The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor

Notes:

A review from a guest and a few others has clued me in on a few things that aren't clear. I was going to explain it in this chapter anyway since it ties into the explanation of what happened in the past.

I have reduced the poll choices down to only a few choices and will stop the poll next week. Those who haven't voted yet, you can go to the poll and choose three different couples for this story.

Disclaimer:

I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though.

Warnings:

This story WILL contain slash!

This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc.

This chapter has one or two swear words so be warned!

Everyone else… please enjoy

Key:

"speech"

"soft-spoken or seemingly vague speech"

'thoughts'

- Parseltongue -

Chapter 3: The Past

Harry listened to Severus as he spoke. It was a given that he hadn't imagined the day to turn out like this, but if he was honest with himself, the earlier beating was worth it. The man called Severus might have tried to put him to sleep, but he had blocked it and it had taken everything he had to not react to the pain when the man had started healing him. After the healing, it had been a shock to find out that the people actually knew him and he had listened intently until he thought it was the best time to 'wake up'.

His aunt had told him that he had been left on their doorstep when he had just been one year old. This meant that he had spent the last fourteen years in their care and all the abuse could have been easily avoided if someone had just thought to look for him at the Dursleys. But he couldn't find it in him to be angry over the lost time.

He wasn't a big fan of the saying 'everything happens for a reason' but he supposed that he kind of had to apply that to the current situation. Now he just had to figure out what the reason was. Harry turned his attention to Severus, who had gotten up to get him a glass of water before the explanations began. He didn't know what they would learn, but he wanted to know what happened to his parents and why he was sent to the Dursleys in the first place.

"The night your parents died, we were supposed to gather there for a visit, but an hour before the appointed time, your parents told us that they were urgently needed elsewhere. We all knew that your parents were sometimes called out in tandem when it was needed and we didn't think much of it at the time, but since the rest of us had all been gathered together beforehand, we found it very strange that they didn't contact anyone to come and take care of you."

Severus took a deep breath and Harry could see that the night still haunted him greatly. He wanted to tell him that whatever he did or did not do, was in the past and that nobody could live a life full of 'what-if's'. But he didn't say anything. Now was not the time to say those words, so Harry just softly placed his hand on Severus' arm. The contact felt a little strange to them both, but neither could deny that they needed a small comfort.

Severus nodded his thanks before he continued to recall the night. "Your parents made sure to key us into the wards and the floo to ensure that we could come and go any time we wanted and Tom decided that he would go to fetch you since it seemed like your parents had a lot on their hands. He told me that he had gone through the floo and entered the room where you slept when he suddenly heard someone familiar fighting with your parents. The man demanded that they hand you over to him, but they refused and a few seconds later your father was killed. Tom said that he heard your father shouting at your mother to run before he died and so she did."

Harry felt his stomach roll as he pictured the scene. His father had tried to protect his mother and it was obvious that he had failed. He only hoped that they were together wherever they were and he wondered whether the mysterious man was the same man that had seemingly placed him with the Dursleys. He hadn't forgotten Severus' remark about the Dumbledore person trying to make him a slave.

He pulled his attention back to Severus. "Your mother ran straight to your room and Tom hid behind the door. She tried to grab you and escape, but a barrier spell was cast around the room and all her available exits were blocked. She saw Tom hiding behind the door, but didn't want to draw any attention to him, so she started asking the person why he was doing what he did."

The whole room was tense as the story progressed. "Dumbledore, the man who had killed your father, had chuckled at the question but didn't seem to deem it important enough to answer until his wand had been pointed at your mother once more. At that time, instead of using a binding spell, Tom had decided to shove the man away and he took his place in front of your mother and Dumbledore had decided to reveal his plan to get them to let their guard down."

Harry stretched and laid back into the pillows as he listened. "He told them that he had decided to take over the Wizarding world 'for the greater good' and that he had arranged for a fake prophecy where a dark lord would rise and Harry would defeat him. He intended to kill your mother and Tom as well to gain sympathy and then he would raise 'The boy who lived' as a weapon that would destroy the next dark lord."

The room was deathly still as Harry tried to take it all in, but he knew there was more that he could find out. Severus paused the story for a moment but continued when he saw that Harry was looking at him expectantly. As they looked into each other's eyes, Severus nodded and continued the tale.

"After Dumbledore spoke, he aimed his wand at your mother and Tom tried to make use of his distraction to kill the man before he harmed her, but it was too late. As Tom sent a killing curse towards Dumbledore to save your lives, Dumbledore somehow blocked it with a powerful shield of his own making and it changed its course."

Harry had a dreadful feeling that he was somehow involved in what happened next and Severus didn't disappoint. "The curse was headed straight to you and both Tom and your mother jumped into its path, but Tom was a little too late with his shield and the curse struck your mother first before it struck him. Some of the residues of the curse landed on you and Tom said that he saw something flowing from him to you before he passed out."

Severus looked grim for a moment. "Dumbledore thought that he had killed everybody in the house and he took you from us. Since then we have been trying to find you, but nothing we did turned up any leads. We agreed to keep looking for as long as it takes, but we didn't get anywhere. It was like your entire magical signature had disappeared. We hoped that we would see you at Hogwarts when you turned eleven years old, but that also didn't happen. Since Hogwarts herself writes and sends the letters, we were unable to see where you lived and this led to another dead-end."

"As the years passed, we thought you had either died or become a whole different person since we knew nothing about the life you were living. We didn't stop searching, but in our minds, we already feared that we would never see you again. It wasn't until last year that we learned that Dumbledore was planning to rule over the country as a king, by first getting everyone to trust him and then forcing them to make him supreme ruler."

Everyone in the room grimaced at the thought of how bad such a reign would be. People would forever be manipulated by the man and many would not survive. Harry gave a slight shudder. He didn't personally know the man, but even he felt the need to kill the old wizard. He knew that killing was wrong, but he also understood that many lives would be spared if the old man died.

Harry turned his thought back to his parents. "My parents sound extremely brave. I can't imagine what it would take to dive in front of someone else on purpose to save their lives, but I find that my body usually moves on its own. I wish I could at least remember them, it's painful to not know what they looked like."

The people in the room gave him shaky smiles as they thought of the sacrifices that his parents made. Harry could tell that they all cared a lot about his parents. He turned back to Severus and gave him a quivering smile. Severus seemed to understand Harry's unspoken urge and he nodded. "Your parents died to save you and Tom still hates himself for the fact that he hadn't fought better to protect all of you. We all wish that we had followed Tom that night, but the blame for your parents' death lies with Dumbledore alone. We all trusted him, but he betrayed us and I am not going to sugarcoat my words since most of us feel the same. Albus Dumbledore will never come near you again and if we so much as sense the bastard, he is going to die a very slow and painful death."

Harry felt his tears spill as he heard the one thing he had wanted the most during his time at the Dursleys. Someone wanted to protect him and they seemed to truly care for him. He didn't want to hope for a family, just in case this wasn't what they wanted, but he couldn't fight the giddy feeling that filled him and this prompted him to voice his thoughts. "Uhm, does this mean that I never have to go back there ever again? I don't have any money, but I can find a job so that I can pay for the things I need. I want to stay here in the Wizarding world, please? I promise I won't be in the way."

Harry held up his breath at the shocked and angry looks around him, but he refused to cower. They had promised that they wouldn't hurt him and he knew they meant it. He was not expecting to be suddenly engulfed under a sea of hugs as everyone stepped closer to hug him. It didn't last long, but it was enough and Harry cried softly at the feeling of finally being held with care. He laughed when Nagini hissed at them in mock anger when they almost squashed her in the process.

They then sat on the bed and the man called Remus spoke up. "Harry, of course, you can stay in the Wizarding world. Though, you might find that you will want to run away later on since we will be practically fighting each other to get you to come and visit. You will go to school. A job can wait until you've graduated, we will take care of you."

The teen pulled a fearful face and the man named Peter chuckled. "We won't fight Harry. What Remus means is that you will probably have no free time left. We all would love for you to visit and after you've settled in with one of your Godfathers, you will probably receive invites left, right, and center."

The raven-haired boy immediately got a broad smile on his face before it morphed into shock as his mind registered the rest of Peter's words. "You mean that I will be able to live with either Severus or Sirius?" The boy didn't know Sirius yet, but as he watched the man smile broadly, he knew that he would easily be able to like the man.

Both men nodded in response and he could see that they both looked excited at the idea. Harry didn't want to let anyone down, but that was exactly what would happen if he had to choose between living with one of the two men. The thought distressed him and the rest of the room's occupants must have seen this because both Severus and Sirius rushed to assure him that he didn't have to live with either of them if he didn't want to.

Harry could see the pain in their eyes when he realized that they probably thought that he didn't like them, but the sound of someone clearing their throat from the door, made everyone jump back. They saw it was Tom and their bodies relaxed. Harry was pleasantly startled when Nagini suddenly hissed a hello and Tom replied in kind.

The man stepped deeper into the room. "Hi Harry, I'm Tom. Are you doing okay?" the teen nodded and Tom smiled before he turned to the rest of the group. "I think what distressed Harry, was the thought that he would have to choose between the two of you without really knowing you and I might have a solution for that. I've been working on an idea for a while now and everything is already in place. I was going to talk about it this weekend, but I guess now is as good a time as any."

Harry could feel his curiosity spike like the rest of the room's occupants and he silently waited for Tom to explain. "We have all been trying to watch out for each other with Dumbledore still on the loose, but the truth is that we are mostly left vulnerable when returning to our homes, even with the added wards."

Harry could sense where the man was going with his story and he hoped against all odds that he was right. "I drew up plans about a year ago and have been renovating an old castle that I inherited ever since. It took a while, but most of it is finished now and I wanted to ask everyone if they would like to come to live there. Each person will have their apartment inside the castle, but we would be able to protect each other much better there."

Tom glanced around nervously and although he didn't know the man, Harry immediately jumped up to hug him with excitement. Unfortunately, he kind of forgot about his wounds and his legs gave out from under him just as he wanted to throw his arms around the man's neck.

Harry closed his eyes and waited for the impact of the floor, but instead, he felt himself pulled into strong arms while being carried back to bed before anyone else could even stand up. A worried-looking Severus admonished him before he ran a few diagnostic spells and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that Harry hadn't hurt himself.

Severus pushed him back against the headboard and chased the rest of the people off of the bed. "You have to rest Harry; your body isn't over the shock yet. If you can't stay in bed then I might have to give you a sleeping potion and then this conversation will have to wait until later."

Harry quickly nodded his acceptance. He didn't want anyone to leave and he wanted to know whether the rest of the people would accept Tom's offer. He was sure they could all see his eagerness and this was confirmed then they each gave him a knowing smile before turning to Tom. Severus spoke his acceptance first. "I am sure that we all accept Tom. We might not be able to live there during school times, but it will be good to have a safe haven where the rest, who isn't going to Hogwarts, can stay together." The rest nodded to confirm his statement and Harry let out an excited giggle.

The giggle morphed into a yawn and Sirius, Remus and Peter smiled before each of them hugged him. They promised to be back later and Harry had a slight suspicion that they were probably going to spread the word about the castle. He felt so sleepy, but he was afraid that when he woke up again, he might find that it was all just a dream.

Tom took Severus to the side and they spoke a few words before he returned and hugged Harry. "I know you don't want to be alone so we will arrange for someone to keep you company while we work. Would you want to make a friend?"

Harry nodded sleepily, but his stomach felt like it was tied in knots. He's never really had friends before and he would love to have a friend, but what if this potential friend didn't like him? He shook the thoughts away. It would be nice to wake up with someone else in the room.

Tom smiled. "His name is Draco and he also really wants a friend. In a way, you will kind of be more like half-brothers than friends since Severus is his Godfather as well." Harry felt a spike of excitement at this, but he was becoming too tired to even reply, so he simply took Tom's hand and lightly squeezed it before turning onto his side and burying himself into the pillows.

He heard Tom and Severus chuckle, but couldn't find any energy to respond. The day's anxiety seems to have caught up with his body. He forced himself to stay awake long enough to see both Tom and Severus leave the room when a boy about his age appeared. In a way, his sleepy mind connected the boy's fair appearance with that of an angel, but then he fell fast asleep, oblivious to the fact that the boy had nervously taken hold of his hand.

Five hours later…

Harry woke up to find that the room had gone dark. Panic gripped him for a moment as he thought that he was back in his cupboard, but a soft hand gripping his own shook off that idea. He tried to switch on a light with his magic, but when nothing happened, he remembered a candle that had been placed next to his bed. He was shocked when he lit the candle only to see the form of a boy sitting in a chair next to his bed, with his head on a pillow.

He remembered seeing the boy enter the room before he fell asleep and he smiled. He couldn't believe that the boy had actually stayed with him the entire time since they didn't even know each other, but Tom's remark about brothers returned to him and Harry bent over to throw a blanket over him when he saw that the boy was slightly shivering.

Harry smiled as he looked at the boy. Draco, he reminded himself. He hoped that they could be friends. He slipped his hand back into Draco's hold and laid back. It was nice to simply rest without worrying about cleaning or doing something and he took the time to get his thoughts together.

It slightly troubled him that he had so readily accepted the people, but his gut feeling told him that they could be trusted and they had all seemed genuinely concerned for him. It was an amazing feeling to be wanted, but he still wanted to see whether the happiness would last or not.

He was just happy to be away from the Dursleys and the apparent threat of some old psychopath. Even if things changed and he had to live on his own, Harry was sure that he would be able to take care of himself. His mind protested the idea, but he knew he had to think realistically and the first thing he would do, would be to ask the people around him to teach him more about what being a wizard entails.

He was pretty sure that there was a lot more to magic than simple wand-waving and he wondered if it was anything similar to the abilities he had learned to use. He itched to learn more about it and the thought surprised him. He knew he was always eager to learn new things, but it felt like something was driving him to seek as much knowledge as his mind could hold. The feeling was a little unsettling, but it was also welcomed.

A sleepy murmur next to him broke him out of his thoughts and he was shocked when he found himself staring into two steely grey eyes. The two boys stared at each other in shock for several seconds before the blond jumped up and struck out his right hand.

Harry was surprised at the sudden movement, but he took the blonde's hand anyway. The blond smiled at him. "Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy. I can't believe that I finally get to meet you…" He suddenly paused awkwardly and Harry realized that Draco must have thought that they would never meet.

He smiled reassuringly at the boy and Draco nodded before continuing his speech. Harry inwardly giggled because it sounded like Draco had practiced the words in front of the mirror for hours. "Our parents were great friends and my mom always told me about when you were little. We played together a lot and they always thought we would end up being as close as brothers when we got older."

Harry wondered why the blond seemed to become all fidgety, but then he saw the slight hope in the grey eyes and he realized that Draco wanted to know whether they could become close again. He also realized that the boy was a lot more accustomed to giving orders than asking for permission and he smiled.

He also wanted a friend and if Draco was too shy to ask then he would ask instead. "Draco… Uhm I can call you Draco right?" The blond nodded enthusiastically and Harry smiled. "Would you like to be my friend? I don't know anything about the Wizarding world and it would help me a lot if I had someone my age to talk to. We must have played together a lot when we were younger because I kind of feel like I know you from somewhere and I feel at ease in your presence."

Harry blushed when his mind registered the words his mouth had accidentally blurted out, but when he saw the happy smile on Draco's face, he decided it was worth it. He inwardly smiled as the blond caught himself and tried to hide his happiness behind a holier than thou expression, but failed.

Both boys knew that they found someone to speak to about their problems and the feeling of coming home, cemented in Harry's thoughts. He decided that he would stop trying to find fault with the people around him. He might be extremely scared of getting hurt again, but somehow he knew that he wouldn't.

He was surprised at how much his life had changed in a couple of hours. He had gone from a hated freak to someone with a family and a friend who actually cared and wanted him around. It was a great feeling and hours later Lucius and Narcissa found them cuddled together on the bed. It was clear that the two had been talking for hours and they called the rest of the group. Narcissa insisted on taking a photo before they closed the door and left the teens to sleep.

It was nice to see that the two hadn't lost their friendship, even though it had been years since they had played together. Tom called the rest of the group together in the lounge and told them about his plans. It wasn't surprising that everyone agreed and it wasn't long before they started making preparations for the move. They also wanted to plan a surprise party for Harry and it wasn't a shock when Bellatrix insisted to help with the décor. The group had watched in horror as she charmed everything into a gothic theme before Narcissa had a chance to dissuade her and everyone chuckled as the usually composed Narcissa started chasing Bellatrix around with the cake knife.

Everyone knew that things were about to change, but they chose to enjoy the feeling of being together. They cast their sadness inward at the thought that Lily and James weren't there with them, but the thought that Harry was finally safe, made the sadness melt away.

Thank you for reading this fanfic I hope you enjoy the update.