They had a lovely dinner and got all caught up with each other. It had been decided that until Grimmauld Place was fixed up, that Sirius would be staying at Prince Manor, while Bella stayed at Malfoy Manor. Harry was in for another surprise when Remus came by and said that Severus had invited him for the holidays. Harry was so filled with emotion that he couldn't hold back the tears any longer. This time was so different from before and he was so much happier. Severus gathered him in his arms as he cried and then put him to bed as he had fallen asleep. When he came back down, everyone was still there with worried looks on their faces.
" Is he alright?", Sirius asked quietly. " He will be. I think all of this is still just so new for him. Having adults that he cares about around him and the fact that we care just as much. He had never known love or kindness until I took him away from the Dursleys. Though he is adjusting remarkably well, at the end of the day he still just a child. And children can take only so much before emotion overcomes them.", Severus said. With that statement, understanding dawned, and the people who were leaving left, while the others called it a night and went to bed.
Severus went downstairs to the kitchen the next morning to see Harry and Sienna making breakfast. " Good morning Harry. Sienna.", he said as he got a cup of coffee. " Good morning Uncle Sev.", Harry said as he fluidly flipped the pancakes then stirred the scrambled eggs. Severus had told Harry before that he did not have to cook here, but it would seem the lad enjoyed it along with helping out in the garden. Sirius and Remus soon joined him. They were both shocked at Harry cooking, but when the food was placed in front of them and they actually tasted what Harry had made, they were nothing but supportive.
Once they were done eating they went to Diagon Alley to do some shopping. Harry immediately went off on his own. He had to find something for Draco, Neville, Severus, Sirius, Remus, Bella, and Narcissa. He ended up finding Bella and Narcissa's first. He had found matching bracelets done in pure silver. They were bangles that you could add beads or charms to. He chose a snake charm for each of them along with an emerald bead that went on either side of the charm. He also chose a smokey quartz crystal bead to represent their eyes since they were gray.
For Neville he got a collection of rare magical plant seeds. He found a beautiful hand carved chess set that he just had to get for Uncle Sev and a set of goblin made daggers with diamonds and emeralds embedded in the hilt that Sev, Sirius, Remus, and Lucius could strap into their boots or wear on their side. He got matching shorter ones for the women. He got a top of the line broom servicing kit for Draco along with an intricately carved dragon and a rare History of Defense Against the Dark Arts book for Remus. The man loved to read and would be a librarian if he could. He also got Remus a complete set of new clothes, because the man didn't like spending money on himself. He also got Sirius a gift certificate for the barber's. Though he looked better in this timeline, he could still use a bit of a cut and shave. He also found a rare book on the history of Veelas for Lucius, since he knew that Lucius had Veela blood. The man was too beautiful for it to be natural. Plus it might have been written by an ancestor given the name.
Harry got really excited though when he found an osmium cauldron, one of the strongest metals on Earth and extremely rare. He also got a complete set of crystal vials in different sizes to complete Severus' gift. Harry made sure nothing was visible when he met back up with the group and went straight to his room as soon as they got home, to wrap the presents. He was done just in time to help decorate the large tree Severus had got while they had been out. As soon as it was finished Harry brought his wrapped packages down and placed them under the tree. He couldn't wait until Christmas day.
Four days before Christmas was the full moon and Severus already had a safe place for him down in the basement. Sirius was already changed into his Grim form and ready to bet let in with Moony. Severus got quite the shock however when a solid black wolf cub with dark green eyes, streaked past him as soon as he opened the door. He immediately knew that it must be Harry. Sighing in resolution, he too changed after stepping inside and closing the door. He changed into a sleek black panther. Thankfully with him and Harry being shifters, all you had to do was concentrate on what animal you wanted and you became that animal. Where as with becoming an animagus took time exploring your magical core and finding your animal form along with slowly transforming until it became second nature.
They were in the room just in time to see Remus transform. Moony looked on in amusement at the cub and Grim playing with each other. Severus just snorted as he found a spot to lay down. At last it would not last long. Harry kept eying his twitching tail and before Severus could move out of the way, Harry had the tail in his mouth pulling on it like Severus was some tug of war rope. Severus jerked his tail away and rounded on Harry, where he then proceeded to swipe at him with his paws, claws retracted. Harry yipped at this and dodged Sev's paws. Finally Sev had had enough and pinned the little annoying furball and started to bathe him with his tongue. Padfoot barked madly at this and Sev and Harry both knew he was just laughing his head off.
Of course Harry's little stunt did not go over well by the next day. As soon as Sev and Sirius made sure Remus was alright, they both gave Harry a talking to and Severus grounded him for the rest of the day after Sirius spanked him on his bottom five times for putting himself in such a dangerous situation without even talking to one of them first. By the time it was all said and done both men felt guilty when they saw the tears in Harry's eyes as he locked himself in his room.
A few hours later they hadn't heard a peep from Harry. He hadn't even came out for any meals. " Do you think I was too hard on him Severus?", Sirius asked. " No. He needs to learn to come to us, especially when something is bothering him or he has a question about something. Even though Remus took the wolfsbane potion and was relatively harmless, doesn't mean something couldn't have gone wrong.. I will, however, go check on him.", Severus replied. He got up and went up the stairs, stopping at the first door on the left. He knocked gently.
" Harry?", he called out softly. There was no answer, but he could hear a faint whimper. He opened the door to find Harry in bed, under the covers, and shivering like a leaf. Severus immediately was by his side. Harry's dull, glassy gaze met his. " Uncle Sev. I don't know what's wrong. Shortly after you grounded me, I started not feeling so well. I'm so cold Sev.", Harry shivered. Severus quickly did a scan and took his temperature. It came back that he had Dragon Pox and a fever of 104.
Severus quickly summoned a fever reducer and antibiotic potion. Harry swallowed both without complaint and relaxed somewhat. Severus on the other hand could not relax, because in order for Harry to have gotten Dragon Pox he would have had to been exposed to it and since no one at school had had it before leaving for winter break then that meant it was deliberately sent to him. Harry was sleeping now, so Severus cast a spell to reveal what was contaminated. A letter, unopened, pulsed with a sickly yellow light. He went over to the letter and noticed it was from the school. Ah yes. The progress report from the first half of the year. He quickly dispelled the curse with a sneer. He couldn't prove it, but he was sure Dumbledore was behind this, the manipulative old goat.
Sirius and Remus were furious when Severus told them of his suspicions. For now though the main thing was to get Harry better and get through the holidays. Harry didn't get better until late Christmas Eve, where he finally went into a restful sleep. The next morning he was up at 7:30. Severus, Sirius, and Remus were already waiting for him. Excitedly, he gathered their presents and presented each one to them. They insisted he open his first. Harry did and was shocked at how much he had gotten. He got a wand and staff care kit, deluxe broom servicing kit, a beautiful knife set for potion ingredients, books, clothes, and even some magical toys for his age such as legos that when put together couldn't be taken apart unless you told it to, puzzles that when put together turned into a moving picture, and a beginner's set of trading cards. He even got his first ever plushie. It was a beautiful snow leopard that would actually purr. He even got the invisibility cloak back. He hadn't been too sure if he would since so many things had changed.
Severus took the cloak and cast spells on it to detect anything that shouldn't be there. He knew Albus had sent it and didn't want anymore surprises. It came back clean and he sighed in relief. He gave it back to Harry and watched as the boy stroked it reverently. Harry then took everything to his room except for a 600 piece dragon puzzle. When it was the adults turn, they were all shocked at the thought put into their gifts. Sirius barked out laughter at the barber certificate. Remus loved the book and the clothes, though he told Harry he shouldn't have spent so much money on him in which Harry just stuck out his tongue. They all loved their daggers. Severus thought the chess set was exquisite, but nearly had a stroke when he saw the cauldron. He had wanted one like this for so long. He looked it over carefully and saw his name engraved on it. He hugged Harry hard and told him it was the greatest Christmas he had ever had. Harry just hugged him.
They ate breakfast after opening gifts and afterwards Harry worked on the puzzle. It was really detailed and since he didn't have any artwork yet in his room, thought this would be perfect once completed. He finished it an hour before they were to go to the Malfoys. It turned out really great. It had a red, green, blue, grey, white, black, gold, and purple dragons sitting in a circle with their snouts pointed towards the stars. Harry would frame it later, right now he needed to get ready and gather the remaining presents.
They arrived at Malfoy Manor on time, which was a miracle due to Sirius pranking Remus and Remus in retaliation hexing Sirius. Sirius immediately went to Bella and kissed her soundly. Harry couldn't help the blushing in embarrassment, causing his hair to turn the same shade of pink. He didn't know that though until Sirius, Bella, and Cissy gasped then cooed over how adorable he looked. Harry quickly regained his composure, turning his hair back to normal. They sat in the sitting area and Harry immediately handed out their gifts.
Cissy and Bella opened theirs first. Sirius had gotten them each a necklace done in platinum with an amethyst for Cissy and a garnet for Bella. Severus had brewed them each their own perfumed cream that would keep their skin healthy. When they opened the gifts from Harry, they immediately put on the bracelets admiring them. They went well with the necklaces. The small daggers they raised an eyebrow at.
" To keep you safe if your wand ever fails. I don't want to lose what I have just gained. Family comes above all else and I want to keep safe those I care for.", Harry said seriously. Severus, Sirius, and Remus exchanged a look. They had not questioned the meaning behind the daggers. Bella and Cissy gave him a kiss on each cheek, causing him to blush again, but thankfully his hair stayed the same. Severus gave Lucius a potion that would reveal his animagus form and Sirius got him a new leather bound journal that could only be opened by him. Lucius opened his gifts from Harry and nodded in appreciation at his dagger, but stopped and froze as he held the book. The History of Veelas by Leandra Clarune Malfoy.
" What is it Lu... oh my. Is that what I think it is?", Narcissa asked. Lucius just nodded. He didn't have many heirlooms from his Veela side. " Where did you get this?", he asked. " There was this little antiques dealer by Flourish and Blotts. They had some really neat stuff.", Harry said. " Thank you so much.", Lucius whispered. Draco looked at Harry in awe. He had never seen his father so close to tears before. Focusing on his own gifts, he tore them open carefully. One was a top of the line broom servicing kit. How did Harry know he had gotten a new broom? He looked at Harry and Harry just smirked while glancing at Lucius. They had been in contact with each other!. Draco shook his head ruefully. He looked at his other gift and smiled. A white dragon carved out of white marble looked back at him. It was stunning. Draco thanked him with a hug, before opening his gift from Sev which was a new chess set.
They had fun talking and mingling. After dinner Harry promptly fell asleep and had to be carried by Severus through the floo home.
AN: Sorry for the delay. Sick yet again as the bad weather hits. Hope you enjoy! Please R/R
Also to Reader AZ: this is FanFiction fro a reason. In my story Morfin is a girl. I thought it was rather implied that Dumbledore did the bindings, I went back and added that now. Sirius was in prison and therefore couldn't take up the mantle of Lord Black and besides never wanted it anyway. Severus is a couple of months older than Sirius and again this is FanFiction, it doesn't matter that he is an illegitimate child. I apologize for the grammar, I went back and fixed that hopefully, this is only my 2nd story and I'm not used to sharing my creativity. Crabbe and Goyle will hardly be mentioned in this story as they do not matter. Draco has changed since his father has because Voldemort is gone for good.
To guest who reviewed ch. 9/10 Dumbledore is slightly obsessed with Harry and will do anything to test him to keep him on the path of the light and I'm calling it Astrology no matter if it's right or not