disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

warning: none for this chapter

I am so sorry on the delay. Last week was finals week at uni, and I've been at home enjoying the hols with my family. But here is the next chapter, some cute fluffiness involved.

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Severus only opened the door wide enough for him to slip out, being careful to block Harry's view into the bedroom. He glared at Sirius who seemed to be the one who knocked, judging by how close to the door he was and how anxious he looked. He ignored Sirius as he went over to his mate and placed his head on Remus's shoulder, not caring that Sirius may seem see him in a brief moment of weakness. He took in a deep breath, pulling in the scent of his mate before lifting his head to speak to the two men.

"What is it?" Severus asked, his voice strained from keeping himself from yelling at Sirius for interrupting him and Harry.

"We were just worried and wanted to know what was going on," Remus replied before Sirius could, knowing that his friend would have actually started yelling at Severus for thinking he was keeping Harry away from him.

"He is timid, slightly scared, and very self-conscious about himself at the moment. But he seems comfortable around me because he recognized my magic."

"Then he should be fine around us," Sirius said as he reached for the bathroom door. He was spun around suddenly and came face to face with a very angry Severus.

"You will not enter there until I know Harry wants that. And no he should not be fine around you. He recognized me because I would send small pulses of my magic through to him while he was still in the coma. I wanted him to be used to me in some way before he woke up so it would be easier for Harry to accept me."

"But's he's my godson," Sirius whined.

"And he is my mate," Severus growled back.

"I should be able to see him. He would know I'm here because he knew the plan of Remus and I picking him up from the Dursleys."

"Severus," Remus interjected because any yelling did occur between the two. "Could you ask if he would at least see me? He is my mate also."

"I will ask him," Severus said before moving to the bathroom door. He knocked once before entering, blocking Remus's and Sirius's view of Harry within. Severus smirked when he saw Harry scramble back into the water, trying to look like he hadn't been caught trying to listen in. Severus sat back into the chair and was shocked when Harry moved back into the position they were in earlier.

"Who was that?" Harry asked. He was unable to hear through the door, but was able to tell there were two different voices compared to Severus's own deep voice.

"That was Black knocking, Remus was content to waiting for me to come out on my own. Or ask him to enter, whichever."

"Oh."

"Indeed," Severus regarded his young mate. Harry seemed to be upset about something. His face was pulled into a frown as looked down into the water. "Remus asked if he would be able to come in to see you."

"I don't know," Harry trailed off. He was not sure if Remus would like to see him like this. Yes the man was a werewolf, but werewolves were common. Whatever Harry was, he did not think so. Suddenly, Harry realized he did not know what he was and decided that was more important at the moment. "Um, what exactly am I?"

"I apologize, I had assumed you knew what you were based from your lessons, but I am forgetting you do not learn about this until your upcoming year," Severus frowned. Had he not mentioned to Harry the type of creature he was? Its possible and now seemed to be what had happened. He continued to frown as he thought about Hogwarts. He knew that Dumbledore had mostly figured out Harry was here and was unsure if he wanted Harry back at Hogwarts. "You are a merfolk."

"I'm a mermaid?!"

"Well, actually a merman," Severus replied with slight amusement in his voice.

"Could I be any more of a freak," Harry said as he buried his face in his hands. He let out a small whimper when he felt a hand pull up his head and met with Severus's eyes.

"You are not a freak, Harry. You are a beautiful creature. Do not believe what those people told you," Severus said sternly. He remembered Lily's sister and those hateful she was always spewing. He did not want his mate to believe in those words. Harry had always been confident whenever he faced Voldemort and he wanted that confidence to be part of Harry all of the time.

"Yes sir," Harry said meekly as he turned his head away from Severus. He looked back into the water after he was released.

"I apologize Harry. It was not my intention to scare you. I just do not like witnessing you putting yourself down like that. Understand?" When all Harry did was nod, Severus sighed and mentally berated himself. How could he be so stupid? "Harry would you like to hear about myself? In case you have not noticed, but I am a creature as well. One that I inherited when I turned seventeen."

"Really?" Harry looked up with wide eyes. Severus had a creature inheritance as well? It was strange knowing that the 'evil' potions professor was in fact not human. It was always a joke saying that Severus was vampire or something similar, but to actually know he was a creature as well made Harry feel a bit better. "What are you?"

"Its very rare, but I am what is called a Dark Veela," rare indeed. So rare in fact, there were no longer any pure-blooded Dark Veelas.

"What's the difference?" Sure Harry had heard of Veelas before, but never a Dark Veela. It was slightly daunting being in the same room as a Dark anything. Harry understood that the line between light and dark was in fact quite blurred, but that did not mean everything could be.

"Mostly in looks. Regular Veela tend to be blond and have white wings, where as I have dark hair and have black wings. We still croon and trill and transform into a half-bird form as our true form. But rather than having the fire abilities, we control water."

"Oh," So the 'dark' in front of the name did not actually mean dark. It was still strange to Harry because he had never heard of them. But if they were similar to regular Veela. "How come you look like you do? Veela are supposed to be beautiful aren't they?" Harry was mortified. Had he really just said to Severus? Ex-Death Eater? Harry quickly dipped down into the water, to hide from his embarrassment and from being punished by Severus.

"Yes, I forgot to take it down," Severus waved his hand in front of him while he chuckled. Yes, Veela were reported to be beautiful. Severus had a part to play at Hogwarts and so he would cast a strong glamor that not even the headmaster could break through and he explained as much as he took off the glamors. "I came here straight from Hogwarts when we picked you up and I completely forgot about it."

Harry stared as Severus took down the glamor. No longer was his hair greasy looking, but looked feathered and soft. The sickly, sallow skin tightened into smooth, pale skin that seemed to glow with health. Crooked, yellow teeth became straight and gleamed. He would never imagine a day when he considered his professor to be handsome, but he did now. And that thought made him blush.

"Better?" Severus chuckled as he watched Harry nod. "Would it be alright if Remus came in now?" He watched curiously as Harry dipped further into the water. "Harry?"

"What if he doesn't.." Harry trailed off.

"Why don't we let him in and he can tell us if he likes the new you or not?"

"Will you stay? In the chair?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Severus pulled out his wand and used it to open the door. He looked at Harry to reassure him, and when he got a nod he called out to Remus. "Remus, you can come in now."

Remus carefully walked in and shut the door behind him. He looked to Severus first to gauge how things were going in here. He was surprised when he got a smile, and also to notice his glamors were down. Remus felt bad for now only noticing his mate's glamors were up, but he loved Severus either way so it was understandable that he wouldn't notice them. Then he looked to Harry. Or at least tried to. The magnificent tail was in Severus's lap, but the rest of Harry seemed to be underwater. Save for his eyes.

"Hello Harry," Remus said quietly, smiling at his young mate. He walked over to where Severus was sitting and wrapped an arm around the man's shoulder. He watched, amused, as Harry's eyes widened at the action. "How are you?"

"Hello Remus," Harry came up far enough out of the water to say before sinking back down again. Harry was confused. He understood why he would be frightened initially with Severus because of their history, but why did he seem more frightened of Remus? He tried to listen to his instincts and they were telling him to submit, but that seemed ridiculous. Why would he submit to Remus, but when he thought about it, his instincts told him to submit to Severus as well. It seemed as if Remus was a stronger presence than Severus.

"Remus, sit on the floor and up against the tub," Severus said quietly as he watched the emotions cross over Harry's face and guessed that Harry might feel overwhelmed. Remus did as he was told and pressed his back against the tub. Severus watched with amusement as Harry put a hand against the side where Remus sat and seemed to enjoy the warmth that was spreading through and tried to sit closer, but it became awkward with his tail still in Severus's lap. He carefully placed Harry's tail back in the water and Harry's face brightened when he was able to maneuver so he sat close to Remus, but with his head pulled away from Remus so as not to touch him.

"What are you to each other?" Harry asked. Remus looked up to Severus, uncertain if they should tell Harry. It would seem he was feeling comfortable with both of them and may feel like he has no reason to be near them once he learned they were mates before they could explain he was their mate as well. Severus nodded for Remus to answer. When all Remus did was give a pleading look to the man, Severus silently chuckled and gestured for Remus to answer.

"We are mates," Remus said softly.

"Oh," Harry pushed away from the tub, away from that warmth he felt. What was he doing then? Letting Severus hold his tail, even calling him Severus in the first place and making assumptions about him. And then seeking warm from Remus. He could not be doing these things if they were together, it was not fair to them. He was about to sink into water when suddenly Remus reached a hand back and touched the water.

"Don't go," Remus said quickly. This was why he did not want to tell Harry yet. He felt Harry still in the water, following the command that Remus meant as a plea. "We want you here."

"Why would you? You have each other." Remus looked up at Severus, pleading for help.

"You're the dominant, this is your expertise. Although you're doing about as good as you did with me," Severus said to his mate. He was shocked that Remus seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Yes, but you're his dominant as well. Can you not help?" Until last week, Remus always looked to Harry as his godson, but now that he was one of his mate's, he was not sure how to act towards Harry.

"And I have gotten this far, but if you do not talk directly to Harry he will be able to figure out what we mean." Remus turned around after what Severus said to find Harry looking between them with wide eyes. Remus was horrified with how this was going. He was sure that he would scare off Harry now.

"What do you mean Severus is my dominant as well?"

"Harry, please do not become frightened," Remus glared up at Severus when he heard a snort. He turned back to Harry and rested his arms along the tub and rested his chin on them. "When you came into your inheritance, we felt a pull to you. And we came for you sooner at your relatives because we felt great pain come though to us."

"You felt," Harry trailed off. They felt what he had gone through? Then they knew what had happened and yet here they were wanting to stay close. It was clear that Remus wanted to reach out to him and Severus had already touched his tail, in such a gentle manner than Harry had ever known. "You still want.."

"Of course we still want you, Harry. Nothing could ever turn us away. Except maybe if you killed one of us, but even then the other would believe you if you felt threatened somehow," Remus said, inching closer to the tub, if it was possible. He badly wanted to reach out and touch Harry. To cup his silver lined cheeks, to run his fingers through the oddly colored hair, to stroke the beautiful tail like Severus had. He was actually jealous of his mate for being allowed to touch it.

"What am I to you, to both of you?" Harry asked softly, dreading what answer he expected. But he felt a flicked of hope at the thought that someone wanted him and was not disgusted or turned off by what they found underneath.

"Simple. You're our mate."

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A/N: As Always R&R