Chapter 14 is here! Yay! I know it's been a while, but life has been so busy, I will be updating all my fics and slowly working on them until I get some finished as I have a few more WIP's then I would like. I'm writing shorter chapters then usual as my brain power is minimal lol. Just a reminder that while I'm writing Voldemort and the death eaters as saner and less evil, they are still dark and dangerous wizards and witches. Which is more apparent in this chapter and will be very apparent in the next chapter. Thank you for all the wonderful comments on this fic, I love reading them all 3 I hope you enjoy the latest chapter!

Just a warning that there are mentions of past abuse, though nothing graphic. Also talk of murder but the actual murdering will take place next chapter.

Chapter 14

Rodolphus wouldn't even let Harry walk back to their room, instead scooping him up off the examination table and starting toward their room, Rabastan close behind, holding the ointment and potions. They entered and Rabastan closed and locked the door behind them.

Rodolphus placed Harry gently on the bed, a serious expression on his face. Harry swallowed thickly; he knew they would be disappointed in him.

"Let's get this ointment on your back" Rabastan said gently.

Harry nodded, not meeting their eyes as he pulled off his robes. His cheeks pinking as he found himself lying before then in nothing but his underwear. Grateful when Rodolphus handed him his pyjama pants to quickly pull on.

Rabastan gently guided Harry into a comfortable position, lying face down on the bed as he unscrewed the top of the ointment. Harry felt vulnerable laying half naked, not being able to see his soulmates, but he trusted them not to hurt him. He was thankful he couldn't see their faces though; he knew they must be dismayed with him.

Gentle fingers began to rub the ointment into his aching side. It felt hot and throbbed painfully under the touch. The ointment began to tingle along the wound and he felt a near immediate improvement, the pain easing to more of a dull ache.

"There we go" Rabastan said in probably the gentlest voice Harry had ever heard him use. A firm hand helped him sit up and Rodolphus helped him into his pyjama shirt.

Rodolphus handed him a small green potion bottle. The healing potion that had brought everything to light. He couldn't help but feel grateful with how things had turned out, if it hadn't, he may not have found out how sick he was until it was too late to do anything to help him. He still struggled to believe it, but it did make sense. There had to be repercussions to a life like he had led.

"Do you feel like you are ready to talk?" Rodolphus asked seriously as Harry finished the potion and handed back the empty bottle.

He was very tempted to say no but knew it wasn't fair to his soulmates. If he really wanted to build a future with them, he needed to be honest. So instead of running from the room like he wanted to Harry merely nodded.

Both brothers let out a relieved sigh.

Harry settled back in the bed purposefully avoiding eye contact as he thought about where to start, after all he had never really shared this with anyone before.

He pulled on the sleeves of his pyjama top restlessly for a few minutes before starting to speak.

"What do you want to know?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Well… for starters, why you needed a healing potion in the first place" Rabastan said carefully, and Harry knew he was really asking about everything the healer had said.

Harry let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes, maybe this would be easier to say if he couldn't see Rabastan and Rodolphus.

"My family abused me" Harry said quietly, his face scrunched up in remembered pain.

Rodolphus reached out a hand to comfort Harry before hesitating and letting his hand drop back to the bed, he wasn't sure if his touch would be welcomed right now.

"After my parents died, I was sent to live with my aunt, uncle and cousin. They never asked to have me, were never even asked if they wanted me. Dumbledore pretty much forced them to take me… and yeah, well let's just say they weren't very happy about it. You see they don't like magic, which means that they didn't like me."

Harry swallowed thickly as he thought about how much to tell his soul mates. He still kept his eyes firmly shut; it was easier pretending he was alone.

Meanwhile Rabastan and Rodolphus were struggling to contain the rising fury that was building within them. They kept a tight lid on their anger, for Harry's sake but there would be a reckoning coming to Harry's family soon.

"I don't want to get into specifics… but they- they starved me, locked me in my cupboard for days or weeks at a time, hit me and forced me to do nearly all the jobs around the house."

Rabastan had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself raging about the horror of his little soulmate's treatment at the hands of his family. The taste of copper in his mouth helped clear the haze from his eyes but his magic still crackled ominously beneath his skin, begging for release.

"Dudley – that's my cousin – scared off anyone I tried to be friends with, so I had no one until I started at Hogwarts. I mean they didn't even tell me I had magic!" Harry said, showing the first sign of anger since he had started his tale, his green eyes popping open.

"It wasn't until Hagrid came and gave me my letter and explained about Voldemort and what had happened to my parents that I even knew I was a wizard."

Rabastan and Rodolphus shared a look, Draco and Blaise had told them rumours of something similar, but everyone had waved it off as complete fallacy. How could Harry Potter not know his own story? Not know that he is a wizard.

Rodolphus heart twisted painfully at the thought of a younger Harry, abused by the people who were supposed to care for him and having no one that he could find comfort in.

"That's all I- I'm going to say about that" Harry said as he finally looked up at Rabastan and Rodolphus, eyes shining in fear. "If you want more detail, you could probably get it from that healers report."

Rodolphus reached out a hesitant hand to Harry and when the teen didn't move away, he gently cupped a soft cheek.

"You are so brave" Rodolphus whispered, "thank you for telling us."

Harry looked up hesitantly, forcing himself to meet first Rabastan's eyes then Rodolphus'.

"You aren't disappointed in me?"

Rabastan was completely thrown by the comment, so he just spoke honestly.

"We could never be disappointed in you."

Harry let out a broken sob before throwing himself at the brothers, an arm wrapped around each neck as he cried into a firm shoulder. Large hands rubbed his back, sides, arms, in comfort until he managed to calm himself enough to slowly pull back, a tremulous smile pulling at his lips.

"Thank you" Harry whispered, though the brothers weren't really sure what they were being thanked for. Green eyes blink wearily up at the pair.

"I think it's time for some sleep. We will wake you up soon for dinner" Rabastan said as Rodolphus pulled the blankets up around Harry and tucked him in gently.

It didn't take long for his breaths to even out and the brothers knew their little soul mate had succumbed to exhaustion after a very trying day. They slowly stood up and crept from the room, casting a charm to alert them if Harry woke, another to make sure no one but them could enter the room and finally a silencing charm so that Harry wasn't accidentally awoken, before leaving the room and heading to their Lords study.

As they expected almost all the family was currently convened, even Draco and Blaise were sitting there looking grim. All heads turned as they entered.

"How is he?" Draco asked in concern.

"Not good" Rabastan said grimly, "but hopefully this will be the start of something better."

"I want to see the healers report" Rodolphus said darkly, and Lucius handed it over still in shock over what he'd read.

The brothers moved away from the group and sat to read, the rest of the room falling silent as tension rippled through those assembled, everyone else already knew what it said.

As Rabastan and Rodolphus read they felt the rage they had kept carefully contained in Harry's presence roaring to break free. Their magic crackled through the room as Voldemort surreptitiously cast a protective shield around everyone just in case the brothers magic lashed out.

Narcissa even went so far as to usher Blaise and Draco behind her.

Rabastan and Rodolphus had had some understanding of what they would find on the healer's report after their chat with Harry, but nothing could have prepared them for the extent of the abuse. So many injures, most of which were never properly healed, it made Rabastan's stomach turn.

"Not all of these are from his family" Rodolphus said stiffly.

"No, some of them appear to be from his time at Hogwarts" Lucius said cautiously.

Both brothers glanced at their Lord who looked contrite. They knew he hadn't been in his right mind, but it still hurt to know that he had contributed to Harry's suffering.

"Why was he not more protected at school?" Rodolphus muttered. "How is it that an eleven-year-old was facing Voldemort or a twelve-year-old was battling a basilisk. Surely Dumbledore knew what was happening?"

"We've always wondered that" Blaise said, pointing to Draco. "It's long been a topic of conversation in the Slytherin dorms."

Rodolphus' eyebrows furrowed and his eyes flicked back down to the report.

Eventually the pair finished reading, the calm that followed was perhaps more unsettling then if they had started destroying the room in their rage as expected.

"They are dead" Rabastan stated with such coldness that Lucious felt a chill run down his spine, though he couldn't help but agree with the sentiment.

"Not in a week, not in a month, now. Tonight."

Heads nodded in agreement, Narcissa the ever-present voice of reason.

"Perhaps not the boy, he is still a child, wipe his memory, give him another chance" she said cautiously.

Rodolphus snarled, hands clenched into fists at his sides, "he's just as bad as his parents!"

Narcissa put up her hands in a placating gesture.

"He is, but I don't think Harry would appreciate it. I think Harry would want you to spare his life, give him the opportunity to do better."

Rodolphus' eyes blazed, but he knew Narcissa spoke the truth, his little Gryffindor probably would want his cousin spared. He could check with him, but he didn't want Harry to have to even think about those people ever again and honestly, he didn't want Harry to forbid them from destroying his so-called family. They would pay for what they had put his soulmate through!

"Fine! The child will not be killed" Rodolphus growled.

Narcissa noticed that he didn't say harmed, but she knew that was the best she was going to get, besides she couldn't deny she wanted him to suffer a little bit herself.

"Do you know where his family is?" Blaise asked, as Voldemort let down the shield.

"No, but Snape does" Rabastan explained with a look at their Lord.

Voldemort nodded, a calculating look in his eye.

"I will contact Severus now, I'm sure he will be… delighted to join us for dinner" Voldemort said with a malicious smirk.