A/N: I'm happy for every feedback and constructive criticism but I will not respect straight out hate or trolls in the comments.

WOW! Over 100 reviews! Thank you everyone who reviewed! I love your opinions on the story and miu-sama and I were blown by all of your responses. Special shoutout to randomplotbunny for reviewing on every chapter!

We talked it through and decided on the house but a few of your reviews gave us a little idea for a nice twist! We will credit the reviewer when the chapter goes up ;)

Thank you for all the reviews, follows and faves!

barbaravitoriatp: Obrigado por ler e rever! É admirável que você esteja lendo minha história, embora você não entenda o inglês!

thephoenixandthedragon4ever: Yeah that was fun writing :D I know that one and I really like it as well :)

JasminSky: Maybe not the size of Hogwarts but yeah a castle would be pretty big...

ThePhoenixandtheDragon & mizzrazz72: Yes I was very sad to kill Cedric so I made him and Amos friends :)

OrphanAnnie1166: Severus would never willingly live in anything remotely Gryffindor ;) Harry's room in his quartes is the most red anything will get :)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling - I just played a bit in her universe.

Thanks to miu-sama95 for prereading, betaing and helping with the storyline ;)

Chapter 16: Reactions

Words: 3692

BOY WHO LIVES TELLS THE TRUTH

Dear Readers,

all year long I have been reporting for you directly from our renowned wizarding school Hogwarts where the Triwizard Tournament has been taking place. I got you the scoop on our champions, the tasks they had to overcome and everything that happened in between. Since the tragic end of the final task last Saturday (we reported on Cedric Diggory's death) we all have been waiting with baited breath on Harry Potter's statement since he was the only person in attendance at Mr. Diggorys demise.

I am here to tell you how it all happened.

After bringing back Mr Diggory per portkey last Saturday, Harry Potter passed out and was whisked away by Hogwarts Medi Witch Poppy Pomfrey for treatment. Nobody has seen him since - not even the headmaster - until yesterday morning's press conference.

Mister Potter was the last one to enter the hall and right away swore a magical oath that it had not been him who had killed the Hufflepuff. To prove his oath he procured a beautiful stag patronus. I want to remind you, dear readers, that the Patronus Charm is only taught in Hogwarts sixth year. Inside sources confirmed that Harry was forced to learn the charm last year because the Ministry ordered dementors had him reliving his parents deaths every time he was near them.

The Boy Who Lived then proceeded to tell us his side of the story. It seems someone had tampered with the portkey in the Cup so that when both Hogwarts champions decided to take the victory together they were portkeyed to a graveyard where they were attacked.

How someone was in the position to tamper with the portkey is still unclear since the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was not willing to give me a statement. But one has to wonder…

With an angry cry Albus scrunched up his morning edition of the Daily Prophet. This was not fitting his plans in any way. Stupid Rita Skeeter! Couldn't she keep on writing slander and unnecessary bullshit on Harry? And damn him Harry for swearing an oath. Where had he even found out about them?! Albus had done his best to keep as much information as possible from the teen. He needed Harry to willingly sacrifice himself when Voldemort was back.

And if the Death Eaters kept screwing up he would have to do something himself. After that thought the headmaster started pacing up and down in his office thinking up ways to get Harry back under his control, all the while muttering to himself. Up on the wall the old headmasters and headmistresses shared meaningful looks while observing the current one carefully. One or two of them slipped out of their frames to inform certain people near their other frames about the schemes of the headmaster.

Far away in a muggle mansion sat a dark haired wizard at his dining room table enjoying breakfast after spending a thoroughly satisfying night with his husband. Sadly Marvolo had to leave early this morning because he had a breakfast meeting with Lucius Malfoy about his lordship requirements. Hopefully it would be fairly easy to claim it.

The Dark Lord was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of tapping on his window. As he looked up he saw an owl, better yet the Daily Prophet delivery owl. While he didn't believe one word written in there it was always good to know what nonsense they were spewing today. After paying the bird he sat down again and opened the papers only to come face to face with his husbands son - he was still unsure what to call Harry.

The picture showed him dancing at yesterday's banquet. It seems he had decided to attend with his boyfriend. Intrigued Marvolo flipped the page to read the according article.

After the press conference I was pleased to be one of the only reporters allowed to stay on Hogwarts grounds and attend the Victor's banquet that was held yesterday night. Oh and what a party it has been. While both Miss Delacour and Mister Krum decided to attend with the same partner as they had the Yule ball, Mister Potter decided to surprise us again. Since he was the winner of the competition he was the last to enter the Great Hall and we were all shocked into silence. Harry Potter was attending the banquet with another boy. As they showed us mere minutes later it was not any man he attended with but HIS man.

I found out all the details for you! The male on Potter's arm was non other than his longterm friend Ronald Weasley. It seems they had been in a relationship since Christmas but only decided to openly announce it now. I am very sorry to have to say this dear ladies but it seems that our favourite celebrity is off the market for good. Later that night the two boys…

Marvolo had to stop reading, he was laughing so hard. Severus wouldn't tell him what had happened and now he had to admit the boy had style. TWICE! Twice in one day he had a hundred people shocked into silence. A bit too gryffindorish for his taste but still - he needed that boy on his side.

When Lucius arrived at Riddle manor he found his Lord halfway out of his seat with tears of laughter streaming down his face. The sight shocked and scared him equally.

'Good morning, my Lord.' He said carefully while bowing at the waist.

'Good morning indeed.' Marvolo said in between chuckles, trying to get himself under control again. 'Don't just stand there, Lucius. Come and sit down. Have some breakfast.'

'Thank you, my Lord.'

'Call me Marvolo again, Lucius. You are family and I am sorry that I pushed everyone away during my insanity. I also find it sounds rather stupid now that I am sane again but I guess it still demands respect from the lower ranks of my Death Eaters. Have you seen the papers yet?'

'Yes, I have. Very amusing our famous Harry Potter.' Lucius commented. He poured himself a cup of tea before producing a small stack of parchments from his pockets and enlarging them to their original size.

'So what have you found, Lucius?' the older wizard asked, his attention now completely on the blonde.

'It was surprisingly easy since Salazar Slytherin was very straightforward with his demands. First you have to take an inheritance test at Gringotts to validate your claim to the lordship.'

'That shouldn't be difficult since the bank is neutral grounds and I have my old looks back there are not many people who would recognize me anymore. Continue.'

'Secondly you have to prove that you are a Parselmouth which we all know you are. That also won't be a problem. It's the third requirement that is the most difficult to fulfil.' Lucius explained with trepidation.

'What is it?' Marvolo could see that Lucius was rather unwilling to divulge the third requirement. It seemed as if the blonde feared how he would react to it. 'Tell me, Lucius!'

'Right. You need an heir. Not just any heir but one that speaks Parsel as well.'

'That makes things more complicated. Where do I find someone who speaks Parsel? I sure as hell don't want a baby right now and Severus has enough on his hands with Dumbledore and Harry.'

'My L-.. Marvolo, I may have a solution. Wait, Harry? As in Potter? What does he have to do with anything?' Lucius asked confused.

'That is not relevant at the moment. What solution?'

'Well it was revealed in Draco's second year that there is actually a Parselmouth at Hogwarts. He also happens to be an orphan.'

'So what's the problem?' Marvolo asked. His mood just made a turn for the better again. It would be easy to adopt some child and pass them off as his heir.

'The Parselmouth is none other than Harry Potter, my Lord.' Lucius admitted while waiting for the outburst that was sure to come. When nothing happened he opened his eyes to see the Dark Lord smirking like a cheshire cat. This was not a good smile at all and Lucius had to suppress the shudder that wanted to run down his spine.

'My… Marvolo?'

'This is good news indeed. You are dismissed, Lucius.'

'My Lord?'

'Leave the documents and get out of here, Malfoy! Or do you want me to throw a crucio your way?'

'No thank you. Goodbye, Marvolo.'

Marvolo only gave a dismissive wave with his hand. He was already deeply engrossed in the papers about his Lordship, thinking of ways to convince Harry to become his heir.

Actually he could enforce the matter since Severus was his biological father and they had been married long before the teen was conceived. Since Severus is Consort Slytherin it would automatically make Harry the heir of Slytherin. Still, Marvolo had gotten to know the Gryffindor a bit over the last few days and knew him well enough to know that his life would be a living hell if he would force the matter. The teen would be a lot more accommodating if he was asked and offered something. Anything would be worth the teens agreement. He would have to think of something.

'Oh! Look at them, Artie! Aren't they handsome? Oh, my boys look dashing in their dress robes! Look at the picture, Arthur!'

Said man looked up from his breakfast to face his wife, who looked mildly angry at him.

'Molly, we were there yesterday. We saw them for real. I admit that Harry and Ron did look very good together but I don't need to see the papers for that.'

'Hmmm… Yes! I will have to get this framed for them. I believe it is the first picture of them as a couple.' Molly decided, not having listened to a word her husband said.

'I'm just glad that they had told us beforehand and that they are happy together. That's all that matters.'

'Right you are, Artie. Now you better be off to work, love.'

Arthur got up and after giving his wife a kiss he vanished through the floo. Molly meanwhile used her wand to cut the picture out of the papers and went in search for a frame. She would give this to Harry when they arrived back at King's Cross.

At 12 Grimmauld Place and old elf walked into his master's room to bring him the morning papers and a strong cup of coffee. Sirius woke slowly when he smelled the dark roast and after eagerly taking the Prophet he sent Kreacher away again. Taking a big gulp of the hot beverage he unfolded the papers and nearly spit coffee all over it.

There on the front page was his Godson dancing in the arms of his boyfriend, Ron Weasley. After days of not knowing what was going on this was what happened? What had happened to keeping it a secret? Before he could ponder on the subject any further there was a tapping on his window and he saw a familiar snowy owl outside. After clambering out of his bed he quickly let the owl inside and relieved her of her letter.

'Hello, Hedwig! I'm sure Buckbeak will share some of his treats with you if you fly up to the attic.' He told the bird and after she had nipped his finger gently she took of through the door.

The Daily Prophet all but forgotten, Sirius opened Harry's letter. He had been worried sick waiting for news for a few days already.

Hello Padfoot,

I'm still alive and I am fine! Don't worry! I am sorry for only writing now but I was not able to any earlier. I'll just start at the beginning shall I?

Right… You probably saw the papers already but if you haven't: Me and Cedric won the Tournament but something horrible happened at the end and now Ced is dead.

Again, I am fine. Madame Pomfrey took good care of me and there are some people helping me to cope with the incident.

You can read the official version in the Prophet. I gave my statement this morning.

There is an inofficial version but I can't tell you in a letter. After all this time something very good happened to me. It is quite similar to finding you, but much much bigger.

Long story short - the good thing that happened is grounds for me not having to go back to the Dursleys! YAY! I'll see about meeting you as soon as possible, alright?

I have to attend a ball tonight with dancing and all that again, so I will ask Ron if he want's to come out. I think it is time - we have been together six months now. You'll see if it happened in the papers I'm sure.

I'll see you as soon as possible!

Love,

Harry

'Interesting!' Sirius muttered intrigued. What could have happened at the end of the tournament? Shrugging his shoulders since he would find out when he saw Harry again, he picked up the Daily Prophet again to read the whole article before writing an answer to his Godson. His Harry was safe and healthy that was all that mattered to him.

High up in Gryffindor tower all boys living in the fourth year dorms were still in their room to have a much needed talk with the two guys still sleeping. Neville, Seamus and Dean were not extra careful about keeping quiet since it was already past nine and thus woke Harry, who was a light sleeper.

Ron could sleep through anything (except Harry's nightmares) so it was no wonder that he was still snoring softly. Harry grabbed for his glasses blindly and was shocked to come face to face with his dorm mates.

'Guys? What are you all still doing here?' Harry asked confused after casting a quick tempus.

'We were waiting for you two lovebirds to wake up.' Seamus explained and chuckled at the blush that crept up Harry's cheeks.

'Why?'

'Let's call it a dorm meeting.' Neville said quickly before either of the other two boys could say anything. 'Maybe you could wake Ron? You are the only one who can manage that.'

Still a bit weary, Harry finally conceded. 'Alright.'

It took him a good five minutes to get Ron into a wakeful state and the redhead was as confused as the raven haired had been when he first woke up.

'What's up?' Ron asked before yawning again.

'Dorm meeting. Whatever that means.' Harry explained to his boyfriend before turning his attention back to the other boys.

'Erm… Well… First of all we wanted to congratulate you both to your relationship and to your victory Harry.' Dean started off after sharing looks with Nev and Seamus. 'You both have our full support.'

'Thanks, guys. That means a lot to us.' Ron said while slinging an arm over Harry's shoulder. 'We weren't sure how you would react so Harry was a bit worried.'

'No need to worry, mate!' Seamus piped in. 'We've been sharing a room for four years now and although I don't know when you two got together, you have always been close. Ron's the only one who can calm you after a nightmare Harry and you are the only one who can get Ron out of bed in the morning.'

'Thanks, Seamus.' Harry said and leaned back against Ron for moral support.

'I've known for some time now.' Neville finally commented quietly.

'WHAT?!' all the other boys except Harry shouted while the raven haired just smiled knowingly.

'You got together around the Yule ball that's why it was such a disaster with the girls.' Neville began.

'How did you know?' Ron asked baffled. They had been very careful.

'I'm quiet and shy and like to fade into the background so people won't notice me. Harry's the same but he gets pushed into the spotlight for being the Boy Who Lived and all that. Usually Harry is one of the only people to notice me but sometimes even you forget. Especially when Ron is distracting you.' Neville fad such a knowing look in his eyes that Harry blushed all the way up to his roots while Ron just spluttered, trying to find something to say.

'Why didn't you tell us?!' Dean asked with mock indignation.

'It was not my place to tell.'

'Anyway!' Seamus interrupted before a discussion could break out. 'We are totally fine with it as long as you two don't forgot to draw the curtains and use silencing spells.'

Now Ron also blushed all the way to his roots and Harry's deepened to a deeper red while the other three boys burst out laughing.

'Alright. Enough about us!' Harry said with finality. 'How about some breakfast since we all missed it now?'

'That would be awesome but how? The Great Hall is closed because of the last exams.' Dean asked.

Harry and Ron shared a smirk before letting their mates in on the secret.

'we know where the kitchens are and the elves love Harry so they will surely pack us a nice picnic we can enjoy at the black lake.'

'Then what are we waiting for?' Seamus said and jumped up to pull Harry off the bed while Dean did the same to Ron. They gave them a playful shove towards the showers. 'Get dressed and no playing around!'

A quarter hour later found all five boys downstairs in the common room where they found Hermione engrossed in a book, obviously waiting for them.

'Hey Mione!' Harry greeted her and after giving her a quick hug invited her to their impromptu picnic.

They got a self-refilling basket full of food from Dobby and after finding the perfect spot under a tree they settled down to enjoy one of their last days together. It didn't take long until they got more company. Luna found them shortly after they had sat down and without saying anything she plopped down on Neville's lap, picked up a sandwich and started eating. Said boy blushed brightly but he also didn't attempt to push the girl off his lap.

Viktor Krum also made an appearance a few hours later and of course the boys started talking about quidditch. It didn't take long until they all decided to compare their skills in a pickup game of quidditch but while they went to fetch their brooms the news of the game spread throughout the ground and many other students wanted to join in.

In the end Hermione went to get Madame Hooch who was only too happy to referee a few mixed games between the students. It was already nearing dinner time when the flying instructor set them the ultimate challenge: Harry and Viktor were to face off in one game of catch the snitch to decide who was the better seeker.

By now they had drawn quite the crowd and it came as a surprise to everyone when Harry managed to close his fingers around the golden ball just a hair's breath before Viktor.

When he and Viktor flew one last round around the pitch they were surprised to see most of the students as well as many of the professors had watched their games and were now slowly making their way out of the stands and back up to the school for the farewell dinner for the other schools. Harry was happy to see that even his Dad had come down to watch him fly.

Thankfully for one dinner was a quiet affair although Severus gave Harry a small hand signal to come down to the dungeons later tonight and Harry nodded once to show him he understood.

The golden trio was back in their usual place in the Gryffindor common room when Harry told his best friends that he would go down to his father and that they should cover for him if he wasn't back for the night. He fetched his invisibility cloak and the Marauders map before sneaking out of the portrait hole and making his way to the dungeons. Luckily there was no one about anymore and he entered his father's quarters in record time.

Severus was sitting by the fire, nursing a glass of firewhiskey while a cup of tea was sitting in front of the couch, waiting for Harry.

The teen picked up the cup but settled down on the second armchair instead.

'Hello, Dad.'

Good evening, Harry.' Severus said amicable before raising his eyebrow in a silent question at his son.

'You don't really believe that I would sit there after what you have done there this afternoon?'

'No I guess not although it was cleaned thoroughly.' he said with a smile.

'Oh well. So what did you want to talk about?'

'I actually only wanted to check in with you, son. Also, congratulations on beating Mister Krum. Your flying skills are formidable.'

Harry beamed with pride after being praised before telling his Dad all about his day and how accepting his friends had been. Before long the teen started yawning and his eyes began to droop and mere minutes later his son's eyes fell shut and he fell asleep mid sentence. Severus was just fast enough to save the mug from falling to the floor and spilling tea everywhere. His poor boy had obviously completely exhausted himself with flying this afternoon.

After setting down his own glass and Harry's cup he picked up his son gingerly and carried him into his bedroom.

He used a bit of wandless magic to pull back the covers before laying Harry down. Severus carefully removed his glasses and shoes before transfiguring his clothes into pajamas and tucking his son in.

'Good night, son. Sleep tight.' he murmured.

After watching his son for a few minutes the professor went back into his living room to get a bit more grading done. It was still fairly early and he didn't have many exams left to grade before he could finally enjoy his well earned summer holidays.

TBC

First posted on: 18. June 2017

Next update planned: 25. June 2017