When Harry woke the next morning he felt better, physically, than he had since before Christmas. Emotionally, he felt exhausted and…raw. So much had happened in the last week and thought he was beginning to understand and even accept it, he was still very confused. He had accepted that he had a family that he had never known, but he wasn't ready to accept the people who made up that family…at least not all of them.
Lily's delight at little things showed brilliantly on her face and he found himself wanting to see that smile more and more. He hadn't yet spent much time with Reg or Aurora, but he was planning to remedy that soon, now that most of the funerals were out of the way. These three were too innocent in the whole thing for him to hold a grudge against them. They had seemed to understand his mood the last few days, the older two steering clear while Lily tried to cheer him up.
It was the older three Malfoys that he had had problems with. Draco had been quietly hovering, ever ready to give his own opinion of things. Though he hadn't done that as often since Harry's Stinging hex the day before. Narcissa was even worse than Molly Weasley with her smothering. But at least Lucius had stuck mostly to the shadows, there yet not really. He was beginning to respect the man for the quiet presence that he had provided. A quiet presence that had reminded him very much of Snape.
A Snape who wasn't dead. A Snape that had managed to trick death. A Snape who had held him last night as he had bawled all over the man and didn't ridicule him or demand that he stop. A Snape who had actually sat and just talked to him for the first time…had talked to him until he fell asleep. Had Snape been the one to move him to his bed last night?
He got out of bed, showered and dressed in some of the new clothes that Narcissa had ordered for him. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but admire the fine cloth and cut of the clothing. She really did a good job of selecting his new wardrobe.
Deciding that he couldn't put his new-found family off any longer, he headed down the stairs, stopping as he passed the room with the Black Family Tree. Inside the room he could hear women's voices; Narcissa and Andromeda, he realized as he stood just outside the open door. After a moment of hesitation he stepped into the room. This was his house after all, and he needed to know what they were planning to do to the ancient tapestry.
"Good morning, Harry, dear," Narcissa greeted him, moving to kiss his cheek, but he stepped away from her. She didn't comment on his reaction. Instead she led him over to the tapestry. "Come see what we are doing."
Harry glanced at the tapestry and the first thing that he noticed was the place that had once contained the blast mark that had been Sirius' place in the family had been fully restored. He reached out and gently touched the man's face. "You repaired it…How?"
Andromeda rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Our aunt forgot that any woman born with the Black Family name could destroy, repair or add to the tapestry."
He leaned back against her unconsciously and she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. His gaze traveled over to the blast mark that had once represented her. It had been repaired and she had added her husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandson. "You added Remus. Thank you…Aunt Andy."
"He was part of this family too, Harry, but you are most welcome," she replied.
Narcissa tried not to feel jealous of the fact that her son was allowing her sister to touch him, but he had stepped away from her only moments before. She knew that it would take time for him to accept them and that he had been put through a lot recently, but it still hurt to see it. Sighing, she stepped forward and began the process of adding her other children to the tapestry.
Harry watched as his own face appeared on the tapestry beside Draco's followed in the next few minutes by Aurora, Reg and Lily. Once Narcissa finished with her work, he stepped away from Andromeda and turned to his mother. "Is Snape still here? I need to talk to him."
"He's down in the kitchen with Draco and Lucius," Narcissa replied.
He nodded and headed toward the door. He stopped and turned back to face them. "Since you can repair the tapestry…can you do something about your aunt's portrait? I don't want it to stay there. I want it down as soon as possible."
"We'll see what we can do, son."
He thanked them and left the room, heading down to the kitchen where Snape, Draco and Lucius were bent over what looked like legal documents. "What are you looking at?" he asked, taking a seat at the table and accepting the mug of coffee that Kreacher handed him.
"I'm trying to get all my legal affairs in order," Lucius told him.
"Why?" he asked, waving aside the plate of food that Kreacher offered him.
Lucius sighed. "The chances are very good that the three of us will soon be arrested for being Death Eaters. We will be in Azkaban until our trials. And with Severus having to stand trial as well, his testimony that I was helping him spy on the Dark Lord will likely be tossed out."
"Even though it may be the truth, the Wizengamot can't accept the testimony of another suspected or convicted Death Eater," Draco explained. "We can all understand why it has to be that way. If Father and Uncle Sev really were Death Eaters then they could just alibi each other and get away with whatever they did. It's not good for us, but that's just the way it works sometimes."
"I'll testify on behalf of all of you and talk to Kingsley as well to see what I can do," Harry said with a sigh. He gestured toward the papers. "Anything I should know about?"
Severus took the plate of food from Kreacher and put it in front of Harry. "Eat."
"I'm not hungry, Snape," he said, trying to push the plate away again, only to find that Snape was holding it in place.
"Either you eat the food or I will give you the foulest tasting Nutritive Potion that I can possibly brew," the man told him firmly.
Harry made a face, but began to eat as Draco chuckled.
Lucius shook his head. "Harry, if I am the only one arrested, then you won't have to worry about any of this. Draco is my heir and as such would be acting head of the family while I was away. However, if the both of us are arrested, then that job would fall to you as the next oldest male in the family. Cissy would be more than willing to help if you need to talk something out with someone.
"We have investments with several businesses, so there will be money coming into the vault. Unless the Wizengamot imposes some huge fines as well as time in Azkaban, you shouldn't ever have to worry about money. We have a very large vault and it is quite full.
"Or course, we're hoping that you will not have to worry about this at all, but it is a very real possibility. I hate to have to ask this of you Harry…"
Harry sighed and looked at the other three men. "I'll do it, sir. I'll take care of them while you are gone."