Chapter 6

Albus had offered to tell Harry's new guardians of their guardianship as Harry was a bit too scared to.

"Hello Filius, Severus" Albus said cheerily nodding at them both.

"Hello headmaster" Severus and Filius both said in turn.

"Right boys, down to business. Harry has chosen you two as his guardians" Albus said.

"What!" Severus spluttered "why has he chosen me of all people? And why has he got two guardians?"

"That's brilliant" said Filius with a smile on his face.

"Severus I hope you will undergo this task with good grace?" Albus said sternly.

"Yes of course headmaster, I'm just wondering why the boy will be having two guardians" Severus said.

"He was torn between the two of you and it makes sense as when one of you is teaching, marking or taking detentions the other can have him" Albus explained.

"Who's quarters will he be staying in though?" Filius asked.

"Harry can sleep in his dorm and if he needs to sleep in one of your quarters then I suggest alternate nights or something similar? How about you work out a plan between you?" Albus said.

Harry bounded out of his room the morning after his talk with Dumbledore, he was glad that Albus had informed Severus and Filius because he was sure that he wouldn't have been able to speak for nerves.

Harry had already had breakfast and had waited until professor Dumbledore was finished talking to Severus and Filius.

Nervously, Harry pushed open the sitting room door to reveal Filius sitting quietly in the room.

"Harry" he exclaimed on seeing him "Albus just told me the good news"

"Yeah" said Harry who was finding this situation extremely awkward.

A moment of uncomfortable silence preceded the conversation.

"I'm just going to floo Severus, so we can all talk together" Filius said while he grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire.

Barely any time had passed when Severus stepped out of the fire place, he smiled at them both and sat down.

"Greetings, Filius, Harry" Severus said to them.

"Severus, I have been thinking and I think we should get down some basic rules and try to get to know each other as a sort of family" Filius said.

"Yes that sounds fine" turning to Harry, Severus asked "how does that sound to you?"

Harry nodded his approval.

"I have a first rule – verbal answers if you please Harry" Severus said in a lightly stern tone.

"Yes Severus" Harry said.

"Yes, Yes now down to business" a smiling Filius said, he then flicked his wand and a large piece of parchment and quill appeared in the air. The quill began scribbling across the parchment of its own accord, writing the words 'Family rules'.

Severus began dictating certain rules the family had to abide by, including 'lying, cheating, thieving, underperforming and disobedience will result in punishment'.

At the bottom of the parchment was a space for the three of them to sign their names.

"Harry, this is a magical document and once we sign, it will bond the three of us so whenever one of us breaks a rule the others will know" Filius explained.

"Lots of wizarding families have them so they know when their children are doing something bad. Ron's family probably have it" Severus added. He thought that if the Weasleys didn't already have the magical contract then they ought to, it might help deal with the trouble those twins made.

The day of the trip to Diagon Alley arrived and Harry realised that it would be his first day out with his guardians. Most of his days a Shell Cottage that summer had been with them anyway but today it would be as if they were a proper family.

It had been decided that they would be using an unused quarters on the third floor of Hogwarts to create a family quarters that they could use during Christmas and Easter holidays and if Harry was being punished.

Harry couldn't wait to see all the shops in Diagon Alley as they had been described to him by the professors.

At 11am that morning Harry, Filius and Severus flooed to the Leaky Cauldron – a pub with around 15 people drinking. Severus wasn't keen for Harry to be harassed by his many admirers so changed Harry's appearance when they had gone out the back to enter Diagon Alley. Harry Potter now had sandy coloured hair and no lighting scar and rectangular shaped glasses. Harry watched as Filius poked his wand at the brick wall and it dissolved away to show Diagon Alley.

Although Harry had insisted otherwise, Severus and Filius said that they would pay for everything so Harry had already purchased a cauldron, potions ingredients, books, parchment and quills, robes and was now in Ollivanders wand shop waiting to get a wand. Ollivander measured Harry and began passing Harry wand after wand with Harry getting less and less confident he was a wizard and Ollivander getting more and more excited. Finally Harry was presented with yet another wand to try, it was made of holly and had a core of phoenix feather and measured 11 inches. When Harry held it red sparks came out of the end and he figured that this must be the wand that had chosen him.

After paying 10 galleons for his wand, Harry, Severus and Filius went to wait for the Weasleys and Longbottoms to meet up. They didn't have to wait long, a woman wearing a vulture topped hat and a green dress and handbag with a boy who had short brown hair and sticking out ears approached them.

"Hello Filius" she said smiling at him "Severus" she said acknowledging him with a glare, she didn't approve of him being Harry Potter guardian as he had been a death eater even though he wasn't in that frame of mind now.

"Is this Harry Potter?" she said directing her question at Filius.

"Yes we've disguised him" Filius said to explain Harry's new complexion.

"I'm Augusta Longbottom and this is my grandson Neville" she said to Harry while shaking his hand.

"Pleased to meet you Mrs Longbottom" Harry said.

The adults talked while Harry and Neville made friends. Then the Weasleys arrived and Harry, Ron, Neville, Fred , George , Ginny and Percy went to look at the pets and discussed Hogwarts.