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: Thankfully Dumbles is not yet stupid enough to try potions on the Potions Master ;)

Cadi-Pika1993: This chapter should answer your question :)

barbaravitoriatp: Sim, Albus gosta de usar as pessoas como se fossem peças de xadrez.

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 22: Magical Block

Words: 3342

Parseltongue

By the time he made it home Severus was exhausted. Avoiding Dumbledore was usually easy because the old fool never stepped a foot into the dungeons but avoiding him without making it look like it was a whole different matter. Especially when Severus couldn't claim teaching or grading papers as an excuse and needed to talk to Poppy.

He had wanted to talk to the mediwitch about Harry's trouble with potions and she confirmed his suspicions for a block even further. Harry's broken arm back in second year had taken a lot longer to heal than usual. It hadn't been as slow as muggle healing but still longer than normal.

Severus made his way upstairs to the master bedroom since the lower level of the castle was quiet and empty. Even if Marvolo was in his office, Severus wanted to see his son first. He had been worried even before the call from his husband during his lunch break.

When he opened the bedroom door he was stopped in his tracks by the sight that greeted him. His husband and his son were cuddled together on their huge bed, both of them snoring softly. There were stacks of books everywhere on Marvolo's side of the bed and Harry was holding a crumpled piece of parchment in a death grip. Severus had been having a really bad day but this sight alone brought him happiness and a smile on his face.

His two men were getting along and to be honest they looked really cute all snuggled up together. Since the light in the room was still on and an open book was lying on Marvolo's chest the Potions Master surmised that they must have fallen asleep without intending to do so. They had probably wanted to wait up for him.

Slowly and quietly as to not wake the sleeping wizards Severus moved to the bed and with a few flicks of his wand cleared the mess on the bed. Then he quickly checked Harry's temperature - 38.5 degrees, better at least - and removed his glasses. Harry wouldn't let go of the parchment so he left it.

After checking the time for the first time in hours it was clear to the Potions Master why the other two had fallen asleep. It was nearly midnight and they must have been really tired.

Severus quickly got ready for bed as well and after kissing his loved ones cheeks he slipped in between the cool sheets behind Harry so the boy was sandwiched between the two older wizards like last night.

Thankfully tomorrow's meeting wouldn't start until 10:30 and Severus was done with all his end of term work. That gave him enough time to check Harry for magical blocks tomorrow morning instead of waking his son now.

Minutes later the Potions Master joined his husband and son in the land of dreams.

The next morning dawned beautifully and Marvolo was the first of the three wizards to wake. He was surprised to find his husband on the other side of his son, sleeping peacefully. When had he come home? He must have fallen asleep since he couldn't remember.

Marvolo snuck out of bed - thankfully Harry was for once draped across Severus - and went for a shower and shave. Now that he had his old looks back he always had to remind himself to shave. While he was in the shower he thought that the door had opened but when he paused and couldn't hear anything he passed it up as daydreaming and continued to lather up his hair.

Moments later Marvolo nearly had a heart attack when he opened his eyes and came face to face with his familiar.

'Aaaaargh! Nagini!' He shouted surprised. 'Don't do that!'

'Do what, Marvolo? I just came looking for you since you haven't left the bedroom at all yesterday.'

'Sneaking into my shower, Nagini! If you do that to Severus he will throw you out of the window. Harry has fallen ill and we stayed in bed all day.'

'What? The hatchling is ill?' If snakes could sound concerned Nagini was a prime example right now. 'Why haven't you called me? We need to make him better right away, Marvolo!'

Before the Dark Lord could response or prevent it the snake slithered out of the bathtub and he could only guess where she had gone. Silently cursing he finished his shower in record time and made his way into the bedroom clad only in a towel - he had forgotten to bring clothes - to find Severus staring angrily at Nagini.

'What did she do this time?' Marvolo asked his husband with a sigh while walking to the dresser to get some fresh clothes.

'She woke me up with all her hissing although she knows exactly that I do not speak snake!'

At the same time Nagini made her annoyance at the Potions Master known as well.

'Marvolo! He won't let me share body heat with the hatchling!'

'I'm sorry, love. I'll talk to her.' The Dark Lord replied in English before addressing his familiar. 'Nagini you know Severus doesn't speak Parsel! Stop getting on his nerves. Also you have a colder body temperature than we do so you can't actually share heat.'

'Pah! Of course I can share! We snakes do it all the time!'

'But Harry is human. As am I and Severus, Nagini. We may be able to keep you warm during winter but you can't keep us warm.'

'I can!' Nagini huffed and proceeded to curl up on Harry's chest. The chest that had been congested yesterday and the very same chest his son had trouble breathing with just a few hours earlier.

'Nagini. Why don't you curl up on my side of the bed? You will still be close to him without putting additional weight on his chest.'

'But this is how warmth is shared! And he is sleeping so he won't notice.'

'Harry's chest is congested and he was coughing all day yesterday. Would you please move off of my son, Nagini?' Marvolo tried again but the snake just feigned ignorance. 'Nagini! Move! Before you wake him!'

'Too late. I'm up.' came the sleepy voice of the boy trapped under the snake. 'Uff… Nagini you are heavy. Please move over.'

'Hatchling is a speaker! Marvolo why didn't you tell me!?' The snake said accusingly while moving to curl up next to Harry.

'I only found out a short time ago. It must have slipped my mind to tell you.'

Severus had been watching the conversation with amusement because although he couldn't understand a word they were saying he could read their body languages like an open book.

'Good morning, son. How are you feeling?' He asked Harry, completely ignoring the others talking in the snake tongue.

'Morning, Dad. Better than yesterday but still weak and unwell.' Harry admitted.

'Hmm… Let me check you over.'

Harry laid back on his pillow while Severus picked up his wand and started performing medical spells on the teen.

'Your fever had gone down to 38.2 which is good and your chest also looks a bit better than yesterday.'

'Great! Can I get out of bed then? For a shower maybe?' The teen asked enthusiastically.

'Of course. Why don't you get one in your room and I have on here before we all head down to breakfast together?' The Potions Master suggested and at the mention of food the teen practically jumped out of bed and ran out the door to get to his own room.

Yes he was definitely better.

Severus also got out of bed, kissed his husband (who was now having a staring contest with the snake) and made his way into the bathroom. He had been looking forward to this shower since before he had left Hogwarts yesterday night.

In the meantime Marvolo had a stern talk with his snake about privacy before sending her off to hunt some mice or rats. He cleaned up all the books stacked all around the room, sending most of them back to the library with the exception of the book on marriage bonds.

While reading that one yesterday he had notice for the first time that his and Severus bond was not working correctly. It was there, he could feel it but something was wrong. Probably because he had been reborn last week (had it only been a week?) but he would have to talk to his husband about this. Marvolo believed that they would only have to renew the bod which was a lot easier than casting it completely anew.

The Dark Lord was pulled out of his thoughts by tentatively approaching footsteps. Looking up he found Harry standing in the doorway looking down at his feet.

'Come in, Harry. You are always welcome here.'

The teen nodded and shuffled over to the small seating area where he plopped down on the sofa.

'Can I ask you a question?'

Marvolo nodded and sat down in an armchair to be on eye level with his son.

'Did you mean it?'

'Did I mean what?' The Dark Lord asked genuinely confused.

'Before… With Nagini… You called me your son…'

The unsure look in Harry's eyes nearly broke his heart. How could a kid be so starved for affection? Marvolo swore to himself to do everything in his power to show Harry how cherished he was.

'Yes. I meant it. I know it may seem fast but I guess it's the bond's way of helping further our relationship.'

Before the teen could say or do anything else his father came out of the bathroom.

'Shall we go down?' Severus asked and motioned to the door. He could see that something had happened between the other two but since neither looked angry, just deep in thought, he decided not to pry for now.

When the three wizards made it to the correct room - with a little help from Tibby - they found a perfect english breakfast laid out for them. It looked mouth-watering and even Harry was eager to eat.

For a time the only sounds in the room came from the tinkle of cutlery and tea being poured.

After their first bout of hunger had been sated they all slowed down and light conversation began.

Severus and Marvolo both noticed that Harry was getting tired again and they knew he would need a nap very soon.

'Harry, if you want to I can check for magical blocks now. I will need to leave for Hogwarts again soon and you should take it easy since you are not yet fully back to health.' Severus had formulated his sentences carefully so his son wouldn't get scared of the test.

'Okay, Dad. Do you really have to go soon? Can't you stay here?'

'I need to be back around 10 o'clock before the last meeting begins at 10:30. Afterwards I promised the headmaster lunch but I should be home no later than three. Then we will have the whole holidays together, alright?'

'Okay.' The teen conceded.

Marvolo was amazed at the ease with which his husband handled their child. He had already been preparing for a full verbal fight about Severus leaving but it never came.

Instead he was now walking hand in hand with his lover back to the teens bedroom, trailing behind said teen. The magical block detection spells can be painful and exhausting and judging by the look Severus shot him he expected Harry to at least fall asleep afterwards if not black out.

By the time the two adults reached the top landing Severus was squeezing Marvolo's hand so hard it almost hurt.

'Love! Relax. It will be fine.' The Dark Lord tried to reassure his partner.

'But what if it isn't? Magical blocks are illegal for a reason. Especially on children.'

'Then we will deal with it. We are going to the goblins tomorrow anyway and they know how to deal with those.'

Severus only nodded, still not convinced and walked into his son's room. The teen was sitting on his bed waiting for them. When he heard the adults enter he looked up and they could see the fear clearly in his eyes.

'What's wrong, Harry?' Severus asked while crossing the room in a few quick strides to hug his son.

'What happens when I do have a block?'

'It will be alright, Snitch. Although neither Marvolo nor I can remove it, the goblins can and we will be visiting them tomorrow anyway.'

Marvolo couldn't hide his smile when his husband quoted him to soothe the boy. He slowly moved towards the bed as well, intending to comfort him as best as he could.

'We will be there for you, no matter what, Harry.'

'Okay. Then let's do this.' The teen said with a newfound resolution.

Severus got up from the bed again and Marvolo could see the shift from Dad to mediwizard clearly.

'Lay back down on the bed, Snitch. Neither of us can be touching you otherwise it won't work. Also I need to borrow some of Marvolo's magic so I won't be too exhausted for the rest of the day.'

While Harry did as he was told, the Dark Lord stepped behind his lover and hugged him from behind.

'Great. Now this will probably hurt so please don't fight it and scream if you need to. It is also possible to pass out but since you are ill the probability is even higher for that. Ready?'

Harry just nodded, closed his eyes and grabbed handfuls of the sheets as tight as he could. He could hear his Dad chanting in an ancient language but didn't know which one. At the same time he could feel the magic swelling in the room until it became suffocating. Just as he opened his mouth to take a deep breath the pain began.

It was nothing like anything he had ever experienced. Not even the cruciatus curse came close to the agony he was in now. His heart was beating wildly as if it wanted to jump out of his chest any minute now and his head felt as if it was being taken apart piece by piece.

Before he could even open his mouth to scream he felt the sweet call of oblivion and decided to follow it instead of fighting it. After all unconsciousness was always better than pain.

By the time he woke again he was feeling better although he still had a splitting headache. But that could also be from his illness.

Slowly opening his eyes it took Harry a few moments to focus on his room and then everything was still blurred. Glasses. Where were his glasses? He had worn them when his Dad did the test so someone must have taken them off.

Before Harry could think about them further movement in the corner of his eyes alerted him to someone being beside his bed. Thankfully whoever it was had noticed his problem and was holding out the glasses for him. Harry happily took them and found out that Marvolo was sitting in a chair beside his bed, reading a book.

'Hi.' He greeted the older wizard before asking. 'Where is Dad?'

'Hello, Harry. Severus is back at Hogwarts probably having lunch with Dumbledore right now.'

'Lunch? What time is it?'

'It is just past noon. You were out for nearly three hours.' Marvolo stated calmly. He had started worrying half an hour ago when Harry still showed no sign of consciousness although Severus had told him it could take up to four hours before he woke.

'Oh. So what's the results?'

'Your magical core is blocked partially. Probably about half of it is blocked although the scans showed some cracks your magic has not yet managed to break the block which is actually a good thing.'

'Oh hell. How can that be a good thing?! My magic was blocked and I didn't even notice!' Harry exclaimed outraged.

'If your magic had broken through it you probably would have destroyed half of Hogwarts with the sudden influx of magic. It would have been very dangerous not only for others around you but also for yourself. It could kill you.'

Marvolo's direct approach left the teen speechless for a few minutes. The Dark Lord could see the wheels turning in the boy's head.

'How come there are cracks?' He finally asked.

'Cracks occur when the wizard uses some of the blocked magic. Usually if he is in dire need for more magical power. Tell me the biggest amounts of magic you have ever used, Harry.'

'Oh. Well I guess when I accidently apparated onto the roof of the school when I was eight. Does that count?' At Marvolo's nod he continued. 'I vanished the glass of a terrarium and set a snake free when I was ten. Then I guess flying in school. Does Parselmagic use a lot of magic? Because I think I used some in second year. In third year I procured a full corporal patronus to chase away the dementors and save Sirius. I guess that was a lot of magic. This year it was more physical exhaustion than magical although accioing my broom over that distance was hard as well…'

When Harry trailed off and looked up at Marvolo again he was surprised by the shocked and slightly angry expression on his face. The Dark Lord quickly got himself under control before speaking again.

'Parselmagic doesn't take much magic. The key lies in the language itself. I believe the apparating, the patronus and the accioing where the events to crack the block.'

'How do we get rid of it of it is so dangerous?'

'In a controlled setting with experienced guardians it is not very dangerous anymore. The goblins know what they are doing and they have special magic resistant rooms for stuff like this.'

'Okay. So what do we do now?'

'Lunch? Since you are still technically ill we could snuggle up in front of the fire in the library and research that bond of ours?'

'Sounds good.' The teen agreed.

Far away at Hogwarts Severus was sitting opposite Dumbledore for their promised lunch. The headmaster was playing the sweet grandfather overly much for Severus to believe it even for a second. Apart from this the Potions Master had known it was just an act for years now. It was grating on his nerves.

It felt as if Albus were dancing around the subject he actually wanted to talk about. At least he hadn't laced Severus food and drink with any potions. Although admittedly it was hard to drug a Potions Master not even he would be able to notice the colorless and odorless truth serum. Severus guessed that since Albus usually got all his potions from him he had no easy supply of them if he planned on using them on the supplier himself.

When Severus tuned back into their conversation the old fool was still droning on about some stupid muggle knitting pattern and he finally had enough. They had had their lunch and had chatted about Merlin knows what and Severus was done. He wanted to go home to his family and enjoy the holidays. Nearly all the other teachers had left the minute the last meeting was over.

'Albus!' He interrupted the headmaster's monologue. 'Was there anything specific you wanted to talk to me about? Otherwise I would very much like to start my holidays.'

'What? Of course, my boy! Why I just wanted to ask if you could brew me a few potions once you are back. There is no rush.'

Severus knew the headmaster was lying so he was intrigued.

'Of course, headmaster. Simply send me an owl in a few weeks.'

'Thank you, Severus.' Albus replied with a satisfied smile. 'I won't keep you any longer, my boy. Enjoy your holiday.'

Severus gave a brisk nod and without another word marched out of the headmaster's office.

Finally holidays!

TBC

My holidays are nearly over :( We are flying home tomorrow...

First posted on: 30. July 2017

Next update planned: 06. August 2017