laugh.

“I have been told it was quite dramatic,” Severus said with a raised eyebrow, and Harry just laughed.

The floo roared to life, and Pansy and Blaise stepped through, “Sorry we’re late!” Pansy walked over and pulled a very startled Harry into a hug, “Happy Birthday.”

“Um, thanks?” Harry said, looking over at Sirius, who shook his head with a confused expression.

“Sorry Harry, I mentioned it was your birthday, and they invited themselves,” Draco said, shooting an exasperated look at Pansy and Blaise.

Harry laughed, “No worries, welcome, both of you.”

“Weasley, Granger,” Pansy said, giving Hermione a very appraising look as Hermione blushed darkly.

“Happy Birthday, Harry,” Blaise said.

“Thanks, Blaise,” Harry replied with a smile.

“Breakfast time!” Sirius exclaimed excitedly as the house elves popped in with an ungodly amount of food.

Harry took great delight watching Pansy shamelessly flirt with Hermione as Hermione stuttered and blushed like a twelve-year-old. Ron and Harry kept exchanging amused glances, Draco looked near on horrified and Blaise, well, Blaise just looked like Blaise. Theo had pulled his chair close to Harry and wrapped one of his arms around Harry’s waist, something that was making Sirius’ eye twitch.

The breakfast itself was excellent, the elves had really outdone themselves, and Harry made a mental note to go to the kitchen later and thank them.

“PRESENTS!” Bellatrix yelled as soon as the elves had cleared the table. Knowing better than to argue with an excited Bellatrix, Harry just nodded, and the group made their way into the lounge room, where Theo immediately pulled Harry down to sit in his lap.

Harry was slightly overwhelmed at the sheer amount of presents in front of him, and he really wasn’t sure where to start, so he just sort of looked around the room blankly until Sirius took pity on him and handed him one of the presents.

He ended up with a pretty impressive haul, mostly new clothes and books. Sirius and Remus gave Harry a selection of memories of Lily and James, Severus had given him an old journal of Lily’s that had all her charms research in it, Draco had given him a slip of parchment that said ‘I’m taking you to a hairdresser to do something about that ridiculous mop that’s on the top of your head’. Theo had given Harry a necklace with a Nordic Rune pendant which, according to Theo, was a family heirloom. Theo had put it on for him, and Harry had pulled him into a passionate kiss, whilst several members of the group wolf-whistled.

After presents, it seemed as though Sirius had an entire day of activities planned, to Harry’s eternal mortification, but Harry just grinned and bore it, because he knew that Sirius was trying to make up for 14 years of missed birthdays, and if it made Sirius happy, then it made Harry happy.

Bellatrix was particularly impressed by the ‘Harry’s Greatest Hits’ section of the party, where Sirius told dramatised versions of Harry’s adventures; apparently, Ron and Hermione helped him with that. Harry just kept his head buried in his hands the whole time. Theo was quite disappointed that he hadn’t been included in the list.

When it was finally time for dinner, and a quarter of the group had had their faces disguised, the group made their way to The Leaky Cauldron, but instead of going into Diagon Alley like Harry assumed they would, Sirius led them out onto Charing Cross Road. The faces the Lestrange’s and the Malfoy’s were pulling were probably the funniest things Harry had ever seen.

When Harry and Hermione saw where the group was being led to, they burst into hysterical laughter. No one but Severus, Remus, and Sirius seemed to understand why they were laughing so hard, and Theo, Ron, and Draco were trying to get them to explain, but they just shook their heads.

“Here we are, the cream of the crop of muggle cuisine,” Sirius said, gesturing to the big red and yellow building, “McDonald’s.”

Harry thought that watching Lucius Malfoy try to eat a Big Mac might have been the greatest birthday present anyone could give him. Draco was mortified by the fact that there were no waiters and that they had to order themselves. Rabastan and Rodolphus actually looked like they were immensely enjoying themselves. Theo looked absolutely disgusted watching Harry dip french fries into a chocolate thickshake but promptly changed his mind when Harry shoved one into his mouth. Narcissa somehow made eating a cheeseburger elegant, and Bellatrix just kept throwing pickles at random muggles.

Eventually, the group made their way back to Malfoy Manor, and after a final round of Happy Birthdays, the group split off to either go home or go to bed.

Theo took Harry’s hand and led him down the hall past his own room into Theo’s. Harry raised an eyebrow, and Theo just smirked, “I don’t want to be interrupted.”

Theo dragged Harry into his room and down onto his bed before crawling on top of Harry and pulling him into a possessive kiss. Harry moved his hands onto Theo’s hips as Theo ground down against him, Harry gasped, and Theo slipped his tongue deeper into Harry’s mouth.

Theo pulled back suddenly and pulled Harry’s shirt off, moving from Harry’s mouth to his neck, sucking hard enough to leave what Harry assumed would be a fairly impressive mark. Theo moved onto Harry’s chest, and Harry could feel himself getting very, very hard.

Theo kissed his way down Harry’s chest, stopping to circle his tongue around Harry’s nipples and dip his tongue into his belly button.

“Ok, I’ve never done this before, so you’re just going to have to bear with me,” Theo whispered as he pulled back from kissing Harry’s stomach.

“Never done what… OH FUCK,” Harry exclaimed as his hand flew backwards to grip the headboard because Theo quite suddenly had yanked Harry’s pants down and had his mouth around Harry’s dick.

All coherent thought left Harry’s head, and his eyes rolled back as Theo started sucking, moving his mouth up and down, slowly at first, but with more vigour and confidence the more Harry moaned. Harry snaked one of his hands down to grab at Theo’s hair, something that Theo quite clearly liked because he moaned around Harry, and the sudden vibrations caused Harry to buck suddenly and forcefully in Theo’s mouth. Theo choked and spluttered a bit.

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” Harry gasped, completely mortified.

“It’s fine, just, more gentle next time,” Theo said, pulling off for just a second before wrapping his mouth back around Harry.

Harry was desperately trying not to buck into Theo’s mouth again, but the feel of Theo’s mouth around him was better than he could have possibly imagined. Harry felt his balls constrict in what was probably an embarrassingly short amount of time, but he was too far gone to care.  

Harry used the hand that was in Theo’s hair to yank him off.

“What’s wrong?” Theo asked, looking concerned.

“I’m about to cum,” Harry said, blushing slightly.

“Oh, that’s fine. I want to know what you taste like,” Theo said before licking a long strip up Harry’s shaft and taking him all the way down to the root.

“Oh fuck,” Harry moaned as he felt himself cum straight into Theo’s mouth.

Harry lay completely boneless as Theo slinked back up Harry’s body.

“Was that ok?” Theo asked, looking slightly self-conscious.

Harry laughed, “That was fucking brilliant,” Harry creased his eyebrows, “Should I do you now?”

Theo smiled, “Nah, that was your birthday present. You can make it up to me another time,” Theo said with a wink.

Harry smiled, “Ok,” He pulled Theo into a kiss, tasting himself on Theo’s tongue, which Harry was surprised to find he quite liked.

“Happy Birthday, Harry,” Theo whispered softly against Harry’s mouth.

“Thank you,” Harry replied with a smile before rolling over and cocooning himself against Theo’s chest.

Chapter Text

“Did you have a good birthday, Harry?” Barty asked with a smirk when Harry came out to breakfast the next morning.

“Yeah?” Harry asked, slightly confused by the amused look on his face.

“Yeah? It looks like you did,” Barty replied, his eyes flicking to Harry’s neck.

Harry yelped and immediately covered his neck with his hand as Barty burst into laughter.  

Harry felt Theo’s arms circle around his waist, his chin resting on Harry’s shoulder, “Oh don’t cover it, I like to see my mark on you.”

Harry huffed and pulled his hand away, so Theo could kiss the impressive hickey, “Much better,” he murmured against Harry’s neck as Harry blushed darkly before sitting down at the table in front of a highly amused Bellatrix.

“You better heal that before Sirius sees it,” Bellatrix said with a cackling laugh.

“Before Sirius sees what?” Sirius asked as he walked into the dining room.

Harry’s hand immediately flew back to his neck, trying to think of a healing spell, “Nothing!” Harry said, his voice rather high pitched.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, “What’s on your neck, Harry?”

“Flesh-eating virus!” Harry blurted out as the rest of the table burst into laughter, “Extremely deadly, very contagious! So I’m just gonna go and get that sorted,” Harry tried to get up from the table, but Sirius was there in a second, pulling Harry’s hand off his neck.

Theo didn’t even have the decency to look scared; he just looked incredibly smug.

“Is this a hickey, Harry?” Sirius asked, his voice deadly calm as he looked between Theo and Harry.

“If I said no, would you believe me?” Harry asked.

“No, I would not,” Sirius said with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I’m gonna say no anyway, bye!” Harry said before taking off running out of the room.

“Come back here!” Sirius yelled, running after him, “I will make Bellatrix give you the sex talk if you don’t stop running!”

Harry did not stop running and managed to heal the hickey before Sirius caught up to him. 

Unfortunately, Sirius was feeling rather vindictive and actually went through with his threat, which is how Harry found himself in a room with Bellatrix as she gave him an awfully descriptive sex talk, complete with moving pictures, which were utterly horrifying. Harry also had to wonder why Bellatrix knew so much about gay sex because she was very, very knowledgeable, but honestly, Harry was just too scared to ask.

Leaving the room an hour and a half later to find Theo there, smirking at him, was the last thing Harry needed.

“You are never touching me again,” Harry hissed as he walked past Theo.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Pretty Eyes,” Theo said as he tried to pull Harry into a hug.

“You have Bellatrix Lestrange tell you about the intricacies of gay sex in excruciating detail and then tell me you ever want someone to touch you again,” Harry huffed as he let Theo circle his arms around his waist.

Theo laughed, “To be fair, my father made one of my house elves give me the sex talk.”

Harry winced, “You know, I’m honestly not sure which is more traumatising.”

Theo thought for a minute before humming, “Me neither,” 

Harry leaned back into Theo’s embrace with a contented sigh.

“Come on, baby, you missed lunch,” Theo said into Harry’s ear. An involuntary shiver ran through Harry’s body when Theo called him baby. Well, that was unexpected.

Harry could actually feel the force of Theo’s smirk, “Did you like that,” Theo leaned in even closer to purr into Harry’s ear, “ baby.”

There was that shiver again, and Harry couldn’t suppress the slight moan that accompanied it. Blushing, Harry pulled himself out of Theo’s grasp, “Don’t be smug,” Harry huffed.

Theo gasped, “Me! Smug? Never!”

Harry just huffed and stomped off, Theo chasing after him.

“Ok,” Draco said with a clap as he entered Harry’s room, “It’s time.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “For?”

“For your haircut, dipshit,” Harry wasn’t sure he should have taught Draco that one.

Harry rolled his eyes, knowing he wouldn’t get out of this, “Alright, where are we going?”

Draco just smiled and dragged him out of his room and towards Narcissa, who was holding out a portkey. Harry raised an eyebrow again, “Where are we going?”

“Where the Malfoy’s have gotten their hair done for generations. Italy!” Draco exclaimed.

“Do I really need to leave the country to get my hair done, Draco?” Harry asked with a sigh, “And also, if these people are responsible for the disaster that was your hair in first year, I’m not sure I want to go.”

“My hair was not a disaster! You take that back!” Draco hissed.

“You looked like you just straight up dunked your head in a bucket of gel and went on your merry way!” Harry exclaimed with a laugh.

Narcissa tried to smother her laughter, but it didn’t really work, “It was a bit excessive, darling.”

Draco just huffed, but Harry took a hold of the portkey anyway, and moments later, they were whisked away.

Draco didn’t let Harry stop to admire anything; apparently, it was nigh on impossible to get an appointment at this place, and if you were even a minute late, they wouldn’t let you in.

The curt receptionist ushered the boys in and sat Harry down in one of the chairs, saying that the stylist would be there momentarily. 

Draco was prattling on about something; honestly, Harry wasn’t really listening, when the stylist came over.

“Draco, you’ve brought me a challenge!” The man said brightly when he took one look at Harry’s hair.

“Hi Paulo, tell me you can do something about this,” Draco said, gesturing to Harry’s hair.

Paulo hummed, “We have two options, either I lengthen it, and that will take some of the bird’s nest quality out of it, or we go short on the side, and I make the curls tighter at the top. What do you think?” He asked, looking at Harry in the mirror.

Harry thought about it for a minute or so before nodding, “Let’s make it longer.”

“Excellent!” Paulo exclaimed before getting to work.

Narcissa had obviously informed everyone what was happening because when the portkey took them back to Malfoy Manor, basically everyone was waiting there. Which seemed ridiculous to Harry; he was just getting his hair fixed.

Sirius took in a sharp breath when he looked at Harry, and Harry touched his hair self-consciously, “What’s wrong? Is it awful?”

“No, pup. It looks great. You just look like a Black now,” Sirius replied softly.

“He looks a bit like Regulus, don’t you think?” Bellatrix asked, looking between Harry and Sirius.

Narcissa hummed, “Must be Dorea’s influence in there. The Black genes are always strong.”

Harry felt a bit like a show pony at the minute, so he quietly excused himself back to his room, where he found Theo waiting for him.

Theo whistled, “Look at you; you look great.”

Harry smiled softly, “Thanks.”

Theo walked over and looked at him piercingly, “Do you not like it?” 

Harry sighed, “I don’t know. I did, but then Sirius seemed to get a bit weird about it. He told me I looked like a Black.”

Theo hummed, “I don’t think you look like a Black. I think you just look like you, but with longer hair.”

Harry huffed out a laugh, “You say the sweetest things.”

Theo pulled him in a kiss, “They don’t call me Theo the Romantic for nothing.”

“No one calls you that,” Harry replied dryly.

Theo huffed petulantly, “Well, they would if you told people how romantic I was.”

Harry just laughed.

Hogwarts was drawing closer, and honestly, for once, Harry wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back. He loved his little hodgepodge family here at Malfoy Manor. Plus, there was the whole Dumbledore thing. The man had gone from thinly veiled threats to just straight up threatening him, and he wasn’t sure whether being in the same castle as him for months on end with little to no chance of escape was really the smartest move for him. Though, Harry had never prided himself on being particularly smart, and Hogwarts really was his home, so in the words of Sirius Black, ‘Dumbledore could sit on a cactus’.

Voldemort had asked him a fair few times whether he was sure he wanted to go back, he was as concerned about the Dumbledore situation as Harry was, but Harry wouldn’t give the old bastard the satisfaction of keeping him away from Hogwarts, and Harry may not think himself particularly smart, but hardheaded, stubborn and petty? Those were qualities he had in spades. He was a Gryffindor, after all.

So when September 1st rolled around, Sirius, Remus, the Malfoy’s, and Theo all apparated onto platform 9 and ¾. Voldemort had decided to stay behind to help keep Bellatrix under control, as she was quite devastated at the loss of her ‘Pretty One’. Theo had immediately put his arm around Harry’s waist and pulled him close the moment they landed on the platform, ignoring Sirius’ grumbling behind them; they were pretty much used to it by now. Harry didn’t think Sirius had a problem with Theo; per se, Harry was sure Sirius would have a problem with anyone Harry dated; he was a tad on the overprotective side. Plus, there was the fact that Theo was particularly tactile and not at all afraid of Sirius after having witnessed him chase after the Malfoy’s peacocks as Padfoot.

After a round of goodbyes, where Sirius was absolutely not crying, he just had something in his eye, Harry, Draco, and Theo made their way onto the Hogwarts Express and found an empty compartment, waiting for Blaise, Pansy, Ron, and Hermione to join them.

Theo had pulled Harry onto his lap when they sat down, causing Draco to scoff when he sat across from them.

They had just finished setting up a game of poker when a knock sounded on the compartment door, and a seventh year Slytherin that Harry recognised from the Quidditch team walked in.

“Hi Cassius,” Draco said brightly.

“Draco,” Cassius said with a soft smile in Draco’s direction, “Theo and… Potter?” Cassius asked, looking between the three like he was having some kind of hallucination.

“Warrington,” Harry said with a nod.

“Right, um, well, I just came in to let you know that I’m Quidditch captain this year, so I’ll let you know when tryouts are,” Cassius said, looking around the compartment, very confused, “So, I’ll see you round,” Cassius turned and walked out of the compartment and Harry could swear he heard him mutter, “What the fuck was Potter doing there?”

“ Hi Cassius,” Harry said in a high pitched tone, twirling a strand of hair around his finger.

“I’ll fucking kill you,” Draco hissed as Theo laughed.

They were eventually joined by the rest of their friends who joined in their poker game after Harry, Draco and Theo’s hand had ended. Theo cleaned up as usual, but it was looking pretty close with Hermione there for a while, which made her undeniably smug.

The Great Hall was abuzz as usual during the start of term feast, but something just felt off to Harry, like there was a lingering darkness sat somewhere in the hall. It was setting Harry’s teeth on edge, and he couldn’t place it, no matter how hard he tried, at least, not until he heard,

“ Hem, Hem. ”

Dolores Umbridge.

Although she got points for interrupting Dumbledore, and her um, bold style choices, Harry could tell the woman was going to be trouble.

“Progress for the sake of progress, must be discouraged.”

Oh, this was not good.

“Pruning where we find practices that ought to be prohibited.”

This was definitely not good.

“Let’s hope the defence curse holds out, yeah?” Harry said with a shrug when the insipid woman had sat back down.

Harry could tell that his housemates were absolutely dying to find out what the hell he had been up to since his ‘mysterious disappearance’ at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, but showing restraint Harry didn’t even know that they possessed, the waited until the feast was over and they were back in the sanctity of the Gryffindor Dorm Room.

“So, Harry. First of all, congratulations on getting hot,” Dean said with a wink the second all the boys were in the dorm room.

Harry laughed, “Thanks, Dean.”

“You are most welcome, now second, where the fuck have you been?” Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry shrugged, “France.”

Seamus looked at him, bug-eyed, “France?” He asked incredulously.

“Paris mainly went to Italy for a bit as well,” Harry responded.

“You just buggered off to go to France?” Neville asked.

Harry looked over at Ron, who was trying very hard to cover his amusement.

“Yeah, I mean, the portkey for the last task was faulty, and I ended up in some field in like butt-fuck nowhere, so I thought to myself, where have I always wanted to go? So yeah, I buggered off to France.” Harry shrugged, “At least until my godfather’s trial.”

“Gran told me about that,” Neville said excitedly, “She proxy for the Longbottom seat until I take my Lordship. You should have seen her when she came back. She was so happy that you made Fudge look like an idiot.”

“Mate, it was all over the papers,” Seamus replied, “Who was that Lord Gaunt dude that you came in with?”

Harry shrugged, “He’s my uncle,” Harry could practically hear Voldemort in his head screaming cousin three times removed, “I met up with him in France.”

At that point, Ron couldn’t control it anymore and burst into hysterical laughter. Harry threw a pillow at him. The other three boys just looked confused.

“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Neville said, looking between Harry and Ron.

“Oh, you are definitely missing something,” Ron managed to wheeze out between his laughter.

Harry just rolled his eyes, “Ignore him.”

The other three boys looked between each other and just shrugged, assuming that it was some inside joke between Harry and Ron.

“So, how was the rest of your holidays?” Harry asked, and the boys launched into discussions about their respective holidays until eventually wishing each other a good night and going to sleep.

The next morning at breakfast, Harry bypassed the Gryffindor table completely to go and sit at the Slytherin one, squeezing himself in between Theo and Draco.

“Morning all,” Harry said brightly, as 99% of the Slytherin table looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Morning, Harry,” Draco replied, quite amused as Harry helped himself to the orange juice.

“Mr Potter,” Harry heard Severus’ voice drawl from behind him, and Harry had to try very hard not to smile, “Are you aware you’re sitting at the Slytherin table?”

Harry looked up innocently, “Really? I hadn’t noticed. Also, it’s Potter-Black now.”

Harry saw McGonagal literally choke on her morning coffee.

“Well, Mr Potter-Black,” Snape said, injecting as much venom into the name as possible, despite the fact that Harry could tell he was trying very hard not to laugh, “Please remove yourself from the Slytherin table and go back to the Gryffindor one.”

Harry shrugged, “Alright,” Harry stood up and then leaned down to kiss Theo, “Bye.”

“Bye, Pretty Eyes,” Theo said with a smirk.

Harry walked back to the Gryffindor table and sat between Ron and Hermione, who were looking very amused.

“Pleased with yourself, are you?” Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry grinned, “Immensely.”

Hermione held up three fingers, counting down until….

“WHAT THE FUCK?” 

“Yep, there it is,” Hermione said with a laugh as the hall burst into pandemonium.

Harry felt a bread roll hit the side of his head, and Harry turned an outraged look to see who’d done it.

“What the fuck, Ginny?” Harry exclaimed.

“You, Harry James Potter, are a fucking bastard,” Ginny hissed.

“Excuse me?” Harry asked, genuinely bewildered.

“You choose to date a fucking Slytherin, and it’s not Malfoy! I lost five galleons because of you!” Ginny said, lobbing another bread roll at Harry’s head.

“I’m so confused,” Harry said.

Neville looked at Harry sheepishly, “There was a betting pool to see how long it would take you and Malfoy to start dating.”

“You’re fucking with me, right?” Harry asked, looking around the Gryffindor table.

“Honestly, Harrykins, we were pretty sure your rivalry was just pent up sexual frustration,” George said with a shrug.

“Though I’m not mad at your choice, Nott is hot,” Fred said, looking over at the Slytherin table, where Theo was getting pelted with questions, a very smug look plastered all over his face.

Chapter Text

“Hey Draco,” Harry called out, running up to throw his arm around Draco’s shoulders.

“What’s up?” Draco asked, threading his arm around Harry’s waist.

“Did you know that the Gryffindor’s had a betting pool about how long it would take us to date? Apparently, I lost a lot of people a lot of money,” Harry said brightly.

Draco actually stopped dead, “Seriously?”

“Yep, according to George, our rivalry was just pent up sexual frustration,” Harry said with a snort.

“Huh,” Draco said, before shrugging and continuing to walk with Harry towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, “Thoughts on Umbridge?”

“She’s gonna be a problem; she’s got this gross darkness around her,” Harry replied with a shudder.

“She’s a Dark Witch?” Draco asked, quite surprised.

“No, nothing like that. I’m not really sure how to explain it, honestly. I can just tell she’s going to be a problem,” Harry replied.

Harry and Draco made it to the Defense classroom, where Ron, Hermione, Theo, Blaise, and Pansy were already waiting for them.

Harry let go of Draco as Theo pulled him over to him, pulling Harry against his chest and wrapping his arms around his waist, “Hi, baby,” Theo whispered in his ear.

“Stop it,” Harry hissed, his face turning very red. Theo just smirked against Harry’s neck.

“You two are disgusting,” Pansy said with a roll of her eyes.

“Thank you,” Harry replied with a bright smile.

“ Hem, Hem,” Fucking hell, that set Harry’s teeth on edge. The class turned to where Umbridge was standing in the doorway, her eyes trained on Harry and Theo, “That is inappropriate behaviour for a classroom,” the awful woman simpered.

Theo scoffed but let go of Harry, “We’re not technically in the classroom,” Theo said quietly as Umbridge turned around to walk back into the classroom.

“Ordinary Wizarding Level Exams or O.W.L’s,” Umbridge started as soon as everyone had taken their seats. She droned on and on for probably a solid ten minutes about the O.W.L’s and tried to subtly (but not actually being subtle at all) shoehorn in how bloody fantastic the Ministry was. Harry had tuned most of it out. That was going to be his plan to deal with this woman, at least until he caught sight of her course aims.

“There’s nothing on here about using defensive spells,” Hermione said.

“You will raise your hand when you speak in my classroom,” Umbridge snapped at Hermione, who wilted slightly.

That was enough for Harry; no one spoke to Hermione like that on his watch. So he raised his hand.

“Yes, Mr Potter?” Umbridge simpered in her horrific voice.

“It’s Potter-Black, actually, Professor Umbridge. So you’re saying that we aren’t going to be casting any spells in the classroom?” Harry asked.

“It is the Ministry’s belief that a solid theoretical knowledge is all students need,” Umbridge responded with a condescending smile.

“Alright, and where is the Ministry getting this information?” Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

“I beg your pardon?” Umbridge asked.

“Well, for centuries now, wizarding scholars and education providers have said that theoretical knowledge is only about 20% of an all-around education. To know how much power to put into a spell, one must actually cast said spell,” Harry replied with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t see how this is any of your concern, Mr Potter,” Umbridge said, flustered.

“It’s Potter-Black.  Now let me ask you another question. What are your qualifications to be a teacher?” Harry asked.

“I am the Senior Under Secretary to the Minister,” Umbridge replied haughtily.

“And that’s all fine and dandy, but what are your teaching qualifications? I mean, Professor Quirell had his teaching degree, we’ll forget about Lockhart, Professor Lupin had not only his teaching degree but also a Mastery in Defence, and Moody was a retired Auror, who was more than qualified to teach as he was one of the top Auror trainers in the ministry, but you? You’re nothing but a Secretary to a disgraced Minister,” Harry said with a shrug, completely disregarding the fact that it wasn’t actually Moody who had been teaching them, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Detention, Mr Potter!” Umbridge yelled.

Harry was about to respond when he felt Theo’s hand squeeze his thigh and give him a minute shake of the head. Harry huffed but didn’t say anything else.

The second they walked out of the classroom, Theo grabbed Harry’s wrist and dragged him down the hall into an empty classroom, slammed the door and pushed him roughly against the wall, Harry’s back hitting the hard stone with a thump.

“Are you an idiot?” Theo hissed, his eyes alight with both anger and concern. His hands were tight around Harry’s wrists, and Harry’s breaths were coming out in short sharp bursts; his throat constricted, and he couldn’t get any words out. Tears started to prickle at his eyes, spilling out onto his cheeks.

Theo let Harry’s wrists go, “Harry?” He asked softly, reaching out to touch Harry’s face.

Harry slapped his hand away, “Don’t.”

Theo pulled back, suddenly very worried, “Harry, what’s going on?”

Harry felt his legs give out, and he fell to the floor. Theo was there in an instant, “Harry,” he tried reaching out to Harry again, but Harry slinked away.

“Don’t,” Harry said again, his voice no more than a whisper.

“Harry, I’m sorry,” Theo tried again.

“Just go away, Theo,” Harry whispered, tucking his legs up and cradling them to his chest.

“Harry, I,” Theo started, but Harry cut him off.

“Go away,” He hissed, and Theo backed up, wide-eyed, and left the room.

It was then Harry let the tears fall in earnest. He’d gone all summer without that feeling he’d had just then. He’d gone the whole summer without feeling scared of the people around him, and he’d just started to feel safe again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it wasn’t Theo’s fault, he knew he was just worried about him, and he knew he shouldn’t have wound up Umbridge, but the minute his back collided with that wall, it was like he was back at Privet Drive, with his uncle yelling in his face and he just broke.

“Harry?” Draco’s voice floated its way into his thoughts, and he looked up to see the blonde boy standing in the doorway.

“Not now, Draco,” Harry said, hiccoughing slightly through his tears.

Draco shut the door behind him as he came into the room. He sat down in front of Harry, keeping his distance so as not to crowd him, “What happened? Theo’s in bits.”

Harry didn’t say anything; he just drew his legs up closer to himself, trying to get his breathing under control.

“Did he hurt you?” Draco asked softly. Harry didn’t say anything, and Draco sighed, “I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”

“I don’t want your help. I just want to be left the fuck alone; what’s so hard about that to understand?” Harry said though it was lacking any real venom.

“Ok, Harry, we don’t have to talk,” Draco said quietly, but he didn’t leave. The two just sort of sat in silence until Harry had calmed down a bit, “Want to talk about it now?”

Harry shook his head, “No, but we should get to class, we have potions, and I used up our free period on a panic attack,” Harry got up and stretched himself out before making his way over to the door.

“Harry,” Draco’s voice froze Harry’s hand halfway to the doorknob, “I’ll listen if you ever want to talk about it.”

Harry took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded sharply before turning the doorknob and walking out of the room. Harry walked quickly down to the potions classroom, where Ron, Hermione, Pansy, Theo and Blaise were already waiting. Theo went to reach out to Harry, but Harry just shook his head minutely, and Theo swallowed hard but moved back.

The door slammed open, and Harry jumped, catching Severus’ sharp gaze.

“In,” Severus said to the class, his voice just a tad softer than it would normally be.

Harry sat at a table with Ron and Hermione, like they usually would, and continued with the lesson almost on autopilot. Severus kept his barbs to a minimum, enough to not raise suspicions but not enough to set Harry off; they’d pretty much perfected it over the years.

“Mr Potter-Black, stay behind,” Severus said as everyone was going to leave.

Harry shuffled to the front of the room and sat down in front of Severus’ desk.

“What happened?” Severus asked Harry softly after everyone had left.

“I got detention,” Harry replied.

Severus raised his eyebrows, “Already? I’m impressed, but that doesn’t explain your mood.”

Harry sighed, “I may have riled up Umbridge, and Theo wasn’t particularly happy with me, and he um,” Harry swallowed and took a deep breath, “He sort of dragged me into an empty classroom and asked if I was an idiot, and he sort of pushed me against the wall, and it just reminded me of Vernon, and I’d just had such a good summer, and I felt safe and happy, and then it all came crashing back and, I just,” Harry sighed and looked up at Severus.

“Did you explain to Theo why you were so upset?” Severus asked gently.

Harry shook his head, and Severus leaned forward to take hold of Harry’s hand, “You’ll have to tell him, you know that, right?”

Harry took a shuddering breath, “I know.”

Severus squeezed Harry’s hand lightly, and Harry smiled at him slightly. Severus tilted his head towards the door, and Harry stood up and headed out.

Theo was leaning against the wall outside when Harry came out.

Theo pushed himself off from the wall and made to move towards Harry but stopped, looking unsure. Harry sighed and walked over and wrapped his arms around Theo’s waist, and buried his head in Theo’s chest.

“I’m so sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean to. I’m not my father, I swear. I’m so so sorry,” Theo babbled into Harry’s hair as he held him close.

“I know,” Harry said quietly.

“But I hurt you, Harry. I hurt you,” Theo whispered quietly.

“You did,” Harry replied, knowing there was no use in pretending he didn’t. Harry pulled back and grabbed Theo’s hand, “We should talk somewhere that’s not the corridor.”

Theo sucked in a shaky breath but nodded and let Harry lead him through the dungeons to an empty classroom.

When they’d sat down, Harry leaned forward and took Theo’s hand in his, “Look, Theo, I don’t talk much about my childhood, but I imagine it was very similar to yours,” Theo inhaled sharply, but Harry pushed on, “The Dursley’s, they didn’t want me, and they made sure I knew it at all times. My uncle was particularly forceful in his reminders,” Harry took a deep breath, “Anyway, I just, I had a whole summer of finally not being scared and then when you, well, you know, it scared me and all those feelings just came flooding back.”

Theo leaned over and brushed a strand of hair from Harry’s face, “Thank you for telling me,” he said softly, “I shouldn’t have done that. I was just so worried. Umbridge is here from the Ministry, which means that Hogwarts oversight is going to mean nothing to her; she’s not going to play by the rules, Harry, and we have no idea what that means for you. Not to mention she’s going to be on your arse. You publicly embarrassed the Ministry, not just with Sirius’ trial, but also with the whole Triwizard Tournament, and she’s going to be gunning for you,” Theo sighed, “But none of the excuses what I did, and I’m so sorry.”

“I know, but it can’t happen again, Theo. You know that, right?” Harry said, looking Theo dead in the eyes, “I won’t forgive you if it happens again.”

Theo nodded, and Harry stood up, pulling Theo with him and pulling him into a soft kiss.

When 8 pm rolled around, Harry knocked on the door to the Defense classroom for his detention with Umbridge. When the woman opened the door, Harry was immediately taken aback by the vindictive glee in her eyes, and Harry knew immediately that this was going to be bad. Harry walked with some trepidation towards the front of the classroom and sat down where Umbridge indicated.

“You’re going to be writing some lines for me today, Mr Potter,” Harry bit back the urge to correct her about his name and took out some parchment and his quill.

The woman smiled, and Merlin, wasn’t that an awful sight, “No need for the quill. You’re going to be using a special one of mine.” 

Harry stilled, not liking where this was going one bit. Umbridge placed a solid black quill on his desk.

“You haven’t given me any ink, Professor,” Harry said once Umbridge had sat down again.

“You won’t be needing any,” Umbridge said with a twisted smirk, “You will be writing; I must respect my betters, ” Harry had to keep an iron hold on his self-control to not make a snappy retort.

“How many times?” Harry ground out.

“As long as it takes to sink in,” Umbridge said with a tinkling laugh.

Harry picked up the quill, he could feel the malevolent magic seeping off of it in waves, and it made him sick. He placed the tip onto the parchment and began writing, watching as the words came out in blood red. Harry felt the back of his hand start to sting and knew instinctively what was happening. Harry tightened his jaw muscles in an attempt to stop himself from making any noise, he could see in his peripheral that Umbridge was frowning, probably wondering why Harry wasn’t reacting, but this was nothing Harry hadn’t experienced before. Vernon once slammed his hand in a car door, and he didn’t cry out then, so Umbridge needed to do a hell of a lot better than this if she wanted a reaction.

The hours dragged on, and Harry kept carving the words into his hand over and over again, sure that they would be etched into his bone by the end of this.

“Come here, Mr Potter,” Umbridge said finally, and Harry put the quill down and made his way up to the desk, where she stuck her grubby hand out and, once Harry had shown her his hand, pressed one of her stubby fingers into the wound. Still, Harry didn’t make a sound, not wanting to give her the satisfaction.

“Well, that’s enough for now, Mr Potter. I assume you will be more well behaved in my classroom from now on?” Umbridge simpered.

“Yes, Professor,” Harry replied, and Umbridge patted his hand.

“Off you go then,” Harry grabbed his bag and left the classroom. Instead of going back to Gryffindor tower, Harry quickly made his way down to the dungeons, easily bypassing the wards on Severus’ classroom to knock frantically on his office door.

Severus opened the door with a scowl, which quickly morphed into a look of concern when he saw Harry standing there cradling his hand to his chest.

“We have a problem,” Harry said, sticking out his hand so Severus could read the words carved there.

Severus sucked in a breath through his teeth, “She made you use a fucking blood quill?” 

“I don’t know what it’s called but considering it was a quill that wrote in my blood; I assume that’s what it was,” Harry replied.

“Fuck!” Severus swore, and after ushering Harry into his room, he picked up some floo powder and threw it into the floo, putting his head in and calling out Malfoy Manor. After a quick conversation that Harry couldn’t hear, Severus pulled his head out and waited. Not a moment later, Voldemort strode out from the fireplace, looking more furious than Harry had ever seen him.

“Show me,” Voldemort hissed, his magic snapping around him like a whip.

Harry held out his hand, a bit surprised at how gentle Voldemort’s touch was. He ran a finger over the wound, muttering in a language Harry didn’t understand, and Harry saw black smoke pour out from the wound, “What the fuck?” Harry whispered, wide-eyed.

“Lingering Dark Magic from the quill, it had to be purged, or it could have festered in your hand,” Voldemort said, pulling his hand away from Harry’s. Severus was next to him in a second with a bowl of Murtlap Essence for Harry to soak his hand in.

“I don’t think there is much we’ll be able to do about the scar, unfortunately,” Severus said.

Harry shrugged, “Just another one to add to the collection, I suppose.”

“I want her gone,” Voldemort said darkly, “I want her dead and fucking buried.”

“You’ll hear no complaints from me,” Harry replied. He wouldn’t wish that torture on anyone, and he knew that if she was willing to do it on him, she would be willing to do it on just about anyone, “Maybe just wait a couple of days, so I’m not the last person to see her alive or whatever. I don’t want that kind of suspicion on me.”

Both Voldemort and Severus turned to look at him, and Harry just shrugged, “I’ve seen Law and Order; I know how this shit works.”

Harry made his way back up to Gryffindor Tower, where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him.

“What happened?” Hermione demanded immediately when he walked in.

Harry held out his hand for them to look, and both of them sucked in a sharp breath.

“Fucking hell, Harry! We have to tell someone!” Ron exclaimed.

“Already taken care of,” Harry replied, pulling his hand back, “I went straight to Sev, who went straight to Voldemort.”

“She is in so much trouble,” Hermione said, a dark grin lighting up her face.

Chapter Text

Harry floated; everywhere and nowhere all at once. His bedroom at Godric’s Hollow came into focus; baby Harry in his crib, completely silent. His mother, strong and proud, standing in front of his crib, protecting him from the monster in his room. She didn’t look scared, not like she had so many times in his dementor fueled memories. Here she looked sad. Not because she knew she was going to die, not because she was going to leave her only son behind, but because the man in front of her was going to be the one to do it. 

“Promise me you’ll look after my son.” Her voice sounded distorted, disconnected, and the more Harry tried to focus, the more it slipped away.

“I will,” The monster choked out.

And then a green light lit up the room.

Harry awoke with a gasp, his head pounding, his heart hammering out of his chest, his breath coming out in short sharp bursts and his mind whirling at a mile a minute.

What the hell was that?

“How was detention?” Theo asked the next morning after breakfast. He was still sort of treating Harry like he was made of glass.

Harry hummed noncommittally, trying to keep his hand out of Theo’s reach. You couldn’t see the words, but you could see it was bandaged, and it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

“Harry?” Theo asked again.

“Doesn’t matter. It won’t happen again,” Harry replied, vehemently looking anywhere but Theo’s face.

“Harry,” Theo said again, a bit more forcefully.

Harry sighed and held his hand out, “You can’t take the bandage off.”

Theo sucked in a sharp breath, “What did she do to you?”

Harry swallowed, “Blood quill.”

Theo’s face darkened, “What did she make you write?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Harry said with a sigh.

“It matters to me,” Theo replied.

Harry huffed, “I must respect my betters.”

“That fucking bitch,” Theo hissed, “I want her fucking dead.”

Harry huffed out a laugh, “Get in line. I told Sev, Sev told Voldemort. I’ll be surprised if she lasts the rest of the week.”

Theo raised an eyebrow, “I’m surprised she lasted the night. The Dark Lord isn’t known for stellar control of his temper.”

Harry just shrugged, “I didn’t want to be the last person to see her alive.”

Theo snorted, “What class have you got now?” 

“Charms,” Harry replied after looking at his timetable.

“I’ll walk you,” Theo replied after taking Harry’s uninjured hand.

Harry went through the rest of the day completely unfocused. The detention, combined with the weird dream, made him completely unable to focus on the mundane day to day. His friends had obviously noticed but chose not to press, which he was thankful for; he wouldn’t even know how to explain it to them if they had asked.

Because the dream didn’t feel like a dream, it felt like a memory, long-repressed or locked away. But it couldn’t be; he’d heard his parents’ deaths so many times, over and over, again and again when the dementors were at the school, and it was never like that.

After classes were over that day, Harry found himself in front of Severus’ door. He knocked gently, and the man opened the door with an impressive scowl, which softened when he saw Harry.

“Are you alright, Harry? Do you need more murtlap essence?” Severus asked as he guided Harry into his rooms and sat him down on the couch.

Harry sighed, thinking about the best way to phrase it, “I think there’s something wrong with my memory,” Harry said, rubbing his scar.

Severus’ gaze sharpened, “You think you’ve been obliviated ?”

“No, not really, it’s just,” Harry sighed, “You remember with the dementors? How I relived my parents’ deaths?” Severus nodded, “I had a dream about it, but it was different, and now I don’t know which one is real.”

“Did it feel like a dream, Harry?” Severus asked softly.

“No, that’s the thing,” Harry replied, “I thought maybe I was just projecting or something, now that I know Voldemort doesn’t want to hurt me. But it didn’t feel like a dream, and when I woke up, my head was killing me,” Harry chanced a look up at Severus, who was looking at him with a tight expression.

“It sounds like there’s something locked behind a memory charm,” Severus took a deep breath, “I can try and break it, but I would have to watch the memory with you.”

Harry shook his head, “No, I won’t make you do that.”

“I can do it, Harry,” Severus said, looking Harry in the eyes, his black eyes holding both pain and promise, “For you, I’ll do it.”

Harry swallowed hard before nodding tightly and lowering his occlumency shields.

“ Legilimens,” Severus whispered.

Harry could feel that he was trying to be gentle, trying not to rip through Harry’s brain, but Legilimency was, by its very nature, painful. Harry dug his fingernails into the palm of his hand and gritted his teeth.

A gasp ripped through Harry’s entire body as Severus dove into a dark space in Harry’s mindscape, one he had never noticed before.

“Please don’t do this,” James was begging as Voldemort forced his way into the house.

“I’m so sorry, James,” Voldemort replied softly, before his voice turned harsh, almost like it wasn’t his, “Avada Kedavra.”

Lily was sobbing, holding Harry to her chest, as she heard the love of her life hit the floor with a thud. Footsteps echoed up the stairs.

“Lily, I need you to run. Take Harry and run!” The soft voice that Voldemort had used when apologising to James was back. 

But Lily wouldn’t run. 

She put Harry down in his crib and turned to face the door as Voldemort blasted the door off its hinges.

“Stand aside, you silly girl,” Voldemort said, his voice harsh once again.

“No,” Lily stated, her voice betraying none of the terror she felt. She stood with no fear, despite the tears that had not stopped streaming down her face.

“Stand aside,” Voldemort once again intoned.

“No, Tom, I won’t,” Lily replied, shielding Harry with her body.

“Don’t make me do this, Lily,” Voldemort begged, his voice soft once again.

Lily took a deep, shuddering breath, “Whatever has happened to you, once I’m gone, you have to fight it. You fight it, and you look after my son. Promise me, Tom. Promise me you’ll look after my son.”

“I will,” Voldemort managed to choke out whilst he still had some semblance of control.

“I love you, Tom. We’re family, don’t forget that,” Lily said, tears streaming down her face.

“Avada Kedavra,” Voldemort spat harshly, and Lily’s body hit the floor.

Voldemort walked over to the crib, where Harry sat, still as can be—watching Voldemort with something akin to fascination on his face.

“I hope you are my downfall, Harry Potter,” Voldemort said softly as he pointed his wand at him, “Avada Kedavra.”

Green light blinded Harry, and a deafening scream filled his ears.

“I’ll come back for you, Harry. I’ll find a way,” A soft voice echoed through the house, and Harry lifted up a small pudgy hand to wave goodbye.

Severus pulled out of Harry’s mindscape with a heaving sob, pulling Harry into a tight hug as though to make sure he was still there.

Harry, however, was frozen, unable to comprehend what he had just seen. Unable to understand why he’d never seen the memory before. Why had he not seen that when the dementors made him relive his worst memories? Why was it locked away? More than that, is that what Voldemort remembered? Is that why he was so surprised in the graveyard when Harry still thought he wanted to kill him? What the fuck was going on?

Severus was trying to get his attention, Harry could tell, but he couldn’t bring himself to respond. So he sat, eyes unfocused, staring blankly into nothingness. He was pretty sure he heard Severus swear, which would have made him laugh had he been in control of himself.

There was a scuffle, a conversation that Harry couldn’t focus on and then faces Harry couldn’t discern looking at him in concern.

And then someone started laughing. The laugh was broken, choked, borderline hysterical. Who was laughing? Why were they laughing? The laughter got louder, the only sound filling Harry’s ears.

Hands gripped Harry’s shoulders, and a face finally came into focus.

Harry lifted a hand and waved, “Hello Tom, you came back for me.”

And then everything went black.

Harry wasn’t sure how long he was out for. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours, but when he finally opened his eyes again, blinking back into focus, he found himself lying on the couch, his head in someone’s lap as they ran their fingers through his hair. Harry resisted the urge to burrow himself into whoever’s lap he was lying in and looked around the room.

Blurry faces came into focus. Severus was there; obviously, they were in his room. Narcissa was there too, her eyes focused on Harry, full of concern. Sirius looked like he’d been crying, wrapped up in Remus’ arms, holding on like a life raft.

“Harry?” Narcissa asked softly, getting up from her chair to kneel in front of Harry, “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” Harry croaked out, his voice raspy.

Sirius was up in a second with a glass of water to hand to Harry. He took it with a grateful smile.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Sirius asked, “Snape told us a bit, but,” Sirius trailed off, and Harry looked over and Severus, who honestly didn’t look much better than Harry at this point. Harry stammered a bit, still not really able to form coherent thoughts and sentences.

Sirius’ face softened, “It’s ok, pup. You can tell us later.”

Harry shook his head, finding his voice, “I need to speak to Voldemort. Alone.”

“Harry,” Severus started, but Harry cut him off.

“No,” Harry said forcefully, “Alone.”

Severus looked at Harry and nodded, shuffling everyone out of the room despite the various protests.

Harry sat up and looked at Voldemort, who was looking at him very confused.

“I need you to tell me what happened the night you killed my parents,” Harry said without preamble.

Voldemort flinched slightly, but looking at Harry’s determined expression, he sighed and started talking. 

“It was late when I arrived; I wanted the dark so they couldn’t see me coming,” Voldemort swallowed, “I blasted the front door open and killed your father.”

“Did he say anything to you? Did you say anything to him?” Harry pressed.

Voldemort creased his eyebrows in confusion, “I told him I was sorry.”

“And then you killed him,” Harry said.

“Harry, what is this about?” Voldemort asked, rubbing his hands over his face.

“Because until today, that’s not how I remembered it,” Harry replied.

Voldemort’s eyes snapped to Harry’s, “What?”

“The memory that the dementors make me relive, it’s almost completely different,” Harry sighed, “I had a dream about that night, and it was different. So I asked Sev to try and find the real one for me.”

“Oh, Harry. I’m so sorry,” Voldemort breathed before pulling Harry into a hug.

“It’s ok,” Harry said softly, “You kept your promise.”

When Severus had finally managed to shuffle everyone out of his quarters and back to Malfoy Manor, Sirius and Voldemort seemed particularly disinclined to leave, he settled Harry onto the couch and made him a cup of tea. The two didn’t talk, just content to be in each other’s company.

“She was amazing,” Harry finally spoke into the silence, “My mum, I mean. Even in her last moments, she wasn’t worried about herself. She was worried about me and Voldemort.”

Severus released a shaky sigh, “She was always like that. Always putting others before herself. The number of times she put herself between my father and me,” Severus swallowed, “She was always so fearless.”

“Do you think they’d be proud of me, Sev?” Harry asked quietly.

Severus turned and pulled Harry into a hug, “Oh Harry, I know they would.”

Harry eventually made his way back to Gryffindor Tower. It was well past curfew when he made it back, so he was a little bit surprised to see Ron sitting in the common room. 

Ron looked up when Harry walked in, “You alright, mate?” He asked quietly.

Try as he might, Harry couldn’t help the tears that formed in his eyes. Ron got up and walked over to Harry, putting his arm around his shoulder and guiding him to the couch.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ron asked. Harry shook his head, and Ron just nodded before pulling Harry into a hug and letting him cry. “It’ll be alright, Harry,” Ron whispered into Harry’s hair, “It’ll be alright.”

Ron had obviously talked to Hermione before Harry had woken up that morning because the two seemed to have formed an impenetrable shield around Harry whilst he was still emotionally vulnerable, not letting anyone get close. He saw Theo and Draco shooting him concerned looks from across the great hall, but he just didn’t have the wherewithal to try and be reassuring at the moment.

“Where’s Umbridge?” Harry heard Ginny ask. 

Harry’s eyes snapped up to the staff table where they were, in fact, missing the pink toad. Harry tried not to let the sick glee he felt show on his face. He was more than aware who was in the school last night and wouldn’t be surprised if he had made a quick pit stop before heading back to Malfoy Manor.

The whispers in the great hall became louder as people started to notice she was missing.

Dumbledore stood up, “As most of you have noticed by now, Professor Umbridge is no longer in the school. She has been called away on emergency Ministry business. The new professor will be arriving tomorrow, so anyone who has Defence Against The Dark Arts today will make their way to the library that period to study on their own. Thank you,” Dumbledore said before sitting back down.

Ron scoffed quietly, “Emergency Ministry business, my arse.”

“How’d he even get in the school?” Hermione asked Harry quietly.

“He was here last night to see me; I’ll tell you about it later,” Harry replied, “I wonder who the new teacher is going to be?”

The rest of the day was fairly normal. The news that Umbridge was gone had done wonders for Harry’s mood. He was sat in his room doing his homework when he heard someone knock lightly on the door.

“Um, Harry?” Harry looked up to see Neville standing in the doorway, looking half amused, and half terrified.

“What’s up, Nev?” Harry asked.

“There are some people at the portrait hole looking for you,” Neville replied with a laugh.

Harry screwed up his face in confusion but shrugged and walked out into the common room and opened the portrait hole.

“PRETTY EYES!” Theo yelled the second he saw Harry. He and Draco were leaning against each other, holding a bottle of Firewhiskey each.

“Are you drunk?” Harry asked incredulously.

“No!” Draco said, somehow managing to slur a one-syllable word.

Harry looked between the two, “What are you doing here?” 

Theo pouted, “I wanted to see you. Draco wanted to see the Gryffindor common room.”

Harry took a deep breath and scrubbed his hands over his face before standing off to the side, “Get in before you get all of us in trouble.”

Theo pulled Harry forward by his tie and gave him a slightly off centre kiss before walking in, Draco trailing behind him.

“It’s so fucking red!” Draco exclaimed, looking around the room.

Ron scoffed, “The Slytherin common room is green and covered in snakes, so simmer down, blondie.”

Theo turned a startled look on Ron, “When were you in the Slytherin common room?”

Ron winked, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Theo sat down on the couch and dragged Harry onto his lap, burying his face in Harry’s neck.

“So, what’s with the party?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Umbridge is gone!” Draco exclaimed happily, “I’m surprised you lot aren’t having a party.”

“It’s a Wednesday, Malfoy,” Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

“And?” Draco asked, genuinely perplexed.

“And we’re holding off from having a party in case the next one is worse,” George piped up from the other side of the room.

“Wouldn’t want to jinx it,” Fred continued with a nod.

Draco looked utterly horrified, “Have we jinxed it?”

“Definitely,” Fred and George replied seriously.

It took a lot of convincing before Harry could convince Draco that he had not, in fact, jinxed it and that if the next Defence teacher was an asshole, it wasn’t at all his fault. It turned out that Draco was a very emotional drunk, much to Fred and George’s amusement.

The Slytherin fifth years looked slightly worse for wear the next morning at breakfast. Blaise was actually asleep at the table, and Theo looked about two seconds away from murdering anyone who uttered a single word.

Dumbledore clapped loudly to get everyone’s attention, “I’d like to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Bartholomew Hardy.”

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Harry whispered to himself as he looked up at the staff table as the rest of the staff and students applauded politely.

The dark-haired teacher scanned the great hall, coming to a stop on Harry to give him a wink.

“Must be a record, having the same teacher for two years in a row,” Harry said quietly to Ron and Hermione, who looked at him in confusion before their eyes widened.

“Not-Moody?” Ron asked, his eyes flicking up to the staff table.

Harry smiled widely and nodded, “Not-Moody.”

Chapter Text

“So,” Draco said, slinging his arm around Harry’s shoulder, “Who’s the new defence professor?”

Harry adopted the most innocent expression he could muster, “I have no idea.”

Draco scoffed, “Don’t give me that shit, Potter. I saw your face when he was introduced. So tell me, who is it?”

Harry smirked, “I think I’ll leave that for you to figure out, Malfoy.”

“Harry!” Draco whined.

Harry just laughed and slipped out of Draco’s hold, making his way to the greenhouses.

“You’re so mean!” Draco yelled after him.

“But you love me anyway!” Harry yelled back.

Harry was practically bouncing with excitement at the prospect of seeing Barty again. Hermione kept asking if he had ants in his pants, something that made Ron shudder, remembering the time Fred and George actually put ants in his pants.

When classes for the day were finally over, Harry all but sprinted to the Defense classroom and pounded on the door.

Barty opened the door with a raised eyebrow, which morphed into a smile when he saw Harry.

Harry smiled wickedly and pointed at Barty, “Hey, it’s Not-Moody!”

Barty laughed and pulled Harry into a hug. “How’s my favourite menace?” He asked after Harry had let him go.

“I’m not a menace, Bartholomew, ” Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

“You are too,” Barty said with a laugh, 

Harry huffed and rolled his eyes, “How’s everyone back home?”

Barty grinned, “Bella threw an absolute storm of a tantrum when the Dark Lord told her she couldn’t come and be the new teacher.”

Harry laughed loudly at the image of Bellatrix as a teacher. “That would have been a disaster of nightmarish proportions.”

Barty chuckled, “That was the Dark Lord’s line of thinking as well.”

“Who knows you’re here?” Harry asked.

“Basically everyone at the Manor. Lucius had to fast track it through the Board of Governors,” Barty replied.

Harry laughed, “He didn’t tell Draco. He’s been in a shitty mood all day because I won’t tell him who you are.”

Barty laughed loudly, “Maybe I’ll turn him into a ferret again; then he’ll know who I am.”

Barty and Harry chatted for a couple of hours until curfew, when Harry had to head back to Gryffindor tower.

Draco was still in a strop with him for the next couple of days when he still wouldn’t tell him who Barty was. He finally took pity on him on the Friday before their Defense class, only in so much to say that if he didn’t behave, he might get turned into a ferret. Draco turned stark white, which Harry thought was quite impressive considering how pale he already was. Harry was still laughing when they entered the Defense classroom.

“Something to share with the class, Potter-Black?” Barty asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry smirked, “Nothing, Professor Hardy, just letting Malfoy know the consequences of messing around in your class.”

Barty’s lip twitched, “Alright then, settle in,” Barty turned back to the class as everyone else filed in and started to pull out their books, “No. Absolutely not!” Barty barked, and everyone froze, “I won’t have my classroom polluted by the utter drivel that is in those books,” That got a laugh out of everyone in the class as they put the books back, “I’ll have the name of the new book up on the notice board in your common rooms over the weekend, and you can owl order them. Today we will be learning shield charms. Can anyone tell me the incantation?” 

Hermione’s hand shot up, and Barty pointed at her, “ Protego , sir.”

“Excellent,” Barty said with a clap, “5 points for Gryffindor,” Barty scanned the classroom, and his eyes landed on Harry, “Mr Potter-Black, care to help me demonstrate?”

Harry smiled brightly and jumped up to the front of the classroom.

“Ok, so, I’m going to shield, and Mr Potter-Black is going to try and break through it. Ready?” Harry nodded, and as Barty threw up a shield, Harry shouted, “ Stupefy !” Putting probably a bit too much power behind the spell, because Barty’s shield completely shattered, and he went flying into the wall.

“Whoops,” Harry said sheepishly before walking over and renervating Barty, “Sorry about that.”

“I forget that you’re so bloody powerful,” Barty said, rolling his eyes as Harry held out a hand to pull him up, “Alright, change of plans,” Barty said to the sniggering class, “Mr Potter-Black here is going to shield, and we’re going to see how many people it takes to break it.”

Harry looked at Barty, wide-eyed, as the annoying bastard just smirked at him. Petty. That’s what it was. The class formed a line behind Barty, “ Expelliarmus will do for this experiment.”

Barty was the first to cast, and it barely made a dent in his shield; Barty was then joined by Ron and Hermione, who, having practised shielding with him for the TriWizard tournament, knew they weren’t going to get through. Next was Neville. Harry frowned as the spell hit his shield; he could feel that Neville’s spell had a solid amount of power behind it, but it was like by the time it hit his shield, more than half the power had just dissipated. It was odd. Pansy, Blaise and Tracey Davis joined, and Harry just knew the next one would break his shield. Harry looked to see who the next one was and groaned; he was going to be so insufferable. Draco joined the procession of students casting, and finally, Harry’s shield broke. He managed to keep a firm hold on his wand, though, so he counted it as a win.

“Well done, Mr Potter-Black, 20 points for Gryffindor,” Barty said happily as everyone took their seats.

“Merlin, you are incredible,” Theo whispered in Harry’s ear, looking at him in awe.

Harry blushed a fairly impressive shade of scarlet, something that made Theo quite happy if the smirk on his face was anything to go by.

Barty spent the rest of the class going through the theory of the Protego charm. He really was an excellent teacher; especially now he didn’t have to pretend to be Moody. He was probably on par with Remus as the best teacher that they’d had. Though, Harry wasn’t sure whether that was actually a compliment or not. Quirell was weird, especially now that Harry knew it wasn’t Voldemort on the back of his head (he really should try and figure out what that was all about). Lockhart was a fraud and a garbage teacher. Remus was amazing; if you discounted the whole turning into a werewolf and almost killing them thing, which Harry did. Barty as Moody was a good teacher, but pretending to be Mad-Eye Moody came with its own drawbacks, like, for instance, being completely fucking bonkers. So it was nice to see Barty actually in his element. Harry barely kept the smile off his face the whole lesson. He probably looked quite mad.

“Hey, Nev!” Harry called out as he walked out of the classroom.

Neville turned around and smiled at Harry, “What’s up?”

Harry ran a hand through his hair, “This may seem like a weird question, but is that your wand?”

Neville frowned, “Well, yeah, it was my dad's first, but it’s mine now.”

Harry huffed, “Well, that explains it then.”

“Explains what?” Neville asked, confusion evident on his face.

“Why your magic is all wonky,” Harry said with a smile.

Neville frowned again, “My magic is wonky?”

“Yeah!” Harry said with a shrug.

“How do you know that?” Neville asked, wide-eyed.

“Oh, I could feel it in class when you cast your spell at my shield. You’re bloody powerful, Nev,” Neville snorted, “No! You are! I could feel it, but by the time the spell reached my shield, there was barely any power behind it. It’s cause your magic is fighting the wand,” Harry grabbed Neville’s hand, “Come. We’re going to McGonagall so we can get permission to go to Ollivander's to get you a new wand.”

“Why are you doing this?” Neville asked, a little bit choked up.

Harry looked at him with confusion on his face, “You’re my friend, Nev.”

Neville looked suspiciously misty-eyed, but Harry chose not to draw attention to it instead, dragging Neville bodily towards McGonagall’s office and knocking loudly.

“Mr Longbottom and Mr Potter-Black, what can I do for you?” McGonagall asked as she opened the door.

“Nev needs permission to go to Ollivander's and get a new wand,” Harry said, pushing Neville slightly, so he was standing in front of McGonagall.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow, “And what is wrong with your current wand, Mr Longbottom?”

“It was my Father’s,” Neville said under his breath.

McGonagall muttered something under her breath that sounded very much like “Fucking Augusta”, but Harry chose to ignore it.

“You can meet me here tomorrow at 9 am, and I will take you to Diagon Alley,” McGonagall said, handing Neville a slip of paper.

Harry smiled at Neville, who was looking, wide-eyed, at McGonagall, obviously having heard the “Fucking Augusta” comment as well.

“Collecting more strays?” Ron whispered in Harry’s ear as Harry dragged Neville back to the common room and forced him to sit down with him, Ron, and Hermione. Harry sent Ron a quelling look and he threw his hands up in surrender.

In a lot of ways, Harry sympathised with Neville. Growing up in the shadow of his parents with an overbearing guardian, not really feeling like he’d ever fit in. Harry felt bad that he hadn’t tried harder with Neville. He’d practically saved his life with the gillyweed in the second task, and Harry didn’t even think he’d ever thanked him for it.

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, a sick feeling settled in Harry’s stomach. Neville’s parents. Oh fuck. Barty and the Lestrange’s had tortured them into insanity, and Harry had spent all summer with them like it was nothing. Had began to think of them as family. Bile raised in Harry’s stomach, and after quickly excusing himself, Harry ran and emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet. 

It took a while, but after he finally stopped shaking and vomiting, Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and spelled the curtains on his bed shut so it would look like he was asleep.

Following a random seventh year out of the portrait hole, Harry quickly made his way to Barty’s quarters. He didn’t knock, he just blasted through the wards and stormed up to Barty’s room.

“Harry? What are you doing here?” Barty asked, after Harry had thrown off the invisibility cloak, murderous rage blazing in his eyes.

“The Longbottoms,” Harry said through clenched teeth.

Barty sighed, “I was wondering if that was going to come up.”

“Why would - ?” Harry started, almost yelling, but Barty cut him off.

“No. Sit down and listen,” Barty’s voice was harsh, more harsh than Harry had ever heard; which made Harry sit down almost instinctively.

“We did torture the Longbottom’s,” Barty said with a sad sigh, and Harry went to stand up again, “I said sit down!” Barty barked again, waiting for Harry to do so, even though Harry’s magic was crackling, waiting to attack, “We did torture them, but we didn’t torture them into insanity.”

Harry stopped short, his magic almost fizzling out in confusion, “What do you mean?”

Barty scrubbed a hand over his face, “We thought they knew where our Lord was. So we attacked them. Bella tortured them. It was horrible and wrong but she only held them under the curse for maybe five seconds. It was five seconds too long, but that was all she did. It was obvious they didn’t know anything, and then Neville started crying. Something in Bella snapped at hearing the child cry and she apologised and ran,” Barty sighed, “Bella had just lost a baby, and along with losing the Dark Lord, she went a bit off the deep end. I don’t know what happened to them, or how they ended up in St Mungo’s, but it wasn’t us.”

“Fuck,” Harry breathed, trying to look for any sign of deception on Barty’s face, but he couldn’t see any, “Fuck.”

“You believe me right, Harry?” Barty asked, his voice small, “Please tell me you believe me.”

“Yeah,” Harry said, walking over to pull the shaking Barty into a hug, “I believe you.”

And Harry did. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why exactly he believed him, but he did. But that begged the question, what actually happened to the Longbottom’s?

Harry woke up a little bit morose the next day. Neville had already gone to meet McGonagall, which Harry was both pleased and sad about. He was pleased because it meant Neville was getting his new wand, but he was also sad because he really wanted to wrap Neville up and protect him from the world. He vowed that from now on he would be a better friend to Neville.

Neville came back from Diagon with a cherry and unicorn hair wand and the biggest smile that Harry had ever seen on his face.

Harry pulled out his Herbology essay before calling Neville over, “Hey Nev, I’m struggling a bit with this essay. Do you reckon you have time to help me out?”

Neville looked at Harry a bit wide-eyed, “Really?”

Harry laughed, “Yeah, you’re the resident Herbology genius. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the Gillyweed thing! No one is better at Herbology than you. So, you think you can help me? I can help you with Defense if you want.”

Neville still looked a bit shell-shocked, but readily agreed, happy to have Harry’s help with Defense, especially now he had a wand that worked for him.

After they’d finished Harry’s essay, Harry dragged Neville out to an empty classroom.

“Ok, Protego. Reckon you can cast it?” Harry asked. Neville swallowed hard but nodded. The shield was good, but Harry could see it flickering slightly, “Ok, that was great! We just need to adjust your grip a bit.” 

Harry helped Neville with his stance and his grip and instructed him to try again. This time, the shield was strong.

“ Expelliarmus!” Harry yelled, not giving Neville a chance to get nervous and let the shield fall. Harry’s spell bounced harmlessly off Neville’s shield.

“See!” Harry yelled excitedly, “I told you you were powerful! I absolutely shattered Professor Hardy’s shield in class, and my spell did nothing to you!”

Neville was looking at his wand, completely in shock, before an almost hysterical laugh bubbled out from him.

“Come on,” Harry said after Neville’s laugh had died down, “I’m going to shield, and you’re going to try and get through.”

Neville threw Harry a dry look, “Harry, it took like eight people to break through your shield in class. I’m not going to be able to do it.”

“I disagree,” Harry said with a raised eyebrow, “And even if you can’t, who cares?”

Neville rolled his eyes, but got in position anyway.

Twin cry’s of “Protego,” and “Expelliarmus,” echoed through the room, and although Harry’s wand stayed in his hand, his shield shattered under the force of Neville’s spell.

“I told you!” Harry yelled.

Harry didn’t think he’d ever seen Neville look so proud of himself.

Chapter Text

By the end of September, Neville had become an almost permanent fixture in the group. He and Draco had a bit of a rocky start, but, like with Ron, once Neville realised that Draco wasn’t as much of a pompous git as he presented himself, they got along reasonably well. 

Harry was using any spare time he had to look into the Longbottom’s case. Quietly, of course, Neville hadn’t actually told anyone what happened to his parents, and Harry would never want to hurt his friend by bringing anyone else in on his research. 

He’d requested the trial transcripts from the DMLE, but it just seemed like it was Barty Crouch Snr exclaiming they were guilty with no actual evidence. Sure, Bellatrix was screaming about how they did it, but even in the pensieve memory, Harry could tell she’d gone off the deep end at that point. It was similar to how Sirius reacted after Pettigrew had blown up the street and escaped.

Actually, it was eerily similar. 

Harry rubbed a hand against his head in frustration before packing his research up and walking to the owlery to send another letter to the DMLE. Honestly, he was surprised how forthcoming they had been with the records so far. Though being able to sign the letters off with -

Harry James Potter-Black

Lord of The Noble House of Potter

Heir to The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black  

Probably had more sway than Harry really wanted to think about. 

Harry didn’t like throwing his name around, even when he was just The-Boy-Who-Wouldn’t-Fucking-Die. But now, as Lord of a Noble House and Heir to one of the oldest and most respected (feared) Houses in Wizarding Britain, Harry’s name held a lot of weight. So he figured he might as well learn to use it.

Two days later, Harry received a copy of Sirius’ arrest records.

It was jarring.

Not only was reading about one of the worst days of Sirius’ life horrible. It was almost word for word, the same as Bellatrix’s trial transcripts.

The suspect was cornered on the muggle street of Hatfield Road. The suspect had thrown what appeared to be a bombarda at the street and was surrounded by the bodies of the twelve muggles and the lone finger of one Peter Pettigrew.

The suspect was found laughing maniacally, repeating

“I did it! I killed them! I killed Lily and James!” 

The suspect was subsequently arrested and sent to Azkaban pending trial.

Harry scowled at the crossed-out notation of ‘pending trial.’

Pulling out the Lestrange’s trial transcripts, Harry put them side by side.

Bartemius Crouch Snr - The four of you stand accused of capturing the Auror Frank Longbottom and subjecting him to the Cruciatus curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your Master, He Who Must Not Be Named - 

Bartemius Crouch Jr - Father, I didn’t! I didn’t, I swear, Father, don’t send me back to the Dementors!

Bartemius Crouch Snr - You are further accused of using the Cruciatus curse on Frank Longbottom's wife.

Bellatrix Lestrange - We did it! We tortured them! We tortured Alice and Frank!

Harry pulled back. There were so many things wrong with just that tiny segment of the trial. Firstly, they shouldn’t have been tried together; it was against ICW regulations. Secondly, why weren’t the brothers saying anything? Harry knew Rodolphus and Rabastan; they would have never stayed quiet in a situation like that. Third, Barty was vehemently stating his innocence, and no one would listen. Fourth, why was Bellatrix calling them Alice and Frank? They weren’t friends, and they didn’t know each other well enough to use first names. It just didn’t make sense. And finally, the wording of both Bellatrix and Sirius’ confessions were almost identical. And Harry had seen the pensieve memory. Bellatrix was laughing almost as maniacally as he imagined Sirius would have been.

There were just too many similarities between the two cases. 

Between the two prophecy children. Harry’s mind supplied.

Not that the actual prophecy could be anyone but Harry. But the prophecy Sev and Voldemort heard. Well, that could have been either Harry or Neville. 

Alice is your godmother. 

The thought struck him so hard that Harry actually gasped. Neville’s mother was his godmother. Sirius was his godfather. One in St Mungos. One in Azkaban. 

No one left to look after poor orphan Harry Potter other than the Dursley’s.

Harry needed to speak to Voldemort.

“Can I use your floo?” Harry asked by way of greeting when he’d all but barged into Severus’ office.

“Why, Harry! It’s so wonderful to see you. I’d love to have a chat with you. Thank you so much for gracing me with your presence,” Severus drawled with more sarcasm than any one person had the right to possess.

“Your humour is second to none, Sev,” Harry replied dryly, “And normally, I would love to engage in a battle of wits with you, but I really need to speak to Voldemort right now.”

Severus frowned, “Are you ok, Harry?”

Harry sighed and sat down, “Ok, so you know how I’ve been trying to be a better friend to Neville?” Severus nodded, so Harry continued, “Well, I asked Barty about the reason they went to Azkaban, and when Barty told me they didn’t do it, I started researching, and I’ve found some things that seemed really off.”

Harry laid out his research on the table, and Severus came over and sat down next to him.

“See,” Harry said, pointing between Bellatrix and Sirius’ rants, “They’re almost word for word identical confessions,” Harry took a deep breath, “Not to mention that Alice was my godmother,” Severus looked up sharply, “I think someone wanted both my godparents out of the picture.”

Severus lifted a slightly shaky hand up to his head and massaged his temples.

“Right,” Severus said after a moment, “I’ll just -” and waved a vague hand at the floo before walking over and flooing Malfoy Manor.

Severus pulled his head out of the fire and sat back down, head in his hands, and Harry waited with bated breath for Voldemort to step through. It took a moment, but eventually, the man stepped through and, after spelling the soot from his robes, sat down across from Harry.

By the time Harry had finished, once again, explaining what he had found, Voldemort looked pensive.

“We need to find a way to get in and see the Longbottom’s.”

“Fuck,” Harry breathed, “I’m gonna have to tell Neville about everything, aren’t I?”

It took more time than Harry was willing to admit to work up the nerve to speak to Neville, so much for that Gryffindor bravery. Eventually, after a Herbology class, so Neville was in a good mood, Harry dragged him off to an empty classroom. After throwing up some wards and silencing charms that Sev had taught him, Harry sat down across from an apprehensive-looking Neville.

“Ok, Harry. You’re kind of scaring me. What’s going on?” Neville asked, his voice shaking slightly.

Harry took a deep breath, “I’m going to tell you some things, and I need you to promise me that however much you want to scream at me and yell at me and curse me, that you’ll let me explain to the end.”

“Alright,” Neville said carefully.

Harry swallowed, “I wasn’t completely honest about what happened at the end of the third task. There was a portkey, but it took me to a graveyard. A graveyard where Peter Pettigrew was waiting for me,” Neville gasped, and Harry sent him a wry smile, “He tied me to one of the gravestones and then stole my blood for a ritual to bring Voldemort back.”

“Harry!” Neville exclaimed worriedly.

“Please, please just listen,” Harry begged, and Neville nodded. Sighing, Harry continued, “Voldemort came back, but instead of trying to kill me, he said he wanted to talk to me. He told me that my mother was actually from a squib line of the Gaunt Family, and we were related. He was a friend of my family, Nev. My parents were going to change sides.”

“Merlin,” Neville breathed.

“I know,” Harry said, chuckling a bit, “And then someone heard a prophecy. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him… born as the seventh month dies … It could have been me,” Harry looked into Neville’s eyes, “Or it could have been you.”

“Fuck off,” Neville said quietly.

“It gets worse,” Harry warned before he continued, “Something happened to Voldemort. He went crazy and was desperate to track me down. It’s why our parents went into hiding. It was like he was cursed. I finally remembered what happened that night, and Nev, he didn’t want to kill my parents. He was crying when he killed my mum.”

Neville reached out, “Harry, I’m so sorry.”

Harry took a deep, shuddering breath, “I spent the summer at Malfoy Manor. For the start of the summer, it was just me, the Malfoy’s, Voldemort, and our defense teacher from last year.”

Neville looked confused, “Moody?”

Harry swallowed, “No. Someone was disguised as Moody. Barty Crouch Jr.”

Neville ripped his hand back and stared at Harry with rage in his eyes, “What did you say?” He hissed.

“You promised you’d listen, Nev!” Harry begged.

“Next, you’ll tell me the fucking Lestrange’s were there as well!” Neville yelled, and Harry winced, “You’re fucking with me! They’re supposed to be in Azkaban for TORTURING MY PARENTS INTO INSANITY!”

“BUT THEY DIDN’T!” Harry yelled as he watched Neville’s quite frankly terrifying magic swirl around him.

“Fuck you! You don’t know that! They fucking confessed! Fuck you, Harry!” Neville screamed.

“So did Sirius! They confessed the exact same way! Your mother was my godmother! Someone wanted them out of the way!” Harry panted, feeling Neville’s magic suck the air out of the room.

Neville snapped his attention back to Harry, his magic calming down slightly, “Run that by me again.”

“I asked Barty about it,” Harry said quietly, “He said they went to your house, and Bellatrix did cast on your parents, not for long though, because you started screaming. Bellatrix had just lost a baby, and hearing you scream made her turn tail and run. I looked at the trial transcripts, Nev. Sirius and Bellatrix’s confessions were almost word for word.”

Neville slumped back into his seat, “Why are you telling me this?” He asked, voice raspy.

“Voldemort wants to see your parents. If it’s not Cruciatus damage that’s the problem with them, it could be a powerful charm. One that may be able to be broken,” Harry said carefully.

“My mum is really your godmother?” Neville asked.

“Yeah,” Harry said with a soft smile.

Neville creased his eyebrows, “But why would anyone need her out of the way?”

“Someone wanted me raised by the Dursley’s,” Harry replied.

Neville sent Harry a sharp look, “They don’t treat you very well, do they?”

Harry sighed, “It doesn’t matter now; I never have to see them again.”

Neville continued to study Harry for a long couple of minutes before eventually nodding his head, “I’ll get you in. We’re going to have to sneak out of the school, though. And possibly into St Mungos. I don’t want Gran finding out if you turn out to be wrong.”

“Of course,” Harry replied with a nod before standing up, “Come on, let’s go and see Sev.”

“Sev?” Neville asked.

“Professor Snape,” Harry said with a smile as Neville squeaked.

When Severus opened the door to see Harry and Neville standing in the corridor, all he did was sigh loudly and usher them in.

“More Gryffindors, Harry? Surely having my room invaded by Weasley and Granger was enough. Must you subject me to Longbottom as well?” Severus snarked as they sat down.

“Don’t be rude, Sev. We both know you have more Gryffindor in you than you’d willingly admit,” Harry replied cheekily.

“I will kill you, Harry. Don’t test me,” Severus replied dryly.

“Nah, you love me,” Harry said with a laugh.

“I’m so confused,” Neville said quietly.

“A feeling you should be intimately familiar with, Mr Longbottom,” Severus drawled.

“Sev,” Harry snapped, “Stop being rude,” Harry turned to Neville, “Sorry, Nev. I don’t know why he’s being such a bastard today.”

“Second year essays,” Severus said under his breath as Harry snorted.

“Ah, that would explain it.”

Severus took a deep breath, “I assume you want me to contact the Dark Lord.”

“Please,” Harry said with a smile.

Harry looked over at Neville, who had turned pretty much stark white during the exchange with Severus, and now, at the prospect of meeting Voldemort, looked like he was going to be sick.

Harry reached out to grab Neville’s hand, “It’ll be ok, he won’t hurt you. I lived with him for two months. Ron and Hermione have met him. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Neville sent him a shaky smile and relaxed slightly, but the colour still didn’t return to his face, so Harry kept a tight hold on Neville’s hand.

It didn’t take long for Voldemort to step out of the floo, and when he did, Neville let out a small gasp, obviously recognising him as Lord Gaunt. Despite the fact that Voldemort used a mild glamour during public appearances, the similarities between the two faces were quite obvious if you knew what you were looking for.

“Heir Longbottom,” Voldemort greeted with a slight bow of his head.

“Lord Gaunt,” Neville replied, his voice shaking only slightly.

Voldemort took a seat across from Neville, “I have a few formalities to go through before we get to the crux of the meeting.”

Neville looked confused but nodded his head, and Voldemort sighed, “First off, as the representative of Noble House of Lestrange, I have been granted leave to offer the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom apologies and responsibilities for the attack on the Lord and Lady Longbottom. Should it be discovered that the attack by the Lestrange’s resulted in the hospitalisation of the Lord and Lady Longbottom, the Noble House of Lestrange will offer recompense to the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom however Heir Longbottom sees fit.”

By the time Voldemort had finished, Neville’s jaw had dropped, but he shook it off quickly and drew himself up, “The Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom accepts this pledge from the Noble House of Lestrange and thanks Lord Gaunt as the representative of this vow. So mote it be.”

“So mote it be,” Voldemort repeated.

Harry had no idea what was happening, but it felt really fucking important. Not to mention the magic he felt vibrating through the room; it was headey and made Harry almost giddy.

“Thank you for your consideration, Heir Longbottom. Now, what has Harry told you about his research?” Voldemort asked.

“Just that he thinks that my parents weren’t tortured into insanity and that Bellatrix and Sirius’ confessions seemed too similar to ignore,” Neville replied.

Voldemort nodded, “This is true. I believe that your parents may be locked under a charm. There is a chance that, if I am able to see your parents, I may be able to break it. It clearly has something to do with the mind, and I am a Master Legilimens, but as your parents are currently unable to give consent, I will need yours.”

Neville took a deep breath, “I will give you consent, but I will be in the room at the time, for the entire duration.”

Voldemort acquiesced easily, “Of course.”

“Nev wants us to sneak in,” Harry said to Voldemort, “He doesn’t want to tell his Gran just in case we’re wrong.”

Voldemort nodded, “That’s fair enough. It just means we can’t use the floo. We’ll have to apparate to the public entrance and disillusion ourselves from there.”

“Nev and I can use the cloak rather than disillusionment charms,” Harry pointed out.

With plans made, Harry and Neville went back to Gryffindor Tower to grab the cloak and get Ron and Hermione to cover for them. The plan was to meet Voldemort outside the Three Broomsticks, so Harry took Neville through the passage to Honeydukes and, after carefully weaving through the late afternoon crowd, found Voldemort. Holding his arms out for the boys, Voldemort side-along apparated to the St Mungo’s.

It was disgustingly easy to sneak into the Hospital, easier than sneaking into the Ministry, and that was saying something. Honestly, had the Wizarding World never heard of a security guard? Bloody Harrods had a better security system than St Mungo’s.

After silently following a medi-witch through the doors to the Janus Thickey Ward, Neville directed the group to the room that housed his parents.

It was a bleak picture, and for the first time in his life, Harry was almost glad his parents were dead if this was the other option. Being able to see them, touch them, know they were there but not having them respond to you, it was a fate Harry would never wish on anyone. And Harry could not be more hopeful that his and Voldemort’s theory was right.

Neville had a death grip on Harry’s hand as Voldemort knelt down in front of Alice and pointed his wand with a whisper of “Legilimens.” 

The waiting was awful. The room was silent, bar the sound of Neville’s laboured breathing, and the time was moving at an almost glacial pace.

Voldemort had been in Alice’s head for a long time, and you could see the strain it was taking on him. He was sweating, his wand hand was shaking, his breathing was becoming harder, and Harry was starting to worry.

When Voldemort fell back with a gasp, Harry was there in a second to catch him.

“Well?” Harry asked, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Neville?” The voice was soft and croaky, but it somehow echoed throughout the entire room.

“Mum?”

Chapter Text

“Mum?” Neville’s voice was small like he almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He walked closer, slowly as if not to frighten her.

“My baby,” Alice, her voice croaky from years of disuse, leaned over and cupped Neville’s face between her palms, “Look at you, my baby boy all grown up. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

Neville grabbed Alice’s hands on his cheeks like they were lifelines, “It’s ok, mum. You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”

Alice, seemingly finally aware that there were other people in the room besides Neville, turned her head to study Harry. Her eyes narrowing in confusion as she looked at him.

“I’m sorry,” Alice said, not taking her eyes off Harry, “You look so familiar but I can’t place you.”

Harry smiled, “I’m Harry, Lady Longbottom, Harry Potter.”

Alice gasped, “James and Lily’s boy?”

“Yes ma'am.”

Alice scoffed, “None of that! I’m your godmother, you call me Alice, love,” Alice studied him for a moment, “I’m sure you’ve heard this all your life, but you look so like your mother.”

Harry let out a startled laugh, “Actually, most people told me I looked like dad.”

Alice rolled her eyes, “Maybe to people who didn’t know them. I’m sure you’ve got James in you somewhere, but your face, that’s all Lily.”

Harry beamed, he loved his father, he really did, but his mother held a special place in his heart and to know that he got more from her than just his eyes filled him with a warmth that ignited his entire body.

Alice smiled softly at the look on Harry’s face before turning to observe Voldemort.

Noticing where her gaze had gone, Neville cleared his throat, “Mum, this is Lord Gaunt. He’s the one that helped break the spells on you,” he said, his voice a bit shaky.

Alice’s gaze sharpened at hearing Voldemort’s name, “Gaunt? You’re Tom, aren’t you?”

Voldemort stiffened at the name, only Lily and James had been permitted to call him Tom. He still hated the name, “Lily spoke of me then?”

Alice nodded, “Often. She was quite ecstatic to find she had family that wasn’t Petunia,” Alice said with a sneer and Harry flinched.

“Mum,” Neville started carefully, “Do you know who Lord Gaunt is?”

“He’s Lily’s cousin,” Alice said with a raised eyebrow.

Neville swallowed, “Do you know who else he is?”

Alice smiled softly at her son, “It doesn’t matter who else he is Neville. He’s Lily’s cousin, that’s all that matters. But yes, Lily did tell me who he was. We spoke about it at length. Lily was my best friend, and your godmother, we didn’t keep secrets from each other,” She turned again to look at Voldemort, “I do, however, want to know why you killed her.”

Voldemort flinched, as he often did when someone brought up Lily and James’ deaths, “I didn’t want to. I wasn’t in control of myself at the time.”

Alice nodded, “I thought as much. The way Lily spoke of you, I didn’t think you’d hurt her willingly.”

Voldemort let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding, “Lady Longbottom, I hate to ask, but do you remember what happened to you?”

Alice lifted a shaky hand up to rub her face, “Honestly, not really. I remember the Lestrange’s and Crouch coming to the house, but they were only there for five, maybe ten minutes tops. I remember I was calming Neville down and then everything went black. Frank would be more likely to know what happened than me,” Alice looked around, “Where is Frank?”

“I need to rest for a moment before trying to break the spells on Frank,” Voldemort said with a sigh, “It took a lot out of me.”

“Are you ok?” Harry asked with concern, turning to check Voldemort for signs he was injured in some way.

Alice let out a soft laugh, “Lily would be happy you two are getting along so well. Before the prophecy debacle, she was trying to get James to make Tom your godfather,” Voldemort’s eyes widened, Lily never told him about that, “But James wouldn’t budge on Sirius,” Alice sighed, “Poor Sirius. We had started a petition to the Ministry to get him out of Azkaban before we were attacked.”

“You knew he wasn’t the secret keeper?” Harry asked.

“Of course we did. Peter had to tell us the secret so we knew where you were if anything happened. Sirius got out then?” Alice asked.

Harry winced, “Sort of. It’s a bit of a convoluted story.”

“We have time,” Alice said gently.

It actually took less time than Harry thought it would to explain the whole Sirius saga, including his recent acquittal, and by the end of it Alice looked pensive.

“I assume you grew up with Remus then? If Sirius was still in Azkaban all that time, it was in Lily and James' will.”

“They had a will?” Harry asked, quite shocked as it was the first he heard of it.

“Of course they did! They had a list of potential guardians a page long if something happened to them,” Alice gave Harry a piercing look, “Who did you grow up with, Harry?”

“Petunia,” Harry mumbled.

“Fucking Petunia,” Alice growled, “You were NEVER meant to go to Petunia,” Alice ran a sharp eye over Harry, “Are you ok?”

Harry nodded, “I am now.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed, and she looked like she was going to push but Voldemort came to his rescue, “I should be able to work on your husband now.”

Alice flicked worried eyes over to Frank and gave a tight nod.

It took quite a lot longer for Voldemort to break the enchantments on Frank than it did Alice, so much so that Harry was worried that it wasn’t going to work. Harry could feel Voldemort’s magic straining, which in itself was scary considering Harry knew how much power the man had at his fingertips. 

Focusing on his own magic, Harry channelled it through his body and down his arm until he felt his magic in his hand. Slowly reaching down, Harry placed his hand on Voldemort's shoulder and directed it straight into Voldemort’s core.

Both Voldemort and Harry gasped and not a moment later, Frank inhaled sharply, his previously dull eyes sparkling with life.

“What the bloody fuck was that?”

“Frank!” Alice exclaimed, and with as much force as she could manage, launched herself at her husband, holding on to him as he hugged her back, only slightly bewildered.

Harry, Neville, and Voldemort spent the next hour or so talking with Alice and Frank. Unfortunately, Frank didn’t remember what happened to them any more than Alice did. He remembered a Patronus, but couldn’t remember the form, and he remembered that he did let in the person who attacked them, they didn’t break in. So that narrowed it down a little bit. It was obviously someone they trusted, which was a terrifying thought.

It was only then that Frank asked a question that none of them had really prepared for.

“So, how are we going to get us out of here?”

Harry and Neville looked at each other wide eyed before turning to look at Voldemort, who also looked suitably lost.

Suddenly, Neville blanched, “Oh Merlin,” He breathed, “We’re going to have to tell Gran.”

“Bugger.”

Augusta Longbottom was, hands down, the most terrifying woman Harry had ever met in his life. 

The moment she stepped out of the floo, stuffed bird hat and all, Harry wanted to run; fast and far.

He could not be more grateful that the formidable woman’s ire was not focused on him. The poor group of medi-witches and healers that she was currently in a screaming match with, seemed just about ready to piss themselves. Harry had been slowly inching closer to Voldemort in the hopes that he could protect him, but honestly, he looked about as terrified of the woman as Harry did.

“You mean to tell me,” The Longbottom Dowager thundered, “That in the 14 years that my son and daughter-in-law have been in this hospital, no one has tried using Legilimency? What sort of crackpot treatment have I been paying for?”

“Well, madame, it’s a bit more complex than that. Only a master Legilimens could have..” one of the healers started, but Augusta cut him off.

“What sort of bloody hospital doesn’t have a Master Legilimens? And even if you didn’t, you could have called one in! I would have shipped one over from the other side of the world if it meant having my son and daughter-in-law back!”

“Nev,” Harry leaned over to whisper to his friend, “Your Gran is terrifying.”

“I know,” Neville replied, his tone both terrified and proud.

“Lord Gaunt,” Augusta turned to Voldemort, giving him a once over. You have my eternal gratitude,” Voldemort bowed his head to the witch who then turned to Harry, “And to you Lord Potter-Black, the House of Longbottom stands with you always.”

“Thank you ma’am,” Harry replied slightly bewildered, “The Houses of Black and Potter stand with you as well,” Harry looked up at Voldemort as if to ask if that was the correct response. Voldemort gave him a small smile and a nod.

Soon after, Voldemort lead Harry out of St Mungo’s to give the Longbottom’s some time together and to take him back to Hogwarts.

When they were clear of the hospital, Voldemort heaved a heavy sigh and turned to Harry, “We have to talk about what you did in there. Sharing your magic with me was extremely dangerous, you could have been hurt.”

“But I wasn’t,” Harry pointed out, “And your magic was straining, I could feel it. You needed help.”

“Whether or not I needed help is of no consequence, Harry,” Voldemort replied, slightly exasperated, “What you did was dangerous and I don’t want you going around sharing your magic willy nilly.”

“I don’t go sharing my magic willy nilly,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “I shared my magic with you.”

Voldemort rubbed a hand against his temple, “Just don’t do it again.”

Harry gave him a mock salute, “Sir, yes, sir.”

Voldemort wacked Harry lightly on the back of the head but was smiling at him fondly, “Come on. Let’s get you back to Hogwarts.”

Voldemort apparated Harry to right outside the Shrieking Shack, rather than Honeydukes considering the time of night. Harry threw on the invisibility cloak and made the trek through the tunnel to the school, and after freezing the branches of the Whomping Willow, Harry snuck the rest of the way back into the school.

He started the walk towards Gryffindor Tower but paused half way through and turned around to walk towards the dungeons. 

Standing in front of the wall that he remembered from his second year, Harry took a breath. Admittedly it wasn’t a great plan but he really wanted to see Theo. Everything with Neville’s parents had dragged up things he thought long buried and he felt pretty out of soughts.

Hoping to all hope this worked, because he didn’t think Severus would be best pleased if he woke him up to ask him to let him into the Slytherin dorms, Harry looked at the wall and hissed “Open, please,” because it never hurt to be polite when breaking into another houses common room. After a beat, the wall slid open and Harry let out a sigh of relief. Well, now he just had to find the fifth year dorms.

It took more time than Harry expected it to, the Slytherin dorms were a bit of a maze, but eventually Harry found the fifth year boys dorm and snuck in. All the hangings were closed, so Harry looked at the trunks at the ends of the beds. Finding Theo’s, Harry quietly made his way over and gently pulled the curtains back and pulled off his invisibility cloak.

“Theo,” Harry whispered, shaking him lightly, “Theo, wake up.”

“Piss off, Draco,” Theo mumbled, turning around and pulling the blankets over his head.

“Theo, it’s Harry,” Harry said, pulling the blankets back.

“Mmm, Pretty Eyes,” Theo mumbled with a small smile on his face, though still at least half asleep.

Harry smothered a laugh before shaking Theo a bit more forcefully. Theo finally opened his eyes and rolled over to look at Harry, “WHAT THE-” Theo started but Harry slammed his hand over Theo’s mouth.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Harry whispered urgently before pulling his hand off Theo’s mouth.

“What are you doing here? How did you even get in?” Theo asked incredulously.

Harry sighed, “I’ve had kind of a full on day and I really wanted to see you. Can I stay here tonight?”

Theo furrowed his brows in concern, “Of course. Get in.”

Harry smiled as Theo pulled the blankets back so Harry could climb in. Theo wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him close, pressing a kiss onto his temple, “Go to sleep, Harry. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Smiling slightly, Harry burrowed himself in Theo’s chest, before looking up and giving him a long slow kiss, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Theo asked, a bit confused.

“Just for being you.”

Theo smiled, “Go to sleep, baby.”

Harry buried his face back in Theo’s chest and promptly fell into the best sleep he’d had in a long time.

Chapter Text

“How long have you been watching me sleep?” Harry asked quietly as he opened his eyes to see Theo looking down at him.

“Not long,” Theo said with a chuckle before pressing a kiss to Harry’s forehead, “So, what happened that made you have to sneak into the Slytherin dorms at stupid o’clock?”

Harry sighed, “Ok, so you know how I’ve been working on something I couldn’t tell you about?” Theo nodded, “I was looking into the Longbottom case. Anyway, long story short, me, Nev, and Voldemort snuck into St Mungo’s, and it turns out that Nev’s parents were stuck under some enchantments, and Voldemort broke them, so now they’re ok.”

Theo’s eyebrows were basically in his hairline, “Fuck. That’s… wow.”

“Yeah, it just bought up a lot of things for me, and I wanted to see you. I’m sorry if I bothered you,” Harry said, eyes downcast.

“Hey, none of that,” Theo said, forcing Harry to look into his eyes, “You didn’t bother me. You could never bother me. It was amazing waking up this morning with you in my arms.”

Theo pulled Harry’s face towards him for a kiss, which Harry lent into happily.

“So,” Theo asked when they’d finally pulled apart, “How did you get in here?”

Harry smirked, “I asked nicely.”

“You asked nicely,” Theo repeated dryly.

Harry leaned up and hissed in Theo’s ear, “I said please.”

A shudder ran through Theo’s body, and he barely held back the moan that threatened to break free.

Harry grinned triumphantly, “Did you like that? Should I do it more?”

“Stop it,” Theo groaned, trying to adjust himself so Harry wouldn’t feel his quite visceral reaction to him speaking Parseltongue.

“Vengeance, Theo.”

Theo groaned again, remembering all the times he’d called Harry baby at inappropriate times, just to see his reaction. Theo was well and truly fucked.

Harry shifted uncomfortably as he felt someone approach. Their magic felt dangerous and angry, “Someone’s coming over here,” he whispered as he slinked down the bed and pulled his invisibility cloak on.

Draco yanked the curtains of Theo’s bed back with a look on his face so thunderous that Theo was momentarily taken aback, “I heard whispering,” Draco ground out.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Theo drawled in a faux-bored tone.

“Don’t fuck with me, Theo!” Draco snapped, “I heard whispering. I know someone is here. I swear to Merlin, if you’re cheating on Harry, I don’t care how long we’ve been friends, I will murder you. I will eviscerate you. I will end your fucking bloodline!”

Harry, unable to smother the doppy little grin on his face, ripped off the invisibility cloak and threw himself at Draco, pulling the startled blonde boy into a crushing hug.

“Harry?” Draco asked as he wrapped his arms around him, and Theo laughed, “What the fuck?”

“End my bloodline? Really Draco? That’s a bit dramatic even for you.”

Draco huffed, “How’d you even get in here, Harry?”

Theo snorted, “Asked nicely, apparently.”

Harry, who even though he had let go of Draco, was still grinning at him like a loon, turned around and stuck his tongue out at Theo.

“What does that even mean?” Draco asked, bewildered.

Harry huffed, “I looked at the wall and said, open please.”

Draco suddenly turned very, very red, and Harry choked out a laugh, “Fucking hell, what is it about Slytherin’s and getting boners for Parseltongue?”

“I don’t have a boner!” Draco exclaimed.

“Do so.”

“Do not!”

“Draco, you’re literally just wearing boxers; I can see that you have a boner,” Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

“Well, I certainly have a boner,” Blaise called out, pulling his curtains back, “Feel free to speak parseltongue to me anytime.”

“You stay away from my boyfriend's boner-inducing parseltongue, Zabini! You too, Malfoy!”

Draco stormed off in a huff towards the bathroom to have what Harry assumed was a very cold shower. Blaise just winked at him as Theo scowled.

After everyone was dressed, and Crabbe and Goyle were finally awake. The boys made their way out into the Slytherin Common Room, where the girls were already sat waiting.

“Oh, look! It’s a lion in the snake pit!” Pansy exclaimed when she saw Harry, “How’d you get in here?”

Harry smirked, but before he could say anything, Draco and Theo were yelling, “DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!”

“What was that about?” Pansy asked in confusion.

“They don’t want to go to breakfast with boners.”

Pansy threw her head back and laughed, “Oh, now you HAVE to tell me!”

“Parseltongue apparently makes Slytherin boys horny,” Harry said with a shrug as he looped his arm with Pansy’s for the walk up to the Great Hall.

Pansy cackled, fairly evilly in Harry’s opinion, “Oh, you and I are going to have so much fun.”

Harry turned around to wink at Theo as he heard both him and Draco groan.

Splitting off from the Slytherins just before the Great Hall, Harry sat down at his usual spot between Hermione and Ron.

“All good?” Ron asked quietly.

Harry nodded once with a muttered, “Later,” and Ron turned back to his breakfast.

Neville didn’t return to the castle that day. Harry wasn’t surprised. His Gran probably pulled him out of school for a bit to spend time with his parents. Harry assumed the news would hit the press at some point. It would be quite difficult to cover up the miraculous recovery of Frank and Alice Longbottom.

Harry knew he needed to speak to Barty before then. Despite knowing that they had left before what actually happened to the Longbottom’s occurred, Harry knew it had been weighing on Barty’s mind for the better part of 14 years. He saw it in his face when he went to speak to him about it. Saw it in his eyes sometimes when he looked at Neville. Harry thought that, in some way, Barty blamed himself.

After classes had ended that day, Harry made his way up to the defense classroom.

“Harry!” Barty exclaimed when he opened the door, “You haven’t come to talk to me in ages! Come in!”

Harry smiled as he slipped into the room and took a seat on one of the couches as Barty started fixing them tea.

“What’s up?”

Harry took a deep breath, “The Longbottom’s are awake and aware.”

Both of the cups Barty was holding fell to the ground and smashed. Harry waved a hand with a muttered reparo and floated them onto the table. 

“Are you sure?” Barty asked, his voice barely above a whisper, not daring for a second to even hope.

Harry nodded, “I was there.”

Barty sunk to the floor, his whole body shaking. Harry stood up and slowly made his way over, sitting down next to Barty and rubbing his hand up and down his back.

“They’re ok?” Barty whispered.

“Yeah, they’re ok.”

Barty let out a shaky breath, “Do you think it’s enough? Enough to get them a trial?”

Harry winced; he’d thought about this. Thought about bringing it up with Madame Bones, but it all circled back to one problem.

“I don’t think so, Barty. Maybe for Rodolphus and Rabastan, but Bella still did cast an unforgivable on them. Whether or not that led to their insanity, Bella cast an unforgivable, which means life in Azkaban,” Harry sighed, “I know it’s not the same, but they are out. And Voldemort can set them up with new identities like he did for you.”

Barty sighed, “You’re right. I just… Well, it doesn’t matter really. I just wish that people wouldn’t spit their name like a curse.”

Harry didn’t really know how to respond to that, and so he stayed silent, still rubbing his hand up and down Barty’s back, offering silent support.

When he finally left Barty’s rooms and made his way back to Gryffindor tower, Ron and Hermione were already waiting for him. Heaving a deep sigh, knowing he would have to run through the whole story again, Harry threw up some silencing charms and notice-me-nots before launching into the story for the third time that day.

“Wow. That’s… wow,” Ron said with a shake of his head.

“And they didn’t remember anything?” Hermione asked.

“Just that there was a Patronus, and they let the person in.”

“It’s just awful. Why is everything so messed up?” Hermione exclaimed, “I don’t like that we can’t see the whole picture, and I don’t understand what the bloody end goal is!”

Ron nodded, “It’s like we have most of the pieces, but the connecting ones are missing.”

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes, “We’re not going to work anything out tonight, and I need to sleep. How about we regroup tomorrow, and we can run through everything we know together?”

Hermione and Ron agreed easily and, after a round of goodnights, made their way off to bed.

The next morning at breakfast, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were organising the best time to meet up in the library when an Eagle owl none of them recognised flew overhead and landed right in front of Harry. He cautiously removed the letter tied to the bird's leg and, after checking it for curses, opened it up.

Lord Potter-Black,

It’s time we had a chat, don’t you agree?

Regards,

Dowager Augusta Longbottom.

Harry read the short letter a few times with a frown.

“What do you reckon that’s about, mate? Nev’s parents?” Ron asked, having read the letter over Harry’s shoulder.

Harry’s frown deepened, “I don’t know. I’ll send Hedwig off later. We have a Hogsmeade weekend this weekend, right?” 

Hermione nodded.

“Right, I’ll offer to book one of the private rooms at The Three Broomsticks then.”

“Everything alright, Pretty Eyes?” Harry looked up to see Theo behind him, looking down at him with concern.

“Yeah, I just got a bit of an odd letter from Dowager Longbottom.”

Theo visibly shivered, “Merlin, that woman scares the pants off me. I met her twice at some random Wizengamot functions my father dragged me to.”

Ron snorted, “She made the twins cry once.”

“Oi!” George yelled from down the table.

“We don’t talk about that!” Fred finished with a scowl.

Harry laughed, feeling a bit lighter as he swung around off the bench and took Theo’s offered hand. Ron and Hermione followed, and the group made their way to defense.

Harry was exceedingly nervous. He’d barely been able to sleep and had thought about trying to sneak back into the Slytherin dorms more times than he would care to admit. Really, he’d been nervous all week. There had been a pit in his stomach since he’d received the letter from Augusta Longbottom, something about it had Harry extremely on edge, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Ron and Hermione had tried to calm him down, but they were just as nervous as he was.

The trio had put off having their brainstorming session until after Harry met with Augusta, in case she was able to shed some more light on the situation. As such, he and Ron were currently standing in front of Harry’s wardrobe, staring at it blankly.

“As much as I hate to admit this, we might need Draco,” Ron said, turning to look at Harry.

Harry nodded, “I think you’re right. I’ll call Dobby to get him. Dobby?”

“Harry Potter sir calls for Dobby?” Dobby appeared in front of him with a beaming smile.

“Hi, Dobby,” Harry said with a smile, “Can you grab Draco and pop him up for me?”

The smile Dobby gave was, if Harry was being honest, slightly evil, and before Harry could say anything, Dobby was gone.

Harry grimaced, “I think Dobby might take that order a bit too seriously.”

“WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK?” Draco yelled as he was deposited on his arse in front of Harry.

“Dobby has grabbed Little Master Malfoy,” Dobby said with a smug grin before popping away.

“There better be a damn good reason for this, Harry,” Draco practically hissed.

“I have a meeting with Augusta Longbottom, and I have no idea what to wear.” 

Draco shivered, and Harry had to wonder if there was a single person in Wizarding Britain who wasn’t absolutely terrified of Augusta Longbottom.

“Right. Well, Dowager Longbottom is old-school, so you’ll want to wear the most traditional robes you have on hand. You’ll also want to wear something in the Black and Potter colours if you have them. And we’ll tie up your hair as well, makes you look more distinguished,” Draco rattled off as he began throwing things out of Harry’s wardrobe onto the bed. 

Harry and Ron just nodded blankly as Draco held up robe after robe against Harry, muttering under his breath. He eventually settled on a dark red shirt for the Potter colours, black dress pants, and a black robe with silver edges for the Black colours.

The pit in Harry’s stomach continued to grow the whole way down to Hogsmeade, and by the time he got down there, he was just about ready to throw up all over his meticulously picked clothes.

He arrived at The Three Broomsticks 15 minutes early and was promptly escorted up to the private room to wait for Augusta.

At exactly 12:55, a knock sounded on the door, and Harry got up to open it.

“Dowager Longbottom,” Harry greeted with a bow of his head.

“Lord Potter-Black,” Augusta responded with an inscrutable look on her face. 

“Please, come in,” Harry said, standing aside so she could walk in, “Take a seat. I’ve ordered some tea; it should be up shortly.”

“Much appreciated, Lord Potter-Black.”

“Please, call me Harry,” Harry said, taking the seat across from Augusta, “How are Lord and Lady Longbottom?”

Augusta gave him a rare smile, “Better than I could have ever hoped for. They need physical therapy and are on a fairly extensive potion’s regimen, and Frank has some issues with his short term memory, but they’re back with us, and that’s all that matters.”

The tea service appeared in front of them, and Harry poured Augusta a cup.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what I want to talk to you about,” Augusta said, taking the tea from Harry.

Harry nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Well,” Augusta said, taking a sip of her tea, “I had a suspicion when I saw the two of you at the Wizengamot, but then at the hospital… I knew.”

Harry took a sip of his tea with slightly shaky hands, “Knew what, ma’am?”

“I went to school with Tom Riddle, Harry. He may go by Marvolo Gaunt now, but I would recognise him anywhere. So tell me, how did you end up involved with Lord Voldemort, and why did he help my family?”

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry?” Harry spluttered, staring at Augusta’s impassive face.

“No need to act coy, Harry,” Augusta said with a dismissive wave of her hand, “Even if I wasn’t aware of Tom Riddle, my grandson and my daughter-in-law having whispered conversations that end when I walk in the room is hardly subtle.”

Despite himself, Harry snorted, Neville really didn’t possess a subtle bone in his body.

Augusta’s lip twitched, “Just so. How long have they been aware?”

“Neville only found out about half an hour before we went to the hospital. My mother told Alice when she found out her and Voldemort were related.”

That was obviously not the answer Augusta was expecting if the slight widening of her eyes was anything to go by, “Related?”

Harry nodded, “He’s my cousin three times removed.”

Augusta sent him a scrutinising look, “My son?”

Harry shrugged, “I don't know exactly when he found out, but he certainly knew when Voldermort broke the spells placed on him.”

Augusta hummed, “I never understood why Alice and Frank joined the Order of the Phoenix. My son and I argued over it many times. Just before they went into hiding, my son talked about some dissent in the ranks. Am I correct in thinking that your parents were looking to change sides?”

Well, in for a penny in for a pound, as they say.

“Yes, ma’am. According to Voldemort, after finding out that my mum was related to him, my parents spent a lot of time with him. They were making preparations before the prophecy,” Harry took a breath, and Augusta nodded at him encouragingly, “The prophecy that was delivered to him was not the original. For some reason that we haven't yet been able to figure out, it sent him into a tailspin. He wasn't himself when he came after my family.”

Augusta looked at Harry piercingly, “I remember Tom Riddle fondly, Harry. I was a few years younger than him at Hogwarts, but even then, he had a presence about him that I've not come across again in my many years. I can't say that I was surprised at his career path,” Harry snorted, and Augusta smiled, “I may be a Longbottom through marriage, but I was born a Fawley. We've been a Grey family for generations. It's why I was so against my son joining Dumbledore’s Order. At the time it was formed, I personally didn't see much wrong with the way Tom was going about his changes. It wasn't until after the Order was formed that the war started going downhill. I was completely in shock when I was told about his attack on your family. It seemed so out of character, and then the Lestrange’s attacked Alice and Frank,” Augusta sighed, “There were a great many things that didn't make sense to me at the end of the war and because of that, I tried my hardest to keep Neville away from either side, but I fear I've done him no favours.”

“Neville is a brilliant wizard,” Harry said vehemently, feeling the need to defend his friend.

Augusta nodded sadly, “I am aware of that, but I do not believe that is because of me.”

Secretly, Harry agreed with her.

“I'd like to speak with Tom if you'd be willing to facilitate that meeting, Harry. I'd also like to speak to the Lestrange’s, as do my son and daughter-in-law. I assume you can contact them,” Augusta raised an eyebrow, and Harry swallowed hard before giving a jerky nod. 

“Excellent,” Augusta stood up and brushed down her skirt, “I meant what I said about the House of Longbottom standing behind you; you needn’t worry about me speaking about this meeting to anyone.”

“Thank you, Dowager Longbottom,” Harry said, standing up and bowing his head.

“Augusta, please. You’ve more than earned the right to call me by my name.”

“Augusta then. I'll let you know when I've spoken with Voldemort.”

Augusta smiled, “I look forward to it.”

Once Augusta had left, Harry sank back into his chair and put his head in his shaky hands. His conversation with Augusta had left him with as many questions as it did answers. He had assumed that Augusta was a staunch Dumbledore supporter, light as they come; to find out that not only was she a grey witch but also actively against Alice and Frank joining the Order was a shock to the system. It also pissed him off something fierce that Voldemort had never told Harry that Augusta went to school with him. Though he was getting older, it might have just slipped his mind. He was getting on in years. Harry smirked, imagining the reaction he would get if he said that to the man's face. 

Harry stood up and made his way out into the main area of The Three Broomsticks, where Theo was waiting for him. Harry slid into the booth next to Theo and sighed, leaning his head on Theo’s shoulder.

“How'd it go?” Theo asked, pressing a kiss to Harry’s head.

“I feel like I knew more going in there. I thought I was going to get answers, but I just ended up with more questions,” Harry sighed in contentment as Theo put his arm around Harry’s waist and pulled him closer.

“Talk it through with me.”

“Well, first of all, she went to school with Voldemort. She recognised him at the hospital. That's why she wanted the meeting.”

Theo snorted, “You know; sometimes I forget he's actually old. He went to school with my grandfather for Merlin's sake.”

Harry laughed, “I know, right! Anyway, she wanted to know how long her family had been aware of his actual identity. Then proceeded to tell me she never wanted Alice and Frank in the Order. She always thought that his attack on my family was weird, and she thought there was something odd about the Lestrange’s attack on Alice and Frank.”

Theo's eyebrows rose, “Really?” Theo was quiet for a moment, “You know, thinking about it, that actually makes sense. She never really spoke out about the attack. I think most people assumed she was grieving, but she's never once said anything against the Lestrange’s or the Dark Lord, for that matter.”

“She wants to talk to them. All of them.”

“Oh wow. Wait, she knows the Lestrange’s aren't in Azkaban?” Theo said, eyes wide.

Harry nodded solemnly, “I don't know how. She must have overheard Neville say something.”

“But what about -” Theo cut himself off, but Harry knew what he was going to say. What about his dad, who was currently in Azkaban disguised as Rodolphus Lestrange.

“She won't say anything, Theo,” Harry said placatingly, “You don't have to worry about your dad.”

Theo took a deep breath and nodded.

Harry lifted his head off Theo’s shoulder and grabbed Theo’s chin to make him look at him, “I'd kill him if he came anywhere near you again; you know that, right?” Theo looked at him, eyes wide, and Harry pulled him into a kiss, “I'd never let anyone hurt you,” He murmured against Theo’s lips.

“I l-” Theo cut himself off and took a breath, “Thank you.”

Theo pulled Harry’s head back against his shoulder, and Harry smiled. 

When they got back to Hogwarts, Harry wrote a letter to Voldemort and the Lestrange’s regarding his conversation with Augusta. He sent it off with Hedwig, but something niggled at the back of his mind, like he was forgetting something important, but he just couldn't figure out what. He was almost the whole way back to Gryffindor Tower when it hit him. Barty. He hadn't told Augusta about Barty. She may have known the Lestrange’s were out of Azkaban, but she gave no indication that she knew Barty was alive. Fuck. He was going to have to tell him about the conversation and subsequent developments. Harry groaned and smacked his hand against his head. He did not have the energy for this today. 

Giving the password to the Fat Lady, Harry promised himself he'd speak to Barty after their next defense lesson. He trudged up to his dorm room and threw himself down on the bed.

“How’d it go?” Ron asked, sticking his head out of the curtains. Harry groaned, and Ron laughed, “That good, aye?” 

The next day, Harry received a letter from Voldemort informing him that he had organised for himself, the Lestrange’s, and Barty to meet Augusta in a fortnight's time. Harry swung his head towards the Head Table so quickly he was surprised his neck didn't snap. From the deathly white colour of Barty’s face, he'd gotten a similar letter. Shit. He probably should have talked to Barty yesterday. Barty’s eyes found Harry’s, and Harry gave the man a sheepish smile and a thumbs up, which was met with an icy glare. Whoops.

“Library after breakfast?” Hermione asked quietly when Harry finally tore his gaze away from Barty.

Harry and Ron both nodded and went back to their breakfast.

“Ok, what did you learn from Dowager Longbottom?” Hermione asked as soon as they sat down and had thrown up some silencing charms.

“Right, well, first of all, she never wanted Alice and Frank to join the Order. She was born a Fawley and sits firmly in the Grey,” Harry said.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, “It makes sense. The Order was all firmly light families, apart from Sirius.”

“Actually,” Ron interrupted, “That's not quite true. The Longbottom’s and the Weasley’s are light, but the Prewett’s are Grey, and my Uncles were in the Order. Plus, up until they joined the Order, the Potter’s were Grey as well. Plus, Remus is Dark as well, being a dark creature and all.”

“True,” Hermione acknowledged, “But do we know how they were treated in the Order?”

“With suspicion,” Harry said sadly, “Sirius and Remus have spoken to me about it a bit. When the Order figured out there was a mole, they were the first suspects.”

Ron nodded, “What else did you learn?” 

“Augusta said that up until the Order was formed, the war was more or less peaceful. More like a Cold War than an all-out war. Her personal opinion was that Voldemort wasn't doing all that much wrong at that point,” Harry said with a frown.

Hermione hummed, “Ok. Let's think about timelines here. Voldemort really kick-started his campaign in the early 1970s. The Order was formed somewhere in 1975-1976. So for five-ish years, it was more of a Cold War campaign, then all of a sudden, the Order was formed and we have all out war. Harry, your parents got married in 1978, which means your mum would have made contact with Voldemort the same year. Voldemort spent 78 and 79 getting to know them. Then 1980 was the prophecy and your birth. Your parents went into hiding, and then 81 was the Fidelius, and when Voldemort attacked.”

“Right, Augusta also said that something about both Voldemort’s attack on my family and the Lestrange’s attack on the Longbottom’s didn't feel right to her.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Yeah, and when I spoke to Theo about it, he said that Augusta had never actually spoken out against the Lestrange’s or the Dark Lord,” Harry paused, “Come to think of it, she wasn't even at the Lestrange’s trial.”

“How do you know?” Hermione asked, shocked.

“Dumbledore’s pensive. I saw his memory of the trial last year.”

“Ok, so even Dowager Longbottom thought something about it stunk. I think we need to look into those first attacks by the Death Eaters,” Ron said with a pensive expression, “I can't imagine that after almost six years of no all-out attacks, they would just start up out of nowhere.”

“You don't think it was them?” Harry asked.

“No, I definitely think it was them. I just don't think they started it. I mean, think about it. For six years, Voldemort was happy playing the political field; then, out of nowhere, Dumbledore forms the Order, and suddenly it's bloodbaths in the streets? It doesn't make sense.”

Hermione nodded, “You’re right. We need to find information on those first attacks. Hopefully, some of the original Death Eaters from those attacks are still around. Harry, do you think you can ask Voldemort?”

“Of course.”

“Good,” Hermione replied, “We’ll figure this out, guys.”

Harry took a deep breath, “I know we will, but when we do, I'm worried that we’ll have opened a Pandora’s box that we can't come back from.”

Ron snorted, “Bit late, mate. That dragon has well and truly fled the reserve.”

Ron and Hermione left not long after that, but Harry stayed put. He’d made plans with Theo to meet him in the library to work on the astronomical amount of homework they'd been given. He didn't have to wait long for Theo to arrive. Harry spotted him walking in and couldn't keep the doopy little grin off his face.

“Hey, Pretty Eyes,” Theo said with a smile, leaning down to give Harry a kiss before sitting down across from him and pulling out all his books.

Harry should have been paying attention to his homework. He had an essay for Transfiguration, Defense, and Potions that really needed to be done, but he couldn't bring himself to concentrate on them. Instead, he was staring at Theo. Watching the way his hair fell over his face, the way his face screwed up in concentration, the way his eyes lit up when he figured out an answer. He was concentrating on how blue Theo’s eyes were, all the little movements of his face, and how much he loved him. 

Harry had to stifle a gasp as that thought ripped through him. Fuck, he was in love with Theo.

“Everything alright?” Apparently, Harry hadn't stifled the gasp as well as he thought he had.

“Yep, all good!” Harry squeaked out, a couple of octaves higher than usual.

“Are you sure?” Theo asked, concern evident in his tone.

Harry cleared his throat, “Yep, all good. Just remembered that I had to speak to Hermione about something super important, so I'm just gonna do that. Right now.” 

“Harry!” Theo called out as Harry bolted out of the library.

Harry practically sprinted up to Gryffindor Tower, all but yelling the password at the Fat Lady and scrambling through the portrait hole, looking around desperately for Hermione.

“Hermione!” Harry exclaimed when he saw her, grabbing her arm and pulling her off to the side of the common room and erecting a silencing charm.

“Are you ok?” Hermione asked, her eyes running over him as if looking for injuries.

“I think I'm in love with Theo.”

Hermione blinked, “Ok. And when did you figure that out?”

“Just now, in the Library.”

Hermione blinked again, “Did you tell him?”

“No. I ran away.”

“You ran away?” Hermione deadpanned, “Just picked up your books and ran away.”

“Exactly.”

Hermione groaned, “And to think that I thought Ron had the emotional range of a teaspoon. Harry, you love Theo. That's great! Tell him! What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He could laugh at me and tell me that this was all an elaborate joke and I'm not worthy of love, and no one will ever love me because I'm a worthless freak,” Harry rambled out.

“Harry,” Hermione breathed out, “Do you really think he’d say that to you?”

Harry shrugged, “Wouldn't be the first time someone has.”

“One day, I'm going to murder the Dursley’s,” Hermione muttered before grabbing Harry’s face, “You, Harry Potter, are not a worthless freak. You are the kindest, most special person that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. You are my best friend, my brother, and you are worthy of love. I love you.”

Harry sniffed, his eyes glassy as he put his forehead against Hermione’s, “I love you, too.”

“You don't have to tell Theo if you don't think you're ready, Harry. But I promise he won't laugh at you; he looks at you like you're the entire world,” Hermione said softly.

Harry pulled back and wiped his eyes, “I don't think I'm ready to tell him yet.”

Theo watched Harry run off like the hounds of hell were on his arse, wondering what had just happened. Had he done something? He didn't think so; he'd just been studying. Maybe Harry really did need to talk to Hermione. 

Theo sighed; ever since his near slip up in the Three Broomsticks yesterday, he'd been nervous around Harry, worried that he'd blurt out that he loved him at any random moment. And he did love Harry. It was impossible not to. Anyone who spent any time around him just loved him instantly. Honestly, Theo thought he might have been in love with him from the moment he’d walked into Draco’s room half naked, looking like a disgruntled kitten.

“Where’s Harry?” Draco asked as he sat down across from Theo in Harry’s vacated seat.

“I don't know. We were studying, and he just ran off.”

Draco pulled a face, “That’s weird. Have you given him the ring yet?” 

Theo’s hand flew to his pocket where the promise ring he'd bought for Harry sat in its box, “How'd you know about that?” He hissed.

“Calm down; I won't say anything to him,” Draco said with a wave of his hand, “I saw you sitting in bed staring at it the other day.”

Theo chewed his bottom lip, a bad habit he'd picked up when he was nervous, “Do you think it's too soon?”

Draco shrugged, “I don't know. Only you and Harry would know that. I mean, you haven't had the most traditional relationship. You practically lived together for two months, and he did beat up your dad and get him thrown in Azkaban for you.”

Theo snorted, “I love him, Draco.”

“I know,” Draco said softly, “I can see it every time you look at him.”

“What if he doesn't feel the same way?”

“Then he’s an idiot,” Draco said with a smile, “But I don't think you have to worry about it.”

Chapter Text

No matter what anyone said, Harry was not avoiding Theo. It wasn't his fault that every time Theo wanted to talk to him, he had to rush off somewhere else. Honestly, Hermione could fuck off with those stupid looks she kept shooting him. Harry was busy; he had shit to do. Was he worried that Theo would ask what his disappearing act from the library was about? Yes. But was he purposefully making up excuses to leave whenever he saw Theo? No. Absolutely not. Never. Harry wouldn't do that.

“Theo thinks you're going to break up with him,” Harry whipped around from where he was standing (not hiding) near the Divination section of the library to see Blaise staring at him with one eyebrow raised.

“Why would he think that?” Harry asked, genuinely confused.

“Oh, I don't know?” Blaise said sarcastically, “Maybe because you run in the other direction every time you see him.”

Harry shook his head, “I'm not going to break up with him.”

“Better tell him that,” Blaise said, cocking his head to where Theo was standing, looking around the library with a dejected look on his face.

“Fuck,” Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Fuck.”

Blaise snorted behind him, put his hands on Harry’s shoulders and pushed him directly into Theo’s line of sight.

“Harry,” Theo breathed as he approached, “I've been looking for you everywhere.”

Harry gave him what he hoped was a smile, but if the look on Theo’s face was anything to go by, it probably looked forced.

“Is everything ok?”

Harry sighed, “Let's go somewhere private.”

Theo swallowed hard, blinking a few times before nodding and following after Harry. The two boys walked in silence toward an empty classroom before sitting down.

Harry ran a hand through his hair before sighing, “I'm sorry if I've been a bit distant lately,” Theo waited for Harry to go on, but the words kept getting stuck in his throat. Harry pulled at his hair in frustration, “I don't know what I'm supposed to say.”

“I just want to know why you're avoiding me, Harry. Did I do something? Just tell me so I can fix it,” Theo was practically begging, and Harry felt insanely guilty.

“You didn't do anything; I promise. I'm not trying to avoid you; I just,” Harry groaned, “I was just trying to sort my head out.”

“And you needed to do that away from me?” Theo asked sadly.

Harry groaned again, “I'm bollocksing this all up.”

“If you want to break up with me, then just do it, rather than avoiding me!” Theo exclaimed.

“For fucks sake, I don't want to break up with you! I love you!” Harry yelled, eyes widening and slapping his hand over his mouth when he realised what he’d said.

Theo blinked, and then blinked again, “You love me?”

Harry didn't say anything, just stared at Theo in abject horror. That was most certainly not how he imagined that going. Harry wasn't one for big romantic gestures or whatnot, but screaming it in Theo’s face was certainly low on his list of ‘ways to tell Theo that I love him.’

And he did actually have a list. It was in his dorm. Hermione thought it would help; Harry just felt like a bit of a twat.

Theo leaned forward and pulled Harry’s hand away from his mouth,  “But if you love me,” he asked, “Why did you keep running away every time you saw me?”

“Because I didn't know how to deal with it, ok,” Harry huffed, “It's not like I had much experience with positive relationships up until, well, Ron and Hermione, and that's not quite the same. And I was terrified.”

Theo put his hands on Harry’s cheeks and smiled so brightly that Harry felt blinded by it, “I love you too, you idiot. I think I've been in love with you since the moment I met you.”

Harry threw his arms around Theo’s neck and practically tackled him to the ground, kissing him with an intensity that Harry didn't even know he possessed, throwing all of his feelings for Theo into the kiss, everything that he was too afraid to say for fear of rejection. 

“I love you,” Harry murmured against Theo’s lips, unable to contain his silly little smile.

“I have something for you,” Theo said, sitting up but still holding Harry close to him, “I bought it a while ago, but I didn't know if it would be too soon, and really I should have asked Black for permission to give it to you, but I didn't want to wait till Yule, and he seems like the type of person that would send a howler if I asked him for permission via a letter, so I thought, better to beg forgiveness than ask permission,” Theo took a deep breath, seemingly realising that he was rambling. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.

Harry took it with slightly shaky hands. Inside was a beautiful silver ring, with two intertwining bands set with a small emerald and a small aquamarine, “It's gorgeous,” Harry breathed.

“It's a promise ring. Obviously, we're a bit young to get engaged, but it's to show I love you, and I'll be here as long as you want me.”

Harry put it on his finger before looking up at Theo, hoping he could see in his eyes how much he loved him, “I love it, thank you.”

Theo smiled at him again, and Harry really was reminded of the sun. He felt warm and safe, like nothing could ever hurt him again, as long as Theo was around. And Theo loved him. Someone really loved him. Him. Not the Boy-Who-Lived. Not Lord Potter and Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Just him. Just Harry. And that feeling was so foreign to Harry, but it filled his heart like the damn thing had been inflated like a balloon.

Harry felt like he was floating on air the whole way back to Gryffindor Tower; he probably looked quite mad, walking around with such a dopey smile on his face, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

“Why do you look like you've just won the Quidditch Cup?” Ron asked suspiciously when he took note of Harry’s expression.

“I told Theo that I loved him,” Harry replied happily.

Hermione gasped, “You did? Harry, that's amazing! I'm so happy for you! How did you do it?”

“Screamed it in his face.”

“What?” Hermione deadpanned.

Harry smiled even brighter, “I screamed it in his face.”

“Only you, Harry,” Ron said, shaking his head fondly.

It was shaping up to be quite a good week for Harry. He was on cloud nine with Theo, Neville was back, and he was the happiest Harry could remember ever seeing him, Barty had finally stopped glaring at him every time they locked eyes. Really, he should have known it was too good to last.

“Harry, my boy!” 

Harry cringed. Since being back at school, he'd really tried to avoid being alone anywhere near Dumbledore’s office. The man had an uncanny ability to seemingly pop up out of nowhere.

“Headmaster,” Harry said with a sigh.

“I've barely seen you since you came back to school. I've got some very important matters that need to be discussed with you.”

“Are they pertaining to my school work?” Harry asked.

“No, but…”

“Is it to do with anything academic or school related?”

“Well, no, but…”

“Then, unfortunately, I won't be able to talk to you. Sirius has requested any non-school-related matters to be run by him first. And if you would like to speak to me, that he, as my legal guardian, or a teacher, be present,” Harry said in a no-nonsense tone.

“Surely that’s not necessary, my boy,” Dumbledore said jovially.

“I'm not your fucking boy,” Harry hissed, “Now leave me the hell alone.”

“Detention, Mr Potter!” Dumbledore snapped, “You will serve it with Professor Snape tonight at 7.”

Harry took a deep breath to reign in his temper before he launched Dumbledore down the corridor and nodded before stalking away.

Fuck! He really needed to get a hold of his temper. Dumbledore just pushed all of his buttons. The man had taken so much from him, and he was blind to it for so long. He was just as angry with himself as he was with Dumbledore, if he was being honest, but he needed to keep control of himself; Merlin knows what the man would do if backed into a corner. 

“That temper of yours is going to get you in serious trouble, Harry,” Severus said with a raised eyebrow when Harry knocked on his door for his detention.

“I know. I'm sorry. He just…Ah! He just grates on my every fucking nerve. How did I not see what a bastard he was!” Harry exclaimed as he flopped down on the couch.

Severus sighed and sat down next to Harry, “Because that's what he does, Harry. He gets you to trust him, to believe in him, and you don't realise until it's far too late that you've sold your soul to the Devil.”

Harry leaned his head on Severus’ shoulder, “What am I supposed to do? I can't lose my shit at him every time I see him. He's probably beyond suspicious now because of my outburst.”

“You need to work on your Occlumency.”

“But my shields are great! You said that!” Harry said indignantly.

“And they are,” Severus said placatingly, “For keeping people out of your mind. You need to work on using it to control your emotions.”

Harry sighed, “And how do I do that?”

“We’ll spend the detention working on it, and then you can go and sneak into the Slytherin common room to see Theo, and I can pretend I don't know about it,” Severus raised an eyebrow, and Harry smiled sheepishly.

“You're the best.”

Severus rolled his eyes fondly, “Alright, brat, close your eyes and focus.”

Two hours of torturous meditation later, it was a very tired and worn-out Harry who stood in front of the Slytherin Common Room and asked the wall to open. No one paid it any mind when the wall opened, and Harry took a moment to look around for Theo.

He spotted the fifth year's lounging by one of the fireplaces. Draco spotted him first as he was facing the door, and he smiled brightly at Harry and waved him over.

“There's got to be some sort of rule about Gryffindor’s coming into the Slytherin Common Room,” Pansy said with a laugh as she leaned over to kiss Harry’s cheek.

“If it makes you feel better, I was almost a Slytherin,” Harry said as he settled down in Theo’s lap.

“Bullshit!” Pansy exclaimed, “You’re telling me you talked the Sorting Hat out of putting you in Slytherin. Why?”

Theo laughed as Draco groaned and put his head in his hands.

“Poncy McArseface over there,” Harry said, pointing to Draco, “Didn't want to spend seven years in a dorm with him.”

Blaise roared with laughter, “Poncy McArseface!”

Draco huffed, “It's not my fault that you wanted to be the most Gryffindorish Gryffindor that's ever Gryffindored! How was I supposed to know that insulting Weasley would upset you so much.”

Harry shrugged, “He was the first friend I ever had.”

The laughter quieted, “What do you mean?” Blaise asked.

“He was my first friend,” Harry said again, “I don't know what's so hard about that to understand.”

“But you were 11 when you met, right?” Pansy asked, “I mean, you met on the train?”

“Yep,” Harry replied with a nod.

Harry felt Theo shake his head behind him and saw Pansy’s follow-up question die in her throat. 

Harry sighed, “Well, now I've suitably depressed everyone, shall we play poker?”

After several rounds of poker, which somehow progressed into a violent wrestling match between Draco and Blaise (no one was quite sure how when it was over), Harry decided to stay with Theo again.

“Was Weasley really your first friend?” Theo asked quietly when Harry was in bed and tucked against his chest.

Harry sighed, “Theo, I told you my childhood was shitty. My relatives spread all these rumours about me, that I was a delinquent, I was violent, I was a liar. No one wanted their kids around me. And anyone who even tried was chased off by my cousin's gang. I was completely alone for the ten years before I came to Hogwarts. So yeah, Ron was my first friend. He didn't care that I was wearing tattered clothes, that I didn't know fuck all about anything. He just saw a small kid that looked terrified and went, ‘I’m going to be his friend’. Ron made me feel like I wasn't alone for the first time in my life.”

Theo kissed Harry’s temple, “Remind me to buy him a present.”

Voldemort was not a man who was easily intimidated, but standing in the hallowed halls of Longbottom Manor in front of the ever-imposing Dowager Augusta Longbottom, he would admit, he was nervous. Voldemort hadn't had much contact with the woman in his later years, but he remembered Augusta Fawley with a fondness that he didn't feel for most people. She was a Ravenclaw. Two years younger than him and terrifying even at 11. She was never taken in by him, but always treated him with respect nonetheless. She was intelligent, ruthless, and a leader in her own right. She'd become Prefect in her fifth year when Voldemort was Head Boy, and she carried out her duties with an iron fist that even Voldemort had been jealous of. Augusta could command a room in an effortless way that took him many years to perfect. She had been one of the only people outside his Knights he would even deign to call a friend. It was his respect for Augusta that kept him firmly away from the Longbottom’s throughout the war. Despite Alice and Frank being in the Order, he stayed away from the rest of the family. He’d been furious when Pettigrew had told him about the attack on the couple, and had Barty not been able to prove to him that they weren't responsible for Alice and Frank’s condition, he wasn’t sure he would have let the Lestrange’s out of Azkaban. He was surprised when Harry told him that Augusta recognised him in his Marvolo Gaunt glamour (though, maybe he shouldn't have been) more so when he told him she requested a meeting.

Rodolphus, Rabastan, Bellatrix and Barty were currently standing behind him, putting on a brave face, but Voldemort could tell that seeing Alice and Frank was affecting them, particularly Bellatrix. She’d almost had a nervous breakdown just before they had to leave, her mind healer was doing wonders for her, but she was always one ingredient short of a potion, and Azkaban hadn't helped her in that regard.

“Welcome to Longbottom Manor,” Augusta said with a nod to the group, “I appreciate you making the trip here. My son and daughter-in-law are still in recovery, and travelling anywhere is difficult for them.”

“Thank you for your invitation; it is a great honour to be invited to Longbottom Manor, and we greatly appreciate your willingness to speak to us,” Voldemort replied.

The corner of Augusta’s mouth ticked up, “I see your silver tongue has not waned over the years, Tom. Though I must say, you look a right side better than I do considering your age. You must tell me your secret.”

Voldemort had to stifle a laugh; still so much like the Augusta he remembered from school, “Ah well, dying takes years off a person apparently.” Voldemort took note of the quite frankly startled faces of the rest of the occupants of the room with amusement.

“It's good to see you, Tom,” Augusta walked over and pulled Voldemort into a hug.

“You too, Augusta,” Voldemort replied softly.

“Come. We have much to discuss.”

Chapter Text

“I must say, Tom, I had the most fascinating conversation with your cousin. Intelligent boy, that Harry is,” Augusta said as she sat primly down in a chair next to her son and daughter-in-law, “Please, sit, all of you.”

“Thank you, Augusta,” Voldemort took his seat, as did his companions.

“Such a shame he's with the Nott boy; I think my Neville is a bit sweet on him,” Augusta said with a smirk as the room smiled.

“I don't think it's just limited to your Neville,” Barty said with a laugh, “I don't know if there's ever been anyone who's met Harry and not been a bit sweet on him. He is one of a kind.”

Augusta turned sharp eyes on Barty, and he swallowed, slinking back in his seat, “I'm pleased the news of your demise was grossly exaggerated; Neville speaks very highly of your classes.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Barty replied quietly.

“Now, Tom,” Augusta said sharply, “I've heard from Harry the events surrounding the war; however, I wish to hear them from your perspective. From the beginning.”

Voldemort took a deep breath, “You remember from our school days, of course, my Knights?”

Augusta scoffed, “You were quite desperate for me to join, as I remember.”

“You have always been a force to be reckoned with, Augusta; I would have been a fool not to try and recruit you. And I am many things, but a fool is not one of them,” Voldemort said with a raised eyebrow, and Augusta rolled her eyes, “After Hogwarts, I spent a great deal of time travelling, learning magic from all over the world, as you well know.”

“Yes, I still have your postcards,” Augusta said fondly.

In just the short time the two had been talking, the rest of the room's occupants were utterly baffled. Frank remembered his mother's stories of her friend Tom, though he'd never imagined that it was Voldemort (in Frank’s defence, who would think that a Dark Lord would be named Tom). The Lestrange’s and Barty had known about the no-contact order with the Longbottom’s during the war, but they had never questioned the reason, finding out it was because of their Lord’s close relationship with the Dowager was shocking, to say the least. Moreover, the fact that he allowed her to call him by his given name without so much as a flinch was shocking to them.

“When I was travelling, my Knights were working on my orders to ingratiate themselves into the Ministry, into the Wizengamot, the highest places they could get to, so when I returned, we could work on making the changes we desired,” Voldemort sighed, “Obviously, that did not go so well. After my return, our every move was blocked by Dumbledore. He never trusted me, as you probably recall.”

Augusta nodded, “He did seem to have an irrational hatred towards you.”

“When it was clear that our original plan was not going to work, I began to gather followers. It was primarily dark pureblood families, but I had a fair few followers from grey families, and my fair share of half bloods. We worked mainly in the shadows of different departments, trying to change things from the inside. And then the Order was formed,” Voldemort chanced a glance at Alice and Frank, who looked pensive, “I didn't think much of it at first, thinking they would work from the shadows, much like we did, but that was not the case. They attacked one of my gatherings, and killed a good number of my people.”

“Sorry,” Alice interrupted, “Are you saying the Order attacked first?”

Voldemort nodded, “Almost every time. I'm not saying we were innocent. We gave as good as we got, as you probably remember. But it is my belief that nearing the end of the war; it was a war between the Death Eaters and the Order.”

Augusta hummed, “Tell me about Lily and James.”

Voldemort closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the pain clearly showing on his face, “I met Lily in 1978. I received a letter addressed to Tom Riddle. There were very few people who knew that was my name by that time. She had no idea who I was. She had just found out she was descended from the Gaunt’s and wanted to know her only living magical relative. We corresponded through letters; I obviously did not tell her exactly who I was, and she never spoke to me about the Order. We didn't meet in person until after her wedding. She invited me, but I didn't think her wedding was the appropriate place to meet for the first time. I told her who I was the first time we met in person. She reacted about as well as I imagined she would,” Voldemort said with a chuckle, “She had a hell of a temper. Something Harry inherited from her.”

Alice and Frank laughed, obviously, having had front-row seats to some of Lily’s most memorable outbursts.

“She didn't speak to me for a while, and I found myself missing her dearly. I had never had any interest in family before, but Lily was…” Voldemort trailed off.

“Lily was special,” Alice finished for him with a sad smile.

“Yes, she was,” Voldemort took a deep breath before continuing. Thinking about Lily was always hard for him, “She wrote to me and said she was willing to listen to me. She said she couldn't believe that the person she'd been writing to was the same person Dumbledore had described.”

“She said the same thing to me, when we talked about it. I encouraged her to speak to you again,” Alice said softly.

“You have my eternal gratitude for that, Lady Longbottom,” Voldemort said seriously, “Lily brought James with her to meet me. They were wary but willing to hear me out. We talked for a long time, about my aims, goals, and what the war was like before the Order. It took a long time, but eventually, both of them were comfortable around me again. They started to question Dumbledore and his decisions. And then Lily told me she was pregnant. I've never seen anyone so happy before; she and James were completely over the moon, but they were scared about having a baby during a war. That's when they started talking about joining my side. James even offered to spy for me, but with the baby, I wanted them as far away from the action as possible.”

Augusta was watching him with sharp eyes. He rarely spoke about his time with Lily and James; he hadn't even spoken about it with Harry, but he had loved Harry from the moment Lily told him about the pregnancy. He had promised to protect Harry, and he had failed, something that would always haunt him.

“And then I found out about the prophecy. It was delivered to me by a follower, and I immediately dismissed it. What was a baby going to do?” Voldemort said with a wry chuckle, “But then, over time, it was like it invaded my mind, and I couldn't focus on anything but the prophecy,” Voldemort took a shaky breath, “Lily and James went into hiding, and that was the last I saw them until Halloween. I was completely out of my mind by that night; it was like I was fighting a war inside my mind. Even as I was holding my wand at Lily, I was fighting myself, but I lost. When my killing curse backfired on Harry, it was like my mind was cleared, and I saw Lily lying on the floor, dead. It was one of the worst moments of my life. And Harry,” Voldemort choked, “Harry was just staring at my disembodied spirit like he could see me. I promised I would come back for him, like I promised Lily, and I fled to Albania.”

Voldemort heard Alice sniff and exhale shakily; he saw Augusta blink a few times as if to clear tears from her eyes.

“Thank you, for telling us,” Augusta said softly, “Neville has told me of everything you've done for Harry since you've returned. I'm sure Lily would be incredibly grateful to you.”

Clearing her throat, Alice turned to the Lestrange’s and Barty, “I wish to speak to you about the attack on us.”

Bellatrix hiccuped and slunk back in her seat.

“Please don't think we are angry at you,” Frank said quietly, “What happened to us isn't your fault. We know that. We want to know if you know anything that could tell us anything else about that night.”

Rabastan cleared his throat awkwardly, “I remember that it was far too easy for us to get through your wards.”

Rodolphus nodded, “There was almost no resistance. We'd broken into Order members’ homes before looking for information. I have a particular talent at picking holes in wards, but that night, I think we just walked right in.”

Frank frowned, “That shouldn't have been possible; the wards had just been updated after we took the Fidelius down.”

Barty creased his eyebrows in concentration, “Did you have anyone over to the house in the days leading up to the attack?”

Alice frowned, “Only Dumbledore. We wanted him to tell us where Harry was. I was his Godmother, and he should have gone to me. Old bastard just kept saying he was safe where he was.”

Voldemort snarled, thinking about the few things he'd been able to glean about Harry’s life. Safe. What a crock of shit.

“Dumbledore would have been strong enough to weaken the wards just enough that you wouldn't notice,” Rodolphus said quietly, “He would have expected retaliation from our side.”

“Are you saying he wanted us attacked?” Frank asked, his voice almost resigned.

“It's Harry’s theory,” Voldemort nodded, “With his godfather in Azkaban, his godmother out of the way, there would be no one to challenge for custody.”

“But you left,” Alice said with a nod to Bellatrix.

“And he sent someone to finish the job,” Frank said grimly, “But why not just kill us?” 

“Dark Magic, like the unforgivables, leaves traces,” Bellatrix said quietly, “They would have found evidence of the cruciatus that I cast. Any other unforgivables cast by someone else would have left a different magical signature. It would have been more convincing to mimic the effects of over-exposure to the cruciatus.”

“Why did you confess?” Alice asked softly.

Bellatrix shrugged, “I don't know. Why did Siri?”

“If this was Dumbledore's design,” Voldemort said gravely, “Then when news of your recovery comes out, he's going to come for you. You have my protection. Whatever you need.”

Augusta looked at him shrewdly, “And in return?”

Voldemort shook his head, “I don't wish for anything in return.”

Augusta smiled, “Then you have my assistance. Whatever you need. It's about time I became a Knight, don't you think?”

Chapter Text

With the Yule holiday fast approaching, Harry was more than a little bit excited to go back to Malfoy Manor. Leaving Hogwarts had never been a particularly exciting prospect for Harry, and leaving when he had the option to stay was never even a thought that crossed his mind; so the fact that he was suddenly going home over the holidays to have his first proper family Yule celebration was a novel concept to Harry. He didn’t think that anything could lessen his excitement.

At least until Draco told him about the Malfoy New Year's Ball.

Which he was required to attend.

And dance at.

Fuck.

“Draco! I can't dance,” Harry exclaimed as Draco laughed at the outright horrified look on his face, “It's not funny, Draco! I'm going to be a total embarrassment!”

Draco rolled his eyes, “You're not going to be an embarrassment, Harry. I'll give you lessons; you'll be fine. Honestly, it's baffling to me how you're so graceful in the air, but on the ground, you look like a baby deer that hasn't learnt to walk yet.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, the analogy hitting slightly too close to home. It was clearly his dad’s fault he was an uncoordinated mess—stupid stag animagus.

“There’s only a week before we go home,” Harry whined, missing the way Draco’s face brightened when Harry referred to Malfoy Manor as home, “How am I supposed to learn to dance in a week?”

“I don't like to hear you doubting my abilities, Harry,” Draco said with a sniff, “I'll have you up to snuff in no time at all. And if not, I'll turn you over to my mother and trust me; you don't want that.”

“Fucking hell, alright.”

And that was how Harry now found himself in the Slytherin Common Room, surrounded by the fifth years, all giving their input.

“Stand up straight.”

“Stop looking at your feet.”

“Stop trying to lead.”

“Shoulders back.”

“Loosen your grip.”

“Stop!” Harry finally exclaimed, “None of you are helping! You're just making me worse, which I didn't even think was possible.”

Theo stood up with a huff and pushed Draco out of the way, “Move, Draco.”

Placing his hand softly on Harry’s waist and taking his other hand in Harry’s, Theo smiled, “Just look at me. Don't worry about them, don't worry about the steps, just look at me and let me lead.”

Harry took a deep breath and nodded, moving his hand up to Theo’s shoulder. The music started, and Theo moved. Theo was an unfairly good dancer. Seriously, Harry had yet to come across a thing that Theo couldn't do, and in the back of his mind, Harry was almost hoping that Theo wouldn't be able to dance; alas, that was not the case.

“Just look at me,” Theo said gently when Harry stumbled a bit and looked down at his feet. Harry looked back up to see Theo smiling softly at him, and it took everything in Harry to not completely buckle at the sight. 

Harry didn't even notice when the music stopped. He couldn't drag his gaze away from Theo’s eyes. Couldn't stop looking at the way Theo’s face softened as he looked down at Harry.

Draco cleared his throat, “Well, I guess you'll be fine as long as you only dance with Theo.”

Theo smirked, his eyes still never leaving Harry’s, “Who else would he dance with?”

“Well, me, for one,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes.

“Careful, Malfoy,” Theo said, throwing a smirk at Draco, “I might start to think you have a thing for my boyfriend.”

“You're right. I'm completely in love with your scrawny specky git of a boyfriend,” Draco fawned dramatically, grabbing Harry’s hands in his and pulling him close, “Run away with me, my love.”

Harry fake swooned, “Oh, how long I have waited to hear those words, you ferret-faced bastard! Marry me!”

“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”

“Alright,” Theo groaned, pulling a laughing Harry back into his arms, “That's enough.”

Harry turned in Theo’s arms, smiling up at him, “Love you.”

Theo leaned down and kissed Harry, “Love you too, baby.”

“Can I ask a favour, Harry?” Hermione asked, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

Harry frowned, “Of course. Is everything ok?”

Hermione nodded, “I was supposed to go home for Christmas, but my parents have had to fly out to see my grandparents, and I really don't want to stay at Hogwarts alone, so I was hoping I could go with you for the holidays?”

“I'll have to ask Draco, but I don't see why it would be a problem,” Harry said with a shrug.

Hermione exhaled in relief, “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Hermione.”

Draco was unsurprisingly ecstatic to have Hermione over for the holidays. If there was one thing that Harry knew about Draco, it was that he thrived around his friends. Harry wondered if it was something to do with being an only child, and having most of his relatives scattered to the wind. When Harry was younger, he really likened Draco to Dudley. Spoiled, mean, a bully, and in some ways, Draco was a bit like Dudley. But what made Draco different was his undying loyalty to his friends, and his kindness. Harry really did count Draco as one of his closest friends, which, had someone told his first year self that, they would have gotten a punch in the face.

“What are you smiling about, Harry?” Pansy asked. The group was currently sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Harry had his head on Theo’s lap, and his legs on Draco’s. Ron was playing chess with Blaise, and Pansy was sitting very close to a red-faced Hermione, as Neville smirked next to her.

“Just imagining how first year me would react if I’d told him that one day he'd be best friends with Draco Malfoy.”

The compartment laughed, and Theo smirked, “And what about the fact you were dating me?”

Harry snorted, “I hate to burst your self-importance bubble, love, but I don't even think I knew who you were.”

The absolutely horrified and offended look on Theo’s face was enough to send the entire compartment into raucous and breathless laughter. Draco was clutching his side and struggling to breathe; Pansy was snorting, and Blaise and Ron had knocked over their chessboard because they were laughing so hard.

As the train pulled into Kings Cross station, Harry had his face pressed to the glass looking for Sirius, the fact that he had someone who was actually excited to pick him up from the station still made his stomach flutter. Harry spotted him next to the Malfoy’s, standing with Remus and two other people he recognised.

“Nev!” Harry exclaimed, “Your parents are here!”

Neville scrambled up to the window, as did the rest of the compartment, “Really?” He asked breathlessly.

The news of the Longbottom’s recovery had made it to the papers not long ago, but so far, no one had seen them in public.

“Standing with the Malfoy’s,” Ron said with a raised eyebrow, “That’s a hell of a statement.”

The minute Harry stepped off the train, he bolted over to the waiting group, bypassing Sirius’ waiting arms to launch himself at Remus, “Moony!”

Sirius whined, “I see how it is; Moony is the favourite then.”

Harry laughed as Remus lifted him up into a hug, “I've barely seen Moony at all; I've seen you heaps. But yes, he is my favourite.”

Remus laughed loudly at the pouty look on Sirius’ face, “It was like that when you were a baby too. The second I arrived, you'd try and wiggle away from whoever was holding you and scream ‘Mooey’. You hadn't quite gotten a hold of the letter n at that point.”

When Harry finally let Remus out of the hug and gave a very disgruntled Sirius a hug, Alice was next to pull him into a hug as the rest of their group finally arrived, having not followed Harry in his mad dash to see everyone.

“Thank you for letting me stay for the holidays, Lord and Lady Malfoy,” Hermione said softly to Lucius and Narcissa.

Narcissa smiled brightly, “It's our pleasure, Miss Granger. And I did tell you last time you can call us Lucius and Narcissa.”

Hermione smiled and nodded.

“We should head off,” Lucius said and tilted his head towards the floo, “Lord and Lady Longbottom, we will see you at the New Year's Ball, yes?”

“We're looking forward to it,” Frank replied, “As is my Mother.”

“Excellent,” Narcissa said with a clap.

The group said goodbye and headed towards the floo. 

Taking his usual tumble, Harry fell through the floo, and landed on the floor of Malfoy Manor.

“PRETTY ONE!” Harry felt himself being forcefully lifted off the floor into a bone-crushing hug, “I've missed you!”

Harry laughed, “I've missed you too, Bella.”

“You didn't write to me,” Bellatrix pouted as she let Harry go.

“I'm sorry I -” but Harry was cut off when Bellatrix forcefully grabbed his wrist and shoved his hand towards her face.

“What's this?”

Harry smiled and blushed, “Theo gave it to me.”

“Theo gave what to you?” Harry heard Sirius’ voice behind him.

Harry’s eyes widened as Sirius took in the ring, looking between him and Theo, “Run?” Harry asked Theo.

Theo nodded, “Run.”

“HARRY!” Sirius’ voice boomed as Harry and Theo took off running, laughing as they did.

Harry wasn't sure who had spoken to Sirius, but when he knocked on Harry’s door an hour later, he, more than a little begrudgingly, had told Harry that he was happy that he was happy, and that Theo was a fine choice for him. The look on his face was more than enough to make Harry break into laughter, but he thanked Sirius anyway and gave him a long hug.

“Do you ever take a break from working?” Harry asked, as he walked into Voldemort’s office. He hadn't even bothered to check anywhere else.

“I'm trying to overthrow a country, Harry. Surprisingly, that takes a little bit of work,” Voldemort said with a laugh as he got up and pulled Harry into a hug, “Welcome home.”

Harry had to blink back tears; that was the first time anyone had ever said that to him.

“Welcome home, Little Speaker,” Nagini slithered over from her spot in front of the fireplace.

Harry kneeled down to scratch the crown of her head, “Thank you, Nagini. I missed all of you.”

“But me the most, yes?” Nagini hissed, leaning into his hand.

“Of course,” Harry replied with a laugh.

“She’s been almost as unbearable as Bella in your absence,” Voldemort said with a roll of his eyes.

Harry laughed, “I imagine having only you to speak to would get incredibly boring.”

Voldemort made an offended sound as Nagini let out a hissing laugh, “Yes, Little Speaker. All the talk of world domination and brooding gets rather boring.”

Harry laughed even louder, and Voldemort huffed, “See who feeds you now, you entitled little snake.”

If snakes were capable of shrugging, Harry was sure that's what Nagini would be doing, “The Little Speaker will feed me, won't you?”

“Of course.”

“Maybe you should just be Harry’s snake then, if you love him so much,” Voldemort said, glaring at Nagini.

“Can I?” Nagini asked excitedly.

“Why is it so bloody terrifying when he does it?” Draco exclaimed from the doorway. 

Voldemort turned a somewhat confused look at Draco as Harry burst into laughter. Draco's eyes widened in horror when he realised what he said and, after slapping a hand over his mouth, practically bolted from the room.

“What was all that about?” Voldemort asked, shooting Harry a puzzled look.

“Trust me,” Harry said, “You don't want to know.”

“Hey,” Harry said, leaning against Theo’s doorframe.

“Hey, Pretty Eyes,” Theo said with a smile, “You coming in?”

Harry walked into Theo’s room, closing the door behind him, and climbed into Theo’s bed. He rolled over and buried his face in Theo’s chest, shaking slightly as he tried to hold his tears back.

“Hey,” Theo said softly, pulling Harry’s face out of his chest and making him look at him, “What's the matter? Are you ok?”

Harry smiled through the tears as he looked up at Theo, “I'm just happy.”

“Then what's with the tears, baby?”

“When I went to see Voldemort when we got here, he said ‘welcome home’, and it just hit me that I've never really had a home before. No one has ever welcomed me home before. No one has ever wanted me home before. Even at Hogwarts or the Burrow, I was always just a guest, but here,” Harry took a shaky breath, “Here I'm home.”

Theo ran his hands through Harry’s hair and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, “I was seven when I met Draco for the first time. My father had kept me completely isolated until then. I think he would have kept doing it, but there were some rumours that I had died with my mother, and he was covering it up. So he took me over to the Malfoy’s. After a fairly strong lecture about not embarrassing the family, he let me go off to meet Draco. I was completely and utterly terrified, but Draco was just so happy to have a friend that he didn't even care that I didn't say a word for almost two hours. I remember the closer it got to the time I had to leave, I was getting more and more terrified. I don't know if Draco noticed or if he just wanted his friend to stay longer, but he marched right up to his parents and demanded that I be able to spend the night,” Theo chuckled, “Draco wasn't the type of child you say no to. He's not the kind of teenager you say no to, so you can imagine what he was like as a seven-year-old. Anyway, that one night turned into two weeks, and it was easily the best two weeks of my life. When I had to go home, I was almost about to cry when Narcissa pulled me aside and said that I would always have a home with them, and if I ever needed them, they would be there for me in a heartbeat. That was the first time I ever felt like I ever had a home as well. So I know how you feel.”

Harry leaned up and pressed a kiss to Theo’s lips, “Thank you.”

Theo smiled and pulled Harry close, running his fingers through Harry’s hair, lulling him into sleep.

“Harry, I need to speak with you after breakfast,” Voldemort said as everyone sat down to eat.

Harry frowned but nodded before turning to Hermione and pulling her into a conversation about their holiday homework.

“I'll meet you in the library after I talk with Voldemort?”

Hermione nodded, “I'm going there after breakfast, so I'll be there.”

Harry got up and followed Voldemort towards his study, where someone else was waiting for them.

“Sev!” Harry exclaimed, running to give the potions master a hug, “What are you doing here?”

“My Lord had a question for me,” Severus said, hugging Harry back.

“It has something to do with what I want to talk to you about, Harry,” Voldemort said, taking a seat at his desk. Harry nodded and took the seat next to Severus, “Last night, Lucius noticed something off with the Manor’s wards and asked me to take a look. I recognised the magic almost straight away, and so I called Severus.”

“Dumbledore?” Harry asked, the worry evident in his tone.

“No, Harry,” Voldemort said with a smile, “Lily’s.”

“Mum’s?” Harry breathed out.

Voldemort swallowed hard, “When I killed her, you know I promised her that I would look after you, yes?” Harry nodded, “Magic took a hold of that promise and created a sort of protection for you.”

Harry looked between Voldemort and Severus, puzzled.

“After I found out about your home life, Harry, I went to question Dumbledore about it,” Severus said, and Harry turned a startled look on him, “I just wanted him to tell me where you were. He told me you were with Petunia, and after expressing my concern, he told me you were protected by blood wards, connected to Lily’s blood, and that as long as someone with Lily’s blood lived where you called home, you would always be protected there.”

“But Privet Drive was never my home.”

Severus nodded, “I know. So that's why we wanted to ask if you feel like Malfoy Manor is your home?”

Harry blinked, “Of course it is; my family is here.”

Voldemort smiled, “I thought so. And as I am Lily’s blood relative,”

“The protection shifted here,” Harry finished breathlessly, “Mum’s magic is here?”

Both Severus and Voldemort nodded, and Harry stood up, walking towards a wall. He took a deep breath and placed a hand on the wall, and let his magic out, feeling around for the protection.

Home.

Love.

Safe.

“I can feel it,” Harry whispered, tears falling down his face as his mum’s magic wrapped around him in an embrace, “I can feel her.”

Chapter Text

Neither Voldemort nor Severus spoke as Harry sunk to his knees, his hand never leaving the wall. Harry remembered when he got his dad’s invisibility cloak, and he could swear that he could feel James’ magic. Mischief, happiness, love. This was like that, but so much more. He could feel his mother's love for him, could feel her pain at not being there, her hope that he would be happy. He could swear that he could smell her. Lavender, honey, summer. He could swear that he could hear her laugh, like some long-forgotten memory, the feeling filling his heart in a way that no one but Theo had ever been able to do.

A hand touched Harry’s shoulder as he let out a shuddering breath and pulled his hand away from the wall.

“Are you ok, Harry?” Voldemort asked, crouching down next to Harry.

“I will be.”

Voldemort smiled and pulled Harry into his arms, holding him tight.

It was unfair, Voldemort thought, that he got to spend so much time with Lily and James, and Harry so little. Voldemort had never met two people more suited to be parents than Lily and James. They'd loved Harry with their whole hearts before he was even born. Voldemort remembered when he would come over, and James had his head on Lily’s stomach, talking to Harry, telling him everything that he would teach him, how loved he was. Harry deserved that life; he deserved Lily and James. He didn't deserve the life he was given. Didn't deserve Lily’s awful sister. Didn't deserve a life of scorn and hatred. 

Harry wasn't sure how long he and Voldemort sat on the floor together, but eventually, Severus cleared his throat and told them that he had to get back to Hogwarts before Dumbledore noticed he was missing. He hugged Harry and told him that he would see him at the Malfoy’s New Year's Ball, before disappearing through the floo.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Voldemort asked when Severus had left, “How did you become so close with Severus?” 

Harry chuckled, “It was kind of funny actually. He gave me a detention in first year, probably for breathing too loud or something. Anyway, I was scrubbing cauldrons and I dropped one, and in typical Sev fashion, he came sweeping over to berate me. I think he was lifting a hand to grab the cauldron or something, but I thought he was going to hit me and I flinched backwards and tripped over something and fell. Sev obviously knew what caused my reaction because he just stared at me in horror for ages,” Harry huffed out a laugh, “When he just kept staring at me and didn’t say anything, I sort of freaked out and started crying. So Sev tried to comfort me, but as you can probably imagine, it was very stilted and awkward. I think the phrase ‘Please, stop crying’ was muttered about 15 times,” Harry sighed, “He made me talk about everything, it was pretty fucking awful, but he healed me and started a potions regime for me. He’s been like a father to me, which probably has my actual father rolling in his grave.”

“I imagine Lily would find it hilarious,” Voldemort said with a smile, “I'm glad you had someone there for you.”

“Me too.”

Voldemort cleared his throat a bit awkwardly, “I realised recently that I haven't spoken to you much about your parents, and I thought you might like to do that. I'm sure you've spoken to Remus, Sirius, and Severus, but I thought you might like to hear some of my stories.”

“Really?” Harry breathed; he'd been desperate to talk to Voldemort about his parents, but Voldemort always looked so pained when Lily was brought up, and so Harry had never wanted to push.

Voldemort smiled, “What do you want to know?”

“Anything,” Harry exclaimed excitedly.

Voldemort thought for a moment before letting out a soft laugh, “Lily wanted to name you Harold. After her Grandfather. Her pregnancy hormones were making her quite emotional, and when James laughed at the name, she set his hair on fire. I arrived at the house as James was frantically trying to regrow his hair, and Lily was crying on the floor.”

Harry laughed, “Oh Merlin, I'm glad Dad won that argument; I can't imagine being named Harold.”

“He actually wanted to name you Henry,” Voldemort said with a smile, “Harry was their compromise.”

“I never knew that,” Harry said, thinking back on his conversations with Sirius and Remus, “Did you see them a lot?”

Voldemort nodded, “Probably once a week. I even went with Lily to one of her Healers appointments when James had to work. Sirius was meant to go with her, but he had an emergency and couldn't take her, so she asked me. I think she was about four months along. I got to hear your heartbeat.”

“I didn't realise you were so close,” Harry said softly. He’d obviously known that his parents and Voldemort had been close, but he didn't realise just how close they had been.

Voldemort looked at Harry sadly, “Your mother was one of my closest friends, Harry. She was more than just family to me. You and I know that blood doesn't make family; family is who we choose. Lily and I, we chose each other. We chose to be family. I'm sorry that I took that from you.”

“You lost her too,” Harry said seriously, “I think, in a way, you lost more than I did. As horrible as it is, I don't really have any tangible memories of my parents; I didn't have anyone to miss. You did. And you can apologise all you want, but we both know it wasn't your fault. I'm not angry at you. I know you tried to fight it, and that's all that I can ask.”

Voldemort sighed, “They would be so proud of you, Harry.”

Harry's heart soared, as it often did when someone told him his parents would be proud of him, but it felt different coming from Voldemort somehow. Harry couldn't quite put his finger on why, but it felt more meaningful coming from him.

“Are you alright, Harry?”

Harry looked up from his homework, not that he'd actually done anything; he just kept staring blankly at the pages, thinking about his parents. 

Harry breathed in deeply and sighed, “Yeah, Hermione. I'm fine.”

Hermione sighed at him sadly, “No, Harry, you're not. And that's fine. You don't have to be ok. And you don't have to tell me why, but I’ll listen if you want to talk.”

Harry cocked his head in thought for a moment before standing up and holding his hand out for Hermione to take. Hermione creased her forehead in confusion but took Harry’s hand anyway. He led her over to the library wall and placed her hand on it, “Close your eyes.”

Hermione closed her eyes, and Harry let his magic flow, connecting with hers. Hermione gasped, and her eyes flew open, “What was that?”

“Protection,” Harry replied, “From my mum. Supposedly, it used to be at the Dursley’s, and that’s why I had to stay there.”

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione breathed before pulling him into a hug.

“When I was younger,” Harry said quietly, “I used to think I could feel her. That I could smell her. That I could hear her laugh. But the older I got, the less I could feel anything. And then the Dursley’s told me they were drunks who died in a car crash with their one-year-old baby in the back seat, and I hated them. For years I hated them. I hated them for dying. I hated them for leaving me behind. I hated them for not caring about me enough. I didn't want to feel them anymore. I wanted them to go away. Was it my fault the protection left, Hermione? Did I make it go away because I hated them?”

“Oh, Harry, no!” Hermione exclaimed, pulling out of the hug to place her forehead on his, “If you made it go away, it wouldn't have been able to move here.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked quietly.

Hermione reached out and brushed a fallen tear from Harry’s cheek, “Of course I'm sure. I'm me.”

Harry snorted and wiped his face, before walking back to his homework, Hermione in tow.

The two sat quietly for a while, well as quietly as it is possible to be around Hermione doing her homework. 

Harry finished off his Potions essay and looked up to see Hermione closing her Arithmancy book, “So,” Harry said with a smirk, “Pansy?”

Hermione groaned, her face turning beet red, “Don’t even start, Harry James Potter-Black.”

Harry laughed loudly, “It's cute! She obviously likes you, and you like her if the colour of your face is anything to go by. Why don't you ask her on a date when we get back to school?”

“Get back to your homework, Harry.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Harry said with a salute.

“Good Morning, Pansy!” Harry exclaimed loudly as Pansy stepped out of the floo, “Any particular reason this is the third day in a row you've graced us with your presence?”

Pansy sniffed, “Draco’s my friend; I'm allowed to come to his house as much as I want.”

“Of course,” Harry said with a smirk, “That's why I've seen you more in the past week than the entirety of the summer holidays, then?”

“How about you shut your mouth, Harry,” Pansy said with a mock glare.

Harry laughed, “She’s in the library.”

“Where else would she be?” Pansy said with a roll of her eyes before walking off towards the library.

“Playing matchmaker, Harry?” Theo remarked, circling his arms around Harry’s waist and kissing his neck.

Harry hummed, “I have no idea what you mean.”

Theo scoffed, “Of course not.”

Harry leaned back in Theo’s embrace and tilted his head up to give him a kiss.

“The tailors here,” Theo said as he pulled back.

Harry groaned dramatically, “I have dress robes! Why do I need more?”

Theo cleared his throat, “This is the Malfoy New Year's Ball, Harry,” He whined in a perfect imitation of Draco, “It's the most important event of the season; you can't just wear your regular robes,” Harry laughed, and Theo smirked, “Plus, our robes need to match.”

“How come?”

“Well, we're going together, so they have to match.”

Harry smirked, “Are we? You haven't asked me, so I wasn't aware. I thought I was going with Draco.”

Theo tugged Harry’s hair lightly, “Don't be cheeky.”

“You like it when I'm cheeky.”

“Oh, I do, do I?”

“Yeah, you do.”

“Hem, hem,” Harry jumped forcefully back from Theo and turned around, only to scowl when he saw Sirius standing there with his arms crossed.

“Sirius, you are actually the worst person I've ever met,” Harry groaned, “Why are you like this?”

“There was too much cutesy talking,” Sirius said, waving a hand in their direction, “And you were standing too close.”

“I hate him,” Theo said, throwing his hands up in exasperation, “Harry, I hate your godfather.”

Sirius huffed a breath onto his nails and rubbed them against his shirt, “Good.”

“And he wonders why I like Remus more,” Harry mumbled, staring daggers at Sirius. Harry stuck his tongue out at the man, before smacking Theo on the arse, “Come on, let's get these robes fitted.”

Theo smirked, “Yes, sir.”

“Disgusting!” Sirius shouted after them as they walked away laughing.

The robe fitting wasn't quite as torturous as Harry imagined it would be, mostly because Draco wasn't there, which Harry was very thankful for. The robes were beautiful, and Harry couldn't keep his eyes off Theo, who genuinely looked like he’d stepped straight out of a fairytale. Theo must have felt much the same way about Harry if the adoring glances he was throwing Harry’s way were anything to go by.

Once out of the robes, Harry and Theo made their way up to the library to hang out with Pansy and Hermione. Draco was already there, but the two girls looked off in their own little world, not paying attention to Draco at all; making him look all pouty.

“Has Pansy asked her to the New Year's Ball yet?” Harry asked Draco quietly as he sat down.

“Not yet, but she will,” Draco murmured back. 

The three boys continued to watch the girls with amusement. Neither seemed to have noticed that Harry and Theo had arrived.

“So, Hermione,” Pansy said, uncharacteristically awkward, “Would you allow me to escort you to the Malfoy New Year's Ball?”

“As a date?” Hermione squeaked.

“Yes?” Pansy replied nervously.

“Um, yes? That would be great,” Hermione replied, her voice still incredibly squeaky.

“WOOOO!” Harry yelled in excitement, and Hermione and Pansy jumped, finally realising they weren't alone.

“Fucking hell!” Pansy yelled, “How long have you been there?”

“Oh, like 15 minutes,” Harry said with a smile.

Draco put his hand up, “I've been here for an hour.”

“Why didn't you say anything?” Hermione exclaimed in embarrassment.

Draco raised an eyebrow, “I did. I tried for about 20 minutes to get your attention before I gave up.”

Both girls went bright red.

Harry was practically bouncing up and down with excitement as everyone stood in the foyer of Malfoy Manor, bundling themselves up in cloaks and warming charms. 

The snow covering the grounds of the gardens made the whole place look like some sort of winter wonderland.

“Harry,” Draco drawled from behind him, “We’re just searching for a Yule log. It's not that exciting, so how about we dial the excitement back about 200%.”

Harry’s excitement faltered for a moment as he turned to look at Draco, hurt colouring his features, “Look, Draco, I know that this is not new for you and probably isn't very exciting, but when I lived with the Dursley’s, my Christmas traditions were putting up all the decorations, cooking a full Christmas dinner, counting Dudley’s presents and then being stuffed in my cupboard without food for two days. The first Christmas present I ever got was my Weasley jumper that Mrs Weasley sent me because I mentioned to Ron I didn't expect to get any presents. I know this isn't exciting for you, but this is my first Yule with my family. Just let me have this.”

Draco looked at him, suspiciously misty-eyed, before nodding and turning around, “OI!” he yelled, “WE’VE GOT A YULE LOG TO FIND! HURRY IT UP!” He turned back to Harry and put an arm around his shoulder, and pulled him towards the door.

Harry leaned his head against Draco’s shoulder, “Thank you.”

Draco smiled, leaning his head on Harry’s as they walked together out the door, stopping just at the threshold to turn around and scream, “I SAID LET’S GO!”

Looking for the Yule log turned into an all-out snowball war. At one point, Sirius turned into Padfoot and knocked Lucius down. Harry enchanted an army of snowmen to chase Voldemort and Barty around. Hermione and Draco had teamed up, becoming an unholy alliance, and Bellatrix spelled the trees to shake an avalanche of snow on anyone unlucky enough to pass under them.

When the war was over, and the group actually managed to find a Yule log, they made their way back inside, where the elves had made hot chocolate for everybody.

Taking his hot chocolate, Harry made his way over to the Yule log and started wrapping it with holly, ivy and mistletoe. Hermione, who had also never participated in a Yule ritual, and was thus very excited about it, made her way over and started crafting wreaths of evergreen, birch and yew. Eventually, everyone joined and began preparing something. Narcissa and Bellatrix were working on the Yule Tree, Theo and Draco were helping Harry with the Yule log, Lucius, Barty, and the Lestrange brothers were working on the altar, and Sirius and Remus were carving the candles for the Ritual to Welcome Back the Sun. The Manor was filled with happiness and laughter, and Harry couldn't remember a time when he felt more content.

“I remember your first Yule when you were a baby,” Sirius said with a soft smile as he sat down next to Harry, “Lily made you a little crown made of holly with tiny bells, and you refused to take it off for days. It drove James up the wall. He tried to take it off, but you screamed like a bloody banshee until he gave it back,” Harry laughed and leaned back as Sirius wrapped his arm around him, “I thought a lot about that Yule in Azkaban,” Sirius said softly, “It kept me going.”

Harry smiled at Sirius, “I'm glad we can make some more Yule memories. Did you ever think you'd be spending Yule with your family again?” He asked with a pointed look at Narcissa and Bellatrix.

Sirius sighed, “I always hoped that one day I’d be able to spend Yule with Reggie again at some point. I didn't think I’d ever be close with anyone from my family again after I was disowned, but Reggie was my brother, you know?”

“He loved you, even after you left,” Barty’s soft voice startled Sirius as he turned to look at him, “He wouldn't stand for anyone talking badly about you. He was never angry at you for leaving. I think he was sad you didn't take him with you.”

Sirius sniffed, rubbing his eyes, “I tried. I wrote him letter after letter trying to get him to come with me, but they would just return unopened, and so I gave up.”

Barty frowned, “He never got them.”

“What?”

“He told me that he just wished he at least knew how you were doing,” Barty said with a tilt of his head, “I don't know what happened, but he never got them. He would have left with you in a heartbeat if he knew you wanted him to.”

Harry grabbed onto Sirius’ hand and squeezed tightly. Sirius drew in a deep breath and squeezed Harry’s hand back.

“Thank you for telling me,” Sirius said quietly to Barty, who smiled at him sadly.

“Reg was my best friend. I miss him too,” Barty said quietly, “I miss them all.”

Sirius and Barty shared a look, and Harry realised that the two of them weren't all that different. Even if they started the war on opposite sides, they had both lost almost everyone they cared about. They were put into Azkaban for crimes neither had committed and spent years tortured by those who had been meant to look after them.

Sirius reached out and squeezed Barty’s hand, and the three of them sat together in silence, wishing the world had been just a bit kinder to them.