Chapter 6
When Harry regained consciousness he was laying on an unfamiliar bed. The bed was comfortable and all he wanted to do was fall back asleep. The scent coming from his pillow was soothing and he was nearly asleep when there was a hissing sound in his ear. His eyes snapped open, fully alert, and he looked to his left where the sound came from. He was surprised when he saw Fey lying curled up on the pillow beside his head. He had no idea how she had gotten there or even why she was there. The only times Harry had ever seen her was when he was in the dungeons for Potions class because her owner was Professor Snape. He noticed belatedly that the room he was in couldn't possibly be in Gryffindor Tower or the Hospital Wing.
"Where am I, Fey?" Harry asked confused and nervous. He decided it was best for him to remain lying down so he could look at the snake closer to eye level.
"You are in Master's room, Serpent Harry. Master left with the other hatchling so I got out of my tank," Fey informed him. Harry's chest tightened when he heard what the snake told him. Severus and Draco had brought him to Severus' rooms and had just left him there. They did not care about him. Harry turned over onto his right side, turning his back on Fey, and curled into a fetal position. He felt Fey slither onto his neck and up into his hair as he began crying quietly.
Harry's small body shook violently with his silent sobs and his breath hitched every now and again as he tried to breathe. He knew he should not be crying but he could not stop the tears. Why could he not just be happy? Why did fate have to make him miserable? Why did he have to fall in love with two people who could never feel the same? Why did they have to be so nice to him? It was only making all of this harder and getting his hopes up. He had realized in his fourth year that he was gay and in his fifth that he had developed a crush on both his rival and his Potions professor. Since then he had dealt with the fact that his feelings would never be returned. All of the things that were now going on were making it hard for him to keep his true feelings a secret.
The distressed Veela did not hear the bedroom door open or the quick footsteps move across the stone floor toward the bed. He jumped, curling around himself tighter, when he felt the bed dip behind him. He had grown up in a house where if he was caught crying he would be beaten. The fear was so deeply ingrained that he was not sure he would ever get over it. He was surprised when a hand was placed on his shoulder gently. He tried to stop crying now that he knew at least one of his mates were in the room. An unexpected fear entered Harry when he felt the hand leave his shoulder to go toward his hair in an attempt to comfort him.
Killing curse green eyes snapped open and he tilted his head back slightly, careful not to squish Fey as the snake moved in his hair. He caught a glimpse of blonde hair and pale skin and he knew that Draco had no idea Fey was in his hair. He heard Fey hiss a warning to the blonde Veela at the same time Harry shouted "stop". His heart sank to his stomach and he knew he had reacted too slowly. Fey lunged out of Harry's messy black hair and sunk her fangs into Draco's pale hand.
The blonde cried out in pain and reflexively pulled his hand away quickly. This only tore the wound open more as Fey's fangs were pulled from the boy's skin. Harry sat up quickly and felt Fey slither down the back of his shirt. The dark haired teen pulled his injured mate into his arms, not knowing what to do. He had no idea how to treat a bite wound from a snake or any other animal for that matter. Harry had only ever been bitten by a Basilisk and Fawkes had healed that wound for him.
"Severus!" Harry shouted anxiously not realizing he had called the Potions professor by his first name. The dark haired vampire ran into the room when he heard Harry's shout. He hurried to the side of the bed when he saw a frightened Harry holding a barely conscious Draco. There was blood coming from the blonde's right hand and Harry was holding him tightly.
"What happened?" Severus asked as he pulled out his wand. He began to look the blonde over and heal the wound on his hand.
"Fey was hiding in my hair and Draco didn't know. I tried to warn him but he had already reached out to stroke my hair. I'm sorry. I swear I didn't tell her to bite him. Please don't be mad at me," Harry sobbed. He was crying again and his shaking was jostling Draco. This was making Severus' attempts at healing the young Slytherin difficult so he pulled him from Harry's arms and laid him down on the bed beside the scared brunette. He summoned a potion to him and it flew into the room and came to rest in his hand. He made Draco drink the potion to get rid of the cobra venom in his body before it killed him. When he was certain the blonde was going to be okay, he pulled the other Veela into a tight embrace.
"Shh it's okay Harry. Draco is going to be fine and I know you didn't mean for Fey to bite him. I'm not mad at you and Draco won't be either. Please stop crying Harry. I hate seeing you sad and in pain," Severus muttered comfortingly. He ran a long fingered hand through Harry's hair as he spoke and his other arm was wrapped around the teen's waist. He felt something on Harry's back move and pulled back a bit to look at the teen.
"Harry is Fey in your shirt?" he asked gently. Harry nodded silently as he looked up at his primary dominant.
"Is it okay if I take her out? I should put her back in her tank," he told the teen. Harry nodded again.
"Lock the tank this time. She knows how to get out," Harry told him quietly. Severus nodded and carefully reached into Harry's too big t-shirt. Gently, he pulled out the snake and got off of the bed to put her in her tank that was located in the living room. When he walked back into the bedroom he was surprised when he saw that Harry was no longer on the bed. Taking a quick look around the room, Severus was startled to see Harry curled up on the floor in the corner of the room furthest from the bed. He walked over and knelt down in front of the crying teen. Gently, he tilted Harry's head up to look at him and the boy continued crying.
"Harry why are you over here? Draco would want you with him," Severus said quietly. This only seemed to increase the boy's tears and make his sobs slightly louder.
"It's my fault he got hurt. When I woke up Fey told me the two of you had left and I jumped to conclusions. I was crying when Draco came in and if I hadn't been he wouldn't have tried to comfort me. If Draco hadn't tried to comfort me then Fey wouldn't have bitten him," Harry sobbed. Severus pulled him into a tight comforting hug for the second time in as many minutes.
"I'm sorry we were not here when you woke up, Harry. Draco and I only went down to the kitchens to ask the house elves to make us something because we thought you would be hungry when you woke up. I thought you would still be asleep by the time we got back so I made Draco come with me to help carry everything back," Severus told Harry. He picked the small Veela up and walked back over to the bed. He laid Harry down beside Draco and then settled down behind the still crying brunette. He stayed there, one arm around Harry and a hand on Draco's stomach, until Harry finally cried himself to sleep.
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When Harry woke up again it was to soft kisses being placed on his hair. He wanted to remain sleeping, the scent invading his nostrils was heavenly and he wanted to stay immersed in it but the kisses being pressed to his hair were persistent. He whined pathetically and nuzzled closer to the person he was lying on. His pillow let out a low chuckle and pressed another kiss to his hair. The sound rumbled under Harry's ear and pushed him further from dream land and closer to consciousness.
"Wake up Harry," a gentle familiar voice whispered to him. He shook his head tiredly, nuzzling into the other boy's chest, and tried to go back to sleep.
"Well if you won't get up then I'll just have to leave. Maybe Sev can get you up?" the voice said. Harry felt himself being moved and he clung onto the person beside him.
"Don't go," the tired Veela murmured into the other's chest.
"I won't but you have to get up if you want to eat," his companion said. Harry would have gladly stayed in bed and gone back to sleep if his stomach had not growled at him loudly after food was mentioned. Harry groaned but his stomach won the fight over him wanting to stay in bed. Reluctantly, he pulled away from the person holding him and opened his eyes. He blinked several times until his vision cleared and then he looked up to see Draco smiling at him.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, sleepy head," the blonde said gently. He placed a kiss to Harry's forehead after he finished his sentence.
"Morning. Where's Severus? I know he was here when I fell asleep," a hint of worry, fear, and confusion began to fill his features but another soft kiss placed to his forehead by Draco made him temporarily forget his insecurities.
"He's out in the living room reading a book. I sent him out there after I woke up to watch Fey. She's a tricky snake and doesn't quite like me for some reason," Draco told him.
"I'm sorry," Harry said quietly. He looked at the far wall of the room guiltily. He still blamed himself for Draco getting hurt and this was clear to the blonde Veela. He pressed several quick kisses to Harry's hair and then eased the brunette off of him. He wanted to comfort the younger Veela but would need to do it later because Severus was waiting for them.
"Come on, Harry. There's still breakfast outside in the living room that still needs to be eaten. I know for a fact that if we don't go out there soon then Severus will send it back to the kitchens and will either make us get more or make our own," Draco told him.
He sighed and gently pulled a still mopping Harry off of the bed when the boy showed no sign of moving on his own. He straightened the other boy's clothes so they did not look as wrinkled as they had been. He smiled and led his younger mate out into the living room. Severus was sitting in an armchair reading potions book and Harry had to resist rolling his eyes. It was exactly what he could see the grumpy Potions master doing in his free time. It was also something he hoped he would get to see more often. He looked up when the two teens walked into the room. Harry was surprised when the vampire smiled at them.
"I see the two of you finally woke up. Any longer I was going to go back in there with you," Severus said. He closed his book and leaned forward to put it on the coffee table. He stood up and they went into the dining room where the food sat on the table under a stasis charm so it would not go bad. Severus removed the charm from the food and the three sat down at the table to begin eating.
Harry began to feel awkward as breakfast continued. He saw how Draco and Severus were so comfortable around each other and were even joking a little as they ate. It was as if they had forgotten that he was sitting there at the table with them. Harry slowly became quieter and quieter until he was just staring at the table and pushing his food around his plate. Both Draco and Severus noticed this and were concerned by it. They shared a glance and plotted silently for a moment before looking back at Harry. Both Slytherins scooped up a bit of their favorite pancake topping on their fingers without the Gryffindor noticing.
"Harry can you look up at us for a second?" Draco asked sweetly. The shy Gryffindor looked up slowly and was surprised when a bit of blue berry sauce was placed on his right cheek. The same was done with a bit of whipped cream on his left cheek. Both Draco and Severus leaned forward across the table and licked the mess from Harry's face. They smiled as they pulled back when they saw Harry's cheeks burn a dark crimson color. Severus licked his lips unconsciously and the color in the small Veela's face darkened.
"You shouldn't be so shy around us, Harry," Draco told him gently.
"Yes and I'm sure we are better conversation than your food," Severus added with a teasing note in his voice.
"I just don't know how to act around you two. For years we have hated each other and now it's just confusing how easily it seems you can forget that," Harry murmured, looking down at his plate self consciously. He jumped, startled, when Draco stood up sharply from his seat, slamming his hands down on the table and rattling the cutlery.
"Well excuse us for actually trying! This isn't easy on us either Harry but in order for this to work the feelings have to at least be there. When you're ready to pull your head out of your ass we'll be here but until then don't talk to me," Draco yelled at the brunette. He stormed away from the table and into the bedroom, slamming the door. Severus quickly stood from his chair and walked around the table to where Harry sat. He knelt down beside his chair and pulled the shaking and crying Veela into his arms.
"I know you're scared and confused Harry but we'll take this at your pace. We all have things to learn about each other but Draco and I are willing to put the past aside and get to know you," Severus said softly.
"You and Draco just go so well together and I can't see where I could possibly fit in," Harry sobbed into his teacher's shoulder.
"That's because I'm Draco's god father and I watched him grow up, but I always made sure he knew what we were going to be someday. I couldn't tell when I saw you the first time because something tampered with the bond. Trust me when I say Draco and I will do everything in our power to make you happy," Severus swore.
"I just need a little time to think about all of this. There's so much I don't know," Harry said quietly. He pulled back from Severus a bit and wiped the tears from his face.
"We'll give you as much time as you need Harry. You can always talk to us if you need anything," Severus said. He stood and gently kissed the teen's forehead. Harry stood and somewhat reluctantly left the Potion Master's quarters to return to his dorm room.