A week went by, and Harry seemed to get used to his new environment, and the changes in his life. He was starting to relax, although not completely, and he started opening up to Sirius and Elisabeth, who did their best to lighten up the shy boy.

After two days, Madam Pomfrey had let him go from the Hospital Wing, since he wasn't really sick. It was just the poison that gave him trouble breathing sometimes, but nothing serious. She'd made both him and Sirius and Elisabeth promise that he returned immediately, should anything change, and also that he'd take things easy. She'd taken a small sample of his blood where she and Snape kept working on to determine the poison, though they didn't have any luck so far.

Harry stayed with Sirius and Elisabeth, who were slowly starting back their relationship, in some quarters somewhere on the second floor of the castle. Sirius'd said it would be easier for now if they stayed at Hogwarts, should anything happen. Besides, Madam Pomfrey still regularly checked on Harry's health. Sirius had briefly gone to his home to get some clothes, so he wouldn't constantly be wearing the same pants with nothing else. Sirius also had made a tailor come to Hogwarts to measure Harry and ordered some clothes and wizarding robes, as well as a pair of glasses, since now Harry wasn't half wolf/cat, his eyesight was all but abominable.

The day after Harry's arrival at Hogwarts, the papers had been full with the news that Harry Potter was back, along with speculation as to where he'd been. This had forced Sirius to tell Harry that he was famous because he'd managed to vanish the most feared Dark Lord in a century. Harry's only reaction had been why he could be famous for something he didn't even remember, but further, he paid it no heed.

After Harry'd been released from the Infirmary, Sirius'd started teaching Harry how to handle his wolf/cat-form, and change at will from human, to half, to full wolf/cat. Harry was making quick progress, as he had already practiced his concentration quite well with summoning his weapons and his fighting training.

/\\/\

What's on your mind, kid?" Sirius asked after one of their training sessions. "I can tell something's bothering you."

"I was just wondering why I'm an Animorphmagus, like you call it?" Harry said quietly. He still wasn't comfortable asking questions, though he required a lot less pushing from Sirius' and Elisabeth's part nowadays.

"Well, there really isn't a real answer for that." Sirius said. "Animorphmagi are quite rare and they just appear. You can't tell who's an Animorphmagus at birth and who isn't. Between five and eight years old, they just change suddenly. Though there are families that have several Animorphmagi in it, it isn't really something you can get through your parentage. By accident or not, both of your parents happened to be Animorphmagi, but neither of their parents or even known family were Animorphmagi. While in my family's past, quite a lot of Animorphmagi are known. It's quite a mystery really."

"And what about Elisabeth?" Harry asked.

"Lizzy... well, she was the very first in her family to show the trait, and in fact, they weren't too happy about it. Neither did mine, really."

"Why?"

"In the past, Animorphmagi were hunted quite badly, and nowadays, some people still think we shouldn't be allowed in society, that's why it's common for Animorphmagi to keep their abilities a secret, which was made a lot easier with the invention of the spell I used on you."

"So that's why you didn't tell the Ministry that I was one..."

"Yes. Unfortunately, too many people believe in prejudices."

"Does Remus believe in them?" Remus was a good friend of Sirius', and had been a good friend of Harry's Father too.

"Remus? Why would you think that?"

"Just because... well you said Elisabeth's family wasn't very happy about her..."

"That's because the Lupin's aren't Lizzy's original family."

"They aren't?"

"No. But when her family found out what she was, they abandoned her, and she was adopted by Remus' parents when no-one else would. They understood prejudices and hated them too."

"Because Remus is a Werewolf?"

"How do you know about that?" Sirius asked. "Who told you that?"

Harry turned a bit white at that and looked down at his hands.

"Um... I – I overheard you and Remus... you were talking about the full moon..."

"You know," Sirius said mock-sternly. "It's not nice to eavesdrop..."

"I'm sorry!" Harry blurted. "I couldn't help it! I tried not to, I swear!"

"Hey, hey," Sirius said gently, taking Harry by the shoulders to calm him down. "Don't worry about it, alright? I'm not mad at you."

"Um, okay."

"Now how about we – "

Suddenly the door was opened by Elisabeth.

"They've found it." She said.

"Found what?" Sirius asked.

"Found what! What do you think? The identity of the poison of course!"

"Let's hope there's an antidote for it." Sirius said worriedly.

They made their way towards the Hospital Wing, Sirius and Elisabeth anxious to know what was going to happen, while Harry was rather calm about it all. He'd been pretty stoic when he found out about the poison in his body in the first place.

In the Infirmary, Professor Dumbledore, Snape, Madam Pomfrey and also Professor McGonagall, who Harry'd come to know a bit too were present. And also Remus, who'd visited the castle regularly to get to know Harry. Remus also had a wife and twins, but never brought them along, not wanting to overwhelm Harry.

When they entered, Sirius was positive Snape was about to make one of his sniding comments, but he was stopped by Professor Dumbledore who'd often diverted any possible rows between Sirius and Snape.

"Ah, good of you to join us. Now please tell us, Severus, Poppy, what have you found?"

"It's taken quite a while, but Mr. Snape finally found the solution to our question." Madam Pomfrey said.

"Indeed, it belongs to one of the older potions that isn't regularly used any more. It's basically a poison used to kill animals in the hunt. Later it was tried to kill Animorphmagi with it, but since Animorphmagi aren't real animals, they didn't die. At least not instantly, and there was an easy cure for it." Snape explained.

"Good." Sirius said. "What is it?"

"If you'd let me finish, Black, I – "

"Severus, please..." Dumbledore intervened.

"The cure is, like I said, an easy one. However, with Mr. Potter, there's a bit of a problem. You see, the cure is a simple potion, but the prominent ingredients are some blood from the parents of the poisoned person. From the biological parents..."

Silence rang at those words.

"And there isn't a different cure? None at all?" Elisabeth asked.

"None that has been found." Snape said.

"Couldn't you try finding one?" Sirius asked.

Snape sneered. "I'll try, Black, but I wouldn't get your hopes up!"

Sirius exchanged a look with Elisabeth and she nodded.

"Come on, Harry. Let's get you into bed."

Harry looked between the adults, his eyes straying on Sirius.

"I'll be along shortly, kid." He said and Harry looked at him with those piercing eyes. Sirius knew then that Harry knew he was being led away so the adults could talk about him, but he refrained from commenting.

Once Harry and Elisabeth were gone and out of hearing distance (even for Harry's sharp ears), Sirius asked: "How – how long?" He couldn't help the slight wavering in his voice.

"A month, at most." Snape answered.

/\\/\

"A month..." Sirius said dully to Elisabeth. "A month, Liz. One, miserable, bloody month!"

Harry was changing into his pyjamas in his room when Sirius'd arrived at their quarters.

"Oh, Sirius..." Elisabeth said emotionally. "What are we going to do? He's still so young!"

"I'm not going to give up hope, Liz... As long as there's the tiniest chance he's going to survive, I won't lose hope!"

Elisabeth nodded her agreement. "There's got to be a way!" She said with conviction.

Five minutes later, Sirius was saying goodnight to his Godson.

" 'Night, kid." He said, ruffling his hair. "Sleep tight."

"Good night... Dad..." Harry said, before burrying himself in his blankets. The last word was so soft, Sirius wasn't even positive he'd heard it right, but it was enough to make a wide smile appear on the handsome face. Then, his head snapped up as a thought struck him. His smile widened even further and he stood up from the edge of the bed.

"Sleep well... son." He said, before leaving the room, diminishing the light untill it was practically extinguished.

Sitting down in their cosy living-room, he stared into the fire, trying to order his thoughts.

Elisabeth then snuggled next to him, having changed into her night- and dressing-gown.

"I've got an idea, Lizzy." He said, wrapping his arm around his lover's waist.

Immediately, he had Lizzy's amber eyes boring into his. "Tell me."

"It was Harry actually who made me think of it after calling me Dad..." He smiled again at the thought. "Though I'm not quite positive I didn't imagine it. But I got thinking. Couldn't we use the Conventus Sanguinis Animaeque?"

Elisabeth's eyes widened. "Brilliant, Sirius! Come on, I've just got to know!"

With that, she pulled him off the couch and pulled him through their entrance, that was situated behind a statue of a roaring lion. Sirius didn't need much encouragement, though, and the two ran through the castle at neck-breaking speed.

They reached the gargoyle heavily breathing, but Elisabeth nearly shouted the password nonetheless.

With only a chaste knock on the door, they entered the office where Dumbledore sat behind his desk, looking completely unsurprised.

"Professor, we've got an idea!" Sirius said with as much calm as he could muster.

"Oh?" The Headmaster prompted, raising an eyebrow to make him continue.

"What if Elisabeth and I use the Conventus Sanguinis Animaeque with Harry?"

Dumbledore folded his fingers. "That might be possible. Why don't you sit down as I ask Severus to join us."

Sirius and Elisabeth complied as they sat down while Dumbledore did the opposite and walked over to his fireplace and threw in some powder, calling: "Severus, if you please?"

Only moments later, a spinning person appeared in the fireplace, before stepping out.

Glancing at the two others in the room (and sneering), Snape asked: "What is it, Professor?"

"Sirius came with quite an intruiging possibility, Severus. Why don't you sit down?"

"I'd rather stand, thank you." Severus said as Dumbledore sat down behind his desk again. "What is this possibility?"

"What if the Conventus Sanguinis Animaeque would be used?"

"I'm not too sure it would work, Headmaster."

"It would make the boy the son of Sirius and Elisabeth, in both blood and soul."

"Indeed, but it would split the parentage of Potter to four persons."

"Yes, Lily and James would still be Harry's parents too, but I believe it is worth a shot. Wouldn't you say?"

"We could try it..."

"Good." Dumbledore said cheerfully. "How long will it take to make both potions?"

"The Parental-Guard, which is the cure, only takes a little over an hour to brew, though the Conventus is particularly complicated and takes about two weeks."

"Well then, if you'll be so kind to brew the potions, Severus, we'll wait as you finish them."

With a nod, Snape disappeared in the fireplace.

After saying their goodnights to the Headmaster, the pair made there way towards their quarters, where they got ready for bed. Ten minutes after getting into bed, a Silencing Charm was placed on their door, as to not awake Harry with their nightly activities.

Later, as Elisabeth lay in Sirus' arms.

"We'll have to ask Harry if he agrees with it tomorrow." Sirius said.

"And perhaps Zach too. Since he'll be getting a true brother. Maybe it's time to bring him here, so he can get to know you, and Harry too."

"I agree."

/\\/\

The following morning, Sirius and Elisabeth sat Harry down in their living room so they could talk. Harry looked a bit nervous, though.

"Don't worry, kid. You're not in trouble." Sirius said, rightly interpreting Harry's nervousness.

"What we want to talk to you about is your cure." Elisabeth said.

"We might have found a solution to it, but you need to be okay with it too." Sirius continued. "You know you'll need blood of your parents for the cure, and there is a way to make two people the parents of a child in practically every way the biological parents would be. Including blood."

"Of course Lily and James would still be your parents, you'd just get an additional pair, so to speak. The question is; would you want us, meaning Sirius and I, to take that place?"

"Of course we'd understand if you'd like two other people as your new parents..." Sirius chimed in.

"Have real parents again?" Harry asked, eyes wide, but otherwise with a fairly unreadable expression.

"Yes. Do understand we're not trying to take Lily and James' place." Elisabeth said.

Abruptly a smile crept onto Harry's face. "Really?" Then his smile faded a bit. "But I don't want to be any trouble to you..."

"You're no trouble, kid. I – We love you, remember that."

Harry looked startled, full of hidden hope. "You do?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." Elisabeth said with conviction.

"I'd like you to be my parents..." He bit his lip. "I – I think I love you two too..."

After a moment of silence, a three-way-hug ensued.

"But what about um, Zach?" Harry asked, looking from Sirius to Elisabeth and back.

"I talked to him earlier this morning, he's getting ready to come here and I'll ask him once he's settled in. Don't worry about it, he's a good kid." Elisabeth said.

/\\/\

Zach would be arriving somewhere the next day, and to say Harry was nervous would be like saying Snape was like a nice kitty.

Sirius wasn't faring any better though. It was his nine year old son he would be meeting for the first time after all.

The plan was that Zach would be brought to Remus' home, and they would Floo to Hogwarts then, as it wasn't regular to be Portkey'd right into Hogwarts, as wards protected the old castle and only the Headmaster could make Portkey's towards Hogwarts on exception.

At noon, the few occupants at Hogwarts (it was the summer holiday after all), were having dinner, though Harry was staring dumbly at his food and Sirius was toying around with his, untill Elisabeth ordered them to eat something.

Harry hastily complied, nearly choking in his food and Elisabeth had to calm him down again. Sirius however only nibbled a bit at his.

Then all heads turned towards the only fireplace in the Great Hall, situated in a corner, to see a small ball rolling out of the fireplace, that in one fluid motion straightened up into a boy. He held himself royally and he looked at the others with clear amber eyes of a slightly lighter shade than Elisabeth's, making them almost golden. His hair was black, neatly falling down his head, the only part of Elisabeth seemed the large expressional eyes and slightly turned-up nose, but further he was like a young Sirius.

He stepped out of the way as another person stumbled from the fire. Remus had a bit of trouble not dropping the trunk he was carrying, but he managed not to drop the trunk or fall himself.

"Mum!" Zach then said, spotting his Mother and running over to hug her, though pulling back quickly since there were onlookers.

"Hey, Zach. Miss me did you?" Elisabeth said.

"Only a bit." He said convincingly.

"Sure." Elisabeth chuckled, ruffling her son's hair and earning a scowl in the process.

"Zach, I want you to meet Sirius and Harry."

"Hi, Harry." Zach said with a wide smile, though a more reserved "hello" was directed at Sirius. Which didn't help the older man's anxiousness one bit.

"Why don't we get Zach's stuff to our chambers?" Elisabeth said. "Unless you're hungry, Zach?"

"I didn't really eat yet." Came the reply.

"That's alright. You go eat something and maybe Harry'd like to finish too, while Sirius and I will go put your trunk upstairs."

"Okay, Mum."

Zach sat down at his Mothers vacated spot, next to Harry, while Remus, too, sat down, taking Sirius' vacated chair at Harry's other side.

Harry looked nervously at the boy next to him as the adults started up a conversation. Zach was an inch or two taller than him, and looked nice enough, though Harry never knew how to act around kids. While he was younger, Dudley used to bully all of them away, so he never really got in contact with anyone his age. And with Snipe, making friends was virtually impossible as all he'd been allowed to do was train to fight and meditate.

Zach didn't seem to have that problem.

"So you're Harry..." He said. "I'm Zacharias, but almost everyone calls me Zach. Sometimes my Mother calls me Zacharias, but that's when she's mad at me and goes all 'Zacharias Llewellyn Black!', that's my full name, you see. Mum gave me my Father's last name, though I don't know why she called me after him." Zach had a slight accent to his English, though it wasn't very noticable.

"Don't you like Sirius?" Harry asked wondrously.

"Not really."

"Why not?" Harry asked earnestly. How could anyone possibly not like Sirius? Well, except Snape of course, but he couldn't compare the cheery boy next to him to sour Snape.

"I don't know. How do you like the guy that's been your Father but never once checked up on you in nine years?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know him that long yet, but he's the nicest adult I've ever met. I heard he never even knew you were born, untill a week ago. And I know he really wants to be your Dad. He's really nervous." Harry said, starting to feel comfortable around the other boy.

"Oh... Hey! What's your birthday?" Zach said, ever cheerful.

Harry scrunched up his face in thought. "I'm not sure..."

"You don't know your own birthday! Who did you live with anyway?"

"First my Aunt and Uncle, though they sold me to a man named Snipe. They weren't very nice, and Sirius calls Snipe a bastard, though he calls Snape that too, says it's in the name and the Dursleys, that are my Aunt and Uncle, should change their name to Snope or something like that." Harry said seriously, and for some strange reason Remus nearly choked on his chicken, getting some weird stares.

"Sorry," He said. "Swallowed too early."

"Your Aunt and Uncle sold you!" Zach then asked. "Why?"

"Because I turned into a half wolf/cat."

"You're an Animorphmagus too?" Zach whispered. "Wicked. I'm one too. A dog, Mum says I'm a German Shepherd, though I'm a bit small."

"What's a German Shepherd? And why are you whispering." Harry whispered back.

"A German Shepherd is a dog with pointed ears and usually pretty big, though I'm small, even considering I'm not fully grown." Zach scowled slightly. "I'll show you once. Then you've got to show me yours. And I'm whispering because Mum says I shouldn't tell anyone I'm an Animorphmagus. But you are one too, and I like you."

"I like you too. You're the very first friend I've had."

"I've had a few others, but Mum and I never were in one place long enough to really get to know anyone." Zach said in a normal tone again.

"Where did you live?" Harry asked.

"Many different placed, though mostly Italy, and Greace and Spain too a few times."

"So you know all those languages?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. But also French and German a bit, Mum insisted on teaching me that. How 'bout you?"

"I know Vietnamese, and a bit of Chinese and Japanese." Harry said.

"Was it nice there?"

"I didn't really see much of the country, only a whole lot of old warehouses. I was in the jungle once, with Sirius, and I was bitten by a tiger, but Sirius saved me."

"Whow! I've never seen a tiger. Though I did see dolphin once. He was funny... I'm done. Shall we go to Mum and Sirius?"

"Sure." Harry said, getting up.

Harry led the way towards the statue of the lion and said the password that Sirius had set to 'Gryffindor Rules'. He'd wanted to make it 'Snape's a sissy greace-head', but for some reason, Elisabeth hadn't allowed that. Even though she seemed rather amused herself.

Entering, they saw Sirius and Elisabeth talking quietly, though they looked up as they heard the door opening.

"Hey," Elisabeth greeted. "Eat well?"

"Sure." Zach said.

Harry merely nodded.

"Oh, Zach, we put your things in Harry's room. You'll have to share your room with Harry, as there's only two bedrooms in these chambers."

"I don't mind." Zach said.

"Me neither."

"Good. Harry? Why don't we do your training now, so those two can talk?"

"Okay."

When Harry and Elisabeth were gone, Zach and Sirius stood a bit uncomfortable in front of eachother.

"Why don't we sit down." Sirius suggested. They did just that, sitting opposite from eachother.

"So..." Zach said, this time breaking the silence. "You're my Father."

"Yeah..." Sirius said. "And I think I should apologize to you. I really should have read the letter your Mother sent me, saying she was pregnant of you."

"Why didn't you do that, then?"

"Because, frankly, I was kind of mad at your Mother at that time. But that doesn't matter now anymore. The point is that I was acting stupid and I hope you can forgive me..."

"Um... yeah... though I guess I already did that when I talked to Harry. He really likes you, you know."

"Yeah..." Sirius said fondly. "He's a good kid."

"You know, Mum told me you're an Animorphmagus too..."

The next hour, the two talked about all kinds of things, untill Harry and Elisabeth returned.

/\\/\

For the next week, the little family grew closer, and Zach was an expert at pulling Harry from his shell. After a while, it was virtually impossible to see one without the other. Zach told Harry all about his life, while Harry also told Zach bits and pieces of his life before Sirius. Zach was surprised to say the least at the things Harry told him, but the cheerfull boy always managed to get Harry to laugh along with him after such stories over one thing or another, which did wonders for Harry's shyness.

Five days after Zach's arrival, he was informed about the poison in Harry's body, which was starting to really become a trouble. Harry was unable to run, and walking long was very tiring. Just the trek down to the Great Hall made him rasp for breath. Zach was all too eager to have Harry become his brother.

"He's really nice, besides, I will have a permanent friend. One that doesn't need to leave!"

Another week and Harry's condition grew precarious. By the end of the week, even speaking long sentences were out of the question, not to mention walking. Madam Pomfrey now checked on him twice a day, and had noticed the poison was spreading to other organs as well. She gave him various potions to slow down the process, but slowly, the poison took hold of Harry.

Finally, the day arrived that Snape announced the potions to be ready. They gathered in the livingroom of Sirius' and Elisabeth's quarters, where Sirius placed Harry on the couch, next to Elisabeth, while he himself sat down on Harry's other side. Zach stood next to the couch, fidgetting a bit, which wasn't like him at all. Besides the family, Dumbledore, Snape and Madam Pomfrey were the only ones present.

Dumbledore would speak the incantations, while Snape and Madam Pomfrey were there if something, although unlikely, should go wrong.

Everyone knew what would be expected of him or her, and Dumbledore started chanting. After a good ten minutes, sparks in all colours sprouted from the tip of Dumbledore's wand, but they didn't die soon, instead, they drifted towards the couch and enveloped the two adults and boy sitting there.

Zach looked on, not being a part of the spell, but merely there as it was his family this was happening to. As the sparks covered the couch completely, they merged into a strange light. This was the time that Sirius and Elisabeth simultaneously put their seperate bowls of potion to their mouths and drank from it, before pouring the rest of the potion into Harry's empty cup, who then on his turn put the cup to his lips and drank it.

The light split into three seperate parts then, one for each person, and slowly, Sirius' and Elisabeth's lights drifted towards Harry. As the three lights merged again, it became a forest green and in it, Harry was changing. He grew an inch or two, his hair was tamed slightly, though still had a wild look to it. His eyes became a bit larger, courtesy to Elisabeth no doubt, and his fingers sleaker. Also his face-structure changed somewhat, his jaw becoming a bit stronger.

The light then dimmed slowly, but steadily, and would soon die out, when, out of nowhere, a beam of light shot from the pool around Harry and enveloped Zach, who was too startled to do anything. This wasn't supposed to happen... Zach was lifted a few inches from the floor, and Harry off of the couch.

Sirius made a move to do something, but was stopped by Dumbledore's held up hand.

"Let's see what happens."

The two connected boys drifted towards eachother, the light around Zach turned gold with a slight hint of green, while Harry's green became a bit goldish. Then, as if in a trance, but strangely decisive in their movements, they raised their right hands. They were now so close that the light around them started mingling again. It was then that they simultaneously pressed their right hands against the other's chest, right above the heart.

In a mere milisecond, the light intensified so much that all the onlookers had to look away.

When the light died down, the two boys were laying on the ground, eyes closed. The strangest thing though, was the fact that Zach's hair, previously black, had turned a golden brown colour.

Sirius and Elisabeth were with them in a second and were relieved when almost immediately, two pairs of eyes opened. They'd changed, though only slightly. Harry's green pools had a bit of gold right around his pupil, while Zach's gold had small green flecks around the pupils.

The two boys did look a bit shaken. Zach rubbed the spot where Harry's hand had been placed. Unbuttoning the top of his shirt, he looked and a phoenix was pictured on his chest. It was not more than four inches tall, but very clear. It's eyes were a deep emerald.

After seeing the tatoo on Zach's chest, Harry looked at his, blinked a few times and put off his glasses, then saw an identical phoenix in the exact same spot, only it's eyes were golden.

"What the hell just happened?" Sirius asked.

"Did it go wrong?" Elisabeth asked.

"Not nescessarily. Everything went well, it's just that there was an addition I believe. I think Harry and Zacharias have connected too."

"Why a phoenix, though?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"The potion." Snape said. "One of the key ingredients was a phoenix' feather Fawkes donated."

Sirius in the mean time had put both boys on the couch, as Zach looked pretty shaken too.

"I think we'd best move on to the next potion." Dumbledore said then.

Snape handed Harry the next potion in a new cup. It was a swirl of colours, but Harry, who'd seen pretty much potions in the past weeks, drank it right away.

Harry then absently put his hands over a certain spot on his chest.

"It burns." He elaborated.

"Good." Snape said gruffly. "It's working."

"Tell us when the burning stops, alright, Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey said.

Harry nodded.

Steadily, Harry's breathing became less forced and more natural, untill he announced the burning'd stopped.

Madam Pomfrey stepped forward to examine the boy with a few diagnostic spells. She smiled.

"It's gone."

AN: Snape maybe seems too quiet in front of Sirius, but you've got to keep in mind that he's been a colleague of Sirius for a year now, and Dumbledore has probably kept them in reign. That doesn't mean there won't be an occasional fight, of course! ;)

AN2: Sorry about the Snipe, Snape, Snope thing, I couldn't resist. Just so you know, I chose Snipe not because of the resemblance to Snape. I just noticed the similar names later.

AN3: Oh, and Conventus Sanguinis Animaeque means 'Joining of Blood and Spirit', for anyone who'd like to know.

Also, I have a question for all of you. Elisabeth isn't a Lupin, as you've read in this chapter. I wonder if anyone could guess who her original family was?