With the floo locked down for the night, lights turned off and the house elves calmed down, Severus could finally return to the second floor and see about the mess. As he approached the scene, he opened his senses to explore the ambient magic still present in the hall and was staggered by the power that lingered in the room. He looked around the room before directing his wand to the empty window and erecting a magical barrier in the empty space. It would do until morning when they could have someone come out and replace the window.

After taking a final look around the room and making sure all Harry's clothes, shoe and other possessions that weren't destroyed were taken to another room by the house elves, he walked across the hall to check on his boys.

The sight that greeted him gave him pause. Draco was lying on his back with Harry curled into him and wrapped firmly in his embrace. Harry's hand was still clutching the wand. Severus was thrilled the boys were getting along so well. He hoped that Draco would be able to help Harry come to terms with his loss and find the confidence that he seemed to lack.

If something more than friendship developed, who was he to deny them the love they both deserved.

An owl waited on Severus' windowsill to greet him as he entered. He recognized the owl as one from Hogwarts and assumed the note was from Poppy. He treated the owl after pulling the parchment from the bird's leg and said, "Are you in need of a reply tonight?"

The owl bounced and hooted in response. Severus sighed and said, "Fine, I'll be a moment."

He conjured some water for the bird and sat to read the note:

Son –

Poppy has informed me of what has transpired tonight. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.

I will expect a full report in the morning. And please make sure Harry comes to see Poppy as soon as he's able.

We will do what research we can here. Be careful.

Mum

Reply tied the his leg, the owl flew out the window and into the night hooting his goodbye as Severus slipped between his sheets and drifted off to sleep.

"Uh Draco, can you let me up please?" Harry quietly asked.

Harry had woken up ten minute earlier to find himself nestled into the crook of Draco's arm with his head on his pale chest. He had no memory of how he got there, and as he tried to slip away without waking the blonde, Harry discovered Draco – sleeping or not – was not going to let him up.

"Draco," Harry said again trying to shake the boy, "I have to use the loo. Please let me up."

Draco moaned and opened his eyes. Seeing Harry, he smiled and opened his arms to let him up. "Morning," he said as he pulled himself into the centre of the bed and sat up waiting for Harry to return.

Harry walked out in his jeans, having left his shirt on the bathroom floor. It had blood on it and he didn't want to wear it anymore. "Draco, how'd I get blood on my shirt and why was I in your bed?"

Draco patted the bed next to him and waited as Harry climbed back in and settled. "Okay, I'll explain everything but first, what's the last thing you remember last night?"

Harry looked at Draco for a moment before saying, "Well, we got back from dinner at the castle and Severus sent us upstairs. He reminded me to write in my journal and then you and I came up here. You said goodnight and went into your room. When I went into mine, I had an owl waiting with a package. I opened the box and then nothing. What am I missing?"

"Harry," Draco started, "was that wand in the package?"

"What wand?"

"The one you still have clutched in your hand. The one you didn't let go of even when you were knocked unconscious."

Harry looked down at his hand to find the wand right where Draco said it was and brought it up to look at.

Draco watched as Harry examined the wand and saw the colour drain from his face. "Harry are you alright?"

When the boy didn't acknowledge the question, but instead began to shake, Draco put his hand on Harry's shoulder and shook him while saying, "Harry! Snap out of it. You're okay. You're safe."

Harry heard the assurances coming from the body next to him and finally looked at the grey eyes staring at him. The concern in those eyes surprised him and he found himself slowly opening his hand to relinquish his hold on the wand. His fingers ached as they peeled away from the wood and when the wand dropped from his possession onto the bed, Harry's eyes released the unshed tears that had been gathering since he opened the box the night before.

Draco lifted the wand and placed it on the bedside table before wrapping his arms around the sobbing boy. He looked over Harry's head and met the dark eyes of his Godfather who was waiting in the doorway. "Uncle Sev, the wand's on my table over here. Harry remembers opening the box and then nothing else until this morning."

Draco felt a whisper against his neck but didn't understand it, "Harry, I didn't hear that."

"It's Sirius'," came the replying whisper.

The pieces began to fall into place for Severus and Draco with those two words and Draco held Harry tighter as he slowly stopped crying.

"Harry, are you sure it's Sirius' wand? Was there any note with it?"

Harry raised his head but made no move to leave Draco's side, "Yes sir, it's his. He got it just before the battle. A wand maker in the States made it for him. He knew he couldn't just go to Diagon Alley and get one, so he contacted an old friend in the States and got it." He looked at Draco and smiled, "I'm okay now. Thanks."

Draco wasn't sure Harry was okay but released him anyway.

"How did I end up in here last night and why is there no door?"

Draco took a deep breath and answered, "Well, best guess, when you realised whose wand this was, you had a little burst of magic and it kinda blew the place up." He continued quickly before the panic he saw in Harry's eyes could become fully developed, "What I mean is you had another burst of magic because of the emotional overload and you kinda blew the windows out in your room, the furniture exploded and my door got caught up in the melee."

"Oh Gods Draco, I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't do too much damage to the Manor. I swear I'll pay for everything. I'm so sorry."

"Shhh, its fine Harry. I'm not worried about some glass and wood. I'm worried about you. Are you okay? I mean, I know this was a shock but are you feeling okay? You had a lot of cuts and stuff, that's where the blood came from. I cleaned them up and healed them and Poppy said you didn't have any other physical injuries. Do you have any pain or anything?"

"Thank you, I'm fine. Maybe I shouldn't stay here. I could do more damage or really hurt someone."

Severus spoke up finally, "Harry, you will be staying here with us and you will be fine. There is no reason why you shouldn't be here. We are in no danger from your magic. I believe you should spend some time with Poppy today while we have the windows replaced. I'll accompany you there. Draco, go and spend your morning with your Mother as usual and then meet us at Hogwarts."

"Yes sir." Draco looked at Harry, "You okay?"

Harry smiled and nodded, "Thank you for taking care of me. Who would have thought that would ever happen?"

Draco got up and headed to the shower laughing heartily at the question.

"Do you know who sent him the wand?"

"Not at present but I will be looking into that once we leave here. I'm hoping Poppy will be able to help him gain some control over his emotions so we can retrieve the memory."

"Son, why must you be so formal with me?"

"Mother, as long as I am addressing you in this office, I will behave in the appropriate manner."

Minerva skirted around her desk and gathered her son in a motherly embrace and peppered his face with kisses, while he sputtered and tried to get away.

Laughing she finally stopped and said, "Oh my boy, will you never learn." Shaking her head, she sat down in the chair next to Severus' and motioned him to follow; "Now about Harry, how are he and Draco getting along?"

Severus gave her a smile and thought for a moment, "Getting along quite nicely actually. Draco has taken it upon himself to take care of Harry. He's taken him shopping for clothes that actually fit, taken their meals together and Draco was the one to care for Harry last night and again this morning. I believe they are becoming attached to one another."

"Are you okay with that Sev'rus?"

"If the boys are happy, then so am I. Draco's happiness is all I've ever wanted. Now that I have Harry's welfare to be concerned about, I find that I consider him the same way."

Minerva laughed at the confused look on her son's face and said, "They are very lucky boys. Now, let's have some tea and catch up on other things. How's Charlie?"

"So Harry, I understand there was a bit of a problem last night? Should we talk about it now or later?"

Harry sighed, "Now I guess. Mainly because I'm concerned if it happens again, I might hurt Severus or Draco. They've been much nicer to me than I have a right to expect and I don't want to do anything that would seem ungrateful."

He paused and took a deep breath before exhaling, "I almost blew up the Manor last night."

Poppy smiled, "Harry, while you are undeniably powerful, you're not powerful enough to do that yet."

"YET!?"

"Harry, you haven't even tapped into half your power yet. We will be helping you with that before school starts. And you will be learning how to control the flow of the magic so you can let out only as much as you want."

"What's first?"

"First dear, we need to talk about the nightmares. I assume they have to do with the battle."

"Yes ma'am," Harry said, his attitude becoming decidedly more formal now that they weren't just chatting. "I don't know if you know this, but Sirius Black was my Godfather. We had talked about me living with him and I was getting to know him because of working with The Order. He is my…was my only family and I watched him die because I was too slow to stop it."

He drew in a ragged breath before continuing, "I let him down and he's dead now. I relive that moment almost every night. No matter what I do. Occluding doesn't stop the dreams from coming. Nothing does. Severus has been working on potions and variations of the Dreamless Sleep and none of them works. Every night it's the same thing. I watch as Sirius is torn apart in some fashion and I can do nothing to stop it."

Poppy watched as Harry shrank a little into the chair, as though the guilt was physically weighing him down. "Harry, tell me what you think about when you remember the battle. What do you see in your mind?"

"I see Sirius laughing as he runs into the fray and smiling at me just before….I see Albus falling from the Astronomy tower, I see Arthur glowing within the green light before falling, I see all the bodies strewn around the grounds and the ground running red with blood," Harry finished quietly, staring at the ground.

"Harry, your guilt had coloured your memories so much, all you see is the pain and destruction that night. You don't see the good that surrounded you do you?"

"Good?" Harry asked, raising his voice in disbelief, "All those people dying, injured, damaged…thrown into a war because of me."

"Harry, the war wasn't because of you. It was started long ago when the ego became too big for the body it was in. It doesn't matter whose ego or in what time, wars all start the same way, one person becomes too big for their britches and others must sacrifice to stop them. This war was just one of many and it won't be the last, you were not the cause, you were the rallying point."

Harry looked up at the wise violet eyes before him as he began to understand what the Medi-witch was saying, "Dear boy, we surrounded you and followed your lead in the fight. You didn't give up and neither did we."

"But Poppy…" Harry began to argue.

"No, answer one more question for me," Poppy said halting his objections, "did you force anyone into fighting that night? Was anyone there under your orders?"

"No ma'am. I tried to sneak out so no one would follow but Ron and Hermione knew what I was up to and had everyone waiting."

"Exactly, they were there because they wanted to help you. Now let's see if I can help you get rid of some of this misplaced guilt. Let's do a little meditating and see if we can give you a new perspective."

"So then Harry's emotions just kicked into overdrive and blasted the hell out of the room. Grandfather's bed set was destroyed, sorry. Uncle Severus is having the window and frame replaced right now and I'll get my door fixed but I'm worried about who sent the wand and why. It seems whoever it was had to know how it would affect Harry."

Draco sat in his usual seat beside his mother's bed and gently caressed her frail hand and arm as he told her about the previous night. He'd cast silencing charms on the door and windows so he could tell her about Harry's magic, so he felt safe telling her everything.

"I got Harry cleaned up while Sev checked the room over and Harry slept with me. It was weird how I didn't think twice about having him there. Even Harry couldn't believe how normal it felt to be taken care of by Sev and me."

Draco sighed and moved a strand of hair from his mother's face before deciding it was time to leave. "Well, I better go and find Sev. He's meeting with Minerva at the school about last night. I'm sure she's going to mother him a little too. I wish you were able to help me with this. You've always been better at the sleuthing than I have."

As Draco leaned over to kiss her goodbye, Narcissa whispered her first word since her collapse, "Wooolf."

Draco stood in shock and said, "Wolf? Is that what you said? Mother, can you say it again?" He waited but heard nothing but Narcissa's steady breathing. He knew he didn't imagine it, but wasn't sure what it meant. He placed another kiss on his mother's forehead and left.

"Come in Draco," Minerva said in response to the insistent knock on the door.

"Good Afternoon Headmistress. I was wondering if I might borrow my Godfather."

"Draco, I was just asking after you. Come in and join us. We will be having lunch as soon as Harry and Poppy arrive," Minerva said gesturing for Draco to sit next to Severus.

As the floo flared to life, Severus quietly said, "Speak of the devil."

Draco snickered as Harry stumbled out of the floo followed gracefully by Poppy.

"Hello Harry, glad you could join us," Minerva began as she stood to hug him. "I glad to see you in one piece. How about we all have some lunch now?"

The group walked into the Headmistress' private dining room and tucked in for a light lunch and friendly conversation.

Harry watched the people around him, people he'd come to think of as friends, and saw what Poppy had tried to make him realise. These people wanted to be here and be with Harry. They wanted to help him and spend time with him. Even Draco didn't seem to mind being around him anymore. Maybe things could get better. He wanted to be alone so he could write in his journal. He wanted to sort out the thoughts that were flooding his head and try to make sense of them. Some of the things he'd seen and felt during his meditation had made him edgy.

Severus noticed Harry watching and smiled at him in encouragement. He wondered what was going through the boy's mind as he appeared to analyze the group. Harry nodded and went back to his dessert.

Saying their goodbyes in the entrance hall, Minerva took Harry aside and said, "Harry, I have received word from Gringotts that both Albus and Sirius have named you in their wills. We are waiting for one more person to be available and the wills will be unsealed and executed. I expect that to be Wednesday next at 10 here in my office. Please make sure to be here on time."

"Yes ma'am. I'll be here. Thank you for lunch."

Severus led the boys out of the Hogwarts gates and they apparated home.