Chapter 3

Khal/ Harry POV

A comfy bed was the first thing he felt when he opened his eyes, only to find himself on Lucius' bed and he promptly decided that he was still fast asleep and dreaming.

After all, why else would he be in Lucius' bed now that they knew who Khal truly was?

And the last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the floor so this had to be one of those strange lucid dreams.

A slight sound had him glancing to the side and he knew that he would've blushed if he'd been in his human form when he noticed that Lucius was sleeping next to him.

The man's pale features were highlighted by the full moon that shone through the window and Khal unconsciously turned back into Harry as he reached forward to brush away the hair that had fallen into the older man's face while he had been sleeping.

He barely touched the man's cheek before a hand grabbed his wrist and he found himself bodily yanked under the older man who somehow managed to grab both his wrists in one hand and the next thing he knew he had a shirtless Lucius hovering over him with his wand drawn against his neck.

The weight of the man above him and the way he held him did strange things to Harry's body and everything felt so real as he tried to keep his traitorous thoughts and body under control while a slight feeling of dread started welling up within him.

It felt too real to be a dream…SHIT!

He barely had the thought when two things happened at once.

First, he saw Lucius frown as he finally seemed to realize who was lying underneath him because he frowned and moved the wand away from Harry's throat, "Harry? What are you-"

And second, was the door that banged open as Voldemort and Severus stormed into the room with their wands raised, and the moment they took in Lucius and Harry's positions, both men seemed to radiate a fury so intense that Harry was sure that they would be able to set the room on fire even without their magic.

Years of thinking on his feet during dangerous situations had him acting before either of the men could cast a spell when he realized what the two dark-haired men were thinking and he quickly rolled Lucius underneath himself before two shadowy wings erupted from his back to protect Lucius from any spells that were fired.

He may be innocent in most things, but one didn't grow up in the boys' dormitories in Hogwarts without hearing quite a few tales since the older students often forgot to curb their discussions around the younger ones.

When no spells were fired after a few tense moments, Harry cautiously looked back, only to suddenly find himself dragged into the arms of the Dark Lord who also seemed to have forgotten to put on a shirt after rushing out of bed and he unconsciously buried his head into the man's chest to try and hide away from the embarrassing situation.

Harry could only assume that the man had felt his earlier panic when he realized that he wasn't dreaming and apparently jumped to the wrong conclusions when he burst into the room since that was the only possible explanation.

He didn't know how Severus appeared as well, but he knew for sure that they would probably kick him out after this as he felt Voldemort tense before his chest rumbled as he spoke in a deadly tone, "What is the meaning of this, Lucius?!"

Harry's eyes widened and he quickly fought to try and escape the Dark Lord's arms, "It wasn't his fault! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…I thought I was dreaming."

He froze and his face became scarlet as he realized what it sounded like and he quickly tried to explain in a different way, "I-I mean, I couldn't sleep so I changed into Khal, but the door was closed so I decided to sleep on the floor and then I thought I was dreaming when I was on the bed instead when I woke up and then I scared Lucius, and then…"

He took a deep breath as he tried to figure out how to explain that it wasn't what they were thinking, and he tensed when he felt Voldemort's arms move, only to find himself gently lowered onto a chair as Voldemort bent down so that they could see eye-to-eye, "So you couldn't sleep so you changed into Khal and fell asleep in front of Lucius' door because you were used to sleeping there and when you woke up on the bed you changed back into yourself and managed to scare Lucius, which is what we walked in on?"

A few candles lit themselves as Harry hesitantly nodded and Voldemort raised a single brow, "Why did you feel so afraid then? If it was an accident?"

Harry hung his head, not really knowing what to do other than to tell the truth, but he was afraid that it was telling the truth that would get him kicked out.

Finally, he realized that there was no getting around it, "Because all of you must now think I'm some freaky pervert and you're going to kick me out."

He heard the Dark Lord sigh before he hooked his elegant fingers under Harry's chin and lifted his head until their gazes met, "You are not a freak pervert or whatever else you might want to call yourself and we are certainly not going to kick you out. It is understandable that you took refuge in becoming Khal and you were used to sleeping here in that form. We were the ones that just didn't think about it because we assumed that you would like having your own room."

Harry was sure that he was about to do something irritating or stupid, like crying because of how nice Voldemort was being, so he changed back into Khal, not that any of the three men seemed to mind because he saw no judgment on their faces.

Instead, Severus hesitantly stepped forward, "Khal, would you mind if I tested something? When you thought that we were going to harm Lucius, two shadowy wings formed on your back. I think I may know why, but I would need you to do two things for me."

Khal watched the man for a moment, although he somehow knew that Severus meant no harm so he nodded hesitantly, only to see the man slowly lift his wand in Voldemort's direction.

The Dark Lord seemed to understand what he was trying to do, so he nodded, and Severus made a move to cast a spell, but before the spell could even form, the two wings sprang from Khal's form and curled around Voldemort.

Khal watched with wide eyes as the wings disappeared once Severus placed his wand down, but movement from beside the bed had Khal's eyes widening and he leaped in front of Severus as the two wings appeared once more, but the spell that Lucius had cast fizzed out before it even came close to them.

Khal saw the three men glancing at each other with wide eyes before their gazes turned to him and he wanted to shrink his form down as he tried to determine whether they were angry at him for something he couldn't control, but this time it was Severus that picked him up and as comfortable as it was in the man's arms, no Harry, bad Harry! Don't think about it, Khal was truly starting to wonder whether they were treating him like some kind of baby that had to be picked up the whole time.

A yawn escaped him and the three men paused before Voldemort took a step closer toward them, "It's still early, we should all head back to bed."

Khal froze as he realized that he would have to go back to his room, but Voldemort shook his head as he seemed to read Khal's expression, "Since you feel better sleeping in a room with someone else, we will ward the doors so that they may open for you whenever you wish, though I would suggest that you allow each of us to attach a bit of our magic to you in some way so that we don't attack you in our sleep. Lucius' reaction is a prime example of what happens when you live through war."

Khal nodded in surprise before he realized that he still had the collar on and Lucius gave a sheepish chuckle, "The collar would work fine, but I suggest we get you a different one then, one that actually allows you to go out of the house when needed."

Khal almost wanted to point out that none of the men seemed very fond of that idea, but he decided to keep that thought to himself even as it made him feel happy for some reason.

A thought occurred to him and he motioned for Severus to put him down before he changed back into himself.

He then looked at Severus, "You never mentioned what you were trying to test…"

Severus froze before he laughed softly, "And your curious mind wouldn't be able to wait for the answer until morning?"

Harry slowly shook his head and the man chuckled before he looked at Harry questioningly, "Didn't you go to Gringotts to get tested for a creature inheritance?"

Harry noticed as the other two men froze and watched him intently as he shook his head, "I only did the normal one. Why? What is a creature inheritance?"

Severus looked toward Lucius, but the man shook his head so Voldemort spoke instead, "It means that someone in your family tree either became a creature or mated with a creature, and that gene is sometimes passed on. Some inheritances can skip many generations before they reveal themselves once more, which is what I think happened in your case, though I suspect it was drawn out by your Animagus form, which is why the wings only revealed themselves now instead of when we discovered who you were."

Harry looked back at Severus with a nervous gulp, "And what is it that you think I am?"

The man gave him a calming smile in return, "A Shadow Shifter. Something that hasn't been seen in ages. But it would be better if we confirmed it through Gringotts."

Harry nodded and gave another yawn, prompting the men to place the necessary spells on the temporary collar as he changed back into Khal before they all headed to bed, though Khal found himself standing in the hallway for a few more moments as he suddenly found himself with three different places to sleep and it suddenly felt wrong to only sleep in Lucius' room now that he had permission.

If the three men found a bundle of fur curled up on their beds at different times of the night, none of them mentioned anything about it once the sun made its appearance in the morning.