A/N: Hi guys! Welcome to part two of my New Trio series. In case you decided to skip the first one (don't really know why you'd want to), here's what happened: Harry was raised by Sirius and Remus, who are married. His Horcrux is gone, as is the one in the locket, and he's the Heir of Potter, Black, Peverell, and Slytherin. He met Draco in Madam Malkin's, who ended up being sorted into Gryffindor because they became friends. The two and Neville are all best friends, and Hermione's rapidly becoming a best friend too, as are the twins. These five, plus Snape, defeated Quirrellmort and saved the Stone.
This is slight to mild Dumbles!bashing since he's annoyingly manipulative, but it's not bashing anyone else. There will be Drarry and Fremione in the series, starting with this fic, so if that's not your piece of cake, stop reading. Also, Narcissa/Severus, so be warned.
Anyway, I'll be posting every Monday evening in Western Australian time (UTC +8), so enjoy!
Chapter 1: The Best Birthday
*Draco's POV*
Draco stood in the entrance to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, looking up in wonder at the many staircases. Sure, he'd been there before, but this was special. This was his first time in the house that was now his home. His best friend, Harry Potter-Black, and Harry's two godfathers, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin-Black, had told him no more than ten minutes ago, that he was always welcome in their home. He was grateful to them, because he wasn't welcome at Malfoy Manor, the place he'd grown up in. His father had disowned him during his second week at Hogwarts, because he'd 'shamed the Malfoy name' by being Sorted into Gryffindor. That was, in his opinion, absolutely ridiculous, because surely a person's house didn't completely define who they were. However, his father hadn't seen it that way, and so his surname was no longer Malfoy, but Black. It had been for a while, because his mother had refused to completely disown her only son, and she had given him the Black name and a small fortune.
"You okay, Draco?" asked Harry from behind him, causing him to snap out of his reverie.
"Yeah. Just… thinking. About family stuff," Draco replied with a small smile.
Harry gathered him up in his arms, and Draco let himself sink into the embrace. Harry was way too good at knowing when he needed a hug instead of words, and only partly because of his Magesight. However, the hug didn't last very long, and when Harry pulled away, Draco found himself missing the warmth he'd felt.
"Come on, your room's ready."
Draco's eyes opened wide. "I have my own room?"
Harry laughed. "Of course, silly! It's your house too, remember?"
"Right," he muttered under his breath, and followed his friend up three flights of stairs, stopping outside a dark brown door, which was two doors down from Harry's.
Harry said something about changing into less travel-worn clothes, and disappeared into his own room, leaving Draco to open his door apprehensively.
oOoOo
*Harry's POV*
Harry left Draco to look through his new room, and strolled into his own. He changed quickly, then tiptoed back downstairs to the living room, where he found his godfathers.
Sirius' head snapped up from where it was resting against Remus' shoulder. "So?" he asked.
"He"s checking it out right now. Can you come up and give it to him?" Harry asked excitedly.
"All right, I'll be there in a minute. Don't leave him alone for too long; it's going to be difficult for the first few weeks. It was easier for me, but then again, I was older."
Harry nodded and sprinted back up to their landing. Draco had left his door open, and was currently looking at the small collection of books on the small bookshelf next to his desk. "I've never had my own book case before," Draco murmured.
"I take it you haven't heard of the books there, either?" Harry asked gently.
Draco looked up briefly, and then back at the books. "No. I take it these were written by Muggles?"
Harry nodded. "The bathroom's through that door," he said, pointing it out. "We're supposed to share it, but if you're not comfortable, we can change—"
"No!" Draco half-shouted. He blushed at his outburst and continued in a quieter tone. "No, I-I don't want to be any trouble. I mean, you haven't just invited me to live in your house, but your home. I mean… Malfoy Manor is all I've ever known, and it was great, but it was all so cold, so perfect. I felt like I was supposed to belong there, but the more I tried, the more I felt like I was living a lie.
"My mother encouraged me to find something I liked, but when I told my father I liked Quidditch, all he said was, 'Rather unsophisticated, isn't it?'
"And then, you come along, and in the space of a few minutes, you show me friendship, and courage, and bravery… and then you helped me get past my disownment, and you invited me over for Christmas, and now… Is there anything you won't do, to make the most insignificant person feel like they're important?"
Harry cocked his head to the side. "No one's insignificant," he started. "Anyone can change the course of the future, even if it's just by choosing to say one sentence differently. You deserve a home, and people who appreciate you, and listen to you. Everyone does. We're all guilty of the good things we don't do, and when I saw you in Madam Malkin's, all stiff and formal, I saw an opportunity to do good."
Draco shook his head in amazement. "You're incredible. All year, I've seen you think about everyone but yourself, until there wasn't anyone left to think about, and then you started all over again. You're eleven, you shouldn't be so selfless!"
That made Harry laugh. "I've done it again, though. Sirius?"
Hearing his name being called, Sirius popped his head around the door frame. "Hmm? Oh! Right, here it is," he said. In his hands, he held the Black Heir ring.
Draco's eyebrow rose incrementally. "What's going on?"
Harry smiled brightly. "I know that even though you say you don't miss your father, or your title, you do. You grew up with them, after all. I thought long and hard about this, and I decided that I don't need the Heir Black title. I'm Sirius' godson, yes, but I don't have nearly as much Black blood as you do. Plus, you have the name to go with it. I asked Sirius if he'd be okay with this, and he said yes. Do you accept?"
Now, Draco was staring, wide-eyed, at the ring resting in Sirius' hands. He shifted his gaze to Harry. "Why?" he asked quietly, as though afraid this wasn't real, and anything louder than a whisper might break the illusion.
"I wanted to give you some sense of normality back. You can't see your father, but you can still have a title. You were raised to be the Heir to the House of Malfoy, so you know what to do better than I do with the House of Black. Besides, could you imagine the look on his face when he learns about the change?"
That caused Draco to giggle, albeit wetly, because he was starting to cry. "He'd be so mad…"
Sirius butted in gently. "Come on, little cousin. I know your mother will be really proud when she finds out you're making your own way in the world, without the influence of your father."
That, more than anything, decided Draco. He took a deep breath, and took the ring from his cousin's hands. He slid it on his right ring finger and watched as it flashed and shrunk to fit him.
"There," said Sirius proudly. "Now you really are one of us, and this really is your home now. Welcome home, cuz."
Harry side-hugged him. "I hope you like roast chicken. It's what we always have on the first day of summer holidays."
"Home," Draco murmured. "Finally."
oOoOo
True to Sirius' prediction, Draco had found the first few weeks extremely difficult. However, two weeks in, Narcissa had visited after another escapade organised by Snape, and she'd assured Draco that everything was fine, that she still loved him, and that she was so very proud of him for protecting his friends. Then, she gave him a belated birthday present: a Nimbus Two Thousand and One. This left Draco feeling happy and loved, and so he started to participate more in family activities.
Harry woke up on his birthday with a Magesight-induced headache. He got up from his bed and started to draw what he'd seen. After an hour, a face loomed out of the paper, and Harry shivered. The face had a cold, cruel smile, and for some reason, Harry had chosen to make the boy's irises a dark red colour, and leave the rest of the drawing only in charcoal. He found he couldn't look away from it.
A knock sounded from the bathroom door, and Harry startled. "Come in," he said, and hoped that his fright was not evident on his face. Draco poked his head around the door and huffed. "Really? I thought I was up early, and then I find out you're already up! No fair. I was going to wake you up and wish you a happy birthday."
Harry chortled. "Silly Draco. I've been awake for an hour. I had a Vision."
Immediately, Draco sat on Harry's bed and looked at him apprehensively. Harry turned briefly back to his charcoal sketch, then held it out to his friend. Draco took it, and looked at it uneasily.
"This is really life-like," he whispered. "It feels like he's looking right into my soul. And what's with the red eyes?"
Harry shrugged. "That was how I saw him. He was just standing in this wet, green hallway, and his eyes were brown, and then they just flashed red. Anyway," he said, taking the drawing back from Draco's grasp, "I'm going to put this where I can't see it anymore. I won't destroy it on principle, but I don't want to see it, either."
Now it was Draco's turn to shrug. "It's your art. Anyway, happy birthday, Harry. I have your present in my room, since I didn't want you to have to wait until Pads and Moony have disabled all the pranks before opening up your first present of the day."
Harry ducked his head in acceptance, and followed Draco back through their joint bathroom and into Draco's room. The present was sitting on Draco's bed, covered in sparkly gold wrapping paper.
Harry rolled his eyes where Draco couldn't see him. The colour was so very Draco, since he'd begun to realise early on that Draco might have a bit of ADHD; generally, the more sparkles or bright colours he assigned to something, the more he decided it was worth, and it would get more attention than what he was supposed to be doing. Therefore, this must be either extremely expensive (he hoped not, he had a bit of trouble with people spending excessive amounts of money on him at once), or very important to Draco.
Draco sat on his bed with barely restrained enthusiasm, and Harry ripped away the wrapping and saw two separate boxes. He raised one eyebrow at Draco, who coughed and said, "I couldn't decide between two, so I got you both."
Harry laughed, then opened the first box. Inside, there was an analog clock. He was about to ask what it meant, when Draco blurted out, "It's an art thing. I read up a bit and there was this painting with a melted clock or something. Here, look." He took the clock from Harry, and quickly placed it so that it was half on Draco's bedside table, and half off. Immediately, the half that wasn't in contact with anything drooped and looked exactly like the ones from Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory. "And when it's as stretched as it can get, it sticks to it. All you need to do to un-stick it, is to tap it with your wand and say, 'Scream', for some reason."
Harry giggled, then revealed the painting's name, and explained that there was another famous artist, Edvard Munch, who made a painting called The Scream, so Draco's present basically misrepresented Munch's painting by attributing it to Salvador Dali's. Draco joined in giggling, but then soon stopped when he decided Harry was taking too long. He shoved the remaining box to Harry, who dutifully opened it. Inside, was a softly spinning model of the Earth, and floating next to it was a teardrop-shaped piece of glass. The teardrop was showing clear blue, with some white, whispy things that looked like… "Clouds?" Harry asked.
Draco nodded, and explained, "It shows you the weather of wherever you want. You just tap your wand to the globe and say the place you want to know the weather for. It's also good for Astronomy assignments, since you can tap the teardrop and say, 'night' and it'll project the night sky of wherever you tapped the globe on, through the point at the top of the teardrop. The whole thing's also basically indestructible. You'd need something like Fiendfyre to break it."
Harry was incredibly gobsmacked. Not only had Draco done lots of research because he knew Harry liked art, but he'd also bought things with both ornamental and practical uses. Only then, he realised that Draco had gone silent after the fiendfyre statement, and was watching him nervously.
Harry bounced over to Draco and hugged him, stating, "This is such an awesome gift! Thank you so much, it means the world to me. Oh. Geddit? World!"
Draco, somewhat squished into Harry's chest, groaned good-naturedly. "You know, you're becoming more and more like Sirius as time goes on. That was horrible, Harry."
oOoOo
The rest of the day was epic, to say the least. Harry had a small birthday party planned. Neville Flooed over at eleven and helped to set it up, and enjoyed a delicious belated birthday lunch while catching up with his two best friends.
Neville had truly come into his Gryffindor confidence since their first year at Hogwarts had started. As he and Harry had grown up, it had appeared as though Neville was the epitome of a hard-working, loyal Hufflepuff, and had therefore been extremely nervous at the thought of being in a house he'd always thought of as being kind of reckless. As time had passed, he barely recognised himself. Not only did he have more friends than he'd ever thought possible before, but he had two best friends, and had a girl swiftly on her way to becoming just as good a friend as Harry and Draco. Another thing he'd never seen himself doing was being reckless, but looking back on the Quirrell-and-the-Stone incident, he knew that it had been nothing but reckless, but by being so, he'd also saved a great many people by helping his friends to prevent Voldemort from returning to life.
During lunch, he joked around with Harry's godfathers, something he wouldn't have had the courage to do before starting Hogwarts, and they all had fun listening to the Marauders' pranks, and explaining to said Marauders what the new generation had gotten up to in order to cause mayhem.
Just after lunch, the Weasleys, Hermione, and Luna Flooed over. The party counted for both Harry and Neville, since their birthdays were only a day apart, and so they had two cakes… which meant twice the responsible amount of sugar for the group of extremely hyped-up kids, who decided that it would be a good idea to suddenly have an impromptu Quidditch match in the small back garden, because Sirius and Remus had given Harry a Nimbus Two Thousand and One.
This led to many of the flowerbeds being destroyed.
Finally, for Sirius and Remus at any rate, it was dinner time, which meant they could push the children who weren't staying the night through the Floo back to their homes. Neville was sleeping over though, and, even though he and the other two vowed to never call it a sleep over, the three decided to camp out in Harry's room. They ended up making a pillow fort, which made the two adults mockingly coo over how not-grown-up the boys were… and then they joined in.
However, all this celebration and laughter was immediately cut off when a bruised house-elf wearing a filthy pillowcase appeared at the foot of Harry's bed.
"Dobby?" asked Draco in disbelief.
