Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting. End of semester grading is rough!

It was the first day of Christmas break and Sirius and Remus sat Harry down in the sitting room, a steaming cup of tea on the side table waiting for him. "Cub, we need to talk," Remus began gravely.

"Uh oh, what happened? Did someone die?!" Harry asked, looking at their solemn expressions. "When? I can bring them back if it was soon and we hurry!"

Sirius cleared his throat nervously. "There aren't any bodies…It's your relatives, the Dursleys," he began.

"The Dursleys? What happened?" Harry asked, starting to figure out exactly what must have happened as his eyes narrowed and he felt a distinct lack of Tom in the back of his mind.

"They just disappeared one day. Your cousin is still there, he went to live with his aunt, but Vernon and Petunia disappeared, and no one's heard from them since," Remus explained in a tone that was trying to be sad, but wasn't quite getting there.

Harry's eyes narrowed even more, and he stood up angrily. "Dad! You get your arse over here to Grimmauld! We need to have words!" He yelled within his head and verbally. He knew Tom got the message, the door was open, and he was very loud.

"Who're you talking to pup?" Sirius asked as he looked around the empty room.

"Dad?" Remus asked, looking around like James might suddenly appear.

"I told him," Harry seethed as the floo flared in the room. Harry whipped around to start yelling, but Snape walked in instead of Tom. "Don't tell me he sent you instead," Harry glared.

Snape held his hands up in a surrender with a smirk on his face. "He's coming right behind me, but I wouldn't miss this confrontation for all the gold in Gringotts," he said as he elegantly sank into an armchair to watch the show.

"What's up?" Remus leaned over and asked Snape as Harry continued to stare angrily at the floo.

"Someone's in trouble," Snape told him out of the corner of his mouth.

The floo flared again and Evan Shade strode out, not looking apologetic at all. "You!" Harry jabbed him in the chest with his finger. "I told you not to kill the Dursleys! You can't just go murdering people! You better have one hell of a good reason, or I'll hex you so much Snape will be feeding you through a straw!"

Tom's smug look turned into a glower. "Harry James Potter, you are grounded for talking to me that way!"

Sirius and Remus stared at the DADA professor who had decided to ground their ward out of the blue. "You can't do that!" Harry yelled back.

"Oh yes I can!" Tom turned it back around. "One week, you can't go anywhere without telling Sirius or Remus first!"

"But…!"

"Nagini will tell me if you do," he crossed his arms and stared at his son sternly.

::Of course, Master:: Nagini hissed from where she was curled behind the couch. ::I will keep an eye on my naughty hatchling::

::Thank you my dear:: Tom hissed back. ::You are a goddess with scales::

::Traitor:: Harry added accusingly to Nagini.

"Don't you turn this on her!" Tom shot back at him. "Your tone was uncalled for!"

Sirius and Remus were gaping full on at Tom speaking to Nagini in Parseltongue. "Who…?" Sirius stared, not knowing how to finish.

"How do you murder two people and I'm the one that gets grounded?!" Harry grumbled.

"Because…you were outvoted, remember," Tom explained tersely. "James and Lily asked me to take care of them since they couldn't. I told you that I'd do whatever your mum and da asked of me, and this and to look after you were the only things they asked. I won't let them down."

"Still…" Harry began again.

"Ok, you were outvoted by the dead, how about the living?" Tom motioned to Sirius and Remus. "Shall we ask them?"

Not hearing an answer from Harry, Tom turned to Sirius and Remus. "You both know what it means that Harry was able to become a necromancer, especially so young. I know exactly what those monsters did to him as well as James and Lily who have been watching over him. As you know, Harry summoned them for the third level of necromancy, and they asked me to do what I did. Do you support me in this, or did I go too far?"

The two men looked to each other. "Harry's my cub," Remus responded with a bit of a growl. "Moony has wanted to go after them for months now."

"I hope you tortured them first," Sirius agreed with a short nod.

"Professor…surely you don't…?" Harry turned to the only other person in the room.

Snape was cleaning his nails unconcernedly. "Oh, I helped," was the response he delivered with a dangerous grin.

"Fine," Harry huffed as he crashed onto the couch beside Remus.

"One week," Tom reminded Harry as he turned to Sirius and Remus with a nod.

"Who are you?" Sirius finally finished his question from earlier.

Tom smiled at them both. "I'm Harry's dad. He asked me to be just before he met you, but I've been looking out for him since his parents died. I only wish I could have taken care of the Dursleys much sooner."

"And why didn't you?" Remus seemed stunned, he knew that Harry had known this man for a long time. He was just too young though to have been caring for Harry, younger than even Charlie Weasley he would guess.

"He's only had a body since this past summer. He lived in my head before then," Harry explained, still put-out.

"He lived in your head?!" Sirius and Remus both exclaimed.

"Have you ever heard of horcruxes?" Snape asked them, still in a bored tone.

Sirius and Remus both glanced towards the entryway where Sirius's mother's portrait used to be. "Yes, we have. What does that have to do with all this?" Sirius asked.

"I was a horcrux," Harry sighed and motioned towards Tom. "Siri, Remy, meet Tom Riddle, formerly known as Lord Voldemort."

Both men were immediately standing with their wands trained on the former Dark Lord. "Um, Love? A little help here?" Tom asked Harry.

"You did just ground me," Harry smirked at him.

"Please just put him out of his misery, or he'll be pouting all night thinking you hate him," Snape rolled his eyes.

"All right," Harry chuckled. "Siri, Remy, stand down. He's not evil. The main soul piece out there definitely is, but this version is good…or well, as good as he can be, I guess."

"What does that mean?" Remus asked confused and still with his wand pointed at Tom's chest.

"Tom's been in my head since he tried to kill me as a baby," Harry explained. "My soul healed his. He had gone crazy over the years. So, this version is sane. The one running around out there leading the Death Eaters is completely bonkers. This version has saved my life at least like 6 times and is trying to help me get rid of the other version."

"You actually trust him?" Sirius asked Snape incredulously.

"He lived in Potter's brain for more than 14 years, and the boy seems more well-adjusted than a severely abused necromancer has any right to be, so yeah, I think he's been looking out for your pup or whatever," Snape said unconcernedly. "Plus, his mind is still linked to Potter's even though he has a body. The fact is…we didn't actually kill the Dursleys. If we had, Potter would have known about it. Tom can't do anything that drastic without the emotion bleeding through their link."

"Wait…you didn't kill them?" Harry asked, shocked. "Why didn't you just say that?!"

"Let's just say…no one will ever find them again. So, basically, they're like dead," Tom shrugged unconcernedly.

"I may have had to buy another tank," Snape smirked. "I may also forget to close the lid one day when P.C. is out. He is a very curious cat you know."

Remus laughed and finally lowered his wand. "Let me guess, mice this time?"

Tom smirked at him with a little shrug. "I am very good at Transfiguration."

"Oh please, he's good at everything," Harry rolled his eyes. "You know how difficult it is to have a bloody genius living in your brain who insists you study all the time and won't give you test answers?!"

Sirius laughed and sat on the couch with Harry. Then, he did something that probably caused hell to freeze over just a bit. "Snape, Tom, how about staying for dinner? I think I'd like to hear more about your adventures in Harry's mind."

Hell froze the rest of the way over when Tom glanced over to Snape hopefully who just rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Sure, we'll stay for dinner."

"Awesome!" Harry exclaimed before looking over to the clock on the mantle. "I have to go feed Nagini, Bella, and Cissy first. Don't kill each other before I get back!" Harry instructed before rushing upstairs.

"You didn't just turn them into mice, right?" Sirius asked pointedly to Tom once Harry was out of earshot. "I mean…you're a Dark Lord…and he's a Death Eater…"

Tom shrugged and sat in the armchair. "It's highly probable that a lot happened between the time we entered the house and they became mice. I don't think that's something Harry needs to be bothered about though."

"Indeed," Snape smirked again. "I noticed he didn't ask if he could keep them as pets. That could be construed as progress."

"Or trauma," Remus grumbled.

"Right, well, I may have been insane at the time, but I do still remember how to expertly torture someone, and Sev can be very creative when he puts his mind to it," Tom smiled, deceptively innocently. "I think we can all sleep a little easier tonight where they are concerned."

"Now, what will keep me up," Sirius began with an unreadable look at Tom. "You lived in Harry's head up until the past summer? So, you lived here with us for two years, and we didn't know?"

"Yes, only you three, Charlie, and Luna know. Luna figured it out first, of course. Charlie thought I was a ghost when he caught Harry talking to a projection of me before I got a body, but he's been surprisingly supportive. I'll need to sit him down for a dad talk sometime soon," Tom mused. "I do believe Harry has a bit of a crush on him."

"A bit," Sirius snorted. "Oh please, he's been mooning over that man for a couple years now even if he won't admit it."

"He's still too young," Remus shook his head. "And there is the age gap."

"Hence the dad talk," Tom nodded. "Unless you want to…" He offered to Sirius.

"No please! You can take that one. Remy, I delegate the sex talk to you," Sirius looked at his friend with terror in his eyes.

"Er, I covered that before fourth year," Tom offered.

Snape snorted in amusement and they all looked at him. "Sorry," he said, repressing laughter. "I was just picturing the Dark Lord as he is now sitting Potter down for the sex talk."

That was why Harry found them all recovering from laughter when he reentered the room. "What'd I miss?"

"Little Master, dinner is served," Kreacher interrupted, as usual only acknowledging Harry.

It was awkward, but at least not antagonistic as the five settled around the large table in the kitchen for dinner, they never used the formal dining room since Sirius and Remus had turned it into a dueling room. Tom and Harry looked at each other, having a silent conversation before they turned to the group, a look of stubbornness on both their faces.

"I caught that!" Sirius exclaimed. "You were just talking to each other in your minds, right? That's so weird!"

"Indeed, it also gets very annoying after a while," Snape drawled. They both shot him glares, but he smirked at them unrepentantly.

"So, cub, Tom, maybe you can tell us a little about your relationship," Remus started.

"Sorry, Remy, no go," Harry shook his head. "Whether you realized it or not, you've known Dad as long as you've known me. I relayed most of his comments in conversations, unless he was being a prat of course." Tom shot him a playful glare. "We, however, have had questions since I was eleven, so we win out."

"What do you mean, cub?" Remus asked in confusion.

"Yeah, we really want to know about the Dark Lord that's been living in your head," Sirius frowned with a bit of a pout.

"Later," Harry continued with the stubborn look. "Look, Mum and Da won't tell us and Snape won't tell us, now that we have you all sitting together, someone is going to tell us what exactly happened between you all. I mean, we know you were bullies, which you will apologize for, by the way," Harry shot an accusatory glare to Sirius and Remus. "But, something else had to have gone on for the sheer level of animosity between you all."

"Yeah, even insane me doesn't hate Dumbledore as much as you all hate each other," Tom added in. "So, what gives?"

"About that," Sirius started as he and Remus shared looks of shame and fear. "I, um, really want to apologize Snape about the werewolf incident. Remy had no clue what was going on, but I was an idiot. You didn't deserve that, and I know now I should have been expelled or arrested or something. I'm so sorry."

"Werewolf incident?" Harry asked, trying to put the pieces together from everything he'd heard over the years. "Dumbledore told me first year that Da saved Snape's life. Does that mean you tried to feed him to Moony and Da stopped you?!"

"Did you attempt to murder Sev?!" Tom growled after Harry's question, putting an arm protectively around Snape who seemed more wary than anything else.

"Not exactly," Sirius looked very uncomfortable and shot Remus a pleading look.

"I can't help you out of this one, Padfoot. I'm sorry, myself for not stopping you all over the years and just letting it happen, even if I didn't know what was going on in this specific incident," Remus looked at Snape apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't do more to stop them."

Snape still had a strange look on his face, he seemed to accept Remus's statement, but looked between them incredulously, not saying anything. "Ok, well," Sirius started again. "I knew James would stop you. I knew you wouldn't actually make it to the shack. I wanted you to feel indebted to James, that you owed him something."

"You manipulated him into a life debt?!" Tom looked at him with shock and disgust. "That's almost worse than attempted murder!"

"It's no excuse, but I was in a really bad place then. I'm so sorry that I took it out on you, Snape," Sirius shook his head in sincerity.

"That's not it though, is it?" Harry asked, looking at Snape's expression. He had gotten used to the minute changes in the potion master's mask, and whatever went down with the werewolf incident might have been really bad, but that wasn't what he was holding against the marauders surprisingly.

Sirius and Remus looked at each other confused. "Erm, we shouldn't have targeted you as much with pranks," Sirius said, almost questioningly. "You hexed us pretty good yourself though. We still should've backed off some. Sorry about that."

Now Snape was positively glowering. "That's it?" He asked in a deceptively calm voice. "That's all you have to say?"

"I don't understand," Sirius said in frustration. "What else is there?"

"Fifth year!" Snape spat out in anger. "After the DADA OWL!"

Sirius and Remus looked questioningly at each other again. "Didn't James go after Snape that day like usual?" Remus asked Sirius. "Was that the levicorpus incident?"

"Yes, that was the bloody levicorpus incident!" Snape fumed.

"Yeah, you called Lily a mudblood then!" Sirius frowned accusingly.

"And she never talked to me again, because of you!" Snape roared.

"It was just a stupid prank, not even up there as one of the worst we played," Sirius shot back. "What's your damage?!"

With that Snape rose, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. He looked between everyone before, silently turning and stalking out of the room in anger. A couple seconds later and they heard the floo flare in the other room. "I'm missing something," Harry looked between them all with concern in his eyes.

Tom's face went from confusion, to horrified understanding. "Oh no," he said quietly.

"What Dad? Doesn't levicorpus turn you upside down? How's that worse than attempted murder by werewolf?" Harry questioned.

Tom ran his hands through his messy hair, shooting murderous looks at Sirius and Remus. "Harry, remember what I told you that first day I took you to Diagon Alley about wizarding fashion?" He asked.

Harry looked at him incredulously. "Dad, I remember a lot from that day, the goblins, meeting Snape, hell, I even remember the sandwich. Granted, that's probably because I hadn't eaten in a few days, but still why would you think I'd remember a random comment you made when I was 10?"

Tom rolled his eyes as Sirius and Remus looked at the teen in horror about the sandwich comment. "I explained that the open robes were a new fashion. Closed robes would have been the fashion back when Sev was in school. I remember on hot days, most students didn't bother to wear trousers under their robes since it was too stifling. Actually, I had a friend…Rosier, I think it was, that didn't even wear undergarments. Do not ask me how I found that out!"

"He was wearing undergarments!" Sirius said indignantly. "I don't get the problem here."

Everyone turned to Harry as he started to glow slightly. It was a dark glow with darkness mixed into the light. "Calm down, son," Tom warned, realizing Harry was losing control.

"No, I will NOT calm down," Harry growled in anger at Sirius and Remus.

"At least reign your magic in a bit," Tom placed a hand on Harry arm. "Kreacher would like to keep the kitchen as it is."

The dark glowing diminished, but Harry glared as angry as ever. "Please explain what's wrong, pup," Sirius gaped at the power rolling off his godson.

"Well," Harry sneered. "Completely disregarding the fact that what you did was at the very least sexual harassment if not assault," he started and then rose. To all their surprise, Harry pulled his t-shirt off and slammed it on the table, baring his scarred torso.

Sirius and Remus looked in horror at the scars crisscrossing every inch of the teen's chest and stomach. "I've lived with you both for over two years now, and this is the first time you've seen me without my shirt?" They both nodded dumbly. "I've lived with Ron for five years, and he's not seen me without a shirt once," Harry continued glaring.

Remus's mouth dropped open as understanding started showing in his eyes, but Sirius still looked confused. Harry stared at his godfather. "You would flip me upside down in front of my friends and classmates and show them all my scars when I've spent the past five years making damned sure they didn't see them? Would you do that to me?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, Harry. I'd never do that to you, ever!"

"Then why would you do it to anyone else? Why would you do it to Snape?" Harry accused as he grabbed his shirt and violently pulled it back over his head. "Look. I know I'm grounded," he almost sneered. "I'm spending the night at Snape's though," it wasn't a question. "I'll be back tomorrow, but I think I need to leave before I say anything I can't take back."

He turned to storm to the door but stopped at the doorframe. "If you want to keep me in your lives, you have to realize that Dad and Snape are both part of this family. You need to make things right because you won't like my decision if you make me choose."

A couple seconds later and the floo flared, signaling Harry's angry exit. "Merlin, what did we do?" Sirius breathed out in a horrified sigh.

"You know we have to make this right," Remus agreed. "Harry was right. We crossed a line."

Tom glared at them both. "I love Sev," he told them plainly. "You're both extremely fortunate that I'm sane and that I know Harry loves you both, even if he's angry at you. Make it right," he ordered them. "It shouldn't have taken Harry losing control like that for you to realize what you'd done. You were fifteen. Harry was saving people's lives and finishing his mastery in Necromancy at fifteen. I know you were children, but that's no excuse for traumatizing other children. So…Make. It. Right." At that, Tom Riddle, gave them all one last glare before turning and following his partner and his son through the floo.

Tom stepped out of the floo at Spinners End and stared in bemusement. Severus had his arms crossed and was frowning down at Harry who was spilling salt in a circle on his sitting room floor. "Hey, you ok?" Tom asked quietly, coming up behind his lover.

Snape gave a short nod without answering. "I'm just checking, but he's not summoning a demon or something, right?" Snape asked, still frowning at the necromancer who was drawing runes with the salt now.

Tom put an arm around Snape and snorted in amusement. "No, that's the twelfth level of Necromancy. That is a spirit summoning circle. I have a feeling we're going to chat with Lily and James soon."

Snape gave a sigh as if the demon might have been better. "Ok, so while I steel myself for my school bully and childhood best friend to appear, how about you tell me why you just knew off the top of your head which level of Necromancy you could summon a demon at?"

Tom grinned at him. "You have to admit, it would be pretty brilliant, and evil me wouldn't be expecting it."

"Uh huh, and when it took out half of London?" Snape raised an eyebrow that Tom thought might stick that way the number of times he did it.

He just shrugged unrepentantly though. "Harry would take care of it before then."

Snape looked at his boyfriend in utter bemusement and a little concern. He was extremely thankful that Harry was the one to master Necromancy and that Tom wasn't able to. Tom was looking at Harry questioningly though. "Harry…you ran to the floo; how did you get your ritual bag? You know you aren't supposed to shrink those candles," Tom questioned.

"I didn't shrink my bag," Harry rolled his eyes, finally acknowledging the other two were there. "I'm not an idiot. I keep a spare bag in my room in case I need it here for some reason."

"Your…room? You mean the guest room?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, my room, that's what I said," Harry shrugged, and he pulled out the bundles of herbs, ready to start the ritual. Snape had a horror-filled image flash through his mind of a room, any room, in his house covered in Quidditch posters and Gryffindor red. "I left some Sirius-approved clothes and pajamas in the cupboard, so I should be good…drat! I forgot a toothbrush," Harry kicked himself but then shrugged. "I'll just use a cleaning charm, no worries."

Before Snape could protest the belief that Harry seemed to be under that he had a room at Spinner's End and had actually moved in, Harry had already started chanting in ancient Latin. Tom smirked at the potions master and settled himself in an armchair. He was fully aware that Harry had partially moved in and encouraged the idea, it's not like Tom was ever planning to leave Spinner's End anyway, unless Snape went with him of course.

Completely forgetting the room issue, Snape gasped in awe as a dance of shadows and light swirled around him. A swift rush of love and sadness that pieced to his soul intermingled within the bursts and swirls of light playing with shadow. "What does his magic look like?" Tom asked in fascination as his lover's eyes followed something only he could see.

"It's...it's amazing," Snape finally got out in his wonder. He reached up and brushed a tear from the corner of his eye in shock as the sadness of the magic pulled his emotions through his mask. "There are no words..."

"Harry is one of a kind," Tom concluded in love.

After the rush of Harry's black magic, Snape was not mentally prepared for James Potter and Lily Evans…well Potter, appeared in his sitting room. "I'm so so so sorry, Snape!" James exclaimed before anyone had time to say anything. "For everything, and I mean everything!"

Something about his nemesis being dead and being a spirit surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, tempered Snape's anger at him a bit. It might also have had something to do with Harry looking so much like James and worming his way, against his will, firmly into his heart. "I remember throwing some nasty hexes and curses your way as well," Snape finally sighed as Lily looked at him with sad eyes. "I'm not saying I forgive you, but maybe it's possible for us to get past this eventually."

"I'm sorry for not staying by you, Sev!" She exclaimed quickly. "Maybe I could have changed things so you didn't end up where you did."

Now, Snape was still very angry at James, just not violently so. Black and Lupin…well, there was still some violent aggression in there. Lily, now there was only love for his lost friend. "Lily, you were a child. You are not responsible for bad decisions I made in my life. I'm sorry for calling you that name and for throwing away our friendship on my end as well," he looked at her with longing eyes. "I've missed you."

"Oh Sev! I've missed you too," she looked like she really wanted to hug her friend.

"Wow, we really do look a lot alike!" Tom randomly exclaimed as he compared himself to James.

"Yeah, I love the hair," James smirked at him.

"Ergh! It's the worst! How did you live with it?!" Tom exclaimed dramatically.

"Boys! I love that we're all getting along right now, but we never have much time when Harry summons us and James and I have important news," Lily looked at them all sternly.

"Is it about Dumbledore, Mum?" Harry asked as he grinned like a madman at his little family all getting along. Especially after the fiasco of dinner an hour earlier.

James gave him a long-suffering look. "I've seen way more of the headmaster than I've ever wanted to ever! Following him around is not how I want to spend my afterlife."

"So, is he a light wizard or dark?" Harry asked, wanting to finally resolve the question.

"Light, definitely," Lily nodded and then rolled her eyes when Harry held out a hand and Tom passed a galleon to him with a huff.

"Explain the phoenix then," Tom crossed his arms and ignored Snape who was smirking at him losing the bet.

"Maybe we should back up and tell what we noticed from the start. There was quite a lot," James suggested to Lily before she explained.

"Yes, we probably should," she nodded after a moment. "Ok, so first, he's going a bit crazy over the horcruxes, just so you know. We saw him try to do a soul-magic summoning spell to get what we think was the ring. First of all, it doesn't exist anymore, so it wouldn't work, but it never would have anyway. He's pants at dark magic. Maybe he knows mind magic, but he's lost at soul magic."

"By the way, what did you do with all the vessels when you removed the horcruxes?" James asked Harry.

Harry gave him a sheepish smile. "I wasn't really sure what to do with them, so they're just hanging out in my school trunk right now."

"Are you saying that priceless founders' artifacts are just piled in your school trunk with your spare quills and undergarments?" James asked with a mix of amusement and shock.

"Founders' artifacts?" Snape asked, never having been told what the horcruxes were actually in.

"Yeah, I was a bit of a pompous egotist," Tom shrugged.

"Was?!" Harry clarified with a laugh.

"Anyway," Tom ignored him. "Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and Ravenclaw's diadem were three of my horcruxes."

Snape turned to Harry in surprise. "They're in your trunk?!"

Harry threw his hands up in exasperation. "Yes! Please, people, there are so many wards and jinxes on my trunk that Gringotts would be impressed. Seamus touched it once and was unconscious for two hours. No one's touched it since."

"He's not lying," Tom agreed. "He added all the ones I knew and a few he found in some fairly nasty books in the Black library."

"What else did you find out about Dumbledore?" Harry tried to get them back on track impatiently.

"Well, he's pretty sure about the horcruxes and seems beyond distressed that he can't find any," Lily continued. "There is something really very concerning we found out though. Harry, we think he's suffering from dementia."

"He has something, and it's our best guess based on his symptoms," James continued.

"Is it being treated?" Snape asked, worriedly.

Lily nodded. "He's taking potions, but our guess is that he's had it a while. Dementia is much better treated in the wizarding world than the muggle, but it's still degenerative, and he's starting to show signs. He slipped in front of McGonagall and when she called him on it, he took a potion and then obliviated her."

"What?!" Harry and Snape both exclaimed.

"So, he's going the unethical route," Tom nodded calmly. "I'm surprised McGonagall would even notice him doing something strange. This is Dumbledore we're talking about."

"Of course, he's going the unethical route," Snape sneered. "Else he would have me make his potions. He's probably planning on covering this as long as humanly possible."

"But what about Fawkes, you still haven't explained that," Tom prodded, knowing Snape was right.

"Get this…" James started with an excited gleam in his eyes. "Fawkes, isn't his familiar!"

"Really?!" Harry asked disbelievingly. "Why's he always hanging around the headmaster then? And how do you know he isn't his familiar?"

"Familiars will always come when called by their master," Lily explained. "We watched Dumbledore call Fawkes for fifteen minutes to carry a letter for him before the phoenix appeared in an annoyed huff. If you were in Antarctica and called Hedwig, she'd get there just as soon as possible, and remember a phoenix can travel in the blink of an eye."

"We think he's keeping an eye on Dumbledore for someone," James concluded without much conviction. "He seems to be watching the headmaster and reporting to someone at least. We can't really haunt anyone we don't know though. We aren't ghosts, so we can only keep an eye on people we know and had a close relationship with in our lives."

Tom stared at Harry thinking. "Fawkes likes you a lot, so I'm willing to believe he's a friend and not a foe for now. I think we'd do well to not talk about anything very important in front of him though."

"Agreed," Harry nodded. "Anything else, we're running out of time?" He asked as a candle sputtered.

"No, we'll still keep an eye on Dumbledore, unfortunately," James grimaced.

"Call us again soon, honey. We'd like to just chat more about you and your life," Lily smiled at Harry.

"Of course, Mum."

"I'm sorry again, Snape," James nodded at him.

"I love you, my friend," Lily smiled a teary smile at her friend.

"I love you too, Lily," Severus smiled back.

"Take care of our baby," Lily said in parting to Tom as they both disappeared from the room.

Harry let out a loud sigh and collapsed on the couch, quickly followed by his dad who put an arm around him and cuddled the teen to his side. "I'm not a child, Dad," Harry huffed but cuddled in closer anyway.

"That was…a lot," Snape said, running his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, you both talk about it. I'm going to sleep," Harry closed his eyes with a smile. "At least I've gotten past black magic hangovers for summoning. The tiredness still gets me though."

"Sleep, I'll carry you to your room later," Tom said with a smirk to Snape at the mention of the room. The potions master just rolled his eyes and sat more comfortably in the armchair.

Tom and Snape looked up in surprise at the crack that resounded throughout the room. Seeing Kreacher, they put their wands back down. Tom made a shushing sound at the elf, motioning to where Harry was still asleep curled up beside him. "What do you need, Kreacher?" Tom whispered.

The elf just looked at them sheepishly then snapped his fingers. Tom and Snape glanced at each other and shrugged uncaringly. Seeing the shrugs, Kreacher gave them a terrifyingly evil grin before disapparating once more, but this time carrying a tank with two white mice in it. "Well, that solves that problem," Snape snorted and went back to the potions journal he was reading.

"You don't happen to keep a few mice on hand for potions experiments do you?" Tom whispered back at him. "You know, just in case Harry asks to see them."

Snape gave him a mischievous smirk. "Of course, I keep mice on hand. He won't ask though," Snape assured him, knowingly.

Up Next: The new History of Magic professor...