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

mizzrazz72: Of course he is ;) Just wait until Mrs. Weasley finds out what the old fool did to her youngest son :D

Vivid Snare: Maybe you'll be able to read the letters at some point ;)

vangogh32: Yeah, I know how you feel ;) I always hate waiting for the next chapter for stories... Since I am writing this week to week I can't post any faster :(

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 25: Gringotts Pt.3 - Exams & Rituals

Words: 3527

The next morning found the newly named family of Prince-Slytherin back in Griphook's office. They had gotten his permission to floo there directly right after the bank opened it's doors for the day.

Marvolo stepped out of the flames first and turned around just in time to catch his son who came stumbling through next. Harry looked quite sickly so Marvolo quickly sat him into a chair and was pushing his head gently between his knees to recover right as his husband stepped into the room.

Seeing his son in the chair, Severus hurried over and was already pulling a stomach soother out of one of his robe pockets when the resident goblin cleared his throat to get their attention.

'Lord Prince, no potions please.'

All three wizards jumped a bit (not that they would ever admit to it), having completely forgotten where they were. Although the Potions Master didn't like it he understood what Griphook meant. They had asked for Harry to be completely sober for his medical exam and that meant no potions as well.

So Severus had to resign himself to stroking Harry's back rhythmically and murmur calming words to him until his son carefully raised his head again.

'Urg… I hate magical transportations. Flooing sober is even worse than taking a portkey.'

'At least you didn't puke this time.' Marvolo commented dryly.

'But only because there was nothing there to puke up.'

'Are you two done?' Severus interrupted before they could continue their verbal sparring match and turned to the goblin. 'Master Griphook, may your funds never cease. Thank you for letting us floo here directly.'

'Lord Prince, Lord Slytherin, Lord Potter, may your wisdom always grow. Good morning to you all.'

'Good morning, Master Griphook.'

'Morning Griphook. Sorry for that and please call me Harry.' Harry said meekly, still feeling slightly weird.

'Since you need to part with all magical objects before your exam anyway, I propose we start with that. Then we can go to your vaults before we finish with the heir bond. Oh and here are each of your Gringotts cards to your vaults.'

'Thanks. That sounds like a good plan.' Severus agreed while accepting his new card. 'Please lead the way.'

The three wizards followed the goblin as he led them through a series of corridors, deep into the building before stopping in front of a huge wooden door guarded by two goblin warriors. Harry was well and truly lost by that time and knew he would never be able to find his way back to Griphook's office without help.

After Griphook exchanged a few words with the guards in their own language they stepped aside and the doors opened to reveal an infirmary not unlike the one at Hogwarts. The biggest difference were the beds of different sizes to accommodate all kinds of magical people.

Before Harry could observe the ward more closely they were ushered over to an empty bed with curtains drawn around it for a resemblance of privacy.

'This is healer Rogar. He will be looking after you while you are here.' Griphook introduced the goblin next to him.

'Good day. Please remove all magical objects from your person and get comfortable in the bed, Lord Potter.'

Harry handed his wand over to his Dad before taking off his outer robe and shoes. Once he had settled back against the pillows the goblin healer held out a vial of potions to him which Harry took warily while while glancing towards Severus.

'It is a mild sleeping draught. Our examination can be painful so it is best for you to sleep while I work.'

'Can they stay with me?' Harry asked. He still remembered the pain from his father's test for blocks and sure as hell didn't want to be left alone.

'They can but no touching the patient.' Healer Rogar commanded while glaring at the adults.

'It's okay, Snitch. We'll be right here the whole time.' Severus assured Harry and watched as his son downed the vile potion which put him to sleep straight away.

The goblin waited a few more minutes, just to be sure before he started chanting in gobbledegook and projecting his magic over Harry.

Severus and Marvolo stood on the other side of the bed and watched in fascination as the magic around their son built up and the boy practically glowed with the extra magic that was pushed into him. The room also got warmer the longer the healer chanted.

Severus noted with fascination that different parts of Harry glowed brighter during the ritual. He presumed the bright places were areas where an injury had occurred. When his son's scar shone brighter than any part beforehand his husband suddenly let out a strangled scream and fell unconscious. He would have his his head pretty hard on the stone floor had Severus not reacted so quickly and caught him.

Before he could even call out for help two other goblins in healer uniforms appeared and guided Severus to lay his beloved on the bed next to Harry.

The Potions Master watched with trepidation as the two healers started their own diagnostic spells over Marvolo. He was so caught up in in his worries that he didn't notice healer Rogar had finished his exam and was now standing in front of him. Only when the goblin cleared his throat and startled him out of his thoughts did he look back over to the other bed where Harry still slept peacefully.

'Lord Prince, I am done. Do you wish to hear the results right away?'

'Thank you, healer Rogar. Could we wait until at least Harry is conscious again?'

'Of course. It should not be more than a quarter hour now.'

Just as the goblin finished and turned to tend to his records there was a groan from the bed on Severus left side. He quickly directed his attention back towards the man slowly waking up. After a quick glance at the healers he reached out and grabbed his husband's hand between his own.

It took Marvolo a few minutes to get his bearings when he woke up. The room didn't look right. Hadn't he been standing a moment ago? Now everything looked tilted. Feeling a pressure on his right hand he turned his head to see Severus anxiously staring down at him.

'Hey. What happened?'

'Oh, Marv! Don't do that to me ever again!' Severus started ranting. Now that his lover was awake again he could let anger take the place of worry and fear. 'You took a good ten years off of my life!'

'Sorry, love. But what happened?'

Before the Potions Master could answer the two healers stepped forward.

'If we may, Lord Prince, Lord Slytherin?' One of them asked and after getting a court nod continued. 'My name is Ironclad and this is Gorg. You fell unconscious during Lord Potter's exam, Lord Slytherin. We have performed a series of diagnostics to find the cause for this. According to our results you are missing a few pieces of your soul and it seems you share a deep connection to Lord Potter.'

'Soul pieces?! Marvolo? What have you done?!' Severus literally demanded from his husband.

'Well… You remember how I said I took steps to insure my immortality?' Marvolo asked timidly while trying to find a good explanation.

Thankfully there was a groan from the bed next to him, diverting the angry Potions Master's attention.

Harry blinked his eyes open after what felt like a good, long nap and found his father standing by his bed.

'Hi, Dad.'

'Hello, Harry. How are you?'

'Good.' The teen answered truthfully before frowning. 'Where's Marv?'

'I'm right here, Harry.' Came the answer from behind Severus. 'It seems I passed out during your exam. The healers were just telling us why.'

'Oh….'

The goblins had been using the time while Harry woke up to coordinate their results. In the end healer Rogar took over explaining the results.

'Alright. I will start with Lord Potter's results because yours will explain his in the end.' He told them cryptically.

While Marvolo and Harry were sitting comfortably in their beds, Severus conjured a chair between them so he could hold one of each of their hands in silent support. Although Harry showed open signs of trepidation, Marvolo was very good at hiding his emotions. Still the Potions Master saw straight through his facade.

'Lord Potter is medically speaking in good condition. He still has lingering symptoms of a cold but they are already abiding. All his old injuries, illnesses and wounds have been healed although not all had been treated at the time they occurred.' The goblin started with the good news.

'Now although Lord Potter is not malnourished he shows signs that he was and we would recommend a month of nutrient potions to get his weight into a healthy area and give him a growth spurt. Also an eye healing potions wouldn't go amiss. There were also no sign of any suspicious potions in his system.'

'I already planned on brewing those as soon as I get my lab set up.' Severus commented.

'Right. Now to the not so good parts. Lord Potter-...'

'Please call me Harry.' The teen interrupted, already tired of being addressed so formally.

'As you wish, Lo… Harry.' Healer Rogar said. 'Harry's magical core has been bound. He can only use 40 percent of it although the bindings show signs of being overpowered a few times.'

'Can you remove it?' Harry asked quietly. Having the goblin confirm his Dad's findings was somehow comforting and disturbing at the same time.

'Yes. It is a simple ritual. We can also register the magical signature of the wizard who cast this and compare it to our records.'

'That would help us very much, healer Rogar.'

'We will come back to this later on. First you need to hear about the last thing we found during our scans.' The healer told them and after clearing his throat he continued with the readings. 'The last thing was very curious indeed. Right behind your scar is a fragment of an alien soul. It is not very big but still right there behind the scar.'

There were sharp intakes of breaths at this revelation and while Marvolo had a sinking feeling whose soul piece it was, Severus was still trying to piece it together completely.

'This is where Lord Slytherin's results come into play. You are missing a few soul pieces and we are assuming you created horcruxes with them. For whichever reason it seems Harry here is one of your horcruxes. We have not seen this in a long time since you wizards frown upon soul magic and made it illegal centuries ago.'

Before the goblin, Marvolo or Harry could say or ask anything Severus downright exploded.

'You used my son to gain immortality!? What were you thinking?!'

'Love, please calm down. Let m- …'

'Calm down?! CALM DOWN!? How can I be calm when my husband used my SON in an illegal ritual to gain eternal life?!' Severus was shouting at his husband which made both Marvolo and Harry fear for their lives since the Potions Master NEVER shouted. He usually went deadly quiet.

'Please, let me explain, love!'

'Don't call me love right now you imbecile! That won't help your case either! You explanation better be good or I'll chop you up and use you as potions ingredients!'

'Dad!' Harry raised his voice a bit to get his father's attention. 'I would like to know what happened. Why don't you sit down and let Marvolo explain?'

Severus grumbled a bit and only noticed now that he must have jumped up during his tirade. He didn't understand how his son could be so calm and collected while he himself was anything but. He didn't want to agree but when Harry started looking at him with puppy eyes he couldn't hold onto his anger. With a sigh he sat down on the edge of his son's bed who proceeded to hug him sideways while he leveled an expectant glare at his husband.

'I did not use Harry in a ritual. Please believe me when I say that I had no idea that you are a horcrux.' Marvolo nearly pleaded with them (although Dark Lords never plead!) dreading the consequences if they didn't believe him.

'I believe you.' Harry said evenly. 'Why don't you start at the beginning? How is it even made?'

'Alright. I will. I was actually born in 1926 so while I was at Hogwarts the second world war broke out in the muggle world. Every summer I pleaded with the headmaster to let me stay at school or at least with a magical family and every year he sent me back to the muggle orphanage I grew up in. Food had always been sparse but now it was rationed and every day we feared to hear the bomb alarm sirens. It was awful and I was so scared.' Marvolo took a deep breath to keep the painful memories at bay.

'I started searching the whole library for ways to protect myself and stumbled upon a book on soul magic in the restricted section. Back in my days the restricted section had a lot more books on the more obscure arts. In the book I found the solution to my fears - horcruxes. It was also the year I finally managed to find and open the Chamber of secrets.'

'But how exactly do horcruxes work?' Harry asked.

So Marvolo started explaining the rough workings of horcruxes. They bound the creator's soul to the earth and even if they were to die their soul would stay so they could be reborn. Marvolo had always thought that the ritual would only take a piece and not half of his soul but the goblins were quick to tell them the truth.

That explanation shocked even the Dark Lord and it took him a moment to continue his story. He had been still undecided if he should even create a horcrux when history happened and the decision was taken out of his hands.

'I had once again snuck down to the Chamber of Secrets to spend some time with Agathe when disaster struck. I wanted to sneak her out of the school so she could hunt in the Forbidden Forest. Everything was good until we got back and this girl was in our bathroom crying.'

'Myrtle.' Harry whispered completely enthralled by the tale.

'Yes. Myrtle. Before I could do anything she saw the basilisk and was dead. I didn't want her death to go wasted so I quickly used my diary to make my first horcrux.'

'Does that mean I killed half of your soul?!' Harry asked horrified and Severus stiffened up at the mere idea.

'No, Harry. You sent it back to the main part of me and since that was apparently only a tiny bit you are actually the reason I am sane again. I have more than half of my soul back and I plan to get as much of it as possible back together.'

'How many did you make?' Severus suddenly asked. He had been deep in thought during the whole explanation.

'Seven. The diary at 16, the Gaunt family ring and the Slytherin Locket at 18. Years later during my travels I found the lost diadem of Ravenclaw and during a visit with Lady Hepzibah Smith I got the Cup of Hufflepuff. The last one I knowingly made was Nagini. That was a year after our wedding, love. The war was getting worse and I felt that fear creeping up again. That one destroyed my looks and made me completely mad. Harry's must have happened when the killing curse rebound and my soul shattered.'

'That's a lot.' Harry managed. 'Does that mean you only had 1/128 of your soul left when you died?'

'It looks like it.'

Severus was completely baffled. He didn't know what to say. It didn't surprise him that his husband had not told him everything of his life since he never expected it but hiding five horcruxes and then making another one while they were already married was just too much for him. His thought process was stopped when Marvolo spoke to him.

'Love? Are you alright?'

'Honestly I don't know. This is a bit much to deal with right now and we have more important issues as well.' Severus admitted before changing the subject. 'Healer Rogar, what about Harry's resilience against potions? Where does that come from?'

'We can only presume this theory at the moment but we believe it is a side effect of the block and will subside once we clear up the block. But only time will tell.'

'Hmm… We will monitor his reactions closely then. What do we do now?'

'We will remove the magical block step by step. You magic was bound to 60%, Harry so we will have to do it in tiny steps. If we were to do it all at once you could literally combust with the sudden influx of magic.'

'And the horcrux?'

'It is not malicious so we will leave it there for now. As far as we have gathered since you two actually share a connection through the horcrux it can help either of you if you need help.'

'Hmm… If you think it is for the best.' Severus reluctantly agreed to the goblin's plans.

Since Harry was already on the bed they only asked him to lay back down and performed a complicated spell that needed all of the three goblin healers. In a matter of minutes it was all over and one of the healers handed Griphook a scroll before they retreated to their offices.

'That's it?' The teen asked surprised.

'Yes. You may not feel it yet but they freed ten percent of your magic. You will probably overpower even the simplest of spells so take it easy.' Griphook explained while leading the three wizards through the maze of corridors. 'In a few days you need to come back to get another part undone.'

'Okay.'

They reached the cart station and Griphook took the steering rod from one of the drivers. There was no way in hell he would let an amateur drive his clients.

In Harry's opinion it was one of the best rides he had ever had. They actually went all the way down to the lowest level stopping at the different vaults in between.

The first they entered was the Potter vault where Harry not only found the Lordship ring but also a picture of his parents and a stack of letters addressed mostly to himself but there were a few for Severus, Marvolo, Sirius and Remus.

Next they stopped at the Prince vault the get the heir and consort rings.

A few levels lower they entered the Black vault to get the heir ring since Sirius was still alive and eligible to the Lordship.

Lastly on the lowest level they stood before the Peverell, Gryffindor and Slytherin vaults.

To get into Gryffindor Harry had to cut his hand open and smear his blood over the door. The vault quickly opened and Harry hurried to find the ring he needed.

In the meantime Marvolo opened the vault next door - Slytherin's - by commanding the door to open in Parseltongue. He was far quicker than his son in finding the rings since he used a simple accio.

They met up in front of the Peverell vault which Griphook had to open for them.

After getting the last rings and a thrilling ride back to the top they found themselves back in Griphook's office.

'Lord Potter, Lord Slytherin please put your Lordship rings on your right ring finger. All of them. They will merge together into one and you can switch the symbol by sending a pulse of power into it.' Griphook explained. 'Harry, your heir rings belong on your right middle finger. And you consort rings go on your left ring fingers since you are already married, Lords Prince-Slytherin.'

The three wizards followed the guidelines and each of them felt the magics of the rings wash over them.

The only leftover ring was the Slytherin heir ring since they had a ritual to do first.

Again Griphook led them through a few corridors into a special ritual room where a priest was already waiting for them.

Harry and Marvolo stepped into the middle of the drawn ritual circle and clasped each other's hands while looking at each other. The priest started chanting and they immediately felt the magic rise in the room as a bright grey band formed between them.

After a few minutes the magic ebbed away again and Harry felt their bond settle down. Marvolo took the heir ring and slopped it onto his son's finger before embracing him in a tight hug.

'Thank you for being my heir, son.'

'You are welcome. Thank you for being my father.' Harry whispered back and felt Marvolo stiffen at his new title but Harry was too happy to care.

He finally had a family.

TBC

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Do you want to read some of the letters Harry found?

First posted on: 20. August 2017

Next update planned: 27. August 2017