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Harry and Castor eventually got into a rhythm with their days. Harry finally did decide that Dobby needed to come and take care of Castor for a bit when Harry had a double period; it was just too long for the baby to play or nap on his own. Dobby was over the moon about it though. He loved his 'Master Selkie' just as much as Harry and Severus, and Castor loved him as he loved most people. Really, it was just Dumbledore, Crabbe, Goyle, and surprisingly Professor Flitwick that Castor wasn't very happy being around. Harry hadn't taken Castor to meet Hagrid yet, but he was hopeful they'd get along since Hagrid was a fierce friend.
Harry had almost immediately planned a few library study sessions where he included both Hermione and Blaise after his realization before Astronomy class. She and Draco were still ignoring each other very pointedly, but at least neither said anything mean. Harry figured this was mostly because the baby was always there, reminding them to be on their best behavior. Blaise still hadn't gotten up the courage to ask Hermione out yet. There was a Hogsmeade weekend in a couple weeks though, so Harry was planning to mention it to him when it got closer.
Everything seemed to be going well between Remus and his dad, maybe too well. One Wednesday in DADA, Harry was pulling out his parchment for notes and noticed that Professor Lupin was wearing a nice, black button-down shirt…his dad's shirt. Harry turned bright red. "What's wrong, Artie?" Pansy asked quietly.
"You don't want to know," Harry groaned, burying his head in his bag.
The twins hadn't forgotten about him. Since his quarters were connected to the floo network, courtesy of Dobby, they usually came over on Sunday nights for dinner and to visit with Harry and their godson. It was on one of these visits that they were able to fill him in on what people were saying about Harry Potter.
George had taken Castor into the bathroom for a bath after he had gotten banana puree all over himself while Fred sat on the couch with Harry. Knowing the education at Hogwarts, Harry was certain neither Weasley would know the significance of Castor's birthmark, and he planned to eventually tell them anyway when Castor was older, so he wasn't concerned when either of them offered to change a diaper or give the baby a bath. "So, how's your family. I still haven't quite won over Ron yet, but I'm working on it," Harry told Fred.
"Yeah, don't be too hard on him. He's going through a rough time," Fred explained. "Old Voldy hasn't come right out and said it, but he's spread around that you're dead to enough people that even the Order is asking questions. The ministry is starting to come down hard on Dumbledore to produce you, and there's more and more talk about why you might have died. Obviously, Voldemort didn't kill you or he'd have your body on full display somewhere, so how did you die? The longer Dumbledore refuses to produce you, the more questions everyone has, but the headmaster just keeps insisting that you're off training somewhere. I think Ron has come to the correct, or at least the conclusion that you originally were trying to spread, that you might have killed yourself. He knew at least a bit, like the rest of us, that your homelife wasn't pleasant, though we kept everything that happened at the end of first year to just me and George. He's still been really depressed about it all recently though. And, mum's threatening mutiny or to at least stop cooking for everyone if she doesn't get a visit from you soon."
"I wish I could just tell them," Harry sighed. "I can't though, or things would go back to everyone out to kill me. While they are all fighting over if I'm alive or not, at least they aren't asking too many questions about the new student that popped up. And, if everything was suddenly back to normal with Ron and Hermione, that would raise too many questions about me, for Dumbledore anyway. My backstory isn't solid enough to hold up to much scrutiny."
"I agree mate and am just happy I'm in the know," Fred assured him, patting him on the arm. "I realize it's different though because we aren't around you every day, so we have less chance of blowing your cover."
"That wasn't why I told you," Harry smiled at him. "As much as I love Ron and Hermione, I also trust you and George. Ron gets angry and loudly says stupid things while Hermione believes too much in the authority of adults. She's liable to tell Dumbledore just because he asked. I love them, but I'm not blind to their faults. You guys though, I know I can trust you with my life, and more importantly, with my son's life."
Fred smiled so broadly, it really lit up the room. "And I you as well," Fred said sincerely.
George then joined them in the living room with a towel-wrapped, giggling baby. "Your kid has some lungs on him. He did not want to get in the tub, but then was happy to play in it once he was there."
"So, he's my kid when he's bad, but your godson when he's good?" Harry laughed.
"Of course," they both said together.
Fred and George left right after they all put Castor down to sleep, taking turns reading a bedtime story to him. Harry smiled at the floo they had just left from as he sat on his couch. Both the twins were so good to them, and Fred always seemed to know the right things to say so that he would feel that everything was going to be all right, even when he knew they weren't. He knew he was the one that would eventually have to kill Voldemort, even if he'd told everyone he was either dead or out of the war. It wasn't even the stupid prophesy, which he was unsure how it was affected with James Potter not being his father; it was the fact that he knew instinctually somehow that it would come down to him and the Dark Lord at the end. Somehow, he just knew that it was his responsibility.
Through all of that, Fred still made him feel like the only thing that mattered was their little family. After staring at the fire with a stupid grin on his face for five minutes, Harry groaned and laid his head on the armrest. He could NOT have a crush on Fred Weasley. Ron was going to kill him if Voldemort didn't after dating or wanting to date two of his siblings. He couldn't stop the little thought in the back of his head that at least he would die happy though.
It was mid-October before Blaise got up the courage to ask out Hermione. They had all been studying more and more together in the library. Draco and Hermione could even say a few civil words to each other. Ron, however, never joined and seemed to be extra peeved at Harry, probably thinking he was trying to steal one of the few friends he had left. Harry felt sorry for him, but he couldn't do anything about it if his former best friend wouldn't talk to him. And, he was too busy with classes, Castor, and obsessing over Ron's brother to put forth more than a passing effort into getting Ron on his side.
It was at the end of one of these study sessions that Harry kept giving Blaise pointed looks because a Hogsmeade weekend was coming up again when the Italian finally found his courage. As everyone was packing up, Blaise just blurted out, "Hermione, will you go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?"
Hermione opened and closed her mouth in shock. Harry rolled his eyes at Blaise. "Don't answer him yet Hermione. Don't let him put you on the spot like that," he shot an accusing glare at Blaise. "I said to ask her, not ask her in front of everyone! That's so awkward!"
"Sorry," Blaise said looking at his hands.
"We're all going to head out and give you two a minute, then you can answer him," Pansy agreed with Harry.
They all trooped out of the library, leaving Blaise and Hermione alone. They might have been mature about it, but they were also really curious, so they compromised by waiting right outside the doors to the library. Just a couple minutes later Blaise came rushing out "She said yes!" He said hugging Draco, then Harry and Castor, and then Pansy fended him off refusing a hug.
And, that was how Draco, Pansy, Blaise, and Hermione all ended up on a double date in Hogsmeade while Harry and Castor tessered to WWW for tea with Fred and George and to see all their new inventions. Harry had just tessered back into their quarters and put Castor down for the night when he heard a knock at the portrait. He cracked the portrait open a bit in curiosity to find Hermione, Blaise, Draco, Pansy, and Ron (who looked like he would rather be anywhere else and with any other people). "Hey, erm, come in," Harry said opening the door wider.
"Hey Artie, sorry we just stopped by," Hermione said as Harry waved them over to the couch where Harry smiled as Hermione sat by Blaise and took his hand. "Is Castor still awake?"
"No, I just got him to sleep. There's a muffling spell on his door though, so we won't wake him."
"We had a quick question," Hermione said nudging Ron.
"Erm, yeah, what's going on between your dad and Remus?" Ron asked, not unkindly but blunt.
"Yeah, we saw them at Hogsmeade, and it didn't seem like they were just friendly, if you know what I mean," Blaise clarified.
"My godfather…was smiling. I don't think I've ever seen that," Draco said amazed. "Hell must have frozen over at some point recently."
Harry chuckled at them as he took the remaining armchair. "Ok, I'll tell you, but you didn't hear this from me, ok?"
"We promise we won't tell anyone you told us," Hermione said leaning forward. Just then her magic flared and it connected all of them to Harry.
"Great! That was an idiotic move, Granger!" Draco snarled throwing his hands in the air in surrender.
"Hey! Don't talk to her that way!" Ron exclaimed, turning red.
"I'll say whatever I want, Weasel!"
A piercing whistle quieted the room. Blaise took his fingers from his mouth. "Now, we've already broken rule #1; you gits sure you want to go and break rule #2 as well?"
Draco looked worriedly over to Harry who just looked at them sheepishly. "No, erm, I'm sorry for what I said Granger," Draco said, quickly apologizing.
Ron and Hermione both looked just as shocked at Draco's apology as they were with whatever happened with Hermione's magic. "Can someone explain what these 'rules' are to us please?" Hermione asked with frustration, she never liked not being in the know.
"They are the rules for being friends with Artie," Pansy explained. "Rule #1 is never promise anything directly to him and rule #2 is to diffuse all tense situation when he's around unless you really want someone hurt."
"And why are there rules for being your friend?" Hermione asked Harry, genuinely confused.
"They aren't so much rules as good ideas to live by," Harry said awkwardly as he pushed his hair behind his pointed ears. "I mean no one wants to accidentally swear an unbreakable oath like you just did, and that tends to happen around me."
Hermione stared at his ears. "And why did I just swear an unbreakable oath?"
Harry grimaced. "Because I'm a Fury," he explained.
"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed. Harry had forgotten that he was obsessed with magical creatures. "Do you have the wings and the fangs and all?"
"Sure do," Harry said giving him a fang-y smile as he removed the glamour ring.
"That's brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, looking at Harry's black eyes with a huge grin on his face.
"I'm not super read-up on my Fury lore, can someone please explain?" Hermione asked impatiently.
Surprisingly, Ron spoke up. "Their powers focus on protection and vengeance. Part of that is securing oaths. Any oath a Fury swears or is sworn to them is held even more sacred than an unbreakable vow. A long time ago, marriages used to be officiated by Furies, but it caused way too many problems if the couple went a little overboard with their vows."
"I guess if I ever get married it'll be super official. I hadn't thought of that," Harry mused.
"Yeah, coming from someone who's had about a dozen stepdads, sorry about that," Blaise said sympathetically. "Choose wisely."
"Also, they have almost unlimited power to enact vengeance on others or to protect. Their powers are only limited by their belief in the cause and their justification in their actions," Ron continued. "Have you ever gone full-on Fury mode?" He asked Harry.
"Erm, a couple times, but I was very new then," Harry said, thinking about when he got Castor and when he removed his dad's Dark Mark.
"Wow," Ron looked impressed. If Harry had known that it just took telling him he was a Fury to get him as a friend, he would have told him weeks ago.
"So, this is all very informative, but can you please circle back around and tell us what my godfather and the wolf are doing? Obviously, we won't tell anyone you told us," Draco said pointedly at Hermione who just rolled her eyes.
"They've been dating since the start of the term!" Harry said with a large grin as everyone else's jaws dropped open.
"Why'd he date that wolf?" Draco asked disbelievingly.
"Why'd that wolf date a Death Eater?" Ron shot back.
"Former Death Eater," Pansy clarified.
Ron and Hermione's heads both whipped around comically to look at Pansy. They were certain that Snape's status as a spy was only known to the Order. Pansy raised an eyebrow at the two of them, "I heard from Crabbe that Snape resigned from the Dark Lord over the summer. That wasn't his words though, there was a lot of traitor, ingrate, and bastards thrown in there when he said it."
Draco sighed. "You don't just 'resign' from the Dark Lord. The Dark Mark is permanent. Crabbe must have been confused. Uncle Sev might be out of favor, but if the Dark Lord had either determined he had gone to the light or was no longer faithful, then he would kill him through the Dark Mark. It's one of the main reasons I got out when I did, before he could mark me."
Harry cleared his throat, "Yeah, this doesn't leave this room either, but no need to promise anything this time," he added on quickly. "Well, Dad got called to a meeting after Castor and I moved in with him this summer. I've never liked the danger he put himself in. And, when he apparated back to the house after obviously being under the Cruciatus Curse for a long period of time, well that was one of those times that I went into full-on Fury mode as Ron called it."
"Ooo, is the Dark Lord still alive?!" Pansy asked.
"I'm not that powerful, Pansy," Harry smiled at her. "Anyway, I went into 'protect' and not 'vengeance' mode. I grabbed his Dark Mark and broke the connection. There isn't any trace of it on him anymore. So, he can't return to the Dark Lord ever, and I'll never apologize for that."
"Um, yeah mate, that's pretty powerful in itself," Blaise said impressed.
"Anyway, back to the juicy bits, so Snape and Lupin are like together together?" Pansy asked.
"Considering I've seen Professor Lupin wear a couple of Dad's shirts into class in the mornings, I'd say yeah. I might need therapy though," Harry laughed.
"Oh, please, you're 17 and have a son. Don't be a prude," Hermione scoffed.
Harry choked on air and stared at Hermione in shock. He had never expected that to come out of her mouth.
"Oh, look, he's turning red!" Pansy laughed. "I think you broke him."
"Oh please, you obviously know where babies come from and probably have more experience than the rest of us," Hermione continued flippantly as she gestured towards the nursery.
Harry took a deep breath. "For your information, I do know where babies come from, but I adopted Castor after his mother died. Not that I don't love him like I would my own biological son. And, not that it matters, I'm pretty sure I'm gay, or at least there's this guy I like, so not much experience with girls, or guys either if we're being honest."
That got stunned looks from his friends. They all just stared at him for a minute until Pansy broke the silence. "Please, oh please, tell me it isn't Weasley over here that you like!"
Harry laughed; she was close, right family, wrong brother. "No, it's not Ron. Not that you aren't, erm, handsome or anything though. Merlin, how do you tell someone you aren't interested in a nice way?"
"Good enough, I'm not offended," Ron said, turning red. "And, erm, thanks for saying I'm handsome."
"There isn't anyone else you hang out with in the school besides us though," Pansy said, fishing for a name.
"I had a whole other life before I started Hogwarts," Harry said, knowing it was all too true. "I never said they were a student here."
"Wait, go back. So, you, a 17-year-old, just adopted an orphaned baby. Who does that?" Draco asked, completely confused.
Harry pointed at himself. "Fury, remember. Protecting is kind of our life's blood and reason for being."
"And Snape was ok with this?" Hermione asked with a disbelieving look on her face.
"I think he did call me 'idiot boy' at some point, but I'm an adult. There really isn't anything he could do about it."
"Ah, that sounds more like him," Blaise added like now everything was right with the world again.
"Besides, I'm pretty sure he loves that baby as much as you do now," Pansy shrugged. "I mean, have you ever seen him with the baby. I'd say it was adorable if it was anyone besides Snape."
"We should get going guys, it's almost curfew," Hermione said standing.
"Erm, Snape," Ron started.
"Artie, please."
"Ok, Artie, just you know, tell Snape he better not hurt Remus, he's our friend," Ron warned.
Harry smiled at him. "I'll accept your warning since I gave the same one to Professor Lupin."
Up Next: Something bad always happens at Halloween...