Harry sat and watched his friend's face as Draco tried to take everything in.
"You, you're the Prince of Darkness?"
"Yeah, it's a stupid title I know. I'm not even sure what it means."
Draco looked at him incredulously.
"Look, you know I said last year that although I was never going to follow Lord Voldemort, I also wasn't going to join Dumbledore's cronies and be on the light side either?"
"Yeah I remember."
"Well, I have to follow you. Whichever side you choose to be on, or choose to help, I must do the same."
"Huh, why on earth do you have to do anything?"
"Because you're my Prince! My father has dominant Skarien blood in him and has passed it on to me as well. We are both Skariens, which mean we will follow you. Although when I came into my powers I didn't have quite the same appearance change that you seemed to have undergone."
Harry grinned.
"I like it, makes me look…"
"Good-looking?"
"Yeah." They both laughed.
"Look, because of all of this, Sirius's house has become mine. I was wondering whether you would come there with me? I've not set foot there since he died and I really don't want to have to go there alone."
"Of course, I've always wanted to see what your little organisation's headquarters looked like. But, won't Dumbledore refuse to let me in?"
"Dumbledore has no say in that house anymore. He has been evicted along with the rest of the Order of the phoenix."
"I'll bet they didn't like that!" Draco said laughing.
"Probably not, which is why as soon as set foot in there I'm sure Dumbledore will descend on it and demand to know what's going on. So I could really use your help."
"What are we waiting for?" Draco cried leaping of his seat.
"Let's go piss off Dumbledore!"
The two boys apparated away to the door of Grimmauld place. Harry's faced drained of colour as he looked at the former home of the closest relative he'd ever had. Draco gently took his arm and led him towards the door. Harry stretched out his hand and as before the handle glowed with a bright blue light before swinging open to admit them. Harry slowly walked through the door and let out the air he was holding. He had done it. Draco closed the door and looked around him.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to a pair of curtains on the wall next to the door.
"It's not a window, we would have seen it from the outside."
"It's the entrance to the rooms from Black Manor. A portrait of Sirius' mother." Harry walked up to it and pulled down the curtains from the painting. The woman behind them started to scream at the 'DEFILER OF MY HOUSE!' but stopped when she saw Draco.
"Is a Malfoy now in possession of my home?" She asked him.
Draco bowed,
"Madame, I am merely here at the request of my friend." He indicated Harry.
She turned her gaze to Harry.
"You look familiar boy. Have you stepped into this house before."
"Yes, your son was my God-father. I am Harry Potter, direct descendant of Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin and the great Magus Merlin, Lord of Avalon and Mith and Prince of Darkness. Your son left me his house in his will. He was killed over a year ago."
Serena Black looked down at him with disdain for a moment before bowing in recognition of his lineage.
"I care not for the fate of the blood traitor son for mine, but I welcome you to my house. You are an owner that I can accept into the house of my forefathers." Harry bowed to the woman and taking out the scroll he had received in Gringotts the previous afternoon, broke the seal and unravelled it to reveal the words, 'By the blood of my fathers than runs in my veins, I ask you to let me pass.' Harry looked up at her and repeated the phrase. She smiled at him and motioned for him to step back. As he did so a section of the floor rose up to cover the painting and revealed a stairway going down into the bowels of the house.
"Welcome to my house, Lord Potter." The painting seemed to echo down the stairs as Harry and Draco descended.
When they finally emerged an hour later Draco was raving about what they had found.
"I can't believe it, Severus would have a field day with those potion books that are in that library, and those bedrooms! You never have to use the ground level rooms at all. Everything you need is down there."
"Hey that reminds me, do you know why Sirius made Snape a beneficiary in his will?"
"Well, I know that they were friends, as far as I know that's all they were, despite being at each other's throats all the time. I think that was partially a front. But you'd have to ask him really, I can't give you a proper answer."
"Fair enough." Harry looked at his watch, the hands showed that it was eight o'clock in the morning, they'd not even noticed the time go by.
"Come on, let's get some breakfast. I'm sure Dumbledore'll be turning up at some point."
The two boys walked through the house to the kitchen after bowing to Serena Black as they passed her.
"Do we have to do that every time we walk by her painting?"
"I think we should. If we show her respect she'll respect us. When Sirius was alive here she used to scream for hours until they put curtains over the painting. So how have you got Skarien blood in you?"
They talked as they ate until nine o'clock rolled around and the doorbell rang. Harry grimaced.
"What's the betting that that's Dumbledore?" Draco asked as he followed Harry to the front door.
Harry extended his hand towards the door and opening his palm the door opened to show Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape standing on the doorstep. After a momentary silence where the two men took in Harry's new appearance Dumbledore made to enter the house. As soon as his foot reached the edge of the door a bright light was thrown up by the door that prevented him from entering.
"Ah, I see you haven't taken down the wards on the doors. If you'd be so kind…"
"Muggle-lover." A voice muttered from just inside the door. Harry grinned at Serena Black's insult.
"Professor Snape, Sir, you may enter my household. There are certain matters which I need to discuss with you." Snape looked shocked for a moment before moving past Albus into the house.
"But you Professor Dumbledore have done nothing to earn your way into a house in my ownership. You lack of deference to my stature I can overlook but I would appreciate to be called by my rightful title when we next meet. Goodbye Sir." As he said that, Harry clenched his fist and the door swung shut. Harry turned to face Severus and Draco. Who stared back with looks of jubilation and confusion.
"If you'd both like to follow me?" Harry turned and led the two men upstairs to the drawing room.
"Now then Potter," Severus drawled once we had sat down in a drawing room.
"What on earth is going on? How could you treat Professor Dumbledore like that, what title were you talking about and why have the Order been thrown out of Sirius' house?"
Draco grinned,
"That's a lot of questions Severus."
"I intend to have them answered."
"I will answer all of your questions, providing you answer some of mine." Severus inclined his head slightly to Harry, which he took to be a yes.
"Well, I was informed today of my inheritance from my parents, which although unexpected was not altogether surprising to learn what they had left to me. What was surprising was what some of my ancestors had left which would only be passed on when someone of enough power was born to their line." Snape looked at him with contempt.
"And you were powerful enough to inherit what they had left?"
Harry smirked.
"It seems so. But the scary fact is, that these ancestors of mine happen to be Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin and, well, Merlin." Snape looked at him for a moment then burst out laughing. Harry smirked at Draco and handed Snape the letter he had received the day before. Severus scanned down the paper and slowly all of the colour drained out of his face.
"How is this possible?" He whispered. Harry shrugged,
"I don't know but apparently it is. Now, I treated Dumbledore like that because he has never mentioned anything of this, especially anything about Sirius' will. Purely to use this house as his headquarters, and if there was any other reason he should have told me! The title I mentioned could be one of many, I can't even remember most of them but Prince of Darkness and Lord of Mith do appeal to me quite a lot. Finally, the Order has been thrown out of this house on the instructions of Zagorin at Gringotts as this house has now passed into my ownership and I haven't given any kind of permission for them to use or live in it. Does this answer your questions, Sir?"
Snape barely nodded as he tried to take in everything Harry had said.
"It answers everything I just don't understand most of it."
Harry and Draco laughed.
"Don't worry Severus, neither do we."
"Now for my questions Sir. Why were you a beneficiary of Sirius' will?"
Severus smiled.
"I had always had an understanding with Black, he insulted me and I'd glare at him. We'd never been the best of friends, but somehow we always managed to save each other on more than one occasion. Sometimes in a battle with Death Eaters before your parents died and sometimes just because I would have died if Black hadn't have saved me from myself." He grimaced in memory of past times.
"Anyway, he never had much use for the Potions lab here and I was always ferreting around in there so I guess he thought it would be of more use to me than to you."
Harry smiled at the new perspective of Sirius.
"Well, I am going to completely fit it out with Potions equipment so I can experiment to my hearts content." Severus looked at him in surprise.
"You hate Potions Potter."
"No, I just don't like it in lesson, especially when certain Slytherin's throw things into my cauldron!" the last comment he directed at Draco who was sitting next to him. Draco tried to look innocent, but failing he just shrugged.
"So? It made lesson's more interesting!" Harry laughed and Severus shook his head at the two teens.
"Well, as that's been more or less cleared up I just have one more question, do you know anyone who I can trust to take on my estates and manage my money for me?"
Severus thought for a moment and then indicated Draco.
"I would suggest your father Draco, Lucius is very good at the kind of thing and his personal accountant can take care of all of your vaults and money worries."
"Thank you Sir, you've been very helpful. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to have to show you out and myself and Draco, if he has nothing better to do, will go and visit my other properties."