Harry happily followed Dobby along with Mr. Morgan down to the dining room. He was a bit hungry, even with the break mid-afternoon for tea. The Malfoys were waiting for them when they arrived.
"Good evening, Mr. Morgan," Lucius greeted as they entered the room.
"Good evening, Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy," Mr. Morgan responded correctly.
"Good evening," Narcissa replied.
"Good evening, Mr. Morgan," Draco parroted his mother, somewhat displeased to see he would have to use his formal manners. He hadn't known his tutor would be staying for dinner.
"Good evening, Heir Malfoy," Mr. Morgan responded with a slight smile, correctly interpreting the slight scowl on his young charge's face. He too remembered the wish to forego etiquette when he was young.
"How were your assessments, Harry?" Narcissa asked the young man.
"They were quite interesting, Cissa," Harry replied, showing a bit of animation. "They were all things I knew already, but it was good to review."
Lord Malfoy's eyebrows rose at the implication, knowing Mr. Morgan had provided test sheets for higher levels than Harry should have been at. "Severus will be joining us momentarily. He flooed this afternoon to say he would be delayed slightly from joining us as he had a potion in a very tricky state.
"Oh, Sev will be here?" Harry asked, happily.
"Yes," Lucius responded with a smile.
Harry nodded, please that he would be able to see the man who was friends with his mother again. The group spoke of other inconsequential things while they waited for Severus so they could begin the meal. He arrived in a flurry of black, his robes billowing out behind him, apologizing profusely for his tardiness.
"Dumbledore requested a rather tricky potion just this morning and set a nearly impossible timeline. I apologize for my tardiness, I hope I haven't inconvenienced anyone," Severus said with his usual trademark scowl. Anything to do with Dumbledore was guaranteed to put him in a bad mood.
"Of course not, Severus," Narcissa responded with a smile. "We are so pleased you could join us this evening."
"I am, as always, pleased to be here," he said to his lady love, keeping everything within the bounds of propriety due to the tutor's presence and Harry's ignorance of the situation.
"Mr. Morgan, you will have to excuse us, it has been some time since we have been able to be en famille, please, be seated and be comfortable. No need to stand on ceremony this evening. Harry is too new to our world for us to reasonably expect his adherence to our level of manner. Let us speak freely," Narcissa ordered nicely. And one did not ignore an order, no matter how veiled, from the Lady Malfoy.
"Of course," he responded, being seated with the rest.
"Do tell us, Mr. Morgan," Lucius began the conversation with his soup, "how Harry did on his assessments."
"I cannot provide the full details at this time as I have not yet completed their review, but I can say that Heir Potter completed them in remarkable time considering I gave him assessments from all of his completed years of muggle study as well as the year he would have been entering and the next."
All the adult eyebrows rose at that pronouncement, and Draco looked a little put out.
"He does not appear to have skipped any questions either, from what I have been able to go over. Of course I will evaluate his responses over the next days and will write with his final results so we may best decide how to incorporate his instruction with young Heir Malfoy," Mr. Morgan continued. "We will be completing his languages assessment as well as the written etiquette assessment after dinner, but I do not anticipate it will take him the entire 2 hours we allotted. He completed the English, spelling, reading, and maths portion in one hour and fifteen minutes."
Severus' composure nearly cracked at the knowledge that he had clearly inherited Lily's penchant for schoolwork. He was sad Lily couldn't be present to see how well her son was turning out, even with the utter incompetence of Harry's magical guardian and the detestable Dursleys. While he was pleased to see his studiousness, he also wanted Harry to have fun and get the chance to be a child. Hopefully not one like the Marauders who were always more focused on their pranks and bullying. Knowledge was a great power, even in the wixen world.
Mr. Morgan turned to Harry, "Do you know if you have any artistic pursuits you wish to begin or continue?"
"Well…" Harry said thoughtfully. "I did lots of gardening, but I didn't really like it much." He paused unsure if he could come up with anything. "Oh, I know!" he said, hitting on just the thing. "I'd like to do something with sewing...or clothes? I told Lucius and Sev that all the clothes I worked on held up in the garden better. I'd like to learn more of that!" He wasn't sure if he liked sewing or working on clothes, but it had been a welcome respite from harder manual labor at the Dursleys, and if he could learn to do whatever it was that made the clothes last better, it would be such a help. He didn't want to rely on the Malfoys to provide him everything in the future. Perhaps it would become his trade!
"A threadwizard?!" Narcissa whispered, almost lost in the tinkling of the dishes as they ate.
Lucius nodded at her, not speaking, not wishing to draw Harry's attention.
"That's an interesting choice," Severus stepped into the gap.
"I'm sure we can speak with one of the tailors to see if they'd be interested in taking you as a part time apprentice," Narciss composed herself enough to add.
"Perhaps Twilfitt and Tattings would be interested," Lucius commented.
"I had intended to take Harry shopping tomorrow as he is quite without anything necessary, I can mention the matter when we stop into their shop," Narcissa agreed.
"Indeed, I will send a letter as well, just so they know it has been sanctioned," Lucius continued with ease. "He will need it as a minor."
"Of course, Lucius dear," Narcissa replied.
"But Mother, I wanted to go flying again!" Draco finally joined the conversation with a whine.
"Draco!" Lucius cut through intensely. "Education is extremely important, and Harry did not grow up as you did with everything he needed. You will have many opportunities to play with Harry in the future, do not cause problems at the start."
Draco's eyes dropped to his plate, a faint pink tinting his cheeks. "Yes, Father," he responded quietly.
"I did enjoy flying, Draco," Harry whispered as the adults continued discussing his educational plans. "Maybe we'll have time before we leave? Or after we come back?"
Draco glanced up at the adults and seeing them absorbed in their own conversation, looked back to Harry nodding rapidly, a smile creeping onto his face. "That sounds good," he whispered back.
Conversation had progressed smoothly through the dinner courses and dessert had been served. Harry was pleased to have a slice of his favorite treacle tart, and a small bowl of fruit on the side. He had rarely gotten to have the ripe red strawberries, or tart pineapple which was present. And there was a light green melon he had never seen before. The mixed fruit was bright and colorful, and the tastes exploded on his tongue. He thought it was almost as good as his tart. Almost.
The boys had been carrying on whispered conversation while the adults hammered out the details regarding the time of their tutoring sessions, accounting for the need of different instructors for Draco and Harry's elective study. Hopefully they would be able to schedule their time out of the manor to coincide, otherwise their joint lessons would be far more difficult to coordinate. This topic was mostly uninteresting to the boys, so Draco had been telling Harry about some of his toys (a moving model of Hogwarts, and wizarding games like Gobstones and Exploding Snap), and Harry had talked about some card games he had seen the Dursley's play (Go Fish and War) since he had never had toys. Draco was very confused by the muggle games, as Harry was with the wizarding, but they enjoyed the other's conversation nonetheless. They finally agreed that they would ask Lucius and Severus to teach them to play chess. Neither of them knew how to play, and decided they were quite old enough to begin.
"Father," Draco said, just as Harry spoke, "Sev?"
Both men turned to look at the youngsters. "Yes?" they responded in perfect synchronicity.
Harry and Draco exchanged a look and Harry nodded his head to tell Draco to speak.
"Would you teach us to play chess?" Draco asked.
It was Lucius and Severus' turn to exchange looks. They smirked. "Of course," they replied. We'll add it to the weekend potions sessions.
"Great!" Draco exclaimed while Harry nodded shyly.
Seeing that they were finished, Mr. Morgan spoke up, "Heir Potter, if you are finished, perhaps we could get started on the remainder of your assessments? I do not believe you will need much time to complete them."
"Yes, that's fine," Harry nodded.
"We will await you in the family parlour when you're finished, Harry," Lucius said kindly.
Harry nodded as he stood.
"Blessed be," he offered shyly, remembering Draco saying it when they left breakfast.
"Blessed be," the others echoed as he and Mr. Morgan exited the room.
"That was very well done, Heir Potter," Mr. Morgan states as they returned to the schoolroom. You are already following the social cues you've experienced and you've only been here one day. I'm quite favorably impressed."
"Thank you, Mr. Morgan," Harry said quietly.
"Here are your final assessments: Etiquette, Latin, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. I do not expect that you'll know much, if any, of these, but do your best. It will help us determine if you will have any skill for languages, though you will take Latin regardless."
"That will be fine," Harry responded promptly. "I studied Latin in school."
"Really?" Mr. Morgan prompted.
"The school I went to was a pilot program for some new thing for secondary school preparation. If it hadn't been the local school, the Dursleys would never have allowed me to go, but it was just part of what we did. I was glad because it would make getting into secondary school easier, and hopefully help me get a scholarship. The Dursley's certainly weren't going to pay for any of it." Harry finished rather bitterly.
"Interesting," Mr. Morgan commented, handing over the pages. As before, Harry immediately set to work.
He finished in good time, taking about an hour and half.
"I finished them, Mr. Morgan," Harry said politely when he was done. "The Latin was easy. And French, Spanish, and Italian have lots of similar words. I think they must be related."
"Indeed they are," Mr. Morgan replied. "It is interesting that you noticed. Now, everything appears to be in order, so I will escort you to the family parlour."
"Thank you," Harry said with a smile. Harry liked Mr. Morgan. He was firm, but not strict, and was nice to him as well. He even praised him for his skills. Harry's thoughts continued in this vein while they walked.
When they arrived at the family parlour, Mr. Morgan released Harry to go play with Draco while he had a brief conversation with Lord Malfoy regarding Harry's words about Latin and the other languages. He was very excited by his new pupil, and was looking forward to seeing how he had performed. He indicated the results would be to Lord Malfoy by the end of the week so they'd have another full plus a few days to prepare before tutoring started for the year. When their conversation was finished, he left.
Harry had installed himself next to Draco, who was sitting with Severus. Draco was explaining that Severus was his godfather, and he was excited to be learning potions with him. Severus was enjoying the time with his godson and allowed his stiff exterior to relax. He allowed the chatter of the two boys to wash over him as he sipped his drink and watched Narcissa working on her needlepoint. Lucius was going over some documents he had received earlier in the day from the ministry. Once he had reached a stopping place, he set his work down and glanced around the room at his family, now increased by the addition of the remarkable little boy sitting next to his son.
"Harry?" Lucius asked, gaining the young man's attention.
"Yes?" Harry replied.
"Tomorrow, you will be shopping with Narcissa and Draco. I know you did not wish to bring anything with you from the muggles, so we will be getting you everything you need." He shared a fond look with his wife and continued, "And knowing Narcissa, several you don't."
Severus chuckled, "Truer words were never spoken my friend. We all know of Narcissa's love of shopping."
"Mother, will we get toys, too?" Draco asked.
"Of course, Draco," Narcissa replied. "We'll be stopping by Twilfitt and Tattings first for his clothes and to see about his possible apprenticeship. Then we'll go for toys, books, personal care items, and anything else we come up with. Perhaps even a broom?" She finished somewhat mischievously.
"A broom?" Draco asked excitedly.
"I'll have my very own broom?" Harry asked in a whisper, wide eyed.
"Your very own broom," Narcissa said with a decisive nod.
"Don't forget their beginners potion kits," put in Severus. "If you go to Slugs and Jiggers, tell them I sent you for my personal students' beginner kits. They'll know what you need."
"Of course, my heart," Narcissa replied. Harry looked at her confused.
"Oh, dear," Narcissa said looking abashed. "I completely forgot you don't know…" she trailed off.
"Narcissa and I are married," Lucius picked up the tale, "however we are not in love, nor are we entirely compatible. Do you know anything about secondary genders, Harry?" Harry shook his head no.
"I am an alpha. Normally an alpha bonds with an omega as they have the best chance to have children easily, and to have powerful children at that. Cissa is a beta. Alphas and Betas can have children, but it is much more difficult. We were lucky enough that Severus was able to assist us to have Draco."
"Our marriage is open, and we have been friends since before we were bonded," Narcissa continued the story. "Lucius does not love me, nor I him. Unfortunately, our bond can only be annulled if he finds his omega partner."
"Which has not yet occured," Lucius finished. Harry nodded with some slight understanding.
"Mother didn't want children so soon, she wanted to go into healing. But the Malfoys required an heir, so father and mother asked Severus to help them with his potions. Mother and Severus became closer friends when he was here helping with her pregnancy, and with me as I was still ill regularly until I was about 3," Draco put in, having heard the story of how his Mother and Severus fell in love multiple times. "They spent so much time together, they fell in love."
"But," here Severus cut in, "until Lucius and Narcissa can be divorced, Lucius knows about Narcissa and I being together."
"I do not begrudge either of you your happiness, and were I able, I would end our marriage now so you two could be together," Lucius said with a fond smile at the two of them.
"I know," Narcissa replied with a smile. "But until that happy day, Harry, just know that while in public, we are Lady Narcissa Malfoy and Lord Severus Prince, friends, but in private, we are Cissa and Sev, lovers."
Harry nodded, somewhat overwhelmed with the information after his already long day, and somewhat taxing afternoon. Lucius picked up on his growing tiredness.
"Draco, Harry, time for pajamas and get ready for bed," Lucius instructed.
They nodded and ran from the room. They had discovered at lunch that their rooms were across from each other, and so they disappeared together. Once both had changed into their pajamas (Harry still wearing Draco's old ones, as he was smaller than the slightly older boy) and finished their nightly ablutions, they returned to the parlour for hugs and goodnights.
Draco led the way into the room, dashing to his godfather first, then his father, and mother. Harry followed a bit more slowly, never having had good night hugs before. He went first to Lucius, who enfolded him gently and wished him goodnight. Then to Narcissa, who squeezed him a bit, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. And finally to Sev, who hugged him as if unaccustomed to hugs, but willing all the same. He had a small shock when Harry fisted his robes as if unwilling to let go. Belatedly he remembered he was the only tie Harry had left to his family, and so he gave Harry another squeeze before gently disentangling his hands.
"Would you like me to tuck you in?" Severus asked Harry.
Harry thought for a moment before nodding slowly. Severus nodded, and extended his hand for Harry to grasp. Draco observed their interaction and then looked pleadingly at his mother. She gave him a fond smile as she, too, stood and extended a hand towards her son.
"Blessed be," Draco said as they passed his father.
"Blessed be," Harry offered as he and Severus followed.
"Blessed be," Lucius responded to both with a smile.
Narcissa and Severus allowed the two 8 year olds to guide them to their rooms. Narcissa went with Draco to tuck him in and press one last kiss to his forehead. Once she had closed his door, she turned towards Harry's room, intending to kiss him goodnight as well. She took one step into the room, saw what was happening, and stopped without drawing attention. It seems Severus had summoned or conjured a Tales of Beedle the Bard and was reading the Tale of the Three Brothers to Harry whose valiant attempts at staying awake were becoming a losing battle. He had been tucked in and was grasping his blue blanket with the lily next to his face. His eyes drifted shut for the last time. Severus continued another sentence or two to make sure he was truly asleep, and then closed the book quietly and laid it aside with a sigh.
"I'm so sorry, Lily," He whispered brokenly. "I'll do my best to protect him for you now."
Narcissa stepped forward and grasped his hand. She smoothed the hair away from his eyes, taking in the sadness contained within as she pressed a light kiss to his cheek. She released his hand to smooth the covers over Harry as she bent over to press a kiss to his forehead as she had done only minutes ago with her son.
"He will be protected now, as best we can," Narcissa assured him.
Severus nodded as they turned and left the room.