~OOooOO~
Life pretty much continued like normal for a little while. Charlie and Harry got used to living with each other fairly quickly. All of Harry's clothing and his personal effects were kept in his own room. The edict handed down by the Board of Governors required that Harry's room be his and Charlie's room be separate. So Harry would bathe in the morning and change in his room and, at the end of the day, would change into pajama bottoms in his room. He and Charlie, however, slept in Charlie's room.
Bill and Severus had moved all of Bill's things to Severus' chambers at once. Since they were both teachers, they didn't need anyone's permission to share rooms. It took a little getting used to for Severus, as he had never shared his rooms with anyone before. The second room was being turned into a nursery.
Molly and Arthur visited every weekend. It had taken a while for Molly to accept that her eldest child was living with Severus, but, eventually, she had. She now spent a lot of time with Severus and Charlie, planning who knows what between them. Bill and Harry had learned, very quickly, to leave the room when Molly came in.
April 20th brought another surprise to Hogwarts, in the form of a bruised and battered Draco Malfoy. Narcissa had pulled him out of Durmstrang and was returning him to Hogwarts. Apparently, the students at the other school had gotten word of what Malfoy had done and had taken their revenge. Even though none of the students at Durmstrang had ever met Harry Potter, they had been angry to find that this spoiled, arrogant ponce had attacked the Saviour of the Wizarding World.
When Minerva had walked into the Great Hall that morning, with both Malfoys following behind her, the entire school had gone silent. Charlie had quietly left by the side door, only to come back in through the main doors, and sat down next to Harry.
Minerva turned to look out at her students. She noticed curiosity and barely concealed hatred. "Attention everyone. As you have noticed, Mr. Malfoy has returned to Hogwarts. I am demanding that each and every one of you allow him to continue his studies, so that he may graduate. If anyone is caught tormenting him, I will give that person, or persons, the harshest punishment I am able. I need someone to volunteer to help tutor Mr. Malfoy, so that he does graduate on time."
Harry looked at Charlie and Charlie nodded back. He knew that Harry had forgiven Malfoy and had moved on. Harry stood and, with Charlie by his side, walked to the front of the Great Hall. Both Draco's and Narcissa's eyes grew wider as the two approached. Harry's robes parted as he walked and the two were able to see the slight belly that Harry was now sporting.
"Professor McGonagall, both Charlie and I are volunteering to help tutor Draco."
The Great Hall erupted in loud, angry voices, mostly from the Gryffindor table. Harry looked back at his housemates. "I have forgiven him. I've moved on with my life. I'm not going to allow one incident to keep me from helping someone who needs the help. If there are any of you who want to help, even if it's just sitting with me and Draco to calm your minds, get up here."
Ron and Hermione walked up to the table, followed by Ginny and, surprisingly Blaise Zabini. He had been one of the most vocal Slytherins against Draco when the incident had first happened. He walked up to the Malfoys and stood directly in front of the shorter, blonde wizard. "Will you give an oath on your magic that you won't do anything to harm Harry and Professor Weasley?"
Draco drew his wand, causing everyone to tense. "I, Draco Malfoy, of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy, do hereby swear, on my magic, that I will never do anything, ever again, to harm Harry James Potter or his mate, Charlie Weasley, in any way. So I have spoken, so let it be." A white light came from the tip of Malfoy's wand and enveloped him.
The Hall was, again, dead silent. Blaise turned to Minerva. "I will also help tutor Draco."
Ron and Hermione stepped forward. "I will help, too. Ron's just going to set his mind at ease." The look of relief on Draco's face was almost comical. He needed Hermione's knowledge. He hadn't been allowed to continue most of his classes at Durmstrang, due to the beatings, and had fallen behind where he needed to be. He only had about 7 more weeks to catch up. Narcissa had already made arrangements with Minerva for Draco to take his N.E.W.T.s over the summer.
Minerva nodded and looked at Ginny Weasley. "I will help also. I'm already studying N.E.W.T. level Potions and Charms."
Minerva nodded. "Very well. Miss Granger, you will assist with History of Magic and Transfiguration, Mr. Zabini, you will assist with Transfiguration and Charms. Miss Weasley, you will assist with Potions and Charms. Mr. Potter, you and Professor Weasley will assist with Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures. Mr. Weasley, you will assist wherever you can. I will draw up a schedule for the tutoring sessions." She turned to Draco and Narcissa and lowered her voice. "Mr. Malfoy, you will have your own set of rooms. I do not think it would be safe for you to rejoin the Slytherin dormitory. Professors Snape and Weasley? Please come join us."
Bill and Severus moved around the table to join the small group in front. "You will assist with the classes that you teach. I believe that Mr. Malfoy is rather far behind in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms, so those will be the tutoring sessions that will be the most intense." The two instructors nodded.
Draco walked up to Harry and knelt in front of him. "I apologize for what I did. It took me a while, but I realized that it was wrong. I thought, arrogantly, that you wouldn't turn down a Malfoy. I was wrong. I'm sorry." He remained on the floor, head bowed.
Harry put a hand on his shoulder. "It's over. I'm past that now. Come on, get off of the floor, that can't be too comfortable."
Draco let out a small huff of laughter. "Thank you." Harry nodded in response.
~OOooOO~
The tutoring was going well, so well that Ron had stopped going to watch and, instead, went to learn. He learned more through Draco's tutoring classes than he had that whole year. He hoped it would help his N.E.W.T. scores, as he wanted to go into Auror training in the fall. Hermione and Professor McGonagall had both assured him that he should do well enough to get into the training with no problems.
Harry had decided to accept Minerva's offer of the DADA teaching position. After fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters for so many years, he no longer wanted to spend the rest of his life putting said life on the line.
Unbeknownst to Harry and Bill, there were plans afoot. Molly and Charlie had finally gotten it out of Severus that he was going to ask Bill to bond with him after the end of the term. He and Charlie, who planned on asking Harry at graduation, were planning a dual ceremony. Sirius and Remus made several trips to Gringotts in Diagon Alley. They had, with Harry's permission, raided the Potter vault, trying to find the bonding rings they knew were in there. Harry didn't know why they wanted into the vault, but gave his permission anyway. They finally found them, along with piles of pictures and photo albums that they brought back for Harry.
Severus had visited the Prince vault and brought back his family's bonding rings. The Weasleys had decided that Ron and Hermione would use the Weasley bonding rings for their marriage.
When Harry came back to their rooms after classes, he had been stunned to see pictures of the original Marauders, photos of Lily, James and Harry, photos of Sirius and Remus holding Harry all adorning the walls. The photo that broke Harry's resolve not to cry was a photo of Albus Dumbledore holding an infant Harry. He had sobbed in Charlie's arms after seeing that photo, scaring Sirius and Remus. Charlie had just held Harry, rubbing his back and whispering to him.
Sirius knelt down next to Harry and rubbed his hand up and down Harry's arm. "What's wrong, Bambi? What's made you cry like this?"
"I-I miss h-him S-Siri. I know he was manipulative as hell, but I still m-miss him." Harry buried his head back in Charlie's neck.
Bill and Severus came into the room and were confused and concerned by Harry's tears. Remus walked over to them and explained. Severus, in an unexpected move, crouched down and placed his fingers under Harry's chin, moving his head so that Harry could look into his eyes.
"I'm certain he misses you, as well. You know, he loved you like the grandson he never had. I know he would have wanted to see what you have become, but, rest assured, Harry, he knows."
Harry continued to sob in Charlie's arms, eventually falling asleep. After Charlie laid him in their bed, so that he could sleep undisturbed, he rejoined the rest in the sitting area.
"Thank you Severus. He may not have said anything, but I know that meant a lot to him."
"It was nothing more than the truth. He did love Harry as a grandson. He had always looked on the four Marauders and Lily as his children, far more than any others. He never forgave himself for not talking them into using him as their secret keeper. Once he found out about the abuse, Harry said that he had tried to find another place for him to stay."
"The Ministry refused to allow him to stay with me and Remus. Why would they allow the insane former convict and a werewolf to care for him? No matter that that is what Lily and James' wills stated they wanted. I didn't know until we went through the vault and found the pictures. We got the goblins started on looking over Harry's affairs, making sure that the Ministry didn't take anything from him."
"Do you think they did?" Charlie was curious.
"I do. I know that there had been more than one vault when James and Lily were alive, but the only one Harry's ever seen is just the one for his trust fund. There should be at least one other, maybe two."
Bill joined the conversation. "Well, if anything went wrong or was stolen, the Gringotts goblins will find it. I'll contact them tomorrow to see if anything has been found."
~OOooOO~
Bill went to Gringotts the next day, followed by a protective Severus. Not only did Bill want to see if they had found anything, but he also needed to inform them of his pregnancy, to see if that would affect his transfer.
They were met by the head goblin and led into a private room. The head goblin explained what they had found. The Ministry had indeed stolen two of three vaults belonging to Harry Potter. They were currently working to get back the monies and valuables stolen. As they had proof that Fudge had started removing items from the vaults after Harry had started school at Hogwarts, they were within their rights to demand his entire estate be liquidated to make restitution to Harry. Most of it had been bought with the stolen money anyway. Bill told them to wait. He would ask Harry if he wanted to keep the estate or have it liquidated.
The goblin had actually laughed when he had been informed of Bill's pregnancy. He reassured Bill that it wouldn't affect his transfer and he could continue to work there up to his 8th month. They would hold his position for him, should he want it after the baby was born.
They went back to Hogwarts to inform Harry, Charlie, Sirius and Remus what had happened. Harry was livid.
"Not only did that bastard try to harm me, but he's been stealing from me as well. I want to look at the stuff he bought. I may want to keep it. If not, I'll have Gringotts sell it. I can't believe this! What the Hell did I ever do to him? Does he do this to every orphan? Gringotts might want to check into that, to make sure I was the only one. A lot of kids my age were orphaned in the first war."
Bill and Charlie agreed. Bill would see to it and made plans to go back the following Saturday. Harry demanded to be allowed to go, too. Sirius would accompany him, as his guardian.