Preface
Hidden SerpentPosted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/6558196.
Rating:
Mature
Archive Warning:
Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category:
M/M
Fandom:
Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Relationship:
Harry Potter & Tom Riddle Voldemort, Harry Potter/Severus Snape
Character:
Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Tom Riddle Voldemort, Nagini (Harry Potter)
Additional Tags:
Tags May Change, Work In Progress, Tags will be updated properly later when I have the time, Horcruxes, Dark Heir Harry Potter, Manipulative Dumbledore, Tag Suggestions Wanted, Mpreg/Implited Mpreg, Random Updates, Papa Voldy, Bunny Farm Escapee
Stats:
Published: 2016-04-15 Updated: 2016-08-31 Chapters: 18/? Words: 43441
Hidden Serpent
by Genuka
Summary
A secret raid on Hogwarts herself revealed an unexpected bounty. How will Harry take the latest additions to his family tree, an overbearing mother serpent, and the revelation of a lifetime?
Note: You can thank TyanataDraven, Blue4dogs, j99450, and ShadowsWithoutHope for getting this moved from the Bunny Farm to a separate posting. Enjoy!
Capture
Voldemort inwardly cackled as he and his small raiding party quickly traveled along the tunnel leading from near the true entrance to the Chamber of Secrets into the castle. Their objective was more to prove they could get into the school at any time than anything else. However, he wasn't adverse to kidnapping a few of his followers children so that they could be ransomed back and look perfectly innocent. He also wouldn't mind dealing with other thorns in his side while they were inside the castle but it wasn't something he was going to stress over. One thing he did not expect to stumble over when they left the entrance in the second floor girl's bathroom was his spy hugging his brat of a mortal enemy that had disembodied him.
"Well, this is a surprise," Voldemort hissed. Harry and Severus sprang away from each other, completely surprised by their arrival. The rest of the raiding party laughed or growled at the scene, all waiting for the order to curse the two wizards.
"Its not what it looks like," Harry blurted desperately.
"Shut up. Even if we explain what happened we're going to get cursed," Severus snapped at him sourly, quickly sinking to his knees in front of Voldemort and bowing his head in submission.
"What would you do to protect him?" Voldemort asked Harry lazily. The panic he saw flash across Harry's face was just delicious but it was also more intense than he thought it should be making the older wizard curious. He could tell the green-eyed brat was scrambling for an answer that wouldn't get them killed, cursed, or worse.
"I could spend time with Nagini, I know she's been complaining that you don't spend enough time with her," Harry said almost desperately. Voldemort went completely still. As far as he knew there were no other Parselmouths living and there was no way anyone would have been able to overhear Nagini's justified complaints.
"And where did you learn that, little lion?" Voldemort asked very carefully.
"I.." Harry stammered trying to get out a plausible excuse.
Voldemort didn't wait for him to finish his attempt and cast a wordless Legilimens. He saw the stress signs of unknown trauma that would forever keep the brat's mind open to attack before reaching the first memory. Since Harry was desperately trying to think of a way to cover up his visions it was the first thing that Voldemort saw, images of meetings and private moments that he could never have known about. The tint of pain to these memories led to older ones which featured the Dursleys and the various times Harry had a concussion under their care. Wanting to know more Voldemort went after every memory of the brat's home life that he could find. It was only when he found the memory of the Potter's death that he carefully withdrew, thinking about all he had discovered.
Coming back to the waking world Voldemort found the Gryffindor nearly passed out on the floor, sprawled in a position that led him to believe he'd been thrashing. The slow drip of blood from the famous scar had him recalling the flash of power in the memory of Godric's Hollow as well as the visions that had been tormenting the boy so recently. In a paradigm shift his hate for the brat abruptly fell away and he looked at the barely conscious youth in a new light. Gently gathering up the brat in a bridal carry he turned back towards the passage way they had entered from only to notice that blood was dripping from not one place but two. A little maneuvering and he was able to look at the bloody message carved in the back of the brat's hand, I must not tell lies. The pink clad woman in Harry's memories was as good as dead.
"Severus you will accompany us and you had better hope that you have a good excuse for a number of things I am suddenly questioning," Voldemort said in a low threatening voice. "Come, we've proven we can get into the school and their disappearance should unsettle the rest of the fools. Bella, leave a lovely message on the wall will you? Your husband can make sure its easily understandable before the two of you follow as the rear guard."
A murmur of yes, my lord was heard as Severus quickly returned to his feet, head still bowed. He said nothing as he followed his master and the boy who owned his life down the stairs inside the pipes into the tunnel. The potions master was kept near the front of the group, just behind Voldemort, putting a number of powerful wands between him and escape with the most powerful between him and his student. A hiss of close had the entryway closing behind them, hiding them from the sight of the seventh years who stumbled over the message less than ten minutes later. When they got to the vault like door into the chamber its self, passing the half collapsed roof that had needed to be mostly cleared away, Voldemort had them all stop. Turning to face his small raiding party and his spy he shifted Harry into a slightly more comfortable position before pinning the potions master in place with a look.
"Choose Dumbledore or myself," Voldemort demanded, deciding to finally discover the man's true loyalty. Snape's eyes drifted to the brat in his arms earning a chuckle from the ruby eyed man. "If you choose the brat then you will become his bodyguard and bound servant. I'll not have either of you running around loose without assurances of some sort. There will still be questions that need answers but at least you will be able to stop pretending."
"Damn it," Severus muttered and in a louder voice made his choice. "The brat."
"Then kneel and make your oath," Voldemort ordered. They all watched as Severus knelt, trying to come up with an appropriate oath, knowing it had to be as binding between the two of them as possible.
"I, Severus Tobias Snape, do now pledge myself to Harry James Potter as my new master before the eyes of my former master. I pledge to serve as his guard and servant in any way he may need me. On my life and magic I do so swear. So Mote It Be," Severus pronounced, more than a little defiance in his tone as the magic acknowledged the oath. He hissed in pain as the others echoed the final line of the oath while his dark mark shifted and changed. Pulling back his sleeve he discovered a dark green serpent circling his arm entwined around a yellow lighting bolt crossed with a silver sword and brown wand.
"Now that is interesting. I based the magic of the mark off of something from Slytherin's parseltongue spell book. It was used to bind people to the family as servants and slaves depending on certain parseltongue words in the incantation. Apparently the magic of the Slytherin line has acknowledged the shift in ownership, something I will have to look into," Voldemort said musingly.
"Probably because I'm a parselmouth," Harry muttered, the walls of the cavern picking up and amplifying his voice so that everyone heard him.
"Are you going to fight me?" Voldemort asked mildly, looking down at his obviously weary burden.
"Too tired... why isn't my skin burning wherever you touch me? Like in the graveyard? If you're going to kill me could you not torture me first?" Harry asked, unconsciously bringing his bloody hand up to cover his yawn.
"There are some facts you both clearly aren't aware of," Voldemort said with a sigh before answering Harry's questions. "I've no idea why your skin isn't burning. The only thing I can think of that's changed is that after I saw your memories I couldn't hate you anymore. I also have no plan to kill you. Kidnap and hide away until the war is over but not kill you or even torture you. I will have to properly investigate this link we appear to have and sort out the mess that someone has turned the situation between the three of us into but I have no intention to actually harm you at the moment."
"So why'd you make Professor Snape pick?" Harry asked curiously, forcing himself a bit more awake.
"He's spent to long as a spy and his loyalties are naturally in question, possibly even to himself. I simply forced a resolution to the uncertainty of the situation," Voldemort explained. "Now tell me what happened to your hand."
"Erm... detention," Harry muttered staring past him at the stone wall of the tunnel.
"The only staff member I can think of that might do something like that, as she is mostly an unknown, is the new Defense professor from the Ministry, Delores Umbridge. Are you telling me that she's harming students?" Severus demanded, completely incensed at the idea. Then he remembered how often Harry seemed to have detention with the pink witch. "Has this happened every time you've had detention with her?!"
"Its just lines," Harry said stubbornly. "I think that writing them in your own blood is weird but..."
The rustle of restrained outrage had Harry wondering what he'd done wrong. Severus quickly got to his feet, drawing his wand as he went and examined the sluggishly bleeding hand properly as Voldemort gravely held the youth. A vicious curse and an unconscious turn to fetch a potion had him coming up short against his former comrades.
"I need a potion from my stores," Severus explained, looking back at the Dark Lord still holding his new master.
"What did the damage?" Lucius asked, eyeing both his friend and his son's rival.
"A blood quill," the disgust in Severus' voice was plain as day. "Even if I successfully retrieve the potion its going to scar and he will always feel pain when using one to sign contracts and the like."
"Can it wait?" Voldemort asked looking down at the half asleep Gryffindor thoughtfully.
"Only if you give me immediate access to a potions lab to brew what he needs and we leave now," Severus said firmly, not really expecting his demand to be met.
"Then the rest of you are dismissed. Do not attempt to return to the school, you wouldn't be able to open the entrance any way. Severus, you will be accompanying us to Malfoy Manor and may brew the potion there. I will take Potter with me when we apparate," Voldemort ordered, turning on his heel and apparating to the gates of Malfoy Manor, Harry still in his arms.
A split second later there was a double crack as Severus and Lucius arrived behind him. Lucius quickly opened the gates and led them into the manor. The austere and opulent building was something that Severus was very familiar with, having visited more than once. He sent a last worried glance at Harry before heading for the potions lab that had long since been given over to his projects whenever he visited.
It didn't take him long to brew the potion and a simple point me spell told him where Harry was. For some reason none of them could fathom Voldemort was still holding a sleeping Harry while he sat and talked with an uncomfortable Lucius. Nagini was nearby and was clearly laughing her tail off over the situation. Severus chose not to say anything and quickly entered the comfortable cream and beige sitting room to kneel next to Harry and Voldemort. Conjuring bowl, water, and soft cloth to wash the blood away from Harry's forehead and hand before applying the paste. As much as the obvious care the Dark Lord was taking with Harry worried and surprised him Severus was equally surprised that Harry hadn't been confined to a cell, or at least locked in a guest room. He was under no illusions that the two of them would be confined in some way.
"~Are you taking the hatchling as a mate?~" Nagini asked, finally getting her mirth under control.
"~What? No! I don't bed other males, especially hatchlings... though I suppose he isn't really a hatchling any more,~" Voldemort hissed back in obvious shock.
"~Good. He smells to much like you and mating one's own hatchlings is disgusting,~" Nagini declared, the mischief in her voice putting her wizard on guard.
"~What are you planning?~" Voldemort asked warily. Nagini didn't bother to answer, instead she moved with the speed of a full body strike and knocked a still kneeling Severus into Harry and Voldemort.
"~They will make good mates,~" Nagini said smugly, keeping herself pressed against the tense back of the potions master as he hunched over the sleeping Gryffindor in his former master's lap.
"~Nagini, let him up. You can't force someone to take a mate like that and what do you mean he smells like me?~" Voldemort pointed out with a resigned sigh. Nagini gave a hissy chuckle but moved off of Snape without further comment so that the man could cautiously sit straight again on his aching knees. Voldemort took to grumbling about stubborn serpents in English and the other two men relaxed.
"My lord, they are administering the OWLs next week. I am presuming that Mr. Potter will not be attending the tests. Should I arrange for private testing or do you have other wishes for Mr. Potter's... disposition?" Lucius asked cautiously. He wasn't really certain that he cared if the Potter Heir had his OWLs but knew it would be easier, legally, to remove him from the school once he had them.
"Arrange for private testing. Tell them that he contacted you with the request to try and avoid favoritism or some such. Try to get only people we trust for the examiners and look into one of the more reliable reporters and children's service people who know how to keep their mouths shut. We might as well try to get the guardianship transferred legally. Of course it might not be needed because participating in the tournament declared him an adult," Voldemort said thoughtfully.
"Dumbledore has been acting as his magical guardian," Severus pointed out quietly while he watched Harry's quiet breathing in his curled position over Voldemort's lap.
"If he is an adult via the tournament then we can get every single one of Dumbledore's actions in his name since the naming of the champions revoked," Lucius said with a satisfied gleam in his eye. "It will also keep anyone from trying to take him from us because he can legally go wherever he likes and use magic. The actions of the Potter seats, along with any other seats he may have, since the tournament and possibly during the tournament would be classified as fraud and illegal."
"Nothing to say on the matter Severus?" Voldemort asked in obvious amusement as he finally gave in to his instincts and conjured a blanket to lay over top of Harry's sleeping form. He didn't even bother moving the Gryffindor off of his lap before adding the blanket.
When Severus tried to get up from where he'd been kneeling to apply the medicine Nagini decided to play knock down the potions master. After the third failed attempt at getting up only to receive a forceful serpent to the back he gave up. Opting to cast a cushioning charm on the marble under his knees he settled back to a kneeling/sitting position occasionally tossing wary looks at the clearly amused serpent. Voldemort had simply shaken his head in a combination of bemusement and resignation as he tried to decide what action would help the most.
"~They will make good mates,~" Nagini insisted again with a very hissy cackle. "~I will help keep your hatchling and the tall smelly one protected so they can give you many grandhatchlings!~"
"Oh... I suppose that works," Voldemort said weakly, much to Nagini's amusement.
"What did she say?" Severus asked warily, eyeing the very large serpent and wondering if he could get away with summoning the bruise balm he was definitely going to need.
"For some reason she's decided that Harry is my hatchling and that you would make him a good mate. I would expect her to attempt to keep the two of you together or otherwise encourage a relationship, as much as she can understand a human romantic relationship. Once's she's gotten an idea like this she's bloody minded enough that it is very difficult to talk her out of it. She's actually trapped me in a room a couple of times when she thinks I either need rest or alone time and it always took me hours to get her to let me out," Voldemort explained almost sheepishly. "She also mentioned something about the two of you giving me many grandhatchlings..."
Lucius couldn't help it, he burst into laughter at the situation. Severus looked so put out that Voldemort gave him a weak smile and Nagini looked very smug over the explanation, fully expecting them to bow to her wishes.
"Battering one into submission is not a way to gain someone a spouse!" Severus muttered indignantly, glaring at his former lord with obvious rebellion and believing the man would try to forcibly pair them. For his own response, Lucius just went off in another round of laughter.
"If it happens it happens, if it doesn't then so be it. I'll not meddle in your love lives," Voldemort said soothingly in a manner that mixed apology with amusement and assurance. Nagini hissed a sharp protest and once more nudged Severus towards a heavily sleeping Harry.
They adjourned for the night, Severus taking his normal room in the manor with Nagini insisting that Harry sleep in the same bed with him. Voldemort and Lucius were greatly amused by the argument that preceded that decision with Voldemort helpfully translating Nagini's answers. She finally agreed that if after living together for six months and spending most of the day together they still couldn't get along she would concede and search for another mate for Harry. Severus was so exhausted that he didn't argue the matter further and was escorted to his room by his amused friend and former master. Nagini made Voldemort put a charm on the two of them that wouldn't allow them to be separated for longer than six hours at a time. She was satisfied after that and Severus mentally vowed to dispel the enchantment in the morning once he'd had a talk with Harry.
Devil in the Details
Harry woke with a start to quiet darkness and the quiet sound of breathing. From the way the comfy mattress under him felt he was sharing a bed with someone. His last memory had been of Voldemort leaning over him and settling him into the ruby-eyed man's lap as they waited for Professor Snape to arrive with the healing salve.
Harry had fought to stay conscious, terrified at what was going to happen next but was unable to fight the exhaustion that slowly crept up on him and dragged him into darkness. Between his earlier detention with Umbridge, attempting to fight the Legillimency attack, and being apparated somewhere unknown neither Voldemort nor Lucius had been in any way surprised when he fell asleep. Waking somewhere soft, quiet, and soothingly dark with an unknown other person nearby disoriented Harry and nearly had him in a panic.
"Go back to sleep Potter. Its too early to deal with you. You can complain to the blasted snake about our... accommodations at breakfast," Severus Snape, feared potions master, and dungeon bat muttered sleepily. He'd been woken by Harry's own waking jerk and debated what to do while the brat panicked before muttering to him and turning over to try and sleep again. He was not going to waste one of the most restful nights he'd had since before Lily died!
Breakfast the next morning was more than a little uncomfortable. Voldemort tried his hardest to hide his amusement and slight confusion over how Harry and Severus were acting. Lucius fought not to taunt his long time friend and neither Severus nor Harry could bring themselves to look at the other. Nagini just lay across the top of Voldemort's chair laughing gleefully and occasionally muttering about grandhatchlings, confusing Harry to no end.
They adjourned to one of the sitting rooms directly after breakfast. Severus stubbornly kept up the implication that he was Harry's guard rather than his bodyguard. It didn't take Voldemort or Lucius long to realize that whatever he'd told Potter wasn't the truth. They watched in amusement as the other two maneuvered themselves into seats, watching each other warily. Lucius and Voldemort could easily recognize the look of resignation in Severus' eyes. The fact that Harry was still wary of the Potions Master who had vowed to protect and serve him was endlessly amusing to them.
"Why am I here? Aside from Snape following me around I'm not even locked in a room. I mean... you want me dead...," Harry asked nervously. The amusement of everyone in the room suddenly fled. They had forgotten that little detail about Harry's shoddy knowledge of the situation.
"You must have been truly exhausted after I viewed your memories to still think that," Voldemort said lightly.
"Just because you've promised not to and don't hurt me just by being nearby doesn't mean you stopped wanting me dead. Besides its not like that weird dream last night was real. I must have passed out after whatever you did to look at my memories," Harry pointed out mulishly, feeling like he was on slightly firmer ground.
"You think that was all a dream?" Severus asked in disbelief.
"We broke into Hogwarts, stumbled across the two of you, I ask questions and viewed your memories before carrying you with us to the entrance of Salazar's Chamber. I made Severus finally choose his side and he picked you over me or Dumbledore, we arrived here and you were healed as best as possible. Nagini decided that the two of you were a good match and kept trying to knock Severus into you before an agreement was made and everyone went to bed. Incidentally expect the stubborn serpent to try other things while playing matchmaker for the two of you," Voldemort summarized succinctly with a look of deep amusement.
"Ah... not a dream then?" Harry asked sheepishly.
"Not a dream," Lucius confirmed obviously trying hard not to laugh.
"And Snape promising to protect and serve me?" Harry asked, half afraid of the answer and definitely afraid of looking at the probably murderous glare on the Potion Master's face.
"Insolent brat. I am not a house elf," Severus muttered, a resigned look on his face as he sulked. Both of his long time friends chuckled in amusement and Harry took that to mean, yes.
"Er... okay?" Harry said tentatively. He had no plans to treat the man like a house elf... he wouldn't survive the first request/order! Besides, it wasn't like he actually knew how house elves were normally treated. He could guess but it would be just that, a guess. Dobby was clearly an exception considering how the kitchen elves treated him like the plague.
"What I would like to know is why Severus' new mark is in color and about the symbols used. I can understand the lighting bolt and the snake, especially with being a parselmouth, even the wand but a sword?" Lucius drawled with a curious smirk.
"I... pulled the Sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat in second year when I killed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets," Harry pointed out thoughtfully. "It could be from that."
"You kill...?!" Lucius stuttered as they all stared at him in unadulterated shock.
"If his diary hadn't been given to Ginny I wouldn't have had to go down to the chamber at all. It was a right git when I talked to it and screamed something aweful when I had to kill it," Harry said indignantly, jerking his thumb towards Voldemort when he said his.
Voldemort had a sudden epiphany as he realized what had happened both in the chamber and the night the Potters died. Between Harry's increased sensitivity to his presence since first year, the obvious death of the diary due to the Headmaster's manipulation, and the fact that the pain had stopped... Harry was his horcrux and had absorbed the diary piece when he was forced to kill it. Now, all he had to do was figure out if it was the horcrux or something else that made them smell similar to Nagini. The irony of loosing his best spy and potions master to Harry was not lost on Voldemort and he scared them all when he burst out laughing.
"~Tom?~" Nagini asked hesitantly.
"~Nagini, my dear, he is a keeper of my soul and he slew Salazar's King of Serpents before he was even half trained or half grown! He also called a great weapon to him and survived my first keeper, no doubt absorbing it during his victory. He probably even made it look like it was properly destroyed even though it had only moved into his care. Everyone fell for it! Including Harry,~" Voldemort cackled in absolute glee.
"Keeper of your soul? Isn't that the term for soul mates?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Not in this case but that does not make you any less valuable or precious to me. I'm only sorry I didn't realize it sooner. I thought you were trying to kill me and yes, I realize that as a baby that would have been absolutely ridiculous. I wasn't exactly sane when I came after your parents but my return ritual fixed that somewhat," Voldemort explained, still chuckling over the inadvertent prank that had been played on everyone in the chamber. He also didn't bother to clarify what he meant by Keeper of his Soul.
"Severus is that charm still in place?" Lucius asked, changing the subject to something they were more likely to understand over the Dark Lord's sense of humor.
"Yes, I haven't had a chance to try and dispel it," Severus admitted, sending a glare towards the smug magical serpent.
"You won't get it off. It has to be removed by the castor or the requirements met and I am not going to suffer through her attempts to force me to do something worse. You argued her into a good deal, live with it," Voldemort ordered suddenly grumpy.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked suspiciously. He had a feeling that whatever they were discussing had something to do with him and he wasn't going to like it.
"Nagini decided that you need a mate, either a husband or a wife. Severus was selected as the first candidate and if you reject him she'll just keep trying to pair you up with someone. She also seems to think that you qualify as my son or hatchling in her terms. To keep her from trying to lock you in a room with someone until you have sex and produce babies there is a tentative agreement in place. For the next six months the charm I placed will require two of you to spend no less than 18 hours a day together. This includes sleep so I suggest the two of you get used to sharing a bed even if its just platonically, giving you six hours during the day you can hide from each other. You might be able to get away with only sleeping in the same room but I don't know if Nagini will consider that a breach of our agreement and demand something more," Voldemort explained. He was greatly amused by the disgruntled look on Severus' face and the horrified one on Harry's. It was Nagini's cooing over them and calling them good hatchlings that broke his control and had him laughing again.
"I am not sure if I should laugh or beg you not to tell Narcissa," Lucius said finally, viewing his disgruntled friend with obvious amusement.
"Why wouldn't we tell whoever Narcissa is?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"Because then his wife, Narcissa, would try to help the blasted snake with its matchmaking. She's tried to find me a wife for years. Thankfully, she remains blissfully unaware that I prefer men," Severus informed the green-eyed menace with a smirk.
"Oh really?" Narcissa Malfoy said with clear amusement from the doorway, causing Severus' heart to sink as he slowly turned to look at the smirking Black female. "Severus, dear, you've forgotten who I am and exactly why I want you married."
"Why?" Harry asked suspiciously, half hoping to either keep her distracted from his own potential position and to get a little blackmail on his new roommate.
"I'm certain by now you've been told that he was in love with your mother. I'm also certain that someone explained that they were also childhood friends," Narcissa began only to stop and backtrack at his look of bewilderment. "Mr. Potter... what do you know about your parents?"
"Almost nothing. I apparently look like my dad and have my mother's eyes. Dad liked pranks, bullied Snape, played quidditch, and was good at transfiguration... that's about it," Harry offered sheepishly, embarrassed that he couldn't offer more.
"Bullied? Not pranked?" Severus asked quietly, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Some of them might have been pranks but from the stories that Sirius tells they bullied you. I know how that's like," Harry said, looking down at the hands in his lap.
Harry missed the concerned look exchanged between the Malfoy's and the suddenly blank expression that Snape displayed. The Dark Lord immediately flashed through the various memories he'd seen in Harry's mind and knew the brat was telling the truth. At least the enforced time together would either get them to stop fighting or kill one of them... That thought prompted Voldemort to toss protective spells at them both before starting to mentally compose some protective jewelry or clothing piece he'd make them each wear once he was finished making it. The glare he received from both startled wizards made him smirk but didn't get him to offer any sort of information.
"You're not going to tell us what you did, are you?" Harry asked resignedly. Voldemort just continued to smirk and Severus rolled his eyes at Harry's naivete.
"Lucius?" Narcissa asked with raised eyebrow. Her husband immediately understood the implied question and quickly explained the situation as he knew it.
"Tsk, Draco is going to be upset that his rival has apparently stolen his godfather. At least he ought to be happy to show off his things to Mr. Potter and have another chance to become friends," Narcissa commented before bidding them goodbye and leaving for Diagon Alley with a thoughtful expression.
"You got off lucky," Lucius smirked at his disgruntled friend.
"Don't I know it," Severus agreed, wary of the speculative gleam that had been in the blond woman's eye as she left.
"Even without the spell the two of you would need to stay with each other. No one except those in the raiding party knows that he's here and not to be harmed," Voldemort pointed out with a rumble of amusement. He was just having loads of fun today and would have to thank Nagini. Perhaps a nice juicy rabbit would do?
"Wonderful! I have to defend us both against spell happy idiots," Severus growled in obvious frustration.
"You said he belongs to me?" Harry asked slyly, immediately setting the snarky man on his guard.
"Yes," Voldemort answered in obvious amusement.
"Then he has to teach me how to do potions without being a bastard about it," Harry decided gleefully. He ignored Severus' groan in favor of confiding to the Dark Lord. "I always looked forwards to learning potions but he's so difficult to learn from. Why don't they at least have starter books for muggle raised?"
"They do," Lucius said, eyes narrowing immediately as Severus suddenly quit being a drama queen over his favorite teasing game being curtailed.
"You did not receive them?" Severus asked carefully. Harry looked at both men blankly from which they construed he hadn't been given them.
"Who explained everything to your relatives, made them sign the secrecy contract, and took you shopping?" Voldemort asked in sudden suspicious concern.
"Hagrid," Harry answered honestly, wondering what that had to do with anything. "What secrecy contract?"
"Hagrid?!" Severus repeated in spluttering disbelief that was mirrored by the other two wizards.
"He gave me my first gift, Hedwig," Harry said with happy reminiscence.
"Your owl?" Voldemort guessed only to receive a happy nod from his former nemesis.
"You... they didn't sign the secrecy contract?" Lucius asked in horrified disbelief.
"What's the big deal?" Harry asked. He figured it was to help keep magic secret but wanted to see their reactions to his question. He wasn't disappointed.
"The secrecy contract provides a very important part of the statute of secrecy. We needed something that would be upheld in both worlds. Dumbledore is working towards reintegration but our societies have drifted too far apart. There is also the fact that out of all recorded mistreated children muggle raised are the least likely to survive and make up the highest percentage of the numbers. I'm not saying there aren't magical idiots who mistreat their children but when they are discovered it ranks as a KISSable offense after serving six months to a year of solitary confinement in the high security wing. If your relatives haven't signed anything they can legally expose us and start a new series of witch hunts," Lucius explained, looking sick at the thought of the risk Dumbledore was running.
"So there are others like me? Others who's family don't like magic? And there's a punishment for hurting us?" Harry asked tentatively.
"Yes, Harry, there is. I have not had the chance to discuss what I saw in your mind with anyone and I wasn't sure you would be comfortable speaking about it. Yet it is one of the very reasons that Lucius will be arranging for you to take your OWLs privately and why you won't return to Hogwarts or the muggle world for the forseeable future," Voldemort said softly, instinctively cradling the younger wizard with his magic and drawing the brat into his lap just as he broke down crying.
"~What's wrong? Have I chosen a bad mate for you? Did he hurt you?~" Nagini asked in confusion.
"~No, you didn't and he hasn't been hurt by Severus. He's only just realizing he's safe from some people who have hurt him,~" Voldemort answered as he cradled the sobbing Gryffindor against his chest. Nagini hissed her fury but settled for curling around the two speakers while she plotted the painful demise of whoever had hurt Harry.
Severus stared at the scene in shock, the implications running through his mind like a freight train as his preconceived notions shattered. His mind supplied past memories of the brat and he saw things he'd missed the first time. He saw the way that Harry bluffed through his obvious fear, the way he shied from physical contact, and the calculation he watched nearly everyone around him with. He recognized that he'd gone overboard in his treatment of the younger wizard in an attempt to keep him alive through what he'd originally thought was arrogance over the reality of harsh understanding.
"~Either leave or help my Tom comfort your mate,~" Nagini hissed irritably at the potions master, breaking him from his reverie.
Not understanding the serpent Severus still cautiously approached his former lord and his new master. Knowing he was pants at emotions he allowed his oath of service and protection to guide him in what he needed to do. He quickly conjured a blanket to wrap around Harry as he took him from Voldemort's arms. He carefully sat next to the Dark Lord on the settee so that they could both provide the younger wizard with comfort before giving him a calming draught pulled from a secret pocket in his robes. Lucius nodded his head in parental approval at their actions as they waited for Harry to calm.
"~Sleep, let your mate and my Tom protect you as you rest. I will make my Tom figure out how you are his hatchling when you wake,~" Nagini hissed soothingly to Harry as the calming draught kicked in. Between the potion and the emotional upheaval he slipped unerringly into the land of Morpheus.
"Nagini, what did you mean? Figure out how he's my hatchling?" Voldemort asked uneasily in English, knowing the snake would understand it and believing the other two needed to be a part of the coming conversation.
"~I told you yesterday. Did you not listen? His scent shows clearly that he is your hatchling,~" Nagini informed him confused over his confusion.
"That's not possible... How could he be my son?" Voldemort muttered in clear disbelief. Upon hearing this Severus and Lucius could only think Oh, shit!
"~How should I know? I am not one of the great ones or a wizard to know such things,~" Nagini hissed in an obvious snit before turning back to a sleeping Harry, cooing over him.
Nagini mentally debated explaining that one weird dream long ago during a delirious mating heat where she had merged with a red-headed witch and had chosen Tom as her mate for the night. The witch had explained what was going on and that the magic binding her mateship with the one who could not sire children would ensure the child was loved if she became pregnant. The serpent didn't mind on the condition that her Tom be informed of the ritual and the result before the hatchling had to go to Hogwarts. The powerful serpent had dismissed the dream as nothing more than that, a dream. Now? She wasn't all that sure it was only a dream.
"~Tom? Is there a magic which would summon one like me to merge with a female of your people to sleep with someone for a hatchling if their mate cannot provide one?~" Nagini asked carefully.
"Yes... why do you ask?" Voldemort asked suspiciously.
"~I think I know how he is your hatchling,~" Nagini informed him before proceeding to explain that long ago dream. Voldemort gaped at her in open mouthed shock as he clutched his son close, nearly ripping him away from Severus.
"Th..that would do it," Voldemort stuttered before it hit and he looked down at Harry in awe. He had a son!
"What?" Lucius asked suspiciously as Severus tried to sneak Harry back closer to himself than the Dark Lord.
"Lady Potter used... Ut vocant, puer. The ritual that, when calling upon the right gods, grants drastically increased fertility and selects the best partner to ensure the child's conception and birth. The name roughly translates to To Summon A Child. He is Harry Potter but he is also my son," Voldemort explained in a daze.
"How? How do you know?" Severus demanded quietly.
"Whatever god or goddess she called upon selected Nagini to share her heat with the woman. I, of course, never had a chance to remember the night. Nagini was returned to her body unharmed and free of her heat by morning. I presume that Lady Potter returned to wherever the ritual was begun with Harry already growing inside her..." Voldemort told them absently, his eyes never leaving his son.
"It would explain why you couldn't kill him that night. The heir magics wouldn't have allowed his third parent to harm him anymore than they would have allowed the Potters to do so. As your first child he is also your heir unless you had another and were unaware of him since the ritual assigns parental duty to the chosen parents over solely the biological ones. Its rare that the third parent is discovered," Lucius commented thoughtfully, thinking hard on what he knew of that particular ritual.
"Does this mean I am no longer required to woo him?" Severus wondered aloud, drawing everyone's attention.
"Yesterday's oath negates most of my concerns but it also allows the two of you to choose to simply be master and servant. The spell from before was placed more to encourage you to avoid fighting constantly and assuage Nagini than to force the two of you into a romance. I will remove the spell but I expect to see you spending time together so as not to stress the bond your oath created and so that you may learn to know each other," Voldemort decided after staring thoughtfully at Severus for a few minutes. Severus answered the decision by briefly bowing his head towards his former master before returning his attention to his new one.
Lucius quietly excused himself and slipped off to arrange for Harry's OWLs while obtaining confirmation of his status. Severus, Voldemort, and Nagini opted to watch Harry sleep, two in protective amazement and one in contemplation of his choices. They would never guess what was to happen in the days to come.
Broken Hands and Melted Labs
The next day Voldemort met with the examiners who would be testing Harry for his OWLs a little early so that the results could be submitted with everyone else's scores. Lucius was present as the person who submitted the request for private testing on the tester's behalf. Nagini had opted to stay with Harry and Severus as they had a late breakfast. The two dark haired wizards would then move to the potions lab and review the proper preparation of potions ingredients to work on Harry's request for further potions instruction. They would join the ministry examiners upon request since it was likely that they would have to retrieve the paperwork and written tests from their offices for Harry to take them.
Voldemort observed them carefully as he wandered seemingly casually around the room and through the respectful group of minions and supporters. Today the marked Death Eaters were in the minority but all of them supported the dark and were in important positions. After all knowing the exact capabilities of both allies and enemies saved lives, even if the records were a few years out of date by the time anyone thought to look at them.
"Lucius has asked you all here at my request to test someone for their OWLs who, until two days ago, was one of our greatest enemies. New information has come to light in regards to his status in this war and I need an accurate gauge of his abilities. His presence is a secret until I say otherwise as is his status, which will be announced at a later time. I will not demand a secrecy vow provided you wait until after the OWL testing at Hogwarts to say anything about this student's results. His presence here at Malfoy Manor is similarly secret until all of the OWLs are administered. Until certain new information is confirmed and filed with Gringotts we walk a tight rope that very well may decide this war. Thankfully, this person is just as keen to discover the truth of the matter as we are and is currently working with us to clarify the situation," Voldemort informed them with an evil smirk.
"Who will we be testing?" Someone wondered aloud from near the back of the group.
"Harry Potter is the person you will be testing. The official reason for the private testing is to avoid favoritism," Lucius said, reminding them of his presence and causing a quiet stir among the examiners.
"Before any of you object to his presence I have offered him a sanctuary of sorts. Also... Nagini has decided that not only is he her hatchling but that she needs to play matchmaker," the obvious disgruntlement of the Dark Lord encouraged the quiet laughter that sprung up.
Voldemort's previous trapping by the serpent the several times when he was overworking himself and how she forced him to rest was common knowledge among the Dark Sect. Everyone knew he doted on Nagini and knew that his rare feeding of dead enemies to the snake was not only an enemy scare tactic but usually requested by the serpent as a treat. It was one of the few things he didn't mind people teasing him over even in an official setting and the minions relished the chance at good natured teasing of their lord.
"Who did she pair him with?" an elderly witch asked with obvious amusement.
"Severus," Lucius informed them with a smirk, sparking another round of laughter.
The small meeting quickly wrapped up with arrangements made to start testing Harry the very next day. Voldemort and Lucius proceeded to wander towards the potions lab in an attempt at innocently checking on the other two. Both were wondering if the pair had to be separated by Nagini yet because an argument got too heated. What they found instead completely floored them, they were actually getting along.
Severus and Harry were running through the ingredient preparation techniques for the second time with Harry making an attempt this time. Severus and Nagini were both watching his movements closely, looking increasingly worried. Harry's movements weren't perfectly precise but as his speed increased there was a clear disparity of movement that didn't match lack of skill but instead showed physical damage to his hands and wrists. Damage that mirrored the brief bits of intense pain that trickled down the bond to Voldemort with increasing frequency as Harry ignored it in favor of concentrating on what his hands were doing.
"That's enough," Voldemort ordered softly, breaking the trance that the three had unconsciously fallen into.
"I can't," Harry said with obvious frustration as he shakily put the silver potions knife down on the table to rub at his sore hands.
"If this is the kind of damage you've been working with I need to change your grades to nearly all Outstandings," Severus said calmly, using his wand to vanish the mangled ingredients and clean up the work area.
"Harry... which time?" Voldemort asked carefully, studying his son with care. He noted the defeated slump of the younger wizard's shoulders and resisted the urge to draw him into a comforting hug. As much as he wanted to touch his son, to make sure he was real, the Dark Lord was very aware that the lack of positive physical touch had affected his son.
"Every time. If I got it sort of set fast enough my magic wouldn't heal it crooked until they broke them again. Even Lockheart vanishing half my arm, hand included, didn't protect it from getting broken again during the summer," Harry said with a bitter, hollow laugh. That laugh broke Voldemort's resolve and he was hugging his son in moments.
"I don't understand," Lucius said quizzically, tilting his head like a curious cat and making Harry burst out into unexpected laughter at the completely unexpected scene his action created. It took Voldemort and Severus to realize why he was laughing but when they did they had to suppress their own laughter. It took a few minutes before either of them could answer him.
"The muggles he was placed with abused him. He routinely had broken bones and his hands were especially targeted as a fragile area that would receive further damage when he was forced to continue whatever task he was assigned despite the injury," Voldemort explained, his voice calm but his eyes showing the fury that Harry's memories had engendered aimed directly at the Dursleys. The absolutely appalled look on Lucius' face wasn't as interesting to Harry as the look of shame and resignation on Snape's.
"Harry who were you placed with? Their full names if you can," Severus asked calmly, steeling himself for further unpleasant revelations.
"Vernon Dursley and Petunia Dursley nee Evans... is that what you meant? For the full name?" Harry asked curiously, staring hard at the older man. The flash of utter fury at Petunia's name had Harry flinching back into his father's arms and drew the attention of the other two wizards.
"Severus?" Voldemort asked carefully, ready to throw up a shield to protect Harry at a moment's notice.
"Petunia? Petunia?! That horse faced bitch that made our summer holiday's a living hell and hates all magic?! He swore you were loved! That you were treated like a prince. That you were checked on regularly! I'm going to kill that old goat," Severus said with a low dangerous growling voice and barely constrained fury. Nagini's new position between him and the door as well as his two overwhelming oaths to protect Harry were the only things keeping him from storming out and killing the Dursleys at that very moment.
"Calm down! You're scaring Harry," Voldemort ordered sharply, earning a funny look from Harry who was more wary than fearful. The words thundered into Severus' very blood as he forced himself to Occlude, sealing his emotions away for later use and purposefully relaxing his muscles until he appeared perfectly calm.
"Severus? Are you alright?" Lucius asked cautiously, wary over his friend's mental state.
"Oh no, I'm still absolutely furious. Not only did Dumbledore force me into a vow to protect him the same night Lily died he also placed him with her abusive sister. Its a miracle he, and thus I, survived for him to reach Hogwarts. To make it worse he knew how 'Tuny treated Lily and I during the summer hols and I bet that he ignored any request to go somewhere else that Harry might have even remotely mentioned. I would even go so far to suspect he kept anyone else from interfering with the situation, including Aurors or muggle Police!" Severus snapped at his friend proving his temper was only barely under control.
"Yet another reason he's never going back," Voldemort said fiercely as Lucius stood their in shock at the conclusions and instinctively ran through the consequences of the stated actions.
"He knew? He KNEW?!" Harry's face contorted in his own version of fury as Voldemort suddenly struggled to keep his son in his arms.
Taking a firmer grip the Dark Lord slowly sunk to the floor of the potions lab holding his son tightly as he raged. When Harry couldn't get free his already roiling magic let loose, expressing the pain and fury by destroying nearly everything it touched until he hung limply from Voldemort's arms, completely exhausted. His magic had torn apart the professional grade wards protecting the ingredients but died down before touching the volatile insides of the potions cupboard. Lucius had needed to duck back out the door of the lab to avoid getting burned by the magic and skewered by a table fragment. Voldemort, Nagini, and Severus remained untouched by the storm of magic as though protected from the raging fury that had destroyed and deformed the rest of the room.
Lucius had very carefully poked his head back around what little remained of the door frame to see if it was safe. The melted, pooling, and cooling marble surrounding the four occupants of the room stopped him from actually entering the room. His low whistle at the shear destruction brought everyone's immediate attention to their predicament and distracted them from their barely leashed anger. Nagini hissed her displeasure and decided to make her wizard fix the situation.
"~Tom! Take me to the creatures that hurt my hatchling and make the floor stop burning!~" Nagini ordered imperiously, slithering up the Dark Lord's side to drape herself over his shoulders. Voldemort gave her an exasperated look while Harry smiled tiredly at the serpent. Severus was already sorting through his mind for a way to get them out of the room without having to walk across the half melted floor.
"House elves," Harry muttered.
"What was that?" Lucius asked, sharply focusing on the powerful young wizard.
"Use house elves to get us out, unless you want to take down the apparation wards," Harry clarified with a wide yawn. Lucius did just that and by the time they were free Harry was sleeping peacefully in his father's arms.
"We'll let him sleep. He has tests to take starting tomorrow and needs his rest," Voldemort told them as he settled Harry into Severus' bed. He also finally remembered to remove the spell that required them to spend 18 out of 24 hours a day together.
Nagini hissed approvingly and nudged Severus until he tiredly joined Harry on the bed, scowling at the serpent the entire time. The moment the three of them were out the door she hissed a temporary barrier into place with parselmagic. The barrier wouldn't allow either of them to leave the room for more than an hour at a time and would fade away with the dawn. Voldemort laughed quietly as he explained what she'd done to the unimpressed and clearly aggravated Potions Master.
"Bloody snake," Severus grumbled before magically switching their day clothes for the night clothes left out by the elves and settling in to sleep. Harry unconsciously rolled over to snuggle into his side, pinning him to the bed as he clutched the other wizard to him. With another grumble Severus closed the curtains of the bed and Noxed the lights before succumbing to his own lure of sleep.
Tests of Heart and Mind
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Something about not having a death sentence hanging over his head gave Harry a wonderful chance to concentrate. This allowed him to take them all in a period of three days without panicking or any real issue. Severus made sure the testers were aware of the physical damage they'd discovered which would hamper the results of his tests so that it could be taken into account when scoring him.
Harry did better than expected, even receiving the highest score in DADA in more than 200 years for his successful corporeal patronus. What stunned Harry though was that his patronus changed shape to a Chimera. He didn't even have the luck of getting a standard Chimera, instead it resembled more a mix of Sphinx and Chimera. The patronus had the traditional serpent tail in the form of a spitting cobra, the body and head was that of a lion with tiger stripes, and then there were the wings of a Golden Eagle. Harry was annoyed, Severus was rueful, and everyone else was simply stunned.
Harry's final scores stood:
Astronomy - A
Care of Magical Creatures - E
Charms - O
Defense Against the Dark Arts - O
Divination - P
Herbology - E
History - A
Potions - O
Transfiguration - E
With the grade scale being the standard:
{Passing Grades}
O (Outstanding), E(Exceeds Expectations), A (Acceptable)
{Failing Grades}
P (Poor), D (Dreadful), T (Troll)
During this time of testing Severus found himself drawn to his new master in a way that neither his Unbreakable Vow to Dumbledore (which they still had yet to address), nor his new oath of service and loyalty could account for. The brat had barely scraped an O in potions yet he had done it. He was honestly charming without being ingenuous, brave without being too reckless, and decently intelligent when given half the chance, and very clearly no longer a boy.
Severus couldn't help it, he was falling in love with the green-eyed brat. The same brat he'd dedicated his life to protecting and who had, upon receiving him as a servant, thus far refused to take revenge for past wrongs or mistreat him in any way. The audacious prank on the Dark Lord was the last straw as Voldemort stalked into breakfast in scale patterned hot pink robes grumbling as Nagini laughed uproariously while trailing behind him. She clearly approved of the prank and had calmly explained to her wizard that this was punishment for being an idiot and hurting Harry. It had absolutely nothing to do with his preventing her from going after his other tormentors, nothing at all.
The dour man found himself plotting what potions could be used or would have to be created to help his young master. That didn't bother him too much but the constant encouragement of the blasted snake to spend time with him and the erotic dreams made him want to run and hide. He'd never really had a relationship before and his connection to Lily had been more of best friend and brother than anything romantic. He really didn't like how Dumbledore had tried to force his fondness into the mold of a lover and use it against him but that had been something he couldn't control. He simply wasn't attracted to the female form.
Severus was very firmly telling himself that he did not like the brat, that he wasn't gorgeous, that he wasn't funny or kind, when he accidentally walked into his room to see a half naked Harry Potter. The young man's damp hair told him why the brat was present and barely clothed in the middle of the day. The potions master found himself suppressing a deep groan as warmth surged low in his belly. His quiet, indistinct noise had the younger wizard whirling around to face him with a look of shock on his face. What completely distracted Severus, however, was not the quidditch tight abs but the flicker of a glamour.
"Harry, please drop the glamour," Severus requested quietly, staying near the door and back from the younger male. He wasn't even aware that he'd completely stopped using the name of his hated nemesis to address the other man.
In that moment he saw the first sign of true fear in those emerald eyes. Very carefully he moved sideways, away from the door and towards a small table off to one side. With exaggerated slowness he withdrew his wand and laid it on top of the table top before moving casually to the side opposite of Harry without blocking the exit.
"Harry, I won't hurt you. I've put aside my wand and I'm not blocking the door, please? Show me what you have been hiding?" Severus asked calmly, his sincerity ringing clearly in his voice.
Harry watched him, trembling like a skittish colt as he debated what to do. The older man's actions proved he'd seen something and he wasn't going to drop it. They also showed that he wanted to help. The problem there was that he'd sought help more than once before and been burned or beaten for his trouble. He didn't want to deal with what would come if he dropped the glamours and admitted to both of them that something was wrong. He knew running wasn't an option no matter how inviting that doorway was so he dug deep for courage and blurted out an apology he'd been meaning to give for over a month.
"I'm sorry about looking in your pensive! I was just trying to find out enough to stay alive and I sort of tripped on a bit of the floor," Harry said desperately, stilling the other man in his calm movements.
"While I appreciate the attempt and wish to discuss it further you will not distract me. Harry, if something is wrong I need to know so that it can be dealt with. If you aren't willing to share it in an attempt to protect yourself you need not be concerned, at least not with me," Severus coaxed softly. "You heard me tell the Dark Lord of my vow to protect you and you yourself heard my oath of service. I answer only to you. Let me help? Whatever it is please let me help?"
Harry didn't say anything, instead he bolted. Severus moved fast and caught up the smaller wizard before he could leave the room. Holding him firmly he tried to sooth the panicking wizard, cradling him against his chest and making shushing sounds. They stood there until Harry was finally calm enough to somewhat relax in limp resignation.
"Brat, I need to know things like this if I'm to keep us both alive and whole. Do you think that we will be left alone? If it isn't your status as Savior it will be your status as the Dark Lord's heir that will push you into the spot light. If I know of a problem I can plan for dealing with it," Severus explained calmly. "I don't need to say anything to anyone about it if that is your wish. I will not lie to you and I will tell you if I think we should inform someone and why. You need have no fear of me if you do not wish it."
"He's right. Its one of the reasons I insisted on him making an oath in the first place," Voldemort said from the doorway, having felt Harry's panic through their bond and come to investigate. "Even if you tell no one else about whatever it is I expect you to share it with Severus. He cannot willingly or intentional betray you."
Harry said nothing only released his hold on the glamours covering the scars that littered his body. The hiss of sympathy and outrage that came from both older wizards made him cringe but their touch remained impossibly gentle as Voldemort came over and helped maneuver his limp form onto the bed. An absent wave of power from his father sealed the room to maintain Harry's privacy.
"They will die for the torture they put you through," Voldemort informed his tired son. "Before you object remember that they did far worse to you than I have ever done. Most of my victims are enemies or have put our society at risk of being discovered. I generally leave the innocents alone and any of mine who break that or go too far are severely punished. The only time that was not true was near the end of the last war when I was more insane than sane."
"Not..." Harry said tiredly, unable to complete his thought.
"Yes, it was torture which is a step more than abuse and neither is acceptable. Extracting information from an enemy is one thing and you stop once you have it but to treat a child like this? No my son, they have no excuse," Voldemort murmured soothingly as he ran his hands through his son's messy hair. This sent Harry into an unwilling doze now that he didn't need to hide his scars.
"He shouldn't get tired this easily," Severus muttered worriedly, silently wondering at how light the scarred youth was.
"I don't know if you've noticed but he also hasn't been eating more than half a plate but from what I know of his memories he might have a shrunken stomach. I thought that we could address it after his OWL tests," Voldemort explained with clear worry of his own.
"I thought he was simply worried at the change in his situation and his OWLs," Severus admitted, mentally berating himself for mistaking an actual problem for nerves.
"He's a very good actor," Voldemort said with a rueful chuckle.
"I can brew an ointment to help the scars fade and we can give him nutrient potions to make up for his small appetite. However, to repair everything quickly I would have to brew the body abuse potion for him," Severus said with a thoughtful scowl.
"I remember reading about that. It didn't sound pleasant and he can't have a pain potion with it. Didn't it fall out of use because of the strain the pain placed on the mind?" Voldemort asked, resisting the urge to worry obviously over his son and failing miserably.
"I can modify it to add a painkiller or sleeping agent. It was specifically designed for healing prisoners who had displeased their captors. As a result some of the potion is actually meant to cause pain while healing the body. I can remove or neutralize that portion and turn it into a true healing potion," Severus explained, his mind a million miles away as he ran through the potion modifications.
"How long would it take for you to modify and brew?" Voldemort asked immediately.
Through his unwilling dozing Harry fought to follow the conversation and was surprised by the genuine care that Snape seemed to be showing. The green-eyed imp had a crush on the dungeon bat and it had blossomed in his heart, rooting and growing strong over the events of the Triwizard Tournament. At the same time he'd formed a growing attraction to Cho Chang and the two conflicting sets of feelings had confused him to no end. They were both also under the impression their attentions would not be welcomed by the other. Fortunately, for the two of them they had a very stubborn snake playing matchmaker.
The two older wizards quickly made plans on what potions Harry would need and agreed to brew them together. Yet, since neither was willing to leave Harry's side the three of them moved to the potions lab, carefully setting the younger wizard on a conjured cot. Harry was glad for the chance to repair his poor battered body but was a bit worried as well. What would the two of them think of him now that they knew? Would they send him back for being too weak to defend himself against a simple muggle? In Harry's mind he should have been able to protect himself despite the truth that he'd never had a chance.
Harry stayed mostly quiet as he watched them brew the potions he would need to take. His lack of acting the quiet shadow worried them both so they put even more effort into brewing the potions he needed. Nagini was caught in the lab more than once observing until she would lapse into grumbling about them being stupid over one thing or another. None of the three paid her any mind, too caught up in either their own thoughts or the brewing of needed potions.
The various naps Harry wound up taking when he wasn't quietly watching from the cot they'd insisted he stay on or reading or something had him thinking. He thought about the visions he's had off and on since just before the start of his fourth year. He knew that Voldemort now knew about them since they and his home life with the Dursleys had streamed across his mind during the Legillimency attack in the corridor. What he didn't know was what they'd meant or why he was physically affected by the spells cast during the visions. Of course since the Dark Lord's touch no longer burned that nasty little side effect might end now that the man didn't hate him. He was still completely unaware that the Dark Lord and possibly Nagini counted as his parents alongside the Potters.
The last dream right as they finished brewing and administering everything he needed to take though was the clincher. That night Severus and Voldemort watched over him to monitor the effects of the potions as they repaired his body. During the night he dreamed about his own conception and got to talk with the Potters...
Chapter End Notes
I'm not entirely happy with this one but it will do for now. Ideas and the like are welcome. Requests are also welcome!
Dream a Little Dream
Harry knew he was dreaming but he couldn't bring himself to care. It didn't matter to him that this dream felt just as real, perhaps even more real, than the visions he got from Voldemort. There wasn't much interesting to look at from the beginning, just swirling clouds and fog, but that changed as the dream moved forwards. A window opened in the clouds after some indeterminable amount of time and he got to see two people discussing something in a cozy living room. The messy hair and glasses on the man matched with the emerald eyes and fire-red hair told him that they were his parents, the Potters.
"I'm sorry Lils, something's wrong with my little swimmers. I can't give you a baby, not without help," James told Lily mournfully.
"What do you mean about help?" Lily asked him suspiciously. "If this is another one of your pranks James Atticus Potter..."
"Its not. The tests I took at St. Mungoes said I've got some type of infertility. Its not unusual among purebloods since we marry so many of our own cousins and are all related to each other," James admitted shame faced. "The help I was talking about it an old ritual. Its a Potter family secret but its old enough that its been shared with most other pureblood families. We do the ritual, which is part blood adoption, you get pregnant and the baby will have three parents. The other parent is picked magically and never knows unless something happens to us or the baby decides to get a Gringotts blood test and go look for them. Its a common enough practice that the baby is considered part of their family if the bloodline is ever checked and it will give our little one extra protection."
"I don't know," Lily said hesitantly, her hand drifting down to cover her womb in protective longing.
After what seemed to be close to an hour to Harry his mother agreed and he got to witness the ritual, magic's choosing of Nagini, and Nagini's choice of Voldemort. He watched in awe as he grew inside his mother. He was so entranced with the scenes of yesteryear that it took him a while to realize he wasn't alone, both of the Potters were standing next to him. A quiet yelp and Harry tumbled backwards away from them, confused as to whether he should be ecstatic to meet them or angry or terrified. He finally settled on a combination of confusion and wariness as he watched them for any aggressive moves.
"Oh sweetie, what has my sister done to you?" Lily asked, heartbroken at the wariness in her son's eyes. Her question caused his eyes to flash to hardness before returning to the earlier wariness as James hugged her to his side in an effort to keep them from rushing him and offer comfort.
"Whatever you've been told we are still your parents and we're proud of you," James said seriously.
"You don't even know me," Harry shot back as he slowly moved to his feet. "For that matter I'm not even sure you are my parents."
"How can we prove it?" James asked simply.
"What did you say the night you died?" Harry asked bluntly. He knew that the only other person who knew the exact wording was Voldemort but he honestly didn't think the man wanted to hurt him any more. The Dark Lord's actions over the past week and a half had proven that. The shock on their faces quickly followed by sadness made him feel rotten but he wouldn't budge from his chosen test.
"I told Lily to take you and run when Voldemort arrived," James said sadly.
"And I begged him to kill me instead of you when he told me to step aside," Lily answered honestly.
"Mum? Dad?" Harry asked shakily, tears coming to his eyes as he bolted into their arms. They stood there for a time simply drawing comfort from each other before Harry pulled himself free, stepping out of arms reach, much to their sorrow.
"Am I really... is that really how I was born?" Harry asked, gesturing towards the window now dissolving back into the fog and mist.
"Yes, we had no idea the magic had picked the Dark Lord as your second father," James admitted sheepishly.
"I only knew he was called Tom from Nagini when she made me promise to inform him just before you went to Hogwarts. The magic of post owls would have gotten the letter to him with almost no information," Lily informed him, mischief and laughter dancing in her eyes.
"Is that why he started calling me son and Snape called me Voldemort's Heir? Why he makes me feel safe?" Harry asked almost plaintively, worried that they'd be angry he'd been accepting comfort from Voldemort and Snape.
"Yes, dear," Lily said with a sweet yet proud smile.
"And... you don't hate me?" Harry asked fearfully.
"Oh, Harry, we could never hate you," Lily said sadly, reaching out to give him a hug only to stop with a pang of sadness as Harry backed away slightly.
"Harry... Hadrian James Potter, we love you and you will always be our son. I can't say we would agree with you if you joined your other father but I promise we will never hate you for that choice if you make it," James said firmly, divining one of his son's greatest fears about the situation. "You've already proven that you are a Potter and a Gryffindor by pulling our ancestor's sword from the Sorting Hat and slaying Slytherin's insane Basilisk. I am more than proud of you and the choices you've made. You are old enough to choose your own path. Yes, we followed Dumbledore but we didn't have all the information on what we were fighting for or against. Whether you choose to walk the path of the light, the dark, the grey, or the neutral is your choice and it would be nearly impossible to make us disappointed with you."
"We don't mind you knowing your other father or even taking his name. We know you hate your fame and that the Dursleys should be shot for what they did to you. You've grown into a fine young man that we can be proud of, whatever you choose to do next," Lily said tearfully before making her request. "When you wake up would you tell Severus that there was never anything to forgive but if he wants it he has my forgiveness. He also has my permission if he wants to make you happy, however that may happen."
"Make me happy?" Harry asked in puzzlement.
"Severus will either explain or you'll figure it out on your own," James said in amusement before offering his own messages. "Tell Voldemort that if he lets Dumbledore hurt you again I'll come back and haunt him. If you can tell Moony that none of this was his fault and if he truly wants to stop fearing his wolf to talk to Greyback. Tell Severus that I went too far when we were at school and that his actions since have more than fulfilled the life debt between us. If you can get Gryffindor's Sword back from Dumbledore, the old man doesn't deserve to even look at it after what he's done to you."
"Alright," Harry said slowly as he realized the dream was coming to an end. They faded away into the mist as Harry slowly rose back to wakefulness.
Harry studied the worried faces of both Dark Lord and Potions Master before taking stock of the changes the potions had wrought over night. His bones and muscles had stopped their constant aching and for once he didn't feel like something was draining him. In fact he felt almost jittery with energy and could feel his core ready to overflow with magic. An absent thought had his wand dashing from the side table that had been conjured for him at some point straight into his hands, erupting into a shower of multi-colored sparks as it landed in his palm. The surprised looks that the two older wizards gave him made Harry feel smug as he reveled in the feeling of finally being healthy before his hungry stomach made itself known with a loud growl.
"Hungry?" Severus asked with a mirthful smirk. Harry nodded in embarrassment and he was quickly served a full meal. They were ecstatic when he shyly asked for seconds without any signs of getting sick. He was immediately served more which he promptly devoured before remembering the messages from his parents.
"Why didn't you tell me about being Voldemort's son?" Harry asked cautiously, deciding to go with the parentage question first before bringing up the messages from the dead.
"Er, didn't we explain?" Severus asked, completely taken aback.
"No, I had to find out from Mum and Dad in a dream," Harry told them, eyes accusing. He didn't pull back when Voldemort pulled him into a brief hug, in fact he melted into the caring touch much more readily than before his healing sleep.
"We only found out the day after our arrival here and only because Nagini thought to say something," Voldemort admitted sheepishly. "You melted the potions lab the next day and then had your OWLs the day after. After that well..."
"I freaked out because Severus saw my glamours slip," Harry said nodding his head in understanding.
"We should have made time instead of presuming that you knew," Severus said seriously.
"I get it, things just got out of hand. Er, Mum and Dad sent messages," Harry offered up, completely embarrassed at playing messenger for his dead parents to his single living parent and former professor. They looked at him in a mixture of interest and shock, waiting for him to continue. Harry quickly relayed the messages, describing his whole dream in the process, and watched the faces of the two wizards run the gamut of emotions.
"Well, we have a sword to retrieve and some paperwork to file. I'm not giving Dumbledore the chance to call you kidnapped and try to get you forcibly removed from my care," Voldemort said decisively as Severus sat there stunned at his own messages.
Nagini cackled from under Harry's cot, reminding them all that she was there.
"~You aren't going to let him live this down are you?~" Harry asked the snake in amusement.
"~Not a chance!~" Nagini said cackling again as she smoothly moved from under the cot to on top of it, settling on the blanket covering Harry's legs.
"Blackmailed by my own familiar," Voldemort groused without any heat.
"Does it really matter? Its not like they'll let the Dark Lord take custody of the Savior and you look like a human-snake," Harry pointed out dryly.
"This? This was originally a glamour. I needed people to stop treating me like an uneducated child since I mostly stopped aging after... certain rituals were completed. When I came back Wormtail screwed up the resurrection potion so it took me a while to correct the damage. One nice thing that came out of it is that I can shift between this and a 25 year old version of my human self. Its nice not having to expend power constantly for a glamour even if I have to keep the red eyes in every form, they aren't reversible," Voldemort explained with more than a little surprise before demonstrating by shifting his features into a 25 year old version of his diary self with red eyes.
"Well that solves the snake look," Harry muttered, unconsciously checking his father for any damage and finding none much to the man's amusement.
"How are you feeling?" Severus asked, reminding them all that Harry had just gone through a major healing as he quickly checked the green-eyed imp using various medical spells.
"I feel fine, great actually," Harry said, once more feeling smug at not being in pain.
"Then perhaps a trip to the bank is in order," Voldemort suggested with a smirk. Harry's enthusiastic agreement drowned out Nagini's grumbling at not being able to eat the goblins, presuming she would be taken along with them as a matter of course. The argument that followed when she found out they didn't intend to take her with them was epic...
Bank Bet
A grumbling Dark Lord in normal human form with glamoured eyes stalked into the bank lobby trailing a snickering son, a smirking Potions Master, and with a smug serpent wrapped around his shoulders. The small group leisurely picked a teller and got in line, keeping Harry protectively between the two older wizards. This did not stop the casually loitering Order members from noticing them and sending off a message summoning more familiar order members to help retrieve Harry.
As a result of the magically sent message they found themselves being quickly approached by Molly and Arthur Weasley trailed by Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. Harry was glad to see his friends but immediately wary about their sudden appearance. His wariness jumped even higher when Severus, upon noticing them, moved between his young master and the approaching group of mostly redheads.
"Harry!" Hermione called cheerfully as if nothing was wrong. Harry adopted a neutral expression and stayed in the receiving line with both older wizards.
"Miss. Granger, kindly do not shout nor attack those around you," Severus shot back sarcastically. His words were promptly ignored by Harry's friends as they quickly approached and only his move to block them kept them from tackling Harry.
"Oi! Harry doesn't want anything to do with you greasy git! Now give us back our friend," Ron yelled hotly, reaching out to drag Harry away from the potions master only his hand never reached Harry's arm.
"That is quite enough," Voldemort said sternly, gripping Ron's wrist just enough to stop his attempted grab without hurting him.
"Excuse us sir, we just need to talk to our friend. We were meeting him here before returning to school," Hermione explained brightly, also reaching for Harry.
"No, we weren't. I am getting stuff from my vault and talking to the goblins about business that involves what mum and dad left me. Professor Snape agreed to come along so that I wouldn't be alone with Mr. Malfoy during the private OWL testing so that I would get fair results," Harry told them bluntly, clearly annoyed at their actions and obvious presumption of ownership when it came to his person.
"Malfoy, what are you even doing with the blond bastard?" Ron practically spat.
"Blackmailing him into getting my OWL scores graded fairly and checking to see if being in that stupid tournament means I don't have to go back to the Dursleys," Harry told them in increasing annoyance.
"But Dumbledore..." Hermione started only to be cut off by Harry.
"Dumbledore doesn't own me... Besides I accidentally tripped a ritual Mr. Malfoy had set up as a modified example for Draco to translate which let me talk to my parents. He was really angry about the wasted ingredients and I have to pay him back for them," Harry elaborated with a tired sigh of sheepish resignation mixed with a hefty dose of rebellion before shifting into a devious smirk. "He hadn't thought the thing would work and was really surprised to walk into the room only to get reamed out by mum and dad for letting Dumbledore put me with the Dursleys. It was something about how all purebloods are related, that even living with the Malfoys and raised dark would have been better."
"What!?" came the outraged squawk from his three friends. Friends he was finding it increasingly difficult to think of as anything more than Dumbledore's puppets. Voldemort suppressed a smirk of both pride and amusement as he watched his son skillfully turn everything that the little light puppets knew on their heads.
"You can't be serious?! He's a baby Death Eater and an evil snake!" Ron demanded, finally remembering to retrieve his hand from Voldemort's grip.
"Maybe it escaped your notice, Ron, but if Draco hadn't been such a prick and Dumbledore hadn't made sure to send Hagrid to tell me horror stories about Slytherins I would be a Slytherin," Harry informed the redhead icily. He was rapidly being reminded of all the times Ron had decided to treat him like shit or betray him and wasn't liking what he was seeing. Finally finding out that both Gryffindor and Slytherin were literally in his blood was simply a bonus even if it wasn't officially confirmed yet.
"Kindly allow us to conclude our business, you can discuss recent revelations later," Severus snarked at the group of Dumbledore's followers. He was doing his best to hide his absolute glee at the way Harry was twisting them around and reaming them out at the same time.
"Now Severus, you know how students are," Dumbledore said congenially, appearing as if out of nowhere from the crowd. "Young Harry can always do his business another day when he and his friends have a proper escort. Come along the both of you we need to get back."
"Not until the goblins have performed the blood test, old man," Voldemort said with absolute steel in his voice, drawing the Headmaster's attention to him for the first time. The way Dumbledore paled made Voldemort give a light purr deep inside his chest and caused Nagini to issue a hissy chuckle of predatory amusement.
"Stop it. I agreed to get the blood test and you agreed to not attack me when we ran into each other just outside the bank. This is a neutral endeavor to clear up a rumor and avoid yet another blood feud on top of the war," Harry said in a perfectly annoyed tone, covering Voldemort's peaceful presence near them.
"~I am enjoying the little tale you are spinning my precious serpent. I will be certain to inform Lucius of his part so that he may join in our taunting of the delusional fools,~" Voldemort hissed with a low laugh.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked for a translation warily, wondering at Harry's feigned sigh of annoyance.
"There was another part of it. He insisted that if we share blood within the past five generations he gets custody of me as his heir. I insisted he couldn't count the blood he took in the graveyard for his resurrection. I also got him to promise that if we didn't share blood I get to choose the battle ground and weapons if we have to fight to the death," Harry informed them, rebellion clear in his gaze as he glared at the suddenly deflating old man.
"Oh... yes, I suppose that is a reasonable risk," Dumbledore muttered with a clear sense of being knocked off his high horse in defeat.
"How could you?" Ginny demanded with tears in her eyes. It was clear as day that only the presence of Severus and Voldemort kept her from pouncing on Harry and trying to snog him to death or going off on a tirade of how stupid he was being or some declaration of eternal love. Harry was sick with the thought of that acutally happening as scenes of her stalking him all over Hogwarts mentally reeled through his mind's eye, matched by a very clear flash of Cho's wet kiss.
"Miss. Weasley, he hardly had a choice," Severus pointed out icily, his patience with the clumsy attempts at manipulation quickly wearing thin.
"NEXT!" rang out from the goblin teller, interrupting the response of the so called light. Voldemort, Harry, and Severus quickly moved up to the counter as a group.
"Tom Riddle, Severus Snape, and Harry Potter to see our account managers jointly, including a blood test, heritage test, and medical blood test," Voldemort informed the goblin. "There is some question as to Mr. Potter's heritage and a transferred loyalty oath."
"Please be sure that the room can accommodate the entire group," Dumbledore said pleasantly. He gestured towards his group as accompanying the trio not yet registering the possible significance of the transferred loyalty oath.
"None of you are coming with us," Harry shot back with a scowl. "Call it payback for the Dursleys, the stone in first year, the stupid chamber, and refusing to get Sirius a trial so that I have to keep returning to the Dursleys."
They left behind a speechless group of light lackeys and a spluttering Dumbledore as a smirking goblin quickly escorted them to one of the smaller conference rooms.
They could hear Harry muttering under his breath about how he wasn't going to be controlled, their audacity, and what did they think they were doing completely ignoring and insulting his potions master. Voldemort smirked at the utterly stunned look that briefly crossed Severus' face when they heard him muttering over the last thing. That look quickly disappeared behind the man's customary scowl even as they realized that Harry wasn't aware that he was muttering aloud.
They were conveyed to a smallish conference room and quickly joined by three goblins. Severus' eyebrow rose in surprise, not actually believing he had an account manager. Refreshments were provided and they all prepared their respective drinks before getting down to business.
"We appreciate that you requested a meeting with us as we have each found ourselves unable to contact any of you directly for sometime," the middle goblin who had carried in the paperwork with the Slytherin family crest began.
"You have been attempting to contact us?" Severus asked in obvious surprise.
"Yes, both I and the Potter account manager have done our best to contact you both only for our messages to receive responses from Headmaster Dumbledore. These responses all claim that you have designated him as having authority over your estate and that he is Mr. Potter's Magical Guardian. Yet our records show that Sirius Black was Mr. Potter's guardian until October 31st 1994 wherein he was emancipated by the participation in the Triwizard Tournament," the goblin on the left who had carried in paperwork bearing the Prince family crest explained.
"I thought so! The way I was treated in Diagon Alley and by the owl order people changed," Harry muttered angrily, clearly pissed at not having been told about the important fact of his emancipation.
"You weren't told?" Severus asked in surprise that was mirrored by everyone else in the room.
"I'm told less than the other students. I've tried looking into things but I'm always directed away and/or kept out of the library by either my friends or one of the so called adults. Its a little hard to get around them and the library is a nightmare to navigate without help or getting caught. I would like to bring three muggles up on charges of mistreating a magical child or at least place some sort of a restraining order if that is possible. I don't care which world its done in as long as its legal and enforceable," Harry declared firmly.
"That wasn't mistreatment, that was outright torture," Voldemort growled, pissed at the reminder of how exactly Harry had been treated at the Dursleys. Nagini hissed her quiet agreement but recognized that their prey wasn't present so soothing her wizard was probably a good idea. To that end she hissed comforting things to her Tom and watched the goblins to see if she needed to turn one or more into a snack.
"That is a very serious accusation Mr. Riddle," the, by now, obvious Potter account manager stated severely.
"Trust me, its more than justified and if I could get away with kidnapping them to pay them back for what they've done to Harry I would," Voldemort said fiercely, bearing his teeth in a vicious grin.
The goblins all noted how protective the man suddenly seemed to be of the youth that most considered to be his mortal enemy. A brief exchange of glances confirmed to them that the situation had drastically changed. As this could greatly affect Gringotts and the goblin nation they were obliged to investigate as much as possible about the situation.
"Evidence?" Voldemort's account manager asked neutrally. The Dark Lord had provided such evidence of wrong doing on the part of his intended victims in the past to help keep the goblins out of his fight with the ministry.
"Memories from Harry Potter retrieved via legillimency, the medical blood test that was mentioned when we checked in, and a request for a full Gringotts investigation of Harry Potter's muggle relatives specifically to use as evidence. I will pay for any fees to make this happen and if necessary invoke goblin justice, forbearing the right to declaring a blood feud with the mentioned muggles," Voldemort said promptly.
"I just want to forget about it, keep them away from me, and stop them from having a claim on anything of mine," Harry said in obvious annoyance. His eyes though showed a different set of emotions, pain, worry, fear, and a bone deep weariness that worried everyone else in the room.
"James and Lily agreed that you should be accepted as my son. You already know how possessive and protective I can be. Right now you are the only thing standing between them and my wrath. Either you let me dispense repayment for their mistreatment of you or we do this legally through Gringotts, ignoring the harm done to you and our family is not an option," Voldemort said flatly.
"Gringotts," Harry said immediately, instinctively protecting them as the only family he's known since his parents died.
"What is this about the Potters instructions?" Voldemort's goblin manager asked suspiciously.
"Weird magic vision that let me see my conception and talk with mum and dad. Dad apparently had baby making problems and they used a ritual to fix it," Harry admitted with a sigh.
"Nagini, my familiar, was ironically chosen to donate her heat to the ritual Ut vocant, puer which was used by the Potters. She in turn chose me to assist. It is only recently that she informed me of this fact when faced with a long enough exposure to Harry's similar scent. We do wish to have it verified by Gringotts for legal use but the later vision Harry received from his parents last night gave a second confirmation of our suspicion," Voldemort explained wryly. "Essentially, I had no idea I was his third parent until recently and the Potters gave certain instructions for us to follow and messages to deliver. I have been granted permission to protect him from Dumbledore, was basically told I'm an idiot, and that if Harry wishes it he should take my name."
"Imagine having to be the delivery boy," Harry muttered with an ironic snort of amusement. "Besides, I still have to get Gryffindor's sword back from Dumbledore and I'm pretty sure he won't give it up without a fight. Potter heritage or no Potter heritage, not to mention being able to call it to fight the basilisk."
"We would need a copy of the memory to verify and file the proper paperwork if you wish to use it legally and we will need to discuss the disposition of the goblin-forged sword," Voldemort's manager murmured thoughtfully.
"Its a possible consideration in case the test is declared invalid or some such for some insane reason," Voldemort agreed thoughtfully, feeling more than a bit wicked and gleeful in that moment. Nagini hissed her approval, having understood from Voldemort's reaction that it might help them keep Harry if someone tried to take him away from them.
"If you you guys can explain to me your interest in the sword aside from authenticating it as Godric Gryffindor's sword I'd be willing to talk about it more. I'd be happy to provide a memory, especially if it keeps someone from magically erasing it from existence with an Obliviate. I really don't want to loose that memory," Harry put in his own opinion.
"I want a copy," Severus said immediately, mentally kicking himself for not asking to see the magical apology from his nemesis sooner.
"Sure... just tell me how," Harry said confidently. The goblins quickly collected the memory and, at Voldemort's suggestion, samples of Harry's memories of growing up at the Dursleys along with his detentions with Umbridge. Severus received his requested copy and they moved on to the next item.
Lobby Lockdown
Chapter Notes
Giant Chapter today!
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They took nearly six hours to clear up their accounts and discover that Dumbledore had been withholding most of Severus' accounts from him. Voldemort was grumpy to discover his management of Harry's assets was excellent. There were only two points of contention that they could find the payment of the Dursleys and his use of Harry's Wizengamot seats. This did not count the withholding of proper training and timely informing Harry of what his assets were doing. Since they could do nothing without either Harry himself being informed, which was blocked, and present or finding some way for the Wizards to reject his claim of Guardianship. Dumbledore's original war hero status and near deification by the wizarding public made it impossible for them to do anything legally. The falsification of paperwork by a now dead traitor goblin had hidden the situation until that very day, helping to hide the old man's position immeasurably. Even with this unpleasant discovery they had only covered most of the outstanding issues, not all.
"So I was forced to wear rags, work like a house elf, and forever told that I am filth, worth nothing, and an abomination while they were spending my money?" Harry asked, his voice flat with rage.
"Can I kill them now?" Voldemort asked, equally angry. Harry's control over his magic broke a little at that question and only Severus pulling him into his lap while intertwining their magics kept the room from being destroyed.
"Now is not the time. Harry? I need you to focus on my voice, breath in, 1.. 2.. 3.. and breath out, again, breath in, 1.. 2.. 3.. and breath out," Severus instructed sharply. They performed the breathing exercises together for nearly twenty minutes before being calm enough to continue.
"I'm pranking that old bastard without end when I get back to school next year," Harry declared with a fierce scowl. "At least its confirmed that I'm your son, though finding out that mum was actually from a purified squib line and not a true muggleborn was nice."
"We'll discuss it when your letter comes. It may not be safe enough for you to attend," Voldemort warned, earning a jerky nod of understanding. A quick trip down to their vaults, an official rebuttal of the way the votes had been misused matched with a filing of a Wizengamot misrepresentation charge and they were back in the lobby seven hours after arriving.
Harry saw the hopeful looking group of light supporters and proceeded to completely ignore them, staying close to Severus and his newly confirmed father. Dumbledore clearly understood the meaning and his face hardened in battle hard determination as he made his own choice. Desperate to know how this disaster had begun and what Voldemort had done to Harry Dumbledore forced his way into Harry's mind. He quickly found the memory of the two wizards being kidnapped from Hogwarts by the raiding party. He had suppressed the news of the message left behind and oblivated the students who'd seen it leaving no one the wiser yet he still opted to view the memory before moving on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry fought not to stagger or drip too much blood as he slowly made his way towards his second detention of the night. The first one had been with Umbridge and the second one was supposed to be with Snape, too bad both had scheduled it at the same time and wouldn't let him reschedule. This left him in a quandary ignore the bitch who was torturing the entire school wherever possible or the hard arse potions master? He picked annoying the potions master to limit how many extra detentions and of what type torturous vs. simply difficult.
"Potter!" the irate voice of the potions master echoing down the corridor made Harry want to groan and slam his head repeatedly against the stone wall. He was still conflicted over the crush he had on the man and the fading attraction to Cho Chang. Something about her wet kiss along with her had suddenly lost its appeal out of nowhere along with the strange attraction to Ginny of all people.
Mentally sighing and shoving his scrambled emotions once more to the back of his mind Harry turned to face the oncoming professor. He very carefully didn't let the man see his bloody hand, caused by the detention he had only just been released from with the horrid pink toad. His attempt at talking to McGonagall about it had very firmly told him that the staff was going to be useless as usual. He didn't want yet another detention for bleeding on the floor or something similar.
"Yes, professor?" Harry asked quietly, not feeling up to poking at the man simply to see how his temper would manifest this time.
"You were to be in my office two hours ago. Where have you been? Or shall I simply assign you an additional two weeks of detention and 50 points from Gryffindor?" Snape demanded, obviously fuming. Harry opened his mouth to answer but never got the chance to make a sound.
They were standing near Myrtle's bathroom when Harry's magic flared around them as a stolen experimental joke candy with a random activation that had been slipped to him during lunch by a moody Ron kicked in. Severus' oath of protection sparked to life, recognizing that Harry was in danger from something. Since the brat was right in front of him it led the older man to the conclusion that his troublesome student had been dosed or spelled with something on a timer or remote activation.
The potions master didn't get a chance to guess because Harry's magic reacted violently. A combination of reasons kept Snape from being blown down the corridor and through the stone wall at the end of it when Harry's magic flared. The younger wizard's magic had recognized the protective bond formed by both oath and legacy life debt, as well as its master's own crush and complicated trust of the man. These factors classified the potions master as a probable helper and emergency anchor, flowing around him to batter against the blank stone walls of the castle in futile panic.
Severus didn't think, he only acted. Following the way his magic tugged and the instinct he had developed over the years as both spy and teacher he lunged forwards, pulling his student into a fierce hug. He muttered soothing words as he pressed Harry's face to his chest and rubbed calming circles along the Gryffindor's back. Snape did his absolute best to help calm Harry's emotions and magic, mentally damning whoever had slipped whatever the botched potion was to his student.
The brief spike of panic was what unconsciously led the raiding party to the two and before they could separate. It was after Harry's mind and magic had calmed that the voice of the Dark Lord rang out, instinctively breaking them apart. Harry somehow managed to force Dumbledore back out of his mind, battering the powerful assault with everything he had to get free of his memories and denying further access by shear stubbornness. When they mentally returned to the lobby Dumbledore seemed weaker somehow, as if he'd been drawing on something for extra power but no longer had access to it. The old man also seemed desperate to get Harry back. With a sudden dawning of horror that quickly shifted to rage Harry viciously attacked the Headmaster.
"You've been stealing my magic!" Harry shouted in absolute fury as he attacked. Before things could go any further both groups found themselves magically pinned in place by the Gringotts security system.
"Harry! Why in the world are you attacking the Headmaster? What has he done that you would do such a thing?" Arthur asked in a gentle yet demanding tone of voice.
"I'm his son, I'm the Dark Lord's Heir," Harry said flatly from his position on the floor.
"This is impossible! When we get back to the Burrow Harry James Potter you will be getting a stern talking to for scaring us and pulling such a horrendous prank!" Molly practically screeched.
"Oh? Try and drag the information on the Ut vocant, puer ritual out of that ancient skull of yours old man," Voldemort sneered. "Touch my son again and I won't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in the way when I come for you or when I retrieve him."
"But, mate, the Potters were your mum and dad so you can't be snake-face's son," Ron pointed out in complete bafflement.
"Yeah, lucky me I got three parents not just two and until last week my second father didn't even know I was his son but was still trying his hardest to kill me," Harry said dryly. "I shouldn't have argued the hat out of putting me in Slytherin. Why can't I have something that's even remotely normal in my life?"
Nagini, not weighed down by the security spells, was quickly slithering her way towards Dumbledore, a goat snack firmly on her mind. Unknowingly she passed over an ancient parseltongue rune set in the floor, casting a powerful translation spell over her that would last several hours.
" ~You hurt my hatchling!~" Nagini hiss/screeched, her voice a powerful magical echo resonating in English. The translation echoed around the lobby as she reared back over the now terrified old man, ready to do as much damage as possible as she killed him.
A goblin slamming his shield into her knocked her away from him and stopped the attack. She turned on the offending goblin in fury only to stop in confusion. The goblin had laid down his shield and was kneeling while offering a juicy rabbit for her instead.
" ~Explain!~" Nagini demanded, recognizing the attempt at pacification when the goblin could have easily taken the sword at his belt and simply beheaded her.
"You passed over a translation rune matrix and we heard your words. You are acting in defense of one you consider your youngling, that is honorable. However, this is our territory and we must keep the peace for our customers. Will you join the others as we mediate the conflict and punish the transgressors for breaking the peace of our territory?" the goblin soldier asked politely.
" ~Very well, I will listen and help with this... mediation. If harm comes to my hatchling I will add goblin to my preferred prey,~" Nagini warned, acting the queen the entire time. The goblin nodded his head in understanding before lifting the security spell and directing the escort of both groups out of the lobby.
"Give me back my friend!" was the first thing out of Ron's mouth the moment the door to the large, heavily warded conference room locked into place in its frame.
"My son is not a thing to barter and treat as a trophy or a stolen favorite toy!" Voldemort barked out, sending most of Dumbledore's group cowering in fear of his obvious anger.
"Mrs. Weasley, did you know that Ron is keeping a list of all the sex things he wants to do with a girl, preferably Hermione, without marrying them just to see if he can get away with it under his bed? He also has naked pictures of half of the girls in our year or older hidden in a magazine of nude witches that I found under his bedside table. I thought it was weird and couldn't figure out why one would want to look at naked girls in second year," Harry informed her evilly. The look of abject horror on Ron's face was perfect in his opinion but the look of true anger on the face of Molly Weasley made him suddenly very glad he was not the target of her wrath.
"Traitor," Ron hissed at him, pale faced and trembling at the thought of what his mother was going to do to him when they got home.
" RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY!!! " Molly bellowed at her youngest son before the sound suppression magics on the room kicked in, forcing her to resort to the silent parental death glare. The security goblins off to one side looked at both her and Harry with respect, Harry for his strategic move and Molly for her parade ground bellow.
"Did you out argue the hat or did Dumbledore cast a spell to force the hat to put you in Gryffindor?" Voldemort asked archly, thoroughly enjoying the way most of the lightsiders cringed at Molly's response.
"I think it was a bit of both added to the fact that through the Potters I'm from Gryffindor's line and through you I'm descended from Slytherin. The hat admitted that I confused him since I apparently emulate all four houses perfectly, or I did at my sorting in first year," Harry commented thoughtfully. "From what I can tell each of the weird dangerous things that seem to happen near the end of the year were forcing me more into a Gryffindor mindset simply to get out alive. Most of the protections on the stone involved some sort of courage as part of the challenge. Facing down your diary and the basilisk was utterly terrifying but the only way to get out was to do something reckless and stupid. Sirius... that's something that feels genuine, it was harder to get information and find clues. We also didn't find clues at a steady pace like in first or second year. Fourth year... well that was just a fiasco since both sides wanted to see me make it through the Tournament. This year was just plain hell... are you sure the pink toad isn't one of yours?"
"If she were she would have been dead shortly after your arrival at Malfoy Manor," Voldemort said with a sigh of resignation and amusement.
"You can't be serious Harry!" Hermione said, completely scandalized at the thought of everything her fellow Gryffindor had just said.
"Hermione... I'm completely serious and no matter what argument any of you use I'm going home with my father. Just be glad I talked him into not killing Snape and instead having him assigned as my bodyguard," Harry informed them flatly.
"No, Harry, I'm afraid you're mistaken. You will be returning to your relatives house for the summer where we will be discussing your blatant disrespect and misconduct," Dumbledore said firmly. "I am your..."
"No, you are not," Voldemort interrupted smoothly. "The blood relation was certified and had he not already been emancipated by participation in the Tournament, your doing, I would have immediately received custody. The relationship was established on multiple levels with multiple methods, including a discussion with the late Lord and Lady Potter. Continue on in this vein and I do not believe it will be safe for my son or his guard to return to Hogwarts in the fall. Oh and don't expect anymore reports from Severus old man, he's firmly bound to my son. It would take little effort to make it irreversible even to the mark on their very souls."
" ~Naughty goat, my hatchling is not meat for your belly!~" Nagini cackled in obvious delight from her perch on the back of Voldemort's chair.
"But Harry we were going to get married!" Ginny said with obvious distress.
"I... don't like girls like that. I mean Cho's kiss was wet and I only looked at them like that since it seemed to be expected that I act like Dad and Sirius," Harry admitted with obvious embarrassment, his slowly rising blush bloomed into a bright cherry red along his cheeks as he finished his answer. "You're very pretty but... you don't make me hard."
Severus snorted, trying his best not to burst out laughing at the complete awkwardness that had immediately settled across the room upon such a blunt confession. Nagini's contribution, on the other hand, had him palming his face.
" ~Of course the female does not affect you,~" Nagini hissed indignantly. " ~You will mate with the dark one that smells of strange things and give me many grandhatchlings.~"
"You don't get to choose my mate for me!" Harry shot back throwing up his arms in exasperation. "My mate, my choice!"
"Enough! Nagini we already talked about this you cannot force them into a mateship. If they choose to marry it will be their choice and their choice alone. If you pick up on something that might threaten Harry than by all means say something or trap them so I can do something about it. If not then you are to leave them alone to figure out if they even want to be mated or not," Voldemort scolded, exasperation clear in his voice. Nagini grumbled a bit but nothing that was audible to the rest of the room.
Harry took a chance that the translation spell was cast on Nagini alone rather than on parseltongue in general and hissed at her. His gamble paid off when there was no magical translation as he started to speak to his father's familiar without any sign of a magical translation.
"~Yes, I like him but he hates me and I have to trap him so he won't run away when I tell him. If I'm going to have him as my mate I need him to think I'm not doing anything until I've got him pinned down. I also need him to feel that he can reject me without consequences. I will not have an unwilling mate!~" Harry informed her emphatically, earning a resigned grumble from the serpent and a smirk from his father at his deviousness.
"Stop it mate you're creeping me out!" Ron protested with a very obvious shudder of revulsion earning a frown from Voldemort.
"You clearly aren't helping my son with your friendship, if one can even call it that," Voldemort said, still frowning. "You should be encouraging him to develop his gifts with the proper precautions not telling him a part of his very being is repulsive and unnatural. Your reactions today alone make me seriously doubt you have his best interests at heart. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if you were simply riding on the edge of his unwanted fame."
"Now that both sides are relatively calm, can someone please explain what the assault in the lobby was about?" the goblin security head asked archly. His perfectly fitted and battle scarred armor made quiet clanking thuds matching the creaking leather when he leaned forwards to place his hands on the table set between the two groups of wizards.
"Dumbledore forced his way into my mind and started shuffling around looking at my memories, but that's not why I attacked since he does that all the time at Hogwarts. No, it was the way I no longer felt draining sensation after the healing potion last night matched with his weakened power after the attack. He's been stealing my magic!" Harry practically snarled, clearly itching to attack the old man again. He only refrained from lunging at the man due to the presence of the large number of goblin guards placed lining the room like ornamental statues with very sharp weapons.
"That's completely impossible and illegal!" Hermione said in absolute shocked horror.
"Then he won't mind proving it by taking Veritaserum and answering a few questions," Voldemort said darkly. He was already plotting to make the man's death exquisitely painful for the assault on his son's mind. Dumbledore's answers would only tell him how long he would force the old man to survive while in agony before granting him the final peace.
"I will refrain from pressing kidnapping charges if we end the matter now and go our separate ways," Dumbledore said quickly. He sweating a bit at the thought of Voldemort having free reign to ask him any question while under the effects of Veritaserum.
" ~Liar doesn't want to be forced to tell the truth,~" Nagini cackled. " ~Run along to your burrow, we will hunt you another day.~"
"But!" Voldemort started to protest only for Nagini to cut him off.
" ~Tom! Let the prey leave. He gives up any claim to our hatchling as he goes and can no longer threaten our own burrow,~" Nagini scolded, gaining a whipped puppy look from the greatest and most terrifying Dark Lord of the era. Harry couldn't help it, he laughed at the look on his father's face only to have the serpent turn on him. " ~You have some explaining to do about the death of the King Basilisk when we get home.~"
"Yes, Nagini," Harry said in an equally whipped tone. Apparently, that ended the matter to the satisfaction of the goblins since they were each given a document to sign attesting to the agreements and arguments that had been thrashed out along with the final conclusions. They were also escorted off of the bank grounds separately, Harry's group went first to avoid ambush by the other group, and everyone made their way home.
Draco's Home
Almost the moment they got back to Malfoy Manor Nagini snagged Severus and started dragging him away, cursing the whole time, while she cackled madly.
"Oi! Give him back!" Harry called after her as he chased the crazy serpent and his potions master down the length of the entry hall. The Malfoys poked their heads out of a nearby parlor in time to see first serpent and prize rush past, quickly followed by Harry.
"My Lord?" Lucius asked his voice full of barely suppressed amusement. Draco just watched in shock at the unexpected sight and Narcissa barely held back her own amusement.
"We were ambushed by Dumbledore's people and Harry spun a marvelous tale about a chance meeting between us in the ally followed by a bet. Unfortunately, when informed of the outcome of the bet once we were done with sorting out our accounts, accounts the old goat had tampered with, Dumbledore wasn't exactly willing to honor the bet. The old fool mentally attacked my son and Harry retaliated after forcing him back out. With the kind of mental trauma he has it shouldn't be possible but then he's been doing the impossible nearly from birth. At the moment I believe that Nagini is playing matchmaker again," Voldemort said with an obvious cackle.
"The snake is making my godfather go on a date with Potter?" Draco asked horrified. Voldemort's arched eyebrow clearly asked if the Malfoy Heir knew of the current situation whereas Lucius' sheepish shake of the head answered him.
"Considering the Potters used a ritual to conceive and we just proved he's actually my son as well, Nagini feels well within her rights to try and find him a proper mate. I'm just glad she never tried that with me," Voldemort admitted, eyes crinkling in amusement at the entire debacle and Draco's obvious look of both consternation and innocent horror at the situation.
"Draco, have you thought of asking him why he refused your offer of friendship? Maybe he misunderstood something or didn't understand what you were offering?" Narcissa asked carefully. The thoughtful look her son took on told her she had gotten through to him and that maybe they would manage to sort out their rivalry without interference.
"If scarface really wants Uncle Sev that badly he's going about it all wrong. Looks like I'm going to have to help him... for Uncle Sev," Draco said decidedly before starting after the serpent and two wizards. The three parents shared an amused look but didn't comment as the younger blond turned the corner at a bit too much speed, sliding along the marble floor.
"We should probably prepare for attempts at seduction, bribery, and minor chaos," Narcissa observed in clear amusement.
"Preparing only for minor chaos might not be enough with the parseltongue declaration Harry made while we were at the bank," Voldemort said thoughtfully.
Nagini had dumped Severus and Harry in an unused guest room and slithered off cackling. She had sent Harry a parting shot about taking the chance to say something about wanting the other man as his mate but hadn't really interfered further. Severus had grunted at the less than gentle treatment and pulled himself to a sitting position, observing an obviously nervous Harry and wondering what the devil was going on.
"I... I like you alot. Would you..." Harry began nervously only for them to be interrupted by Draco.
"No! No no no no! You can't do it like that! Sorry, Uncle Sev. He still needs training before he can try again," Draco said apologetically to his godfather. He bodily dragged his struggling archnemisis out of the room with a hand over the idiot's mouth. This left behind an utterly bewildered potions master wondering if he shouldn't try to save his new master from his godson or simply thank the heavens that he hadn't been pulled into the insanity as well.
The blond had dragged him into his own bedroom before Harry managed to yank free and glare at him. Draco was very clearly unconcerned at the other wizard's anger and frustration as he sealed the room. A quick look at his rival's attire had the Malfoy Heir grimacing at both his attire and stance.
"You aren't going to get my godfather wearing rags like that. You haven't even given him a gift yet or stated your intentions. For that matter if you just want him for a fling or a night forget it. Its forever or I'll make sure you regret even trying to hurt him like that," Draco said grimly. Harry went through a variety of emotions, starting with confusion, shifting to shock, and finally settling on outrage.
"I'm not stupid and I'm not insane enough to try to do that to him. I know we can't actually get married because of stupid laws but I want him forever if he'll have me," Harry shot back angrily.
"Well than, we don't have a problem... where did you get not being allowed to marry him? I bet you think you can't have kids together either," Draco scoffed only to sigh in dispair at Harry's dumbfounded look that quickly shifted to something closer to awe and excitement. "Let me guess, you're stuck on what its like for muggles. Wizards can have babies together but need a potion if they aren't stupidly powerful and stay within 500 feet of each other for the length of the pregnancy. Uncle Sev's been working on a potion to help with that but he's always working on stuff like that. Its also perfectly legal to marry another guy or another girl or more than one person as long as you use the right ceremony and all the paperwork is filed right. More than two people in a marriage are discouraged because it makes the mudbloods uncomfortable in this part of the world."
"Its not like anyone ever told me about any of this. I have to work with what I have," Harry protested in clear embarrassment. "I barely make it on the blurt it out and hope for the best. I have no idea how anybody does this sort of thing. There wasn't anyone I could ask being locked in the cupboard without food all the time."
"That cupboard story I started in second year was true? The weasel wasn't kidding about having to break you out?" Draco asked in shock. Harry flushed even further and nodded his head in confirmation as he shifted his feet awkwardly. "Oi vey, we've got a lot of work to do. First things first, your clothes. If you're going to go out with my godfather much less snag him as a husband you can't be in rags all the time."
"I don't have anything better," Harry whispered in complete mortification. "I wasn't allowed to have anything but Dudley's hand me downs and any time I had any sort of money they took it from me before punishing me for soiling the minds of normal people with my freakishness."
"Kinsy!" Draco called. The elf promptly appeared and happily waited for instructions which his young master promptly gave. "Tell father that Potter's relatives need to die. Then tell mother that I either need to take Potter to the Alley or we need a trip to Paris for an entire new wardrobe. His rags are a disgrace to our hospitality. Ask her if she wouldn't mind helping shop for gifts for Potter to give Uncle Sev. If Uncle Sev asks what we're up to, tell him clothes shopping and that he's allowed to hide in his lab until we're done."
"At once Master Draco!" Kinsy said with a squeak before popping away. Less than ten minutes later Narcissa glided into the room, having taken down the basic security wards her son had used.
"Once I heard from Kinsy that you suggested a new wardrobe I mentioned the matter to your father and the Dark Lord agreed that you need new clothes. Since he doesn't enjoy clothes shopping he has agreed to let Draco and I build you a new wardrobe on our shopping trip. He also pointed out that you have the authority to order Severus to get a new wardrobe," Narcissa said in such a predatory fashion that Harry was immediately looking for an escape route. Draco's eyebrows rose in surprise before he too turned predatory.
"I.. uh... gotta go!" Harry said before making a break for the door only to be brought up short by a toddler leash spell cast by Narcissa.
"Oh no, you don't scarhead. IF you're going to do this you're going to do it right!" Draco said imperiously. He and his mother quickly and effectively kidnapped the Heir of two founders for a trip to Paris. The shouts of protest that lingered in the halls of Malfoy Manor and the shiver that went down the spines of the three other wizards had absolutely nothing to do with them finding hiding places for the rest of the day. Nothing at all.
Choices
Draco, Harry, and Narcissa stayed in Paris overnight and flooed back to Malfoy Manor the next morning in time for breakfast. As a result the three older wizards got to see his new look at the same time. Severus stopped mid-motion with a piece of egg on his fork slowly dripping back down onto his plate, a low moan spilling from his lips instead. Lucius did a glorious spit take of his morning coffee and Voldemort arched an eyebrow before nodding his approval at the improvement of his son's wardrobe. Admittedly, if he hadn't known who his son was trying to seduce he would have insisted on a slightly more conservative, wizard oriented wardrobe but to catch Severus? This would do nicely.
Harry? Harry was dressed in black dragon leather pants a dark blue t-shirt that actually fit and dragon leather boots. His over robe, which was tossed over his shoulder rather than being worn, was a slightly more purple shade than his shirt. The belt looked to be made from black mamba snake skin with a silver cauldron belt buckle. He was also clearly uncomfortable and felt that not only were his clothes too tight but completely under dressed.
"Wife, did you discover why he was wearing what Draco termed as rags?" Lucius asked smoothly as he patted his mouth and hands clean while the elves magical cleaned away the results of his comical response. His question also reminded Severus where he was and allowed him to, with some effort, return to his morning meal.
"We did and if you don't do something about those horrendous muggles I will," Narcissa informed him with a vicious glint of vengeful fury in her eyes.
"I've already asked the goblins about them since Harry wouldn't let me deal with them personally," Voldemort commented as he ostensibly turned back to his copy of the morning paper.
"Even though they treated me like shit they're still family," Harry pointed out softly as they joined the three wizards at the table. This subject change had him immediately relaxing in part because no one was staring at him anymore, or at least not obviously.
"~If you won't defend yourself how can you expect Severus to see you as a capable adult and potential lover,~" Voldemort hissed scoldingly at his son, who paled in response. "~I know you aren't used to this but you have to realize that we care about you and if you refuse to defend yourself you'll keep getting hurt which hurts us in turn.~"
"~I... I was never allowed to fight back except at Hogwarts and I didn't want to be thrown out...~" Harry hissed back, finally admitting to both himself and his father what had happened. "~I fight when I see a reason, you've seen me fight, but for myself? I only ever got a beating for defending myself or loss of food and locked up.~"
"I understand... its just something we'll have to work on," Voldemort said with a sigh as he pried his now white fingers from his silverware and flexed them to get the blood flowing again. He hadn't bothered to go back to his snake-hybrid form and found that the Malfoys as well as Severus were much more at ease around him. Since he didn't actually like the scary form and there was no one else around he stayed human with the added bonus that his son wasn't freaked out every time they were in the same room.
After breakfast Harry took the chance to ask Severus to come with him on the premise of potions help. What Severus found, however, was not a need for potions help but instead a wrapped gift being shoved into his hands with Harry standing there blushing furiously. A flick of the potion masters wand and a privacy spell went up. He noted that while it partly relaxed the younger wizard it also ratcheted up the tension in the room. He could tell it was taking his green-eyed brat serious effort not to run away or alternately pounce. He just couldn't figure out why the younger man would want to pounce on him.
"What did you get me, brat?" Severus asked softly, observing the younger wizard as he carefully handled the unexpected gift. "And why would you even want to get me anything after the way I've treated you?"
Harry stood there waiting, not saying a word. Severus gave a deep sight and looked at the wrapped gift properly for the first time. It was about the size and shape of an old book, wrapped in green paper with silver magical serpents slithering all across the paper. The silver bow was made from a lacey ribbon with some sort of minute floral pattern swirling across and along the band of fabric. A quick tug on the ribbon had the bow unraveling and the rest of the ribbon sliding from the wrapped box. A whispered spell under his breath had the paper peeling back to reveal a carved wooden box he recognized as having an expanded inside. The box was quite beautiful and clearly from some expensive shop, telling him that either Narcissa or Draco had a hand in this gift. Opening the lid showed him a set of expensive crystal vials of varying sizes and shapes and a matched professional silver knife set especially made for potions masters.
"Thank you?" Severus said cautiously as he set the box down on a nearby table.
"Draco's idea isn't working... screw it!" Harry muttered under his breath and before Severus could ask what the devil he was talking about he had an armful of impertinent brat trying to suck out his tonsils. The older man couldn't help himself, he melted under the assault and the shear dominance that was suddenly rolling off of the younger wizard.
When Harry finally pulled back Severus was too dazed to do anything but mewl in protest. Harry chuckled and slipped something over his head before whispering in his ear. "You can have more but it would mean I would own you completely. Like the Dark Lord, my father, I'm very possessive when I'm not playing the golden boy. I will not share and I will very much remind you repeatedly that you belong to me. You have a choice, my bed and everything that comes with it, remaining only a friend and/or servant, or walking away. If you walk away I will release you of all your vows and oaths, you will be free of me and I will respect your choice. If you choose to stay in my life as servant and/or friend I will also respect that and you will not receive unwanted attentions. If you choose my bed... well then I'll let you figure that out for yourself. I will give you until tomorrow morning to make your choice. If you are not in my rooms by the time I wake, I will presume you want nothing to do with me. If you are in my sitting room I will presume friendship and/or service is your choice. If I find you in my bedroom or bed... I will never let you go."
Harry quickly slipped out of his still dazed grasp and slid out of the room, shattering the privacy spell and heading for his new rooms next to his father's suite to wait for Severus' decision.
When Severus finally regained his senses he found the object that Harry had slipped over his head was a beautiful pendant. The center piece was a smokey quartz piece carved into the shape of a flame with a rounded bottom. It was set into a shield shaped piece of onyx or jet which was in turn backed with silver that spilled over the whole piece in a vine motief. The black leather cord was perfect to match both the pendant and his normal attire. The inscription on the back though, that threw him for another loop to match what the kiss had done to him. I will wait for you my prince, come and find me. Voldemort found him sitting there staring at the inscription over an hour later.
"If you break his heart..." Voldemort said pointedly, trailing off and leaving the results to the other wizard's imagination.
"He gave me a choice," Severus rasped. "I'm not certain I can make it."
"At the bank he swore in parseltongue that he wanted you but that he wouldn't take an unwilling mate. He also promised that you should have the chance to say no. I have little doubt that if he wanted to simply take you he could, regardless of my opinion of the matter. The gift isn't the protective pendant or whatever is in that box, instead it is the respect of believing you to know yourself and make the choice right for you without harmful consequences. His golden boy persona isn't entirely gone with how it was essentially beaten into him but the self sacrificing tendencies have gotten a good deal more selective. If you accept... he will move heaven and earth to not only keep you but keep you happy. If you choose to walk away he will guard your retreat and force the rest of us to let you go. If you choose to stay by his side he will honor that in a different way. If you choose his bed... he will probably marry you at some point. Harry may act childish on occasion and he may hold you to him too tightly at times but he will do his absolute best to make you happy... even if it hurts him to do so. You will have to watch him for that if you stay," Voldemort cautioned. "I never found someone worthy of that level of connection for myself. Choose well, Severus."
As his former master left him to his own thoughts Severus Tobias Snape knew he wouldn't be walking away. He also knew that he couldn't watch Harry take others to his bed without self destructing and hurting Harry as well to try and make the pain in his heart stop. A house elf was summoned and his expensive box of potion materials was sent to his rooms, the pendant remained around his neck. A quick modified point me spell told him where his young master had gone.
Terrified at what he was risking Severus still manage to force himself to walk to Harry's new suite and enter. He was stopped by his own renewed hesitation at the doorway to the bedroom but a burst of shear determination got him into the room. Unable to make himself move farther into the room he knelt were he stood and softly said "Master" to get Harry's attention. The bright green eyes rose from the book he had been reading to study the, by now, shaking Potions Master.
"Is this your choice?" Harry asked softly. Severus nodded jerkily, prompting Harry to discard the book on his blue draped canopy cherry wood bed and swiftly stand before stalking over and circling him like a predatory lion. "Once I accept there will be very little chance that I will let you go."
"I understand," Severus breathed out before going limp in total submission with a shudder of relief and release as his muscles completely relaxed. Harry didn't waste a moment as he darted forwards and drew Severus into another all consuming kiss and this time he delighted in how the potions master kissed hungrily back.
"Mine!" Harry declared as he pulled the older man onto the bed. They proceeded to snog with Harry taking the lead and enthusiastically swallowing Severus' moans of pleasure. Not wanting to take the situation too far too fast Harry forced himself to be satisfied with kisses and pinning the taller man underneath him on top of the bed covers.
"Why did you stop?" Severus asked, breathless.
"I want this to last and I want you to have a say. I won't just take, I want you to enjoy this as much as or more than I do," Harry explained simply as he snuggled into his, now permanent, bed partner.
"I... rather liked you taking control," Severus admitted hesitantly, half afraid that now he had submitted Harry would ask him to leave.
"Good," Harry said with obvious relief. "I can submit but I've been on the wrong end of being held down too many times to make it comfortable. It makes the idea of being under anyone without being the one in control... unsettling. I would do it to keep you but I'm not sure I could ever feel safe."
"That's the way I feel about being at wand point or facing down those blasted Marauders, especially Black or Lupin near the full moon," Severus agreed with a satisfied hum, settling down a bit more comfortably on the bed and under his master.
Harry turned playful, now that they had that out of the way, and leaned forwards to suck on Severus' neck. The potions master enjoyed the ministrations enough that his brat was dragging low whimpering noises out of him by the time he pulled back to admire his handy work. Severus just knew there was now a prominent hickey on his neck and suspected that Harry wouldn't let him heal it or cover it with either glamour or shirt collar. They hadn't even removed their clothes and he felt deliciously owned. They lay there together until an elf came and got them for lunch.
Lunch Guests
Lunch was its own interesting affair since Harry insisted on Severus sitting next to him and smirking at a clearly disgruntled Draco. The hickey alone had told the blond that his rival hadn't taken his advice to go slow and ply the potions master with gifts until he gave in. Voldemort had a self satisfied smile as he took some mashed potatoes and both older blonds watched Harry's fussing with a mixture of amusement and approval. They could all tell that both wizards were deliriously happy with this change in their relationship. As a result the raid on the manor should have been something that they were expecting, after all Harry's luck always seemed to run that way. Between the collapse of the ancient wards and the apparating in of a team of Aurors who'd been there repeatedly for previous raids they didn't have time to move. As a result they were trapped at the table, their meal unceremoniously disturbed and facing down a bevy of professional wands.
"What the hell?" Harry demanded, starting to rise from his seat only for Severus to pull him back down with a worried look.
"I think my son expressed it adequately," Voldemort said in a dangerous tone as Nagini slid from his lap down to around his feet, ready to strike at any idiot that got too close. "Care to explain exactly what you people are doing?"
"We're simply investigating a report of dark artifacts, and apparently retrieving Mr. Potter," a dark man that Severus immediately recognized as Kingsley informed him. "We have the appropriate paperwork for this raid."
"I take it Dumbledore failed to inform you that the goblins confirmed me as Harry's third parent? He's lucky I haven't pressed kidnapping charges for the first fifteen years or so of my son's life. I could certainly charge for attempted line theft," Voldemort pointed out angrily. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was why we couldn't get into Lily or James' wills with the way that old goat sealed them. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he was supposed to go to me or at least never to her sister. After the torture they put him through I would be within my rights to call a blood feud against them, muggles or not."
"Instead young Harry talked you into only siccing the goblins on them," Lucius pointed out with a breathy snort of laughter, still reeling from the fall of the wards.
"If you send me back I'll find a way to either kill them or die before the start of September," Harry said quietly. His words rang with authority and conviction that sent a chill down everyone of their spines.
"~Stop that! My Tom won't let them take you and if they do anyway we'll come and get you,~" Nagini scolded, rearing up and startling more than one Auror into backing away cursing.
"Promise?" Harry asked softly, his hard eyes never leaving Kingsley even as Severus drew him into a hug.
"~Of course!~" Nagini said indignantly.
"~That's enough. Harry, Nagini is quite correct, I won't let them take you,~" Voldemort hissed, practically declaring who he was to most of their unwelcome visitors.
"You-know-who!" someone stuttered out.
"My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle," Voldemort said darkly. "Simply because one has a magical gift does not automatically make them dark, evil, or a Dark Lord. Who did you think my son inherited his own parseltongue ability from? The man who tried to kill him?"
"~But I did,~" Harry hissed with obvious laughter, gaining a quelling look from his father. The clear embarrassment from the Aurors had them retreating as quickly as they could short of apparating or leaving the room. It was the popping in of the house elves that distracted everyone.
"Not nice Wizards is in the cellar waiting for masters to decide what to do with thems. Woulds you like Kinsy to take these not nice wizards too?" Kinsy asked, glaring viciously at the Aurors.
"I have a better idea. Why don't you take them all to Hogwarts and tell Dobby, in the kitchens, that they were trying to take me away from my new family," Harry said evilly. The Aurors had a split second to realize that this might be bad before Kinsy whisked them away to Hogwarts and the mercy of an upset free house elf.
"That's evil," Draco said with an appreciative shiver.
"This is one reason why you are supposed to treat house elves correctly," Lucius said primly.
"So kicking Dobby down the hall in second year was treating him correctly?" Harry asked darkly.
"No, that was acting so that he would have an excuse to stay near you and Draco during the school year. I never could get him to stop doing so much damage to himself when he insisted on self punishment. None of the other elves had that problem," Lucius said with a sigh that spoke of confusion, resignation, and outright irritation.
"That... makes far too much sense," Harry grumbled as he returned to his lunch. As they ate they could feel the wards slowly rising back into place, a bit battered but mostly undamaged.
"I'm going to have to ask the goblins to repair the wards again," Lucius said morosely once the wards were finished sliding back in place and they'd finished the main part of the meal.
"Are we going to have to attend the next meeting of your Death Munchers?" Harry asked idly, enjoying the choking sounds as everyone else alternately tried not to laugh or strangle him.
"~Yes, we need to inform the minions that you have chosen your mate and no longer prey,~" Nagini hissed smugly. "~When will my grandhatchlings arrive?~"
"You heard Nagini, you are going to attend. Besides we do have to warn them that you're no longer an enemy," Voldemort pointed out, agreeing with his familiar whole heartedly. "Though we may go with Severus having seduced you to our side of the war instead of or in addition to being your bodyguard."
Harry groaned and started plotting how to keep his father from using his sex life as an excuse for his switch in allegiance. He wasn't coming up with much. He didn't dare ask Nagini since she'd just encourage the man and start asking about when they'd be having babies... again.
"I would rather not be touted as a prime seducer," Severus offered quickly. The only reason he was comfortable starting a relationship with his brat was that Harry had been aged by everything the world had thrown at him. As far as the potions master was concerned his young master might as well have been closer to twenty-five rather than his actual age. Thank god Harry was already of consent age by wizarding standards.
"If anyone is seducing anyone I think Potter is the one seducing my godfather," Draco drawled, ignoring Harry's glare and his mother's scolding.
"We'll address it closer to the time of the meeting. For now I believe that Severus was going to review Harry's potions ability since the previous damage is no longer a factor?" Voldemort inquired pointedly.
"I also wanted to check his true proficiency in Defense, as you'll remember I have a dual mastery. If he does well we can start on practical dueling. I doubt anyone from the light side will be kind enough to warn him before they attack and there is still chance of our own attacking him out of misplaced loyalty," Severus pointed out, glad to be away from the previous topic. They wound up spending the afternoon deciding what to test Harry on with Harry adding his own questions and suggestions into the mix.
Harry continued to insist on sharing a bed with Severus but true to his word they moved slow and he listened to his lover. Severus insisted on keeping their clothes on until at least Harry's birthday and time passed. Harry re-learned potions, this time without agonizing pain from previously crushed and destroyed hands. Severus learned just how far his young master was willing to go in a fight and Voldemort watched his son's progress with smug pride. Nagini routinely bothered them about babies until Voldemort finally said something to her. Neither member of the couple were willing to ask what he'd told her but it didn't stop them from wondering. Finally, Harry's birthday arrived.
Birthday Breakfast
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Harry yawned on the morning of his birthday, relishing in the warmth of having Severus trapped in bed with him. It had been a surprise to him to find out that they generally woke around the same time out of habit. Severus because he had to set up the potions lab for the day or brew something for the infirmary before class. While Harry was usually up to avoid Petunia and Vernon's ire and begin his chores, starting with making breakfast for the Dursleys. That brutal learning experience cooking for the Dursleys had stood him in good stead with the review and retraining in potions over the last month or so. It had allowed him to prove to his Severus that he wasn't an idiot in the lab or a danger. The looks of quiet approval from the older man had made Harry glow inside, even if he still couldn't adjust or play with the potion like Severus could. He simply didn't have the ingredient effects memorized enough to play with them safely.
The Defense and Dueling sessions though had been a true pleasure, both wizards finding themselves challenged in different ways. Harry had a knack for using his environment and spell repertoire inventively in conjuncture with his movements. Severus had the skill of both his Defense Mastery and his time in the field for both Dumbledore and Voldemort. The end result of one of their near daily sessions was either Harry pinning and snogging Severus into a pile of goo or Harry cursing as Severus laughed over catching him with a last minute spell.
All of this ran through Harry's mind as he considers what he wants to do today. He had felt the change in his magic at midnight, the first time he hadn't spent his birthday waiting up for the clock to strike twelve. Something inside of him just knew that the layered magical links, from the magical oaths, between him and his Severus had forged into a single bond when his magic had changed. Harry also knew that if anyone tried to touch his potions master he would try to kill them and only Severus himself or his father would be able to stop him.
"Mine," Harry said quietly just before he woke his lover with a kiss that had the older man groaning and whimpering deliciously into his mouth. A quickly applied hickey made of three sucking kisses to the neck and Harry was walking away smirking while Severus cursed before the two of them got ready for the day.
"Naughty brat," Severus muttered under his breath as they made their way to the dinning room for breakfast. The sinful smile that Harry flashed him just made him whimper and wonder how soon he could say he'd been wrong about going slow and could his master please fuck him? The snicker from the brat's father brought him back to earth and everyone sat down for breakfast.
"Happy Birthday Harry," Voldemort said with an uncharacteristically soft smile as he handed Harry a small ring box. "I know we had troubles with sorting out the Lordships at the bank and all but I want you to have the heir ring that I do have access to. This is a ring passed down from the Peverell family, our ancestors, to my mother's line, the Gaunts. I won't bore you with how I came into possession of it but as the next heir you should be wearing it while I accept the lordship ring. I've added a few spells to it so especially don't let anyone else wear it, or try to touch it when it isn't touching you."
"Thank you," Harry said gleefully, giving his father a blinding smile of pure happiness as he slid the horcrux/deathly hallow from its box and on to his left hand middle finger without problems. It automatically sized to fit him and glowed slightly, recognizing the change in ownership before returning to normal.
"The gifts from us are in the other room. Father doesn't usually let me open mine until after we're done eating breakfast," Draco said with a cute pout that everyone recognized was meant more to entertain than anything else.
Harry was floored. He still had trouble thinking anyone would give him a gift. While he understood the general reasons behind the heir ring, possessive bastard that his father was, anything else given to him was still a bit of a shock. He wasn't as bad as he had been in his first year but the thought of presents for him still didn't quite compute.
"Why would you get me anything?" Harry asked in bafflement, unintentionally shocking everyone at the table.
"Petunia and her husband didn't give you anything on your birthday?" Severus asked rhetorically in quiet dread, his eyes closed in emotional pain.
"Not unless a bent coat hanger and dirty socks count," Harry said with a mostly apathetic shrug as he dug into his serving of eggs.
"You said that you're pressing charges through the goblins?" Lucius asked delicately.
"Yes," Voldemort bit out. Harry could feel his father's anger building. While it didn't hurt him anymore he didn't want to deal with a pissy Dark Lord so he decided to charm the salt and pepper shakers to dance over to his father and do a brief line dance for the man.
"A variation on the first year charms final?" Draco asked with a brief frown while watching the dancing condiments. Harry just smirked at him and glanced sideways at his father. His childish ploy had calmed Voldemort and everyone else considerably, even gaining a huff of amusement from Severus.
"~Well done hatchling,~" Nagini hissed her own amusement as she wondered if the moving condiments would be fun to chase. She didn't think they were actually edible but chasing them might also amuse her Tom and hatchling.
They had just returned to eating when the mail was delivered by the house elves. Harry looked at the pile in a mixture of dread and anticipation since he hadn't gotten anything during the night like usual. When he didn't see the gifts from his friends his face fell. Deducing what he was probably looking for Lucius explained.
"The elves checked the mail for anything harmful and put any presents for you in the other room with the rest of them. I don't see any point in interrupting breakfast to open presents which might be important and risking them either ruining or being ruined by the food," Lucius told him. Harry nodded his understanding and relaxed, hoping he was still friends with the twins, Neville, and Luna. With the way Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had reacted at the bank instead of even bothering to ask him how he felt or what he wanted he wasn't sure he wanted to stay friends with them.
"Gringotts must have found something," Voldemort noted as he picked up and opened his letter from them, absently handing Severus and Harry their letters. Taking a few minutes to read the message the silence was broken by Harry.
"Why am I being awarded 10,800 galleons, 500 galleons, and a choice of personal combat or seizing of all assets belonging to Dumbledore?" Harry asked having barely read half of the message before getting lost in some of the financial details. Silently Severus held out his hand for the letter and Harry obligingly turned it over to him. A quick skim told the older wizard all he needed to know and caused him to burst into an evil cackle the rest of them hadn't ever thought they'd hear from him.
"Sev?" Lucius asked cautiously.
"The goblins ruled that Harry was within his rights to attack Dumbledore in the lobby. There is a commendation for his restraint, the lack of damage, and an apology for not catching the issues with his account before we came in. The 10,800 galleons or roughly 300 pounds a month for 15 years is the return of the money issued to Petunia and her family for supposedly taking care of him. The 500 is the fine to Dumbledore for his legillimency attack in the lobby. The choice of personal combat or taking everything away from him is for the effective theft of his house seats, placing him with Petunia, and the various potions and enchantments the old goat had on him. The ones that he had to apply nearly yearly or monthly because the imp was breaking them left and right," Severus explained with a wide grin.
"You got the goblins to apologize?!" Draco squeaked in a strangled voice.
"I would love to beat him in combat but I don't think I can beat him in a duel, he knows too much magic. I'll have to go with seizing all of his assets, except his clothes. I don't want them, they're worse than Dudley's cast offs," Harry said with a shiver at the thought of Dumbledore's wardrobe suddenly becoming his and having to wear it. He'd rather go naked.
"Well, we could always burn them or scatter them around the school," Draco said thoughtfully. Harry took on an equally thoughtful look and got a look in his eye that immediately told Severus they were plotting mischief. Narcissa must have caught it too since she gave the warning that Severus was about to speak.
"Not too much mischief. Though I would dearly like to humiliate that man pushing it too far will only make us look bad and it won't be as satisfying as seeing him destroy himself," Narcissa warned calmly.
"Yes, mother/Mrs. Malfoy," the two chorused. The visible shiver that went down Lucius' spine told Severus that he wasn't the only one suddenly fearful of the two teaming up. Breakfast was quickly finished and they all made their way into the nearby sitting room.
Severus and Voldemort were both sad and pleased that Harry stopped dead in the doorway upon seeing the pile of presents. They were sad to find more proof of his previous lack of experience but pleased that he was clearly happy and that they'd managed to surprise him. Draco impatiently dragged his rival into the room and pushed him into a chair near the pile before taking his own seat and looking at Harry expectantly.
"Draco let him open them at his own pace," Narcissa scolded, laughter ringing in her voice.
"But!" Draco protested as Harry watched the minor argument in bemusement.
As the polite argument raged Severus decided to make his own position doubly clear by taking a seat at Harry's feet. No one commented aside from a smirk or smile. Harry scowled, silently tugging on the back of his shirt to make him stand up and conjuring a pillow for him to sit on. The gentleness of his master's hands along with the subsequent petting practically melted the potions master into goo even as the fussing calmed Harry into a tranquil peace.
The argument finally ended for everyone to find Harry and Severus had fallen asleep waiting on them. Voldemort quickly silenced Draco before he could try to wake the pair before leading everyone else out of the room. They could always open the presents later.
Chapter End Notes
I wanted you all to have a chance at giving me gift ideas. Anything from the common, the muggle, the wacky, the insane, the legendary, the most awesome ideas will be considered for this. Upper limit for gift suggestions... meh, we'll make it 20 per review. (Note, I said review not review er )
Go wild!
Bellatrix Birthday
They woke to an enraged shriek that Severus knew very well. Before Harry could blink or even move Severus had him off the chair and underneath him, shielded by his body, with the chair between whatever had shrieked and them. A split second later something nasty slammed into the chair melting half way through the heavy fabric and wood before finally dissipating.
"Bella!" Narcissa cried in scolding outrage at her sister.
Bellatrix just cackled and they could hear her stalking across the wood paneled flooring. Severus hissed out a curse before bodily picking Harry up and tossing both of them behind a nearby couch just as another spell hit the remains of the chair and obliterated it.
" BELLATRIX LESTRANGE!!! " Voldemort's bellow stopped everyone in their tracks leaving Nagini to slither through the mess and check on Harry for the both of them.
"~Hatchling! Is my hatchling alright? Did the crazy one hurt you?~" Nagini asked frantically as she quickly examined both of them for injuries. Harry didn't say anything, he just pulled her into a cuddle while Severus clutched him close.
"My lord! I have the traitor who released Potter and baby Potter cornered for you. Apparently, my sister has no true loyalty," Bellatrix simpered. They could practically hear her mad grin and bow from behind the couch.
"Considering that Mr. Potter is Sirius' godson, Aunt Dorea's grandson, and somehow managed to have three parents, one of which is the Dark Lord I very much doubt that!" Narcissa growled, fully resorting to infuriated sister mode.
"What?!" Bella shrieked. "That's impossible!"
"No, it really isn't. His position as my son and heir was only recently discovered and the fact that Severus successfully protected him, is the only reason I am not going to kill you. Thinking I wasn't aware of his presence, wasn't perfectly able to handle him myself, and putting my son at risk, however... Crucio!" Voldemort hissed out.
Harry felt weird listening to her screams and the intermittent joyful laughter as his father punished the insane woman. The fact that she was clearly enjoying the punishment made him feel ill. He could understand a little roughness when doing something feeling sorta nice because of the contrast but pain on this level? Hell no!
"For future reference I do not enjoy something like this," Severus muttered into his ear with a dark humor.
"Noted," Harry whispered back his fervent agreement.
"~I won't let the crazy one touch you or your mate,~" Nagini assured them, manipulating her body so that they were half wrapped in her coils in a comforting manner as Harry continued to cuddle her. Severus ignored Nagini's movements in favor of keeping his master close and protected while listening for another attack from the insane witch. When the screams finally died down they still hadn't moved from their hiding spot and no one had called them on it or really blamed them for staying put either.
"Attempt to harm my son again and it will be the last thing you ever do. Before you protest the goblins checked it via a number of different tests, including speaking to a temporary ghost version of the Potters. James had... problems and managed to talk his wife into using one of the older fertility rituals. Its considered dark and I could have charged them with line theft once it came to light but there is little point with putting Harry through that now. If he somehow is declared a minor once again or in need of legal guardianship it will automatically revert to me as his father. He will be introduced at the next meeting," Voldemort informed her, his voice like an arctic gale sliding across the desolate tundra at midnight.
"Yes my lord," Bellatrix breathed in reverence and obvious pain. They could hear Voldemort's hiss of disgruntled displeasure and the rustle of fabric as he bodily picked her up and tossed her from the room to land with a yelp.
"I'm already having to fight Dumbledore over him I don't need to fight my own people as well! If any harm comes to him from our side I'm holding you responsible! Severus is now bound to Harry, as you saw during the raid. You can keep everyone but Severus and the Malfoys away from him during the meeting if it will sooth your little black heart," Voldemort informed her sarcastically.
"Thank you! I won't fail you my lord!" Bella said gleefully before they heard her wander away humming something that sounded both alluring and dark with a grousing Narcissa trailing after her.
"You can come out now," Voldemort told them with a weary sigh as he sat down with an audible whump in an overstuffed chair between them and the door.
"~I will check that the crazy one gone,~" Nagini told them soothingly. Harry released her and they waited another couple of seconds or so before she called to them and they emerged to sit on the very couch they had been hiding behind. They sat there in silence, Nagini in Harry's lap quietly encouraging his petting, while they waited for someone to speak.
"You do realize that I don't want you hurt anymore?" Voldemort asked anxiously. He wasn't sure why had hadn't made sure to clarify this before or why Harry hadn't asked. Bellatrix's unwelcome visit drove home the point that this had to be clear even if only between the two of them. He needed to know that Harry knew he could come to him for help or if something was bothering him.
Voldemort hadn't actually formed the thought yet but he knew that Harry wasn't just his son and heir, he was also his Horcrux. It was the only explanation for how part of the discovery of his parentage had come about, regardless of how surreal the entire situation had been in the first place. He also knew that if the light ever found out Harry was as good as dead. Dumbledore probably even suspected the Horcrux. The old stalker had been tracking him since his own school days and had invested far too much into forcing his son to fight him. The old bastard hadn't even given his son any training either.
"I recognize that you don't hate me any more and that so far you don't want to hurt me. Your... previous actions and temper make me wary of accepting that you won't hurt me again. In fact I know you will hurt me again, the question is will you do it intentionally and if so will it be with the mind for punishment, rage, show, or something else? I accept that you are my father and I want to spend time with you but there hasn't been anything steady for me except for perhaps Severus. It isn't that I don't want to trust you and trust your minions to obey, its just that I've had very bad experiences with very erratic punishments and have had to decide on my own what the rules were. If you want an obedient little puppet like Dumbledore, I can give it to you but I won't like it," Harry said calmly, almost chillingly. At these words both Severus and Voldemort blanched and Nagini reared back in shock.
"No... All three of us have been treated somewhat like puppets and that's not something I ever want from you. Even when we were still enemies the very thought of you being a puppet... makes me sick. I would rather explain to you exactly how to kill me, watch as you destroyed all of my precautions, and then turned your wand on me," Voldemort said fervently. Nagini hissed her approval of her wizard's response and crooned at Harry while wrapping him protectively in her coils. "I will do whatever is necessary to earn that trust from you... even if it looses us the war."
Harry sat there in stunned shock as he tried to process what he'd just been told. The only thing that came to mind was that he could ask for Wormtail to be turned over to the Ministry and demand public answers for the hell that he'd been put through on both sides of the war. A light kiss to his cheek from Severus brought him back to reality and encouraged him to take a deep breath, making him realize that he'd stopped breathing until that moment.
"You're serious about making this up to me?" Harry double checked. Voldemort nodded emphatically. "Turn Wormtail over to the ministry and make sure his trial is public and under truth serum. Treat me like an equal even if you don't tell me what all you're planning about the war. Don't lie to me. Find a way to get Dumbledore so that I can ask him some things under truth serum then we can decide if he's going to be forced to answer them publicly or simply disappear."
"I can do that. Some of it will be harder than others but I can make that happen. Any restrictions?" Voldemort asked earnestly.
"If you're going to erase any of Wormtail's memories leave the ones about when you gave me my scar and his escape from Hogwarts. I might ask you to leave someone alone in the future but if you can honestly give me a good reason for anything I object to I won't fight you on it. Also, Severus is mine and if any of your minions touch him I will kill them," Harry said the last part viciously. It was a striking contrast to the sweet appearance he gave as he nuzzled gently into Severus' neck making the older wizard shiver in delightedly as the man bit back a moan.
" That is exactly how I feel about you at the moment," Voldemort said quietly, giving the pair a small smile. Harry looked at him with wide eyes before breaking out in a broad grin.
"You're having trouble letting me cuddle with Severus and not snatching me up for a cuddle yourself," Harry snickered knowingly. Voldemort's harrumph and low grumbles just had him laughing into Severus' neck, breaking the previously dour mood.
"Brat, when are you going to show me that I'm yours?" Severus grumbled into Harry's hair.
"As soon as we get back to my rooms," Harry whispered into his ear, eliciting a full body shudder from his partner.
"~I want many grandhatchlings!~" Nagini reminded them as she slid from Harry's lap and claimed Voldemort's instead. "~Off with you! Many many many grandhatchlings!~"
"Yes Nagini," Harry said with an eye-roll before practically dragging Severus away. Voldemort watched them leave and gave an amused chuckled as he also obeyed his familiar, petting her scales while staring at the fire.
Bound
Chapter Notes
I'm still not entirely happy with this but I'm posting it any way. Enjoy!
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They made it to Harry's... their rooms and only just managing to dodge Draco each of the three times he nearly had them cornered. It was apparent to both of them that he was very determined for Harry to open his presents. The laughter that bubbled up inside both of them as they dodged the blond menace washed away the seriousness of their previous conversation and nearly gave them away at least once. Yet they still managed to stumble their way into their rooms and seal the door before the Malfoy heir actually caught them.
"That was sort of fun," Harry said breathlessly as they leaned their backs against the door in an unconscious effort to keep Draco out.
"Yes, I suppose that it was," Severus admitted with a deep chuckle of his own. His eyes caught on the glowing happiness shining from Harry's face and he couldn't help himself. He claimed those beautiful lips in a deep kiss before happily sinking to the floor at Harry's feet and waited for a response.
Harry gave a low growl and pounced on the man, sending them both tumbling across the floor as they explored each other. At one point they both became frustrated with their clothes which immediately went flying with the force of their efforts and magics. The last piece of cloth went flying and they were both suddenly caught by the beauty of their partner in that moment. Yes, they both had scars but they were also both strong and their bodies showed it. It was also very obvious that they wanted this, that they wanted to be the other's partner.
Severus once more bowed his head, leaving himself open for whatever Harry wanted to do. Harry for his part wanted nothing more than to devour the man in front of him. Another kiss, this one Harry used to bring them back to their feet and position them on the couch.
"I am going to claim you. I just hope I did enough research because I'm going to make you beg to come," Harry said gleefully. Before Severus could do more than look startled he was being kissed into a limp moaning mass of muscle.
"Please! Stop teasing," Severus begged, wanting to feel his master even more with how Harry was overwhelming him.
Harry obliged, murmuring a lube spell so that the oily substance appeared in his hand as he leaned back and gently separated Severus' legs. A gentle cleaning spell took care of the first part of the preparation and allowed him slip one slick finger inside his new lover. A little wiggling for a few minutes and he slid a second finger inside the pert hole. The gasps, moans, and whimpers coming out of Severus' mouth were perfectly sinful and made Harry ache to both have the man and love him completely. He had such a hard time restraining himself that he moved a bit fast on thoroughly preparing his partner but resist he did until he finally slid home inside of Severus.
"Please?!" Severus begged again but Harry refused to move, giving him a soul devouring kiss instead.
"I'm not going to hurt you because I wasn't careful enough," Harry growled into Severus' mouth as the man himself panted like he'd run a race. Another minute of simply enjoying being joined passed before he began to move. A little maneuvering and he found the spongy spot that made lights go off behind the potions master's eyes, ringing a cry of pure pleasure from his wicked tongue. The slide inside and pull back out was slow at first but he quickly picked up speed until they were going fast enough for the slap of skin on skin to ring through the room matched only by their other sounds of pleasure.
"Mine!" Harry cried before pinning Severus to the couch and slamming inside him one last time. They came as magic sparked from them, completing the bond they'd begun in the tunnel and Severus cried a matching "Yours!"
They passed out as the magic peaked, engulfing the room in light and power. A lion standing protectively over a serpent formed over each of their hearts as the light show faded away and the wards on the room came crashing down. Voldemort and Lucius looked cautiously inside before chuckling and a new set of silencing wards went up before they informed everyone that there was nothing to worry about. A house elf was sent in to cover them with a blanket and they were left alone to wake in each other's arms.
They woke several hours later when Severus accidentally knocked Harry to the floor as he shifted in his sleep. Harry grumbled and, summoning his wand, quickly levitated his lover into the bedroom and onto the bed. A soft smile danced about his lips as he climbed into bed and snuggled into Severus' side, knowing for an absolute fact that his man was almost never secure enough to simply relax and nap in the presence of another. It was something he was going to change. That lack of security was destroying his Severus and he would do his damnedest to give him whatever he needed even if that meant researching for all hours and fighting some deadly magical creature to get it.
Severus drifted back to consciousness as cold feet pressed against his legs and realized that he'd slept through being moved to the bed. The quiet breathing of his partner made him itch to wake Harry up and ask to be bent over the edge of the bed and plowed into with abandon. He was already going to be sore with how long it had been since he'd last had sex but all he really wanted in that moment was for Harry to prove who he belonged to, again.
"Mmm, what are you thinking about?" Harry asked lazily.
"You reminding me who I belong to," Severus answered with a chuckle.
"Didn't I just do that?" Harry asked playfully.
"Yes, and I'd love for you to do it again," Severus informed him mischievously.
"So when the twins give me sex toys you'll want to join me when I play with them?" Harry asked equally mischievously.
"Harry, I am yours. I will do my best to tell you if something makes me uneasy or brings back bad memories but this isn't my first time having sex," Severus admitted, blushing furiously.
"It was my first time... who else has had you?" Harry asked in a deceptively mild tone.
"No, Harry. I know that tone from the Dark Lord, you can't kill them," Severus said sternly. He quickly pulled Harry's trailing hand over to the new mark on his chest and stared into the sparkling green depths of his lover's eyes. Harry pouted cutely but relented when he saw Severus unwavering in his determination not to let his past get in the way of their relationship.
"Fine... but if they try to take you from me they're fair game," Harry warned seriously.
"I understand," Severus said warmly before leaning forwards to kiss his green-eyed brat. This led to a long slow love making that was more a confirmation of their feelings than the culmination of magics that the first coupling had been. Eventually, they fell back asleep with Harry using his lover as a giant teddy bear and Severus was fine with that.
Presents
Chapter Notes
Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas!
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"What did you mean about research? I was a bit addled with what you were doing when you mentioned it," Severus asked as they once more got dressed, having had a quick shower each, in preparation for supper.
"Um, I already told you I was a virgin but... well... I didn't want to hurt you so I researched what to do while you made me wait," Harry said, cheeks flushed hot with a stubborn blush of pure embarrassment.
"Thank you," Severus said with a soft smile and kissed his lover on the cheek, making the blush even brighter.
The moment they left their rooms Draco pounced... and was sent flying down the hall by an instinctive burst of magic from Harry.
"Draco! I warned you not to try that," Lucius said in exasperation.
"But Pothead hasn't opened his presents!" Draco protested, coming back over and looking a little ruffled due to his unexpected flight.
"Draco!" Lucius said sharply.
Harry just rolled his eyes and walked past the bickering Malfoys trailing an amused Severus. By the time they'd turned the corner and headed for the dinning room both blonds were hurrying to catch up. Harry snickered but kept going only for Draco to shove him into the present room and once more force him into a seat near the presents while Voldemort and Narcissa watched in amusement.
"Open them!" Draco demanded haughtily, quickly taking his seat from earlier just as Lucius arrived. An exasperated look from the man didn't even phase his son as he took his place near his wife. Nagini hissed in amusement at the interaction from Voldemort's lap as he ran his hand over her head and the first part of her length.
"I can wait to open them if I want to," Harry informed the impatient blond before trying to get up only to find that he was stuck to the chair via accidental magic. Glowering at the suddenly smug blond he reached for the first present.
Severus snickered and took the seat next to him while they watched him carefully handle each of the presents before ripping the wrapping off in a flurry of paper. The first gift was from the Weasley twins and contained Defense books that covered more than just the certified Defense spells taught in the UK. Instead they covered Defensive magics and techniques from around the world. The note from them admitted that they'd had to beg Bill to take a short Gringotts job in Asia just to get their hands on it. They also informed him solemnly that Dumbledore had tried to confiscate it, along with any other presents for him, and had ordered the Weasleys to break all ties with him.
By the time he'd reached the end of the note Harry was pale and Voldemort had moved over to snatch the missive away and read it himself. Severus had read over his shoulder in an attempt to head off any pranks being pulled on him with whatever the twins had sent. This put him in the perfect position to pull his lover into a comforting hug as tears began to leak from his eyes.
"What?" Draco demanded, looking troubled that a birthday gift would cause so much emotional damage to his rival.
"Harry? Do you want me to deal with the Weasleys? I will leave your twins alone but the rest?" Voldemort offered calmly. Harry shook his head no and burrowed into Severus' chest as Nagini hissed worriedly over him, having made her way across the room at the same time as her wizard.
"~Who hurt you hatchling?~" Nagini hissed.
"Dumbledore," Voldemort answered for him.
"At least I'll be able to keep Fred and George," Harry said wetly, quickly wiping away his tears before turning determinedly to the other presents as his father returned to his seat, Nagini at his feet.
The next gift was from Severus and consisted of a pendant. The pendant matched the one Harry had given his lover a month before except with a downward pointing arrowhead shaped shield made of malachite and an embedded Jade Dragon with the silver in a motief of licking flame holding it all together. Harry was pleased to note that Severus still hadn't taken his own pendant off since it had been given to him.
"I know how much trouble you get into so I got it enchanted with spells for luck, protection against just about everything, as well as for good fortune. I also realize that it may put me in some... interesting situations considering how your luck tends to run but I am more than prepared to deal with whatever arises," Severus said softly into his ear. The blinding smile that Harry gave him in response made his chest glow with warmth and dispelled the previous present's gloomy news.
"Mine next!" Draco insisted, going so far as to pull it from the pile and physically put it in his hands.
Harry just rolled his eyes at the blond and opened it. The paper fell away to reveal a box containing a full set of Quidditch balls and protective gear made of dragon hide leather.
"Thanks Draco," Harry said with surprise, not really expecting something like this from his longtime, and currently very smug, rival. Lucius and Narcissa chuckled quietly over their son's antics, clearly recognizing the attempt at being friends for what it was rather than the polite gift they had asked Draco to pick out.
"You haven't updated your gear since nearly first year, those sizing charms only last for so long," Draco informed him, very pleased with himself.
"I haven't needed to and I was only allowed enough for my school equipment and some pocket change, no real way to get away from everybody either. I never held my own key until Severus, father and I went to the bank and... checked some things," Harry admitted, admiring the top of the line protective gear and ball set the blond had given him.
"Do you want me to set the Slytherins on them?" Draco offered seriously, protectiveness suddenly shining in his eyes.
"No, its fine," Harry said with an evil grin. "Besides I'm the silent partner for the twin's prank shop. If their mum would just lay off and quit throwing out their products and projects we'd have an even bigger mail order business. I'm just glad that my tournament winnings are giving them enough to work with even with the sabotage."
"That's my son," Voldemort said with a snort of amusement, easily recognizing the plots that were forming in Harry's head. The Malfoys all looked various levels of impressed.
"Not in my classroom," Severus told them both with roll of his eyes at the coming mischief. The crafty look that Harry sent him did not fill him with confidence that he could actually keep it away from the potions lab. "If you're going to insist I need to know what you are doing so that I can schedule either a less dangerous potion, one that won't interact badly with your prank, or a lecture day. I'll not have you blowing up or killing anyone in the school. If you feel they must die and are determined then make it happen off of school grounds or ask the Dark Lord to kidnap them."
"Fine," Harry said with a small pout before reaching for the next present.
Harry could tell just by looking at it that it was from his father, after all he was the only other Parselmouth in England. The serpent designs hissed greetings and encouraged him to open the package. A glance towards the Dark Lord told his son that the older wizard was nervous about whatever the gift was, though the light smack that Nagini gave the nervous man made Harry snicker before he opened his present. When he saw what it was Harry was speechless and stayed silent long enough that Severus looked at the gift over his shoulder.
"Well? What is it?" Draco demanded impatiently. Harry ignored him in favor of gently pulling an earring out of the box. It was shaped as a silver basilisk curled around a striped egg. The head would magically pierce wherever Harry chose to wear it and the crest, once it unfurled, would help hold the earring in place regardless of how much it might choose to move.
"It has a number of protective enchantments on it as well as tracking charms and a communication charm," Voldemort explained softly. "I almost got you a stuffed toy but I recognize that you would probably prefer to curl up around Severus. If you would also like the stuffed animal... I have it back in my rooms."
"~No, its not. I made one of the squeaky creatures wrap it and add it to the pile as my gift. I do not have a hatchling of my body for you to bond with so the soft one will have to comfort you along with your mate instead,~" Nagini said with a very put upon sigh.
"~Nagini!~" Voldemort scolded in complete exasperation, drawing a laugh from his son.
"~So, what makes my hatchling share such injuries? Why are his heart wounds healing so well when he shares them?~" Nagini asked curiously.
"~As you know I checked him when we realized what was happening. Part of it is the fact that he keeps a part of my soul and has kept it since the Potters died. Part of it is the acceptance we have given even down to our very magics, and part of it is his acceptance which that vision of Lily and James helped him understand and accept,~" Voldemort explained to both serpent and son.
"That makes sense, 'course being able to have Severus helps too," Harry said wickedly. This earned a squawk from Draco and a blush from his lover, neither of whom actually knew what the other three had been discussing in parseltongue.
"Brat, keep this up and I'll kidnap you until tonight's meeting," Severus muttered under his breath, incredibly hard from sudden ideas to do with a bed and Harry speaking parseltongue. Nagini laughed outright and Harry blushed light as his mind immediately went to what else he could do with Severus in the bedroom.
"Better be careful yourself or I'll be the one to do the kidnapping," Harry said silkily.
"Ack! Stop it! My eyes!" Draco said dramatically before quickly snatching another present and shoving it into Harry's hands. "Open the next one! Quick!"
"Fine," Harry groused playfully. It turned out to be the stuffed green snake that Voldemort and Nagini had got him. Harry immediately started to cuddle it and wouldn't let it be put aside with the other open gifts, much to everyone's amusement.
The next gift was clearly from Luna. Wrapped in various pages of both the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler Harry was highly amused with her choice of story wrapping. The sharp breath from everyone else in the room when he finally opened it told him that she'd sent him something important. He couldn't figure out what was so important about the matched pairs of bracelets though. Yes, they were beautiful and had been inlaid with intricate designs of gold, silver, copper and various stones creating amazing designs. The problem was that by everyone's reactions they were something important to pureblood society... which he had almost no knowledge of.
"Do you know what Loony gave you?" Draco asked in quiet reverence. Harry shook his head no as he studied the pieces of jewelry so Draco told him. "They're bonding bracelets. When two wizards decide to get married they use bonding bracelets instead of rings because rings can get in the way but a properly made bonding bracelet won't."
"Oh, that's useful to know," Harry said with a sudden evil smirk that told Voldemort his son was already planning on bonding to Severus even as the bracelets were carefully set aside. From the brief look of longing on Severus' face no one who saw it thought the man would object once they were presented. They weren't overly worried, like an engagement ring the presenting of a bonding bracelet was usually a private thing between the two fiances.
The final gift was obviously from Lucius and Narcissa, some very old and clearly well loved books on various magics including one on becoming an Animagus. After the news from the twins Harry wasn't surprised that Neville didn't send him anything with the youth's overbearing grandmother and Dumbledore's influence. Though the second note wishing him happy birthday from Bill and Charlie that fell from between the defense books the twins had sent was nice.
"Its nearly time for the meeting," Voldemort reminded everyone with a quiet snicker as Nagini complained that no one had fed her hatchling.
"Oh dear, we've completely missed supper. I'll have the elves deliver sandwiches to everyone while we get ready. Draco, it isn't time for you to attend so please stay in your room while our visitors our here," Narcissa said firmly. The stern glare she sent his way had his protests dying on his tongue to be replaced by a meek "Yes, mother." before the blond disappeared down the hall.
Meetings and Messages
Harry quickly dragged Severus back to their rooms, wondering what he was supposed to wear. He didn't have to worry long since his father had sent a hooded cloak ahead with a note pinned in the fabric. He was told to have Severus help him pick out something impressive to wear underneath it and be ready to defend himself during the meeting since not everyone would wait for him to say something before attacking. They decided that he should wear the leather dragon hide pants that Harry had taken to wearing to drive Severus crazy since the shopping trip from hell. Severus also talked his master into wearing the earring from his father to go with the heir ring and pendant gifts he was already wearing.
"You really think I'm going to need so much protection?" Harry asked doubtfully.
"You will be entering a room to inform more than a hundred trained witches and wizards that they no longer have to try to kill you. No matter how well we protect you there is a high likelihood that someone will get through us to hit you with a spell or believe that you have bewitched us," Severus drawled.
"Thus the need for a cloak that covers my face and the protective jewelry," Harry groused.
In the next moment when Severus was distracted by his own uniform Harry slipped one of the bonding bracelets from Luna onto the man's wrist and the other onto his own. A brief glow issued from them as they automatically resized and a visible rope of magic appeared only for another to grow up around it from both of them, fusing together in the middle as a deep gong sounded inside their heads.
"You insane little... I have no words," Severus growled at his now husband. Harry just smirked at him and growled back a " Mine" that made his insides melt. The soul stealing kiss that followed stopped the building tirade dead.
"I'm not letting you go," Harry growled while Severus tried to stay on his feet as he recovered from the kiss.
"Yes, master," Severus breathed thinking that he'd hit the jackpot with such a sneaky, dominating spouse. Admittedly, Harry probably thought they were only engaged rather than married and thus could still say no but his new husband would soon disabuse him of that misconception.
"To bad we don't have more time or I'd remind you just who your master is," Harry said in a mix of playful lust.
"Not much chance of forgetting that," Severus said with a snort, brandishing the bonding bracelet at his smaller husband. Harry smirked evilly and before his husband could react Severus was bent over the edge of the bed, firmly pinned in place.
"Naughty Sev, disrespecting me is a no no. I'm not Dumbledore's meek little pawn anymore," Harry growled.
Severus could hear the very real anger in his husband's voice and swallowed hard as he realized he'd made a mistake. It wouldn't have been hard for Harry to misconstrue his mix of teasing and his earlier upset as a reversion to his previous poor treatment of his master. Closing his eyes and forcing his muscles to relax under his master's grip as he waited for punishment.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
The three sharp spanks were enough to make him jerk under Harry's grip despite being still fully clothed.
"The rest of your punishment will have to wait but I don't want you more than five feet away from me during the meeting for any reason. Am I clear?" Harry informed him, a touch of hurt in his voice even as it was drowned out by the steel of command.
"Yes husband," Severus said meekly causing Harry to go immediately still.
"Husband?" Harry asked cautiously.
"You married us when you slid the bonding bracelets on us within ten minutes of each other. It wouldn't have taken without a full ceremony had I not been willing but I would have liked to be asked," Severus explained, equally cautiously. It took Harry a good five minutes to process this but when he did Severus was flipped over and thoroughly snogged.
"You still can't get more than five or ten feet from me during the meeting but I can see why you might have gotten upset. I just wanted to show them that you were mine and show you that I was going to propose tonight after the meeting. I didn't think some weird magic would marry us immediately," Harry explained softly as he lay in Severus' arms a few minutes after they had stopped kissing.
"I thought as much or rather I realized that you probably didn't know it would marry us. I was just frustrated that you jumped in head first again," Severus explained with a deep sigh, the sting in his bum already fading.
"I'm sorry but I'm not going to let you treat me the same way as you did at Hogwarts," Harry said firmly, his anxious face hidden in his husband's chest.
"I don't expect you to. I fully expect you to punish me if I step out of line just as I will find a way to punish you if you put yourself in danger, allowing for mitigating circumstances," Severus informed him a soft smile and teasing clear in his voice.
They cuddled for a few more minutes before getting up and hurrying into their various outfits. Severus took his place a step behind and to the right of Harry, his body language practically screaming bodyguard as they rejoined the others and Bellatrix gleefully took the position on Harry's left. The group quietly chatted while they made their way towards the smaller Malfoy ballroom that Voldemort had been using as his throne room/meeting room since his return.
The Malfoys took a place on the left side of the raised dias while Voldemort directed Harry and his guards to the right, planning on conjuring a proper seat for his son once the meeting was underway. Nagini slithered off of his shoulders and contentedly positioned herself at Harry's feet. Seeing that everyone was in their place the Dark Lord quickly conjured an over the top throne with a strong cushioning charm and positioned it before taking a seat. A gesture had Severus, Lucius, and Bellatrix slipping on their masked hoods while Harry and Narcissa pulled up the hood of their cloaks to hide their faces.
A soft hissed enchantment quickly returned his snake-like features while a sharp charm in parseltongue sent the burning summons through every dark mark not already within the same room as him. Within half an hour the room was filled with marked Death Eaters milling about and trying to talk quietly without drawing unwanted attention from their lord. More than one of them were wondering who was standing on the dias with their lord and muttering jealously about show offs.
A silent signal from the lounging Dark Lord had everyone quieting down and turning to face him as the meeting finally got underway. Everyone wondered who the new person was at his right hand complete with bodyguards and his precious snake sitting at the person's feet. They also wondered if the snake was there to protect the person or keep the mysterious person in place.
Narcissa with her husband was somewhat recognized as a person who occasionally acted as an emergency healer after a raid and thus was entitled to attend a regular meeting. Attending the various meetings would allow her to stock potions appropriately and thus potentially save their lives. Meaning that even if they'd been allowed to voice their opinion on the matter no one would have objected to her presence.
"New information has come to light about one of our enemies. In fact this information both indicates that a very prominent member of the light may actually be one of ours effectively kidnapped from us. Over the last month or two several of our people have been investigating the situation and approaching this paragon of the light to... test the waters. What was found was most surprising and has dealt a serious blow to our enemies," Voldemort informed them with an evil chuckle causing Harry to mentally roll his eyes. He simply glad that his father was avoiding his sex life for the moment. "It appears that a few members of the light resorted to one of the older, and currently illegal not to mention dark, fertility rituals. The ritual has been identified as Ut vocant, puer and as such the third parent can legally claim the resulting child upon discovery of the identity of the third parent, as well as charge for line theft."
The quiet rustle of interest and silent speculation amused the Dark Lord and had Harry wondering if he could get away with pranking some of his father's minions. He knew he couldn't get away with pranking his father, not unless he managed to talk Nagini into helping him.
"As this came to light in a very unexpected fashion and is such a harsh blow to the so called light we naturally wanted to be certain of the situation before it became truly public knowledge. As such Gringotts was approached to confirm and officiate the situation while the person in question was simultaneously approached. I am now very proud to announce to you that I have a son and we have a good idea why I failed that night at the Potters," Voldemort said proudly, gesturing for Harry to drop his hood.
The moment Harry's face was revealed to the assembled minions there was a mutter of discontent, surprise, and consternation the swept through the assembly. What surprised everyone on the dais was the fact that the minions patiently waited for their lord to continue with his explanation rather than attacking or blurting out their own surprise. Voldemort rewarded their restraint by continuing after another moment or two of restless movement from his people.
"Severus is assigned as his bodyguard for the moment and Nagini has taken a liking to him, possibly because he inherited my ability to speak with her. One of the reasons I, Harry, and the light remained unaware of the situation is that the ritual gave my birth name to the Potters who in turn refrained from informing anyone of the situation. Through investigating this situation we discovered more of Dumbledore's manipulation and treachery. This included but is not limited to ensuring that my son has been systematically tortured and abused by his muggle relatives," Voldemort said. The last part with an obvious growl of anger and outrage that was immediately picked up and mirrored by his minions.
"Goblins," Harry reminded him with an eye-roll.
"Just because you talked me into setting the goblins on them instead of kidnapping them immediately doesn't mean that I can't snatch them later," Voldemort shot back.
"I didn't talk you into anything... though it did help me to decide that asking for help from the goblins to escape from you wasn't needed. That and the fact that you treat me better than the Dursleys do even when I thought I'd only been kidnapped to be tortured and killed," Harry admitted wryly.
"How you talked that blasted hat into putting you in the lion's den I'll never know," Voldemort shot back with a snort of amusement.
"Simple, Draco acted like Dudley and I had no wish to be regularly chased and beaten to a bloody pulp at my new school so I begged to be anywhere but the house Draco got into. I had no idea at the time that he was actually introducing himself properly, if a bit pompously, and that the insults to Ron were for an actual reason. I knew absolutely nothing about anything so I went with what little I had picked up on over the years in the muggle world and jumped to conclusions like the idiot muggle-raised firsty I was," Harry answered with a careless shrug. "I know better now and I'm nobody's pawn."
Voldemort outright laughed at Harry's answer and started mentally plotting to get him into Slytherin house if he went back to Hogwarts at the start of the school year.
"If you want I'll help you develop your own mark or we can modify mine to better suit you so that you can mark any of the students that are yours," Voldemort offered with an open grin.
"Why would I need a mark? They're far too visible and no one thinks much of jewelry or flesh colored ink. Just because you feel the need to see the mark on them doesn't mean it has be visible to everyone or visible at all," Harry shot back mischievously.
"As you all can see Harry has a mind of his own and we won't always agree on things. He has also agreed to try to get to know me and actually understand our side. Thus far in various random conversations he's pointed out a few things I had forgotten or overlooked such as the rapid advancement of the muggle technologies, which are part of the danger to us. His questions also glaringly highlighted that Dumbledore has badly degraded the available education at Hogwarts and I recommend that you get additional tutors for your children, pooling resources and sharing tutors if need be. It is not an order merely a recommendation. Another thing that has come to light is that the Potters were descendants of both Godric Gryffindor and the Perverells just as the Gaunts were descended of Salazar Slytherin and the Perverells. This is part of why I failed the night I tried to kill Harry. My fall was a combination of Heir magics, an inadvertent verbal deal with Lady Potter, the precautions the Potters had taken, my own ritual that I was attempting to utilize, and my son's raw power. As such no one is to blame for the unexpected mixing of such powerful magics," Voldemort informed them all sternly, getting various nods of understanding scattered throughout the crowd.
The banter had the added bonus to indicate that not only were they not trying to kill each other any more but that Harry was both off limits and had the full authority to speak his own mind. He was effectively an instant inner circle member and everyone in the room, except perhaps Harry himself, understood the message loud and clear.
The spell seemed to come out of nowhere and Severus barely managed to catch it with a modified shield spell while Bellatrix immediately shot after the apparent casters, cackling all the way. Harry had barely blinked before Severus was in front of him and Nagini was cursing furiously at the idiot who'd launched the spell. Only his new jewelry and his own experiences with both danger and dodging the Dursleys warned that someone had gotten behind them. A spin combined with an instinctive flash of power had the assassin howling as the raw magical shield sliced through his arms leaving only cauterized stumps as the obscured man collapsed to the floor. A flash of a silver knife from the side was intercepted by Wormtail transforming back to human form, catching it mid-strike only to be knocked aside, instantly unconscious. His actions gave Nagini enough time to strike and the second assassin went down in thrashing gurgling screams of dying breath.
Three dead bodies and one armless unconscious man, however, were not enough to calm Voldemort's immediate fury over the attempt that was made to kill his son. It was Harry that broke the tense silence and distracted his father.
"Well, at least the rat fulfilled his life debt. I'll still be happy to see him turned over for trial. Having him sleeping in my dorms even in rat form was seriously creepy," Harry commented, giving Pettigrew an extra kick in the kidneys for good measure.
"I wasn't too pleased that he'd nearly sliced the large vein in your arm during my resurrection either. Of course at the time I was still stabilizing and thought it was a marvelous idea to utterly demolish you in a duel. I wasn't thinking clearly enough to realize that taking you on in a weakened, not to mention untrained, condition wouldn't help my position in the least. Ever since we had that discussion during the raid I am very glad we have brother wands," Voldemort said dryly, calming enough to think clearly even as Lucius had used the wards on the manor to lock down the room.
"Was still weird to have our wands connect like that but seeing as you were trying to kill me at the time and both mum and dad probably didn't realize you were my other parent I'm not surprised they helped me escape. If they'd known I bet that mum would have yelled at you and dad would have threatened to come back and prank you until you gave in... I wonder what mum would do to Dumbledore if she ever found out he put me with Aunt Petunia?" Harry mused.
"Knowing your mother she'd find a way to strip him naked in the middle of winter and use a spanking charm matched with stinging hexes to chase him all over the school, Hogsmeade, Diagon, and the Ministry before forcing him to sit down and confess to the Wizengamot," Severus said dryly.
"She ever try doing that to you?" Harry asked with a frown.
"Only up and down the charms corridor when I accidentally insulted her sense of dress because I didn't understand why certain colors couldn't be worn together or would clash with her hair color. After that I kept shut about her appearance except to say she looked nice and let James make a fool of himself instead," Severus answered with a smirk practically visible in his voice.
"I would like to know why you were attacked and who ordered your death before you go off on a wild goose chase," Voldemort pointed out in a deceptively mild tone.
Harry instantly moved back to his place as Severus and a quietly snickering Bellatrix returned to their guard positions with Bella dropping her dead body at the foot of the dias. An absentminded spell snagged the other two bodies and sent Nagini grumbling back to Harry's side, having refrained from eating her prey in favor of reaction speed in case of other assassins. The bodies were quickly examined by one of the inner circle who was an Unspeakable while Voldemort glared at the rest of his minions for not catching the attack on his son and reacting appropriately.
"At least two of them are undercover Aurors, my lord and the third... well Bellatrix opted for damage over finesse so identifying him through the melting might take a while," Rookwood informed everyone. "The live one that your son incapacitated should be able to answer questions later if he survives the shock."
"They shouldn't have managed to even get onto the grounds... unless they snuck a limited back door into my wards during the last raid while they distracted us," Lucius concluded with a scowl. "As you know the goblins haven't had a chance to look over the manor's wards yet and repair them from the last raid when they caught us still at table."
"Yes, Lucius, I remember and I do not blame you if they managed such insanity at the time. It would certainly explain why they've refrained from harassing us over Harry's presence," Voldemort agreed with a frown.
"Their positioning was actually somewhat poor for attacking Harry and would have been better suited for an attack on you rather than your son," Severus commented with a verbal frown.
"You mean that I was considered a better target not because of where I was standing but because I was here as a non-prisoner?!" Harry scowled, grumpily pulling Severus into his side in a half protective half comforting manner.
"That's what it looks like my Dark Prince," Rookwood agreed politely. The death glare Harry gave him over the new nickname didn't phase the man and managed to break the tension by making at least half of those assembled laugh.
"In other news, Dumbledore is aware that I have claimed Harry as my heir. The only thing preventing him from either going public or going to the Wizengamot over the entire thing is that he has technically been an adult since the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament," Voldemort said with an eye-roll at the nickname antics. He knew full well that there would be more nicknames and titles attributed to his son before long. He also knew that Rookwood was one of the best and had understood the unspoken command to find out more about the attackers, the motives, and those ultimately responsible for the attack. "My son wove a wonderful story about a chance meeting in the alley and a bet over him either becoming my heir or him getting to choose the situation surrounding our supposed final confrontation. The old fool bought it so the fact that Harry is indeed of my blood may yet still be hidden. I am still as yet undecided if he will return to Hogwarts but where he goes so does Severus."
"Considering the brat didn't realize that slipping those bonding bracelets on both of us within ten minutes of each other would trigger the latent marriage magics I would have to say that's a given," Severus drawled. He pulled up his sleeve to display the firmly attached bonding bracelet as Harry flushed in embarrassment and gave his exasperated father a sheepish shrug.
"We really need to teach you not to jump into things head first," Voldemort muttered grumpily.
"I've already talked to him about it and he's agreed to make it up to me," Severus said with a smirk echoing in his voice, still hidden behind his mask. This had the bonus implication that Severus was in charge of the relationship as the more experienced partner, giving Harry an extra layer of security.
"All I know is that following my instincts have kept me alive... even if they occasionally cause me trouble," Harry said pointedly. He was thinking of the times he fought the Basilisk, Aragog, the Dementors, and when he'd faced his father on the battle field.
"What haven't you told us?" Severus asked warily.
"Erm... can I not answer that?" Harry asked tentatively. The look on his father's face and Nagini's hiss of warning had him answering properly, if more than a bit sheepishly. "Let's see, you already know about us going through the defenses around the stone in first year. In second year I... sort of killed Slytherin's Basilisk when one of father's old trinkets decided to sic it on me because I didn't want it to kill Ginny... or me for that matter. He was willing to talk first but I was too clueless about what he wanted to know so I... insulted him and demanded he give me back Ginny. I figure you'll want to see the entire memory later since it bit me and Fawkes had to cry on it after I pulled the fang out. Ah, we had also gone into the Acromantula nest in the forbidden forest to talk to Aragog at Hagrid's suggestion when Lucius and Fudge arrested him. We were visiting him when they arrested him and hid under the Potter family invisibility cloak. The flying car had gone feral and it decided to rescue us from the Acromantula for some reason. Third year... my problems with the Dementors were rather public and Sirius sort of kidnapped us on the full moon but you were there for that debacle. Of course then Dumbledore sent Hermione and me back in time to save Sirius and myself from getting Kissed by over a hundred Dementors before sending Sirius away on a rescued Buckbeak so he wouldn't get Kissed anyway. Forth... yeah, that was also sort of public except for the graveyard and the way Barty Jr. tried to kill me after getting back. It would have been nice if my injuries could have actually been seen to after I got back to school before Barty started in on me... I think that's it? Aside from Umbridge that is."
"You've got your work cut out for you," Bella muttered to Severus who simply gave a heavy sigh before finally giving in to his instinct to wrap his left arm around his smaller husband.
"I wasn't even trying to kill you for most of that," Voldemort said half petulantly and half in anger over how his son had been clearly endangered even at school. Harry just shrugged and tried not to meet anyone's eye.
"How do you even get in that much trouble?!" a random lower level Death Eater finally exclaimed, breaking everyone else free from their shock and starting up a general babble of voices.
A few more things were discussed and everyone understood the implied order not to talk about Harry being the Dark Prince outside of secured areas or meetings. It didn't take long before everyone was dismissed to mingle and nibble on the provided refreshments as the various people reconnected. A half hour into the social hour things got nasty as one of Severus' old lovers tried to hit on him.
Idiots
Chapter Notes
Warning! Nasty punishment/torture and marriage consummation.
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"Well well well, what do we have here? Severus! Its good to see you," a jovial voice called out as Harry and his husband were getting a drink.
They were standing next to one of the food stations that the elves were keeping well stocked for the meeting. Harry hissed a curse under his breath, not liking how this new person was so familiar with his new husband as he turned to face the man. The voice belonged to a brown haired almost mousey man who looked at Severus with devouring blue eyes that made Harry want to rip them out of the man's skull. He was slim and slightly shorter than the potions master though still taller than Harry. The way he completely ignored Harry didn't really bother the younger wizard but the way he focused so totally on Severus was another matter entirely.
"Brian," Severus greeted the man neutrally. While the masks had to be worn on raids and were encouraged to be worn in meetings at first in case of prisoners or uninitiated visitors they were usually pocketed during the social hour.
"Now, don't be like that Sev," Brian scolded lightly.
Harry easily noticed the pet name and the way it made his husband tense. The thought that this man was taking such liberties and on top of that upsetting his husband made Harry's blood boil. Only his time at the Dursleys allowed him to keep his temper in check and he dearly wished to punish the man for his insolence.
"You will address him properly or not at all," Harry ordered sharply, reminding the man of his presence and immediately silencing several nearby conversations.
"I don't care what story our lord told us about you being his son. You clearly aren't of his blood and poor Severus has just as clearly been tasked to babysit you. Be quiet while your betters talk. Sev, you will have to teach your pet better manners before bringing him out in public again," Brian ordered sharply. A sneer of disgust and hatred aimed at Harry momentarily distorted the man's face before he returned to a simple look of condescension.
Harry didn't bother to counter with words. He reached for his magic and thought of the times he'd managed to trip Dudley or Vernon and escape before adding in his memory of watching his father torment his husband then added an extra vicious twist to the magic. Brian suddenly found himself twenty feet in the air with shredded clothes and burn marks all along his calves as if from burning ropes. The scream he let out silenced the gathering and immediately brought everyone's attention to their confrontation.
"What did you use? I didn't hear you cast nor did I even see your wand, not that I had a particularly good view in the first place," Voldemort asked in interest as he joined them.
"I didn't use a spell," Harry answered honestly. "I used feelings, memories, and added a twist to the magic as I felt it leave me."
"Which explains why it feels so unrefined," Voldemort mused as he watched the idiot thrash about in mid-air trying to get loose and away from the pain.
"I didn't really mind him ignoring me but he insulted my husband and flat out informed that I was not only an imposter but a pet as well," Harry explained with a glare aimed at his mid-air target. "I haven't got the same number of spells in my head as the rest of you so I let the magic to the work instead."
"Do you want to do anything else to him?" Voldemort asked, very curious about what his son might choose to do.
"I'm tempted to cut off his thing for acting like he could waltz up and steal my husband right in front of my eyes. I'm not sure what else aside from making him hurt but I was worried you'd get upset since he's one of your minions... especially if I got blood everywhere. Blood is hard to clean up all the way and I don't know if Lord Malfoy has any bleach," Harry explained half sheepishly half defiantly, making many nearby men mentally cringe at the thought.
"Why on earth would you know how to clean up blood?" Severus demanded, his puzzlement clear.
"No reason," Harry said quickly, too quickly.
"~Hatchling, how do you know to clean up blood?~" Nagini hissed suspiciously. Harry kept his mouth firmly closed, frustrating both serpent and parent. They were all distracted when the magic let go, causing Brian fall to the floor in a mass of bruised flesh and burned legs.
" Crucio," Voldemort hissed, finally letting his own feelings out to fuel the punishing spell and drag screams out of the idiot who insulted his family.
"~Can I eat him?~" Nagini asked in interest.
This question sent Harry off on a quiet tirade about overprotective serpents and Dark Lords while everyone watched Brian get punished for his massive idiocy. Severus? He was just glad that Harry hadn't dragged him off after killing the idiot outright, glad and a bit disappointed too. Of course he had no idea that Harry was planning just that after making a very public statement of exactly who he belonged to.
Someone else thought it was a good idea to make a move at that point and Severus gave a quiet yelp as a hand landed on his butt and squeezed. Harry was between him and the second idiot in a flash, snarling into the startled man's face, his wand bruising the base of idiot #2's throat. Voldemort glanced back to see what was going on, Brian having been given a break to catch his breath from all the screaming as Nagini circled him menacingly.
"Why are any of you even considering that you could score with my new son-in-law?" Voldemort asked in clear annoyance. "You all saw his reaction to the assassins and heard him recite several feats of impossibility that he's not only accomplished but still somewhat bothered some idiot will try to punish him for. You all also know how possessive I am. What makes any of you think he didn't inherit my power, my possessiveness, and potentially even my temper along with Parseltongue?! I assure you that the only reason many of you aren't dead simply for looking at Severus is because he respects the fact that you are all my people and thus probably somewhat valuable to me."
"Looking is one thing, insulting or touching is quite another," Harry growled, his eyes glowing like death incarnate.
Idiot #2 tried to stammer something but Harry didn't give him the chance as he carefully loosed a single strand of his raging magic and aimed it right at the older wizard. There were a number of loud cracks and wet snaps before he collapsed into a whimpering pile of bloody meat, the magic having reacted to Harry's utter rage at his husband being groped by another person. Severus' hand gently landing on his wand arm stopped him from doing anything else as Harry's attention immediately shifted to his husband.
Voldemort saw the look on Harry's face and chuckled. "Go on, take your husband back to your suite and try not to be too hard on him? I would eventually like to have him brewing potions for me again."
Harry didn't wait a second longer as he snatched up Severus' arm and apparated them through the wards, leaving Lucius quietly cursing at the vicious headache the action had induced. The raw power needed to blast through the wards without completely destroying them sent nearly everyone who had been near them stumbling backwards except for Voldemort. The Dark Lord, had guessed at what his son was going to do and used his own magic to latch onto the floor, using his naturally high power levels to divert the blast of unfocused magic and allowed him to stay firmly in place.
The abrupt displacement had Severus far enough off balance that Harry had him striped to his underwear and face down on the bed with his hands pinned to the small of his back before he could blink. The clatter of wands landing on the bedside table told him where his wand had gotten to while the weight on his back accompanying the quiet muttering snarls told him where his husband was. Instinctively, he knew Harry wouldn't hurt him not without him doing something to break his husband's trust and heart completely. Contrary to popular opinion and his own public facade he had paid attention to the insanity that Harry's friends had put him through. Every time Harry had accepted them back from insults and actions that would have caused a centuries long blood feud between ancient families under normal circumstances his heart had broken just a little more for his brat. As a result Severus opted to simply relax under his husband's weight and hope that he would get a chance to try and calm him down. He never got that chance.
"You are mine! No one else touches you, you don't sleep with anyone else, no one else punishes you," Harry growled lowly into the ear of his husband. Severus couldn't say exactly how hot that was to him nor could he stifle the lustful moan that burbled from deep within him.
"You like that huh? Well, you may not be able to walk by the time I'm done with you. Before tonight is over no one will be able to say we didn't consumate our impromptu marriage," Severus could practically hear the evil grin in Harry's voice as it ratcheted up his own anticipation of what would happen next.
"What do you plan to do brat? Talk me to death?" Severus snarked back.
"Don't push me tonight. I don't want to hurt you but those idiots put their hands on you. They never should have gotten within ten feet of you. You were already mine!" Harry snarled, pleading with his husband not to push him further.
Severus took a deep breath, knowing that he might get hurt in what was about to happen but not really caring as long as he proved his point. "Am I not yours then? Are you one day going to walk away? Tonight even? Should I be looking for another life-mate?"
The howl of outrage at the thought of him choosing someone else was exactly what Severus wanted. He expected a vicious punishment to follow his pointed questions, especially with how his husband was slowly letting his possessive Slytherin traits out. He fully intended to take advantage of that and encourage his husband's actions. He was also going to enjoy it.
Severus was immediately flipped onto his back, wrists instantly bound to his elbows before he landed, and was left staring into the furious eyes of his husband.
"You are acting like I am a thing and as if I want to walk away. Did I not swear? Did I not choose you? Did I say anything when you punished them for the insults they gave me and thus you?! No! I allowed my dominant, my husband, to handle the situation as he saw fit and would have turned them away myself had you not acted! Feel free to be possessive of me but remember I have been forced to defend myself as much as possible since before your birth. Prove to me that you can make me feel safe! Tame me!" Severus demanded, his own fire shining in his eyes.
A little light went on inside Harry's head as he realized it had been a test and a reminder, one that he'd passed with flying colors. His rage quickly deflated as he studdied the bound Potions Master. A wicked grin flashed across his face as he slowly slid the black cotton boxers off of his man, using the trailing fabric to tease all along the long pale legs. Severus made little noises of frustration and want, his own lust starting to get the better of him.
"My Severus," Harry whispered softly before crawling up his husband's body and nuzzling into the crook of his neck.
"My Harry," Severus reciprocated, breathing in the scent of his husband.
"I could have hurt you," Harry pointed out softly.
"And I was prepared for that. We argue enough and your father is possessive enough that I had to be certain. I know the masked golden brat but not my green-eyed imp quite so well," Severus answered honestly. "I will accept whatever punishment you decide on."
"No lab for a week," Harry told him seriously. Severus nodded his acceptance though he made a pained face at the thought of being banned from brewing potions for a week. The kiss Harry gave him next made up for it though.
The trail of nibbling kisses that Harry eventually trailed down his throat and chest drove his husband nuts and had him begging for more. Harry ignored his begging in favor of nibbling and licking patterns all up and down the lean torso that was his buffet, occasionally exploring along the top and inside of the gorgeous pale thighs. He completely ignored Severus' achingly full cock until he decided he was done with the main course. A gentle pressure had those pale thighs opening eagerly. The lick up the length of cock brought a yell from Severus' wicked tongue that quickly shifted to a screech as Harry engulfed the head in his hot mouth.
"Please?! Harry, I'm begging you!" Severus sobbed.
Harry simply smiled around the cock in his mouth and wandlessly cast a cleaning/preparation spell. Crawling up his husband he drove the man even further into pleasurable insanity before carefully slipping inside the magically prepared hole. His gentle movements had Severus making inarticulate sounds of pleasure as he started to move. With all the build up it didn't take much for either of them to come and they fell asleep with Harry still inside his snarky husband as the final part of the marriage magics settled into their very blood and bones.
Breakfast After the Fact
The next morning, after untangling themselves with careful rubbing to return feeling to numb limbs, a deep kiss was shared as they finally dragged themselves out of bed. Harry wouldn't let his husband heal the hickeys that had been left behind the night before; Severus in turn insisted on a later discussion about the basilisk carcass and its current disposition. Harry agreed and they both went off to breakfast with the rest of the manor aka the Malfoys, Bellatrix, Voldemort, and Nagini (who didn't actually eat with everyone else but liked watching over her wizard and hatchling). When they arrived they were faced with a very interesting Prophet headline: Wizengamot Member in Hospital over Unknown Dispute with Savior!
"Really? How did he even get on the Wizengamot?" Harry asked incredulously. "For that matter why did he let it get published in the paper?"
"Inheritance and I don't know," Voldemort said grumpily. He hadn't had enough coffee yet to deal with his minion's idiocy so hadn't actually read the article yet. Nagini licked the air and started cackling madly much to Harry's resignation and the confusion of his tablemates.
"Don't," Harry warned the Dark Lord, who was smirking behind his coffee cup.
"You still got more presents," Draco said mischievously. Harry groaned theatrically and softly thunked his head against the table, earning quiet laughter from his breakfast companions.
"Draco, leave him be," Narcissa reprimanded lightly.
"You haven't seen the associated article headline yet. It's quite amusing," Lucius pointed out with a chuckle as he turned a page of his own copy of the prophet. Harry quickly flipped to the correct page and scowled at the idiocy of the media. " Injured Wizengamot Member Under Arrest for Attempted Kidnapping of Savior!"
"If he was trying to kidnap anyone it was my husband but then he'll get more flack from that headline than just about any other I can think of," Harry started with a scowl before quickly shifting a smirk worthy of any Slytherin or evil mastermind.
"Bloodthirsty brat," Severus muttered into his tea with a smirk hidden behind his cup.
"Pres-ents!" Draco reiterated, adding a weak puppy dog eyes to the reminder.
"I'm not skipping breakfast because you want to figure out who's being more of a suck up," Harry told the younger blond flatly before turning to speak to the still smirking Dark Lord. "Is this going to be a problem? I know that fudge and the prophet kept calling me a liar. Umbridge would give me detentions for nothing and make me write with that stupid quill while gloating about being able to punish my treasonous words against the ministry. She was very proud of the fact that Fudge gave her permission to do anything she pleased to us and the school."
"Simply because its you and Fudge is an idiot this issue may be brought to trial before the Wizengamot. If you like I can show up and publicly claim you but it would likely lead to your abuse getting published. We can also conveniently blame all of the mess that happened before on a combination of looking for you and having been cursed by Dumbledore. We of course will not press charges since the removal destroyed all proof. That's actually not that far from the truth since Slughorn would never have given me the book that had the ritual which had such nasty side effects that I was slowly driven insane without that old man's interference. I will understand if you don't want everyone to know that I am your third parent," the last bit seemed to pain Voldemort to say but Harry greatly appreciated the sentiment.
"It would also prove that I haven't been lying," Harry said thoughtfully.
"They also might try to declare you as being in danger and thus able to be reclassified as a minor under ministry control," Severus warned, half worried that Harry would deny the marriage once it was revealed publicly. "It would allow them to forcibly remove you and take guardianship unless our marriage was revealed then I would receive guardianship as your husband."
"~You are our hatchling. You will not be taken from us or we will hunt and devour them to get you back!~" Nagini hissed emphatically, earning an emphatic nod from Voldemort and a small smile from Harry.
Harry, noting Severus' worry dragged his husband down for a quick snog and a smack to his bum. "You are mine and I won't deny you. If I need to get an interview with Skeeter and have it plastered all over the paper to convince you of that then I will. If I need to properly wine and dine you like I'd originally planned to re-assure you and keep you happy then I will. If I have to kill to keep you I will. The same goes for keeping you out of ministry clutches if that's what you want. One thing you will need to remember though is that I won't let you be sent to Azkaban, not after what I saw with Sirius... For that matter I haven't seen or heard anything from him or Remus for over a month. I wonder where they got too?"
"They're on a mission to speak to various werewolf groups here in the UK and across Europe. So far Greyback has kept them from getting killed but if they keep following Dumbledore blindly they're going to wind up very dead. Greyback's fondness and claiming that his pup is simply being wayward will only hold for so long. He's already had to fight more than once to prove he's still a strong Alpha," Voldemort admitted with a heavy sigh.
"I actually don't know them all that well," Harry admitted almost sheepishly. "They're a link to my parents but... you're my father. They both rabidly follow Dumbledore and both have put me in danger and/or obeyed an order from Dumbledore that overrode common sense when dealing with me."
"They're both menaces, actually dangerous ones, more so than the Weasley twins who at least take some care with their target choices and don't overly focus on one or two special targets. During his tenure Lupin forgot to take his wolfsbane and nearly ate Harry and two other students. Black might as well be constantly half drunk and 15 again for all that getting him drunk might marginally increase his maturity," Severus pointed out acidly. He was mercifully grateful that Bella was hung over enough from whatever she'd drunk last night to keep her quite while they ate breakfast. The fact of the matter was everyone was politely ignoring the little sounds and winces she was attempting to stifle.
"Star puppy and wolfie need a good smacking," Bella growled, proving that she was paying attention, much to Severus' mental chagrin.
"What on earth did you drink last night and why are you being stubborn about drinking a hangover potion?" Narcissa asked in exasperation, finally having had enough of her sister's stubbornness.
"I had to celebrate our little lord," Bella informed her as if she were acting particularly stupid. "I even got him a gift after the meeting. Our little lord is more than strong enough to bring Severus to heel if he's naughty so I don't have to worry about him spying for the nasty light anymore."
A shared look between everyone else at the table simply confirmed to each other that they would never understand the crazy woman.
"Its not like I was feeding them information willingly," Severus muttered rebelliously as he stabbed at what was left of his breakfast.
"You know, I'm really not that surprised that you prefer the Dark Lord over Dumbledore. At least my father is up front about most things," Harry agreed with wry amusement. Draco opened his mouth right on cue to ask about presents again but didn't manage to get it out before Lucius hit him with a silencing spell. Seeing this Harry burst into laughter at the dumbfounded look immediately followed by one of indignant outrage on Draco's face.
"Just because Harry is here doesn't give you the right to badger him or the rest of us about opening presents," Severus pointed out mildly to his godson as Harry got himself back under control. "You know perfectly well that the gifts have to be checked before being opened."
"Bella if you can get your hands on Black and Lupin you have permission to punish them for their carelessness with my son but check with me before killing them," Voldemort ordered calmly, getting a frown from Harry but no actual objection. No one was really surprised by the wolfish smile that Bella gave the Dark Lord as she hummed her agreement and took another sip of her coffee.
Severus hummed in contentment at the solution and went to reach for the block of Brie cheese on the table only for it to skitter away from him. A blink and a shrug as he reached for his new cup of actual tea, his earlier cup having been decaf herbal tea, only for it too to magically skitter away from his hand. The suspicious look he shot his husband only confused him since Harry was obviously curious and confused at the way the breakfast things were acting.
"Elf, I'd like a cup of firewhisky please," Severus called out drawing surprised looks from everyone at the table. He ignored them, wanting to confirm his sudden suspicions before saying anything else. The shot of magical whisky appeared at his elbow and the moment he reached for it the little glass shot away from him to embed its self into the far wall of the dinning room.
"This is your fault!" Severus snarled, turning on his husband as his temper snapped. Harry tried to scramble backwards only for Severus' magic to flare and lock him into place. "Not only did you marry us without even asking you got me pregnant!"
The shock of the word reverberated around the room but it was nothing to the way Harry's face lit up in wonder and awe. Severus' breath was driven out of him as his husband slammed into his chest, arms wrapping around him like a vice. Everyone could hear the alternating words "Mine, Baby, Mine, Baby" drifting up from between them. Severus' momentary fury faded in the gleeful acceptance of the baby's existence as he clutched right back at his smaller husband.
"Can we open the presents now?" Draco's plaintive question broke everyone out of their frozen stupor, setting Lucius and Voldemort off in rounds of laughter. Narcissa and Bellatrix immediately started plotting a proper wedding and baby shower, much to Severus' chagrin. Harry didn't care, all in a little more than a month he had a family.
Unwelcome Gifts
Just as they were moving into the present room part of the situation that Severus hadn't considered hit him like a ton of bricks. Harry noted his husband's sudden stillness and slumped shoulders immediately. Stopping green eyes met miserable onyx ones and it clicked.
"Oh Severus, I'm sure you know of safe potions you can brew without putting our baby at risk. I can probably get Madam Pomfrey to give me a list of people who brew potions well enough that you'd be willing to take anything they made if you don't want to give me an appropriate list or can't brew it yourself," Harry said sympathetically, bringing his husband's head down low enough so that he could kiss him over the eyes. The pout that Severus gave him was adorable but Severus cheered up a bit when he was dragged over to sit on a love seat with the smaller wizard.
"He won't be getting much choice. Unless he brews it himself I'll be brewing anything the two of you need," Voldemort informed them with a wicked smirk.
Severus decided not to touch that and instead opted to hide his face in his husband's neck and hair. Harry gave a low laugh at these antics as everyone found a seat and waited for the presents to be addressed. Draco was practically bouncing in his seat but refrained from asking about the presents again now that they were getting somewhere. Narcissa and Bellatrix were still discussing wedding and baby shower plans as Lucius watched them with amusement brimming in his eyes.
Once everyone was seated Nagini smugly muttered something about finding prey for her hatchling and grandhatchling before sliding out of the room. Voldemort and Harry exchanged a surprised look but didn't say anything, both deciding it wasn't something they wanted to know.
"Do you know if I can sue anyone through the goblins? Or rather under their laws?" Harry asked innocently, a sudden thought having occurred to him. He was seriously considering suing Idiots #1 & #2 for attempted theft of his husband and having them charged under the harsh goblin laws concerning theft.
"Why?" Voldemort asked as the room suddenly fell silent.
"Just wondering," Harry said evasively. To further distract everyone from his question he reached for the first present. By the time he was done unwrapping everything they had a nice pile of gifts. Unfortunately for both Harry and Severus a number of them were fairly explicit.
There were the various books on magic, old, new, and somewhere in between. Potions equipment, vouchers for Quidditch things, a few rare potions ingredients, vouchers for dress robes, vouchers for furniture, a scattering of old family jewelry. Then there were the sex toys and other things to help keep Severus in line. The man had blushed so hard when Harry had started uncovering them that Harry was half afraid his husband would pass out. The collar and leash with matching harness had been from Bellatrix. The voucher for the sex shop had been from one of Severus' old lovers with an amused note saying that Harry would need it to keep up with his husband and to keep him satisfied. The way his husband had reacted told Harry that it had been closer to a gag gift than a sincere warning.
The last set of presents though had everyone paling. The presents were wrapped in beautiful ornate paper, didn't have any sort of curse on them or anything harmful, and had to be opened simultaneously by each of the newlyweds. Severus received a simple leather collar with a pet name inscribed on it that made him pale to the point of ghostly white. Harry's matching present on the other hand had a freshly severed horse head complete with blood under preservation charms.
"Why would someone send a horse head? I mean its gruesome and disturbing but why send it?" Draco asked in clueless puzzlement.
"The reference is from a muggle film called The Godfather and indicates a direct threat to Harry's life. I don't know the meaning of Severus' gift but I do know that it has upset him," Voldemort said harshly, sending both gifts to a side table for later examination and quickly scooping his sons up on his arms. Nagini had returned at some point and was hissing protectively at their feet raging about no predators taking her hatchling, hatchling's mate, or her grandhatchling.
"This particular collar is more a representation than anything else. The magics involved in the implied action won't work since a baby can't be forced between two wizards, not without some very dark potions involved. I remind you that the infant tries to keep both parents together partly because the child needs them both for a variety of reasons and will protect them in dire circumstances. Also, the magics involved in creating a child usually need at least one potion to help adjust the body of the carrier but as my bratty imp has proven it is possible for extremely strong wizards to conceive without aid. Witches face a different sets of problems and mostly can get away with using a single deliberate spell to change the eggs of one and move it into the womb of the other as they are naturally built for carrying children," Severus informed everyone. "The current... implications of the collar also require that I be taken away from my husband, willingly or not, and declare that I will belong as a slave or a pet to the sender. Under normal circumstances the collar is not used in this way but as a sign of respect or a fun prop between consenting partners. The more historical and public use of a collar is as some type of imprisonment or torture, including slavery."
"I'm not giving you or our baby up," Harry said fiercely. He used the grip his father had on both of them to tuck Severus into his side protectively, giving an unconsciously protective growl that oddly made his husband feel safe. "Do you want me to get rid of the other ones we got as presents?"
"No, its fine. I don't mind people knowing I belong to you and the magic of our marriage bond and what we talked about earlier tells me I don't ever have to fear you hurting me or our baby, not on purpose. Something about the magic has been reassuring the entire time and the way I pushed last night felt wrong. I wanted to see you loose control, to know how bad you might be if our marriage soured. If you were going to be... like my father I didn't want to risk children. I am so glad that I was wrong about your control, about how far you might let your rage go. Besides, we don't have to use the collars or any of the other... toys," Severus explained shyly, his hands dropping to protectively hover over the new life growing inside of him.
"Harry?" Voldemort asked cautiously, fighting not to growl at the implications of Severus' words.
"I already punished him. Even before we knew about the baby he was banned from the lab for a week. I didn't want him stuck on the couch out of my reach and I know he adores his potions so... no brewing for a week. He promised to accept any punishment that I picked before I'd even decided to punish him for it when he came clean and helped soothe me. I made sure that he knew he is my husband and that he didn't need to be afraid of me," Harry said smugly.
"Too much information!" Draco cried, covering his ears and cringing much to everyone's laughter and amusement.
That's when the wards on the manor came down for the second time that summer. Before they could do more than glamour Bellatrix and Voldemort the new team of Aurors and Order members were apparating into the room around them. Voldemort was mid spin, using his body to protect Harry and Severus as the stunners started to fly. That move cost him since his wand was summoned away even as Nagini curled up protectively around Harry and Severus who had been pushed behind a couch by Voldemort's spin. Everyone was down within seconds and Harry was dragged from his husband's arms snarling and fighting to stay with the pregnant wizard with Nagini knocked silly by a stray spell.
"Harry! We've come to rescue you!" Remus said calmingly, ignoring the way his wolf was yelling at him for hurting the alpha's cub.
"Let me go! Give me back my husband!" Harry shouted, unintentionally freezing most of the intruders in place as he scrambled back to Severus who was being roughly handled.
"Harry! Calm down," Severus ordered only to receive a blow that knocked the wind out of him and sent Harry further into a rage. The wizard who had hurt the Potions Master went flying to land with a sickening thud against the stone wall. A powerful shield sprung up around the pregnant wizard keeping everyone out of arms reach just as Nagini recovered enough to hiss menacingly at the intruders again.
"~Vile ones! You will not touch my hatchling's mate or grandhatchling!~" Nagini hissed angrily. Harry didn't even notice the shield and barely noticed the magically frozen intruders as he rushed to his husband's side.
"Severus! Are you okay?! Is the baby okay?!" Harry demanded, searching his husband frantically for injuries.
"I'm fine. His blow missed the baby and just drove the wind out of me," Severus assured, accepting Harry's relieved hug.
"Would you mind releasing my men Mr. Potter?" the Lead Auror asked cautiously in his deep resonating voice. "I promise that you won't be forced to leave Professor Snape's side until we've sorted this out a bit. If you can prove that he is pregnant and you are the father we won't separate you more than to cast the spells to check on his health and confirm it for the record."
"After what you people just did I don't trust you to open a door by hand!" Harry snarled at them, aggressively standing over his husband with the only thought to protect him. "If he's killed my baby I swear I will do my damnedest to see your precious ministry and the light fall."
"That's hardly called for my boy," Dumbledore said disapprovingly as he swept into the room before proceeding to lie through his teeth. "We have been searching for you since you disappeared. I am sure that your family is quite worried and we must be getting you home."
"Dumbledore," Voldemort sneered. "You resort to invading a prominent Lord's home, openly attack and threaten not only his guests but also promise to forcefully return a mature young man to an abusive family. You would naturally be finding someway to forbid him from using magic to protect his attackers from his magic, accidental or otherwise. No. Not this time. You're not taking my son back to that hellhole!"
A flare of uncontrolled magic burst from the incensed Voldemort, melting the glamours away to show his handsome features and burning ruby eyes.
"You knew about the abuse and were with us at Gringotts when he was confirmed as my legal heir. You cannot take him from me," Voldemort growled at the struggling and trapped Headmaster. "My heir chose his husband himself and I won't have my family put at risk by your insane machinations! I am filing charges against all of you through the goblins and demanding restitution for the risk to the baby as well as any damage you all have done. I certainly won't get a fair trial if I file with the ministry and the Wizengamot. If this harassment continues I will be hiring goblin and elfin warriors to protect my family and I will encourage them to use lethal force against any attackers. I will not have him tortured by those filthy muggles again!"
Dumbledore's choking and Voldemort's ranting about all that the old man had done to him and Harry were the only things heard aside from the crackle of loose magic.
"~Tom! That is enough!~" Nagini snapped after listening to her wizard rant while most everyone else looked on terrified. When Voldemort snapped around to face his familiar Harry could see the tears streaming down his father's face. "~Let the old goat down. We will let the little money keepers loose on him and his pets. We can make the Skeeter creature show the harm he has done to our hatchling and the threat he issued to our grandhatchling. Let the prey rip him apart piece by piece for us before we finally go in for the kill. Would you like that? A hunt using the little money keepers? Protecting our hatchling and his family?~"
Everyone but Harry watched in astonishment as Nagini stopped him cold with her scolding and coaxing. Voldemort's magic calmed and stopped trying to strangle Dumbledore as he moved towards his small family. Harry's magic had no trouble letting the man in but it was Nagini who pulled him down to cuddle with them and soothed him as he cried.
"~There there, that's right, let the pain and poison seep out of your wounds. Its alright. We're keeping the mad one who hurt you from hurting our hatchling and grandhatchling. You've been holding this poison since you were a very very small hatchling and now its time to let it go so that your hatchling and grandhatchling don't have to drink the poison. We will hunt properly and make sure that hatchling, his mate, and grandhatchling grow large and strong,~" Nagini soothed, wrapping around the small family as they comforted each other.
"I don't want to let them drink the poison," Voldemort mumbled, clutching at Nagini.
"~You just let some of the poison go so that they don't need to drink the poison,~" Nagini pointed out soothingly. "~Calm, my big grown hatchling, calm. You protected our temporary nest and our hatchling beautifully. Now collect our little hatchling and his mate, hold them close, let their presence calm you. I will guard us against idiots and rivals.~"
Voldemort did just that, turning them into a sort of puppy pile on the floor with Severus placed protectively at the center but Harry just as trapped in his arms. Nagini was actually the only one of the small family who had proper freedom of movement. Everyone saw her give a very human nod of approval at the sight only to whip her tail around and out of the shield to smack an Auror who got to close across the shins before rapidly withdrawing the tail back within the shield.
"That's not possible," Dumbledore said in absolute shock as he watched them all alternately glare at him or cuddle together.
"Dumbledore is Mr. Potter this man's Heir?" the lead Auror practically demanded with a scowl. "Did you actually try to forcefully remove the Heir of a Lord?! I can see his signate ring from here. This is completely unacceptable and completely illegal! You informed us that you were the boy's guardian. I specifically asked you if the tournament had declared him an adult because it had been arranged for those of age and you told me no! You very carefully explained that you held his seats and were able to use them as proxy because you were his guardian."
"My dear man..." Dumbledore began only to be interrupted by Draco.
"Potter still has nightmares about what those muggles did to him! He was treated worse than a house elf there. Aren't you supposed to keep students from getting hurt even by their families? What sort of Light Lord are you if you do this to your own people?! I can sort of understand targeting us Slytherins, we're a threat in the political arena, even the little firsties but you had nearly gotten Potter to the point to off himself!" Draco said with extreme exaggeration and completely genuine indignation. The damning silence that followed had everyone who could staring at Dumbledore in everything from shock to disgust to outright hatred.
"You were going to make sure he died," Voldemort accused flatly, having managed to recover his composure during the distraction he was even more protective of his family. "I am pressing charges and demanding the use of Veritaserum."
"As am I!" Lucius said forcefully. He couldn't believe what had just transpired in his home but he wasn't about to let it go to waste! Besides, while the Dark Lord had allowed a certain amount of teasing over Nagini's behavior they had never seen him cry before. It was disturbing and he shuddered to think what the other Death Eaters would think once it got out as anything involving Nagini scolding the Dark Lord inevitably did.
"I am no longer your student now that I have my OWLs and have officially sent my withdrawal from the school so don't you dare try to use that to force me to do what you want, whatever the hell it is!" Harry snarled at the old man. "You've just attacked my family and made it abundantly clear that you've wanted me dead longer than Voldemort ever did. In fact it makes me wonder if you didn't set James, Lily, and I up to die! You've certainly put the entire school at risk every year I've attended and sent me right at whatever the buggering hell it was that threatened everyone! On that note I want whatever parts of the Basilisk I killed in second year are still usable. I bet my husband could use some of it in his potions experiments. Experiments he will now be doing at home. I am the dominant and he is pregnant. I will not allow him back inside Hogwarts while you are still a staff member or otherwise a resident even if I probably own a quarter of the castle or more since I pulled Gryffindor's sword out of the hat to kill said basilisk that you ignored ! GET OUT!!! "
The last two words were saturated with magic and Harry instinctively swept up the entire group of intruders before magically dumping them far away and straight into a sewage area of the Thames. Voldemort and Harry collapsed almost in tandem as they finally ran out of strength from the magic surges and actions during the short battle and momentary occupation of the manor. Severus found himself trapped by the bodies of two unconscious wizards.
"~All you have left is a dry bite but you drove off the mongoose,~" Nagini muttered mournfully, completely ignoring the fact that the only two who could understand her had just passed out from magical exhaustion due to accidental magic.
The two were quickly put to bed in the bolt hole and the goblins contacted to both resurrect the wards and start the ball rolling on pressing charges. No one was surprised that Dumbledore had either hidden, destroyed, or simply ignored the paperwork giving Voldemort custody of Harry. Voldemort's tearful reaction was also found to have been due to a miscast spell from the Auror Harry had accidentally killed when the idiot had physically hit Severus. Somehow in ignoring Harry's legal requirement to be taught about being Voldemort's Heir Dumbledore had convinced himself that the entire situation was a trick. All the dark-siders could conclude was that the man was delusional and loosing what little grip on reality he had.
"That man is on a serious power trip," Lucius muttered angrily as they waited for the two to wake. He had been gleeful about sending the notice of Dumbledore's attack to the goblins and the added charges they wanted to press. With the document Dumbledore had signed for the goblins acknowledging his lack of hold on Harry the man would be paying a hefty price for breaching it. Sometimes it really payed to go through the goblins for things like this.
Narcissa was the one to remind him that the Goblins had already awarded Harry ownership of nearly everything Dumbledore had owned at the start of the summer. This made him wonder if he could use the newly incurred debt and circumstances to get the board to dismiss the man from the Headmastership. Dumbledore's arrest after this latest attack on the manor had actually fulfilled one of Harry's original requirements to Voldemort about potentially trusting him when the young man had first opened his birthday presents. The rest of the summer passed mostly peacefully.
Afterword
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