Disclaimer: The characters and anything else related to the universe of Harry Potter, created by J.K. Rowling, do not belong to me.
Chapter Nine: Return to Hogwarts
Harry grinned, flicking his wrist, satisfied at the click that followed. Opening the door, he turned to Sirius. "Welcome to this humble abode. Our hosts appear to be rather indisposed at the moment, so I will be giving you the grand tour," he teased, letting everybody into the house. He had noticed the neighbors giving them all odd looks, but Harry had just smiled and waved and they went back to doing whatever it was they had been doing before Harry and his guests had come sauntering down the street.
Sirius snorted at this, trying to contain his laughter. He had been filled in by Severus and an eager Draco Malfoy, so he knew exactly why the elder Dursley was indisposed, taking his wife and son with him. Vernon just couldn't handle so many wizards in the house, especially since they all wanted him dead and made no secret about it.
Sighing, he frowned again as he returned to an earlier discussion with Harry, during the time they had spent alone together before returning to the Dursleys.
Flashback
"Well, now that I'm back, you can come live with me!" an excited Sirius offered, bouncing on his feet. He slowed his fidgeting as he saw the sad look on Harry's face. Lifting his godson's face up to look him in the eyes, he asked softly, "Harry? What is it? What's wrong? I thought that this was what you wanted?"
Harry launched himself into his godfather's arms, clinging to him tightly, not saying anything. By this time, Sirius had grown anxious with worry, and reluctantly pulled back from the embrace to look Harry in the eyes again. "It's all right, Harry. You can tell me, you know. Anything you want, I won't get angry, I promise. Okay?" he encouraged softly.
Harry nodded and explained to Sirius about were-Jachyras and their need for close proximity to their bonded. Sirius nodded in understanding. He had already been told all of this, when Remus was trying to keep him from hexing Snape six ways to Sunday.
He still didn't like it that Snivellus and his precious godson were mated, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. He also knew, from his experiences with Remus, that should he try to force Harry to choose between them, he'd lose, hands down. So he accepted it, and vowed to make peace with Sniv—Severus if he was able.
Grimacing at what he was about to do, he murmured, "Well, you could all come to Grimmauld Place, you know. I know the 'old crowd' uses that place, but not all the time, and it's large enough that we could probably avoid seeing everyone else." Harry refused that offer as well, at least for this summer, giving Sirius a brief sketch of the trial and the results.
Sirius was furious. A judge and an entire jury let the Dursleys get off scott-free and then went missing, killed by Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and nobody noticed? Then again, he was forgetting that the idiot Fudge had been Minister until very recently.
He must've spoken this last bit aloud, because laughed and replied, "Yeah, but at least now the imbecile is out of office. They couldn't do anything else to him, though, since his main fault was ignoring the threat that Voldemort posed, which no longer exists. He might have remained Minister to this day if I hadn't cheated and forced him out of it."
At this, Sirius laughed outright, just picturing Fudge's face when he realized that a teenage boy, not even fully grown yet, had forced him out of office. Harry soon joined him, and they were entwined comfortably together when the others found them, telling them that it was time to go.
End Flashback
As Sirius drifted out of his memories, he was aware of a hand waving in front of his face and Harry's voice calling to him. "Hey, Siri? What's up? You spaced out for a while there. Are you all right?" Sirius just offered his godson a smile and a nod, reassuring him that he was just fine.
"How long will those muggles be…indisposed?" he asked again, grinning.
Harry answered him with a smirk. "Oh, at least until I leave here. They seemed to believe that I was the sole cause of their self-created Hell, and are busy trying to hide. Which works well for my purposes. This way, I don't have to see them, and they'll never have to see me again. I'm only here because the Ministry court ordered that I spend an entire summer here, with only a few occasions spent outside of the Dursley residence."
Sirius nodded and muttered, "Pity," under his breath, rather disappointed that Severus and Lucius, and even Remus, had gotten shots at Vernon and he hadn't. Being dead sucked, and he wrote himself a mental note to avoid returning to the world of the dead anytime soon.
Harry just rolled his eyes as Sirius began to lose himself in thought again. "C'mon, Padfoot," he called impatiently, and was rewarded when Sirius jumped before glaring at him. Harry just smirked. "I need to show you around, and then Moony can show you where you two will be sleeping. I share a room with Sev, and Draco shares one with his father. I'm still debating on who I want to pair him up with. Any suggestions?"
Sirius shrugged, replying, "Not until I know more. Which way does he swing?" Harry blinked, then his eyes widened and his mouth opened in a silent 'o' of surprise. He flushed, and Sirius grinned, knowing exactly what had happened. "You haven't bothered to find out yet, have you?"
Harry just shook his head, still not looking up at his godfather, mortified by his oversight. No wonder he couldn't think of anybody suitable. He didn't even know what gender Draco preferred. He'd have to correct that in short order, and then maybe he could finally get to planning.
Sirius just laughed again at his godson and clapped him on the back. It felt good to be back and able to share this sort of camaraderie with his godson. Harry may be bound to three wizards, two of which he would've never guessed possible, but he was still Harry, still the son of James and Lily Potter, his godson. Speaking of bonds…"Harry?" When he had the younger man's attention, he asked, "Will I be bonded to you as well? Or have you reached your quota?"
Harry shook his head, "I tried already, but I didn't feel the same tug towards you that I felt for the others. I think it has something to do with you being Remus' mate. You belong to him, so I can't bond with you."
Sirius frowned, and asked his next question, "If we can't bond because of Remus, then why could he bond with you?"
Harry sighed. "Remus was able to bond with me because he is the dominant in your pairing. He owns you, not the other way around. Of course, it's a life-bond, so you don't have to worry about it ever breaking or even weakening, but that's not the point. I can bond with Remus because he is the dominant in your relationship, and as such, he does not belong to anyone in the way a submissive belongs to a dominant. Did that make any sense?" Harry frowned.
Sirius nodded, "I think so. You're saying that because Remus was the one who marked me, I'm off limits? However, since nobody actually marked him, he's fair game?" Harry nodded in confirmation and Sirius expelled his breath, rubbing his temples. All this logic and emotional upheaval was giving him a headache. He had gone from dead to alive, then from joy to anger to sorrow and acceptance, and back to joy. He was exhausted.
Harry must have noticed this because he tugged Sirius towards the stairs, leading him up them and into what used to be Dudley's room. It had been transformed to fit the needs of its new occupants, one of which was reclined on the bed, reading a novel of some sorts. Remus looked up as Harry entered, noticing the pale man behind him and smiling in delight. "Paddy! It's good to see you looking so alive," he greeted.
Sirius growled playfully, snarling, "Thanks so much for that rousing endorsement." He fell onto the bed as soon as Harry had led him to its edge, and didn't move. Remus sighed and pulled him more firmly onto the bed, grinning the entire time. Looking up at Harry, Moony let his godson know that Sirius would be taken well care of. Nodding, Harry headed out to find Severus, allowing Remus to get on with whatever it was he was doing.
The next few weeks flew by rapidly, with nothing major occurring beyond Harry's birthday. He had awoken to complete and total silence in an empty bed. Sighing dejectedly, he took a shower and dressed for the day, then headed downstairs to the kitchen, hoping that someone had at least saved him some breakfast. He got more than he bargained for when his family jumped out and yelled "Surprise! Happy Birthday!" It was the best birthday that Harry could remember. Someone, probably Severus, had intercepted his birthday owls from Ron, Hermione, Albus, and Hagrid, which should have tipped him off, and probably would have, if only Severus hadn't distracted him so thoroughly the night before.
The party they threw for him was no big fanfare, which Harry appreciated, but they still had some very pleasant surprises in store for him that day. First of all, he was now seventeen, so he was considered to be of age and no longer needed a permanent guardian. Secondly, about mid-afternoon, there was a knock on the door. Sirius sent Harry to get it, unable to hold back his grin. Suspicious, Harry opened the door, bracing himself. Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the Weasleys had arrived. Hermione was staying with the Weasleys for the last month of summer, so she had come along to his party.
Opening his gifts, Harry was thrilled. From Hagrid, Harry got the annual gift of rock cakes and treacle fudge. He got several books on Defense from Hermione, a bunch of pranks from the twins, which Severus had forbidden him to use in his class, and a couple of books on Animagi from Sirius and Remus. He grinned at them, wondering if he could actually become an animagus as well as a lycanthrope. Such an occurrence had never been documented before, but then again, were-Jachyras seemed to ignore most of the rules of lycanthropy. OR maybe it was just Harry Potter who had a penchant for turning rules on their head.
Even if he couldn't become an animagus himself, he was sure his friends would like to try. Then they could run with Amarth, Moony, and Padfoot on the nights of the full moon. Actually, they could run with Amarth and Snuffles whenever they wanted to.
Albus had sent him the key to the Potter vault. When he looked inquiringly at Sirius, the older man grinned at him. "You didn't think that your vault contained the entire Potter fortune, did you? That was just to be used for your schooling. Now that you're seventeen, you have access to the entire Potter estate, their vault and their land." Harry blinked, then smiled softly. He now had more money than he'd ever use. He was sure, though, that he would find a use for it somewhere.
From Severus, Harry received a beautiful onyx pendant shaped like a lightning bolt, with several protection spells and concealment charms on it. Once Harry had put it on, he was the only one who could see it. Severus informed him that the protection spells had been placed on there by all the people who loved him—Albus, the Weasleys, Hermione, Draco, Sirius and Remus, and of course himself, Severus Snape. Even Lucius had added his own concealment and protection spells to the pendant. Harry was truly touched by the gift and shivered when Sev leaned over to breathe into his ear, "I have the rest of your gift in our room. You'll receive it later."
Draco's gift was last, and by far Harry's favorite. The youngest Malfoy, with his father's help, had gotten Harry a young Cobra, which he named Salazar, or Sal for short. He spent several minutes just talking to the snake, unaware of everyone's attention as they gazed at him in awe. After all, with the exception of Draco, Severus, Ron, and Hermione, none of them had ever actually heard Harry talk to serpents, even though they knew that he could. The sound was soothing, unlike Voldemort's snake-speech, which had served only to strike fear in those who heard it.
Harry spent the day with his friends, talking about anything and everything, and just in general having a good time. Occasionally, he'd answer some questions of Sal's, and then translate the conversation for his friends.
Eventually, evening fell and the Weasleys and Hermione left. Dinner was a quiet affair, just Harry and his family, of which Lucius was included, being the father of his bond-brother. After dinner, they talked and played a few games, before Harry declared that he was beat and headed for bed.
Severus was waiting for him when he came out of the bedroom, biting his lip nervously. Harry remembered that Severus had told him that he had another gift coming. Looking at Severus curiously, he waited.
Finally, Severus gathered his courage and dropped to his knees in front of Harry, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a beautiful silver band with an emerald embedded in its center. "We are already bonded and mated," he began tentatively, "but I would like to make our union official. Would you consent to being my husband?"
Harry's squeal of ecstasy rang throughout the house as he launched himself at Severus, proclaiming over and over, "Yes, yes, yes. I love you. Yes, yes." The others, who had coming running up at Harry's cry, smiled to see him so happy. Even Sirius kept his mouth shut, knowing that Harry was happy with Severus, and that he had no right to interfere. His reward was a smile of delighted surprise and pride from his own bonded husband.
Through correspondence with his friends, Harry discovered that the 'rebirth' of Sirius had been leaked to the press. Reporters were everywhere, seeking the elusive Harry Potter, Necromancer Extraordinaire. Harry rolled his eyes when he read this, along with the article that followed, courtesy of the Weasley twins. Apparently, they believed him to be a practitioner of necromancy and the Dark Arts. This was one time when Harry was glad to be at Privet Drive for the summer. The press couldn't find him, he was with family, and by the time he returned, this would have hopefully blown over.
Fortunately, the press hadn't found out about Severus' proposal yet. Harry had owled both of his best friends to tell them, and had granted Albus permission to announce it at the opening feast at Hogwarts. It would work excellently as a shocker, since the old coot could no longer use the name Voldemort to grab everyone's attention. Well, he could, but only to mention that he had been destroyed by Gryffindor's Golden Boy, Harry Potter.
Speaking of Gryffindor, Harry wondered if he'd be considered a neutral student again. He suspected that he would, considering the bond and the fact that an apprenticeship gave him some direction now that Voldemort was gone, plus it would allow him to remain at Hogwarts for several more years, until his apprenticeship was complete. He was hoping to become a Master in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Healing. Defense had always been his favorite subject, although the same couldn't be said of most of the teachers. Perhaps it was because of Voldemort, but he enjoyed Defense.
As for the other, being a Jachyra gave him a natural affinity for healing and protecting people, so he figured he might as well put it to use. He'd be able to study under Madame Pomfrey and Severus, since potions were often used in the medical field, and it would be useful if he could brew his own. Of course, that meant he'd have to be rather competent in Potions, so maybe he should look for a Mastery in that field as well.
BREAKEventually, September First rolled around, and it was time to return to Hogwarts, and excitement filled the air. They were going home! All of them. Harry and Draco still had a year to complete, Severus had Potions to teach and a House to head, and the Canine Duo would be teaching this year. Remus would remain the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the second year running, with Sirius as an assistant and substitute for the days surrounding the full moon, which thrilled Harry to no end.
Upon reaching Platform 9 ¾ , Harry suddenly found himself wishing that he had thought to disguise himself. He was instantly flooded by reporters and well-wishers, praising his name and blocking his path to the train. Fortunately, his bodyguards came to his rescue. Between Severus' Death Glare and scowl, and Lucius Malfoy's commanding presence, the others managed to usher Harry onto the train, where his friends were waiting, laughing at him.
While Sirius, Remus, and Severus headed for the teacher's compartment—they had decided to ride the train rather than risk apparating on top of a crowd of people—Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco found another compartment of their own. Harry and Draco sealed the compartment door so that no one but the food lady would be able to get in. Harry didn't feel like dealing with people right now.
The trip was pleasant, and as Harry rode in one of the Thestral-drawn carriages, he watched out the window as the scenery passed by. He gazed at the school in contentment as they approached the front gates. He had to duck, however, when he saw the reporters, all clamoring for a look at the Savior. Draco just smirked at him, but gave in when Harry shot him a desperate, pleading look, pulling Harry's invisibility cloak from his pocket and unshrinking it. Harry smiled at him gratefully, glad that the Slytherin tended to think ahead.
When his friends exited the carriage, with Harry going after Draco but before Hermione, the reporters instantly flooded them, asking where Harry was. Hermione and Ron both appeared flustered, but Draco handed the whole deal smoothly, stating that Harry Potter had arrived at Hogwarts a week early in order to avoid the crowds. This disappointed the reporters, but Harry let out a sigh of relief and thanked every deity he could think of for the birth of Draco Lucius Malfoy.
Once inside, he removed the invisibility cloak and proceeded to his usual seat at the Gryffindor table, dragging Draco along with him. The other Gryffindors surprised him, greeting him amiably, or at least neutrally, and behaving very courteously. Curious, Draco looked at the were-Jachyra next to him.
Harry flashed him a grin and whispered in his ear that the Gryffindors knew what had happened the last time anybody had tried to hurt or insult Draco. Despite the fact that those were Slytherins, Harry had made it very clear that the same rules applied to everyone else.
They fell silent as the first years entered the room. It was a large group this year. With the Dark Lord gone, parents were letting their children away from home. There were nineteen Gryffindors, seventeen Slytherins, nineteen Ravenclaw, and fifteen Hufflepuff added to their ranks that year, making a total of seventy new students.
Dumbledore rose and the table fell silent, waiting with baited breath. Smiling genially, the old man gave his annual announcements concerning the Forbidden Forest and Filch's list of restricted items. He spoke of Voldemort's defeat, and Harry got a standing ovation, which only served to make him huddle in his seat, face flaming, wishing that he could just disappear or sink right through the floor. Draco had taken his cloak back, so he was stuck there.
Once the applause had settled, Dumbledore spoke again. "I have only one more major announcement. I would like to announce the engagement of Harry James Potter to Severus Salazar Snape. Mr. Potter accepted a marriage proposal on July 31st, and they will be married in May, after the ending feast. Speaking of feasts, everybody dig in!"
With that, food appeared on the tables, but for several long moments, nobody moved. Then, in a flurry of sound, everybody started talking at once, and speculations flew. Harry ate silently, keeping his head down, until he was finished. Exiting the Great Hall, he went straight for the dungeons and his room, falling into bed and immediately falling asleep, exhausted. He'd deal with the rest of the school population tomorrow.
