Author's Note: Rated M for references to child abuse. If that triggers any issues, hit the back button, otherwise, enjoy!
The Daily Prophet landed in front of Harry. He glanced at it out of routine more than anything, eyes widening as he caught sight of the title page. He deliberately closed his eyes and reopened them, he needed to make sure he was really seeing this. Yep, 'Sirius Black Innocent!' was still there. He let out a whoop and jumped to his feet. He crossed the distance to the Slytherin table in seconds, tugged Draco to his feet, and kissed the blonde soundly.
He pulled back with a blush. "Ah," he breathed, he hadn't thought that through.
"Back to being a lion I see," Draco murmured, voice slightly breathy.
Harry grinned. "Kinda speaks for itself." He made sure he had eye contact with the blonde. "Thank you," he spoke with feeling.
"You are most welcome," he replied, lips curving.
"Hem hem," Umbridge spoke pointedly from behind them.
Harry spun to face her. "I just found out my godfather has been declared innocent, forgive me if I was a bit exuberant," he added with bite.
"Didn't you testify to that end when you were thirteen?" Draco drawled before Umbridge could respond.
"Yes I did," Harry replied, turning his attention back to the blonde.
"I wonder what else the Minister was wrong not to believe you about," he drawled musingly.
"Detention!" she declared stridently. "Both of you."
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Draco preceded Harry from Umbridge's office, and the lion quietly closed the door behind himself. "Come with me," he invited. Harry blinked at him. "Please." The brunet nodded and followed him as he led him to the Dungeons.
"Draco-"
"Trust me," he urged, then flinched.
"All right," Harry murmured, continuing to follow the blonde despite his reticence over their potential destination.
They reached Professor Snape's office, and Draco knocked briefly before opening the door. He walked through and realised Harry hesitated.
"Do not hover in the doorway Potter," the Potions Master drawled. He sped in as if he had been scalded, magically shutting the door after himself with a thought. Severus opened his mouth and Draco held up his injured hand. "One moment," he drawled, before disappearing deeper into his office.
"Where's he going?" Harry asked curiously.
"Likely to contact Aurors," the blonde drawled.
"He can't do that!"
Draco smirked. "Actually, as my Head of House and my godfather, he can," he drawled. "And if you just so happen to be here when the Aurors come, well," he spoke pointedly.
"Just when I think I might be acting like a Slytherin, you show me just how far off I am," he murmured.
Draco's lips curved. "You can be very much like a Slytherin," he stated.
"Quite a compliment," Harry replied with a smile.
"How are you thinking so clearly?" he demanded. Harry blinked. "You're not even tensing," he pouted.
"I've had worse." The blonde's gaze narrowed. "I had to regrow every bone in my arm in second year," he reminded. "It's not exactly a painless process." The outer door opened and Harry startled. "Pads?" he breathed as his godfather closed the door after himself.
"How bad is it?" he demanded, settling at his godson's side.
"About a five," he replied automatically. "Er, Pads-"
"Why am I here and not going after her?" he finished. His godson nodded. "I learnt the hard way not to blindly go after vengeance," he stated and stroked Harry's hair gently. "I've finally got the right to be your legal guardian, I'm not going to risk it, especially since she's in the process of being dealt with," he added.
"Quite," Severus drawled as he returned, followed by Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Kingsley," Sirius greeted.
"Sirius," the Auror replied warmly. "I take it you are willing for me to take Harry's statement of events?"
"I am if he is," he stated. "Prongslet?" Harry nodded determinedly and presented his injured hand.
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"Thank you," Harry breathed automatically as he accepted the proffered potions vial.
Draco's gaze narrowed. "He's surprised that he was believed," Sirius informed the blonde as he and Harry both drank their potions. His godson startled. "It's not often an adult actually believes you, is it Prongslet?" He waved his uninjured hand back and forth. "Harry," he chided gently.
"All right," he sighed. "The majority of the time, adults don't believe me."
"And," his godfather prompted.
"And in the instances where they do, they don't do anything about it," he sighed. "Except perhaps for encouraging me to sort it out myself or ourselves as the case may be." He noticed Draco staring at him. "What?"
"Yourself?" he drawled slowly. He nodded. "Can you give me a specific instance?"
"Dumbledore said he believed us, but the testimony of three thirteen year olds would convince few others," he answered slowly, thinking back. "He then told us three turns would do the trick, along with a couple of cryptic remarks that made sense later," he spoke with a shrug. "Oh, Hermione had a time-turner," he added.
"He encouraged you to go back in time?!" the blonde exploded. Harry flinched. "Sorry," he murmured letting out a breath.
"What my godson is trying to say, is that you are certain he encouraged the three of you to go back in time to change events?" Severus drawled.
"Actually, it was only two of us – since Ron's leg was injured – and we weren't changing anything." Both Slytherin's eyebrows arched. "It had already taken place, it was just that the clues we were given didn't make sense until the second time around. The stones through Hagrid's window, the twig snapping behind the pumpkin patch, the wolf howl that distracted Moony, me seeing someone that looked like my Dad casting a Patronus Charm. I didn't know time travel was possible, at the time, so it never occurred to me that I was seeing myself," he spoke lifting his shoulder again. "What?" he asked as the pair of Slytherins all but gaped at him.
Sirius slung an arm around his shoulders. "They are amazed at events that you simply accept," he informed.
"Is it that impossible thing again?" he asked pulling a face.
"Not in this case," he replied with a grin.
"Impossible thing?" Draco drawled.
"I keep getting told that I've done something impossible," he sighed. "But if I can do it, then it's not impossible," he retorted. "It might be so improbable as to be considered impossible, but not actually impossible. 'Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable must be the truth'," he quoted.
"Who said that?" the blonde asked curiously.
"Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, he wrote Sherlock Holmes," he replied. "And he has a point. 'Impossible' by its very definition cannot be done," he spoke pointedly.
"You do have a point," the blonde murmured.
"You've got another convert," Sirius spoke with a grin, causing his godson to smile. "How is it?"
"About a two," he answered honestly. "Low two," he hedged. His godfather hummed doubtfully. "It's steadily easing."
"The pain has not gone altogether?" Severus asked his godson.
"No."
"Drink these," the Potions Master ordered. A flick of his wand, and another vial of potion floated in front of each teen. Both took it instantly. "If only you could follow orders so well in class," he muttered.
"But then why would you complain?" Sirius retorted with a grin.
"There would always be reason to complain," the Potions Master drawled. "Between both sides taking every opportunity to sabotage the others' potions, and Longbottom," he added pointedly. "The remainder of the pain should dissolve in the next five minutes," he stated. "If it does not, inform me," he ordered.
"You have a salve for the scar, right?" Draco asked.
"Of course," he drawled, "I have enough for both of you." He gave Harry a level look. "And I expect both of you to follow the application instructions perfectly."
"Yes Professor," Harry replied dutifully.
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Harry knocked on Severus' door, soon ushered inside by the Potions Master. "Yes?" he drawled.
"I have a question to ask Professor," he spoke.
"Then ask."
A brief pause. "The scarring has disappeared, do I still need to use the salve?"
"Another two days," he drawled. "There could be deeper damage."
"Better safe than sorry," Harry retorted.
"Quite." He gave the teen a look. "What where you truly going to ask?"
"Would the salve work on other scars?"
"Your scar is the result of dark magic and cannot to treated," he responded, voice gentle.
"That wasn't the one I was talking about," he replied slowly.
"Sit," he ordered and retreated from the room. Harry perched on the edge of the chair, and breathed deep. The worst he would do was say no, right?
He startled as Sirius walked into the room. "Pads?" he breathed, automatically leaning into his godfather as he was tugged into an embrace.
"I would need to see a scar in order to gauge treatment," Severus drawled. "However, if clothing needed to be removed in order for me to see it, then your guardian needed to be present. I thought it prudent to bring him here now. I presume he is aware that you have further scars?"
"Yes," they replied in unison. Harry licked his lips. "It's all right, Prongslet, Severus will keep the information to himself."
The teen nodded and straightened. "Two would be possible to view without removing any clothing, however-" he cut off.
"Show me," Severus urged. Harry turned his back to Severus and shrugged out of his shirt. "I see it," he stated, his eyes tracing over a fine line several inches above Harry's waistline. Harry's right hand went to his hair and lifted it from the back of his neck, baring a small, circular scar. "And the other?" he asked, voice deliberately neutral. Harry shifted so that his inner left wrist was visible to the Potions Master, along with the semi-circle of teeth marks. "The first will be treatable by the salve, however, the other two will require different treatments," he stated. "Would you like to begin now?"
Harry shifted to look at him. "Do you mind?" A slight shake of the head. "Please." A nod from the Potions Master, and he went to his stores.
"Let me," Sirius urged, lifting his hand. Harry let go of his hair and Sirius took over holding it for him. "It's likely you'll need to leave it bared until it's soaked in." He hummed. "Are you all right, Prongslet?" he asked gently. Harry pulled a face. "Thinking about getting the other one treated?"
"I want to…but I'm too embarrassed."
"And this is where you're not like me," he spoke with a wicked grin, causing his godson to laugh softly.
"Demonstrate to me where it resides," Severus urged as he returned.
With a blush, Harry rested his hand over the front of his upper right thigh, then moved around to his ass cheek. "I sat on something," he muttered.
"Or was forced to," Severus drawled, causing the teen to startle.
"You are not the first mistreated student I have treated, and you will not be the last," he stated. Harry nodded slowly. "How about we focus on treating these three initial scars, and after that work on the other one?" he suggested, voice gentle.
"Yes Professor."
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"Harry?" Draco asked as the brunet walked past him. The lion came to a stop, expression curious. The blonde cast silencing charms. "Why are you still visiting Severus?"
"You're not going to accuse me of having an affair, are you?"
"No," he spoke immediately. "Nor of taking remedial potions," he added, giving the brunet a pointed look.
"There's something he's helping me with," he spoke slowly.
"You have more scars than the ones I know about," the blonde stated, causing Harry to startle. "It makes sense." Harry's head tilted curiously. "I took you to him for treatment of a scar…and you were so eager to live with your godfather within moments of discovering his innocence."
"And?" The blonde's eyebrows arched. "What are you going to do with the information?"
"Nothing," he stated and Harry's pretty green eyes widened. "However, if you ever want help setting something official in motion, let me know." It was Harry's turn to raise his eyebrows. "I have some connections of my own, and my father has more. If necessary, I can provide him with advantages to performing an action on your part."
"I don't know if I'll ever take you up on it, but thanks, for the offer," he replied warmly, giving the blonde's hand a squeeze.