A/N Sorry this took so long I got a new CPU and I had to find a typing program and then it was the story itself since I had to decide what direction I wanted to take it in because I had two very different ideas for this story and I had to chose which one to use. I did a lot with this chapter as you can see by the length and there should only be one more after this. As always R and R.
The Truth of the Serpent
The two snakes slithered along the empty corridors making sure that they remained unnoticed by the remaining inhabitants, which included the pictures as well since it wouldn't do to have them report to the headmaster, of the castle. Together in a fashion that boasted of ease which would confirm to anyone who did see them that they had been traveling together for quite some time they made their way down to the dungeons to find their query.
They would not have long to accomplish this because while the people may not have seen them the castle itself would record their presence. In addition to that breaking into the rooms that lay in the dungeons was bound to reveal them in time and they had to make sure that they had reached the boy before that it happened or the mission would end in failure.
"His scent is strongest here," hissed the larger of the two snakes.
"Where is he?" the other hissed back.
They could not find Harry. Or anyone else for that matter. The quarters were empty and they hadn't been for long. A few minutes at the very most.
"What do we do now," The first hissed.
"We wait and hope that we can get to him before we are found."
Fifteen minutes before
"Papa what will we be doing today?" Harry asked as contemplated what he was going to sign on the adoption form.
"I don't have anything planned. Was there something in particular that you wanted to do?"
"Not really I just wanted to know be-"
The reason why Severus didn't find out because Harry was cut off in the middle of his sentence by a screech from Hedwig.
Clutched in the foot of his snowy owl was a letter. Quickly Harry took the letter and while handing Hedwig a treat from the stash that he kept handy in his robes for her, he opened it he had no idea who this could be from though since he had not been expecting anything.
Harry,
I really hope this finds you. Your owl suddenly appeared here at the hotel and I had to take the chance that this would get to you. I have no other options. I need your help. Mom is very sick and I am scared she might die. I can not go to the hospital with her because Dad would find out since he is listed as her contact. I will explain more if you come. Please come I know we don't deserve your help but I don't know who else to turn to.
We are in a Wheelford hotel room 202.
Hurry.
Dudley
Harry read the letter twice and he gave it to his Papa to read. He was mixed about what to do. His aunt and cousin had been very bad to him and he couldn't just forget what they had done to him. But if what Dudley said in the letter was true then his aunt could be dying right now and it was within his power to get her some help.
"What should I do?" He asked out loud.
"This is up to you Harry. You can help them or you can show them the same amount of mercy that they showed to you since you were placed into their lives."
Harry thought for a moment before saying, "I want to help them. I know that I might come to regret it but they are the only blood family that I have left and I don't want them dead. Plus I want to know why they are hiding from my Un- from Vernon. That bit that has me really worried. Will you try to help them if I ask you to?"
Severus sighed. He had a hard time caring one way or the other and despite the recent changes in him over the past months he hadn't let go of the anger that he felt towards the Dursely's for how they had treated his son when the boy had been in their care. This was made even worse because Severus knew that Harry had not told him the entirety of the pain he had felt because of the Dursley's. Despite the fact that Harry hadn't signed the papers yet was his son and how Petunia had treated Lily when she was as a child further pushed him in the direction of not caring about the predicament that they found themselves in..
Even though the note was indeed written by the youngest Dursely who bore less of the blame than his parents did for Harry's abuse and the fact that the situation did seem as though it was quite dire if the penmanship was anything to go by he still felt little if any sympathy. But if this was what the boy really wanted he could hardly refuse him. "I don't know what I will be able to do because potions don't work as well on Muggles since they lack the magic to aid the magic of the ingredients but I will try to help her only because that is what you want me to do."
Two minutes later Severus had packed up the potions that he knew would work most effectively on a muggle. Then he pulled out his wand to send a patronus to the headmaster to inform him of where he was going. For a second he stared at his patronus. It was different than before. It used to be a doe. But now it was different. Shaking his head he dismissed the glowing beast and instead sent a letter instead since he had no time to explain the change in his patronus because time was of the essence. After that he went back out to the living area and together he and Harry floo'd to the hotel and went to the room that had been written on the note.
Harry knocked on the door and was surprised when it was answered by a boy that looked unfamiliar to him. It took a long moment but then he realized that it was his cousin. The months had obviously not been kind to the boy. He was thinner than Harry had ever seen him when they had lived together and he looked completely exhausted.
Dudley's face lit up when he saw that his cousin was at the door. For a moment he feared that it was the owner of the hotel coming to force them out. They had a day left before they had to pay more than they could afford. But that was beside the point at the moment.
"Harry you came," Dudley said in a relieved voice. "Mom's through here." Dudley pointed at the room beyond. The room was quite small. It held only a dingily painted living area and with a couch that it was obvious from the sheets upon it that Dudley slept on. A few steps away was a bathroom which was as small as a closet and the only other door was the one through which they were led.
There on the bed lay Petunia Dursley and there was a gasp from both Harry and Severus. Neither of them had ever seen, or thought to see, the sour-faced woman so small and so very vulnerable. She was an unhealthy pasty white color and if it were not for the shallow breathing that they could barely hear they would have thought her to be dead.
"I will see what can be done for her," Severus said quietly to Harry after placing a hand on the boy's shoulder to get his attention.
Harry knew that, that was his cue to leave and let his Papa work.
With one more glace at the fragile form that lay unmoving on the bed he left out of the room followed by his cousin.
Once they were back in the small living room near the couch Dudley spoke. "You're wondering what happened to us aren't you?" the question was asked in such a way that it might have been a statement.
Harry simply nodded since he was indeed puzzled by what chain of events could have possibly led his aunt and cousin to be living in these circumstances .
Dudley sat down and patted the area on the couch next to him indicating that Harry should sit down too. When Harry finally joined him on the small and very uncomfortable piece of furniture he said, "First I want to say that I am sorry. I know that it doesn't amount to anything and you deserve much more than an apology from me but I just wanted to say it." Dudley took a breath eyes still locked with the dingy beige carpet and spoke once more. "After you left things got back to normal as we slowly pushed the memory of what had been done to us away. Everything was fine and was going well for a couple of weeks. But then I came home due to a sudden power outage at Smeltings and that was when things went wrong."
"At first it all seemed like it had before I had left but then one day I heard mom and dad arguing and I saw him hit her." Here Dudley clenched his hands. "I tried to stand up to him and I told him to stop. He hit me so hard that I flew into the wall and was so dazed that I couldn't even get up. I had never felt so powerless before and I was shocked that my dad had hit me. I never knew that he was so violent and I think that I never saw it because before he had always taken that anger out on you. After that mom told dad that if he ever hit me again she was going to leave. The next day he hit me hard enough that it knocked me out. When I woke up it was night and mom was standing over me telling me to pack a bag. That night we ran away and we have been running ever since. Mom made herself sick working three jobs just to afford what we need and I have been working one job and keeping a low profile at the local school. We move every few weeks afraid that dad will catch up to us and force us to go back to that house." There Dudley stopped and he waited for Harry to pass judgment on him.
This was all no less than what he deserved really for the way that he had treated his cousin all of those years and as much as he wanted to pin the blame on his parents and his upbringing he had to face the facts that some of it was indeed his fault. Dudley had never believed in the idea of karma but what he was experiencing now did give a lot of credit to the theory. He had known better after a while and yet he had continued to treat his cousin as though the younger wasn't even human. He teased him for his dead parents and for having no family more than once and he was happy when those insults had made him cry. But things were so different now he was a bit smarter and knew how it felt to be beat to be hurt and to have to run because you were too weak. He knew now what it was like to have so few possessions to have few privileges and have to live off of a meager amount of food. It wasn't fun. But he knew that Harry had had it infinitely worse than he did because he had had to put up with this kind of treatment for about ten and a half years of his life while in the place that he had called home while he himself only had been living with these conditions for about three months. Added to that was the fact that even at this low point he still had more than Harry had had. More food, more freedom, more clothing. For the first time he felt truly ashamed of himself and his parents.
So it came as a surprise when, given a history like that, his dark-haired cousin said, "I'm sorry,"
Dudley laughed bitterly. That made him feel a bit worse because had he been in Harry's shoes he might have laughed at him, he wouldn't have even came here to begin with. "We're so different. After all I put you through you shouldn't care what happens to me or to my mom."
"That's where you're wrong Dudley. I should care since you two are my only blood family but I know that it more than just that. More importantly than that I know that I can't just abandon you or your mom because I know what that feels like and I never want to be the one that make others to feel that way because nobody ever should. Abandonment leads to disaster and hatefulness more often than not and if it is within my power to stop those results."
"Harry," Severus called for him.
With one last look at Dudley's startled face, Harry got up and went back into the other room. His aunt was awake now and a bit of her color had returned to her face.
Harry took a breath and went to stand beside his Papa to gather his courage before he addressed the woman in the bed. "Hello," he said to her.
The woman on the bed went through various emotions before she settled on something that was a mix between grief and regret. "...Harry... I do... regret the fact that I have undoubtedly become a monster in your eyes. But I was always sour even as a little girl. By the time I was an adult it had become my normal disposition and it was enabled by Vernon. I resented you for living when you came along. My sister had died and you had lived it made me so angry that I couldn't stand the sight of you. While Lily and I never had a very good relationship after she went away to... that school I did still love her as surprising as that may seem. As the years passed I became even more angry and upset with myself because while I hated you I never wanted to harm you."
"What about when you tried to hit me with the frying pan?" Harry cried out.
"I was trying to help you learn to dodge," Petunia said in such a way that they knew that she did not like remembering what she had done in the past. "I knew what Vernon was doing to you the moment I saw the first bruise and... I thought that if I could get you to learn how to dodge better you could learn to avoid his wild swings and later on Dudley's.
"You knew and you never did anything," Snape snarled at her.
"No I didn't. But I knew how violent Vernon could get because just after a six months of marriage he started to hit me and knock me about. I kept quiet knowing that I deserved it. Besides other than the temper thing he was all a husband should be. Then Dudley came along and I knew I could never leave or my son would suffer for it. I had no real friends and no family to turn to either. The year after that you showed up and it was like salvation had arrived. With Vernon using you as a way to relieve himself he was much nicer to both me and my son. I couldn't afford to think of you as human and as a result I let you be abused."
Harry was astounded she had let him be abused to protect herself and her son. He tried to imagine what he might have done if he was put into the same situation. If he were living in a place where he knew someone was being abused and he and another were not because that person was, could he live with that? It hurt to think such things but if he had no other choice he might have tried to ignore the others suffering for the sake of both himself and the other that depended on him especially if he had nobody to turn to. It wasn't to say that he could completely sympathize with the situation but having this piece of information put it into a different perspective what he had experienced all his life and he really didn't know just how he should feel about the whole situation.
After that Harry and Severus went back into the small living area to be alone. Dudley went in the other room now since they had left out and sat with his mother to give them some privacy.
As they sat on the sofa Severus looked over at the boy trying to gauge his reaction to what he had heard. "How are you?" Severus finally asked after a moment in a gentle tone knowing that what Petunia had said had upset his son and he feared that it would have repercussions later on.
"I don't know." Harry answered honestly.
Then Severus did the only thing he could think to do. He pulled the boy onto his lap and into a hug. He still wasn't very good with this emotional stuff but he knew that this was the right thing for him to do. Also considering that he had something to tell the boy that would make this even harder on him than it already was.
When Harry pulled out of the hug he could see that there was something that was bothering the Professor and he asked about it.
"I have to contact the Headmaster before I can explain. This peaked Harry's curiosity.
About ten minute later Dumbledore arrived at the room. Severus led him into the bedroom where both Petunia and Dudley were asleep. For a moment nothing happened but then Harry saw Dumbledore's face wrinkle in confusion. When they stepped out he said, "Very curious."
"What does it mean Albus?" Severus asked.
"I am not sure my child."
"Clueless underage wizard here." Harry said pointing to himself. "Anyone care to explain what's going on?"
Snape smirked a bit. Then he grabbed Harry's hand. "Look very closely here." The wizard directed and just as Harry was about to ask what it was that he was looking at he saw it. Inside of his Papa was a multi-colored very large crystal. It had many hues of blues and dark greens with a string of silver floating about. 'So this is a magical core.' Harry thought to himself as he looked over at his almost Grandfather. Dumbledore's core was very bright with multiple shades of reds mixed with purple and a string of blue entwined in the core.
"You see Harry every witch and wizard has a magical core. Squibs have one too but the magic is much fainter and they have no access to the magic inside of them. Muggles do not have one which is why they are incapable of doing magic. In that room are two people that have empty cores."
Harry nodded his understanding. "If they were truly muggles they would have no core but if they were squibs then they would have a core with a meager amount of magic inside. So what exactly are they if they fit into neither category?"
"That is precisely what needs to be figured out."
Harry could understand this. If there were more people with empty cores then there would have to be a classification for them and people would have to know about it.
"So what are you going to do with them because as unlikely as it is they could be the only ones with dark cores and if they are then they would need to be studied. If it comes to that I would rather that they be left alone and nobody else know about what we saw here.
"Harry if we did take them into our world they would not be poked and prodded." Dumbledore said with an air of certainty that could not be argued with. "The bigger issue here is that they would have to stay in the castle for some time until I could work out a place that they could stay that has a good amount of protection from those who would experiment unjustly on them. If I did bring them to Hogwarts would you be able to live there in comfort and safety while not fearing that one of them might do something that would harm you or your friends?"
Harry considered this for a while. Having two of his past tormentors in the castle would compromise the security that he felt but it would be the right thing to do because Hogwarts was the safest place that he knew and if people would really come after his aunt and cousin for something that was outside of their control then they needed that safety as well. Added to that the castle was the only place that they could go that was totally safe from Vernon. There was no possible way that they could be followed there by him and that would be all that would need to be said to make them agree to any conditions that were set.
With a nod Harry agreed that it would be best if his cousin and aunt were taken to the castle but he gave one condition that had to be followed by them and if they agreed to it then it would be okay if they came to live in the place that he had begun to call home. That condition was that they were not to move about the castle without an escort and that they would be in their room at all other times. There were simple spells to assure this and the condition was readily agreed to by both his cousin and his aunt. If anything the fact that they were to e monitored made them happy because they knew that the people would also know if they were attack by anyone.
It took quite a while for things to be arranged but after everything was done Harry and Severus returned to their quarters only to be ambushed by Minerva, Sirius, and Remus. When the group had come down to visit they had be shocked to realize that neither Severus nor Harry was home and being that the two of them were on official unofficial house arrest they all decided to wait here until the two of them returned.
Before the conversation could really get underway though, two very large snakes had launched themselves at Harry.
Instantly all the adults had their wands drawn in order to fight the perceived threat.
But the snakes were not attacking and oddly enough they seemed familiar.
"Who are you?" Harry hissed.
"You don't remember?" one of them asked.
"We met when you were but a small one." the other said.
"My name is Naga and the other is my brother Negi."
"You saved our lives when we were small." Negi said.
"What is it with you and rescuing snakes?"Severus asked.
"He speaks!" Naga said in startled shout. "He did not taste like a Speaker."
"He only just became a Speaker. If you want to know how you must ask him.
"So you do know them?" asked Severus.
"Yes," Harry said.
"Will someone tell me what in Merlin's name is going on here?" Sirius asked.
"Sorry," Harry said. "These two are snakes that I met when I was about four. He is Naga and his brother is Negi. When I was four I had started learning about doing garden work." Harry ignored the gasps that that particular revelation caused as he remembered that he hadn't told any of them about that. He look at his Papa and saw the angry frown upon his features. Harry might not be taking Divination yet but it was easy to read that there was going to be a long and upset conversation in his future that would only be made worse when he told Severus that he barely had any clothing on and it was about mid-fall at the time. He sighed and then he continued. "They were just babies back then," Harry said not stopping to let any of the adults argue that he had been nothing but a child himself, "and they were about to be killed by a very large dog. I was able to save them and I kept them safe by hiding them under my clothing until their mother came for them. She told me that she owed me a life debt for each of her children and that she would repay it if she ever could."
The snakes hissed something and Harry translated. "They said that they need my help. Since their mother and I are still connected by a debt with my help they can summon her here. They say that it is really important that it is done very soon."
After talking about it for a moment it was decided that Harry should help the snakes summon their mother because since the mother owed a life debt there was hardly any way that she would try to hurt him and if she tried they would be here to stop her. They knew that one way or another Harry would do it and it would be safer this way.
A few minutes later a familiar beast appeared it was Voldemort's serpent Nagini.
For a moment fear and dread filled all the people in the room and they thought themselves tricked. But suddenly, before any of them could so much as utter a spell, the air was filled with magic and the snake transformed into a beautiful woman. She had long dirty blond hair and wore a dress of the darkest green. She was barefoot and she held to the back of the couch to keep her balance.
"My name is Vanessa. Or Nessie for short if you like. I never liked the name 'Nagini' it didn't have not one 's' in it."
"Mother!" Both snakes cried.
"Now, now you two better change as well. I can't explain everything if you are slithering around the whole time."
Both of the other snakes in the room morphed into people. Both were boys around fourteen years old. They had black hair and dark eyes that were tinged with silver. They were a little taller than average for their ages and they had on plain black shirts and black trousers. Like their mother they were also barefoot.
"What is going on here?" Minerva asked.
"These two are my children. I am human and what you all have known me as was my animagus form. For a time I was stuck in it and I eventually had these two in that form. They were born snakes but they are able to turn human. I don't really understand how that works I just know that it does and that I am happy that it does. I am not nor have I ever Voldemort's true familiar. I pretended to be because he had the power to destroy my children. Or so he claimed. He never told me that they had escaped him many years ago. I found that out only a short time ago."
"Why are you here?" Remus asked not lowering his guard but at the same time his instinct told him that he was not in danger,
"I want to destroy that monster but I need help to do that. I know that you find it hard to believe but I am willing to do anything if it will prove that to you. I know things that can help you fight him with the minimal amount of casualties."
"How do we know that you speak the truth?" Severus asked.
"I told you I will attest to this under any circumstance including the truth serum if I must."
"Mother!" The two boys said with alarm in their tones. "You can't do that!"
"What are they talking about?" Severus asked with doubt clear in his tone.
"I am somewhat allergic to that particular potion. But it does work on me. If to much is given though I might end up very ill but that is a risk that I am willing to take if that is what has to be done in order for you to trust me."
A while later Vanessa, her boys, the headmaster, Severus and Harry were sitting in Dumbledore's office while Vanessa drunk down the serum. She shivered and gagged for a moment. Minutes later she was breathing hard but her eyes had glassed over.
"What is your name?" Severus asked.
"Vanessa," she answered monotonously.
"Are you Voldemort's familiar?"
"I pretend to be but the bond is false."
"Do you know how to defeat him."
"Yes," she hissed.
"Will you tell me?"
"Yes,"
"How do we defeat Voldemort."
"He split up his soul before he had lost his corporal state the first time. You must destroy his horocruxes that he made and then attack him once he is again able to truly die."
There was a gasp from Dumbledore and Severus.
"How many does he have?"
"He had seven. But he now has six."
"Do you know what they are?"
"Yes I can sense them."
"What are they?"
"The one that is gone is a diary. It was used in his resurrection. The others are a locket, the Hufflepuff cup, the diadem of Revenclaw, a ring, myself and..."
"What else."
She shivered but did not answer. She did not want to say it. But she could not fight the potion that coursed through her. "...and Harry."
"Why come and tell me this?" Severus asked trying to stay calm.
"You fought him. Were a spy in his camp and could have died many times over I can trust that, you would be a good ally and I need those to help destroy the horocruxes. After that task I will destroy myself and the piece of soul that lies within me."
"Is there no other way?" Severus asked seeing what this would mean.
"I know not of another way."
"There must be a way," Severus said holding his son close and trying to keep the tears from coming from his eyes. "Please tell me that there is a way," he pleaded looking at Dumbledore.
"It's okay Papa," Harry said. "It will be okay. I'm sure there is a way to fix it we just have to find it."
"And we will," Dumbledore assured him. "First though we must get rid of the ones that we can easily depose of then we can concentrate on the tasks of getting the pieces out of the living horocuxes."
A moment later the potion had run it's course and Vanessa promptly fainted. Her two boys were at her side in an instant and they led her out of the room and with permission, into a room that they had been assigned so that she could rest.
"How will we take care of it all before he is aware of what we are doing if he is not already?" Severus asked when they were gone.
"Two of them are in secure locations. One being inside Hogwarts and the other in Gringots. The ones to worry about are the ring and the locket. It would be simple for Sirius to get into the Black vault as he is the head of the family now that his innocence has been proven. I can ascertain the the whereabouts of the one that is in the castle. It would be best if you, Minerva and Vanessa went and found the others. With any luck it would be done quite quickly and you'd be back in a few days at the most."
Severus nodded that did seem like a good plan. He could only see one flaw. "Will you be alright with this Harry?"
Harry nodded. He wanted old moldy Voldy destroyed as much if not more than anyone else and he was willing to be separated from his guardian in order for that to occur. He was twelve after all and he could manage a little while by himself. "I'll have planned out what my name should be by the time you get back home too,"
Severus smiled it was agreed then.
The next day the potions and the transfiguration professors accompanied by their unlikely ally set out to destroy the pieces of Voldemort's soul. Harry sat alone in his room, since he had given Silver to his Papa just in case, with the adoption papers attempting to figure out what he should put on the line. He was pleasantly distracted when Draco stopped by for a bit to play with him. Both of them had been practicing and now could breathe a few sparks. One day soon they were going to go and find a place where they could practice utilizing their dragon forms. Before bed he settled on a name and wrote it out as neatly as possible on the line trying his hardest to write it small enough t and legibly so that it wouldn't run over the amount of space that was provided on the form. It was a really long name but he really liked it and he was proud of all the parts of it.
The second day he felt his Papa's absence even more strongly. He tried to ignore it of course spending his days with Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, Freya, and Draco but come night time he could no longer deny that he missed Severus. He thought that he was stronger than this and that he could take a few days of separation. But at this point he only wanted his Papa back and he didn't care how much of a baby he seemed because of it. The thing was that he was so scared that it Severus would never come back to him because he was always fated to be abandoned.
~
That night he had a nightmare and it was so bad that he woke shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. It had only been a few hours since he had fallen asleep. He knew that the nightmares would get worse because that was how they were for him and he remembered what happened the last time because of some nightmares that he had.
Slowly he crawled out of bed and grabbed his wand from the table. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out two pairs of pants. Slowly with a spell that he had memorized in case this happen he transfigured them into a diaper. He had never wanted to use this spell but he would rather clean the mess from the nappy than from his bed.
Once he was done creating a second just in case he climbed back into bed and stared at the ceiling wondering where his Papa was. Before he knew what he was doing it,, he was counting fluffy white sheep as they jumped over a fence and he had gotten to seventy-eight sheep before managing to fall asleep again.
The nightmare came back with a vengeance, just as he had suspected that it would, and he wasn't able to wake up before his bladder emptied itself into his transfigured nappy. When he woke this time thought it was early morning so he decided that he was going to stay up for the day. Quickly he went into his bathroom and cleaned the nappy with a spell, put it back in his hiding spot, and then he took a shower.
He was ashamed, of course, that he needed the nappy at his age but at the same time he was also happy that there was no proof of his accident. He couldn't wait for his Papa to come back so that this would stop for good and he wouldn't need to have them anymore.
By the third day people were starting to notice that Harry was a little withdrawn and they knew that it was because he missed Severus. They knew that this was the longest that Harry had gone without seeing the man and it was hard on him. No one was aware of how hard but they knew that he was having a whole lot of trouble even if he didn't come and tell them about it. They also could tell from the dark circles under his eyes that his sleep, if he was getting any of it to begin with, was less than restful. That night Harry woke up wet again and he lay there in his sopping nappy crying from the shame of it all.
He was twelve for Merlin's sake. He should be able to cope by himself but instead of coping though he was being a big baby. Only babies needed nappies so that they didn't wet themselves. Only babies couldn't handle being by themselves for just a bit while their guardian was out doing something that was benefiting the world. But Harry couldn't help it because he just missed him so much and he was so scared that when Papa did return he would be so angry at him for being such a baby and breaking his promise to him. He had told Papa that he would be okay alone for a little while but had he known just how much he would miss him he never would have made that promise to him.
The next morning nobody saw Harry at all and when he missed lunch as well Sirius decided to go and check on him. He found Harry in Severus's room asleep in the bed. With a sigh Sirius left the room as quietly as he had come and went to the headmaster's office.
Severus needed to come back now or this would end up with Harry getting really sick. Sirius Himself would have stayed with the boy but tonight there would be s full moon and he needed to look after Remus to be sure that his best friend didn't hurt anyone. Since Remus's discovery of his animagus form he no longer turned into a wild beast but he was still dangerous. There was also the fact that he had to get Seven and Russel ready for the run.
Seven and Russel were the pups that Harry had gotten them for Christmas. In the box there had been a map when put together led to a clearing where they had found the pups. The animal themselves were enchanted creatures. Telepathic to their owners as well as one another since they were from the same litter and they were also comfortable with the fact that Remus was a werewolf and liked to run with them during the full moon. The pups were also highly intelligent so there was no harm done to the quarters when they were left alone unless they didn't get enough attention.
Sirius however, would have forgone the run had he known that his fear had already come to light. Harry was already sick. He had a fever and he hadn't eaten a thing since that morning. Seeking comfort he had gone to lay in his Papa's bed after putting on one of his nappies. Sick or not he would never forgive himself if he had an accident in this bed.
Severus was already on his way back to the castle having already destroyed the two objects that he had been after when he received communication from the castle that he needed to hurry back now because of an emergency. As quickly as they could he and his companions made it to the castle where he was met at the door by Sirius, Remus and Albus.
Immediately he headed down to the dungeons and found Harry was not in his room. He then looked in his own bedroom and found that Harry was curled up under his blanket. He slowly walked over not wanting to wake him and found that the young one was burning with fever. When Harry opened his eyes, Severus saw that the usual shine in the boy's green eyes had been replaced by a glassy gaze.
Coming out of his stupor, Severus realized that he needed to hurry and get some medicine into his boy and then they were going to have a stern talk about what happened. Running to his store room he grabbed a couple of potions and carried them back to his room. Sip by sip he coaxed the boy into drinking each potion that he had lain out for him. After that was finished he went into the bathroom and ran some water in the tub. That fever was far to high and he didn't think the potion by itself would reduce it to a temperature that he would be okay with. Once the tub held a sufficient amount of water he went back to the bed. Harry was sleep again so Severus gently woke him up. Once that was accomplished he went on ahead and carried him into the bathroom, quickly removed his clothing, and sat him in the tub.
It took a little while but eventually the effects of the potion and the water lowered the temperature of the fever sufficiently and at that point Severus toweled his son dry and picked Harry up and laid him against his own body using one arm to support him so that he could grip the wad of clothing in the other. Then he carried the boy back into his own room and lay him gently on the bed. After throwing the dirty clothing into the hamper he went and tucked the boy in and left for a bit to inform the rest of the staff what had happened.
After Severus left Harry cracked open an eye. He thought he remembered being tended to and when he looked down and realized that he had indeed been bathed and now was in his own bed he was sure that his Papa had returned to him. Suddenly he sat up realizing that Severus must have seen the nappy that the had been wearing if he had bathed him. His eyes caught on the hamper where his pajamas that he was wearing before laid on the top of the pile. Unsteadily, he moved across the room and searched through the clothing for the nappy. To his relief, it was there and it was not soiled. That was most likely the reason that Severus had failed to notice it. With a sigh Harry hid the nappy and got the other one. That one he slipped on under his sleeping trousers and then climbed back in bed exhausted from those few actions.
Hopefully he would no longer need the nappies now that Severus had returned to the castle but he thought that it would be a good idea to wait and see so that he could be certain. He was too old for a nappy but he was far too old to be wetting the bed and as he had thought before the nappy was the lesser of the two evils.
When Severus got back to his rooms the first thing he did was see how Harry was. Upon finding the boy asleep he went and got a book and placed himself at the boys beside just in case Harry needed anything during the night or the boy's fever rose.
Luckily neither the two happened and with Severus constant a steady presence even the fever that Harry had did not cause nightmares.
When Harry woke up he saw that Severus was there next to the bed slumped over in sleep. With a glance over to the sleeping Slytherin he checked the nappy and was pleased to find that he hadn't soiled himself in the night. While he was happy about this he figured that as a precaution he should wear the nappies at night for a bit longer just to make sure. He also knew that eventually he was going to have to tell Severus about them because the man wasn't going to be there with him at all times and Harry needed to make sure that this kind of childish behavior did not happen again. But that could wait a while since he knew that Severus wouldn't be leaving on long trips until Voldy was dead.
For a few days Harry was ill and he could hardly get out of bed. But on the upside he was able to forgo the nappies since Severus's return brought with it the return of his ability to shake the nightmares and get up before he could wet himself. But by the time New Year's eventually came around Harry was out of bed, had been scolded within an inch of his life by quite a few of the adults, and was now ready to help with the New Years party that everyone attended and that Severus had pretended to hate. Severus's birthday was only a bit later and since Harry hadn't had the time what with the illness and all the preparations for the new years party to give Severus the signed adoption form he figured that the form plus the ring that he had made from some material found on the school grounds would be the perfect gifts.
Severus of course was very happy on his birthday for the first time in more years than any of them would ever know and although he had no idea how to really express that since it was outside of his normal range of expression it seemed that all of the people in attendance could just tell and as much as that embarrassed him it also made him happy that he did have people that understood him. As they all sat having a grand time in the Chamber of Secrets, since it was early on decided that Freya would be attending the Severus's birthday party too, they all smiled and enjoyed seeing a side of Severus that most of them had never known and hoped that he would stick around because he was much more pleasant this way.
After all of the parties and holiday life slowly resumed the pattern that it had abandoned in all of the commotion of the holidays and the multiple other events that had occurred during the most wonderful time of the year as some called. Little did any of them know that there was a battle looming right there on the horizon. But for the moment the opposition to Voldemort were happy to be to together with one another since they didn't know quite how long it could last. Everything was only marred by the fact that Harry himself housed a piece of the Dark Lord's soul. That shadow hung over the ones that were aware of it after all neither could live while the other survived.