Tom

Tom watched as the kitten licked up the majority of the potion, then there was a flash of bright white light that had him flinching back. When the light faded, there stood his grandson. Harry's eyes looked unfocused as the boy swayed and then collapsed. He was saved from hitting the ground by his two friends. The redheaded twins caught him, then looked around the room, clearly trying to figure out what to do now.

Tom had to fight back a wave of protectiveness. He hated that he hadn't reacted fast enough to be the one to catch Harry, but he also doubted very much that his young heir would have liked it if he had.

With a sigh, he forced back the emotions he was feeling and looked at the twins, "we should put him somewhere to rest."

"Before we do that," Severus said as he crossed the room. When he was in front of the trio, he pulled out his wand and started casting diagnose spells and monitoring charms. Most Tom recognized a few he didn't. But he did feel relieved when his potion master let out a breath and stepped away.

"It seems our potion worked. I can find no trace of the Headmaster's curse, nor any linger magic that is not Harry's. Right now, he is physically and magically exhausted. My Lord is right. We need to let him rest. Preferably somewhere he could be comfortable and familiar with when he wakes."

"Draco's room?" one of the twins asked, looking past him and Severus to look at Lucius. It should have irked him that they sought his lovers' permission instead of his, but at the same time, he respected that they asked the owner of the Manor they were guests in.

There must have been something on his face, maybe a brief flicker of his annoyance because the twins shifted uncomfortably and exchanged a glance before the one on the right spoke, "if that's okay with you, Mister Dark Lord Sir?"

He heard Lucius snicker behind him and swore Severus's sudden cough was a poor attempt to cover a laugh. He almost turned to scold them. Instead, he glared at the twins, who grinned back at him. These two, he decided, were going to be a nightmare to have around.

"Do you know the way to Draco's room?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He was sure they already did. The eager way they suggested it gave him a sense of familiarity. There was also the fact that they had been running around the Manor for Merlin knows how long without his knowledge. He suspected the two redheads knew a few things he'd rather they didn't.

"Yepp!" they said as one, and again he heard Severus cover up another laugh.

"Of course, you do," he muttered, "very well." he waved them on.

He felt conflicted as he watched one of the twins lift Harry into his arms. Part of him really wished it could be him to care for the young man. Despite their history, he wanted to connect and protect his grandson, something that surprised him.

He'd never been one for family. He had killed his father and his other relations without any hesitation or remorse. But this was different, or maybe he was different, a thought that had occurred to him more than once in the last year. Whatever it was, there was something inside of him that warmed at the idea of having a grandson, a familial connection, someone that was his in a way his followers were not.

He tried not to sigh as the twins carried Harry out of the room. Severus and Lucius both hesitating to follow, waiting for his permission; he waved them off. Severus rushed out of the room, clearly still feeling the need to watch over the young boy. Luc, however, stopped at the door; his lover looked back at him, the question clear in his eyes, 'are you alright?' He gave the blond a slight nod. Luc bowed and took off after the others.

Tom knew he would need to talk to them later, but for now, he needed a moment alone to collect his thoughts.

Draco

He was exhausted and frustrated. His mother had dragged him from shop to shop, buying any and everything in sight. Normally he wouldn't have minded. He enjoyed spending time with his mother. Shopping while tiring wasn't horrible if managed correctly, hitting certain shops at certain times and only purchasing what he knew he wanted or needed. Lingering or browsing was not something he enjoyed. This time had been extreme. With his mother wandering into almost every shop they passed, even ones they'd never shopped at before.

The randomness of the trip and the sporadic way she wondered about it had him worried. He tried to ask if something was bothering her, but she just shook her head and handed him something she wanted him to get.

He let it go but watched her closely. It took him two shops to notice that she wasn't just buying him, her, or his father's things. She kept grabbing things, studying them, and then if they were deemed acceptable, she bought them.

Thankfully after several hours, she finally seemed to have enough, and they were now home. The hallways were strangely quiet as he wandered his way through them and toward his room. He figured he would drop off his bags and then head off to see if he could find Harry.

Opening his bedroom door and seeing the twins in his bed caused him to freeze. But his breath caught at the sight of Harry between them, a very human Harry, sound asleep in between the twin redheads.

"Holy shit," he whispered. He must not have been as quiet as he thought because one of the twins jerked and lifted their head, looking at him. Feeling bewildered, he gave the twin, George, if he had to guess, a small wave; the man grinned and gestured for him to join them.

Draco placed his bags on the floor and removed his coat before kicking off his shoes. Then feeling a little shy, he hesitated at the end of the bed. There was a snort from George before the older boy scooted back and away from Harry, leaving a place between the two for Draco to fit.

He tried to be as quiet and careful as possible as he crawled up the bed. Thankfully neither Fred nor Harry seemed to notice him as he found his spot and laid down. Once he settled, the older boy behind him rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm over him. Draco's stomach clenched, and he felt heat rush to his face.

"This okay?" George whispered in his ear, causing him to shiver. He nodded his head, unable to get his voice to work. George made an amused sound from behind him before he pulled Draco a little closer. Finding courage in the redhead's actions, Draco reached his hand out, searching for Harry's; when he found it, he took the other boy's hand in his own. There was a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

Lucius

He gave his lover a couple of hours of alone time before he sought him out. He found the man in his study, though he was staring off at nothing instead of working.

"Are you alright?" he asked, stepping around the desk to stand next to his Lord.

"We have three days," was not the reply he was expecting.

"My Lord?"

"We have three days to come up with an acceptable plan for the memorial. If you think we should keep Harry out of it, that's fine, but I still wish to do something, even if it's just to ruin Albus's plans." When his Lord looked up at him, the man's eyes burned red, and Lucius knew he had to speak carefully.

Leaning against the desk, Lucius thought over possible ideas.

"I guess it depends, my Lord; before you said you want people to know Potter is alive so that when he is ready, he can step into his place as your heir, but does that have to be done at the memorial? Or can it wait?" He took a breath, "then we'd have to decide if you want this to be a show of power or something subtle that only Dumbledore would understand. We also have to discuss if you want to out yourself or keep to the shadows-" before he could add more, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," his Lord called out as he shifted himself to sit back in his seat.

The door opened, and Severus and Barty stepped inside.

"We figured now would be the time to get everything out in the open," Barty said, bowing down to their Lord.

"And just how involved in recent events were you, Bartemius?"

Lucius held back a smirk as the sandy blond swallowed.

"I found out about Mister Potter a couple of weeks ago, but Severus made a compelling argument for keeping it a secret, and Luc found out the next morning." the younger Death Eater shrugged his shoulders, "it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"And you Severus?" their Lord asked, not giving any reaction or comment at Barty's words.

"I knew right away, my Lord," Severus dropped his head and muttered, "I recognized his eyes."

If Luc hadn't been standing so close to his lover, he would have missed the way his breath caught. They all knew of Severus' connection and love for Lily and that Harry had been gifted with her eyes. But for the most part, they were all careful about mentioning her, and that was before his Lord had learned she was his daughter.

The room fell silent for a few minutes, the air thick with tension as the other two waited to see if they would be punished for keeping Harry's identity secret.

"Do you think he will stay?" Their Lord asked, finally breaking the silence.

Harry

"Do you think he will stay?" The words were muffled but whispered from close to his ear.

"I think he should," another voice replied. "No one here means him harm, not with the Dark Lord protecting him. If he tried to return to Grimmauld, he'd be in danger, not just from the Headmaster but from the members of the Order that are loyal to him."

Someone else sighed, "but what about his happiness? Could he really be happy here? With his parents' murderer?" Now that he was more awake, he recognized Draco and the twins' voices. He could also feel two people pressed in close against his sides. He couldn't tell with his eyes closed which of his friends he was sandwiched in between, but he was comfortable and not entirely sure he wanted to wake up yet.

"Am I the only one that can't get over that the Dark Lord is Harry's grandfather?" one of the twins muttered. He winced; it wasn't that he'd forgotten about that little bombshell; it was more that he had managed not to think about it yet. But now he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Voldemort was his grandfather, and for some bizarre reason, the man cared about him, which was weird on so many levels. The only other family he had was his Aunt and cousin, and they hated him. They neglected him, starved him, locked him away, and in Dudley's case, beat him. They'd made his life miserable, and he'd no doubt that they would be thrilled if he never returned to their house or lives. Yet, the man who had killed his parents and attempted multiple times to do the same to him, wanted to protect him and claim him. Not hide him away in some cupboard.

"I think it makes sense." The twin close to his ear muttered. "What?" Draco asked a little loudly. Harry almost giggled when both twins shushed him. "What?" the blonde asked again in a quieter voice.

"Think about it; Harry's always said that they were similar. Not just their crappy childhoods, but the way they look, their magic, even their wand cores." The twin that Harry was positive was Fred whispered. "He complained about it before, was afraid that it made him like the Dark Lord, but with that, we learned," stopped for a second, hesitating, "that might not be a bad thing."

Huh, Harry thought. Fred was right. He'd been so afraid of becoming dark or evil as the press and other students were quick to call him. It had terrified him. But that was before he learned the truth about Dumbledore, the truth about Voldemort and his mother. He swallowed. Maybe he should give the man a chance. At least talk to him.

"How long are we going to let him sleep?" George asked. He noticed that he was farther away than Fred, which meant he was between Draco and Fred. Draco snorted, "he's awake."

Harry's eyes snapped open, and he turned to the right to glare at the blonde, who was already looking at him with a smirk. The twins both gasped and rushed to ask him a million questions.

"How are you?"

"Are you in pain?"

"Should we get Severus?"

"Do you nee-"

"Guys!" he shouted, the twins' mouths snapped shut.

He smiled at them, "I'm okay. I'm not in pain, and I'm not sure I wanna talk to anyone just yet."

"Harry," Draco nudged him, "we have to have someone come check you. Uncle Sev looked you over when you first changed back and has come in a couple of times to make sure you were still okay. He will want to make sure that everything is okay now that you're awake."

"I don't wanna," he whined, turning to bury his head into Fred's chest. The redhead laughed and brought his hand up to run his fingers through his hair.

"He's right, Harry," Fred said softly, "you need to let someone check you over." He groaned, not removing his head from where it was at, "fine," he muttered into Fred's chest. The bed shifted, and he heard someone walking across the room. From the fact that he could still feel both Fred and Draco, he knew it was George.

He shot up, "Wait!" he shouted, pulling himself free of the other two boys, "what are you doing?" You can't just go out there. There are Death Eaters everywhere!" he rushed off the bed, but his legs felt like jelly, and if George hadn't already turned around, he would have fallen face-first onto the floor.

The older teen caught him and lifted him back onto the bed, where Fred and Draco took his arms and pulled him back to where he had been before. "They already know." George said, "remember the Dark Lord was there when you shifted back to human. He told everyone that you, me, and Fred are off-limits."

Harry remembered the man being in the room when he had turned back human, but he must have been unconscious longer than he thought if he had already called his followers and talked to them.

"You'll be okay?" he asked the twin in front of me. George grinned, "definitely." The confidence in his voice allowed Harry to relax. He dropped back, thinking he would hit pillows; he was surprised when he hit someone's chest and arms wrapped around him, holding him close. He turned his head and found Draco smiling down at him. He bit the inside of his cheek to stop from blushing, then got comfortable.

"How long was I asleep?"

"A little over a day," Draco said.

"Has anything happened?" he asked. He wanted to ask about the memorial, about Sirius, Remus, and if Voldemort had punished anyone for keeping his secret, but he couldn't find the words.

"Not really," Draco replied, "another article about your memorial, not even the front page, came out. Father and the Dark Lord have been hidden away in father's study making plans, but they haven't shared anything with anyone else yet. Barty has come to check on you a couple of times. The Lestrange brothers seem to think the twins are evil and avoid them," Harry and Fred chuckled, "and Aunt Bella wants to skin them both, so they avoid her." Fred snorted but didn't comment. "Mother must have known about you because she bought you an alarming amount of clothes," Harry tilted his head back to look at the blonde, "how'd she know?" he asked.

Draco shrugged, "no idea."

"Anything else?" the blonde asked Fred. Harry looked over at the redhead. Fred looked fine, healthy, even happy as he smiled down at him, but there was something in his eyes that made Harry reach out and take the other teen's hand, "what's wrong?" he asked.

His friend reached out and ruffled his hair, "nothing. And Blondie here forgot to mention Sirius and Remus's almost hourly mirror calls." Harry swatted the hand away from his hair and frowned at the redhead; he doubted there was nothing wrong. He knew the twins well enough to know when something was up or bothering them. Unfortunately, he also knew they wouldn't say anything until they were ready. He wanted to press, see if he could get Fred to talk about whatever it was, but the look on Fred's face stopped him. Instead of pushing, he latched onto the second thing his friend had said, Sirius and Remus, they must be so worried.

"Can we call them?" he asked them. Draco gave a dramatic eye roll before pulling the handheld mirror from his robe and handing it to him. He gave him a grateful smile before turning about to the mirror, "Sirius Black."

The absolute relief he saw on his Godfather's face when he answered the mirror took his breath away. When the same expression appeared on Remus's face after he was called into the room, Harry almost cried. He knew they cared about and loved him, but still, sometimes it took him by surprise. The twins had been telling him for nearly two years now that he needed to accept that he was worth loving and that his relatives needed to be shoved into an unregistered floo. But he still struggled with it.

"Hey guys," he said, grinning at them.

"Pup," Sirius greeted him, and then they fell into an easy conversation about everything that had happened since their last call. Sirius looked horrified when Harry told him about Tom being his grandfather. Remus muttered something about Heirs and bloodlines that had the two of them whispering until Fred cleared his throat and demanded to be told what they were talking about.

Remus looked a little pale as he spoke, "there are stories, myths that old bloodlines put curses on their families. Making it so their children or grandchildren couldn't kill each other off and end the line. If what you say is true, then Harry, you could have survived the killing curse because you were, in fact, the last of Slytherin's bloodline." The world spun around him, "why didn't it protect mum?" he asked. But he knew. She wasn't the last one, not with him being born. Did that mean if he hadn't been born, his mother would have been safe even if Voldemort had targeted her?

"Harry," Sirius said softly, "I know what you're thinking, kiddo, and it's not true. That kind of curse protects male heirs and only male heirs. Lily was amazing and brilliant, but she wasn't a man. The magic wouldn't have protected her, especially not with the Dark Lord being alive. He would have been the last rightful heir."

Oh, he thought, slumping back against Draco.

Before he could even think of anything else to ask, the bedroom door opened, and George stuck his head in. Then he pushed the door open and let himself and Severus into the room. Thankfully neither of them said a word when they saw him talking on the mirror.

"Pup?" Sirius called him, pulling his attention away from the twin and potion maker.

"I'm okay." he said, "it's just a lot," he muttered honestly. He felt George crawl onto the bed, though instead of returning to his place behind Draco, he climbed into between Harry's legs forcing him to spread them so the troublemaker could fit. He blushed, getting a snicker from more than one person when George made himself comfortable, his head on Harry's stomach and arms around his waist and thigh. He couldn't take his eyes off the redhead, who titled his head up to look at him with a massive grin on his face.

"You seem distracted," Remus said suddenly, with a bit of teasing in his voice. Harry's eyes jerked back to the mirror when his Godfather was covering his mouth, trying not to laugh, and Remus was grinning at him.

"I-" he's cheeks burned, and he shoved the mirror at Draco, "talk to your cousin." he said before turning to Severus, "please say you need to check me over, alone, in another room, far far away from here?" the Potion Master's lips twitched, as he tried to fight from smiling.

"It seems that I need to do a more thorough examination. Come with me."

"Thank Merlin," Harry said before shoving the redhead at his side off the bed and swinging his leg over George to jump off the bed. His legs were still a little shaky, so he was grateful when Severus took his arm and helped him out of the room.