"Crush it... But how much should I crush it?" Harry asked Severus as he prepared the final ingredient for the potion they were brewing.
"It gets crushed the same way as the ginger," Draco said, busy with his own cauldron but still wanting to help his brother. It had been two weeks since their trip to Diagon Alley and Harry and Draco had mostly read through their books and even began practising a few spells when their parents were sleeping. Severus had come over to begin teaching Harry potions basics and how to handle a quill for writing. He seemed relieved to discover that Harry was a quick learner, just like his original mum and that the Malfoy genes had only added to this.
"I'm going to add this now," Harry said as he added the crushed sage into the potion and much to his relief, it had reacted exactly as Draco's had. Harry felt himself beaming with pride.
"Can we brew Cure for Boils next?" Draco asked, with a grin on his face. Both Harry and Draco were enjoying brewing with Severus and they wanted to make a few more potions.
"Draco, your mother said I should get you to bed on time tonight," Severus told Draco; his voice was more amused than it was scolding.
"But, mother's not here," Harry supplied with a small smirk which grew as a look of mild surprise and pride passed the potion master's face.
"They won't be home for hours. The potion will be done, we'll go to bed and they won't know a thing," Draco said, standing next to Harry so they could hit Severus with a double dose of puppy eyes. They watched as Severus' restraint began to crumble and with a scowl that showed no trace of annoyance but amusement, he told them to hurry up and get their ingredients before he changed his mind.
Lucius and Narcissa had been working on getting Sirius Black freed from Azkaban and today was the day that they were bringing him home; they had decided it was best for the moment if Severus wasn't there until he was a little more... receptive to his presence.
Once the boys disappeared out of site, he allowed a smile to graze his face; he could clearly look forward to seeing both boys in Slytherin. For Draco, this was common knowledge but Harry was surprising. Blood adoptions changed the exterior appearance but it did nothing to the personality and mentality of the child. This meant this was Harry's personality from childhood but considering his childhood, it wasn't too shocking. Of course, this didn't stop him from finding the irony in James Potter's son clearly taking a spin from his family's association with Gryffindor. He would have to appreciate the irony in silence because to the rest of the world, he was Harrison Malfoy.
"Ronald Weasley owled this morning, he wanted to know if we wanted to sit with him on the train," Harry was telling Draco as they returned to the lab with their ingredients in hand. With how little time it had taken, they had clearly been prepared for Severus to cave. Once again, he wondered what would happen if word got out that he was so easily manipulated by two eleven-year-olds; his reputation as the harsh potions master of Hogwarts would be killed for sure. He was harsh when it came to potions with Draco and Harry but only when he needed to be. He loved the boys but they had to know how series potions were and they needed to be constantly aware of their cauldrons.
"Yes, Mother talks about Molly Weasley all the time. She follows Tom; she's a spy for him actually," Draco told Harry, laughing at how dumb Dumbledore was sometimes.
"Yes, she would do anything for the health and well-being of a child. When Tom finally takes control of the ministry, they're going to open a few centres for abused, magic children and Tom is going to let Molly run that program herself," Severus said as he watched the boys set up their cauldrons. "And with her ties to Hogwarts, it really shouldn't be a problem."
"Where is Tom? Everyone says he's gone but you, mother and father have been saying 'when he comes back'. How can he 'come back' if he's dead?" Harry asked, clearly having caught on.
"Tom isn't dead, he can't be killed that easily; he has the elixir life and he'll have even longer once he get's it back from Dumbledore," Severus told the boys.
"Did Dumbdore steal the elixir from him?" Draco asked, purposely saying Dumbledore wrong.
"No, he stole the stone that creates the elixir from him and Nicholas Flamel," Severus explained as he watched as the boys prepped their ingredients.
"That's the... philosopher's stone, right?" Harry asked, clearly remembering it from one of the books he'd read recently.
"Yes, Dumbledore has it hidden in the castle but Tom is going to get it back and then he will come out of hiding," Severus told them, watching as they nodded and listened to his words while preparing their ingredients with more precision and experience than some of his third-year students. Of course, this was one of the reasons he was so glad to tutor them over the summer; when their peers saw them doing the potions correctly, hopefully, they would imitate them and learn from them.
When the potions were done, Harry and Draco went to bed, whispering about the things they planned to do once they got to Hogwarts. Draco couldn't wait to show Harry Quidditch matches and Harry couldn't wait to meet more kids and learn as much as he could. Both boys agreed that they couldn't wait to take Severus' class and see the castle.
Severus sat on the could while the boys slept and went over his coursework; he was reviewing the seventh-year curriculum when Narcissa and Lucius stepped through the floo. After giving Lucius a long kiss, the three adults sat on the couch and Severus informed them of his evening with Draco and Harry.
"I was impressed, their potions were great; even Harry's. He didn't need any assistance but considering he cooked for those muggles... I guess I shouldn't be so surprised," Severus told them.
"We will be going back this morning; getting Sirius out of Azkaban was tough enough but now we're in the process of informing him of all the lies he's been told and the truth. He's reluctant but coming around," Lucius said as he snuggled deeper into Severus' arms.
"Oh, I wish I could be there when Dumbledore discovers that Sirius Black has been set free; especially after everything he went through to get him sent there without a trial," Severus said with a laugh.
"I think we should go to bed now, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow," Narcissa said as she went to bed; Lucius and Severus went much further behind.
***LINEBREAK***
"Severus! Harry's talking to a snake!" Draco announced to Severus who glanced up to see his newest godson sitting with his legs crossed, his lips clearly moving.
Severus had decided it was a good idea to bring the boys outside because it hardly seemed acceptable to keep them cooped in the house, regardless of how much they didn't seem to mind. It was a known fact that children required time outdoors to run around and play.
"That's nice, Draco," Severus said chuckling at this; if this wasn't a sign that Harry was a Slytherin, then he didn't know what found the idea of Harry pretending to speak to a snake quite adorable. "Why don't you go talk to the snake, too."
"But I don't know what they're saying," Draco said, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "All I can hear is hissing."
That caught Severus' attention; deciding to investigate, he walked towards Harry and sure enough, there was a rhythmic, but clear hissing coming from the boy's mouth and the snake seemed to be hissing back in direct response. Occasionally Harry would nod or giggle slightly making it clearer that this was indeed a two-way conversation.
After a few seconds, the shock of Harry being a parseltongue wore off and he sat down beside Harry who glanced up and hissed something to the snake and pointing to Severus; it seemed as though Harry was telling the snake who he was.
"Have you always been able to speak to snakes?" Severus asked, watching Harry carefully. He knew Harry didn't lke being set apart from the norm but he had to find out if this was a recent thing or not.
"Yeah... I think. Can't you?" Harry said, catching on from Severus' tone that this might not be as common as he'd originally thought.
"Um, no. It's extremely rare. I can only think of two people in our history who could... that we know of; Salazar Slytherin and Tom Riddle. And thanks to Dumbledore's influence, anything associated with those men has been considered dark and therefore evil."
"But Dark magic isn't evil, just like light magic isn't good. You taught me that. You said magic isn't good or bad alone; it's what you use it for," Draco said, watching Severus' proud face glow with pride.
"That's right. And Dumbledore wants too much control. He wants people to believe every word he says and follow him. Harry, you have a very special gift; don't let anyone tell you any different," Severus said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"You don't think I'm a freak?" Harry asked quietly, remembering what his relatives thought about anything different from usual and this was very different.
"Harry, you're not a freak and nothing you can do will EVER make you a freak. Afterall, you're a Malfoy now and Malfoys are NOT freaks," Draco said, with a smug smile on his face, which grew when Harry smiled back.
That evening when Harry was getting ready for bed he began to think about how lucky he was that his family loved and cared for him. Severus had informed Narcissa and Lucius of Harry's gift and they proceeded to celebrate and tell him how proud they were that he had gained such a special and precious gift. They both hugged and kissed him and told him how special he was and how far he was going to go in life. The look of love and pride in the adult's eyes was something he wasn't used to having directed at him and he found that he was unable to wipe the smile off his face. This was the first time he could remember feeling so special.
"I told you they'd be proud, little snake," Severus said, smiling at Harry.
"He might be in Gryffindor, Sev," Lucius said, remembering Harry's birth parents and how they were both Gryffindors but he doubted Harry would be; by now he knew Harry well enough to know that his new godson was a Slytherin.
"Somehow, I doubt that, Luc," Severus said, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He knew Lucius did too, but he wanted it to be known that they would love Harry, even if he DID wind up in Gryffindor; of course, after hearing Severus' stories and seeing a few traits himself, even he knew it wasn't likely but he hadn't had Harry for long, so it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility. This is why he told Harry that they would still care for him, regardless of the house he was sorted into.
Harry smiled at his reflection in the mirror, he loved his new blond hair, grey eyes; not because of he looked better because these were the features of his family.
Growing up, he heard all the time how smart Dudley was, how gifted Dudley was but to be told he was doing something unique and special was something completely new to him and seeing how happy his family was made him happy. It was a feeling that he carried with him; even after he had fallen asleep and for the first time since arriving at the Malfoys, the Dursleys didn't make a single appearance in any of his dreams.