It's My Life

Dobby had been the one to find Harry and Severus passed out in the main room and he left them where they were all night, but now it was morning and the head elf of the Potter family was concerned. Dobby watched Harry and Severus remain unconscious, despite his attempts to wake them lightly. It was beyond breakfast time and he worried for his friend. Dobby popped out of the house and went to Malfoy Manor. The Malfoy family were sitting around relaxing. Draco and Lucius were reading as Narcissa sipped her tea.

"Dobby?..." Lucius was first to notice the elf in the home. "What are you doing here?"

"Dobby seeks help from those close to Harry Potter and Severus Snape." Dobby replied.

Now, Draco and Narcissa were paying attention. "What happened?"

"Dobby doesn't know; he only found Harry Potter and Severus Snape on the couches. Dobby believed they had fallen asleep there, but it's been many hours and Dobby cannot awaken them. Dobby feels something is wrong and comes to get help." Dobby informed.

"Do you think they were attacked?" Narcissa asked her husband.

"Impossible. Potter Manor is unplottable and under that charm. Only those who swore vows to Harry know of its location and none can reveal it if they tried. Only the secret keeper can and that belongs to Harry." Lucius reminded. "Even the information can't be dissected though Legilimency. I very much doubt they were attacked."

"Besides, Dobby said he found them laying like that," Draco mentioned. "They're not hurt, right, Dobby?"

Dobby shook his head. "No, sir. Will old masters come to help?"

"Of course," Narcissa stood first, followed by her husband and son. "We'll floo over. What room were they in?"

"Main room," Dobby stated. "Dobby will be meeting you there." He popped out.

Draco got to the fireplace first, tossing the powder in and calling the address of where he was going. Lucius and Narcissa were right behind him, appearing in the main room of Potter Manor. Draco was standing there, looking at both Harry and Severus on separate couches, and unconscious. However, there was more to the scene that all three people took in.

Both Severus and Harry were passed out on opposite couches and the blond frowned upon seeing their sleeping poses. His godfather was only half laying on the couch with his leg sticking out, a sign that his falling was not at all graceful, while Harry seemed to have been placed delicately down and neither had moved since last night, assumingly.

"Harry?" Draco said. The teen didn't move. "Uncle Sev?" He tried as Severus remained unmoving. "Do we poke them?"

"Draco!" Narcissa admonished her son. "There will be no 'poking' as you put it. We need to figure out why that elf was in a tizzy,"

"I can wager a guess," Lucius spoke as he walked closer to look at Harry.

"What do you mean, Lucius?" Narcissa asked lightly. Lucius motioned for them both to come closer to where Harry was laying.

"Take a good look at Harry and tell me he doesn't look different than yesterday…" Lucius pointed out. Both Draco and Narcissa came closer as well and then noticed some differences with Harry's appearance. Gone was his untamable mop of hair and instead he now sported soft, semi-straight, and somewhat fluffy black hair that reached just past his ears on the sides, and the back sat around the same length, perhaps a tad longer.

"Did he grow?" Draco asked while frowning. "Don't tell me Potter is taller than me now," There was a bit of a pout forming upon noticing that, not that he was mad, but confused on how Harry grew a few inches overnight.

"Oh my Merlin…" Narcissa realized what her husband had been hinting to. "You believe they?..." She paused.

"It's unmistakable." Lucius remarked.

"What are you two talking about?" Draco demanded, not liking that he was being left in the dark.

"And this just confirms it," Narcissa motioned to the two emptied vials on the couch-side table next to the one Harry was laying on.

"Yes, I believe it's safe to say that they took the adoption potion," Lucius nodded.

"What adoption potion?!" Draco asked them firmly.

"Draco, calm down…We'll explain in a moment." Narcissa sighed.

Just then Harry opened his eyes and sat up sharply, headbutting Lucius who had bent down to check his temperature. Lucius staggered back, but caught himself from falling. "Harry?" Lucius said calmly, not offended or hurt by the headbutting.

"Oh, my head…" Harry groaned. "What the hell happened…"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Narcissa said gently.

"Harry!?" Severus was now awake and looking for the teenager, Lucius moved Draco and Narcissa out of the way as Severus could see Harry. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, think so…" Harry admitted. "What happened after we took that potion?"

"We believe you both passed out." Lucius interjected. "Which isn't unheard of given the nature of the potion used," He added.

"But I brewed it perfectly, there shouldn't have been any adverse effects." Severus claimed.

"Severus, calm yourself. It's part of the process, it was necessary to make the changes it did. It reset and altered your genetic makeup." Narcissa informed.

"What?" Severus looked at her.

"Take a good look at Harry, Severus…You'll see it." Lucius smiled.

Severus got up and moved over next to Harry, crouching lower to get a proper look at the boy, who got to his feet to meet the man as he neared. Severus took in that Harry retained Lily's eyes and her smile; he still wore glasses while having James's face, but Harry's hair color and style were Severus's, along with the shape of Severus's face. Harry's skin tone had gone paler by one or two levels. Harry's nose even seemed a little more hooked and the boy had grown a few inches in height.

"There's no questioning that he's your son now," Narcissa grinned a bit.

"What?!" Draco's eyes widened.

"Certainly not…" Severus couldn't even argue it. Harry looked just like he had as a boy, but of course, the mix of James and Lily too.

"D-Do I really look like you?" Harry inquired.

"Not me entirely, but you've got features that are noticeable." Severus told him.

"I-I guess that means it worked? The adoption?" Harry wondered.

"Completely. It's unquestionable." Lucius confirmed.

"Y-You're my dad now…" Harry looked at Severus.

"And you're my son," Severus nodded.

"Not that we needed the potion to officiate something we'd already been to one another." The two said at the same time before Harry surprised Severus by moving inwards and hugging the man affectionately. It was very similar to the hug Harry gave Sirius a couple months ago and Severus, who was never one much for physical contact, tightly embraced Harry back.

"Oh," Narcissa smiled sweetly as she leaned against Lucius, who smiled too. It was a cute scene.

"IS ANYONE GOING TO TELL ME WHAT THE HELL WENT DOWN IN THE COURSE OF TWELVE HOURS!?" Draco grumbled loudly.

"Draco!" Lucius scolded.

Harry and Severus split from the hug before Harry went over to take Draco's hand and bring it up with his own and kiss the back of. "Settle down, Dray," Harry smiled. "Severus adopted me as his son."

"B-But why do you look like him, that's not an aspect of normal adoption!?" Draco inquired.

"This wasn't a normal adoption, Draco," Severus stated. "It was blood adoption."

"Blood adoption?" Draco arched a brow.

"Sit, I'll explain over breakfast." Severus told him.

"We've already eaten." Lucius mentioned.

"Dobby?" Severus summoned.

"Master Severus has called Dobby?" The elf replied.

"Two full breakfasts for Harry and I, if you please?" Severus asked.

"Dobby will be fetching that for Master Severus and Master Harry." Dobby hurried off as everyone took a seat.

"Blood adoption, Draco, is very old and ancient binding magic. It's what Albus used to keep Harry protected at Privet Drive," Severus started.

Harry scoffed at the mention of being protected with his muggle relatives. "Protected is a strong word to use. I'd call it chained and enslaved…"

"It did prevent anyone who worked for the dark lord from finding you." Lucius stated.

"That didn't matter considering the dark one didn't start trying to kill me until first year at Hogwarts." Harry countered. "The whole thing was a ploy so I'd be beaten down and obedient to him. Don't try to make it seem like more than that…" He added.

"My apologies," Lucius bowed his head.

"Okay, so ancient magic?" Draco pushed for an explanation.

"The magic Dumbledore used to keep Harry at his relatives are what we call Blood Wards, activated through the sacrifice of his mother and using her blood to erect protections that hid Harry away from the world until he came to Hogwarts at eleven. Very few, in fact, knew where Harry ended up after his parents died." Severus explained.

"Those wards held as long as Harry considered that house his home and his aunt, at the very least, his family. For many years, Harry did just that because it was the only family he knew. Harry was unaware of being a wizard, or the wizarding world itself. He believed his parents were killed in a car crash and where he was for ten years was his fate and life until he became an adult and could leave. The wards would have fallen when he turned seventeen, marking him an adult. However…" He paused a moment.

"When your parents found and saved him, promising he'd never go back there; Harry realized he had a way out and inadvertently swore off that house and the people there as his family. It broke the magic around the house, but reformed when we put the golem in place as the golem had Harry's ideals and mannerisms while living there." Severus paused.

"I find it amusing Dumbledore hasn't figured it out. Though, now, he does know Harry has another guardian and his was suspended. With the adoption, Albus will never get custody of Harry because it's viewed that Harry has a living parent. Me." Severus went on.

"Okay…So blood adoption, though? It's not the same as normal with…Paperwork and whatnot?" Draco questioned.

Dobby had brought two breakfast setups for Severus and Harry, who began eating. "Blood adoption makes the adopter and adoptee related via blood, son," Lucius took over explaining the matter. "It's a complex potion that only masters of the art can brew and it requires the blood of both participants. It can be more, but for Harry and Severus, it only needed their blood."

"It means that Severus adopted Harry through blood bonding, my Dragon." Narcissa stated. "It makes Severus Harry's adoptive, but also a biological parent as if Harry were born to him. Harry's parents are still entirely Lily and James Potter, but with the adoption, it adds Severus in as a third parent. Adoptive or not, it gives Severus full and legal custody over Harry the same as your father and I have custody over you. It's viewed now that Severus is Harry's father. The magic increases through belief in the relationship formed, which is why Harry took on a slight appearance to Severus; the bond shows traits between father and son."

"Just like how Harry had been urged to call Privet Drive his home, see his relatives as family…The magic was stronger to protect him from outside threats. This, of course, does not excuse the abuse he underwent." Severus continued now. "Since becoming Harry's guardian while the investigation was going through, we've both gotten closer to a parental/child relationship. Harry started seeing me as a father figure and I saw him like a son. Neither of us spoke up or accepted it in fear of rejection or putting the other on a pedestal of being something they were not. I didn't want to overstep being more than Harry's teacher and guardian, the same he didn't want to make me angry by seeing me as a father."

"But…We all saw that on Christmas night. We told you that you'd taken over the role of father to him." Draco reminded.

"And I denied it, not wanting to push such a thing on him, or make him feel like I was trying to replace his actual father. Same with seeing how he interacted with Sirius. I was never friends with James, I didn't want to just invade Harry's life as something I was not to him. Remus and Sirius had the in as James's friends." Severus remarked.

"Yeah, I kind'a think that makes it better…" Harry admitted. "How things happened."

"How so?" Draco asked.

"Because Severus didn't just…Assume I'd be cool with having extra people in my life. When I first met Sirius, I thought he'd betrayed my parents and I was ready to kill him. Then Remus showed up. Not even an hour later, Sirius was asking me to come live with him. Not that I minded, anything to get away from my aunt and uncle. But the assuming always felt odd to me. Don't get me wrong, I love them both…But imagine being me at thirteen and there's these two people who have just appeared in my life and going all on knowing my dad, how I look just like him. Remus did it, Sirius did it…" Harry shrugged.

"Remus was my teacher too, and Sirius, I believed at the time, was a murderer coming to kill me." Harry informed. "Severus didn't just barge into my life knowing my dad and trying to get close without seeing how I'd feel about it. Again, love them, but Severus's was the gentler approach that let me get to know him better. So how things ended up happening made it better in seeing him as a father over Sirius and Remus. He treated me like a son, but not one he'd known forever and never got to spend time with. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, when you put it like that," Narcissa said as Lucius nodded in agreement.

"Either way, this adoption thing occurred, godson, because Lucius caught word that Dumbledore, Fudge, and Umbridge are working together to get Harry under their control. We know they're gonna try something, but didn't know what," Severus went on.

"The notion is that they were going to mess with the investigation to get it thrown out, which would leave Harry in their care and Dumbledore would force Harry to remove his rings, which protect him from dangerous things. And then we feel that they would have used a compulsion charm or potion on him to make him do as they say. We didn't know, so I warned Severus and we suggested the blood adoption to him." Lucius informed.

"Harry becomes my son legally and basically biologically meaning I'm now a living parent and they can't touch him. I'm more than his teacher, I'm his father. I make the rules and decisions regarding him and they can't argue with me without risking themselves in hot water." Severus stated.

"Wow. Pretty smart actually. But why did you say that you and Harry were already what you were to one another? That you didn't need the potion?" Draco wondered.

"Because before I brought up the blood adoption, Harry and I had already admitted to one another we were okay with being father and son." Severus said.

"It made agreeing to the blood adoption that much easier. If Severus had sprung it on me, I might be more inclined to believe I didn't mean anything to him and it was just another ruse to tick off Albus. I probably still would have said yes either way and had already seen him as a father. It just made it better that we had the discussion first." Harry remarked. "Which reminds me…I want to know what the pain is up to."

"Well, he can't take you from me now." Severus informed.

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't mind his plans," Harry argued. "I'm aware it will fail, but that doesn't mean we should ignore it. We should use it to our advantage."

"What did you have in mind? I do enjoy your devious mind, Potter," Draco teased.

"Potter-Snape," Harry corrected with a grin.

"Actually, it'd be Potter-Snape-Prince." Severus added in. "Remember, I told you last night there would be a second name in me adopting you?"

"What?" Harry looked at the man. "Yes, but you haven't explained yet."

"My mother was Eileen Prince, a pure-blood witch. My father was Tobias Snape, a muggle. I'm a half-blood, Harry, like you. It was standard to take your married partners name, still is when married to another. However, my mother wanted me to be able to inherit the Prince line, so I was given both last names at birth. Severus Tobias Prince-Snape." Severus began.

"I just use Snape so not to make it a mouthful to students and also, it was customary, as I said. Prince is there for legal purposes with the bank, documents and this counts as well. So technically your name becomes Harry Potter-Snape Prince. You're not required to use it, of course. Your birth name leaves you with Potter alone. But if you went and did another inheritance test at the bank, it would come up with the added names." H explained.

"Oh. Cool." Harry understood. "Okay, but plan wise…Why don't we let them think we don't know what they're up to?" He suggested. "Hide the new appearance when we go back to school in two weeks with a glamour to give me my old look. Let them think we don't know what they're doing. Let's just wait it out because no matter what they try, the adoption is already in place and would make their plans fail. In the muggle terms, catch them in act when they can't get out of it."

"Once their plan begins, Harry, they'll target you and I don't like that idea of you being in danger." Severus stated.

"I feel the same actually…" Draco frowned.

"I'd be concerned too if not for the fact I'm already a target to the dark lord. I'll live with that until he's dead, so I'm always in danger…The difference here is that we're in control of the outcome to what they're plotting against me. No matter what they do, I'm your son, and they can't revoke the blood magic that created this bond." Harry assured. "I can do this, Dad…You have to trust me."

"I trust you, son," Severus nodded. "But I expect to be kept in the loop. If they do anything, you use the two-way communication we have to call for me."

"Yes, Father," Harry promised.

"Good. Then before I send you back to school in two weeks, I'll put the glamour on and we'll keep up with how we've appeared. Me only as your head of house and potions professor." Severus agreed.

Harry nodded as he went back to eating his breakfast, then Severus too while the Malfoy's sat around. Harry was going to put an end to this nonsense and reveal Umbridge as useless, then Fudge as incompetent and linked into nefarious activity. And of course, Albus Dumbledore will wish he'd never crossed Harry Potter-Snape-Prince.