A/n: The large chunks of text are from a recording.
Before anyone asks, no. The pairing (if any) for Harry is still undecided.
The ice cream break had been exactly what Harry had needed and allowed them to quickly return and hear Sirius' will. Harry had asked near the end of their snack if they could try to contact Moony. The way he had hesitated clearly told Severus that his son thought he would react badly to the request. This wasn't at all surprising considering his reaction to the man during Harry's third year. Severus had silently watched Harry fidget as Raja unconcernedly stole part of his ice cream before agreeing to send out inquiries but warning that if the goblins couldn't find him he probably wouldn't either. Harry quickly agreed and happily finished his treat.
Harry was more than a little surprised to find them being led to a different room when they returned for the will reading. The constant presence of his parents and, ironically, of Voldemort, who had joined them for ice cream, reassured him. However, it didn't negate the utter shock he felt when he saw who else was waiting in the room to hear the will read.
"Harry, my boy! Severus! How wonderful it is to see you on this fine day," Dumbledore said jovially, his twinkling eyes replaced by sparking granite.
"You will leave them alone if you in any way value the unspoken truce. I have no problem publicly denouncing you and calling for a blood feud. As Harry is considered part of my family that will include him as well. I verified it in front of the goblins and filed all the correct paperwork for the more unusual aspects of the situation," Voldemort told him curtly, ushering the small family over towards the seats next to Draco and his mother, Narcissa. No one noticed Raja moving to Alan and hiding in his shirt except for Alan himself, who didn't say anything. He just figured it was something that Harry desperately wanted to do at the moment, hid behind one of his parents.
Lucius was nowhere in evidence and Harry wondered what the blond was doing at that moment. He caught the edge of the goblin's vicious smirk in the corner of his eye before it disappeared behind the cool mask of professionalism. Harry was suddenly glad that he'd listened earlier and put on the dagger immediately, despite hoping to never have to use it. That's when he saw Remus.
The werewolf looked battered and exhausted but that could have easily been the full moon since it had been less than three days since the last one. Then he remembered how close the Remus had been to Sirius and Harry realized that he wasn't the only person who had been affected by Padfoot's death. Neither Severus nor Voldemort were fast enough to catch him as he dashed up to Remus and tackled him. The wolf lay under his cub on the floor, stunned for a moment before curling his arms around Harry and breaking down. Harry just clutched him tighter, offering the same comfort that his parents and familiar had given him when he felt Sirius die.
"My cub," Remus sobbed, clutching tight enough to leave bruises.
Harry ignored the slightly painful grip in favor of trying to sooth both wolf and man. Ron, Molly, and Ginny kept trying to interrupt and drag Harry away only to be blocked by Severus as Alan sat next to Harry and Remus. Harry caught a glimpse of Dumbledore's glare and realized the man had tried to take the Alpha position for Remus' wolf. Harry was stealing it from him and comforting Remus at the same time. Severus finally snapped at his former schoolmate.
"Wolf! Release my son," Severus nearly thundered only to be shocked at the immediate compliance.
Harry blinked in surprise from his new position in an equally surprised Alan's lap. A flash of insight told the potions master what had happened. Harry was Remus' alpha but at the moment he and Alan were Harry's alpha pair. In releasing Harry he had recognized that he was beta to Severus and Alan with Harry being the pack cub.
"Who is your alpha!" Severus barked out, deciding to be on the safe side and double check his conclusions.
"Harry... you," Remus whimpered submissively.
"Good, now get up. You've gotten both yourself and Harry dirty," Severus said grumpily, pulling Alan and Harry with him to sit near the shocked Malfoys and a relieved yet amused Voldemort.
"But..." Harry started before trailing off in confusion.
"The blasted wolf acknowledged you as Alpha but also acknowledged that I am effectively your Alpha. As time progresses he will determine who else is in our pack and the rankings. I have no doubt that he will find himself if not at the bottom of the rankings than nearly so," Severus said grumpily, pulling Harry into his side in a cuddle hug. "If you manage to bond with him as a familiar, which I doubt but will not be surprised by with your luck, you are responsible for him. That means food, clothing, making sure he has a suitable job, and a place to live. I will not be pleased if he needs to live with us but I will accept it."
Harry's shout of joy and attempt to bowl over his father made Alan laugh. It also made him glad that he'd been trusted enough by his partner to be told about the ghastly prank. Alan knew exactly what Severus was risking to make that offer for the sake of their son. Whether Remus Lupin accepted a place in their home or not, for it was an honest offer, he knew Severus would likely have nightmares that night.
Remus settled down within easy arms reach of Harry and couldn't take his eyes off of his cub. He didn't care that the man he'd helped torment for years was now effectively in control of his life and knew it. All he cared about was that there was still one person left from his pack, his cub, Harry. That knowledge alone was enough to keep him from following his packmates and give him new life. The offer to be near his cub on the other hand was like finding a river of pure perfect water while dying of thirst. If he later discovered there was a price to pay for it he would do so gladly.
They only noticed that the goblins had kept Dumbledore away from them when he was shoved into a chair near the back of the room, none to gently. Voldemort eyed the goblin guards that had taken up station around the man with open amusement and a vicious gleam in his eye. Harry glanced over to see what the fuss was about before ignoring him in favor of his family. Once everyone was settled the presiding goblin got down to business.
"We are here to hear the contents of Sirius Orion Black, the 36th Lord Black," the goblin announced solemnly before waving his hand over a large white marble sphere, making it glow and project an image of Sirius above it. The image quickly began to speak, reciting the will being read.
"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the house of Black, do hereby swear that I am of relatively sound mind and body. Shut up Moony! I, on this day of July 31st 1996, do now provide my living will and testament, forswearing all previous wills and related documents. Before we progress to who gets my stuff and all the ridiculous paperwork I have a few things to say," the image of Sirius was startling and made Harry glad that his dad was holding him close. "Moony, I trust you to protect our pup and I expect you both you and Harry to quit blaming yourself for my death. I have no doubt that I died during this blasted war nor that it was in some way protecting one or both of you. I will come back and prank your arses to kingdom come if I have to! I don't expect to see either of you on this side for a long time. I know that something happened with all the hubbub that's going on now and with Albus in danger of loosing his titles and everything. So, I thought I'd update my will and make sure that the two of you came out on top if something happened. That's one of the reasons both Albus and the Dark Lord are here. I didn't get a chance to ask you about some of the stuff being tossed around about you and your relatives. If what I'm hearing is true I don't want you near them again and would completely understand if you decide to side with ol' moldyshorts. Pup, Prongslet, Harry, no matter what you decide you have my support. To that end I declare you my heir and reveal that you have been my heir since the first week after your birth. Because of the danger of the situation we used an old family ritual that both blood adopted you into the Black family and hid your status. Which is why no one was able to get a read on who was the heir after me."
The unintelligible hubbub that exploded from the listeners forced a pause in the reading until everyone calmed back down. Severus grumpily found himself with a clingy werewolf wrapped around him almost as thoroughly as he was wrapped around his son. Alan just looked at the pile of wizards and werewolf in a combination of bemusement and amusement, planing on teasing Severus later. Their attention quickly returned to the projection as the goblin unpaused the recording.
"Anything I haven't designated to go somewhere goes to Harry as Lord Black. If Harry isn't yet 17 when this is read he is to receive the option of emancipation so that he can properly defend himself when he comes under attack. At such time I request that he take up the Black Lordship alongside the Potter Lordship. Because I've been hearing some nasty things about some of my pup's friends this next part is a little complicated. I gift 50,000 galleons to the Weasleys, for being a safe haven and friend to my godson. I gift 10,000 galleons each to Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Fred and George Weasley, for standing by his side as friends and helping him survive the shite that Albus has allowed at Hogwarts. I designate an additional 100,000 galleons for Harry to distribute among his chosen friends barring anyone who is shown to be a traitor as Wormtail turned out to be," the loud complaints from Ron, Molly, and Ginny forced another pause in the reading and earned them murderous looks or looks of disgust from other listeners, especially the Malfoys.
"Can I designate who gets it now?" Harry asked from inside his cocoon of parent and werewolf.
"That is one of the requirements, it will be split evenly between the names you give us," the goblin said agreeably. "You can not be in doubt as to their status, however. If you in any way doubt their friendship or caring for you at the moment you can not provide them as recipients."
Harry nodded, taking a deep breath before reciting the names of those he still considered friend. "Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Griphook of Gringotts, Mark from the dig site, Draco Malfoy despite the newness of our tentative friendship, and Voldemort, born Tom Marvolo Riddle."
The shock that rippled through the room made Harry feel giddy yet apprehensive. The increased squeeze of Severus' hug and the low rumble of approval from Remus made him relax, happy in his choices. The rush of joyful, cavorting warmth down the bond he had with Voldemort didn't hurt anything either. The unexpected part came when Dumbledore moved. The curse he sent straight at Harry was accidentally intercepted by a Velociraptor bursting into the room. The horrible screech tapered off into an infuriated hiss. A hiss matched only by the three other raptors that had followed the first into the room.
"~STupid PrEY!~" the screech of fury from the lead raptor made Voldemort laugh.
"Looks like you crossed a line Albus," Voldemort said viciously, quickly putting himself between Harry and the raptors.
"~Kill the prey later. We need to find the treasured speaker,~" the biggest clearly ordered even as all four of them showed the old man their teeth.
"~I am a speaker,~" Voldemort offered cautiously. All the raptors swiveled their heads to focus on him but didn't retract their claws, only going so far as to hid their teeth behind reptilian lips.
"~I think they're talking about me,~" Harry hissed, forcing Remus and Severus to let him go before walking up to stand next to Voldemort. Alan, having seen this reaction before, watched the raptors in case they decided to attack but let Harry talk.
"~This is the speaker you feuded with?~" the first raptor asked cautiously.
"~Yes, there was a misunderstanding. He thought I hunted him,~" Harry explained quickly, keeping as much to the truth without trying to go into the morass of details that would be a proper explanation. They might not even understand the explanation simply because of differences in the two cultures.
"~I did not realize that magic said he was to have been my hatchling or at least trained by me. Instead, I listened to the falsehoods of the old one in the corner delivered by one of my own pack unknowing. If you had arrived moments later he would have successfully harmed Harry. I offer my thanks for preventing harm to our hatchling,~" Voldemort said seriously, bowing slightly to them in thanks.
"~Why are you all here? How did you get here?~" Harry asked curiously, deciding to address the hatchling comment later. Though he supposed it was a valid interpretation of the Horcrux and was probably better than some of the other ones.
"~The small warrior ones contacted us to confirm our agreement. They agreed to arrange for us to speak and assisted us into this territory. We scented you and got tired of waiting,~" the smallest and probably the youngest of the party explained in hyper voice that reminded Harry of Fred and George on a sugar high.
"~The old one is an enemy? Your anger and the stench of his fear practically shout it,~" the lead raptor asked as they turned to focus with deadly intensity on him.
"~You can't kill him! It would put the pack at risk,~" Harry warned them quickly.
"~Why ever not?~" Voldemort hissed mildly.
"~And how many would try to kill all of the pack after hearing how they took out Dumbledore!? He may be in disgrace but he is still powerful and decently respected for stopping the last Dark Lord as well as scaring you,~" Harry shot back with a growl.
"~He does not scare me. He's hurt me and I am respectful of his influence and power,~" Voldemort said grumpily, fully confident in the fact that only Harry and the raptors could actually understand him at the moment.
"~You harmed the hatchling speaker and must pay a forfeit,~" the lead raptor finally decided.
"~The hatchling speaker has already demanded a forfeit and only the interference of the meddling old one has kept me from providing it,~" Voldemort hissed dryly. "~I will forever claim him as pack, family. In time I may take him as mate but not now. He needs time to heal and learn. He needs time to be pack and family.~"
"What do you mean take me as a mate but not now?!" Harry protested angrily, sliding back into English.
"You and I have become more than others. It will take quite a bit to kill either of us and the nature of what happened when you received your scar means that we have a longer life span than other wizards. I am merely leaving open the possibility of us choosing to become lovers in the future, nothing more. You aren't ready for a romantic relationship. If, in the future, I attempt to court you and you say no I will respect that. You have nothing to fear from me. Before you object on the grounds of our age difference there are larger ones accepted among magicals because of the effect of magic on our life spans," Voldemort explained in a soothing tone of voice. Harry just glared at him grumpily.
"~You didn't tell him about thinking he might be a good mate, did you?~" the lead raptor asked with an amused snap of her jaws.
"~No, I didn't. I suspect he will never accept me as a worthy mate but one can hope. For now I will protect him as pack. In time his feelings may change,~" Voldemort hissed in resignation. "~If he chooses another I will make sure that they will pay should they hurt him.~"
"Lovely! An over protective Dark Lord acting like an older brother," Harry said sourly, stalking over to stand next to his parents. Everyone recognized the grumpy tone and his parents relaxed at the clear indication that Voldemort wasn't going to try and snatch their son up, at least not right away.
"~Then we must only take a forfeit from the old one,~" the lead raptor said with a nod. A split second later there was a single harsh scream and Dumbledore was suddenly missing an arm, his colorful robes slashed. The smallest raptor had snuck within lunging range and taken the old man's left arm, destroying his robes in the process. He quickly darted back towards the others with his prize, standing there smugly as he showed off the stolen arm.
"~Hatchling, should the old one threaten you again call for us. We will well enjoy hunting in your territory. We will bring news of your continued health back to the pack and expect you to visit our territory soon. Bring the older speaker with you for proper pack judgement and acceptance trials,~" the lead raptor ordered, quickly ordering the arm dropped at Harry's feet before they dashed out of the room further into the bank. Voldemort vindictively incinerated the body part before banishing the blood near them and using his wand to right the chairs knocked askew. Raja emerged from his hiding spot in Alan's shirt at the scent of the blood to check on Harry.
"Shall we continue?" Voldemort asked innocently. Severus shot a blood clotting spell at Dumbledore's still bleeding shoulder, not bothering with anything else before taking his seat with an eye roll. Harry shot another glare at the older speaker before feeling himself yanked into Severus' side and the seat next to him once more. Raja took the chance to once more wrap himself around Harry's neck, hiding half under the wizard's hair.
"Why didn't you protect him from them?!" Molly demanded of the goblins.
"We understand parseltongue perfectly well and there is a long standing agreement between our people and those of the Ancient peoples. Any dragon, as one of their descendants, who wishes to leave Gringotts and be recognized as a possible patron need only invoke the rights of that treaty. They were here under diplomatic immunity to visit one of their pack members and proved that they understood the general restrictions. Shall we continue with the will reading?" the goblin told them blandly, mentally cackling at the affronted looks he was getting from most of the people in the room. There was a bunch of general muttering but they eventually moved forwards.
"Now that the obvious outburst is done. Moony you're getting that little cottage outside of Hogsmeade and no you can't give it back. You also can't give back the two vaults that have already been transferred to your name and purposefully redistributed with your own vault. You aren't getting out of having what you need," Sirius' image said stubbornly. Remus nodded his acceptance in clear shock at what his friend had left him. "Andromeda, I officially reinstate you and your family as members of the house of Black and release the dowry which should have been paid upon your marriage. Further more I order the formation of a 100,000 galleon dowry for your daughter, Nymphadora. Ha! You can't hit me for calling you that this time! Narcissa, your husband is a prat and if either you or your son wish to remain a part of the house of Black Draco at least needs to pass a six month training course learning about British Muggle culture. Or you and your family can establish a truce with my godson and swear an oath not to follow any orders involved in harming him unless you clear it with him. I know my godson, if he says you need to go ahead and hurt him then its for a good reason or you had a fantastic argument and were desperate enough to beg. Only my godson can relieve you of the oath requirement. Finally, I set aside 3 million galleons to go to whichever side Harry chooses to support. This includes his starting his own faction or choosing to remain neutral but help people leave so that they don't get caught between the sides. Should he not declare a side within five years the money will revert to the Black Estate. The last qualifier for the... lets call it a combat fund, is that the leader swear to never betray, harm, or otherwise destroy my godson. I think that's it... oh! Severus Snape is to get 200,000 galleons in compensation for the absolute hell I put him through and so that he can leave teaching if he likes. Harry, Snivellous might have been one of our main targets but he does know what he's doing and he's got one hell of a mean spell library. You picked well for finding someone who won't just die for you but will live if you ask it of him. Trust me, dying is easy, living? Not so much when everything feels like its gone."
Sirius' image faded away to absolute silence which was broken by a snarl from Harry's father. Raja hissing his agreement while trying to offer comfort to his wizard.
"Damn mutt. He had to go and say something like that," Severus growled, keeping Harry close in the pandemonium that erupted around the small family.