Harry's first instinct was to rip the golden gryffin from Snape's skin, but when he reached for his magic, his stomach revolted. He barely managed to keep his feet and his breakfast.
"Your mother," Snape said stroking the golden griffin on his forearm, "had a gryffin as her animagus transformation, did you know that?" He looked up at Harry with a look of wonder. "Thank you."
"Don't." Harry shook his head. His murderous glare made Snape flinch back. "Why do you think I would do a single thing for you? Much less mark you with anything to connect you to her. My mother. Who you raped and murdered."
Avoiding the pure hate in Harry's gaze, Snape looked at the others in the room and paused on Draco. Something passed between them. Draco nodded. Snape smiled and sank to his knees.
"I, Severus Snape untethered ex-Death Eater, do pledge my undying loyalty to you, Harry James Potter, son of Lily Evans, the woman I loved, and redeemer of my soul. I offer myself as liegeman under my godson and want only to be of use in your fight against the dark and right my wrongs."
Harry laughed, a cold biting sound. "Right your wrongs? You don't have the right to say her name, much less claim you loved her. If I hadn't needed the ink and the magic it held to restore the book I would have left the brand.
"The mark might be gone, but your hands are far from clean. I don't forgive crimes against my family. Why do you deserve so much as to lick my boot?" he asked.
"I don't," Snape said, head bowed. "But I took her from you. The best of humanity." His eyes glassed over, but his voice remained strong. "The least I can do on my road to redemption is protect her son with my life. She was the purest, most dedicated person I have ever met and I see more and more of her in you each day. I will do anything, be anything. All I want is to help you reform the world."
The entire room held its breath.
He spent a long moment considering. Snape would be useful, but did his need to be in service to someone reflect badly on him? Could he think and act independently as Draco and Neville had proven themselves capable? Could he afford for Snape to seek a bond of service to someone else?
He believed him. But he couldn't trust him.
"I will not have you as a liegeman. That bond holds too much honour." In reality, Harry's skin crawled at the idea of being bound to the worm before him at all. "I will accept a vow on your magic of service and protection, but I offer no bond."
"More than fair, my Lord." He held out his hand.
With a steadying breath, Harry offered his right hand as well, and helped Snape to his feet.
"Draco," Harry said, voice ice. "We need a witness."
Draco stood between them and placed the tip of his wand on their joined hands.
"Do you, Severus Snape vow to be loyal to me and my own above all others without thought, act, or word against us?"
"I so vow."
A tongue of flame poured from Draco's wand to bind their hands.
"Do you vow to serve any order from me or from my own to the letter and without question or attempts to circumvent the intent with which the order is given?"
"I so vow."
Another tongue of flame bit into their skin.
"Do you vow to protect me and my loved ones from harm with your very life?"
"I so vow." To Snape's credit, he did not hesitate, his voice rang clear, and not a drop of uncertainty beaded on his brow.
A third tongue of flame shot from the wand and joined the others to complete the complex knot around their joined hands.
"The pact is so then sealed," Draco intoned.
The fire melted into their hands and Harry dropped Snape's immediately.
"Go find something useful to do before my magic recharges and I kill you by accident," Harry said.
With a nod, Snape left the room in quick strides.
"Best get this done." Harry took a single step and fell to his knees.
"Later," Draco said as he helped him to his feet. "I'm sure there's magic involved and we all need a rest."
The idea of touching his core made him ill. Not trusting that only words would pour from his mouth. Harry nodded his consent. The crystal stag waited on the other side of the door to help his girls get him to bed.
About twenty hours later, Harry woke fully recharged. For a moment he lay awake marveling at his core. It had doubled as he slept. Using other's magic as he had yesterday had never permanently expanded is core before. Was it the shear amount of power? The different types?
Even three years ago after he drained both Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy, it would have taken him a week to recuperate after depleting his energy to the same extent. Plus it would have killed him to even attempt to mend the book. At fifteen, he'd known he'd become the most powerful documented magical in the world.
What did that make him now? Ever since Lily had pumped him full of magic the night he'd gotten Hermione back, he'd felt his core expand by about the size of the average eleven year old whose core had just begun to mature each night. And that was without the major permanent expansion he'd gotten from draining so many Death Eaters.
If his core kept expanding, what sort of monster would he become? He shivered.
Hermione got up from the chair by the bed she'd been reading in by candlelight. She retrieved the blanket that he'd kicked off in his sleep and spread it over him. With a surprised yelp from her, he pulled Hermione into bed with him and held her to his chest.
"Feeling better?" she asked.
He breathed in the top of her head. Lavender, leather books, and pine. "I am now."
Luna came in to join their pile.
"We'll keep you human," she said to dispel the aftertaste of his fears. "That's what we're here for."
"But what if the power drives me mad? I don't think you realize how close I still am to killing Snape. I'm not a good person. Not anymore. Not since draining Voldemort and Lucius to completion."
Hermione held his face between both hands and stared into his emerald eyes. "You are the best person I know because you recognize the darkness inside you and fight it every day."
"Do you think Draco or Neville even would have let Snape live after he confessed what he did much less accepted any sort of tie to him?" Luna added.
"Maybe not Draco, but Neville would have. Probably without setting off a magical bomb in the room. It would have been easier on all of us if I had saved that power for the book. I'm sorry."
"Ask him, "Luna said. "When we see him in five minutes, ask him what he would have done."
Harry promised he would.
"And you didn't take too much from the rest of us." Hermione said. "Somehow you tapped into not just the faculty, but the students as well. You spread the load out enough that no one was drained half as badly as you."
"You're sure? You ran a head count?"
"Pomfrey checked everyone with the aid of the elves. Everyone got the second half of the day off and were feeling themselves by dinner," Lund assured him.
The mention of elves had him sit bolt upright.
"Cismey. Harly. Bring Lily." The three elves popped into the room and gave their master and mistresses polite curtsies. Even Lily.
"Lily?" Harry said. "You're so big!"
House elf children grew rapidly. What magical would call a six year old stood before him in a miniature sundress version of the uniform. The tips of her pale blueish ears, smaller than other elves, barely poked through the tangle of black hair that fell to her waist. She wore a sheepish grin that made her turquoise eyes shine.
Harry opened his arms and the small girl leapt into his arms. He ran diagnostic spells on her while she giggled under his tickle assault. Even for an elf, she grew twice as fast as she ought, but he couldn't find anything wrong with her. His last spell revealed that her core behaved like a mix of an elven and magical core. She fed off the ley lines, but as she'd demonstrated the day before, she could turn that energy into a form of power Harry could use.
And her core dwarfed his.
It seemed to be fixed, unlike his, but the amount of power she could hold and wield would frighten him if he couldn't feel the purity of her soul and the deep love and respect she had for him. He sent her love back in spades.
"Harly, take her to Ollivanders after we talk. This kid needs a wand."
Lily's eyes grew wide and impossibly brighter. His mother's eyes stared at him with joy and wonder, a shade of green Harry hadn't seen outside a mirror.
"She also needs a teacher. You're not to use that wand until your mom is ready to send you to me for training. You got that little miss?"
"Yes Papa."
"Lily," Harly said. "Remember what we talk about. You call him Harry or Master."
"It's alright," Harry said as Lily sent him her image of him. A memory of the day she was born. She remembered bonding him and knowing she would have died without him. She knew Dobby was her dad, but Harry would always be her papa no matter what Mom made her call him. She was part witch and that part had been born from their bond. He truly was another parent to her. One she'd only met once but whose love and support sung loudly in the back of her brain her whole life.
"I'm so sorry I've missed so much darling."
She lay her forehead against his.
"You haven't. I've felt you. You've taught me so much and helped me grow strong."
Hermione's eyes widened at the young girls' speech. She'd begun teaching those elves that wanted to learn proper English grammar. They were eager students but made little progress. Their brains were wired for the grammatical structure of their own language. That said, if the physical differences Lily showed were any indication, she might be a bit more human than the others. Curious.
"Harly not have much more to teach Lily about being proper elf," Harly said. "She be smart and learn as fast as she grow. Harly send Lily once she have wand."
"Thank you Harly. I'll send her home every night."
Lily's brow furrowed at that, but Harly beamed.
"Harry be careful. Harly good elf and try to teach proper manners, but Lily be trouble maker."
"Mom," Lily whined.
Harry laughed. "I'd expect nothing less of my daughter."
Lily's eyes widened and filled with tears. He rocked her in his arms as he turned to Cismy.
"All of you helped me a great deal last night by sending me power through Lily. Is anyone hurt?"
"No Master. Everyone be tired. Cismy know you want elves at their best, close Potter Apparel and all other buisnesses elves be running for one day. Potter elves be strong," she puffed out her chest with pride, "and many be normal and working again."
"Good." Harry said. "Keep today short just to make sure there are no long term effects. And do not let anyone overwork themselves for a few days. Not even you."
She smirked and gave a curtsey before she popped away.
"Alright Lil" Harry said. "Time to go get your wand." He gave her a squeeze before letting her go. "But I want you to meet Hermione and Luna. They're my soulmates and I'm sure they'll love you just as much as I do. Hermione was there when you were born."
"I know," she said and reached for Hermione. She gave the girl her hand.
Once their fingers touched, Harry felt their bond form. Hermione gasped.
Lily's hair grew wavy, which somehow cut down on the crazy angles it stuck out at, and took on notes of copper. When she opened her eyes, the outside ring of her irises had turned from dark turquoise to match the brilliant gold flecks that speckled Hermione's hazel eyes.
She reached for Luna. Once more, the bond formed. Her cheeks and hands took on Luna's delicate bone structure and the inner ring of her iris around her pupils grew violet.
Luna threw back her hair to show off delicately pointed ears. With a squeal of either delight or shock, Hermione found hers had grown pointed too.
"Sorry," Lily said. "I didn't know the physical change would go both ways. I suppose you're both a little bit elf now."
"And proud of it," Hermione said. "Thank you Lily."
Luna winked. "Ditto."
Lily beamed. "I'm excited to get two new mamas."
Tears threatened to spill from Hermione's eyes as her little girl hopped out of bed and popped away with her mother.
"Are we really?" she asked.
"You swapped genetics and formed a spiritual bond. I'm not sure how much more real it could be." Harry stretched, kissed both his women, and got out of bed. What about him had changed when he bonded Lily, he wondered.
"Your core," Luna said. "It grew, but it also adapted to be a bit more house elf to accept the modified ley line energy. Even with our new bonds and her modified core, Lily couldn't feed us energy like she does you."
Harry slid into a meditative state while he pulled on fresh clothes to examine his core more closely. Luna was right. Along with the mutation that allowed him to absorb magic, which Sirius believed had been triggered when Petunia's abuse cracked his core open to absorb raw energy unlike he'd been able to do since, a gentle glow ringed his core that changed Lily's unique energy to his own magical signature. If the two started to work in concert, he thought idly, he might be able to absorb power from normal elves, which he couldn't imagine doing, or maybe the ley lines themselves. As if he needed more power.
Luna pulled him back to reality by opening the door to the front room where Draco and Neville sprang to opposite ends of the couch like two teenagers that had been caught making out by their parents. Both stood as Harry entered.
"How are you feeling, my Lord?" Draco asked. Harry clapped him on the shoulder.
"Well my friend. Have you eaten? I'm famished."
After the elves had brought them a large meal despite it being around one in the morning, they sat in the living room chatting and eating together like the family they had become. Some tension lingered between Draco and the girls, but each trusted the other would fight to the last for them. Every family had its ongoing conflicts. Harry smiled. His heart light.
At Luna's pointed look, his moment of peace ended with a sigh.
"Neville," he said, "if you learned what I had about Snape's past knowing you needed him to restore the book and after that he would make a powerful ally, what would you have done in my place?"
The room went quiet. Neville spent so long in contemplation that Draco spoke.
"If you'd also like my opinion my Lord?"
Harry inclined his head.
"Those beasts you made would have torn him to shreds. Consequences be damned. It would be slow. Hell, the only thing that kept me from killing him was our bond and your obvious restraint."
Neville nodded along, concentration still writ large on his face.
"Restraint?!" Harry sputtered.
"Nothing in that magical hurricane so much as touched any of us," Neville said. "And I would have to agree, my Lord. He may have lived long enough to restore the book, but certainly not much longer. I wanted to punch him when he asked to join us." Neville's formidable fists clenched. "I probably would not have the stomach for torture," he shot a wry grin at Draco, "but he would not have walked out of that room."
"You set the standard for all of us, my Lord," Draco said. "Even for the brave, loyal, and true Gryffindorks." He grinned at Neville and Hermione. Like that the tension broke. They all laughed a little too hard and went back to their meal.
When the others went to bed, Harry stayed up to work.
He did cuddle up to his scantily clad women for a time, but after sleeping for twenty hours, his mind raced.
Though he understood goblins better than any magical he knew, except Neville as luck would have it, the queen made it clear he lacked fundamental knowledge.
After a few hours and several scribbled notes and questions to ask Neville about, he turned to plans for the university. The new dorms were finished. He had decided Daphne's final test would be leaking the plans in a way that got the student body excited. He sent a magical message to her wand asking her to spread the news. He would make an official announcement in a few days. Though the university had been the impetus, the longer the Conglomerate roamed free in their world the more impatient he grew to get the kids behind the extra defences.
He also needed confirmation from prospective professors. A week ago, he sent several proposals. Now that his win over the Death Eaters in the forest and involvement in getting Fudge canned and Amelia in office had thrust him back onto every front page, the time had come to follow up. He wrote personalized letters to all of his tutors and several renowned magicals he had never met.
With a thought, he called to Hedwig, who'd been hunting in the forest. After taking the opportunity to talk and hang out with her like he hadn't gotten a chance to do for far too long, he sent her off in a better mood with the stack of letters. He'd miss her at breakfast while she traipsed over the world for the next few days.
He felt gratitude flood through him that Hedwig had bonded with him. A normal owl would take weeks to deliver those letters and could succumb to any number of dangers along the way. As his familiar, she had taken on traits of a magical creature. Her vast intelligence grew daily. While she didn't have her own magical core, she could dip into his to increase stamina, speed, and make herself all but impervious to any natural danger.
While he wouldn't trade Hermione for anything, he cursed magic's debilitating effect on technology. The TV in his room was actually a scrying mirror with complex enchantments that tied it into any mundane television show. How much easier it would be to email everyone?
The rest of the night he spent conceptualizing how to bring the 21st century to Hogwarts.
The morning found Hermione resigned to the fact that she'd be missing more school and Luna pouting that she couldn't join them.
"McGonagall almost didn't let us see it," Harry pointed out. "Besides, you and Draco need to be seen together at some point if we're going to sell the idea that you two are a couple."
She didn't look happy, but also didn't have a retort. When they found Neville and Draco waiting for them in the hall, Luna took Draco's hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Draco paled half a shade. Neville and Harry both bit their tongues or the insides of their cheeks but said nothing.
They ate breakfast in the Great Hall to see if Daphne had gotten anyone talking about the dorm relocation. She had. The house tables were more mingled than ever as students compared the pros and cons across their various houses. If Harry and friends had eaten in the Great Hall more often, they would know that the lines between houses at meal times had grown more and more blurred since the night of the rift.
"I like being right next to the kitchens," a Hufflepuff boy said.
"House elves will bring you food anywhere on the grounds," a Ravenclaw countered.
"And think about how easy it will be to study."
"Exactly," the Hufflepuff said, "I'll have to think up a new excuse."
Though they mostly stuck to themselves more than the other houses, Slytherins seemed in favour of moving anywhere with less mold and mildew.
"I'm sick half the year," one girl said. "It'll be nice to sleep somewhere I don't have to enchant my covers to keep from freezing solid every night."
Hermione took Harry's arm as they passed the last conversation. "It's okay," she whispered, "you're changing it for the better."
With a deep breath, he undenched his jaw and fists. "But how many years have Slytherins gotten sick? How many of them have died or developed life-long illnesses from mold and cold? What sort of school has such abysmal living conditions?"
Hermione worried her lip. "I remember believing Hogwarts was the greatest place in the world. But now..."
He took her hand and squeezed. "We'll fix it."
She flashed an uncertain smile.
"I guess it's true," another Slytherin muttered just loud enough for the group to hear. "Draco has saddled himself with Loony Lovegood."
Their friend sneered. "I bet she's a hot lay."
"Hotter than Daphne?"
With a perfect mask of pureblood hauter, Draco walked over to the gossiping boys and socked each in the nose. The second boy watched his buddy fall back, mouth agape, and didn't think to bring his hands up until after he was flat on his back.
"They're ladies, not meat, "Draco said. "I would appreciate if you refrained from talking about them as such in the future."
"Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said, tone clipped. "What is the meaning of this behaviour?"
"I could not abide the way these two were talking about Luna and Daphne, ma' am."
After hearing the story from both sides, all parties walked away with detention with Snape.
"Thank you," Luna said. Her hand slipped back into his as they continued to the Gryffindor table.
"I didn't do much." After a furtive glance to ensure McGonagall sat back at the faculty table, he added, "Besides, she knows Snape's vow precludes him from having anything too horrible in store. Well, for me anyway." His grin became downright devious.
As the group took their seats, Daphne slid onto the bench with them.
"Quick work," Harry said.
"When will you announce it officially?"
"With this reception? Tomorrow. Though, my hope is we will have information we can use to find the threat today. That," he added, "is not for public consumption."
She nodded then turned to Draco and Luna. "You'll have to sell this a bit better," she said. "But this should help."
With a wordless shriek, she leapt to her feet and flung Harry's freshly poured orange juice in Draco's face before marching off with an indignant sniff.
Harry and Neville burst out laughing at Dracos stunned expression.
"I think that helped her more than me," Draco muttered before vanishing the juice from himself and the stray splotches that freckled Lunds robes. Across the hall, a teary eyed Daphne sat surrounded by sympathetic Slytherin girls.
"Will this hurt our goal to unify the houses?" Harry watched the calculated concern turn to scorn directed Draco's way.
"I don't believe so. If Daphne's smart, she'll spin this so I'm the villain and Luna is at most a bystander."
"She'd better," Harry growled.
"So," Hermione said in an attempt to distract Harry, "what fake girlfriend will we be recruiting for Neville?"
Neville laughed. "Everyone is quite used to me being alone thank you."
"I don't know, " Draco teased. "After your recent efforts they may start to question if you don't put yourself out there."
After breakfast, Harry and Hermione said their goodbyes to the others and made their way to the headmaster's office hand in hand.
"You'll be okay," Harry said to a very pale Hermione as they stood in front of the hidden entrance to the hearthstone.
"How do you know?" She stared through the empty hearth into the dim room behind the mantle.
"Because I would level this castle stone by stone before letting anything take you from my side again."
McGonagall and Hermione wore twin expressions of horror, but it broke her nerves.
Once more, Hermione placed a hand on the pulsing quartz and filled the room with song.
Harry brought out the mended journal and placed it in her free hand.
"This will work," she sang, "but you must cleanse the castle first. The magical signatures tied to this book are already at war here. If we use this to find the conglomeration of entities containing the remnant of the soul whose magic touches this book, it will be tied too strongly to this place and may walk through my wards."
With a sigh, Harry took Hermione's hand off the stone. Once she regained her faculties enough to look from the blank book in her hand to Harry, he said "Nothing's ever easy," and mentally summoned Snape.