Disclaimer; Don't own Harry Potter, not making money off this either. So there
The Third Parent; Chapter Four
The next two days were a marked improvement for Severus and his search for a way to return Harry to sanity. Now that he knew the source it was easy to formulate a hypothesis. Since the dark lords sanity, or insanity, was affecting Harry some sort of artificial block had to be made until Harry mastered occlumencey. Severus searched high and low and found something that could have been useful. It was a temporary mental shield that a parent could form with their child by joining their two minds. That way Harry would have supposedly been protected while Severus could have taught him how to block his own mind. Unfortunately when the time came to try it the spell backfired. Everything had been done right and Harry had not resisted, but the spell failed. What the reason was Severus did not know. But he had come across an alternative to the spell. It was a potion that was often used by them to treat what muggles called mental disorders. It was specifically designed for multiple personalities. He looked for other solutions but found none. He did not mind the potion, as there were no horrible side affects and it was none addictive, however it was never good to trust your well being to something you had to take every twenty-four hours. But it was the only solution he had. Dudley being able to follow him via floo was still a mystery. One that he intended to solve soon. He had told Draco everything that had happened that summer and while he was not especially pleased to know that Harry Potter was in the same house as him he agreed to get along as well as he could to keep an eye on him. Who knows, maybe they would through some miracle find enough common ground to not actively try to kill each other. In order to keep a better watch on Harry Draco would be moved into the same room the day that Ron, the rest of the Weasleys and miss granger came along. Percy wouldn't be joining them, as he still didn't consider himself a Weasley.
"I wonder if the berk considers himself a weatherby." Severus asked himself as he landed to pick up his 'guests'. Really the only reason he had them come along was to keep his son from doing anything rash. "Perhaps he considers himself a Fudge. My won't Coreena be pleased to have competition for Cornelius' affections."
He forced himself to be pleasant, at least as pleasant as he could be, when the Weasleys and Granger all clambered in. It was not easy considering that the youngest Weasley and only girl was practically sitting on his lap. She seemed to pick up on this and shifted so that she was closer to Granger. Severus almost sighed with relief, but before he could he found his lap full of Fred, or was it George.
"Mr. Weasley, unless you are particularly attracted to older men who happen to have rather large noses and greasy hair I would advise you to find some other lap to occupy. Might I suggest your twins." He followed this with the special glare that he had developed for them.
"And what are you going to do about it, you cross dressing geisha boy from hell. Take points from Gryffindor?"
"As you are no longer going to school that would not be feasible, however now that you aren't my student I can now do many more things. Things that you would not especially like, all of them perfectly legal."
"Yeah right, like what."
Well, ask a stupid question. Of course he knew that normally he would feel offended if the person he'd been kissing had screamed bloody murder and ran as far as possible, but considering that this was one of the infamous Weasley twins he'd live with it. Besides it got the boy off his lap. Not that he would say no to a bit of mocking him.
"You are such a tease. Really, you shouldn't lead me on so."
"Bleargh, ugh, disgusting. Never, ever do that to me again. That was gross, now I've got Slytherin cooties. Oh god, someone scrub my mouth with soap."
"Oh grow up you rapidly aging adolescent twerp. At least I'm not a homophobe."
"I'm not a homophobe, I just think everything they do is gross and yucky. No wonder you don't have any kids. You don't screw birds."
"Actually I do. I believe that would make me bi."
There was complete silence in the coach for a few minutes until Ginny spoke
"Well, I for one have learned far too much of a subject that I had never wanted to know existed. Namely what Snape will screw. George, stay away from him for the rest of the summer I don't think I can handle any more revelations on Snapes life."
"But he started it."
"And if you continue it you'll lose it when you so wanted to give it to Katie Bell."
George glared at his sister but didn't say a word. They traveled the rest of the way with the Weasleys talking amongst themselves. Of course Severus couldn't help getting one last jab at the twin. When George was glaring at him and no one else was looking he slowly and deliberately licked his lips. The boy shuddered and turned away from him. Snape smirked in mild amusement.
Draco had been moved into the room with Harry earlier that day. As Severus had told him the boy's recent bout of temporary insanity had taken its toll. On the days when he had been worse off he had been unable to keep anything down. Add to that the years of neglect from his aunt and uncle and it was no wonder that Snape had insisted on having him take several different potions now that he could keep things down. There was of course the potion to keep him sane. Then there was a potion that acted as a nutritional supplement, one for the resultant physical dwarfism that accompanied starvation and neglect as well as a counter acting potion for any mental retardation that usually came from the aforementioned abuse, and one to awaken any latent magical talent that might yet be dormant because of the kind of life he had lived. Abuse couldn't get rid of magic but it could make it difficult for the user to summon it. If Draco didn't know that Severus loved to make potions he'd swear that he had a father/son bond with Harry St. bloody Potter already. Draco shook his head in annoyance with himself. He was here to try to help Potter. It would not do to keep those thoughts circulating. Besides, despite the fact that he hated Potter they were on the same side. Like Severus had told him, you stick with the side that will win. All the death eaters had were a bunch of over large stupid creatures and servants with a rotting corpse leading them. It wasn't like the Dementors would stay on their side if they began to lose. Not to mention the servants were either too crazy too stupid too cowardly or too subservient to be of any use. They had Dumbledore, a bunch of Aurors, the werewolves, amazingly enough. Centaurs and Goblins were also in their ranks. Somehow Dumbledore had talked them into joining their side. Add to that that there were experienced dragon handlers and odds favoured them. Of course that was until you figured in the ministry. With allies like them who needed enemies?
Harry had been unusually quiet all day; Draco knew that it wasn't about the living arrangements because he hadn't made a fuss. Of course considering the state he was in he doubted Harry would make a fuss if the hottest woman or man, Draco was not certain about his preference, were to walk in naked and give him a lap dance.
Bugger all; I'm going to ask aren't I?
Of course you are. Snape did take care of you when your parents were too busy to notice your existence and he's Snapes actual son so you are kind of like brothers, just not actual brothers.
"All right potter, what's wrong?" Draco asked as he sat down on the bed beside said boy who lived. He looked up startled to see Draco.
"Nothing much really."
"Come off it Potter. Snapes looked after me since I can remember; now apparently you're genetically related to him. As far as I'm concerned we're brothers. I don't like you but how many brothers, outside of the Weasleys, do? What's wrong?"
Potter sighed.
"How do I tell them? Like I mean I know how Hermione will react. She'll be startled but okay with it. Ginny won't care. But Ron will… I don't know. He'll be pissed off at Snape, then me, then both of us. I know he will."
"So why tell him? If he's going to get pissed off because you got one parent who's still alive."
"He's my friend."
"So why do you think he'll be pissed off?"
"Well you know how pissed off he was in fourth year? Well let's just say that it's because he'll be reminded of all the things I have that he wants."
"So what about all the things he has that you want? I bet there's seven at least."
" He doesn't notice that."
"So why is he your friend?"
"…"
"Don't worry about it. Tell the girls and wait a while to tell him. By the way Potter you will remember to wash your hair right? Snapes like a father to me but I wish he'd remember that wonderful invention called soap and water sometime."
"Well we could introduce them."
"Really sounds like fun."
"Yeah but I don't think I'd be much help."
"How'd you mean?"
"Well I can barely walk around and besides, genetically related or not I'd be the one he'd hex into oblivion, you he'd only yell at."
"True. Course that's better than what he's done to that fat lump of a cousin of yours. He's keeping him locked in the boot cupboard." Harry snorted and tried to keep from smiling.
"Talk about ironic. Bet the fat lump never saw himself being forced to live like his parents had forced me to live."
"You've got to be joking. What the hell'd you do to deserve it?"
"I showed up on their doorstep shortly after I was orphaned."
"…Bastards…" Harry shrugged and stared out the window.
"So what did he do?"
"He managed to follow Snape by floo to his meeting with father and Mcnair. Damn near got himself killed."
"How'd he do that? I thought that only witches and wizards could travel like that."
"Well yes, that's why we're so curious as to how he did it. Obviously if he were magical he'd have gone to one of the schools for witchcraft and wizardry instead of that old mouldy muggle school he brags about."
"Don't be too sure. His mom and dad would never allow it. It was bad enough that I was a freak they would die before they let ickle diddykins become one."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but when they destroyed my letters more just kept coming, wouldn't the same happen with Dudley?"
"No, your parents specifically stated that they wanted you to study magic at Hogwarts before they died. If Dudley's parents destroyed his first letter without telling him there would have been no more."
"So the great fat git is a wizard."
"That would explain it. Which house do you expect he'd have been in?"
"Too stupid to be in Ravenclaw, not hardworking or loyal enough to be in Hufflepuff, Too cowardly to be in Gryffindor. Not reckless enough either. About the only thing he has in common with Slytherins is that he's ambitious. It only extends to getting his way all the time but it's still ambition."
"I don't think I'd like him much."
"Uh, Malfoy, no one would like him. The only people who like him are those who like bullies and that's only so they can watch and have fun while he beats people who are smaller."
"What a jackass, and that's coming from me."
"And that's bad when someone is sorotten you call them a jackass."
Severus breathed a sigh of relief when they set down outside the manor. Of course the second they set down George ran for freedom like his life depended on it. Not very pleasant to be locked in a small confine where someone who happened to kiss you is, Especially if you don't happen to like that someone.
"Slow down, boy, unless you want the wards to kill you." Severus yelled after him. George stopped and waited for everyone to catch up, but he still managed to stay as far as possible from Severus.
"Oh don't flatter yourself, you don't have anything that I want anyway." Snape smirked at the flush that was creeping up the boy's neck. They made their way quietly up to the imposing mansion. Once inside Matron greeted them.
"Hello Matron. Please escort Misters Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George Weasley to their rooms. I'll handle the rest."
"Yes Master Snape." Without another word she led the way for the older Weasley brothers.
"I'll show the rest of you to your rooms. Mr. Ronald Weasley you'll be staying with Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy also is sharing the room. Don't worry, I told him to keep on his best behaviour so if you don't bother him, he won't bother you. Miss Granger and Weasley, you'll be sharing a room next to them. Should all hell break loose I expect you two to either deal with it, get the elder Weasleys to deal with it, but only as an absolute last resort call me. Understood?" There were two prompt yes sirs from their direction. "Mr and Mrs Weasley would you like the second master room or one of the guest rooms?"
"Whichever one is closest to where Ron and the girls are."
"The second master room it is then. The older boys are on the lower level in several of the guest suites. Matron can show you the way. On another note, if the twins destroy anything they'll be paying for it themselves."
As Severus lead the way to their rooms he thoroughly hoped that they would have the wisdom to leave him alone for the rest of the summer and focus their attention on Harry. He wasn't used to entertaining anyone at the best of times, let alone a pack of red haired high-strung witches and wizards of clearly Scottish descent. Aside from that this clearly was not the best of times. He had just received word from McGonagall that the owl results were in and just who would be in his newt class. She just simply could not suppress a tight-lipped smirk of triumph when she informed him that not only did over half the bloody Slytherins fail to make the grade but Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived-to-be-a-constant-pain-in-his-backside had gotten an o along with Longbottom, Granger, and half of the bloody Gryffindors. His only consolation was that Ron did not. Ginny, however, would no doubt be in newts. She practically thrived on potions. Very odd family the Weasleys; with most pureblood families there was a theme. The Blacks were as black as their name, even Sirius despite the fact that he was with the order. The Potters were pure in every sense of the word. The Snapes were agonizingly intellectual but lazy, or they were until they were wiped out. The Malfoys were aristocratic, crafty, and resourceful. But the Weasleys, what could you say about them. There were good and bad witches and wizards, powerful, and squibs, decent hardworking ones as well as treacherously ambitious ones. About their only common denominator was that they all had red hair and hot tempers. He deposited them at their respective rooms and left them alone. God he hoped they didn't try to induct him into the Weasley family when they found out about his relationship with Harry. Nice as they were he didn't feel like being a part of a large family at the moment. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when he got to his own rooms and shut the door. He remembered that he had several things to tend to. Most important of which was finding a better solution to Harry's problem. Of course he would have to whip up a couple of big fat placebos for the dark lord, but really he knew that there was no cure, not in the later stages. In the early stages a shot of penicillin would have done it but now there was nothing for it. Too bad, really, because now he was going to die no matter what. Some diseases the magical community had found cures for, others were still a mystery with only muggle answers to them. Of course someone like the dark lord would never use anything muggle in origin which was decidedly stupid. So Severus sat down for a long peaceful night of research.
When Ron came in the room Harry was at first happy to see him. He had been trapped without any real friends all summer. Of course he knew that he would have to tell Ron about the fact that one of his parents was alive and well and happened to be their least favourite teacher at Hogwarts. Harry didn't know why that thought made his blood run cold but it did. It probably had something to do with the way he envisioned it happening. He would sit Ron down and have tea while discussing the various different Quidditch teams. Harry would try to work it in casually by saying something like 'and speaking of fouls done to seekers my father James was Knocked up by Snape who in turn impregnated my mother with the resulting fetus, so what's your take on clubbing?' Ron would wait a beat, then laugh at the joke until he realised that Harry was serious at which point he would flip out, overthrow lord Voldemort and become the next evil lord. Harry was pretty sure that the last part was pretty much a stretch of the imagination, but oh well.
"Hello Ron, how's your summer been?"
"Oh, you know the usual, clean house, try to overhear meetings, worry about you and your sanity, then find out you've shacked up with Severus bloody Snape and Draco bloody Malfoy. So how's playing house going, you pick out the drapes you want yet."
Harry was taken back by Ron's sarcasm; this was not normal. He reached out his hand towards his friend but his friend pulled away.
"What's wrong Ron, I don't know what I did wrong but I can't fix it if you don't tell me."
"Oh that's rich, all summer I've been worried for you, I've been hoping to get a letter from you but I don't hear squat."
"Ron, my uncle wouldn't allow me to write except some phoney letter saying that I was being treated well. Then I went crazy and wasn't capable of writing anything to anyone. I've only been sane for the past couple of days and I've only just gotten most of mymovements under control. I haven't been able to write so you'll just have to forgive me for not writing."
"Oh sure, I believe that, the great Harry Potter, now an invalid. That is just so typical of you Potter, to cook up some story to get attention from mom and dad. God, I just don't believe you sometimes, just leave me alone."
"Ron, What's wrong with you?"
"What? Nothings wrong with me, I just had a long talk with Percy, you know he may be a self-serving twerp but he sure was right about some things. Especially about you."
"Ron!"
"Just go away and leave me alone, prat." Ron walked to the opposite end of the room and sat down. Draco looked at him and said very quietly "Yeah, I can see why you're best mates with him."
Harry had Draco help him to the bathroom under the pretence that he needed a bath. Really all that he wanted was to sit down and cry where no one would see him.
He stayed there for a good half hour while the tears poured down his face. Draco pretended not to notice. Anytime the tears got too thick he'd wipe a washcloth over his face. Finally he got dried off and was ready to go back to the room. When they finally got there Harry noticed that the supplemental potions that Snape had given him were missing. It wasn't until further investigation of a wastebasket that he found the empty jars. The potion that kept him sane was locked in the bottom drawer of his dresser.
"Ron, what did you do to my potions?"
"Who says I did anything? Maybe it was the ferret, he could have done something while you weren't looking."
"It wasn't Draco, the potions were just fine until we left to the bathroom, then we came back out here they were gone, so what did you do?"
"None of your business."
"It actually is my business considering that I'm the one who needs them. For all you know you could have killed me by destroying them."
"Big fat fucking deal, now if you'll excuse me I'm sick of this third degree and I'm going to talk to some real friends, you know someone that you aren't."
"Funny, I was just thinking the exact same thing about you."
Ron didn't bother answering as he walked out the door. Harry sat down on the bed with a groan.
"What the fuck is wrong with him?"
"Don't know but I'd better go tell Snape what happened, you going to be okay by yourself?"
"Yeah, just fine. I mean if my other friends are in just as good a mood then I've got it made for crappiest summer ever."
"That's right, look on the bright side, I'm certain that out there is some deity that gets immense amusement from your suffering."
"Yeah, well there'd better be."
Draco left to fetch the wonderful Potions master from his den.
Ron was in a good mood while visiting the girls. After all he didn't know why Potter and him had ever been friends to begin with. He supposed the prat considered him just another lackey and hanger on to please. It didn't bother him much what he knew about Potters life, it didn't bother him much that Potter had gone temporarily insane that summer. All that mattered was that he had snubbed him, Ron, his supposed best friend by not writing him. It didn't matter that he hadn't written Harry over the summer after all he couldn't, not without those muggles getting angry, but what was stopping Harry. Not that it mattered much all that he knew was that after his meeting with Percy everything seemed so much clearer. He couldn't remember what had been said or what had happened just that he had come away from that meeting knowing that he had every right to hate Harry. He was just about to make another joke about Potter, for some reason the girls just didn't find them as funny as they ought to, when he felt a strange sensation running through his body. It was like half of him was being melted by the sun and the other half were being freeze dried. He then blacked out.
Severus Snape hated being disturbed. Especially at night when he was trying to do important things, he did make exceptions in dire emergencies but mostly he'd hex anyone who dared disturb him.
"Professor, There's been an accident."
"It had better be important Malfoy."
"Well, all of Harry's supplemental Potions are gone. We don't know how but Weasley did something to them after acting like a great git all night."
"What did he do with them?"
"We don't know and he wouldn't tell us just-"
"PROFFESSOR, PROFFESSOR!"
"I'm right here Miss Granger, you can stop the infernal yelling."
"Professor, Ron's been acting weird all summer, well since two weeks ago when Percy came along and told us off. Anyway he just came over faint just a few minutes ago. We can't wake him and he's turning green. Please you got to help."
"Fine, Malfoy, there are extra of the supplemental potions in my cabinet, best have Harry lock these up. Miss Granger you might want to run an ice cold bath in the boys bathroom."
Professor Snape left to find out what was ailing the young Weasley, although he had a good idea already.