Harry
Severus reached down and picked him up, but before he could turn and walk back into the lab, the Dark Lord's voice called out for him to stop.
Harry shivered and tried to bury himself in the Potions Master's robes.
"My Lord," The man holding him greeted the approaching man. If Harry were to look up, he'd bet the man had bowed his head.
"It seems that we need to have a conversation," Voldemort said, and Harry felt Severus stiffen.
"We do?" he asked.
"We do," Voldemort said, and then Severus was moving; he stepped back into his lab. Harry cringed as he heard Voldemort and Lucius following behind him. He didn't look away from the chest he was pressed against. Some small part of him felt like if he didn't acknowledge what was happening, it wasn't real.
"Harry," Voldemort said softly, and Harry jumped; the man was far too close. He looked up and hissed at the Dark Lord.
"That's rude." The man replied, not sounding at all bothered by Harry's reaction. They stared at each other for several seconds before Lucius cleared his throat. Voldemort took a breath and moved to sit on top of a stool next to the counter where Severus's potion was brewing.
Thankfully the man's focus was on Harry because he missed a few ingredients floating over and then dropping into the caldron. Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to groan or demand to be given to the twins. This whole conversation was going to be weird and awkward, and he'd rather be with them.
He let out a quiet whine, not meaning to, and felt Severus shift him around until he was in a more comfortable position, then the man's hand started rubbing along his spine. It might not have been what he wanted, but it helped.
He relaxed a little and turned his head to glare at the Dark Lord.
The man was watching him and Severus with an odd expression on his face. It was almost envious. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, but after a second, the man shook it off.
"I assure you, Harry, this was not how I wanted this conversation to go," Voldemort stated, "I wanted to be able to sit down with you, explain who Darla was and how I never knew about your mother." The man's blue eyes dropped to the ground for a second before he pulled himself up and looked back at Harry with a sad smile. "If I had known, I would have tracked her down and raised her. I might not have imagined myself as a father, but I would never have ignored my child-"
Somewhere in the room, a metal steering rod catered to the floor, causing everyone to jump. Lucius had his wand out looking for a threat, Severus let out a very low curse that Harry barely heard, and Voldemort's eyes darted around the room, searching for anything out of place.
"I apologize," Severus said, "I must have left it too close to the edge." Harry tried not to snicker as Severus walked over and picked up the rod; he dropped it into his sink before grabbing a second one and placing it next to the cauldron.
The amusement he felt at twin's minor distraction only lasted until he and Severus were back in front of the Dark Lord.
The man had relaxed at the Potion Master's explanation, hopefully believing it. Lucius, on the other hand, had not. His eyes kept roaming over the room, and Harry had to assume the man knew the twins were here; how? He didn't know. But the man clearly didn't like not being able to see them; it left him jumpy.
"As I was saying," Voldemort picked up his speech, "I cannot do anything about your mother now, for which I'm more sorry than you will ever believe," he took a breath, "but I can take care of you." He stood up and walked towards them.
If he hadn't been trapped in Severus's arms, he would have backed away. "You don't trust me. I know that. I deserve that, but Harry, I would like to have a chance to earn it. A chance to show you that I want to be in your life and that one day you will want to be in mine." He looked so sincere and hopeful, and Harry just froze.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do with this information.
He just didn't know how to process it, nor how he was supposed to react. Were they expecting him to accept it? Be grateful? After all, he was an orphan, so why wouldn't he want a family?
Or were they waiting for him to go off on the Dark Lord? Attack him, maybe?
Emotions raged through him, and for a second, he was grateful to be stuck as a cat. It meant he couldn't give in to his confusion and anger and scream or attack Voldemort.
"Harry," the man started, even raising his hand to reach out for him. Harry wanted to tell him to shut up, stop talking, just stop! Anything to get the soft open tone he was speaking in to go away. Because it made Harry want to listen to him, made Harry want to believe him!
He whimpered and tried to scoot away.
He didn't believe him, right? He couldn't. There was no way that Voldemort wanted Harry to be a part of his life. No way he meant the words he was saying.
Right?
Why the hell would the Dark Lord want to have the Boy-Who-Lived as his grandson- they were enemies- they were supposed to be enemies!
Harry's mind raced, and he felt tears starting to build up in his eyes.
He slammed them closed.
This was the man who killed his parents. He reminded himself, the man who killed Cedric, the man who had him kidnapped, bled, and then tried to kill him again.
He whimpered again and almost sobbed out when a pair of invisible hands ripped him from Severus's hold and pulled him under his father's cloak. The feel of its familiar magic and the twins' scents had him breathing again. This was safe. He pressed close against George and let Fred whisper softly to him, all while thinking about what he just learned.
Severus
Severus just about jumped out of his skin when Harry was pulled from his arms and disappeared into thin air.
His shock only lasted a second as the Dark Lord launched to his feet and aimed his wand at the spot Harry had vanished.
Not thinking, he jumped in front of the wand, "Wait!" he shouted, seeing Lucius reach from behind their Lord to grab the man's wrist.
"It's his friends," the blond said in a rush, "they're his friends."
Severus stood frozen as the Dark Lord glared at the spot behind him. When the other man exhaled and lowered his wand, Sev let himself relax.
"Who exactly is in this room with us, Severus?" the man said in a very calm voice. It sent chills through him. He swallowed.
"Fred and George Weasley," he replied, slightly bowing his head to his Lord.
"And the reason I can't sense or see them?" The man moved to sit back down on the stool he had been on before. Though, Severus noted he still had his wand out.
"Harry, it seems, inherited an invisibility cloak from his father," Lucius answered for him, "the twins are using it to help Sev with the cure."
Fantastic idea, Luc, Sev thought, get the man to stop thinking about the twins and Harry and on the cure that would make Harry human again.
"It's almost finished," he said, drawing his Lord's attention to the boiling caldron.
He moved forward and started checking it over. He knew the matching pair had kept working on it while the Dark Lord told Harry the truth. The idiots had dropped one of his silver rods when Voldemort had finally admitted that Lily had been his daughter. Not that he could blame them, he hadn't reacted any better.
He sighed and focused on the potion. It was a dark blue, almost navy, and smelled of hay and mugwort, giving the brew a bitter earthly scent. It looked perfect. Still, his hand shook as he found his ladle and scooped some of the potion into a small glass vial.
He was relieved when another hand appeared over his, gently taking it from him. He looked up at his friend and gave him a grateful nod. Lucius gave him a soft smile and then turned and handed the potion to the Dark Lord.
"This will work?" the man asked, examining the concoction in his hand.
"I believe so." he replied, "the twins and I tried a slightly different variant of it, and Harry was able to resist shifting back in a cat for a short time. It was painful and miserable, but enough of an effect that we were able to change the recipe for what we hope is a permanent fix."
The room fell silent.
Severus leaned back against the counter and just breathed. He had not expected this turn of events. He'd hoped that he was able to turn Harry human again and warn him before the Dark Lord told him the truth.
He hated feeling Harry shake in his arms and not knowing what the young man was thinking. He had been so tempted to reach into his mind so that he knew if he needed to escape with Harry before the reckless child did something stupid. Not that he was sure he could read the young man's mind while he was a cat. He'd tried once, the second day Harry had been around, and it was just fuzzy and muted images.
But he had held back. Harry trusted him now, and he would not break that trust, not unless Harry's life was in danger and he had no choice.
"Are we going to try this now or wait?" Luc, it seemed, had run out of patience just standing around waiting.
There was a snicker from somewhere toward the middle of the room, then a moment later, the potion vial floated out from the Dark Lord's hand, the man glaring at it as it disappeared.
"Wait!" he called out before whichever twin could give it to Harry, "I need to be able to watch," he said, "If something goes wrong, I have to be able to see him and assess the effects."
He waited, breath held, for a second before two young men became visible, Harry on the floor at their feet. The twins didn't acknowledge anyone in the room, just bent down, and the one on the right poured the bottle into a small dish.
The whole room held its breath as the black cat licked up the blue liquid.
