Disclaimer: The characters and places and stuff belong to JKR. But for now, they are at my mercy. *evil grin* I'll return them as soon as I'm finished…maybe.
Frankie the Wonder Wiener Dog: You caught that! I was wondering who would catch it lol It actually took me a while to even think of it.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
In this chapter: What happened to the Dursleys? Announcements, a trial, and Draco comforts Harry
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Chapter 9
When Harry awoke the next morning, he found himself snuggled between his godfathers, with Sirius as a human. Harry let out a content sigh and cuddled up to Sirius, nestling his face against the older man's chest. Sirius twitched a little and instinctively wrapped his arms around Harry before opening his eyes, and he smiled slightly at the boy in his arms.
"You awake, love?" Sirius murmured. Harry slowly nodded his head. "How are you feeling?"
"Sore and tired," Harry mumbled. "But better than I've felt in a while..."
"Poppy doesn't want you to stay up here, in bed, for too long," Remus cut in, yawning. "So after lunch or dinner, you'll be allowed to escape."
"Good..." Harry smiled slightly, then cuddled closer to Sirius, to warm his shivering self. Sirius ran his hands up and down Harry's back and arms.
"The question is," Sirius told him, "do you want to come home with me and Remus, or do you want to stay with...Snape for the rest of the summer?" He wrinkled his nose at the name.
"I have to pick?" Harry said in a small voice, looking up at Sirius. "And I thought I wasn't allowed to stay with you..."
"We're not going on anymore missions for Albus," Remus explained. "Harry, if you want to stay with Severus, that's fine. You seem to have become quite fond of him, and vice versa." Harry blushed a little at this, but nobody noticed.
"I think I want to stay with him," Harry said, giving Sirius an apologetic look. "Please, don't be angry with me... I'm just...comfortable here at Hogwarts. I feel safe and taken care of here. And I think...I think I need to be with people who won't coddle me and fuss over me all day, and you know you would do just that." His eyes widened a little. "Not that I don't appreciate your caring for me or anything! I just think I need to be treated normally, and--"
"Harry!" Sirius cut in. He gave the boy a tight-lipped smile, so as not to reveal the hurt he felt over Harry's choice of Snape. "Harry, it's okay. It's your decision, right? If you feel that you need to stay here, that's fine. Besides, you can still visit us whenever you want to." Harry smiled back and hugged Sirius.
"Thank you, Siri."
After a few moments, Severus came into the infirmary and handed a vial of potion to Sirius.
"One spoonful every four hours, Black, remember that," Severus muttered. He was obviously exhausted. "The vial is charmed to glow blue when it's time for another dose."
Sirius nodded and poured a bit of the liquid onto a spoon. Harry obediently accepted it and swallowed, grimacing at the taste.
"That was disgusting," he stated, truthfully. He then looked at Severus for a moment and saw the dark circles under the older man's eyes. "Were you up all night, making that for me?"
"Yes, if you must know," Severus replied, trying to sound sharp, but failing miserably. "It was a very complicated procedure."
"Thank you."
At those words, the corners of Severus's mouth turned up a little, but he didn't really smile. Then Harry spoke again.
"Now go to bed."
"Yes, I'll get right on that, right after the other one hundred and forty-three things I have to do today," Severus responded with half-hearted sarcasm. Harry glared at him.
"Hey, I'm the invalid. You have to do what I say. So get some sleep, damn it, or else I'll Stun you and pour a sleeping draught down your throat!"
Severus, Sirius, and Remus all had to chuckle when they heard that. At that moment, Harry looked like he couldn't even stun a house fly. Nevertheless, Severus decided to humor him. He stood and bowed slightly.
"Yes, Master. Whatever you say, Master," he said, smirking. Harry reached out a leg to kick him, but he missed, and Severus headed for the door. "Oh, by the way, Albus told me that Minister Weasley ordered the Muggles to be 'taken care of.' Apparently, they're either going to Azkaban or a high-security prison for Muggles." Sirius and Remus cheered, while Harry just gave a sigh of relief. Over his shoulder, Severus called, "Every four hours, Black."
"I know, Snape!" Sirius shot back. After Severus was gone, Sirius looked at Harry. "You're sure you want to stay with that?"
"Didn't you hear?" Harry asked with a weak grin. "He called me 'Mas--" Before he finished, he inhaled sharply in pain.
"What's the matter?" Remus asked, concerned as Harry slowly turned over onto his stomach.
"I ache all over..." Harry murmured. "Especially my back... Rub my back, Moony, please?"
"How's that?" Remus said, gently rubbing circles over Harry's back.
"Mmm, better..." Harry mumbled, closing his eyes as he drifted off to sleep again.
~~~
Harry didn't wake again until suppertime, except when it was time for him to take his potion. Remus was sitting in a chair next to the bed, reading a book, and aside from them, the room was empty.
"Everyone's eating dinner in the Great Hall," Remus explained to Harry. "Poppy asked me to bring you down when you're up."
"Why in the Great Hall?" Harry wondered as Remus helped him out of bed.
"No clue," Remus replied. "Albus's orders. Do you need help walking?"
"Maybe," Harry yawned. He looked down at his pajamas and frowned, wrapping his arms around himself. "Is there anything warmer I can wear?"
Remus removed his cloak and wrapped it around Harry. Then Harry took a step with his cane, and his legs gave out from under him. Remus rushed to catch Harry before he hit the floor. Harry looked up and gave him a sheepish grin.
"I suppose I could use some help, after all," he admitted. Remus chuckled and lifted Harry into his arms.
"Perhaps this would be the best course of action," he stated, and Harry frowned. "Don't worry; I'll put you down before we go in the Hall. Nobody will see you in this moment of weakness."
But as they went downstairs, it seemed as though Harry rather enjoyed being carried. He pulled Remus's cloak closer and snuggled up to his godfather's chest, closing his eyes and letting a small smile grace his lips.
When they reached the doors to the Great Hall, Remus lowered Harry to the floor and handed him his cane. They slowly walked into the hall, Harry clutching the cane in one hand and Remus's waist in the other, while Remus held onto Harry's shoulder. He led Harry to the seat between Sirius and Charlie, and then Remus sat on Sirius's other side. Charlie gave Harry a smile as the younger man piled food onto his plate.
"Hungry?"
"Starved," Harry replied, truthfully. Then he looked up and saw that everyone was staring at him in shock. "Oops. Well, it's true."
Most of the people went back to their food, but a couple still stared. Harry took a breath and unconsciously moved a bit closer to Sirius, who wrapped his arm around the boy's back.
"Um, please stop looking at me like that," Harry requested in a small voice. "It kind of makes me uncomfortable."
Everyone quickly averted their eyes, and Harry let out a breath. To get the attention off of Harry, Albus stood and cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him.
"I thought you all would like to be the first to know," he stated. "We have two new teachers in our midst; possibly three. Mr. Charlie Weasley has accepted the position as the Care of Magical Creatures professor, and Mr. Remus Lupin has agreed to come back for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Depending on how his trial goes--though I'm sure it will go fine--Mr. Sirius Black will assist Remus."
Cheers broke out, mainly from the Weasleys. Draco, Severus, and the other teachers in the Hall clapped politely. Harry gave Charlie a hug, then leaned on Sirius. He held onto Sirius's arm with one hand and reached over with the other hand to hold Remus's hand.
"Oh, that reminds me, Harry," Sirius said, reaching into a pocket. He handed Harry a letter with the Ministry stamp on it. "This came for you this afternoon."
Harry opened the letter.
Dear Mr. Harry Potter,
Your presence is requested at the Ministry Court Building at 9:30 A.M. on the eleventh of August to testify at the trial of one Sirius Black. Veritaserum will be administered prior to your testimony.
Signed,
Thomas D. Epstein
Director of Courts
Ministry of Magic
"The eleventh?" Harry murmured, counting on his fingers. "That's in three days!"
"They want to get it over with quickly," Sirius explained. "All you have to do is tell them what happened in the Shrieking Shack."
"What if I'm not well enough to go?" Harry wondered, staring up at Sirius.
"Then they'll just have to deal with it," Sirius responded. "If you're still sick by then, I'm not letting you go. But you should probably be all right by then."
"If I take Veritaserum, I might say something to get Ron and Hermione in trouble," Harry said, quietly.
"They're both testifying as well, don't worry," Sirius assured him. Harry just nodded and leaned on Sirius. "Rem and I are going home for the night. You don't have to stay in the infirmary; you'll be going back to your room in the dungeons. All right?"
"Will you come back tomorrow?"
"Of course we will, love," Sirius replied. "We have plans in the morning, but we'll come around lunchtime."
~~~
Harry awoke with a start in the middle of the night. He slowly sat up in bed, taking deep breaths. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and his hands were shaking slightly. A nightmare. But he couldn't remember it.
Looking around, Harry saw that, thankfully, he hadn't made any noise. If he had, then surely Draco and Severus would have woken up, and Draco was still sleeping soundly in his bed.
Harry let out a sigh of relief and slowly crawled out of bed. Grabbing his cane, he quietly made his way out of the room. He curled up on the couch, staring at the fire, determined not to go back to sleep. He didn't want another nightmare. Another one might actually cause him to wake the others.
A few minutes after Harry came out of the room, Draco came out as well. He grabbed a glass of water in the kitchen and drank it, then headed back towards the bedroom, sleepily rubbing his eyes. He stopped suddenly when he saw Harry on the sofa.
"What are you doing out here?" Draco yawned.
"Bad dream," Harry murmured, glancing up at his new friend. "Don't want to go back to sleep."
Draco stared at Harry for a moment. The dark-haired boy seemed exhausted. He needed to sleep. Finally, Draco gave Harry a small smile and held his hand out.
"Come on," he said, softly.
Harry cautiously placed his hand in Draco's, and the blond led Harry back to the bedroom. They stopped by Draco's bed.
"Well? Go on, get in," Draco instructed Harry, who seemed slightly frightened. Draco sighed and squeezed Harry's hand. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just find that if you have a bad dream, it helps to lay down with someone else afterwards. It kind of gives you a safe feeling."
Finally, Harry nodded and climbed under the blankets. Draco followed and pulled the blankets up over the both of them. He then draped an arm over Harry's waist, pulling him closer and resting his head by Harry's. The two were silent for a few moments, and then Draco suddenly spoke in a quiet voice.
"My parents weren't as mean and terrible as people think," he told Harry. "At least, not to me. They loved each other, and they loved me. Yes, Father was a Death Eater. He raised me to follow in his footsteps, but then he gave me a choice. He let me choose not to be a Death Eater, and he accepted my decision.
"He didn't really hate you, either, you know? He only followed Voldemort because he agreed with some of his opinions, and he thought it would help him become more powerful. Father actually thought quite highly of you, though he wouldn't admit it too often.
"He died because another Death Eater's Avada Kedavra went astray. Mother killed herself when she found out. She loved him too much to be without him. Someone else in my place would probably resent her for it, for leaving them alone. But I know that if she hadn't killed herself, then she would have eventually died of a broken heart, anyway.
"So that left me alone, the sole survivor of the Malfoy family. But I couldn't handle it. Aurors were constantly searching the Manor for Dark Arts artifacts. People were coming to me, asking for money that my parents hadn't gotten a chance to pay them before. Everything was complete chaos, and I had to get away from it. I'm too young to be on my own already. I haven't even finished school yet. So I came to Sev. He's taking care of everything for me."
"I used to think he was a bastard..." Harry murmured. "But now I realize that he's really a good person. He just had to put up a facade... And he saved my life again..." A small smile had formed on his face, and Draco smirked when he saw Harry's dreamy expression.
"So, Potter," Draco said, seriously. "Do you fancy my godfather?"
"Hell, yes, and it feels so good to admit it to someone other than myself," Harry confessed. He looked up at Draco, confused. "How did you know, anyway?"
"I pay attention. I've seen how you look at him: like you want to spend all of your time with him and never have to leave his side. And..." Should I really say this? "Sometimes I think I see him looking at you the same way, though he tries so hard to hide it."
"Yeah, right," Harry muttered. "Why the hell would he look at me like that? I'm just a kid to him. Nothing special... It's probably best that nothing happens between us, anyway. He'd get in trouble for it..."
"You know, the school rules don't say that teacher-student relationships aren't allowed," Draco commented. "I'd assume that, as long as you're of age--which you are--it would be all right."
"Well, I still don't believe that he has any feelings for me, so drop it," Harry said, hotly. After a moment, he looked up at Draco again. "Why are you being so nice to me and...taking care of me?" Draco forced a smile.
"I had a little brother. Did you know?" Harry shook his head. "His name was Aidan. He was three years younger than me. Aidan had nightmares a lot, and I asked Father to put a charm on his room, so I'd know when he woke up. When the charm alerted me, I went to Aidan's room and laid down with him. I'd tell him stories, or I'd sing to him, or we'd just lay there until we both went back to sleep. It always made both of us feel better."
"What happened to him?" Harry asked, softly.
"He was sick," Draco said in a hoarse voice. "An incurable disease. He died right before I came to Hogwarts first year."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be..." Draco said, turning his head away. "He was suffering. It was for the best that he went... But now I don't have anyone to take care of, and that always made me feel better. And now that Mother and Father are gone, too...Sev's all I have left, and I thought maybe--"
"You have me, too," Harry cut in. Draco turned sharply to look at him. "I mean, I know that I won't ever replace Aidan, but...you can take care of me, if you want. If it makes you feel better... I don't mind, I mean..." Harry sighed when he couldn't find the right words. "You have me."
Draco stared at Harry for a few seconds before his face broke into a smile. He nodded his head a little.
"I'd like that, Harry," he said, softly. "I'd like that a lot. Thank you."
