Yo! Long time no see. It took me three whole years to write this chapter, but I finally finished it last night.

Now, before we dive in, please read this fic from the beginning. I know everyone's probably going to do that anyway because it's been so damn long, but don't skim it. I rewrote the entire thing, like, rewrote rewrote, not just edited, and added some new plot points and stuff that could confuse you in the future if you don't read back properly.

I did the rewrite because I kind of started hating this fic and the tone it had, but also didn't want to just abandon it because it has so much potential, so I settled for just redoing it. I know some people won't be happy with the new version, but I don't really care. I like it better this way. Thank you to all readers so far!

It was just after lunch the next day when Snape arrived at the manor. Tom excused himself politely when he entered the room, and led an impassive looking Snape to his study, shutting and locking the door behind them. Not that Harry had a problem with that or anything. While he was sure this was about the whole custody thing, he knew he wasn't always going to be privy to everything that was going on.

While Tom and Snape talked, Harry headed into the large library, plucking a random Defence book off one of the many shelves and settling down onto the nearest couch to read. He was too curious to know what conversation was taking place, and he was nervous about it too. He had to keep himself busy before he started overthinking the situation in a way that would make Hermione proud. ...Or terrified.

Probably terrified.

Surprisingly though, he didn't have to wait long. Exactly thirty minutes later a house-elf appeared in front of him to tell him that Tom wanted him to go to the dining hall so they could all talk. Curiosity only building, Harry thanked the house-elf (Tippy), replaced the book, and headed out.

Tom and Snape were already seated at the table, and the silence in the room wasn't quite as tense as he'd been expecting it to be. But whether that meant good news or not, Harry didn't think he could say. It was always hard to tell with these two, and even harder when they were both involved.

"Severus and I have just finished discussing the issue we spoke of yesterday," said Tom without preamble, which Harry was grateful for right now. "He has agreed to take on custody of you."

Harry blinked, actually kind of surprised. He knew this was exactly when Tom had wanted, but at the same time, this was Snape. Was he really serious? It was kind of hard to believe. For more than one reason. But he said nothing, unsure of what to say, his mouth a little dry.

"This will change very little," Tom continued, maybe noticing Harry's uncertainty. "You will remain here until you return to Hogwarts-there is no need for you to leave. I expect the public will learn of the custody change no matter how much we attempt to conceal it, and you will, no doubt, be asked about it. You can say that Severus took you to his own home after gaining custody of you. I also suspect you will have to answer many questions about that, so you will have to create a few lies to answer them."

Harry didn't doubt any of that at all. It seemed like no matter what he did, it pretty much always ended up being public knowledge, so it wasn't much of a stretch to think his custody change would end up on the front page of the Daily Prophet within twenty four hours of it becoming official. He was also definitely going to have to answer a bunch of questions about it, both from his friends and random people, so creating convincing lies to explain everything was also a must.

"There is no need for you and Severus to behave beyond professor and student once you have returned to the castle," said Tom, pulling Harry's attention back to him. "You may have to put on a facade at times though, depending on how Dumbledore reacts to the entire situation. You can remain at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter breaks, and then return here once more for summer break, telling everyone you are returning to Severus' home instead. After a month, you will turn seventeen and Severus' custody over you will disappear on its own."

Harry nodded slowly, processing the words. Honestly, none of that sounded particularly bad. Sure, there was plenty that had to be talked about, but overall, he thought he could probably handle it. Hopefully Dumbledore wouldn't freak out too much. That might make things a bit harder to deal with. But on paper...yeah, he could do this, he was sure.

But still, he felt some hesitance, and also some surprise that Snape had agreed to this at all. He looked over at said man. "Are...you sure this is really okay?"

"It...is fine," said Snape. "We can discuss things in more detail later on once we have the chance, but don't fret, I'll make no attempts to parent you."

Harry nearly laughed at that. Yeah, he honestly couldn't see Snape parenting anyone, let alone him. But this was fine. He would make this work. Or try to, at least. Snape knew more of the truth about him now, so Harry was sure he was telling the truth when he said he wouldn't try parenting him. Neither of them needed or wanted anything like that. It just wasn't necessary for either of them.

So Harry just said the only thing he could think to say. "Thank you." And he was genuinely grateful about this too.

Returning to Privet Drive was literally the last thing he wanted, and while he and Snape clearly had their differences, it was pretty telling that he was actually willing to do this. Tom had said he didn't want to force Snape into this, so this happening was fairly solid proof he'd agreed on his own. And then there was the trust factor too.

Harry didn't think Tom would have suggested Snape if he thought there was any chance Snape wasn't loyal to him. Didn't it mean Snape was on Tom's side and not Dumbledore's? That was just another good thing to add to the list, wasn't it?

"I... It is the least I can do," said Snape after a bit of an awkward pause.

Noting the way the man was very obviously avoiding his gaze, Harry decided not to press the issue and instead looked back over at Tom. "So, where does this leave us?" he asked.

Tom leaned back in his chair, looking as elegantly casual as always. "We will have to work on making the adoption legal," he said, "though I doubt that will be particularly difficult. I will also have to apply for the job at Hogwarts."

Harry blinked. "Oh, so you're really going to try infiltrating from the inside like you said before? Do you think it'll be hard to do?"

"Not in the slightest, no."

"How optimistic of you."

Tom just laughed, and Harry refused to admit, even to himself, just how much he liked the sound of it. Yes, it was better not to think about it at all.

Snape was able to take on custody of Harry surprisingly easily. Or maybe it was unsurprisingly. Harry really wasn't sure.

While he remained behind at the manor, Tom and Snape headed off to Privet Drive to...speak to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, and then left Privet Drive twenty minutes later with their signatures on the necessary papers. Snape had signed as well, with Tom acting as a witness, and a couple of well placed imperius curses were all it took to make the process quick and legal, at least in the Muggle world.

The change of Harry's magical custody took a little longer to deal with, though not by much. But three hours later, and with the help of Bill (who was using Harry's parents' wills to help), Kingsley (who Bill was vouching for and was doing the more legal parts of it), and Lucius Malfoy (who was providing the gold), everything was settled and, most important of all, official.

Admittedly, Harry didn't fully understand everything Tom told him when they talked about it later on, but he supposed it didn't matter all that much so long as everything was legal. The more legal it was, the harder it was going to be for Dumbledore to fight against it, if he chose to. But why would he?

His precious spy was Harry's new guardian, so why would he fuss? If anything, he should be happy that someone who he thought hated Harry so much had become his legal guardian, right? Wouldn't that be a better outcome for him and whatever he was planning?

Either way, as Tom had said, none of this really changed much at all. Harry stayed at the manor with Tom, and Snape (or Severus, as he was going to have to get used to calling him) just went home, saying he and Harry would talk properly once they got a little closer to September first. Not that Harry minded. He was kind of still trying to figure out how he was feeling about all of this.

He still thought it was incredibly weird that after all these years, it was Tom-it was Voldemort who'd taken him away from Privet Drive. It seemed like such an impossible situation, considering who Tom was, and who Harry himself was, and the fact that it was all really real just made it all the more confusing. But...it was confusing in a good way. Because as confusing as it was, Harry was happy. He was happy it happened, even if he wasn't sure what it was all going to lead to. All he knew was that it was definitely going to lead to something.

But unfortunately for Harry, his happiness didn't last very long. When he returned to his room after dinner that night, he found a familiar owl perched on one of the bed posts, clearly waiting for him if her welcoming hoot had anything to say about it.

"Hedwig?" She had something tied to her leg, and as Harry just stared, Hedwig hooted again, sounding a little more urgent this time. Curious and confused, he reached out and took the envelope-the envelope that looked more like ones in the Muggle world than in the wizarding world. Cocking his head slightly, Harry examined it.

It was blank, nothing written on the front or back, not even his name, and there was no seal either, which only confused him all the more. He felt a pang of unease in his gut, but he still slit the white envelope open and pulled out what looked like a torn sheet of ordinary Muggle notebook paper. Harry saw his name written in a familiar hand at the top, and his eyes immediately flicked down to the bottom to see if it was signed. It was.

"...Hermione?"

And that's it for now. Sorry for any mistakes. Eyesight's still crap and I still haven't gotten around to getting glasses yet, not that they'll fully restore my vision or anything. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter won't take three years to finish too. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!