disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

warning: some brief couple-ly stuff...not really sure how to describe it, snogging and some light frottage (barely there) would be closest match

Hi all. Sorry about the delay between not having internet at home and getting into the groove of a new semester at university takes time away from my stories and postings. Thanks for being patient.

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Harry was woken up by the smell of something amazing wafting through his room. He did not remember falling asleep and was slightly embarrassed that he was back into regular clothes, knowing that Severus or Remus had put them on. Harry unwrapped the duvet that had wrapped itself around him, effectively burying him, and looked around to see if either man had stayed with him. He was both happy and sad that both had left him, but he wasn't sure if it was his creature half that was sad or if he really was saddened that he was left alone. However, being alone now left him time to think about his recent situation.

Harry was upset about hearing he had mates that were already chosen for him. Most of his life had been out of his control. Loosing his parents and being forced to live with the Drusley's and then being chased after a madman was not a life he would have chosen. It had been hard for him to live through everything, and not many people actually cared. That is why he became attached to Sirius so quickly and easily. He was the first person to take care of Harry while treating him like a person who had been in the middle of a war. That is why he never became close to Molly Weasley. She always tried to coddle him and treat him like he was five years old and it grated on his nerves. However, having two mates who are just for him and they were older. Maybe they were meant to care for him? And they wouldn't treat him like a child because even that thought was too creepy to think about.

Harry's spirits were brightened as he thought about the good aspects of having mates and sat up finally and gave a long stretch. He looked around and found a note sitting on the pillow next to his own. He actually smiled when he noticed Severus's tiny, neat scrawl.

Harry,

We're down in the kitchen waiting for you.

-Severus

Harry threw back the duvet and went into the bathroom to freshen up. Thankfully he and Sirius already planned on him escaping the Durley's and he recognized this as his bedroom. Therefore, the closet was filled with all different kinds of clothing. Harry wanted to make an impression on his mates and went in search of something that would match his new coloring and decided to leave his hair down, remembering how much Remus seemed to like it. Once he had the perfect outfit, Harry got dressed and headed down to the kitchen.

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"Should we wake him up? The food's ready," Remus said as he looked towards the door. Sirius had gone to his study to owl a reply to the Goblins and notifying them of their arrival in the morning. He and Severus had stayed in the kitchen to finish dinner.

"He'll be down soon," Severus said before walking up to his mate. He pushed back Remus's chair and helped himself to the werewolf's lap. They had not been real close for over a week, between having to be at Hogwarts and then everything with Harry, Severus missed the closeness they had. He gave a light trill before wrapping his arms around Remus and pulling him into a kiss. Severus hummed when the werewolf pulled him closer and deepened their kiss. After a few moments however, both pulled back. Neither felt comfortable going farther without their newest mate, but it sated the desire to be close and share an intimate moment. Severus leaned forward and nuzzled into Remus's neck while the werewolf growled lowly.

"Hello," Harry said quietly, chuckling when both men startled. "I see I'm not late for dinner."

"Hello Harry," Severus said as he stood up and turned around to face their young mate. He hoped that Harry would not get the impression they did not want him because he saw them so closely. However, he became speechless when he saw Harry. The young man was wearing white pants that hugged Harry enough to be arousing, but not show them everything and his shirt was a striking grey, silk shirt. The colors matched the streaks in his hair and were the shades to match his scales, but the most brilliant feature were his eyes, which seemed to glow from the white and grey he was wearing.

"Uh, Harry would you like some food?" Remus pushed back his chair away from Severus before standing up and gathering the dishes and serving the stew for everyone. He was nervous about what Harry might have seen and did not know how his young mate would react. Remus did not want to appear nervous in front of his mates, but the clattering dishes made it obvious to his dilemma. He stopped what he was doing and braced his hands on the counter before bowing his head trying to clam his nerves.

"Remus, Severus sit down," as Harry walked past Severus, he pushed on the man's shoulder to make him comply before nudging Remus away from the counter. He took over setting the table and getting the food served. Harry looked into the pot and smiled at the stew his mates made and went in search for some bread and butter to eat it with. He knew Severus and Remus were watching him and it made him slightly nervous, but serving dinner was a specialty to him and he did it well. "Sirius!"

"Yes?" Sirius asked as he came into the kitchen. He was on his way into the room when Harry had called for him. It was amusing to see Harry serving dinner and setting the table as Remus and Severus watched Harry with something like guilt on their faces. Normally he wouldn't be able to tell what Severus was feeling, but when he was watching Harry his emotions were very clear. Sirius decided to help Harry since the other two seemed to be incapable and began pouring drinks for everyone. "How was your nap? And I see you found the clothes I got for you, they fit okay?"

"It was good," Harry said with a chuckle. "And yes thank you the clothes. They do seem to fit very well," Harry looked to Sirius and nodded towards where Remus and Severus were clearly staring. It made him want to change into his old clothes, he felt like he was naked almost with how well the new clothes fit him, but it was oddly comforting knowing how much his mates appreciated his new look.

"That's good," Sirius laughed as he sat down at the table. "So what's gotten into these two?"

"I caught them snogging," Harry said as if it was a natural occurrence to catch Remus and Severus snogging. Before his inheritance he might have found it a bit repulsing to find two professors snogging, but now knowing they were mates already and he was being added into the mix, he expected the behavior. However, Harry was not about to admit he enjoyed watching the two. He joined in with Sirius's laughter as he watched the two flush with embarrassment.

"We're sorry Harry. We didn't mean to make you-" Remus began, but was cut off by Harry.

"You two were mates before I came into my inheritance. I honestly would find it concerning if you two weren't somewhat intimate with each other," Harry said, while blushing himself at the thought of being intimate with Remus and Severus. "So anything new happen while I was sleeping?"

"We have an appointment with Gringotts tomorrow morning," Sirius said in between bites.

"Think I'll finally get my key?" Harry asked. He was generally curious about it since he had only seen his key the one time Hagrid had taken him down to his vault. He looked up in surprise however when he heard Sirius drop his spoon and his mates shout out their surprise at his question.

"What do you mean 'finally get your key'? Are you telling me you don't have the key to at least your trust vault?" Sirius asked, anger creeping into his voice.

"Hagrid took me down to my vault when shopping for my first year and he had it with him. Never saw it again after that," Harry said softly sensing the tension in the room now.

"Well then, that will be another matter to be dealt with," Sirius grumbled as he attacked his food, not even tasting it anymore. Dinner became a quiet affair after than and soon Harry was taking bowls away to be cleaned in the sink. "Harry, we need to talk. Let Severus and Remus clean up."

"Okay," Harry wiped his hands on a towel before following Sirius to his study. He felt bad for leaving the dishes for his mates to clean up since they were the ones to cook the food. Harry sat down on the sofa where Sirius was now sitting when his godfather had patted the seat next to him. "So what's going on?"

"First I want to know how you're feeling about your inheritance and having Remus and Severus as mates?" Sirius watched as Harry's face looked away and became scrunched as he tried to put his thoughts together.

"Truthfully?" Harry saw Sirius's head give a nod from the corner of his eye. "I'm scared as hell. I know how I acted in the kitchen just now, but I wanted to be seen as confident and happy. I'm terrified. Terrified that they really don't want me to come into their relationship. Terrified that Severus still hates me even though my creature self has connected to him more than Remus, regardless that Remus and I actually liked each other before. And with my past Sirius, nothing good can come of it. After my birthday before you came for me, Vernon had beaten me because I 'looked pretty'. I'm still not sure how I don't have scars from that day."

"When you were unconscious, you're magic put you into a healing coma and we placed you into salt water so it was more natural for your body and it healed you," Sirius supplied.

"And that's another thing!" Harry shouted as he jumped up from the sofa. "I know nothing about merfolk and Severus said I will not learn about them until this year. I get the basics about merfolk going off of my other form, but other than that I know nothing! No one mentioned that mum or dad were merfolk, so why me?"

"When we go to Gringotts tomorrow we can ask for a detailed family tree to see where the blood came into contact with the Potters. But in regards to you, do you know of Sirens?"

"Sing songs to bring men with evil thoughts to their deaths. I know the simple story," Harry said as he sat back down on the sofa.

"Right. Well Sirens and merfolk and closely related. You will probably gain an affinity for water elemental magic. Merfolk are also like Sirens in which they sometimes use their voice to lure sailors and ships into shallow, rocky areas and cause a wreck. Thusly merfolk have been labeled as dark creatures," Sirius said carefully, knowing that Harry would not take lightly to being called dark. "That does not mean you are a dark person Harry. It is just in general that merfolk are dark because they are known to be vengeful and can be dangerous. However, it would be best to keep your inheritance a secret for as long as possible."

"So I'm a dark creature who is fated to be mated to two other dark creatures?" Harry laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation he found himself in.

"Harry?" Sirius prompted, waiting until Harry looked at him. "Talk with them? Give them a chance to show themselves worthy of you. Just talk first, you can set the rules of what you do and how fast you do it. Give yourself time to figure out where the three of you now fit with each other. Also let them protect you. If people find out what you are, they will be there to keep you safe and let you to be yourself."

"I'll try Sirius. I actually like the thought of having someone to care for me without treating me like a child," Harry smiled at that thought.

"Good. There is something we discussed while you slept and we were wondering after we went to Gringotts, if you would allow us to move into Potter Manor? Out of you three, you hold a lordship and you should stay at your manor. Also it will give you room unlike here, plus an added bonus of it being much brighter and cleaner than Grimmauld," Sirius chuckled slightly.

"Of course, if you want to?"

"Up to you Harry."

"I would like to," Harry said as he looked away with a pensive look on his face. He wondered if Severus would be comfortable in the home of his school nemesis, but since Sirius said they had all talk he figured that Severus had somewhat agreed.

"Why don't you go spend some time with Remus and Severus?" Sirius suggested. He watched as Harry absently nodded his head before standing up and moving towards the door. "Come here Harry," Sirius held his arms open for his godson. He knew Harry was still scared and knew he needed to reassure the boy. "It'll be alright, Harry."

"Do you think Severus would okay with living at Potter Manor?" Harry did not want to upset Severus before he even got a chance to get to know him.

"Are you kidding with the size of the potions lab? Its every potions master's wet dream," Sirius barked out a laugh at Harry's flushed face. Oh, how much fun he was going to have teasing his godson. He pushed Harry towards the door. "Now go on."

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Meanwhile in kitchen, Remus had placed his head in the crook of his arms on the table and released a groan. He had made the mistake of watching his young mate walking out of the room. He was going to kill Sirius for buying Harry such tight fitting clothing. And with being so close to the full moon, it made the tightness in his own trousers feel extremely uncomfortable. He knew if anyone were to look at him, that his eyes were the golden hue of his wolf. He still didn't look up as he heard Severus move around gathering the dishes.

"He was quite the image, wasn't he?" Severus chuckled when his mate gave another groan. Their young mate gave him the same problem, but it was tenfold for Remus because of the full moon being tomorrow. "Did you see how his hair fanned out right about the line of his trousers? Or the way his shirt matched the color of his scales?" Severus bent down to whisper in his mate's ear.

"Are you trying to kill me Severus? Or just trying to kill you and Harry," Remus said before reaching behind him and tangling his hand in Severus's hair. He turned his head and pushed his tongue into the warm mouth. Upon tasting his mate, Remus let loose a deep growl. Without breaking the kiss, Remus pushed his chair back and pulled the dark haired man into his lap. With one hand in the soft hair and one around Severus's waist, he thrust up his hips. Both men moaned at the friction and Severus pushed back down onto Remus's hard length.

"Ahem?" Both men pulled back at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Severus scrambled off Remus's lap when he noticed Harry standing in the doorway.

"Harry!" Remus said when he noticed who had interrupted them. He jumped away from his seat as if it the reason for him loosing control like that. He roughly ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down. Remus couldn't meet Harry's eyes after what he was sure Harry had witnessed and mumbled out an apology.

"Can we sit and talk?" Harry gestured towards the table. He was completely embarrassed by what he had walked into and felt guilty for interrupting Severus and Remus. That feeling did not go away when Severus and Remus took seats at opposite ends of the table and had him sit in the middle. He looked down at his lap and twisted his hands nervously as he tried to think of what to say.

"Harry?" Severus questioned when his young mate did not say anything. He was worried that Harry may feel rejected now because he had seen him and Remus twice while being intimate with each other. He reached out a hand and gently touched Harry's shoulder. Severus inwardly winced when the young man flinched.

"Sorry, just a bit nervous," Harry said with a nervous laugh. If these men were supposed to be their mates, surely he would be more comfortable with them? He thought back to his bedroom and when he was in the tub and tried to think of why he felt more comfortable then. "I think we should start with just getting to know each other first, get over our old relationship. Remus you were like a second godfather and Severus you were my hated potions professor. The three of us being mates obviously changes those perspectives."

"Good idea. How about we just go on dates between the three of us? Maybe once in a while just the two of us?" Remus suggested. It was important that they are compatible as a triad, but also individually.

"Are you going to be alright being seen with us?" Severus asked.

"Actually yes, I like the idea of showing off my mates. But I may ask the same of you? It is obvious that you hide what you are and that you are with Remus. If we go to public places, people will see you as well with Remus and I," Harry countered. He saw from the corner of his eye that Remus had looked up at Severus with hope on his face. It seemed clear as Severus's gaze lowered under the scrutiny of Remus, that it was a topic they had discussed previously. It had only seemed fair that Harry question Severus about being seen with them if the man had not felt comfortable with the idea in the past when it was just him and Remus.

"All the more reason to have dates as individual couples and as a triad," Remus said. He reached over and squeezed one of Severus's hands, he understood why they had hidden their relationship. But he hoped that would all change now that the war was over.