Chapter 3: Breakfast
Harry woke slowly, the sound of a fire crackling the only other sound in the room. Where was he? Holding his little lion closer to his chest, the boy sat up. A warm blanket had settled over his little frame, it was softer than the one on his bed. Someone had taken the time to tuck him in, a large soft pillow had been placed under his tiny head, now his hand rested on it as he held himself up. He could hear the soft snoring of someone nearby, and surmised quickly that was definitively not where he remembered.
Pausing for a moment, the child tried to figure out exactly what had happened to him after he'd fallen asleep. The nice lady and her friend had wanted some books, he didn't tell his dad 'cause it had been a surprise. His dad had come home and tucked him into bed after a bath. Harry had fallen asleep holding Kit, and woken up to strangers roughly handling him. They had ripped away Kit, and he'd been screaming. A nice man had saved him, and told him that he'd take him home. The nice man had even mentioned cousins before Harry had fallen asleep!
With a grin Harry realized that the nice man must be the one snoring, or at least he hoped so. With some shyness, he stuck one thumb in his mouth and used his other hand to bashfully reach forward. When a finger came in contact with a cheek, he poked it gently. It took about three tries before the snoring came to an abrupt stop.
Quickly he threw his hand back, cradling Kit as he waited for acknowledgement from Severus.
"Good morning Harry," the voice didn't come from in front of him, but in fact, from a person above him.
With a yelp Harry lunged forward, realizing too late that he didn't know the layout of the room. He landed with a thump on someone's lap, hands immediately settling on his hips. Just as he began to struggle the stranger's thumbs started to rub soothing circles on his skin, Severus speaking gently. "Good morning little one."
Harry instantly relaxed into the nice man's lap, although he couldn't help but be a little tense as he knew someone else was in the room with them.
"Harry," Severus spoke softly, still somewhat asleep from their short nap. "This is Tom, he's my…. Really good friend." He realized that explaining to a child that the man was in fact far closer than a friend would confuse the boy.
Tilting his head, Harry remained quiet for a moment before speaking. "Nice to meet you sir Tom."
A chuckle filled the air, "you can just call me Tom. No sir necessary." When the little boy looked confused by the large word, the man reiterated. "You don't have to say sir."
Nodding like the big boy his dad told him he was, Harry once again stuck his thumb in his mouth and settled into Severus' lap. The man was large and quite comfortable, and Harry didn't have any reservations of leaning forward and cuddling with the nice stranger.
"Are you hungry little one? How about we go get some breakfast in you and then a nice bath?" Severus was taking on the role easily, having dreamt of what life would have been like if he could have been the one to have raised his son.
He also wondered how long he'd have to wait until he told the child the truth without sending him into a panic.
Rising from the chair, he lifted Harry onto his hip. It was easy to tell that Harry as a teenager had been malnourished, for even though he had obviously been de-aged, the effects of his lack of food were still evident in his tiny stature.
"How about some pancakes?" Tom suggested, already leading the way from the study of Riddle Manor. They had settled there years prior, turning it into their own tastes to erase the sordid past. While many knew of its location, only the small few were allowed to enter past the wards.
"Harry, do you want pancakes?" Severus nudged the child whom had rested his head on the man's shoulder with a sigh.
When there was a quick shake of his head, the man grinned. "How about eggs and sausage? With some yummy pumpkin juice?"
"What's pumpkin juice?" Harry finally pulled his thumb from his mouth to ask.
Tom outright laughed, "you'll see little man! It's probably one of the only things I still enjoy from my childhood."
The raven haired child simply nodded, his arm tightening around his lion as they moved towards what sounded like more people. Immediately, Harry grabbed a hold of Severus' cloak and pulled himself as close as possible to the man. He now knew he was safe with Tom and Severus, but the strangers could be the same ones that had taken him from his bed.
Pausing in his stride, Severus shot Tom a look that asked him to go ahead. He knew that whomever had joined them that morning had to be someone of importance, as few dared step foot in the manor so early in the morning.
"Harry, it's okay." He rubbed a hand down the child's back. "It's probably just your cousin, or your uncle." He explained, knowing that Harry still had no idea of his true family.
Severus glanced forward as Tom strode to the kitchen door, opening it slightly so that the unaware voices would drift into the hall and identify the intruders.
"And what the heck are we going to say?" Asked one voice, sounding exasperated. "Hey, we found him, sorry we let him disappear!"
A female voice countered, "If you'd stop being such a prat, I'd tell you. But quite frankly, I want to see you panic when you have to talk." She paused, as if taking a sip of coffee. "And honestly Malfoy, I'm more worried about Harry!"
Upon hearing the stranger, Harry seemed to immediately perk up. He remembered that voice! It was the nice lady from the day before!
He concentrated, little forehead scrunching as he tried to remember the lady's name. "Herm…Her….Hermininy!" He called out, excited to meet someone he knew (however vaguely) in the strange environment.
Immediately the voices in the kitchen hushed, followed by what sounded like a yelp and a sound of feet scurrying to the door.
"Oh," Hermione's voice drifted up. "Hello my lord! I thought I heard… Harry!"
Harry instantly felt a presence move closer to them, and knew that it was the nice girl that had bought his book. He turned slowly in Severus' arms and grinned broadly. "Hermininy!" He cried, reaching out a hand for the lady.
She reached out and squeezed his hand in return, glad to see that the child was unharmed. However, she didn't miss the glare from her former professor, nor the fact that Draco was as pale as paper as he stood clutching the kitchen counter.
"We should probably move to the kitchen," she suggested, stepping back and releasing the child's hand. "Are you getting breakfast, Harry?"
The little boy nodded enthusiastically, happy to have his new friend with him. "Yes! Tom said I could have pumpkin juice too!"
With a grin Hermione turned into the kitchen, conjuring a high chair for the boy as everyone finally came into the room. Draco hadn't moved from where he stood, staring at the dark lord as if the man were going to hex him at any moment. If Harry hadn't been in the room, it was a possibility.
"So, Draco…" Tom drawled, moving towards the kitchen island as he spoke. "Would you care to explain to me how Miss Granger knows about Harry? Or you, for that matter?"
The blond boy would have paled further if he had had the chance, instead, he collapsed into the first available seat. "Um… we sort of… well…" And as quickly as he stumbled, Hermione took over. Because while Draco had been a Slytherin, he would still stumble in front of the dark lord.
"We ran into him at the bookshop yesterday. We came here this morning to tell you, but found out that someone…" She glanced at Harry, whom had been placed in the high chair and given a cup of pumpkin juice to start. "Someone…." She made a gesture with her hand, trying to explain that the place had been absolutely destroyed overnight. "We panicked and came straight here, but I'm so happy to see he's alright!"
Draco nodded along, watching as the table filled with eggs, pancakes, sausages, and just about every breakfast item. He reached quickly for a cup of coffee that had filled in front of him, knowing he'd need something stronger if he lived through that morning.
"I'm sorry we didn't come to you right away, godfather." Draco explained. "We just wanted to figure out who had taken him." Not that they hadn't had their suspicions from Harry's description.
Snape frowned, a hand carding through Harry's hair affectionately. "While I am upset that neither of you bothered to come to us immediately, I am glad that he's here. I can only assume he murmured the man's name because of your visit, and for that, I'm thankful."
The little boy had been lost in his own world, legs swinging back and forth in the air as he sipped on the pumpkin juice.
"Eat some breakfast, Harry." Snape commended softly, taking the cup and placing the meal in front of the boy. Transfiguring a fork into something more child appropriate, he handed it to the small child, turning his attention back to the two in the kitchen.
"Did you see… him?" He asked, trying to hide the venom in his voice from Harry.
"No," Draco shook his head, seeming to relax as he realized they weren't to be reprimanded.
"What was Harry's condition when you saw him?" Tom asked, curious about what had been going on with the child.
"He was fine," Hermione spoke up. "But he was left alone. He's blind, if you haven't figured that one out yet. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't seem like its normal. He doesn't have the normal cloud over his eyes… I think it must be some sort of spell."
"So it's reversible," was Tom's immediate thought. He turned towards the small child, whom had eaten about fifty percent of his meal while the rest he had ended up wearing in his attempt to feed the lion in his lap.
"Maybe…" She turned to glance at the little boy as well, an affectionate smile lifted the corner of her lips. "I'm really glad he's okay."
Hermione watched as Severus let out a sigh, lifting the little boy from his chair and excusing them both as he moved to clean the child from the mess he'd already made. "Severus deserves this, he really does. I don't know why Harry is a child, but maybe it's for the best."
The words surprised both men in the room, considering she had been one of Harry's best friends. "I know what you're thinking, and I'd love to have him back. But," she paused. "Harry didn't have a happy childhood. He had a war to worry about that was thrust at him without choice. Now, he can grow up and be happy. Be a child."
She glanced towards Draco with a grin, "he'll have a cousin who will show him the ropes. And two awesome dads. And of course, me!" She leaned into the blond, unsurprised when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"My lord, if we hadn't gone to the muggle world for those books, he wouldn't be here right now." She sighed, taking a sip of Draco's coffee.
Tom shook his head, rolling his eyes at the couple that now seemed to relax with how calm everyone had remained. "I am still upset that neither of you stepped forward. But since it brought on these events, I'll let it slide. However, I want no word about Harry to spread, not yet. I think he'll need to be reintroduced into our world slowly."
Both nodded, knowing that the secret was safe.
"Good, I'm going to check on my husband. You two can clean up this mess and figure out just what we might need for a six year old child." He then turned and headed out of the kitchen, leaving a bemused but relieved couple behind.
Meanwhile, Severus had shrunk some of Tom's older robes to fit the little boy and taken him into their bath. It was large, created to fit more than one person. He'd conjured a little rubber duck that he'd exchanged for the dirty lion, making note to clean the stuffed animal before returning it to the boy. Harry hadn't protested getting clean, immediately splashing in the water when he had been seated.
However, what he didn't see was Severus frowning as he stared at the small body. Some sort of runes had been written in ink over the child's back, already smudged from the water and the soap. Making a mental note of what they looked like, Severus' quickly washed the marks away. He then took to washing the boy's hair, laughing when Harry sputtered a protest to the water in his face.
They'd have to disguise the child's scar for a while, but he knew that Harry would be more comfortable with some people in his life. He needed to introduce the child to Draco's father, it would help getting some of Draco's old things. Plus, Narcissa would be able to help figure out just what the boy needed as she had done all of it before.
"Harry?" Severus prodded gently. "How would you like to stay with me for a little bit?"
"But dad is-" The boy started to protest.
"Your dad had to go to another… country for a little bit. It's why you're staying with us. I'll show you more things like pumpkin juice, and you can play with Hermione and Draco. Did you know Draco is your cousin? He can act like an older brother to you."
The little boy pouted, quietly thinking on his options. "Draco will read to me?" His green eyes shone bright with expression, throwing Severus off again as he couldn't believe the child was blind.
"Yes, Hermione too." Severus added, hoping the child would be agreeable. "And I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise."
"Pinky promise!" Harry instantly yelled, hands clapping together. He then held his hand out seriously, barely lifting a pinky. His tongue stuck out of corner of his mouth as if he were concentrating hard on the promise.
"I pinky promise," Severus was glad no one was in the bathroom as he lifted his hand to promise the child, unaware a very amused Tom Riddle stood in the doorway. "I will not let anyone harm you, ever."