Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Tom led Harry straight down to the formal dining room where he held his meetings. Motioning for Harry to stay behind him, he opened the door and looked out over the bowed heads.

"My followers, such patience for waiting. Would someone like to explain to me why you all decided to call me to my own meeting?" His voice held a dangerous glint to it.

"Y-yes my Lord, we meant no harm by it. We merely wished for your wise words, if that is amicable to you." Lucious was practically shivering in his boots, but the years in politics served him well as his voice only paused once.

"Lucious, relax. I'm not going to punish you for seeking counsel for our plans. The lack of warning was...an inconvenience. But fear not! I was going to call a meeting with you all shortly anyway. Call it water under the bridge, if you will." Everyone sat up just a bit straighter, wondering why he was going to call a meeting so soon after their last one anyway.

"You may be wondering, why I have yet to take my proper seat at the table and why the table has changed since the last time we were here. It is now wide enough for two at the head of it. Come now, don't look so shocked. Don't tell me you've all grown soft and have neglected to notice that?" Heads quickly bowed and quiet affirmations that they had, indeed, noticed followed.

"My Lord, we simply were not expecting you to mention it."

"Thank you Avery. That will do. I am going to introduce you all to someone who is, under no circumstances, to be harmed. You will not be receiving a name, until I deem all of you worthy. To attack him, in any way, is to attack me. Do you understand?" Nods and affirmations followed with curiosity. "Bellatrix, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?! I will NOT tolerate your blatant disregard for my authority any longer. I know Azkaban has addled your senses, but you WILL NOT HARM WHO IS ABOUT TO WALK THROUGH THIS DOOR." The walls practically shook with the raw magic surrounding the room.

"Yes Master. As you wish. But if you should change your mind-"

"I won't." Tom cut her off, not wanting her to get any more ideas in her head. "Now, I would like you all to welcome our newest member." He stepped forward and just off to the side so only half of Harry could be seen.

A collective breath was being held in the room as looked up at them from under his hood. He heard someone gasp in shock.

"My Lord, is this your...forgive me. It is not my place to be asking such a personal question. Forgive me my Lord...my Lords." Lucious knelt to the ground, practically falling in his haste with his silver hair gleaming from under his robes.

"You're right Lucious. It was not your place to ask." The man on the floor tensed. "However, I will forgive you. This must have been a great shock to you all, after knowing me for so long." At this, Bellatrix shrieked and stood from her spot.

"Master, you cannot be serious!" Bellatrix practically crawled onto the table. "This whelp, whoever it is, cannot possibly please you the way I can! The way I have! I can do things no one else can, I-"

"SILENCE!" She shrank back into her seat. "You will do well to remember that nothing ever happened between us. It is all a fantasy, in your head. Azkaban twisted a few screws the wrong way and I will not have you thinking you are entitled to me." He pointed his wand at her and she paled as she looked from one to the other.

"Ma...Master, you...you've given him your eyes. I am sorry," her voice broke as she looked down and stood to leave. "I do not deserve to be in your presence." She turned and left through the kitchen door without a backwards glance and her head hung low.

"My Lord?" Harry didn't recognize the voice at first, but recognition soon sank in as more words poured forth once he was given permission to speak. "Is it true? Did you give him your eyes?" Everyone at the table leaned in, waiting for the answer with bated breath.

"Yes. You will do well to remember this. LeStrange, when I dismiss this meeting you are to find her and fill her in on what she has missed. She will be excluded from the next few meetings until I find a use for her, but she will be kept informed of what is happening." Tom led Harry to a chair slightly smaller than Tom's. He was just grateful that it was

charmed to be extremely well cushioned.

"Now, what is it you all have come here to ask me?" Lucious cleared his throat and explained all that had happened in the ministry the last few days. It seemed that Dumbledore was really making a mess of himself with all the accusations being thrown around in the Wizarding media.

"What we wished to know, is how do you wish to proceed with Potter? You said yourself that we are not to be concerned with him anymore, but do we allow him to go to school and be further corrupted to that idiot's ideas or do we step in and intercept him?" Tom shook his head.

"Potter will be dealt with by me. I will be deciding if he goes to Hogwarts or not this year behind closed doors. Severus? You recall our conversation not too long ago, I presume?" The potions master nodded. "Good, now will you be pursuing the truth to that...situation?"

"If it is...amicable to you." His hesitation did not go unnoticed by his peers, but they didn't question it.

"Perfect. We shall speak at a later date over tea about this. Do some research into the legalities of it in the meantime." Harry tilted his head ever so slightly, wondering what all that could mean and if someone was going to tell him or not. "Now, if he goes to Hogwarts and it comes to light that Dumbledore has not legal right over him what will be the fallout?"

"Likely he will claim documents were fudged. It is best to handle these things through the goblins if at all possible as they are not swayed by outside influences. But then he would have to actually be, legally, someone else's charge. There would be no getting around that."

"And if Dumbledore really does have guardianship over him?"

"Then it is best we find a way to besmirch his name so thoroughly that no one can consider it a possibility that he continue with his charge either in or out of school. This would also have to go through the goblins, which will be a difficult task as they rarely see fit to remove charges from their guardians when they do not live together."

Silence filled the room after that statement. Not even Harry could fathom what was going through Tom's mind so when Tom turned to him, Harry's eyes widened.

"What do you think Potter will think of this? He has a reputation for being...close with Dumbledore, to say the least. Do you think he's aware of the legalities surrounding his guardianship or if he would be upset by that being disrupted if he is?" Getting the hint rather quickly, he shook his head.

"No, I don't think he's aware of how most of the legal system works. Especially with a subject as delicate as this. Everyone seems to either be completely against him and barr him unnecessarily or they bend every rule completely out of shape for him. He likely won't have any clue that he even has a guardian in our world. As for him and Dumbledore, I cannot say what happens behind closed doors. But if that old codger treats him the way he treats everyone else, then he won't be bothered by the guardianship change. I wouldn't be surprised if he's withholding information of his own." His voice had flashed dangerously throughout his little tirade at the thought of being left out of even more of his own life.

"Well said. That's settled then. Severus, you will look into what we talked about earlier and let me know if you find something. Everyone else is expected to find somewhere else to discuss amongst yourselves how you are going to plan for every single thing that could go wrong and the implications. Goodnight." He stood and waited for the rest to bow before walking out of the room. He held up a hand when he saw Harry open his mouth to speak. "Not yet. We must wait until they pass the wards."

A few minutes of silence later and Tom visibly slumped from his impeccable position before turning to Harry.

"You did well. I am surprised you stayed the entire meeting, I thought you would have walked out halfway through."

"Tom, what is it that you and Professor Snape had talked about?" He saw a flicker of worry pass through Tom's features.

"I'm afraid, Harry, that this is something to ask Severus about. It is not my secret to divulge and Severus is a dear friend of mine. I hope you understand why I can't tell you." Harry nodded and asked about the guardianship. "Ah, yes. It has come to my attention that Dumbledore has gone through many legal hoops to get your under his legal wing. According to the ministry, he is your legal guardian. We have reason to believe that the documents with the ministry have been tampered with and that the documents with the goblins at Gringotts were never looked at for verification because of who Dumbledore is. This is a part of what Severus will be looking into for me."

He shivered when he felt a hand under his chin pulling his face up.

"You do look quite stunning, if I may say so myself." Much to Harry's mortification, he felt a blush creeping into his cheeks at the compliment.

Thank you," his answer was barely a whisper as he gazed at the man who had not only taken him away from a very bad situation, but had included him in as much as he was able to. He shied away from the emotions that were bubbling up to the surface and took a shaky breath as Tom released his chin.

Damn it, Thomas! What the hell do you think you're doing? This is HARRY POTTER in front of you! He is FIFTEEN! Tom let go of Harry's chin and struggled to reign his thoughts in. If he wasn't careful, he'd start yelling at himself out loud.

"I fear I must turn in for the night, Harry. Come," he stood and led the way back to their rooms before entering his own from his own door in the hallway. He smiled at Harry and closed his door behind him before whispering "Goodnight Harry."

It almost made him jump out of his skin when he heard an equally quiet "Goodnight Tom," from the other side of the door.

Harry quickly shut his bedroom door and rushed to the bathroom to look in the mirror once more. He looked different with these robes on. Less like a child. He had never felt his age, being forced to grow up particularly fast, especially compared to his peers.

Red eyes glinted back at him in the mirror and he smiled. Master, you...you've given him your eyes… He let the memory of Bellatrix's voice wash over him. It was, indeed, Tom's eyes he was looking at. Tom didn't just charm the mask to shade his eyes red, he had charmed the mask to show Tom's eyes exactly. The more he looked, the more he was able to solidify his feelings and give them names.

Gratitude for rescuing him. Hope that he won't be forced to live in the dark anymore. A glimmer of dread for the coming year. Happiness that he was finally being shown that he was a person and not just a weapon or tool. A skip of his heart fluttered by when he thought of how Tom had looked at him while he complimented him in the dining room. That was going to warrant looking into, as he didn't recognize what it could be.

He went to lay down on his bed, fully dressed, when he saw Nagini on his bed.

"Well, hello there hatchling. I came to tell you that Master hatchling has grown to care for you. He will not say anything, as you are...how did he say...still a new hatchling and he is fully grown." The snake hissed in annoyance. "Why I ever expected him to entertain me with young ones I'll never know." Harry tilted his head, wondering what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure I follow…"

"Master hatchling did say you were young. You are inexperienced. He will teach you, but you have to push him to get what you want. It took me a long time to make him let me come speak to you. Goodnight, new hatchling."

Nagini stopped and turned back to him just before slithering through a hidden tunnel, that was just big enough for her.

"You do look rather handsome in his robes, New Hatchling"

"H-Harry. Just Harry."

"I like New Hatchling better." Without further ado, Nagini slithered through the tunnel and disappeared.

Deciding to dress in pajamas after all, Harry shook his head at the odd encounter. He wasn't going to mention the conversation with Tom, but it would require more thought. Maybe Hermione would have an idea what the snake meant if he returned to school this year.

"Harry, Severus wanted to speak with you later this afternoon. Is that alright?" He practically choked on the orange slice he had just taken a bit from. Severus Snape? Willingly want to talk to him?

"I thought no one knew I was here?"

"Severus is the only one who knows you are here. Actually, it is likely he is aware that you were at the last meeting. I informed him I was bringing you here before I went to get you." Harry agreed and ate the rest of his lunch much slower.

The next hour dragged by as Harry struggled to focus on the potion Tom was helping him with. Eventually, Tom burst out laughing when Harry had managed to make the liquid turn bright pink, rather than the murky white it was meant to be. "It's clear to me that you are distracted. But that's alright, Severus is here. Shall we wait in the library for him?" Relief flooded him at the thought of not having to confront the potions master in front of his failed potion.

They waited with fresh tea and a hot fire crackling happily next to him. He had moved his chair to be quite close to the hearth, since he enjoyed the warmth seeping into his bones and settling there. When Severus made his entrance, it was far less dramatic than Harry was used to.

The robes were still pitch black, but not billowing out behind him as he walked. They were less stuffy as well, allowing the teacher to have a much more relaxed demeanor. There was no scowl, but he wasn't smiling either. Some sort of relaxed in-between.

"Harry, you're looking better." The poor attempt at breaking the ice, did manage to make Tom chuckle.

"Severus, come join us. Here, I've already got your tea the way you like it. What is it that you've found?" The raven haired man took a sip of his tea before starting.

"Well, it is likely true. I will not know for sure until tests are done, but the paperwork seems to fit in with it." Tom nodded and sipped his tea while pointedly looking at Harry and then back. He slumped a little.

"I owe you an apology, Harry. Several, actually. First and foremost, because you have been lied to your entire life. You see, your mother and I...we grew up in the same area. She was my best friend, my only friend. We grew close and over the years only grew closer. She was the only person who knew of the upbringing I had, the only one who even bothered to care.

"And then one day I went and ruined my entire life. Obviously I was around nothing but pureblood supremacists the entire time I was in school since I was in Slytherin. We argued and I...well I called her something I shouldn't have. She stopped talking to me, claiming I had changed too much. It broke my heart.

"I went to apologize to her a few years later. It was in November, the year before you were born. It was...the best night of my life. Everything seemed right. But after that, the war picked up in full fury and we didn't get the chance to talk again. It was too dangerous. When I heard she had gotten married to James just after, it broke my heart. And then I heard she was pregnant with you shortly after that. It didn't make sense to me, she hadn't mentioned she was with anyone when we talked and she definitely didn't mention being pregnant or even that she wanted to be with the state of things. They went into hiding before anyone else found out she was going to have a child." Harry stopped him by holding up a hand. He could see where this was going.

"How is it, then, that you think what you do when I look so similar to him and not you?" This is where Tom cut in.

"Harry, open your mind a little. You have dark hair, so do they both. Your jaw and cheekbones? They are similar to both men. And let us not forget that you do have quite a pale complexion now that you are not spending every waking moment in the sun doing chores during the summer. They both have slight figures, as do you and both have a love for flying." Harry could feel shock begin to set it.

"No, it can't be…" His gaze left Tom's face and settled on his teacher's. Now that he was forced to look at it, he could see how the similarities stacked up. "How do we know for sure?" His voice was small and scared.

"There is a test we can have done. Tom has already agreed to do it for us if you so wish. I will not force this upon you if you do not wish for it. No one would deserve that." Harry thought for a moment. On the one hand, this could change everything. It could change how people treated him, his schooling, even his friends could change. But if he wasn't, then the only thing that would happen is it would give a lonely man some closure. He would be entirely selfish if he didn't allow the test to be done.

Besides, it could knock Dumbledore down several more pegs.

"Alright," he gulped. Suddenly his stomach was knotted up with nerves. "Let's do it."