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

ThePhoenixandtheDragon: Oh yes he will get the surprise of a lifetime when he finds out :) Maybe they will find something in the vaults at Gringotts ;)

KatPot: Hello! I'll try. I hope that they will be able to see each other soon again or maybe Sirius has something for them ;)

Guest: I'm a sucker for cute and fluffy ;) But I also love action so there will be some of that as well - hopefully soon ;)

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 20: Nightmares and Bonds

Words: 3515

The Dark Lord's night was cut short when a toe curling scream woke him and his husband in the early hours of the morning. They both were awake and had their wands out and pointed at the door in an instant before Severus even realized what was going on.

'Harry!' He exclaimed and ran out of their bedroom, Marvolo right behind him. They burst through the door opposite their own to find the teen in the throes of a nightmare. Harry was soaking wet, tossing and turning on his bed while mumbling and screaming.

Severus quickly moved towards the bed and laid a hand on Harry's shoulder only to find himself thrown to the floor. Apparently his son sometimes reacted violently during nightmares. Before he could get up again he was amazed to see his husband moving towards the bed, talking softly.

'Harry. Listen to me. You are safe, you are home. With your Dad. I just need you to wake up for me.' Marvolo had been moving forward to the teen steadily and was now crouching down next to his head. 'That's it, Harry. Come on, wake up. Your Dad is waiting for you right here. There you go, Harry.'

Finally the teen seemed to slowly wake up and Severus was just sitting down on the edge of his bed when Harry opened his eyes. At first it seemed like he wasn't seeing them but after a few blinks his gaze cleared and he noticed the older wizards next to his bed. Without a second thought Harry threw himself into his father's arms sobbing into his shoulder. Had it not been for Marvolo stabilizing him. Severus would have been pushed off the bed by the force of Harry's impact.

'Shhhh…. Harry, it's okay. We are here. Always.' Severus murmured, trying to soothe his son.

Meanwhile Marvolo was fighting with his emotions again and in an effort to distract himself he called for Tibby to change the sheets and bring a calming draught since Harry seemed especially upset and near hyperventilation. Severus was still having trouble consoling his son when he suddenly started whispering in between sobs.

'You were gone, Dad. I… I was all alone. And… And Uncle Vernon… He… He hurt me… And… '

'Shhh… It was just a dream, Snitch. We are both here and you will never have to go back to those vile muggles.' Severus soothed the boy while stroking his back.

When Tibby returned with the potions and switched the sheets with a snap of her fingers Marvolo moved to sit next to Severus, holding out the vial to him. Severus took it from him and after a quick sniff to confirm what it was he coaxed his son into drinking the violet potion. The moment he had swallowed Harry visibly relaxed and calmed down considerably.

'Better?' Marvolo asked and was rewarded with a small nod from the teen.

'Harry, I need you to move a little bit so I can check you over. Just for a moment, alright?' Severus explained to his son only to have the arms around his neck tighten. 'It's alright, son. I'll be right in front of you. I just need my wand.'

It took Marvolo and Severus a lot longer than they would have liked to move Harry. Every time they had tried to get him out of the Potions Master's lap Harry got a look of sheer panic in his eyes that broke the older wizards hearts. Unbelievable enough he was agreeable to stay in Marvolo's lap during Severus' scans.

The Dark Lord was surprised at the teen's willingness to trust him after all he had done and thus he was having a hard time sorting his already messed up emotions. How could he feel so much for a teen he had only known for a few days? If he didn't know better he would say he was feeling the love of a father towards his son.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the worried look on Severus's' face who had finished his scans.

'What is the verdict, love?'

Seeing that Harry had actually fallen asleep in his husbands arms concerned Severus even more since it was very unusual for Harry to fall asleep after a nightmare so quickly again and he kept his voice extra quiet.

'He has a 39.5 degree fever (103F) and his chest is filled with mucus that needs to get out.'

'And what do we do now?'

'He needs rest and a few potions. I didn't bring my full potions kit but I'm pretty sure I have a fever reducer in my emergency kit.' Severus explained while cursing himself mentally for not bringing his full bag. He should have thought of it since Harry was a magnet for all kinds of trouble and he had not been back to full health after the tournament.

'Don't Sev. Don't beat yourself up. Just get what you have and we'll go from there.' Marvolo said after watching the emotions run over his husband's face.

Severus scrutinized his beloved for a few seconds before nodding and getting up. He hesitated at the door of the bedroom.

'Would you mind if we brought Harry into our bed for the rest of the night? I don't want to leave him alone after that nightmare.'

'Just this once.' Marvolo gave in. 'And only because you need this as much as he does.'

With that said the Dark Lord got up, teen still in his arms, and followed his husband into the master bedroom.

While he settled Harry in the middle of their bed and climbed in behind him Severus rummaged through the pockets of his cloak. He returned to the bed with two vials of potions: one with fever reducer and one with Pepper Up that helped against all kinds of illnesses.

He climbed onto the bed on the opposite side than his husband and woke his son up enough to get him to drink down the potions before letting him fall asleep again.

Marvolo bent over the teen to give his husband a kiss before they both settled down to catch a few more hours of sleep. Severus made sure that his son was tucked in tightly between them before using his wand to nox the lights.

It was only two hours later that Severus was woken by his alarm again and he hurried to turn it off before Harry or Marvolo woke up. Harry had been cuddled in tightly between the two adults and now that Severus had moved the teen snuggled even closer to Marvolo's body heat.

To his greatest astonishment Marvolo simply put his arm around the boy's waist while keeping on sleeping. Oh how he hoped that the two men in his life could get to some kind of understanding. Pulling away from the sight on the bed Severus went for a shower and quickly got dressed.

He wrote a small note and left it on his husband's bedside table before he kissed both men's cheeks and walked out of the bedroom. He flooded back to Hogwarts where he proceeded to compile a package of potions for Harry. Severus had just found a nice sized box when the corner of a letter caught his eye. Pulling it out from under some books and parchments he was surprised to find Harry's name written in his husbands handwriting on it. After a bit of pondering he came to the conclusion that it must be Marvolo's letter of apology. Shrugging his shoulders he put the letter on top of all the potions in the box before closing it.

With the package in one hand and a few owl treats in the other Severus made his way over to his office where Hedwig was currently residing. The office had a magical owl door so the birds could come inside although his rooms were in the dungeons. Hedwig had stayed here yesterday because owls and portkeys didn't go well together. Opening the door with his elbow Severus was greeted by a series of hoots from the white owl.

'Good morning, Hedwig. How are you, beautiful?' he greeted her and offered her the treats which she happily accepted.

'How do you feel about a nice flight today?'

Hedwig looked up from her food and gave him an imploring look. She would only fly for her Harry. Severus had to chuckle at the expressive features she possessed.

'It is for Harry.' Now he had the owls attention and she flew forward to perch on his arm. 'He is ill and- ... OW! Hedwig! Stop biting me! I'm trying to make him better! ... Thank you! Now, as I was saying. Harry is ill and in here is everything he needs. I need you to bring it to him and Marvolo as fast as you can.' Severus explained while putting pressure on the bite that was bleeding quite strongly. Damn that bird was protective. And now she was giving him another imploring look.

'He'll be fine. Marvolo is looking after him. They are at Slytherin castle. Can you find that?' At the birds nod he held up the shrunken package for Hedwig to take. The owl grabbed it in her talons and took off through the owl door.

Severus looked at his watch and saw that it was just past eight o'clock. So he had nearly an hour left to do inventory on the student's supply closet. Ordering coffee from the elves he got to work.

Thankfully the student's closet was a lot smaller than his personal one but he kept a better stock list there than any student ever could.

Shortly before nine Severus was finished and made his way up to the teacher's lounge for the budget meeting. When he entered everyone but Albus and Professor Binns were already there, sipping on coffee or tea and making small talk. Since the ghost never came to meetings they were only waiting for the headmaster. Severus got himself another coffee and started munching on one of the sandwiches the elves had readied since he hadn't had breakfast.

Mere minutes later the door opened and the old fool walked inside with a grandfatherly smile plastered on his face.

'Good morning, everyone!' he greeted them while taking his seat. 'Shall we begin?'

After all teachers had taken a seat and readied their notes they started and Severus tried not to get annoyed right away. Potions was one of the last subjects to be discussed. It was going to be a long day.

Meanwhile Marvolo had just woken up and was gazing down at a black mop of hair with amazement. Harry was wound around him like a vine with his head on the older wizards chest, still fast asleep. There wasn't even the tiniest sign of mistrust or fear. Since he couldn't move from his position without waking the teen Marvolo decided that now was the right time to analyze all these alien feelings he had felt yesterday.

There had been joy and gratitude when Harry agreed to be his heir. That was not so out of the ordinary. But afterwards his feelings had changed drastically. While before he had seen Harry as the symbol of his partner's rape (not that he would ever address it as such in front of him) now he saw Harry as his and Severus son. THEIR son and heir. He was concerned for his wellbeing and wanted to get to know the teen better.

Marvolo really wanted them to have a good relationship and be a real family. Very curious. All of these feelings felt so foreign to him. He guessed he would have to get used to them now that Harry was his heir. They would have to interact otherwise the heir bond would not work.

Suddenly Marvolo's eyes widened in realization. The heir bond! That was it! He would have to look it up in the library but he was sure they had started forming the bond and that it was the reason for his unusual feelings. Come to think of it Harry had also acted very out of character towards him. Hell the boy was still curled around him tightly.

Marvolo was pulled out of his thoughts when said teen shifted on top of him and the beak of an owl knocked against the window. Looking over he saw Harry's snowy owl with a package in her talons.

With a bit of maneuvering the Dark Lord managed to grab his wand and the piece of parchment lying on his nightstand. He used his wand to open the window while reading the note his husband had left him:

Love,

I'll be home as soon as possible. I will send you potions for Harry with Hedwig.

Don't put the additional wards up before she arrives! Look after Harry for me.

I love you, Sev.

Looking up he saw that Hedwig had dropped the shrunken package on his lap and was now lovingly poking Harry with her talons while preening his hair. Marvolo couldn't keep himself from chuckling when the teen tried to slap her away while staying in the world of dreams.

'Go way, Hedwig. Lemme sleep.' He mumbled but the owl ignored him and nipped his ear playfully. 'OW! Hedwig!'

The Dark Lord was now fully laughing and woke the teen up completely since his "pillow" had started rumbling and shaking beneath him.

'Good morning, Harry.' Marvolo got out between laughter.

Harry was suddenly pulling back from the chest he was lying on since that voice so didn't belong to his Dad. He was met with the Dark Lords red eyes instead of his father's obsidian ones. Interestingly enough it didn't freak him out as much as he would have thought and he was actually okay with being in the same bed as the older wizards. Making his decision, supported by the pounding headache he had, Harry snuggled back into the Dark Lord's side before acknowledging him.

'Morning. Why are you in my bed?' Harry asked before he started coughing. Marvolo patted his back lightly until the fit subsided before answering, worry clear on his face.

'You are in Severus and my bed.'

'Oh.' The teen had a small look around without moving anything but his head and noticed that he was in fact not in his own room. 'Why?'

'You had a pretty bad nightmare and you are ill. We didn't want to leave you alone in case you had another one or your hypothermia got worse.'

'Oh.' Slowly the memories of last night came back and with them came the awareness of his body's illness. He felt really weak, his head was pounding when the light from the window met his eyes and his nose felt stuffed up. 'Ow.'

'Let me take your temperature and then we can see what your Dad sent us.' Marvolo offered and was surprised when the teen only nodded and closed his eyes. The older wizard quickly ran a diagnostic that told him that although his fever had gone down a bit to 38.5 he had a severe headache and a cough.

'Where is Dad?' Harry asked since he couldn't remember no matter how much he tried. His head just hurt too much.

'He had to go back to Hogwarts for the day. He'll be back as soon as possible.'

Marvolo quickly unshrunk the package and opened it to find another note with instructions for each potions and a letter. Thankfully he could give Harry all of them without having to worry about side effects. He quickly pulled out what he needed and gave them to Harry.

'One fever reducer, one dose of cough syrup and a pain reliever for the headache. Bottoms up, Harry.' He commanded and the teen was feeling miserable enough to comply without protesting. He simply made a disgusted face after swallowing each one. 'Are you up for some breakfast?'

'Please. But I don't want to leave the bed. It's so warm and comfy.' Harry said and snuggled back deeper into the covers, happy that his headache was lessening already.

'Alright.' Marvolo said with a smirk. 'Tibby!'

'What can Tibby bes doing for master?' the elf asked after popping into the bedroom.

'We would like to get breakfast in bed please.'

'Yes, sir. Tibby will be back right away.'

After the elf left Marvolo had another look in the box Severus had sent and he was surprised to see that the letter was not from Severus but his own. It was the one he had written to Harry. His husband must have found it since he had completely forgotten to tell Severus about its disappearance yesterday.

'What's that?' Harry asked from his position on Marvolo's chest.

'It's the letter I wrote to you. The one where I apologize for everything. Severus must have found it in his quarters. Do you want to read it?'

'Oh. Later, maybe. I'm feeling alright in your company now.'

'Yeah. About that.' Marvolo started. 'I feel a lot more comfortable around you as well and I believe it comes from our bond.'

'What bond?'

'When you agreed to be my heir our magic must have started forming a heir bond without the ritual.' Marvolo explained. 'I have to look it up in the library but this bond is the only explanation I could come up with for our changed feelings.'

'Oh. I guess it's a good thing then.'

They lapsed into silence until Tibby came back with their food on a tray that she placed on Marvolo's lap.

Harry sat up a bit so he could eat as well but he was hindered a bit by the owl sleeping on his legs. Hedwig must have been flying really fast to sleep so tight that she didn't even smell the bacon right next to her.

The two wizards enjoyed their food and drinks and it wasn't long before the teens eyes started drooping again from the potions working through his system. Marvolo gently took the cup out of Harry's hand and floated the tray to the floor before getting comfortable on the bed with the boy. His heir was still using him as a pillow so he didn't have a choice but to stay in bed as well.

'Tibby!' he called out to summon the house elf again.

'What can Tibby bes doing for master?' She asked and snipped her fingers to vanish their breakfast tray.

'Is the library here stocked yet?'

'No, master.'

'Alright. Please move the library from Riddle manor here and bring me all the books on bonds I have.'

'Tibby and the other elves will bes doing it right away, master!' the elf exclaimed, happy to have work to do.

She vanished from view and just a few seconds later reappeared with a stack of books.

'This is all books on bonds, master. We be moving the books now.'

'Thank you, Tibby.' Marvolo said and the little creature popped away again. He would have to get to know all the other elves working in the castle as well.

Marvolo hated how some families treated their elves and had found out early on that they were a lot more loyal if you treated them with respect. Since he had grown up in the muggle world he was not used to the concept of house elves and had never seen them as lesser beings. They had their own very powerful magic and were incredible loyal if they were happy.

This was only confirmed when he heard what had happened to his diary and the Malfoy elf, Dobby. That elf adored Harry and would rather help him than follow his master's orders. He would have to ask Harry or Severus what had come of that elf. He would make a good addition to their family as Harry's personal elf.

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind for later he picked up the first book. It was one on marriage bonds so he passed it to the side right away.

After an hour of reading and searching he had found just about every kind of bond except the heir bond. Marvolo was beyond frustrated and he was also in dire need of the bathroom. Since Harry was still draped all over him and he was not willing to move the teen (stupid stupid feelings!) he had no choice but to use a spell to take care of his needs. Sometimes he was still amazed by the wizarding world even after all these years. They actually had a spell to take care of one's needs. Usually it was used by healers for long term patients in hospitals but it was useful in all kinds of situations.

After taking care of his business Marvolo's eyes fell on the marriage bonds book he had discarded early on in his search.

Maybe this heir bon was connected with a marriage bond. It was a possibility since he and Severus had used a special marriage bond all those years ago. With newfound motivation he delved into the book.

TBC

First posted on: 16. July 2017

Next update planned: 23. July 2017