See chapter one for disclaimers/warnings/summaries.
They arrived at a lovely two-story home at the end of a lonely street, with giant, gnarled trees overshadowing the place and nearly obscuring the house from view. It was perfect, considering their occupations and tendencies to gravitate away from the spotlight. Being Unspeakables suited them all and while, technically, most wouldn't know their fellow witch or wizard, the Shaklebolts and the Notts had managed to work their way around that.
Kingsley drove straight into the open, two-door garage and sent out a mental poke to let Severus know he was back with their guests. He could already sense that his husband was busy in the typical mental high of brewing, apparently having managed to make quick work of cleaning up his latest failure. That was somewhat of a relief. He did not blame Theo for wanting to do anything else other than clean. "Need help?" He inquired.
A content Harry stretched like a cat, before handing his carry-on bag over to the helpful hands. He gifted Theo a kiss to the cheek to ease his disgruntled expression and then hoisted Theo's carry-on out himself. The Stomach Soother had helped to restore much of his generally easy-going attitude, Theo's petting had certainly helped as well and now, Harry was happy to be 'home' in a sense.
Wherever Theo, Severus and Kingsley were, that was the closest to a permanent home and he always craved the simplicity and reassurance that came from their awkward, sincere and completely dysfunctional family dynamics. He would never trade it for anything in all the worlds and realms in existence.
"Harry?" Theo's quiet voice pulled him out from his thoughts. Harry flashed a grin as he trotted after them to where Kingsley stood, holding the door open to the workshop off of the garage, while Theo stood at the feet of the stairs.
Minutes later, they'd entered the kitchen that was definitely spelled larger than it should have been and all of them winced as a collective whole, at the scent of burnt smoke and rancid-something-or-the-other, flecks of ash, along with even more unpleasant fumes accompanied it. Harry stared in a mixture of awe and horror.
The explosion must have been rather spectacular.
Severus Shacklebolt, Potions Master extraordinaire, stood at the far end of the kitchen, speaking rapidly and fluently in French, as he tended to six cauldrons lined up along the counter and in various stages of completion. He kept up a conversation with one of his long-distance brewing apprentices via the floo at the far end of the kitchen. After the war, he had sought asylum in France until Harry had smoothed things over and Theo had wrangled about the positions of Unspeakables.
His time in France, however, had led to a healthy attachment of the French language, the French brewing practices and the eager, quiet potions students that clamored to be taught under a respected, genius of a potions master. Severus hadn't been able to deny that he did want someone to teach his legacy to and after some months of debate and short temper, he'd taken Kingsley's advice to engage a long-distance apprentice.
Pierre Volancey, was a very thin, very tall, sharp-eyed specimen of a wizard. He was also well-traveled, well-read and very, very polite, with the occasional lapse in Latin, German and English, when he did not wish to offend his Master teacher in his native tongue. It was the strangest sort of teacher-student relationship possible, but both Severus and Pierre seemed quite content with it and Kingsley had let it be.
Harry grinned widely now as he realized they must have arrived in the midst of a lesson of sorts and the shouted phrases—albeit in a carefully measured half-whispers and hisses—was something of a lively debate. Severus's dark eyes seemed to glimmer and there were faint spots of color on his pale cheeks, while Pierre's insistent voice had taken on something of an accented purr.
Whatever potion they were working on, had to be quite stimulating, Harry reasoned. He studied the scene with more care, watching as Severus moved easily among his six cauldrons.
A metronome swung steadily at a position atop two thick potions books, providing a rhythm while the six potion recipes were strung across the wall, held steady by sticking charms, as Severus's keen eye and mind kept track with little effort. It was almost something of artistry as a chime sounded from somewhere and the dark-haired wizard immediately withdrew the stirrers, switched cauldrons and began focusing his attention on two more cauldrons. He stirred each one in a different pattern—at the same time, without breaking his conversation.
A brilliant man that finally had managed to receive a few good things in life, Harry mused. He thought of himself and Theo and the smile lingered a moment longer. Severus was not the only one who had finally come into some semblance of good fortune. He was lucky beyond all else to have a handsome, talented Slytherin to call his own.
Kingsley handed over Harry's bag and directed both young wizards up the stairs to the guest rooms. Severus would finish things up in a moment, at least, enough to speak properly and politely without being distracted by his potions, Pierre or half-ware of everything else as his mind tracked a dozen things in his typical, multitasking fashion.
And preferably in English.
Harry had never managed to get the hang of French.
By the time they finished unpacking and settling in, Harry was the first one to come bounding down the stairs after a few not-so-subtle suggestions for Theo to freshen up. The Slytherin was bordering on almost moody in a sudden, abrupt mood swing that Harry wasn't sure he wanted to figure out.
The best remedy for handling Theo's moods was simply to wait it out and make himself scarce. So Harry had done exactly that, and left his husband to his own devices. A quiet voice in the back of his mind suggested that the past missions were likely catching up and Theo just needed to process them. With that almost-reassurance in mind, Harry knew that he could amuse himself for the time being. He swirled into the kitchen, looking every inch of the vibrant, talented wizard that he was, his Unspeakable side perking up at the possible chance to be useful.
Kingsley smiled, fondly and held out an arm to finally give him a proper hello. "Harry." He murmured, hugging the younger man tight.
Harry sighed happily, all but melting into the embrace, enjoying the closeness of a man that had been practically like a father to him, right next to Severus. "Kings." He hummed. These were the moments that he missed when their odd little family unit was apart.
"Theo is sulking?" Severus's dark, silky voice cut through the moment. He had yet to look up from his cauldrons, but now, he set the stirrer to the side and turned to inspect Harry. Black eyes raked over the slender form with a critical eye. He had been the one to put in a request for Harry to take a temporary medical leave after the last mission, which had resulted in his temporary residence at the Burrow and thus among the Weasleys.
The brunet shrugged. The week had been good for him, a vigilante had managed to get a lucky spell past his shields and he'd needed the time to recover, even if it had left him nearly bored out of his mind and itching to climb the walls. Had Theo been there, he likely would have done the same to ensure his full recovery. Severus had simply seen that it was done. Harry half-smiled, allowing Severus to look him over from a distance. "I left him pacing the length of the hall. You really should tell him that you don't want his help to brew. It'll be easier for all of us."
Severus sniffed, but didn't answer.
It was as good of a confirmation that they would get, for the fact that he would tend his potions himself. Harry grinned and promptly darted forward and hugged the dour man in turn before he could react.
"Potter!" Severus's growl was all bark and no bite. "I am not some cuddly representation that requires your ridiculous emotional displays of physical affection!" The slender, wiry arms that squeezed him tight were absolutely by accident and they most certainly did not pat him on the shoulders.
Harry grinned into the dark robes and after a good squeeze, quickly released his mentor-father. "I missed you too, Sev." He said, cheekily. And he had. "And don't let Theo hear you say Potter. It's Nott."
The man in black aimed a cuff for his head, slow enough for Harry to dodge, grumbling about disrespectful brats and their elders. Lily had always called him Sev. He allowed her son this one boon. He also knew that a certain brunet Slytherin was not really sulking upstairs but most likely finally crashing from the stress of the last slew of missions. Theo would always hold himself together—until they were all under the same roof.
No matter, he would simply keep an eye on Harry until Theo was back to himself. It shouldn't take too long. Theo was smart enough to recognize the signs and knew what to do about it.
Harry's grin grew wider as Severus's glare softened, faintly, upon taking in his barely concealed excitement. "Are there updated reports? Anything new? Kings updated us on the way here, but I want to see your notes." Out of all of them, Severus kept the most detailed, useful reports between them and Harry read them out of routine now, knowing that he could often pick up something out of them that he hadn't known before.
"You know where to find them," Severus retorted. He flicked his hands at the row of cauldrons sending them into stasis and erecting a ward that would keep magic away from them, enough so the house elves could finally return to their culinary domain. The diagnostic spell he'd cast when not hugging Harry showed that the young man was in good health but probably in need of a meal. "Tea?"
"That'd be great, actually. Theo's been feeding me potions and chocolate." Harry's emerald eyes shimmered, faintly.
"Stomach Soother?" Severus guessed. Harry gave a minute shrug. The Potions Master didn't push it. Slipping out of his brewing robes, he clicked his fingers at a waiting house elf and led them into the corridor and down to the gloomy sitting room at the end.
A/N: Yay! So Harry is back with Kingsley and Severus and our favorite potions master has French apprentice. I'll probably be starting the actual plot/mystery bit next chapter or so. Welcome to the new readers (and the lurkers!) :P Thanks for reading!