Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own anything.

A/N: I'm looking through my outlined chapters, and it's looking like maybe 6 or 7 more chapters to round out this fic.


Breakfast in the Great Hall was fairly standard for a Monday morning. The students were a little sleepier than normal, the professors a little crankier than other days in the week. The Gryffindors were chatting noisily, the Ravenclaws were studying, Hufflepuffs were trickling in later than everyone else, and the Slytherins were laughing at whatever new and cute thing the baby was doing, usually just getting himself very messy with his food. Up at the head table, Snape and McGonagall were talking quidditch while Lupin tried to sneak more food onto Snape's plate and Dumbledore talked to Flitwick about some new dueling technique the little master wanted to try out.

All the little side conversations and chatter suddenly got much quieter as the mail was delivered, and one by one, the students and professors opened their copies of the Daily Prophet.

Boy-Who-Lived Abused. Relatives in Azkaban.

Was the headline on the front page. Draco shared a congratulatory look with Blaise over the top of his paper before it was snatched away by Arcturus Snape who seemed very surprised about the article.

"Huh, that's interesting," Blaise read over his shoulder. "Apparently his relatives were attacked in the muggle holding cell by a werewolf. They had to be moved to Azkaban so they wouldn't infect the other muggles. Wonder who that was?" Blaise and Draco both glanced up to the werewolf sitting at the head table and eating a slice of quiche, unconcernedly.

As Arcturus Snape read over the article while trying to keep Castor from grabbing the paper, the professors were also reading the paper at their table. "I told you those muggles were the worst sort!" McGonagall hissed over to Dumbledore. "Did you never check on the boy?!"

"Minerva, I'm sure this is all just an exaggeration. This is the Daily Prophet, you know," Dumbledore tried to soothe her.

"Does Harry know? Has anyone told him?" Lupin asked with a covert look over at the Fury reading the paper at the Slytherin table.

"I'll make sure he's informed," Dumbledore cheerily assured him. "Now, that's very interesting," he continued as he read more of the article. "A werewolf somehow got into the holding cells when it wasn't a full moon and was able to infect Vernon and Petunia Dursley. The son was already off in a mental health institution being evaluated. Now, that must be a very strong werewolf, an exceptionally strong alpha wolf to be able to turn and infect someone without hurting anyone else and not on a full moon. Even Greyback would be hard-pressed to do that. Do you know anything about this Remus?" Dumbledore turned a searching eye to his DADA professor.

Lupin avoided his direct eye contact, and probable legilimency, by buttering some toast. "Of course not, headmaster," he chuckled. "I stay away from wolves such as those. They are very dangerous. You know me; I'm just the mild-mannered bookworm."

Snape elbowed him in the side for laying it on a little thick. "Lupin probably couldn't infect anyone on the full moon without his wolfsbane if they were fed to him. I am interested to hear more about Potter's relatives though and why we were always informed that he lived a very comfortable and pampered life when that is obviously not the case."

McGonagall reached over and poured some more tea for Lupin. "Here you are, Remus. Would you like me to get you anything else?" She asked him with a bright and knowing smile.

"No, Minerva. Thank you, but I'm good," he smiled back as her.

"No, thank you," she chuckled softly.

"Yes, whoever did this, well, it sounds very fitting that those disgraces for humans have to go through a painful change every month as well as be subjected to the dementors," Flitwick sniffed as he put some more bacon on Remus's plate with a knowing smile. "I wish Mr. Potter had asked for help. At least he is safe and away from them now though."


Besides several concerned glances from Ron, and Lupin and his dad avoiding his gaze, no one directly addressed the article with Harry all day. Classes went on as usual. The students talked about the article, but thankfully, there were very few details revealed to the public, so there was only speculation beyond the bare facts of "evidence of physical and verbal abuse over the span of years."

Harry almost successfully pretended the article was about this whole other person that he didn't know as he attended his classes that day. That was a different person, one he left behind, who no longer lived. That was his thought all day until he entered his rooms with a sleeping Castor that evening to find his entire family sitting around his fire.

Remus came forward and took Castor from Harry so that Harry could relax as he settled the baby in the crib. Harry sat in the one empty armchair and looked over at his father, Fred, George, Ron, and Remus as he re-entered the room and sat beside Severus. Harry looked at them all accusingly. "You did this?"

They looked between each other. "Are you ok, Artie?" Fred asked, looking like he wanted to go over to Harry but wasn't sure if he would be welcomed.

Fred relaxed as Harry held out a hand to him. The redhead rushed over and shifted the Fury over in the armchair until they were both squeezed in with Harry basically sitting on Fred's lap. "I was going for a hug, but I guess this'll do," Harry huffed as Fred wrapped his arms around him.

"You never answered, Harry. Are you ok?" Ron asked, leaning against the mantle and looking around awkwardly as this had been the first time he was included in the group.

Harry sighed. "They don't know it's me, so, I guess, yeah. I could be worse, but I think I'm fine. If that makes any sense. I guess, there is some closure with the Dursley's finally being arrested. I don't know how I feel about Moony attacking them though."

Remus shrugged. "That was some really powerful werewolf out there. Not me. We all know I'm a beta or maybe an omega. I'm definitely not alpha material."

Snape snorted and Harry outright started laughing. "Is that what you told Dumbledore when he asked?" Harry continued laughing as Remus pouted from the couch beside Snape.

"More or less," Snape confirmed for him.

"Yeah, mate, anyone in their right mind knows that to have control like you do on a daily basis, you're obviously a strong alpha," George smiled. "I disagree with Artie though. They had it coming. Good on you."

"Well, considering the other options were letting them stay in a cushy muggle prison, killing them, or 'accidentally' letting their address slip to the Dark Lord, I think we can all live with this outcome," Snape studied Harry's expressions. "Are you very angry at us?"

"Do you all know? Everything?" Harry asked.

"No," Fred told him quickly. "Only your dad."

"And me, sorry cub," Remus added.

"And, we don't have to talk about it until you're ready," Severus said to Harry kindly. "I'm sorry that we broke your trust like this, but you couldn't hide from the past forever. Someone needed to know what you would be facing when that day comes and you have to deal with it."

"I was doing very well with just pretending it all never happened," Harry huffed.

"What are you going to do when Castor asks what happened to his mother?" Snape asked. "When he asks you how you knew she was in trouble? When he asks why you didn't live with me when you were a child? Will you lie to him?"

Harry sighed. "So, this is some kind of intervention," he said motioning to all of them. "Deal with the traumas of your past or we'll make you?"

"No, this isn't an intervention," Fred said from where his chin was resting on Harry's neck. "This is your support group. We aren't going to push you, but we want you to know we're here when you need us. For whatever you need us for."

Harry looked over to his dad. They only one in the room who knew absolutely everything now. "So, what do you think of me now, Dad? You know it all. I'm the freak, right? The Boy-Who-Lived but who couldn't protect himself from muggles."

Snape hurried over and pulled Harry into the best hug he could with Fred still being wrapped around him. "Never say you're a freak. You are wonderful and special and loved. I love you, my Harry, my Artie," Snape said as he felt tears fall onto his shoulder.

Harry sniffed and tried to stop the tears until he finally got out a quiet chuckle. "You called me Artie."

Snape pulled away and gave him a mock frown. "I must have suffered some head trauma from breaking a werewolf into a muggle jail. I'm sure I was injured in some way if I could slip that badly."

"I don't know what you mean. Moony was on his best behavior, well, until he mauled some muggles, but before then, I was a perfect gentleman-wolf," Remus huffed like he had been insulted.

"Ha! You admitted it!" Ron pointed at Remus laughing.

"I admit nothing," Remus pointedly stared at the redhead with a hint of amber flashing in his eyes.

"I heard nothing," Ron quickly nodded his head in agreement.

It was then that Dobby popped into the room with a bottle of firewhisky and a tower of glasses. "Masters, I hears you's had a rough day."

"I love you, Dobby!" George reached over to grab the bottle and pour a glass for everyone.


Pansy sat across from Harry and Blaise at dinner before Astronomy class on Thursday. "Professor Snape is minding Castor tonight, correct?" she asked as she glanced around, making sure no one was listening in.

"Yeah, we have Astronomy," Harry nodded at her, glancing around nervously as well.

"We need to meet, after class. In your rooms?" She asked.

"We'll be out after curfew," Blaise reminded her.

Pansy rolled her eyes at him. "If we can't sneak around the castle without getting caught, then we don't deserve the title of Slytherin. Besides, this is important."

Harry nodded at her. "Of course, you all are welcome."

"You may invite your Gryffindorks as well, if you must," Pansy said as she stood and walked away. Blaise nodded over to Harry, from Pansy, that was definitely a demand for Hermione and Ron's presence.

Harry swung by his rooms before Astronomy to grab a familiar bit of parchment which he slipped to Ron as soon as he entered class. "What?..." Ron asked as he recognized the Marauder's Map.

"You and Hermione should come to my rooms after class," Harry instructed. "Only use this if you need it. If you have to, come up with some lie about how Harry left it with you or with Fred and George or something. If it makes anyone believe more that he's dead, that's fine."

Ron nodded at his friend and slid the map into the pocket of his robes before he went over to Hermione who was already being told of the meeting by Blaise.

In the confusion of everyone returning to their dorms, the mixed group of Gryffindors and Slytherins were easily able to make it to Harry's rooms in the middle of the castle unobserved after class.

"What is all this about, Pans?" Draco asked as he had been pulled along by Pansy as well.

The group all sat in what was starting to become their usual places in front of the fire in Harry's rooms. "Bulstrode is a Death Eater," Pansy started. No one looked at her in surprise.

"We kind-of already figured that out," Harry said unconcernedly.

"Yeah, we aren't Slytherins and even we could guess that," Ron snorted.

Pansy rolled her eyes at them. "Yes, she's a Death Eater and already took the Mark, but she doesn't want to be."

Draco nodded in understanding as the others looked on in concern. "She approached you?" he asked.

"Yes, she knew you had gotten out and thought it would be easier to approach me than you," Pansy explained. "She was wanting to go to Dumbledore, but after what he tried to get you to do, I talked her out of it."

"Wait? What did Dumbledore try to get Draco to do?" Hermione asked, for the first time not calling him Malfoy.

Harry had forgotten that the Gryffindors hadn't been told what happened before Christmas. "Dumbledore tried to manipulate Draco into becoming his new spy within the Death Eaters since Dad can't return. He wanted Draco to go and apologize to his father and Voldemort."

Hermione frowned. "There's no way they wouldn't kill him."

"Yes, he was willing to sacrifice Draco on the off-chance that they might take him back," Pansy said angrily. "That's why I told Millicent to hold off a bit on talking to him."

"What can we do?" Ron asked. Harry was so proud of the progress his friend had made in his regards to Slytherins. Just a couple years before and Ron would never have offered to help the Slytherin girl.

Pansy glanced over at Harry. "Well, right now everyone is still under the impression that Snape developed some potion or charm to remove his Dark Mark. It seems that very few people know the truth, except us that is."

"You want me to remove her Mark?" Harry asked in understanding. "I could try, but I'm not really sure what I did the first time, so I don't know if it will work again."

"If I can get her to go to Snape, will you at least try?" Pansy almost pleaded.

"Of course, Pansy! I just want you to make sure not to get her hopes up, but I'll definitely try," Harry assured her. He was almost insulted that she would think he wouldn't at least put forth an effort.

"What about us?" Ron asked with a sarcastic smirk. "Do you just miss our company and want to see how we're doing? Is that why we were invited?"

Pansy scowled at him, but good naturedly. "Everyone knows Dumbledore has some kind of Order he runs. It's a terribly badly kept secret, and you both are probably in it or connected to it, so I was hoping you would keep your ears open to see if any other students try to go to him. I don't want him to get to anyone else like he tried to get to Draco."

Hermione still looked utterly scandalized that Dumbledore would have done such a thing, but she nodded at her new friends. "We will. I don't know how much help we'll be, but we'll keep our ears open."

"I'll mention it to Fred and George too, they might hear something before these two," Harry said, not expanding on why they might hear something first.

Hermione shook her head. "It still seems so weird to me that you're dating Ron's brother. I didn't believe him when he first told me."

"What?!" All the Slytherins exclaimed. Oh yeah, he hadn't told them, Harry winced.

"You're dating one of the twins?!" Draco stood in surprise.

"Huh, guess he doesn't tell you all everything," Ron grinned smugly. "Fred introduced him to the family on Christmas Eve. I have to tell you, I was pretty shocked to see his ugly mug walk through the door," Ron teased his friend fondly.

"That explains the blue hair," Pansy snorted. "How in the world did you end up with one of the Weasley twins though?"

Harry shrugged after a warning glance over to Ron. "I met him at his store in the alley over the summer. We hit it off, and I really like him."

"Oh man, Uncle Sev! He must be close to a nervous breakdown!" Draco laughed as the other Slytherins looked horrified at the thought.

Ron laughed as well. "He and Remus joined us on Boxing Day at the Burrow. He was surprisingly good about it."

"I would pay to see that," Pansy laughed. "Wow, Fred Weasley and Artie Snape. I don't see it."

"Yeah, dating a Weasel, I don't get it mate," Blaise laughed as well.

"Hey!" Ron said indignantly. "I'll have you know that redheads are excellent lovers!"

Draco snorted and then just burst out laughing. "I'm sorry…I can't…oh please…!"

Harry laughed at them both as Ron gave Draco a death glare. "Can we get back to business?" Pansy snapped her fingers in front of Draco's face to pull him back together.

"Yeah, Pansy. Just let me or Dad know whenever you convince her to talk to him, and I'll make sure to be there," Harry said, stifling his laughter.

"Good, now, it's way past curfew and there are five of us who need to sneak back to our dorms," Pansy reminded them.

"I have a couch, a bed, and a floor if anyone wants to just stay," Harry offered with a shrug. "Castor is with Dad, so you won't be woken up by crying at 5am at least."

Ron looked at him like he really would like to stay but shook his head. "Neville will send out a search party if I'm not back soon. I mentioned I'd be late, or he would already be searching the castle I'm sure. He seems overly protective now that Harry isn't here anymore. I think he's worried I'll run off to wherever Harry is or put myself in danger or something."

"I'll head back with you then," Hermione said, giving Blaise a quick kiss before standing to go. "It almost feels like old times sneaking around the castle," she added sadly.

"I'm good with staying," Blaise said, stretching out on the couch. "It's pretty comfortable right here."

So, it was decided, all the Slytherins would stay the night. Blaise took the couch, Harry transfigured one of the armchairs into a cot for himself, and Draco and Pansy were given the bed after many threats of what Harry would do to them if they tried any funny business in there. Ron and Hermione left in the middle of Harry's threats with smiles on their faces.


Ron sat beside Harry at the Slytherin table the next morning, causing most of the Great Hall to look his way in shock and confusion. Hermione was now expected to sit there occasionally, but Ron, well that was a sign of the apocalypse. "Ron, hey!" Harry welcomed him as he stretched out a kink in his back. His transfiguration skills lacked some when it came to comfort.

"So, you have to skin the Slytherin power couple alive this morning?" Ron asked, noticing their absence at the table.

Harry laughed. "They ate early and left to finish something in the library. As far as I know, they were perfectly respectful of my bed, and I don't want to know any differently. I did ask Dobby to change my sheets though, I'm not going to completely trust them," Harry said with a grin.

"As well you shouldn't," Ron nodded in understanding. He then cast a quick Muffliato charm around them. "Anyway, we're going to have some trouble for a while. Hermione is upset."

Harry frowned at him as his face fell. "You had to use the map?

Ron sighed. "Yeah, Peeves was in a corridor and we had to hide. I brought it out to see when he left. I told her that you sent it to me by Hedwig at the end of the summer. Artie, mate, her face just went from confusion to understanding to utter devastation in seconds. It took everything I had to not spill your secret."

"I'm sorry, Ron," Harry said, giving his friend's shoulder a squeeze in support.

"She asked if I realized that it was basically the same thing as a suicide note, you sending me the map. What could I say but that I knew that and understood," Ron asked, taking in a deep steadying breath. "After everything in the Prophet and learning what Dumbledore tried to do to Malfoy last night, I think she's finally starting to believe the rumors that you aren't actually in training."

"How did she seem to react to all that?" Harry asked as he looked around the Great Hall for his missing friend.

"She seemed upset that I didn't tell her before, but kind-of understanding as well. Between this and the Malfoy thing, well I think her core beliefs are pretty shaken right now."

"Keep an eye on her Ron," Harry said, coming to a decision. "If she seems like she could hear the truth and be convinced not to tell any of the professors, then I'll tell her the truth. We've always been in this together; I don't want her to be in pain. She just believed so much in Dumbledore…"

"Yeah, mate, I know. I'll keep a look out for her and let you know if I think we can let her in," Ron agreed and cancelled his spell. "Now, I guess I should get back to my table."

Harry raised his eyebrow at his friend and just pulled the platter of sausages over. "Why? You're already sitting in front of an empty plate, and I have thirty minutes before I need to collect Castor from Dad. Fill me in on all the new Gryffindor gossip."

Ron smiled at him as he reached over and added sausages to his plate.


Up Next: Castor turns 1...