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Chapter Text

After speaking with the minister and finally getting time to rest in Diagon Alley, Harry Potter was left with a lot to think about. Apparently he had performed a great bout of accidental magic, and instead of being expelled and having his wand snapped, he was being granted a few weeks of freedom and relaxation away from his horrid family in Little Whinging. He knew that he was not allowed back for the rest of the summer (probably because the Dursleys were too frightened by his outburst to believe he would continue being a submissive little thing for him). A small little voice in the back of his mind held onto a small piece of hope that they would be too scared to allow him back ever again.

Harry shook his head and banished the small piece of hope from his mind. Of course he would have to return. Professor Dumbledore had explained that he needed to be there in order to gain protection from his blood relatives. He had no reason to doubt that Dumbledore held his best interests at heart, even if he sometimes doubted if he would be more safe away from the hands of his uncle and cousin.

Rolling over in his bed, Harry felt the warm sun filtering in through the window fall on his face and he smiled. It wasn’t very often during the summer that he was able to wake up naturally with the rise of the sun, and he was going to take advantage of it for as long as possible. He could feel the remnants of bruises and pain radiating through his body that hadn’t quite healed yet in the two days he’d been away from the Dursleys, and he had half a mind to find a shop in Diagon Alley that sold pain potions and other tinctures to heal the remnants of his relatives’ “love”. 

Hauling himself upright, Harry managed to shuffle out of bed and get ready for the day. Waiting for him lay a large tray topped to the brim with a variety of breakfast choices. Harry smiled, obviously Tom had outdone himself. Sadly though, Harry could only stomach a piece of french toast and a couple bites of the fruit salad on the tray before his abdomen groaned in protest. That was his least favorite part of returning from his relatives home, getting used to eating normal sized portions. Even though he hadn’t been with them for the entirety of the summer, it was evident that his stomach would still face the consequences of near constant starvation.

After waiting for the pain of a too-full stomach to fade away, Harry stood up and rummaged around in his trunk for a few things to take with him on his trek into Diagon Alley. He pocketed his wand and shoved his bag of coins into his front pocket before taking the stairs two at a time down to the Leaky Cauldron. 

After trying (and failing) to open the way to the alley, Tom was gracious enough to do it for him, and Harry began his journey on a search for some wizarding pain management. He passed the storefronts he could easily place, like Madam Malkin’s and Ollivander’s. Finally, the one he was looking for finally stood out to him, Slug and Jigger’s Apothecary. Harry figured that if they sold all the ingredients for potions, they might also sell potions. 

The heavy door creaked when he finally managed to get it open, and Harry was immediately assaulted by the strong scents and odors of the various ingredients in the store. After his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting, he made his way through the store, hoping to find some sort of sign that would indicate a section for pre-made potions. He failed to notice the large body he was about to walk into as he was distracted by some sort of creature suspended in a jar of yellow liquid. He hit the person with a soft ‘oompf’.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going…” He stuttered out an apology, stepping backwards until he took in the appearance of the man he had hit. Tall, dressed head-to-toe in black, and greasy black hair… Harry had walked into none other than one Professor Severus Snape.

“Mister Potter,” Snape drawled. “If school was not currently out of session, I would take it upon myself to take points from Gryffindor for your inattention and lack of decorum.” 

Harry winced as he hadn’t been mentally prepared to face Snape in any sort of environment outside of Hogwarts. “I’m truly sorry sir. I’ve only been in here twice before and I can’t find what I’m looking for.”

“If you are currently looking for your ingredients for next school year, I’m truly disappointed by your incompetence, as you would have had to walk past their display on your way over here.”

“Err, that’s not exactly what I’m looking for. I was wondering if they sold any pre-made potions.” Harry sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

Snape rolled his eyes. “They keep the potions near the counter. However, they have a very limited supply. What kind of potion could you possibly be looking for? You better not be looking to get into any sort of trouble. I would have figured you’d already had enough, what with your little stunt this summer.”

Ahh, so Hogwarts had already been notified of his incident with Aunt Marge. He huffed, “No sir . I’m just looking for a pain potion of sorts. I can’t quite remember what Madam Pomfrey has used for me before.”

At that Snape narrowed his eyes. “Why would you need a pain potion?” his voice colder than usual.

Harry found himself flustered by the question and soon he was scrambling to come up with an answer. “I just, uh…” a light bulb went off in his head. “I took the Knight Bus here and I got a bit beat up from the chairs moving all about.”

Snape raised an eyebrow at Harry’s hastily put together. He huffed, “Leave it to you, Potter, to whine about a couple of bruises from the Knight Bus.” He led Harry up to the shopkeeper’s counter and pointed out the shelves of various potions. “Healing potions are on this shelf here Potter. Don’t forget to collect your ingredients for third year potions before you leave.” With that, Snape whirled away in a flurry of robes.

Harry studied the different potions that adorned the shelf, two of which stood out to him. He considered the bruise balm and the burn paste, before coming to the conclusion that he could just get both. He had enough money in his vault, and he figured his parents wouldn’t mind him using the funds they left him to keep himself healthy. He grabbed the two items and made his way over to the shopkeeper that was watching him with wide eyes. 

Self-consciously, Harry brushed his fringe back over his scar as he set his items down. The worker jerked her eyes down and started ringing his items into the till with a light blush on her cheeks, “O-ok, it l-looks like your total c-comes to 5 galleons and 12 sickles.” She smiled at him nervously.

Rummaging through his small pouch, Harry quickly realized that he was 2 galleons short. He cursed under his breath, realizing that he had forgotten just how much money he had spent on buying sweets on the train back from Hogwarts. He sheepishly looked up at the shopkeeper, “I forgot to stop at Gringotts this morning. Could you possibly hold the items for me while I run to the bank?” He put on his best award-winning smile he could muster up.

She blushed again and nodded her assent before Harry was rushing from the store with an embarrassed flush of his own adorning his face. Quickly making his way across the alley, he burst through the large ornate doors, and made his way to the first teller that looked to be unoccupied.

Dark beady eyes looked down on him from the desk in front of him and gave him an expectant look. “I was hoping to visit my vault?” he wasn’t sure if he had phrased that as a statement or a question. “I need to withdraw some money.”

How the goblin managed to look any more unimpressed, Harry didn’t know. “Key” the goblin demanded.

Surprised, Harry’s heart froze for a moment. How could he have been so stupid as to forget that he would need his key? “Err, I don’t have my key right now, I forgot to get it back from Mrs. Weasley, and she’ll be in Egypt for a while still.”

“You don’t have your key?” The goblin looked affronted. “You gave your vault key to someone that isn’t one of your guardians?”

Harry snorted at the mental image of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia trying to visit his vault at Gringotts. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize I wasn’t supposed to do that. But, Mrs. Weasley is very nice and I’m positive she wouldn’t take any money I didn’t tell her to.”

The goblin simply raised an eyebrow and sighed. “You’ll have to meet with your account manager to verify your identity. Follow me.” He jumped down from his high perch at the desk and without a look back swiftly started walking towards a door off to the side of the grand hall of Gringotts. Harry struggled to keep up as the goblin led him through various different doors and hallways. For a creature so much shorter than him, it truly walked very fast.

Suddenly, they came to a very sharp stop, and the goblin knocked on a dark wooden door. “Come in,” a deep, gravelly voice requested from the other side of the door. The door swung open and the goblin that had led him there gestured for Harry to enter. Walking in, harry noticed a large, ornate, wooden desk centered in the room, with two leather armchairs in front of it, and another behind the desk, which currently held another goblin. This one was dressed in a dark blue suit, and had dark grey hair slicked back. A pocket watch chain hung from the breast pocket on the suit.

“And who might this be?” The goblin behind the desk questioned.

“He claims to be Harry Potter, but he does not have his key with him. He’ll need to have his identity verified before he will be allowed access to his vault.” The goblin behind the desk nodded along with his words, and then gestured for the other goblin to leave once he had answered the question.

“Thank you Laglok, that will be all.” The goblin that Harry now knew to be Laglok nodded his head and then scurried away. “Mister Potter, please have a seat.” The goblin shuffled around a drawer at his desk before pulling out a few papers and a silver bowl. “As we have not had the pleasure of meeting before, I will introduce myself. I am Rokruff, the account manager for the Potter vaults. We have sent a couple letters requesting your presence, but your magical guardian refused to bring you in.”

Harry was slightly shocked. “Um, sorry sir, but did you say vaults? I just have the one my parents left me. Also, what is a magical guardian? I only have my aunt and uncle, but they are muggles.”

Rokruff gave him an inquisitorial look, “Mister Potter, you have three vaults. The one you have visited before was the trust vault that your parents set aside for you once you were born. Many pureblood families and those with lordships set up these vaults for their children to supply them with money for frivolous purchases as they grow up. You will gain access to your other two vaults once you come of age and claim your lordship. As far as your magical guardian goes, are you to tell me that you have not met with them before? They were meant to meet with you every so often as you grew up to educate you about the magical world and ensure your welfare. It was required by the ministry before they would let you be raised by muggles, as they would not let an heir to a noble house be raised without knowledge of the wizarding world.”

After that barrage of information, Harry was stunned. “No, I don’t believe I ever met one. I wasn’t aware that magic was even real before I got my Hogwarts letter. I mean I had my suspicions, but my aunt and uncle did everything they could to convince me that magic was not real.”

Rokruff looked very surprised. “Well, this is most inconvenient. I will have to notify the Department of Child Welfare.”

Immediately Harry was worried. If there were people, magical people nonetheless, investigating his home life and the Dursleys, it would make the rest of his time spent with them hell on earth. “No, no sir. You really don’t have to do that. I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding is all. I’m sure we can just reach out to whoever my guardian is and figure everything out.”

Despite all his protests, Rokruff seemed unperturbed. “Nonsense. I am legally obligated to report any instances of suspected neglect. As the manager of your accounts, it is in my best interests to ensure your welfare.”

Harry groaned and hung his head. He knew he would be in for an unpleasant greeting the next time he had to see his relatives. Rokruff continued, “Before I report anything though, let’s quickly verify your identity, and then we can discuss your account and vaults.” He pushed forward the sheet of paper, which Harry just now noticed was quite thick and slightly yellowed at the edges. He also pushed forward the bowl, which was very shiny, almost as shiny as the silverware Aunt Petunia makes him polish. 

Giving Rokruff a confused look, the goblin quickly explained. “I will provide you with a small dagger, and then you will deposit five drops of your blood into the bowl. Afterwards I will mix it with a specialized potion, and then the entire mixture will be poured over the paper. I believe you will learn of this specific procedure and potion in your sixth year.”

Harry nodded in understanding. He figured that it must have something to do with the DNA in his blood. His account manager withdrew the said dagger and passed it to him handle first. Quickly, before he could get himself worked up about the pain, Harry nicked the tip of his index finger. The blood quickly welled up to the surface, and Harry held the appendage above the bowl letting five drops of his blood plop against the metal. He slid the bowl back towards Rokruff, who withdrew a shimmery looking potion from another of his seemingly endless drawers. 

Once the potion had been mixed, the goblin gently poured the mixture over the parchment. From where Harry was sitting, he could see the beginnings of black ink taking shape before Rokruff lifted the paper, obstructing his view. Harry watched the goblin’s face, and started to worry as Rokruff’s already wrinkled face started wrinkling even more as he drew his eyebrows together in confusion.

A minute passed before Harry decided to break the silence by clearing his throat. Rokruff startled and then looked up at the young wizard sitting in front of his desk. “Well Mister Potter, it looks like I will have to notify a couple more people before we will be finished today.” With that, the goblin placed the paper down before flipping it around and pushing it towards Harry’s side of the desk.

Harry immediately noticed what had obviously confounded the goblin when he took in the words on the page. His stomach started twisting, and Harry was starting to regret the large breakfast he had eaten that morning.

Gringott’s Official Identification Test

Name: Hadrian Cygnus Malfoy (Blood Adoption: Harry James Potter)

Parents:

Lucius Abraxas Malfoy

Narcissa Callisto Malfoy nee Black

James Fleamont Potter (Blood Adoption)

Lily Jade Potter nee Evans (Blood Adoption)

Siblings:

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Chapter Text

Harry gulped down the saliva that was pooling in his mouth and tried to push down the feeling of queasiness in his gut. “Sir, I think there must be something wrong. I mean there’s no way this is correct. I can’t be a Malfoy I just can’t”

Rokruff gave him an unimpressed look. “I know this must come as a shock to you, so I will forgive your attempt at discrediting Gringotts. We have been using this test for centuries, and in all that time not once has this test proven faulty. It seems as though you are the lost Malfoy child.”

Harry just gaped at him, his mouth closing and opening like a fish. Rokruff simply turned away from him and pulled out another piece of parchment from his desk. “Now I am obligated to notify the authorities, and given the gravity of this situation, I don’t believe we will get the chance to go over your accounts.” He looked up from his letter and furrowed his brow. “Mister Potter, are you feeling quite alright?”

At that moment Harry realized that no, he was not feeling alright. His heart was beating ridiculously fast, the blood had rushed out of his face, his ears were ringing, and his stomach was threatening to expel its contents. He realized that last part a little too late as he promptly leaned over the chair and proceeded to vomit on the floor.

He only realized he had lost consciousness once he was staring up at the ceiling and Rokruff was leaning over him. “Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter, can you hear me?” His harsh voice broke through the ringing in his ears. Harry groaned and tried to sit up on his elbows, but that only proved futile when the room spun and his vision grew dim. “-ll have to stay down there. Don’t try to sit up again.” The voice was followed by footsteps running towards the door and someone shouting across the hall. 

Harry must have passed out again because the next thing he knew, a very human shaped face was staring down at him. He didn’t recognize the person, but he did recognize their healer robes. “Can you hear me?” A soothing voice spoke to him. He barely managed to nod his head, not wanting the vertigo to come back. “Ok Mr. Potter, my name is Healer Smurthwaite. I’m just going to run a quick diagnostic on you.”

Harry could just barely see the healer’s wand raise in his peripheral vision. Healer Smurthwaite quickly waved his wand in some complicated movements before he hummed under his breath. “It looks like you’ve just suffered from a bit of a shock, but I have no current reason to take you to St Mungo’s. Let’s get you sitting up and get some water in you.”

The wizard gently slid an arm under Harry’s back and slowly helped him reorient himself. He held onto his arm as he guided him back to the leather chair he had previously occupied. Once seated, Harry let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. As he reoriented himself he tried to gaze back around the room before Healer Smurthwaite blocked anything else from view with a crystal glass of water. He helped Harry grasp it with shaky hands, and they slowly tipped the glass back together. Once half the glass was drained, Harry had to admit he was feeling much more like himself.

With that taken care of, Harry finally glanced around the room. Rokruff had returned and was standing near his desk, on the side closer to Harry. He then noticed two other people. One was a witch in auror robes, and the other was a blonde witch wearing simple black robes. The latter stepped forward first

“Hello Harry, my name is Mariesa Edwards. Are you feeling okay enough to start talking about some things now?” All of a sudden it all hit Harry like a wave again. Oh god , he wasn’t Harry Potter at all.

“I-I don’t understand. Whatever Rokruff said… it just can’t be true. I’m Harry Potter. I know I’m Harry Potter. I mean, I look just like my dad.” He rambled.

“Harry,” She held her hands up placatingly before taking a seat in the other unoccupied leather chair. “I absolutely understand that this is an incredibly confusing situation. Can I just show you something on your identification test really quickly?”

Harry nodded, not quite sure what sort of mess he’d gotten himself into when he’d left the Leaky that morning. Mariesa brandished the parchment with a flourish, making Harry twitch in an aborted effort to get away from it. She quickly pointed out with a well-manicured nail, the second line on the test. “Right here, it says Hadrian Cygnus Malfoy, but next to it, it shows what your name changed to Harry Potter in what is known as a Blood Adoption. Do you know what a Blood Adoption is?” When Harry shook his head, Mariesa continued to explain, “It is something that a lot of wizarding families do when they adopt a child. It consists of a specialized ritual where parents share their blood and magic with an orphaned child, so that they can become by all accounts a fully fledged member of their family. The ritual changes the child’s appearance, as they now share the blood of the adopting parents. Does that make sense?”

“So what you’re saying is that my parents just adopted me?”

“Exactly Harry. By all accounts, that is who you are. You are Harry Potter. But what Rokruff discovered today was that you have a second identity. Are you aware of the Malfoys’ lost child?” When Harry confirmed that he wasn’t aware, Mariesa smiled. “I didn’t think you would have. Roughly 13 years ago, the Malfoy family had twins, Draco and Hadrian Malfoy. However, when the children were only 3 months old, Hadrian was kidnapped from their home. We still have had no luck in finding out who took him and where he went." She gave him a pointed look when she finished the last statement.

"In recent years, the Malfoys have let the publicity surrounding the kidnapping fall, as I know they’ve lost a lot of hope that they would find him as he’s been missing for 13 years. Now I’m not sure how it came to be that the Potters adopted you, and I’m sure you’ll find in the next couple weeks there will be a full investigation, but by all accounts you are also Hadrian Cygnus Malfoy. Your birth parents are Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and your birth family has been desperately looking for you for years.”

Harry just sat there and processed some of that information. He couldn’t fully believe what they were saying. There’s no way he could biologically be related to Malfoy. He’s all snobby and pretentious. He’s more likely to be related to the Dursleys than for Harry to be related to either of them. And then it hit him. He wasn’t related to the Dursleys at all was he? He’s been puting up with people who he was only related to through adoption . 

“And that’s where I come in.” The witch in Auror robes stood forward. She had black wavy hair that curled just above her shoulders, and a few smile lines around her mouth. “Hello Harry, I’m the Auror that’s been assigned the Malfoy case. I’ve been working this case since you went missing 13 years ago. If you’re up for it, I’d like for us to head over to the DMLE so we can talk about this in a better environment. We’ll also need to arrange for the Malfoys to be notified. There’s a lot we need to deal with right now.” She turned to Rokruff, “Might we be able to use your floo sir? It would be best if we could floo directly from here instead of attracting any unwanted attention in Diagon.”

“Of course Auror Ferguson, right this way.” As he started to lead the group away, Healer Smurthwaite moved to help him stand up. 

“No, please I don’t want to go. Please, you don’t understand, they hate me, the malfoys. Why can’t we just pretend this never happened.” He covered his face with his hands.

Mariesa gave him a sad smile. “Harry, your family has been looking for you for 13 years. Can you imagine what that’s been like for them? All this time, you have to know what they’ve thought. They have had to entertain the idea that their child and brother were lost to them forever. I’m sure that whatever issues might have come up between all of you will be forgotten once they realize who you are.” Her words were only slightly reassuring to Harry. He wouldn’t be able to understand until he actually saw how the family reacted to him. “I will be with you the entire time. If you at all feel unsafe with them, then you just let me know and we can take a break and figure something out.”

Harry took a deep breath and then nodded his head. He let Healer Smurthwaite assist him to the floo, where they all promptly made their way to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Chapter Text

Lucius Malfoy considered himself to be a very powerful and capable wizard. Despite recently being forced off Hogwarts’ school of governors, he still had many connections within the ministry, and he often worked closely with the minister himself. 

However, despite all his power and connections, he had never been able to find his son or whoever was responsible for his disappearance. He had agonized over the loss of his child for years, and it had evidently damaged his relationship with his family. It was obvious that the relationship between him and Narcissa had grown cold, and his eldest son Draco had evidently felt the need to make up for the loss of his twin. Overall, he could feel the cracks in his family growing the longer they went without closure.

That was why on a sunny afternoon, Lucius sat in his office on the ground floor level of Malfoy Manor, feeling incapable. He had been casually looking through documents detailing the various investments in his accounts when the floo in his office dinged, indicating a call. He got up and let them through, and was shocked to find the face of Auror Whitlock staring back at him.

“Oh! Auror Whitlock! I wasn’t expecting to hear from you today.” He had corresponded with him before, as he regularly met with all of the aurors assigned to his son’s case.

“Yes Lord Malfoy. We actually have made some recent… discoveries regarding your son’s case. Would it be possible for you and Lady Malfoy to come into the department today as soon as possible?” His nervous manner of speaking caused Lucius’ nerves to spike.

“Of course. Let me notify her and we should be there within the hour.” With that Auror Whitlock disappeared along with the green flames.

Lucius found himself sinking to the floor as he clutched his hand to his chest. Every possibility flashed through his mind before the most possible one stuck. The only reason he could think of for the aurors to contact him so abruptly was that they had found his son. Or at least information regarding his whereabouts. An image of a cold lifeless body flashed through his head. He could barely remember what his son had looked like. It was almost comical how different the two boys had looked from each other. Draco had been a big baby, his ridiculously chubby cheeks had basically hidden his features for the first two months of his life before they finally emerged. His hair had been white blonde, which sharply contrasted from Hadrian’s pitch black hair. He had evidently inherited the Black family traits from Narcissa’s side of the family. He had also been a very small baby. His size had slightly alarmed the healer assigned to their birth, before they found him to be perfectly healthy, just in need of some nutrition potions to assist in his growth.

However, if anyone had taken the chance to really look at the two babies, they would find that it was quite clear they were related. The twins had both inherited their parents' sharp, aristocratic features, and they both had practically identical silver grey eyes.

He couldn’t bear the thought of arriving at the ministry and having to face the sight of his dead child. IF there even was a body to find. He had been missing for 13 years now and it was incredibly likely that they were just notifying him that they found those responsible for his death. Or maybe they had found the corpse of an infant. 

So many possibilities were crashing through his head that he didn’t notice the door to his office creaking open. Draco stepped through the doors carrying a stack of papers, but he froze when he took in the sight of his father sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace.

“Father?” He asked in a timid voice.

Lucius startled and his eyes whipped up to find his son’s face. “D-Draco. Sorry I just got a call from the auror’s department.” He picked himself up off the floor. “Would you fetch your mother for me?”

Draco set down the papers he had brought in, before turning from the room and practically running across the manor to the parlor his mother was currently taking tea in.

Lucius attempted to recompose himself before his wife could see the state he was in. Despite his attempts though, Narcissa’s eyes widened in fear once she reached his office and took in his appearance. He knew he must look a right mess, what with his red rimmed eyes and paler than normal skin.

“Auror Whitlock floo called. He wants us to meet him at the ministry.” He informed her in a grave voice. With a quick nod of her head, she took Lucius’ arm and together they apparated to the Ministry’s entrance.

After checking into the ministry, Lucius and his wife quickly made their way to the DMLE. Narcissa was gripping Lucius’ hand so tightly that her knuckles were white, and Lucius was gracious enough not to say anything about it. They knew the way to Auror Whitlock’s office by heart now, and soon enough they were standing outside of it knocking politely.

Whitlock’s face was flushed when he finally answered the door and led the Malfoys to a couple of chairs in his office. He sat down opposite them at a sturdy wooden desk and he clasped his hands in front of him before he spoke. “Well, Lord and Lady Malfoy, I do have some news to share with you today, but before we get to any of that I would like to ask you a couple questions.”

“Yes, whatever you need us to answer. Is this about Hadrian?” Narcissa’s voice was shaky when she asked.

“I can’t answer any questions right now ma’am,” the auror shook his head. “Before I tell you anything I need you to share whatever you can regarding these questions.” He quickly withdrew a stack of parchment from one of the drawers in his desk. “Now, what was your relationship like with James and Lily Potter prior to their death in 1981?”

Lucius was taken aback. Why would the aurors need to know anything about that? Narcissa looked just as shocked as he did when he turned to look at her while she answered the question. “We didn’t really know them. I know that I personally had very little interaction with them as they were a couple years below us in school. My cousin Sirius knew them though. He practically declared himself a Potter when he ran away from home.” She answered as honestly as she could.

Lucius nodded in agreement. “I too had very little interaction with them. My parents did know Fleamont and Euphemia Potter though. They invited them to a couple Malfoy family events, but their son never participated.”

Auror Whitlock hummed and nodded his head. “So you never interacted or met with them any time around July of 1980?”

At that question Lucius narrowed his eyes. “Of course not, we had two one-month olds, and then Hadrian went missing so we wouldn’t have had time for frivolous things like social visits.” His voice had taken on an icy tone. “ What does this have to do with our son?” He practically demanded.

Whitlock gulped, and Narcissa didn’t blame him. Lucius was a frightening figure when he was mad. “Well, we received notice this morning from Gringotts that a child had entered and had a need for an identification test. It seems that when they administered the test, it revealed his name to be Hadrian Cygnus Malfoy.”

Narcissa felt her heart stop. When she turned to Lucius his face was incredibly pale, and he started to speak, “He-” he took a deep raggedy breath, “He’s alive?” She recognized the look of hope that she hadn’t seen since the first few months after their son had vanished. She raised a shaky hand to wipe the tear that had escaped his eye.

The auror didn’t grace the Lord’s question with a verbal answer, but simply nodded. “The Gringotts identification test is one of the strongest, most accurate tests of the sort, and the potionmakers that they employ are the most reliable. Your son is alive.”

Narcissa finally let the sob that had been trapped in her chest for over 13 years let loose. She turned and buried her face in her husband’s neck. Lucius simply held her while he turned his face skyward and started muttering out praises to the old gods. The ones he had assumed turned their backs on him and his family.

After a couple minutes had passed, Narcissa finally got the courage to ask the question weighing on her heart. “Where has he been?” Her voice cracked as a couple more tears escaped from her.

“That is where things get a little bit complicated. It turns out that your son had been blood adopted by another couple, and has been living under the assumption that he was their natural born child for the entirety of his life.”

“Blood adopted? Someone kidnapped my son just to adopt him?” Narcissa was truly puzzled. Who could have done this to her family?

“We’re not quite sure that the ones who adopted him kidnapped him. When we looked over his adoption records, it indicates that they had assumed him to be the son of a witch named Agatha Brunswick and a muggle named Theodore Pence. They had both been killed by followers of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named during a raid in June 1980. However, when we dig deeper into our records we cannot find any evidence of the couple having any children. We also noticed a lack of identification testing for your son before the blood adoption took place. It is evident that whoever was in charge of this adoption failed to follow the proper procedures.”

Lucius was furious to say the least. “If you’re not sure whether they kidnapped him or not, why don’t you just administer veritaserum and ask them? I’m sure you have them detained already.” He raised an eyebrow at the auror as if he dared him to disagree with him.

“Well… that’s where this gets difficult. His adoptive parents died a little over a year after they adopted him, and he has been living with the mother’s muggle relatives since.”

Narcissa seethed. “OUR SON RAISED BY MUGGLES!” She practically screeched. “That’s it! I demand you take us to Hadrian right this minute.”

Before the situation could escalate any further, a polite knock came from the door. When the door opened, a kind looking woman dressed in black robes, with honey blonde hair stepped into the room.

“I can see that I’ve come at just the right minute.” She offered a slight smile. “My name is Mariesa Edwards, and I am a caseworker with the department of child welfare. I’ve just come from being with your child, and as of right now he is perfectly fine, nothing that is urgent that we need to address right now. I just wanted to talk with you two before we reintroduce everyone. Does that sound alright?”

“So he’s ok? He’s healthy?” Narcissa needed to assuage her fears.

“As far as he looks right now he is healthy, but he did have a bit of a shock when he learned the news. He’s sitting with Auror Ferguson as we speak.” Narcissa breathed a sigh of relief. Mariesa turned to Auror Whitlock, “Have you had a chance to explain everything to them yet?”

“Everything except for Hadrian’s adopted identity.”

“Ahh then I should probably take control of the conversation from here.” She turned back to the Malfoys. “I need you both to try your best to stay as calm as possible right now. Your son has had a very big shock, and this is a very difficult situation for him right now. He’s been told his whole life that he was one person, only for his whole life to turn upside down. He’s very confused and frankly very frightened.” She gave them a pointed look. “I understand that this is an equally emotional time for you and your family, but I would like to remind you that you are adults, and I would like to warn you that staying calm and collected during this time is crucial to the safe and happy readjustment for your son.

“He has been going by a different name for these thirteen years he’s been separated from you, and I would caution you both to try your best and call him by it until he feels comfortable enough to allow you to call him by his birth name.”

“Yes, anything for him,” Narcissa reassured the surprisingly collected caseworker.

“You have actually met him before, that is another one of the reasons that he is so frightened and shocked. It would seem that he was adopted by James and Lily Potter and has been going by the name of Harry Potter.” She casually dropped the bombshell of information.

Narcissa let out a strangled sound and Lucius furrowed his brow. “Are you certain?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” Mariesa answered simply.

She let the couple take a moment to collect themselves. “I can only imagine how hard this is for him then. Our interactions last year were unsavory at best.” Lucius whispered. A fresh wave of tears threatened to show themselves, so he turned from the group to stare into the corner.

“Oh my baby,” Narcissa sobbed. She turned to Mariesa, “Can we see him? Please?”

Chapter Text

This was probably the most chaotic and confusing day that Harry had ever had in his entire life. It was a close competitor with the day that Hagrid had come to whisk him away to the wizarding world, but even then Harry hadn’t been quite this gobsmacked. He’d basically just found out that his entire identity was a lie. 

After flooing to the DMLE, Harry was quickly ushered into what appeared to be a small conference room. There was one big table that stretched the length of the room. Somewhere around eight wooden chairs were gathered around the table. Harry’s little group took up residence at the far end of the table, with Auror Ferguson sitting at the head.

Eventually they had all settled enough for the auror to begin asking him a couple questions. “Alright Harry, I know it’s been a really big day for you so far, but if you could answer a couple questions for me it would probably be best. Don’t stress too much about your answers, okay?” She gave him a reassuring smile before looking down at the parchment in front of her.

“Who are your current guardians?”

“I live with my muggle relatives.” He answered very simply and to the point, not too keen to spend time thinking about the Dursleys. When he looked up, he realized that Auror Ferguson was waiting for him to expand on his original statement. “It’s Petunia and Vernon Dursley, my aunt and uncle. I also live with my cousin Dudley.”

She hummed while she wrote quickly with a self-inking quill. “And what of your magical guardian?”

“Well, that was one of the things I just found out about today. Rokruff told me I was supposed to have one, but as far as I know I’ve never met them.”\

Ferguson’s eyebrows furrowed together and her face fell into a frown. “That can’t be right.” Quickly she moved the paper at the top of her stack to the side and began shuffling through the rest of her stack. “Ah right here!” she exclaimed when she found the right one. “Yes it looks like the ministry has it on record that Albus Dumbledore is your magical guardian.” She smiled at him like she had just solved the whole problem.

Harry was taken aback. The headmaster was his magical guardian? There was absolutely no way that could be correct. “Ma’am, the records have to be wrong. I only met Professor Dumbledore for the first time when I arrived at Hogwarts for my first year.”

If Auror Ferguson’s eyebrows could have risen any higher, they probably would have floated off her face. In the wake of this obviously shocking news, Mariesa interjected herself into the conversation. “You’re sure Harry? I know that on our records, we have it on record that Professor Dumbledore has signed off on welfare checks for you. It’s required for all magical children that are taken in by muggles that aren’t their biological parents, and I saw the signatures myself when I skimmed through your file before we met you at Gringotts.”

Harry suddenly felt very uncomfortable with the line of questioning. “Er, well if he really is my magical guardian maybe he was just checking on me without me knowing. Quick little visits since he’s so busy with being headmaster of Hogwarts.” He squirmed in his chair. There was no way that Dumbledore had been checking on him. He would have noticed the eccentric wizard wearing lime green and fuschia robes watching him. But obviously Dumbledore must have had a good reason for not physically visiting him. Maybe it had something to do with those blood ward things he had told him about?

“I’m just going to make a note about it to investigate later. Don’t worry Harry, you are absolutely not in trouble. If Albus Dumbledore didn’t have time to properly fulfill his duties, then he should have delegated them to someone else. You should have been his priority.” Mariesa reached out and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

Harry just averted his gaze to his lap. He was definitely uncomfortable. He’d never been told that he should be someone’s priority and he didn’t really know how to feel. His chest burned but he couldn’t tell if it was comforting or a result of his embarrassment at being the center of attention.

Ferguson cleared her throat. “Well, obviously we will need to investigate this further. Although I’m sure you’re right that this is just a misunderstanding. I mean, it’s Albus Dumbledore,” she chuckled lightly before abruptly stopping with a slight cough. Harry just barely caught the slight glare that Mariesa was giving her before it slipped back into an expression of impartiality.

“Well, Harry, I also wanted to ask you about your relatives. What do your aunt and uncle ever tell you about your parents? Have they ever hinted to them not being your biological parents?”

Harry grew very uncomfortable again. He fidgeted and picked at a fraying thread from his pants while answering, “They don’t really talk much about my parents. They’re not the biggest fans of magic, so they avoided the topic of it all my life. I mean they didn’t even tell me about magic and I had to learn that I was a wizard from Hagrid when he came to give me my Hogwarts letter.”

“I see,” Auror Ferguson was furiously taking notes. She stopped to check something on another of her plentiful papers before continuing. “Do they still reside at Number 4 Privet Drive? We’ll have to send out a pair of aurors to question them as we can’t bring them into the ministry.”

Harry’s eyes bulged out of his head. “Oh you really shouldn’t do that. When I said that they’re not fans of magic I meant they really really don’t like magic. I think they’d have a fit if the aurors ever showed up at their door.”

Auror Ferguson frowned before adding another note to her paper. “Nonetheless this is a criminal investigation, so they will need to be questioned one way or another. I have made a note to include a muggle liaison on their team so that the questioning can go as smoothly as possible.”

Finally she sat back and clasped her hands together. “Well Harry, that’s all the questions I can think of right now, but I think it would be good if we talk a little about the situation we’re in right now.” Harry sighed at that. He was really getting tired of this whole situation and he currently just wanted to sleep for a thousand years.

“What do you know about the Malfoys?” She asked with an understanding smile on her face.

“I’ve met Draco Malfoy at school, and I also talked with Mr. Malfoy a couple times last year. He was at Hogwarts for the board of governors. I know that they’re rich and that Draco is all snobbish so I figured they’re probably posh.”

Ferguson nodded her head and even let out a poorly concealed snort. “Well, posh is definitely one way to put it. They’re one of the most influential families in Wizarding Britain. Lucius Malfoy has a couple seats on the Wizenagamot, and he regularly acts in public. His official title is that of Lord, so his voice and opinions have a lot of sway.” She stated it all in a very matter-of-fact tone.

“Have you heard about the kidnapping of their son before?” She followed up.

“No, I thought Draco was an only child.” Harry’s cheeks burned as he realized that he was actually Draco’s twin brother. Merlin, that was going to be weird to get used to. “Wait, I just realized. Am I going to have to change my last name to Malfoy?” Suddenly horrified.

Mariesa jumped in again, “Well, it’s not so much of changing your name, but going back to what it used to be. You can still go by Harry if you want, you don’t need to change what makes you comfortable for the convenience of others. There’s not really a whole lot of reason as to why you shouldn’t change your last name though. It’s who you truly are, and the earlier we start easing you into that transition, the easier it’s probably going to be on you.”

Harry tried to stop and actually take that in. For the first time that day, he realized that his life was probably going to change a whole lot from this moment on. Previously, the biggest thing that had concerned him was that his identity had changed, but he hadn’t had the time to stop and think of all the possibilities that awaited him. He had parents that were still alive. That thought quickly stopped him in his tracks, and it dragged up old suppressed memories of a little boy sitting in a cramped cupboard and crying for someone, anyone , to come save him. He had imagined a nice man and woman with warm smiles opening the door to the cupboard and holding their arms out for him to run into. He imagined a kind woman who would hold him while he cried just like Aunt Petunia did for Dudley but never for him.

His line of thought made his heart clench painfully, but he had to stop himself from getting his hopes up too much. Who knew what the Malfoys would be like. He had no way of knowing if they would be any different from Dursleys, and there was always the possibility that he would be swapping one hell out for another.

Coming to the conclusion that he just wouldn’t know until he actually met them, he clenched his jaw and stared up at the auror. “So what happens now?”

She looked like she had been expecting that question. “Well, we’ve already notified Lord and Lady Malfoy, and they’re currently talking with one of the other aurors that has been assigned your case. I know that they’re going to want to reunite with you as soon as possible. Is that something that you would feel comfortable and ready for?” Auror Ferguson looked pointedly at Healer Smurthwaite who had been completely silent up until this point.

Harry nodded his head. He was feeling significantly better and much more present in his mind than he had felt when the Healer had been originally called. Just to be sure though, he could see the Healer repeating the wand motion he had performed earlier on the teenaged wizard. 

“It looks like he has recovered from the worst of his shock symptoms, and he should be alright. However, I am going to recommend that you eat foods easy on the stomach for the rest of the day and drink plenty of water.” He smiled at him one last time. “I also noticed just a couple irregularities in your nutrition and general health.” He turned to Mariesa and Auror Ferguson, “I would like for you to recommend to Lord and Lady Malfoy that they take Harry for an in-depth health check-up once they have settled.” With those last words, Healer Smurthwaite said his goodbyes and ducked out of the room.

“What happens after?” Harry asked quietly with his head bowed to stare at his hands in his lap.

“What do you mean Harry?” Mariesa asked. 

He huffed inaudibly. “I mean after I meet the Malfoys what happens?”

Auror Ferguson and Mariesa shared a look while Harry couldn’t see. “Harry, your relatives in Surrey will have their guardianship over you revoked, as your adoption by the Potters was illegal despite the possiblity of them not knowing you were the Malfoy child. Your biological parents will take over that guardianship again.” Maries tried to make her voice as soothing as possible.

“So I’ll have to live with them then? I won’t go back to Privet Drive?”

Mariesa must have mistaken his excitement for sadness as she attempted to reassure him. “I’m sure that the Malfoys will let you visit with the Dursleys, granted that they prove innocent of any criminal wrongdoing or participation in your kidnapping. I don’t know them personally, but I know that they care for you and they wouldn’t be so cruel as to completely rip you away from the family you’ve had for the last twelve years.” With that, Mariesa stood up.

“If you’re feeling ready, I can go fetch the Malfoys.” She looked at him patiently.

Once he nodded his assent, Mariesa strode out of the room.

Auror Ferguson attempted to make small talk with the boy, but soon realized that it was futile as Harry was lost in thought. Harry just couldn’t get over the fact that he wouldn’t have to live with the Dursleys again. Granted, he was pretty sure that he was trading one evil for another, but Draco was a pretty spoiled kid, and he had noticed that most families liked to treat their biological children pretty well. Maybe their blood connection would be enough for them to treat Harry nicely. He would happily do all the chores in their likely gigantic mansion if that meant he could experience what it was like to truly be a part of a loving family.

Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the door being opened until he heard his name being called.

“Had-Harry,” the voice that called out to him was female, and filled with so much love and hope that it was practically tangible. He looked up and was met with the sight of his parents.

Chapter Text

Narcissa felt a lump form in her throat when she finally got a good look at her son. It was at this moment that the fact she had missed the first thirteen years of his life finally hit her. He was so grown up now, yet still so small. He was easily two or three inches shorter than Draco, despite them being twins. Seeing him sitting there looking so apprehensive made everything come rushing to her. Her son was Harry Potter. He had survived the killing curse, and her family had followed the man that had done that to him. 

Sometimes she truly wondered what could have happened to the dark lord to cause him to attack a child. All of his words and beliefs about advocating for and protecting magical children, and he had thrown it all away to attack a child he had once fought to protect. She praised whatever gods had protected her son during that time. Maybe they had been looking after him after all.

Returning to the present, Narcissa slowly inched her way over to where Hadria- Harry, she corrected herself, sat. He looked up at her with an obviously uneasy expression. Oh her poor baby. It absolutely broke her heart to have her own son look at her like that. In that moment, she vowed to herself that she would mend their relationship so that he never felt uneasy with her presence there.

“Hi,” he said in a quiet voice. 

Narcissa smiled at him, and Lucius squeezed her shoulder where his hand rested. “Can we sit?” She asked, gesturing to the chairs to Harry’s right.

Harry snorted, “sure, they’re not my chairs.”

Looking at Lucius with a worried look, the pair gingerly settled themselves into the chairs. Suddenly Lucius spoke up, “Harry, I just wanted to sincerely apologize for my actions and words towards you.” He lurched forward in his chair, attempting to reach out and touch his son, grab his hand, but Harry suddenly flinched back. Feeling sick at how he’d reacted, Lucius continued. “I wasn’t proper in my actions towards you and I can see how they would have hurt you. I also want you to know that I had been considering apologizing to you before I had even known that you were my son. In truth, I had been under the influence of some soul magic that my healer and I have been looking for the source of and…” he stopped himself. “I’m sorry that has nothing to do with my apology to you.”

He finally took a moment to analyze Harry and saw a look of shock on his face. “I- … It’s ok. If you’re telling the truth about the magic influencing you then it wasn’t your fault.” He had averted his gaze again, staring at his own hands resting in his lap.a

Suddenly Narcissa couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Would it be alright with you if I hugged you? Please?’

Wide eyes stared back up at her, before Harry hesitantly nodded. She rushed forward before he could change his mind and gathered up her long lost son in a crushing hug. He didn’t respond to her, staying stiff in her arms, but she could have cared less. She was finally holding her son, the one who had shared her womb with Draco and whom she had loved and cared for for two months before he had been ripped from her arms. She wouldn’t let anyone take him from her ever again, and she made sure Harry knew it.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed, and was aware that he could probably feel the hot tears racing down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry you had to grow up without us. I’m never letting anyone take you from us again.”

Harry didn’t quite know what to do with the woman, his mother, hugging him. He had received a couple hugs from Ron and Hermione, but no one had ever hugged him like this before. So full of love and warmth, he could almost cry from the feeling. This felt like a proper hug, the kind that he had seen Petunia give Dudley that he had coveted so much growing up. The only form of physical affection he had received had been from Mrs. Figg and her cats. She had often given him hugs that had smelled an awful lot like mothballs, and she had had one scraggly, old cat, Mr. Squiggles, that had been particularly fond of cuddling with him.

This was so much more different, and he found himself slowly relaxing into the embrace. Eventually though, after a minute or two, Narcissa pulled back from the embrace. Her eyes were glistening and so was her smile. It made him feel warm to be looked at like that. Like he was someone’s whole world.

A cough beside Narcissa broke the moment, and when he looked at Lucius, he held his arms open and his gaze had settled on him with a question in his eyes. At Harry’s nod he found himself in an entirely different kind of embrace. Not that it wasn’t as wonderful as being hugged by his mother. Hugging Lucius made him feel protected. Like the room around him could explode, but he would be fine, nothing could touch him. 

The hug with his father lasted a much shorter amount of time than the one with his mother had, and when the both pulled away, Harry knew his cheeks were rosy with a blush. He hadn’t let himself surrender to his emotions like that in a while. 

All of a sudden he was very aware of the other people in the room with them. He looked up and Mariesa was gazing at the reunited family with a fond smile. She was leaning against the wall a little ways away with her arms crossed over her chest. When she saw Harry look at her, she stepped away from the wall and took a seat in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table.

“How are you doing right now Harry?” Mariesa queried.

“I guess I’m alright. I’m still in a bit of shock. This is definitely not the way I saw the day going. I mean I was just trying to pull money from my vault so I could buy something at the apothecary and then all of a sudden I’m a whole different person.” He laughed bitterly and ran a hand through his untamed mop of curls.

“Harry, you’re allowed to feel as shocked as you want. This is a very emotionally taxing process, and I want you to know that whatever you’re feeling is completely normal.”

Harry just rubbed the back of his neck, always having been uncomfortable with talking about feelings. He’d always thought that was girl stuff.

“Do you have any questions?” Mariesa asked patiently.

He thought about it for a second. “Actually, this whole time everyone’s been saying I was kidnapped. How did that happen? I didn’t even know that kidnappings ever happened in the magical world. Seems like magic could just solve it.”

Narcissa and Lucius looked like he’d just kicked them with that last question. Mariesa just ignored their expressions and turned to them. “Would you like to explain or should I?”

Narcissa spoke up, “I can explain. It makes sense you wouldn’t know if you had been raised in the muggle world.” She breathed deeply and sat up straighter than Harry had ever seen anyone do before. “You were taken from our family on July 23rd 1980. You and Draco had been born only a little over a month and a half before, and Lucius’s father, Abraxas, had offered to babysit for us so we could have a date night. Taking care of one newborn baby was hard enough, but we’d had to manage with two and we were just about at our wits end.” She laughed wryly, sharing a look with her husband. “I would have taken a million more sleepless nights with you two if it had meant you hadn’t been taken from us that night.

“We had only been out for two hours before Lucius was alerted to the wards on our home breaking. We rushed home as fast as we could, but by the time we had gotten back home, you were already gone. Lucius found your grandfather completely passed out in the foyer, and we frantically searched the house for you or Draco. You had both vanished and we called the aurors. We did eventually find Draco three hours later. Our house elf Dobby had managed to grab him and apparate him away but he told us that you had been grabbed by the ‘dark grey wizardzes’ before he could get to you. He was absolutely wrecked about it, and unfortunately we didn’t do our duty in ensuring he was properly taken care of because a few months later he started suffering from delusions that made him start harming himself. When your grandfather was roused, he told us he had been attacked from behind and he never saw the people that took you. He died only a few months later from the after-effects of the curse they had inflicted on him.”

In the time it took Narcissa to tell the story, she had started crying again, and Lucius was rubbing her back. He looked particularly torn up when she mentioned the death of his father.

Auror Ferguson spoke up then. “Our current theory is that whoever kidnapped you meant to take Draco as well, but were thwarted by the Malfoys’ loyal house elf. We still have no idea why they took you, other than to cause harm to your father who is a prominent member in our society with a lot of political power. However, they never sent any sort of ransom note or demand for money, so it isn’t a very strong theory. Hopefully with your recovery we can find out for sure.” 

“Oh” Harry simply said. He didn’t know what to think about all that. “I don’t know if I’ll be much help ma’am. I can’t think of any reason either, and it’s not like I’ve been chained up in someone’s basement this whole time.” A brief thought of the locks turning on his small cupboard flashed through his mind before he pushed the image away.

“That’s alright Harry. I didn’t expect you to know anything. With Dumbledore looking out for you I’m sure you’ve been well protected all this time.” 

Lucius whipped his head up at that statement. “What do you mean Dumbledore?”

The auror looked surprised and she flushed at what she realized she had just given away. “Dumbledore has been watching over Harry as his magical guardian since his parents passed and his guardianship was given to Lily Potter’s muggle sister.”

Mariesa quickly interrupted. “We actually don’t know for sure if Dumbledore has actually been fulfilling his duty as Harry’s magical guardian, but I’ve already made a note to investigate as soon as possible. I want to make sure Harry gets settled with you first.”

Harry suddenly realized that he would have to leave with the Malfoys soon. The more he thought about it, he realized it didn’t quite bother him like it had before. They had hugged him with so much love that he had doubts about them mistreating him. He would never truly know until he was alone with them though. He did have one thought that plagued him though.

“Does Draco know yet? I’m not sure anything is going to truly settle with us being under the same roof,” he attempted to say the statement with humor, but Lucius and Narcissa looked slightly pained at the statement.

“You don’t need to worry about him dear. We’ll have a good long talk with him, but I think that when we reveal to him that you’re his brother, he’ll have second thoughts about your childhood rivalry.”

Mariesa took the opportunity to get the ball moving towards Harry’s relocation to Malfoy Manor. “I think that the sooner the better. Do you think you two could talk with him before we get Harry settled? In the meantime we can go with Harry to collect some of his belongings from his relatives.”

Harry quickly spoke up, “Actually, my things are at the Leaky Cauldron. I’ve been staying there since my relatives kicked me out for the summer.” At the shocked looks of all the adults in the room, Harry quickly amended, “I mean, not really kicked out, cause the minister said I had to go back next summer, but I performed some accidental magic and it made them mad. I blew up my uncle’s sister.” He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

Mariesa was the first one to speak up. “You’ve been staying by yourself? At the Leaky Cauldron? And the minister for magic knows?” She looked as if the statements she was making were incredulous. “Of all the things, he lets an underage 13 year old wizard stay by themselves.” She muttered a couple curses under her breath.

“It’s not a big deal. I can take care of myself,” Harry huffed, crossing his arms and slumping down in his chair.

Lucius and Narcissa looked at each other quite nervously. The room stayed quiet for quite a while before Mariesa stood up. “Nevertheless, we’ll need to collect your belongings from the Leaky and cancel the rest of your stay.” She turned to look at the Malfoy couple expectantly.

Narcissa’s face looked pained at the thought of leaving Harry alone again, and this caused her husband to speak up. “I’ll floo ahead and sit down with Draco. Narcissa dear, you go with Harry to collect his things.” Her face was immediately relieved and she hugged her husband.

After he left, Mariesa and Narcissa both bracketed his sides as they led him out of the DMLE and towards the floos to make their way back to Diagon Alley.

Chapter Text

Lucius shivered in anticipation as he stepped through the floo into Malfoy Manor. He couldnt’ wait to share the good news with his son, but he also couldn’t help but be worried about Draco’s reaction to the news. He would obviously feel the excitement that he and Narcissa and he had felt when they had found out their missing child was not dead, but was very much alive and famous for being so.

No, Lucius was worried about the relationship between Draco and their missing child. The relationship between Draco and his missing twin was a delicate and sore topic for him. Lucius could see how hard it was for his son to grow up in a home where he was constantly overshadowed by the memory of Hadrian. Every birthday, special event, and holiday the Malfoy family felt the missing presence of one of their own. Draco never really had a special moment because in the back of everyone’s mind, they knew that Hadrian should have been there to share it with him. From what Lucius understands about typical twin relationships, there is some mild animosity about having to share everything with each other, but it seemed that that dynamic had flipped on Draco, as his relationship with his parents and himself was damaged by the absence of his twin brother.

On the other hand, Draco had a terrible relationship and rivalry with Harry Potter, who coincidentally happened to also be his long lost twin brother. Lucius didn’t know what to expect from Draco after the reveal of his brother’s identity. Would he be able to overcome his previous feelings of hatred and animosity in order to build a relationship he had longed for all his life? That was the real question running through Lucius’ head when he was pulled out of his thoughts by a shout.

“Father!” came the voice of Draco as he sped from whatever room he had occupied before. The floo in his office must have chimed when he was let through. He looked up to see Draco burst into the room, his sleek blonde hair in an unkempt mess atop his head. “What happened? Is everything ok? Have they found any information about Hadrian?” Draco continued to ask questions a mile a minute while his father led him over to one of the armchairs occupying his spacious office. 

“Draco, please just take a second to breathe,” Lucius attempted to calm down his son before bombarding him with information.

It was evident that Draco was struggling with following the orders of his father, as he shut his mouth and took a deep breath, but was physically vibrating with anticipation. However, despite his anticipation, he managed to control himself while he waited for his father to answer.

“Alright Draco, I’m going to explain, but I need you to promise me that you will attempt to remain calm while I explain everything that happened when your mother and I left.

Draco took that moment to finally recognize the absence of his mother. “Wait, where’s mother?”

Lucius held up his hand. “Let me explain,” he took a deep breath before delving into the news. “We were called to the DMLE because the aurors assigned to Hadrian’s case found some new information. They wanted to question us, but when they finished, they revealed to your mother and I that they had found him. They found Hadrian.” He looked at his son apprehensively.

Draco’s face seemed to switch from emotion to emotion before settling on a look of hesitance. “Alive. They found him alive right?” Lucius’ heart broke at the look of hopelessness on his son’s face.

“Yes Draco, he’s alive.” He was incredibly happy to watch the sad look morph into one of relief and happiness before preparing himself for the barrage of questions.

“Where is he? Where has he been? Who took him? Is he alright?” He seemed to stop himself after the last question, remembering his father’s request.

“He’s perfectly fine for now. We didn’t have much time to discuss his life with him, but it seems he was blood adopted into another wizarding family, but raised by muggle relatives after his adoptive parents passed away.”

Draco’s face briefly morphed into a look of disgust at the mention of muggles, but he remained silent. “His mother is actually helping him gather his belongings right now, and they should be on their way here soon.” Draco’s face brightened, but he faltered.

“Well, where has he been all this time then? What school did he go to? Was he at hogwarts?”

And there it was. The million dollar question. Lucius seemed to hesitate. Was Draco truly capable of handling that information? Doubt rolled through Lucius’ mind, before he came to the conclusion that he’d have to tell him eventually, and his brother would be here within an hour or two.

“You do know him, Draco, we’ve actually both met him. He attends Hogwarts.” Draco looked pensive as he likely listed out all the boys his age who attended Hogwarts. Lucius spoke up again before his son’s head burst with all the curiosity. “He was adopted by Lily and James Potter. He’s Harry Potter, son.” Lucius tried to say the explosive news to him in a gentle manner.

It evidently didn’t help as Draco’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. He let out a singular laugh before exploding in a mess of giggles. Once they stopped, he wiped his eyes and addressed his father. “That was a good one, dad. That’s hilarious, but seriously who is he?” He met his father’s eyes, and mortification rushed through his body at the sight of his father’s grim face. “No, Dad. That can’t be right. He’s so, so, ugh he’s such a Gryffindor.” 

Lucius sighed, “It is. Harry is your brother. It was verified by the Goblins and you know how airtight their identification processes are.” He sat back and let his son process the information. He could see the conflicting emotions warring with each other while he thought about the new information.

Finally, an emotion settled on Draco’s face that hurt his father to see. Sadness, and hopelessness. “He hates me father. How are we going to be brothers?”

“I know your relationship has been… less than stellar in the past. Even my own relationship with him was an unsteady and malicious one. However, I took the time to talk with and apologize to him. He was very understanding, and while I am sure we will need to build our relationships with him, that doesn’t mean we can’t have one. I am sure you will be the same. Children, siblings especially, always fight with each other. While yours was much more antagonistic than usual, I am sure that you can come to have a good relationship with him.” 

He leveled his son with a much more serious look. “However, I need you to tone back your efforts at reparations until he is more settled into our family. This is a very shocking and difficult process for him. Your mother and I have already spoken with his caseworker and the DCF, and she has given us a couple pointers to help smooth over this transition. We will continue to call him by Harry until he lets us know he is comfortable enough to change to Hadrian. His entire identity is in a state of crisis right now, and we need to be careful to not weigh too much on him.” He took his son's hands and leaned in to look him in the eye. “I want you to be as kind and patient with him as possible. He was raised by muggles, something that the wizarding world was not aware of. This explains the way he slighted you and our family when you first met. He is unaware of pureblood wizarding customs, and so we need to teach him and have patience. Give him space and support. You are his older brother and I expect you to act like it.

Draco rolled his eyes at the reminder of his age. He was the Malfoy heir after all, but he thought it a bit ridiculous that so much more responsibility was laid on his shoulders just because he was 15 minutes older than his twin brother. He did, however, understand the gravity of the information his father had just shared with him. His heart lighted at the reminder of his ignorance to wizarding customs. Hopefully that meant he and Harry could grow to be true friends. It would break his heart if he got his brother back, only to be kept at a distance forever more.

“I understand father. I will behave myself.” He did have a couple worries. “How have his muggle relatives taken the news? Are they going to let us take Harry back into our family without issue?”

Lucius sighed. Draco never failed to ask the difficult questions. “That’s where things get a bit complicated. Yes we have every right to resume our guardianship of Hadrian, but Mariesa, that’s the caseworker I mentioned, has advised us to incorporate Harry’s adoptive family into his life. Only if they’re cleared by the aurors of course. We need to make sure they had no part in his kidnapping first. However, the current theories the aurors hold are that the Potter’s had no idea that the child they were adopting was kidnapped. While they investigate though, Harry will not have access to his muggle relatives until they are cleared. As a family, we will all have to work on our own muggle prejudices so we don’t offend Harry and the family that raised him up until this point.”

Draco took a deep breath and then nodded. He could do this. He wasn’t quite sure how his relationship with his twin brother would work out in the end, but he was damn sure that he was going to try his best. “I’ll need to apologize for my behavior first thing. When did you say that mother would be making her way here?” 

Lucius straightened and quickly drew his wand to cast a tempus. “Your mother said they would only be taking an hour at most. Harry had been staying at the Leaky Cauldron due to recent events, so he only had his trunk and owl to collect.”

Draco fidgeted, and then looked at his father again. “Should we go make sure that his room is ready for him?” He looked so unsure of himself, and it made Lucius’ heart break a little. 

They were currently lucky enough that they had set aside a room in the family wing of the manor in case their son ever came home. He had never had the chance of having his own room, as he and Draco had still been sharing the nursery when he was kidnapped, but Narcissa had made it her mission to act as if their son would be coming home. They had set aside the room across from Draco’s, that was down the hall from the master bedroom. Every couple of years, Lucius would find Narcissa updating the room. Changing the linens and furniture so that it would reflect what was appropriate for what Hadrian’s current age would be. He had also found Narcissa in Hadrian’s room too many times to count. On particularly hard days she would sit on his bed and cradle one of his baby blankets to her chest.

Addressing Draco’s question, he nodded, and the pair made their way up the stairs and past the doors to the family wing. He watched Draco hesitate in front of the door, so he reached around him and grasped the doorknob. Once the door swung open, the room was revealed to them, and Lucius was a little shocked at the state of it. There was a thick layer of dust on every surface possible (Narcissa refused to let the house-elves into the room, as she had taken on its upkeep as a bit of a personal proeject). With a couple flicks of his wand, Lucius cleared the room of all its dust, while Draco stripped back the sheets on the bed. Together, they bundled up the stale smelling fabric, and sent it through the chute down to the laundry room. Lucius summoned a new, clean set of linens, and he and his son took up the task of remaking the bed. 

Throughout the entire process, Lucius couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. He just couldn’t believe that he was actually preparing for his son to come home. This wasn’t just a hopeful attempt at being prepared for the return of his second child, but he was completing the task with the foreknowledge that Narcissa would walk through the door with their son at any moment. 

The pair was just finishing making the finishing touches on the room, Draco was cracking open the window to help air out the staleness of the room, when they heard the chime of the floo in the entrance hall go off. They looked at each other, Lucius with excitement and Draco with apprehensiveness, and quickly but neatly making their way down the stairs.

Chapter Text

Harry almost stopped breathing when he stepped through the floo in the Leaky Cauldron and stumbled into the foyer of Malfoy Manor. The entire space just screamed opulence and wealth. The ceilings were incredibly high, and there were gorgeous chandeliers and lights spread throughout the hallway. Harry cringed a little at seeing how large the space was. He just knew that cleaning and polishing the floors would take him the entire day. But he did remember Dobby mentioned that the Malfoys had a couple house elves, and he breathed a sigh of relief that he’d at least have a small amount of help if that’s what the Malfoy family decided they would require of him to allow him to stay with them.

His thoughts were interrupted by Narcissa and Mariesa gracefully stepped through the floo behind him. He quickly moved out of their way, and Narcissa smiled at him again. It was almost getting creepy how much attention she was giving him. He was used to attention from people when he went out into wizarding spaces and in the halls of Hogwarts, but this attention was very different. He knew that there were a lot of feelings that Narcissa likely wanted him to reciprocate, but Harry knew it would take a lot of time before he remotely thought of her as his mother. Maybe never. 

His thoughts were shuffled to the side, however, when the sound of footsteps coming from the opposite side of the hall, interrupted them. He looked up to see his father breaking out into a smile when he saw him. However, what truly grabbed his attention was the sight of Draco Malfoy at his side. Merlin , that’s his brother. His mind immediately thought of Fred and George and the way that they interacted with each other. He tried to compare their relationship with the one between him and his own twin, but he couldn’t see any similarities. They were basically complete opposites. 

Draco’s face wasn’t stuck in the same snobbish sneer that he was used to. His face almost looked expressionless, but Harry could see just the faintest hint of hopefulness behind it. He swallowed, feeling guilty that he couldn’t be what this family wanted him to be.

“Hello darling, did you end up alright?” Lucius swept his wife up in his arms and planted a quick peck on her cheek in a rare show of affection.

Narcissa giggled, but lifted her hand to her husband’s chest. “Yes, we got Harry’s trunk and cancelled the rest of his stay at the Leaky cauldron.” To demonstrate, she pulled the shrunken piece of luggage from a hidden pocket in her skirt and enlarged it. 

Harry took that moment to speak up, “I also told Hedwig to meet us here. She’s not a big fan of floo travel.”

Lucius smiled, “Did you bring her owl perch when you… left your relatives home?” At Harry’s meek shake of his head, “Well, that’s alright, I’m sure I can transfigure you one to use before we meet your relatives to retrieve the rest of your things.”

Harry’s eyes widened. He had not anticipated that the Malfoy’s would want to meet the Dursleys. That would not go over well. “Really it’s alright. I can just buy a new perch if you’d let me return to Diagon Alley.”

Narcissa quirked her head to the side, looking like she wanted to protest, but thought better of it. 

At that moment, Mariesa stepped up to the small family. “I’m sorry to intrude, but I do need to do a quick inspection of the home before I can relinquish guardianship over Harry to you.”

The Malfoy couple quickly nodded their heads in agreement before leading Mariesa around the house. This served a dual purpose as Harry also got the opportunity to tour his new home. He was surprised that, despite all its opulence, the large manor truly felt homey to him. It wasn’t all cold marble and sharp lines. Throughout the walk through the manor, Draco remained a silent watcher over Harry. He stayed at the back of the group and kept his eyes on Harry. Every time he turned to look at his twin, Draco would quickly turn his gaze elsewhere, and Harry didn’t know whether he should confront him or not. Better not , he thought, Don’t want to get into a fight before Mariesa leaves. He understood that the Malfoy’s likely expected him to be on his best behavior. Much like how the Dursleys required him to act like he was a treasured and spoiled child around any and all people outside of the family unit.

“And this will be … Harry’s bedroom.” Harry quickly tuned back into his surroundings as he gazed into the room. The room was HUGE. There was a queen bed in the center of the room, bracketed on both sides by large windows with cream colored curtains. The bedspread was a nice navy blue with cream colored sheets, paired with what looked like hundreds of incredibly soft throw pillows. On the left side of the room sat a tall wardrobe that could likely fit five adults in it, next to a door that likely led off into the bathroom. On the left side of the room sat a large wooden desk with a leather chair. A collection of ready-to-use parchment and brand new quills sat on top. No wonder Malfoy always gets the best marks on his summer homework if that’s the kind of place he gets to sit while he does his homework. Harry begrudgingly realized that maybe he would actually get good grades on his summer homework if he wasn’t required to do it on the train ride to Hogwarts.

He didn’t even realize that his jaw was hanging open until he heard Mariesa hum in approval over the room. Quickly snapping his jaw shut, Harry quickly narrowed his focus on one item sitting on top of the bed. Narcissa and Lucius curiously watched their son as Harry made his way over to the bed and picked up a piece of soft, emerald green fabric. 

Narcissa smiled at him and walked up behind him, setting her hand gently on his shoulder. She tried not to be too offended when he flinched at the contact. “That was one of your baby blankets.” She reached out and grabbed one of the corners of the blankets, pulling it into view. “Right here, we had all your blankets embroidered with and H and Draco’s with a D so your things wouldn’t get mixed up.”

Harry’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, before he quickly dropped the blanket back onto the bed. In a flash, he had made his way back to the doorway of the bedroom and grabbed the trunk that had been deposited there by one of the house elves. The trunk thudded onto the ground as Harry flipped open the lid and shuffled through his things. Eventually, he emerged from the trunk holding a ratty piece of light blue fabric, and Narcissa felt her breath catch. 

Harry walked back to where she stood beside the bed and he held the blanket up to where she could see. “I’ve had this blanket for as long as I can remember.” He held one of the corners up, and everyone could see the identical embroidered H that was set in the corner.

Narcissa sobbed and grabbed at the blanket to feel the material and run her fingers over the embroidery. “This was the blanket you’d been sleeping with when you were taken.” 

It suddenly dawned on him. “If this was the blanket I had with me when I was given to my parents, they must have assumed my name started with an H! That’s why I’m named Harry.”

At that moment, something in Narcissa clicked. She knew, call it mother’s intuition, but she knew that when the Potter’s had taken in Hadrian, they had assumed they were adopting an orphaned child. One that needed love, despite him already having a loving family searching for him. That was the one small detail about all of this chaos that provided her with a semblance of comfort. That Harry was receiving love and care from a family that wanted him. That Lily Potter had died for her son. Her Hadrian.

She pulled her son into her embrace and he awkwardly patted her shoulder while she let silent tears fall. “The Potter’s must have truly loved you. I’m glad that they did.” She whispered, knowing it was too quiet for anyone else in the room to overhear.

Harry took a deep breath, repressing the tears that were threatening to make an appearance in his own face as he embraced his mother. This was the proof that he’d been waiting for. Undeniable that the Malfoy family was his own. This blanket, that had comforted him through his awful, lonely childhood, that he had assumed had come from Lily and James, even before he knew their names, had come from his true family. They had been providing him that comfort, as the blanket had warmed him in his cold cupboard on winter nights, and had absorbed his silent tears as he’d searched for any form of comfort after a particularly harsh beating from Dudley and Vernon. It was his mother and father, Lucius and Narcissa, that had been waiting for and loving him.

They were brought out of their moment by Mariesa lightly clearing her throat. “Harry, I think it would be best if you brought this piece of evidence to the attention of the aurors as soon as possible. It will definitely help while they’re building your case.

Harry nodded and tried to hide the movement of him wiping the few tears that had escaped his eyes. Narcissa caught onto the movement and pulled his head down to hide in her shoulder, so he could keep the small piece of dignity he still had.

“Well, I think that’s all I needed to see here. Would you all be able to give me and Harry the room? I’d like to speak to him in private before I leave.” Mariesa had on her best convincing smile, but Narcissa felt cold fear wash through her body. Realistically, she knew that the caseworker just needed to make sure Harry was feeling safe and comfortable before she left, but the traumatized mother inside her was afraid that her son would be taken from her again.

The only thing that managed to convince her to move was the small smile that Harry gave her as he squeezed her arm. She let him go, and was promptly led out of the room by her other son and husband. She could see the same apprehension on both their faces, which soothed her to know that she wasn’t the only one feeling this intense attachment to the teenager.

The door shut behind the Malfoy trio with a soft click, and Mariesa beckoned Harry over to sit beside her on the edge of the bed. “How is all of this feeling right now Harry? Tell me exactly what you’re feeling.”

Harry sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “I think it’s alright. I’m not used to living in such a big house like this, and this room is at least four times bigger than the one I have at the Dursleys.”

“That’s good Harry. You should be able to get used to it, and I have no doubt that all of your needs will be met within this household. I’m more curious about how you’re feeling about finding your biological family. Do you feel safe with them? Will you be alright after I leave?”

Harry took a deep breath. “They seem to be really happy to have found me. I guess the only thing that makes me nervous is that I’ve heard that the Malfoys were deatheaters. I’m not sure if they would be happy with me that I defeated Voldemort,” At Mariesa’s sharp intake of breath, Harry attempted to change his words, “I-I mean You-Know-Who.”

“I can definitely understand that apprehension Harry and you are completely valid in your feelings. However, I can tell you with complete confidence that that won’t be an issue. What do you know about the deatheater trials that happened after Halloween of 1981?”

“I don’t know too much. No one really likes to talk about it, but I do know that a lot of deatheaters were sent to Azkaban. My friend Ron said that Mr. Malfoy got away somehow though.”

“It would make sense that young Mr. Weasley would be of that opinion. His family and the Malfoys have a long history of being at odds with each other, so it’s likely that he and his family have a poor opinion of the Malfoy family’s actions after the war. What you’ll be glad to hear is that Lord and Lady Malfoy both received a full trial in the Wizengamot. While it is true that the Malfoy family were followers of the Dark Lord, it was revealed, through veritaserum, which is a potion that forces a person to tell the truth, that they had become disillusioned with his efforts and had detached themselves from the Dark Lord’s followers. They hadn’t participated in any of his efforts after 1976 actually. They were pardoned from any sort of repercussion for being associated with the deatheaters, and in exchange, Lucius and Narcissa have been vital informants to the ministry.”

Harry was shocked at the news. One of the biggest things causing his hesitancy was that he’d assumed the Malfoys had been plotting his downfall. Obviously he had been slightly concerned for his own safety at living with deatheaters, but if what Mariesa said was true, then he should be perfectly safe with them. Granted that they don’t decide to treat him the same way the Dursley’s did.

“Then, I think it would be ok for you to leave. Will I be able to contact you if I need to get in touch with you again?”

Mariesa smiled and layed her hand over Harry’s, “Absolutely. I want you to know that you can send me a letter or floo call me any time and I will immediately drop everything to help you.” 

With that, she quickly stood and led Harry over to the door. When the door opened, he wasn’t surprised to see the three members of his family that had been left out of the conversation standing suspiciously close to the door.

Lucius flushed and gestured with his hand, “Shall we lead you out then? Or did you have any other business with us?”

Mariesa nodded her head, and the group embarked on the journey back to the entryway of Malfoy Manor. Harry tried not to feel as if he were being abandoned when Mariesa finally stepped through the floo, but it certainly felt like he’d just been dumped in a strange place with nothing familiar to comfort him.

He hesitantly turned to his newly found family who were watching him with equally hesitant expressions. 

Narcissa was the first to break the silence. “Harry, would you like some time alone to get yourself situated?” Harry was completely relieved at the question, happy to have some time alone to finally think about his new circumstances. 

They walked him back up to his bedroom, but before he could close the door Lucius placed a hand on his shoulder. “If you need any of us, please come find us. I should be in my office, if you remember where it is from our short tour earlier. If you can’t find us though, call one of the house elves to find you. We have two on staff right now, Whimsy and Loopy.” He paused as if to leave, but then turned back to Harry. “You can’t begin to understand how relieved we are to have you back home Had- Harry. We’ve waited a very long time to have you back in our lives.” With that, the family dispersed, leaving Harry with a lot to think about.

Chapter Text

Narcissa didn’t quite know what to do with herself. She hesitated outside Harry’s bedroom door. Every cell in her body was screaming at her to not leave her Hadrian again, and she felt like she was trying to fight a magnet pulling her back to her son. She managed to turn away from the closed door, and was met with the sight of Draco. Lucius had somehow managed to have already walked away in the direction of his office, likely approaching the situation like ripping a bandage from a wound. Draco gave his mother a shaky smile and she took his offered hand. Slowly and unsurely, the pair made their way down the stairs and into one of the various sitting rooms in Malfoy manor.

Draco settled on the couch next to his mother and slowly slumped over until his head was resting in her lap. Like many times before, Narcissa ran her fingers through his hair until Draco felt his tense muscles slowly relax.

After many minutes of prolonged silence, Draco whispered, “Do you think we’ll ever be able to be brothers?”

A good question in Narcissa’s mind. She knew of the pair’s vicious schoolboy rivalry. Draco had written home many times ranting and raving about “The Golden Boy of Gryffindor”. Truthfully, Narcissa had found the slight obsession over the boy to be quite amusing. She figured it had all started when Harry had turned down his friendship at the start of the boys’ first year at Hogwarts, as Draco’s letter that day had merely glossed over the news of his sorting into Slytherin, and had proceeded to list every reason why ‘Potter’ should have accepted his friendship.

However, what had previously been a practically harmless rivalry now threatened the peace of her family. Her fingers stopped running through Draco’s soft platinum hair, before Narcissa spoke up to answer her eldest son’s question. “I’m not sure. I’m honestly not even sure if we’ll all be able to be a good family for him. Imagine the amount of pain and confusion he’s going through being removed from the only family he’s known all his life. While they had a recent fight, I don’t think that’s good enough to cause Harry to want to accept us as his family. Your fights with him certainly don't help. I think we will need to approach the entire situation with a certain level of sensitivity. It would be good if you try your best to mend your friendly relationship before you attempt to act as his brother.”

Narcissa’s voice trembled slightly. “I’m not even sure he’ll want to accept me as his mother. I’m sure he sees his aunt as a mother figure in place of whom he thought was his biological mother, and to rip that connection away from him and ask him to replace it with me is… it’s not something I feel very good about doing. I’m worried that he’s going to resent your father and I.”

Draco sat up to look at his mother. Her eyes were slightly puffy, but you could only really tell if you looked closely at her. He looked her in the eyes, and the realization that their little family would never be the same suddenly hit him. “ Merlin . Harry Potter is my brother. My brother. How did he ever end up in Gryffindor?” He and his mother managed to hold out for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter. 

Narcissa wiped a tear that escaped as a result of her fit of laughter. “Imagine that. A Malfoy being in Gryffindor. Although, from what I’ve heard about him, Severus would have had his hands full if he’d been sorted into Slytherin.” 

Suddenly she gasped. “Oh my, we must let Severus know the news. He needs to know before anyone else manages to tell him. If the news manages to get out I would like for him to hear it from us. Maybe I’ll invite him for dinner.” She stood and planted a kiss on the top of Draco’s head. “I will go join your father in his office. I’m sure he’s already preparing statements and the like.”

Draco watched his mother leave and suddenly found himself alone with his thoughts. Scenarios and imaginations swirled through his mind at the thought of his only brother, whom he had missed his entire life, hating him as he knew Harry Potter hates him now. Suddenly, filled with a sense of confidence and responsibility, Draco made his way back up the stairs until he was standing outside his brother’s room once again. 

—

Harry stood awkwardly in the center of his room when the door closed behind him. He stopped. His room. A small rush of glee rolled through his body. While he had recently in the last two years been finally granted a real room by his muggle relatives, he wasn’t quite sure if he could call the room habitable. They had only provided him with an old, lumpy mattress that smells slightly of urine, and there was one bookshelf in the room that held the broken toys and various knick knacks that Dudley had whined and cried to his parents to keep just in case he wanted them. It wasn’t anything very comfortable, and Harry had always been reluctant to call the space his bedroom. Honestly, his cupboard had felt more like his bedroom, despite the fact that he barely fit in there anymore. 

This new bedroom definitely had more potential than his old bedroom. The bed looked so comfortable, and from the brief amount of time he had spent sitting on it with Mariesa, he knew that he would be able to sleep much better here than at Privet Drive. There was also an abundance of furniture and so many different places that he could potentially fill with his belongings. That is if he even had any belongings to store in the first place. Speaking of, there was something that had been bugging him for a while that he wanted to look at. He returned to his trunk and shuffled his belongings until he reached what he was looking for.

Settling back onto the edge of his bed, Harry flipped open the photo album that Hagrid had gifted him. He flipped through some of the photos of James and Lily in their younger years until he reached a photo he had looked at countless times in the last year. It was a picture of Lily cradling a very small and very young Harry. She was seated on a couch, and James was sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders. Harry particularly loved this photo because of the way the young couple looked at the small infant in their arms. Their eyes were full of love and complete adoration for the baby, and despite how much it comforted him, it also made his heart ache. He wanted a family and parents that would look at him like that and love for the simple act of existing. It wasn’t a look that Harry thought he would ever receive again until the chaos of finding out he was really a Malfoy. He immediately recognized the look in the elder Malfoy couple’s eyes and had experienced a small amount of deja vu when he had first seen them that day.

He continued to sit there and stare at the photos of his adoptive parents while he pondered on them. He knew that the aurors had yet to conclude whether or not he had been kidnapped by the Potters or not, but something in the way the couple looked at young Harry told him all he needed to know. He couldn’t see how they could do such a malicious act, and then look at the infant in the way that they did. He also didn’t see how they could die for a baby that they didn’t fully love as their own child, and he didn’t think they could take that sort of love away from another family.

Harry’s thoughts were interrupted by a sharp rapping on the door. Hesitantly, he stood up and cracked the door open. There, on the other side of the door, was Draco Malfoy. The boy that was supposedly his twin brother. He tried to gauge whether or not Malfoy - Draco, merlin he was now also a Malfoy, so he’d have to start calling the other by his first name - was here to taunt or harass him. At the decided absence of his usual sneer, Harry thought it safe to engage with the other. “Yes?” he asked hesitantly.

“Erm, I’m sorry. I know Mother wanted to give you some space, but I’d really like to speak with you right now.” Harry was surprised by how genuine the other boy sounded, and stepped back, opening the door fully for Draco to walk through. 

When Draco stepped into the room, his attention was quickly drawn to the album that layed partially open on top of the bedspread. Harry noticed where his attention had gone to, and quickly snatched the book, holding it close to his chest like he thought the other would attempt to take it away from him. He stuffed the book back into his trunk and shut it, firmly latching it closed. 

Draco took note of the barren room and still obviously packed trunk. “Have you not started to unpack?” He asked with a hint of a sneer in his voice. 

“I’ve literally only been in here for maybe an hour Malfoy ,” Harry returned the cold tone of voice.

Draco immediately noticed his mistake and groaned at his own foolishness. He really needed to learn to control the tone of his voice. He was already messing up this interaction with his brother.

“I’m sorry Harry, I didn’t mean to say it like that. I actually came here to apologize. I’ve been a right ass to you these last two years, and I would really like it if we could put all that behind us and be friends?” His last statement sounded almost like a question.

Harry scoffed. “You want to be friends? What about all those times you insulted me. You called me the heir of slytherin and tortured me and my friends for the last two years. I know we’re brothers or something now, but forgive me if I don’t truly believe you now.”

Draco flinched back at the harsh words from his brother. He knew they were true, and he cringed at the way he had handled his own self-esteem issues. “You’re right. I was really terrible, and I’ve actually been looking into ways I could apologize since the school year ended. I was really hurt and humiliated when you turned down my friendship in first year, and I didn’t really handle it well. I was immature and self-absorbed. I’m sorry. If it makes you feel any better, my parents and I have been reevaluating our prejudices since the summer began. I don’t know if my father or mother got the chance to tell you yet, but it turns out that my father had been under the influence of a dark object last year, and he started spewing stuff about blood prejudice before the school began. It really scared me and influenced me as well. I’ve been writing and re-writing letters I could send to Granger as an apology, but I haven’t worked up the courage yet. I guess there’s good evidence as to why I was never sorted into Gryffindor.” The blonde laughed dryly, and Harry was stunned into silence. 

He wasn’t quite sure what to think. If what he was saying was true, then it would be a really good reason for his actions. Definitely not an excuse, as what he’d done had definitely made an impact on Harry and Hermione. But if he was truly making an effort now then that had to mean there was something there that was redeemable. 

Harry shuffled his feet and then looked down on them. “Ok.” He simply stated. He didn’t know if he could forgive him yet, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t give him a chance.

Draco beamed, luckily for him Harry couldn’t see the stupid smile on his face. Thinking quickly of something he could do to spend time with his brother, he looked back to the trunk. “Could I maybe help you unpack?”

Harry looked at his trunk. He didn’t really have anythink in there other than his cloak and album that he didn’t want Draco to touch. He shrugged, “Sure, if you don’t mind.”

Quickly the pair got to work. When Draco had turned away, Harry quickly slipped his precious belongings under the mattress of his bed. He didn’t need anyone to get their hands on them and use them against them. He had learned his lesson in the summer after first year when Vernon had found the album. He had been disgusted with the “unnatural” pictures and had told him that if Harry stepped one toe out of line then he’d rip each and every photo to shreds. He had thought he was bluffing, but about a week into the holiday he’d dropped one of aunt Petunia’s precious china teacups while he was cleaning the china cabinet. Vernon had made sure he’d learned his lesson, and later that night, while he was laying on his stomach on top of his threadbare blankets, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his back, Vernon had burst into his room, album in hand. He’d been forced to watch while Vernon had extracted one of the photos, only to light it on fire with his lighter he usually used for his pipe. The manic glee in his uncle’s eyes had quickly assured Harry of the fact that Vernon had lost his softer edge since Harry had left for school. He was on edge for the rest of the summer, and managed to lose another three photos before he left again for Hogwarts.

While Harry was lost in his memories again, Draco was examining the contents of Harry’s trunk. He’d never really seen the other boy in his muggle clothing, as on weekends when the dress code was more relaxed, Harry usually either wore his school uniform or he wore robes on top of the muggle clothing. He was genuinely concerned with the fashion of these muggles. He’d never before been to the muggle world, but from what he could tell of Harry’s clothes, they had a weird fashion sense. The clothing in the trunk was very large, much too large to truly fit Harry properly. He took in what Harry was wearing at the moment, and realized that, while the clothing he was currently wearing fit him better than the ones in the trunk, they were still very large, and he noticed the ends fraying. Saying nothing, as he didn’t want to disturb the tenuous peace the pair had made, he simply hung the clothing in the wardrobe.

When the pair finally got done with the clothing, Draco finally got a good look at the other objects in the trunk. Noting the pile of sweets and pastries in the corner, he finally addressed Harry. “I didn’t know you had a sweet tooth. I thought the only sweet you liked was treacle tart.” He was slightly puzzled as he had only ever seen Harry eat treacle tart when it was offered after dinner.

“Oh, well treacle tart is my favorite, and I don’t really have that big of a sweet tooth. It’s not that I don’t like them, but they do make me a bit sick if I have too much. Those are all treats that Ron and the twins sent me on my birthday.” Harry quickly made the excuse that they were a gift, too embarrassed to admit that he had stocked up on the train from Hogwarts so that he could maybe have something stored away for those times when the Dursleys forgot to feed him for days on end. Last summer he had been locked in his room for six days before aunt Petunia had slipped a can of cold soup through the cat flap on his door. He distantly remembered the shouting voices of his aunt and uncle when they were deciding whether or not his punishment had gone on long enough. He was sure that if his uncle had his way that he would have died that first week back from Hogwarts.

He looked up at Draco and saw something akin to pain cross his face. He quickly realized what he’d said. “Er, well I guess not my birthday, but well… sorry I’m so confused by all this.”

Draco looked like he was about to say something, before a small being quickly popped into the room. The house elf had on a neat little uniform embroidered with the malfoy crest over the heart. “Master Lucius and Mistress Narcissa be saying it be time for the little Masters to come down for supper.”

“Oh, thank you Whimsy, I hadn’t realized what time it was.” The little elf simply nodded its head and popped away to wherever it had come from. Draco glanced over his shoulder at Harry. “Shall we?” 

With that, the two brothers made their way down the stairs and towards the dining room.

Chapter Text

Narcissa strode into Lucius’ office with a sense of purpose, not bothering to knock on the door that was already ajar. Lucius quickly looked up from the paperwork in front of him, immediately noticing the determined look in Narcissa’s eye. He looked up at her in confusion. While Narcissa was perfectly capable, he knew his wife wasn’t as interested in the legalities of things like Lucius was. He was currently looking over press statements, and he’d known Narcissa would only be interested in the final product rather than the process leading up to it.

“We need to notify Severus as soon as possible. It’s only a matter of time before someone from the DMLE leaks the information and he absolutely cannot find out from the press.”

Of course! How could Lucius have forgotten? Severus is the twins’ godfather after all. The man had been devastated when Hadrian had been taken, and had spent countless sleepless nights with Lucius and Narcissa after the fact, helping with the investigation and even acting as their spy within the death eaters when they had theorized one of the death eaters may have been behind the attack after the couple had taken a step back from the Dark Lord’s ranks.

“Absolutely. Invite him through the floo. I don’t want to tell him without him physically with us.”

Narcissa nodded and promptly threw the powder into the fireplace, calling out Severus’ address. He could hear a quiet conversation pass between the two individuals before the flames roared and they were graced with the potion master’s presence. 

“What’s this about then? I was just about to start my summer brewing for Poppy. If I don’t get started on those orders soon we won’t have nearly enough potions for the medical wing this year.” Lucius didn’t speak, simply gesturing to one of the two chairs in his office. Severus raised an eyebrow, but followed the non-verbal order, sitting elegantly in the leather chair with one leg thrown over the other. 

Narcissa circled around Lucius’ desk, settling behind his own seat. Lucius grasped his wife’s wrist and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her hand. Severus was surprised by this rare show of affection. Not that he thought the Malfoy’s were cold, heartless, and unloving like they want the public to believe, but he’d known the relationship between the two married Malfoys had been strained since the disappearance of their son. He had only seen them show affection to the other on very rare occasion.

“Well Severus,” Lucius started, “we’ve had some wonderful news that we wanted to share with you as soon as possible. The Prophet and other papers are likely to have the story running soon and we wanted to be able to tell you the news in person.” Severus was slightly surprised. What sort of news could they possibly wish to share with him that could be so big that the news outlets would be spreading the story. He truly wished that Lucius hadn’t been participating in any sort of illegal activities lately. He thought he’d broken him of those thrill seeking habits years ago.

“Well?” Severus questioned when Lucius had paused for an unnatural amount of time.

“We’ve found him Sev,” Lucius’ eyes shone with unshed tears for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. “Hadrian. We found him.”

Severus choked and stared blankly at Lucius before his words actually caught up with him. Suddenly, Severus shot up out of his chair and almost vaulted himself over the desk to gather two of his closest friends into a hug. Narcissa let out a wet laugh and hugged the man back just as tightly. Lucius simply grumbled and patted the other man’s back a couple times, hoping for his grip to loosen soon.

Eventually, Severus stood back and looked at the couple, “What happened, you need to tell me everything.”

And everything Lucius and Narcissa told him. They told him about the call from the aurors, and finding out that Hadrian had been illegally/legally (they weren’t quite sure to be truthful) blood adopted. They told him about how they’d only found him because their son had to take an inheritance test at Gringotts, and that was the only reason they had found their son.

Lucius hesitated when he went to tell his closest friend the assumed identity of their son. He’d known of Severus’ dislike of James Potter, and how he’d felt betrayed when his closest childhood friend had essentially married his childhood bully. He also knew about how Severus felt about Harry. Much like Draco, Severus had moaned and groaned when he’d talked about the boy-who-lived. Speaking of how he’d been a spoiled child and never worked hard in his class, that he was incompetent and disrespectful, reckless, a true Gryffindor at heart. 

“You actually know him Sev, he’s one of your students.” Narcissa took over when she saw her husband hesitate.

“What?” Severus whispered. Suddenly his mind was racing through all of the students that he knew in his classes. As far as he was aware, none of them were adopted. Maybe he had been held back to the younger year? There was one Hufflepuff first year last year that had been blood adopted by a young pureblood couple. “The Hufflepuff?” He questioned.

Lucius snorted, “No, he most definitely is not a hufflepuff. He’s actually a Gryffindor.” Seeing the confusion on his friend’s face, he decided to rip the ban

dage off, as the muggles say. “He was blood adopted by Lily. It’s Harry Potter.” He gently laid his hand over his friend’s resting on the desk.

Severus was obviously in shock, as he just slumped back down in the armchair. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure the goblins wouldn’t appreciate hearing you doubting the efficacy of their identification tests.” Narcissa chastised the professor. “Hadrian is without a doubt, the young boy currently known by the public as Harry Potter. I know that you haven’t truly appreciated him as your student, but he is your godson.”

Severus was silent, and the Malfoy couple let him process the information. After a couple minutes of tense silence, he spoke up, “Well then, I guess our worries of him being mistreated were unfounded. Dumbledore always spoke so highly of the family raising him. Said he was ridiculously spoiled.” He chuckled, running a hand quickly through his hair. Suddenly though, “My god, I spoke to him just this morning. Must have been right before he went to the bank.” Another sharp bark of laughter. “He was at the apothecary, looking for a pain potion.”

Narcissa tensed. “Did he look sick? Or hurt? He didn’t mention that when we were with the aurors.” She nervously questioned Severus.

“Nothing terrible Narcissa. Don’t worry yourself sick. He just mentioned that he was sore from riding the Knight Bus. Dumbledore mentioned to me that he’d been staying at the Leaky Cauldron after he got into a disagreement with his guardians.”

Narcissa sighed at the mention of Harry’s family. “Yes, he told us about that as well. Frankly, I’m quite worried about their reaction to all of this. I mean growing up with muggles is one thing, so I can understand why they disagreed about magic with him. However, I’m worried that they’re going to kick up a fuss about us taking their… nephew away from them. I’m also worried about how Harry is going to handle being taken away from Lily’s only family.” She ran a hand over her face before collapsing into the spare armchair at Severus’ side. “I don’t want to traumatise  Hadrian any more than this situation already has.”

Severus quirked up an eyebrow. “Lily’s family?” he questioned. “The headmaster has always told me he’d been raised with distant relatives of James?” He phrased the last statement as a question. “I thought Lily said she didn’t have any cousins. She’d said both her parents were only children.”

“Well yes, that might be true, but Lily still had her sister.” Lucius was confused how Severus could have forgotten her. “Didn’t you grow up near Lily? Surely you would have known her sister, Petunia?”

Severus froze. “You’re pulling my leg.” He stared at Lucius with a don’t you dare expression.

“Why would I. She was the closest relative to both James and Lily. Of course Harry would have gone to live with her.”

Severus stood abruptly, he seemed to be muttering something to himself, pacing the length of the room. After a moment, he turned back to Lucius. “Petunia was always quite vile to Lily and I. She always hated magic and called us freaks for attending Hogwarts. I can’t quite imagine her treating Harry the way Dumbledore has assured me he’s been treated.”

Narcissa frowned, “I’m sure she must’ve grown. Harry mentioned that he grew up with his cousin. Maybe that’s why they aren’t too keen on magic in their home, but I’m sure that Petunia has enough motherly instincts to treat a child right.”

Severus hoped that what Narcissa was saying was true. Within the wizarding world, it was basically unimaginable for children to be mistreated in their homes. With how small the population is, if anyone is even slightly suspected of abusing or mistreating a child, it is immediately reported and dealt with. Blood adoptions become quite common in those cases. However, he wouldn’t put it past the Malfoy couple to assume that muggles held the same beliefs. He did have to give what Narcissa was saying some credit though. If Dumbledore had seen it fit to leave Harry with muggles, he was sure that Dumbledore was monitoring the child’s welfare. He even mentioned that he knew a squib nearby that was keeping an eye on him. 

Shrugging his shoulders, he responded, “You’re probably right. However, that doesn’t take away the fact that I’ve mistreated Hadrian. I’ve been operating under the assumption that he was well-versed in knowledge of our world. I thought he was just lazy and unwilling to participate. Oh… he probably had no idea what I was asking him that first day.” On seeing Lucius and Narcissa’s puzzled looks, “During his first potions class I asked him various questions regarding the nature of potions. They would have been perfectly reasonable questions for any pureblood or half-blood student, but I would most definitely not have asked a muggleborn those questions.”

Nodding in understanding, Narcissa moved to assure the potions master. “We’ve all had to make our own apologies to Hadrian today. I’m quite sure that Draco is upstairs doing exactly that right now. The only thing we can do is work on our relationships with him.” She patted his hand.

“I’ll admit, I’m not sure he’d be receptive to me, and I still think the boy has been far too spoiled and coddled during his life. However, I will attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’ll likely need it if he’s had to put up with the likes of Petunia for the past 12 years of his life.” He said her name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth,

Lucius grinned, he was so glad his family was starting to come together again. They’d found their missing link, and even one of his best friends, and the godfather to his children, was growing their relationship with a boy they had thought long lost. That cold spot in his heart was starting to grow warm again. 

“Well, I think it’s about time for dinner. Merlin knows we’ve all had quite a day, and I’m not sure if Harry even had time to eat lunch given the fiasco we all had to endure. I’ll call the elves and have them start on dinner.” Narcissa went to leave the room. Stopping at the door frame, she called over her shoulder, “You’ll be staying for the meal then Severus. It will be good for you to see the boys.” She left the room, leaving no room for the professor to debate her request that was more of a demand.

Groaning, he turned back to Lucius. “Do you think it’s a good idea for Harry to have to confront me after all that’s happened today?”

Laughing at his friend and his dismay, Lucius clasped his shoulder before leading the other man out of the room. “I think that no matter what, Narcissa will have her way. Merlin knows she deserves it after all these years.”

Together, the pair made their way into the grand dining hall. Narcissa was already in there, directing elves to set out their finest china and silverware. One of the elves was floating next to the giant chandelier, polishing the crystal and silver, even though Lucius could have sworn that he’d already seen the chandelier receive the same treatment earlier that day. Clearly, Narcissa had decided the evening needed to be perfect for their newly returned son.

“My dear, I don’t believe that Harry will necessarily care whether or not we use the napkins with gold embroidery or not. Most teenage boys are incapable of looking past the food.” He teased, earning him a scathing look from his wife.

“I just want everything to be perfect, so I can look back on this memory and nothing will be out of place.” Lucius approached her and pulled her into a half embrace, pressing a quick peck to her cheek. 

He heard some gagging noises behind him, and turned to see Draco making a disgusted face at the display of affection. Harry was right behind him, with a small blush that he seemed to be trying to hide behind his brother.

“All settled then?” Narcissa asked.

Draco quickly took the opportunity to respond for his brother. “We got most of his stuff from his trunk unpacked, but it really wasn’t a lot. I’m sure there will be more for us to settle into his room once we retrieve it all from the muggles.” Severus could tell that Draco was trying not to look disgusted with the word. While the Malfoy’s have been working on overcoming their prejudices regarding muggleborn witches and wizards, you could definitely tell that regular muggles were not receiving the same treatment. “Oh Uncle Sev!” the boy greeted him brightly, throwing one arm around his middle in greeting. He rarely got to see this unguarded side of his godson, and he was happy that he felt comfortable enough to do so in front of Harry. “You go to the muggle world sometimes, right? Why is their fashion so odd?”

Severus saw the blush on Harry’s face grow darker and rise higher on his face. “What do you mean? There are some strange trends, but a lot of their fashion is similar to what you see the muggleborn students wearing under their robes.”

“Well, I was unpacking some of Harry’s clothing for him. I just thought it was very… interesting.” He was trying to sound kind, but it was obvious that he had very much disliked the clothing.

Severus glanced up when he heard Harry scoff. He recognized the look on his face as one the boy usually made before blowing up and starting a fight. Quickly attempting to prevent a fight so early after finding his lost godson, Severus amended. “Well, I did say they do have some fashion items that are definitely interesting, but don’t forget Draco, different doesn’t mean bad, just different.”

Draco hummed in acknowledgement before trotting away to help his mother in setting the table. Lucius also decided to meander off, clearly attempting to give the two a moment to speak before dinner started as he’d simply stood off to the side, rubbing the material of the tablecloth under his fingers and looking as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Severus rolled his eyes, but turned to the only other underage wizard that had yet to greet him.

Harry was looking at the ground, and he was evidently uncomfortable in the older wizard’s presence. He had his hands clasped behind his back and he was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Ah well, hello mr. P-” he cut himself off, realizing that he wasn’t really Harry Potter to him anymore.

Harry seemed to sense the awkwardness and attempted to change the subject. “I didn’t know you were related to the Malfoys sir.” He still hadn’t looked up from the floor.

“Ah, well, truthfully I am not. Draco calls me his uncle because I am his godfather.” Harry looked up for the first time with evident surprise on his face. “I am also your godfather.” 

Shock was the first expression on his face, before Harry let out a small laugh. He saw the other Malfoys quickly turn at the sound. “That’s kind of ironic isn’t it professor? Your least favorite student is actually your godson.”

Severus pretended to scoff, but did a poor job at concealing his own smile of amusement. “Well, I guess that means that we have the rest of the summer to turn you into a proper potions student, Harry .” He emphasized the use of his first name, as that was the first time he’d called him by it in his presence. Harry simply groaned, realizing he’d dug himself into a hole, and that having a professor for a godfather meant that his grades would likely be cared about a whole lot more than his relatives had cared about them.

Severus smirked and lifted his hand before stopping abruptly when the teenager in front of him flinched violently. He narrowed his eyes, but followed through with the movement and clasped Harry’s shoulder. “Not to worry. I won’t start hounding you about your grades until school actually starts.” He stepped closer and talked more quietly, hoping to keep his next words private from the other occupants of the room. “I do want to apologize. I spoke with Lucius and Narcissa and it’s become clear to me that I might not have been entirely fair to you these past couple years. I hope that we can mend our relationship.” 

Harry widened his eyes in surprise. The gruff, silent, cold professor that he’d always known, seemed to have disappeared the moment that he’d stepped into Malfoy Manor. He wasn’t sure if it was simply the privacy of being in a home you feel comfortable in, or if Harry had somehow woken up in an alternate universe, but everyone was seeming to act completely different from how he’d expected them to act. Severus had already moved away to take a seat at the table, as if he wasn’t expecting Harry to have a response to what he’d said. He was glad that he wasn’t being expected to forgive the man for his mistreatment yet. It was evident that he’d favored others over Harry and had let his preconceived notions of his adoptive father cloud his judgement. Hopefully, his apology was genuine. Harry had always been quite interested in potions as it seemed similar to cooking, which was one of the only chores he’d been given at home that he somewhat enjoyed. 

He noticed the other family members taking seats at the table. Lucius sat at the head of the table with Narcissa on his right and Snape to his left. He noticed Draco heading for the seat next to Snape, and he stood frozen, not quite knowing where he would be welcome to sit. The Dursley’s had never wanted him to sit with them at family dinners, either letting him wait on them or sending him to his cupboard early. He had a feeling that the dynamic here was different though, and he found himself temporarily frozen as he didn’t know what to do next. Finally, Narcissa noticed the nervous look in his eyes and simply patted the seat next to her. “Come on dear, you can sit here.” She had a genuine smile on her face, so Harry quickly followed her direction. 

After sitting, a feast appeared before Harry, similar to how the feast appeared on the first day back at Hogwarts. He was met with the sight of juicy roast chicken, buttery mashed potatoes, and several other side dishes he couldn’t even imagine having the space to fit on his plate. The people sitting around the table began serving food onto their plates, and it took Harry a moment to get his body moving. However, when he went to reach for his plate, Narcissa had already snatched it. Something akin to cold fear washed over him, and he wondered if maybe they would be like the Dursleys, tempt him with food only to steal it away from right in front of him. Involuntarily, he let out a small whimper. Luckily the sound of everyone still plating their food covered it, mostly. Narcissa quirked her head, but caught his attention by clearing her throat. “What food would you like, Harry? I’m afraid my motherly instincts got the better of me and I grabbed your plate before asking. I used to always serve Draco his plate and I’m sure that right now he’s glad to be given a reprieve of my smothering tendencies.”

Draco snickered, but it immediately turned into a cough when both Severus and Lucius raised their eyebrows at him. “Erm, I’m not sure. Everything looks delicious.”

Narcissa practically glowed, “Well then, I’ll just give you a little bit of everything.” She promptly began plopping generous servings of all the dishes spread around the table, onto the gleaming china plate she had grabbed. The twisting feeling inside Harry slowly unraveled at the sight. It was evident that he wasn’t going to go hungry tonight, and hopefully, he wouldn’t manage to piss off his new family for a couple weeks before he makes it to Hogwarts, where the food exists in abundance.

When the plate was finally returned to Harry, he hesitated to start eating. He looked around the table at how everyone was eating and almost laughed at the parallel that he had known for most of his life. Whenever the Dursley family ate, with the exception of Petunia, they had eaten like pigs, for lack of a better term. Dudley possessed zero manners, and Vernon seemed to not care at all for how his family viewed him as they both shoveled food into their mouths as if they hadn’t just eaten a couple hours beforehand. He attempted to eat slowly, despite the grumbling in his stomach. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as it usually was during the summers, as he had had the opportunity to eat a hearty breakfast at the Leaky. He delicately tasted a small bite of every dish on his plate, but by the time he had tried them all, he recognized the feeling of too-tightness in his gut that signified he was getting too full. 

That was always his least favorite part of the welcoming feast at Hogwarts. Finally being allowed to eat to his heart’s content, but only being physically capable of a few bites before his stomach threatening to expel its contents. Harry grimly stared down at his plate that was very much still full. He knew he could force a couple more bites, but with how queasy he felt from the stress of the day, he didn’t want to push it. Looking around, everyone at the table seemed to be engrossed in their own meals, so Harry quickly snatched two of the rolls. Stuffing them in the pocket of his too-large pants. 

Eventually though, Narcissa noticed Harry hadn’t touched his plate in a while. “Are you alright dear? Is there something wrong with the food?” She was a little bit concerned, was there an ingredient he didn’t like, had the elves done something wrong to make the food taste off. She doubted the last one, as she had very good faith in her house elves. They had a good mutual understanding of each other, and frankly she might trust them more than some of the wizards she knows.

Harry seemed embarrassed. “No!” He quickly tried to reassure the Malfoy matriarch. “I’m just full already. It’s been a long day and I think all the stress has messed with my appetite.”

Narcissa did not seem to be reassured, but let his explanation go. “If you’re sure. Do you think you’ll have space for dessert? The elves have made practically everything imaginable.”

Harry almost groaned at that. He would absolutely love dessert, but he knew that if he ate anything else, he’d likely become sick, and he knew what happened to children when they got sick. He definitely did not feel like being quarantined by himself for the next week with nothing to soothe his stomach. Aunt Petunia had made it quite clear that at the first sight of sickness, he was to be locked in his cupboard until it sorted itself out. Her precious Dudley was not to be exposed to anything that could make him sick. “I don’t think my stomach can handle it.  I normally would love dessert though, particularly treacle tart.” His mouth salivated despite the protest of his stomach.

“Well, then perhaps we should retire to the sitting room then,” Narcissa stated when she looked around at the rest of her family who were already scraping their plates clean.

“Should I gather the plates then?” Harry questioned.

“What for?” Draco asked 

“Oh, I just assumed you’d like me to clean them for you? I’m sure there’s a lot left from whatever the elves used to make dinner.”

The group just stared at the young teenager. Severus spoke up first, “I’m sure that the elves can handle cleaning them just fine, Harry.” He was aware that in some muggle families the children usually help with household chores. He just hadn’t expected that the golden boy of Gryffindor would even offer to assist with them. Severus could definitely tell that he had the wrong idea about the young boy.

Harry’s cheeks burned as he realized that if the elves had made the food, they were likely also expected to clean the plates. He felt a bit dumb for not realizing sooner. Silently, he followed the rest of the family out of the dining room and across the hall into what looked like a very cozy sitting room. There was a plethora of comfy looking green velvet chairs spread around the room. Harry silently wondered how he’d been a Gryffindor when he’d evidently come from such Slytherin roots. There was a gramophone quietly playing classical music in the corner of a room, and a large stone fireplace lit up several of the bookshelves around.

Narcissa was the first to sit down, quickly picking up what looked to be fabric and a thread. Draco sat to her right, and Severus and Lucius took a seat in two armchairs facing the fire. The people in the room seemed content to stay quiet, Lucius and Severus looking over a newspaper together, and Draco seemingly content to watch his mother sew. 

As Harry got comfortable on the loveseat across from Draco and Narcissa, he seemed to not quite know what to do with himself. He stared at his hands for a while, picking at his nails and cuticles. He'd spent a long time scrubbing Petunia’s floors last week before Marge showed up, and the bleach and soap had burned the skin around his nails. Ever since, they’d been painfully healing, which included lots of dead skin flaking off. 

He didn’t notice Draco silently moving away from his mother and taking a seat next to him, but he was glad he managed to not jump when he heard him speak up next to him. “Are you feeling ok? I mean with all of this?” He was silent for a moment, getting ready to answer before Draco cut him off. “ Merlin of course you’re not. I don’t even know why I’m asking.” Harry stayed silent, but kept his attention on his supposed twin brother. “I just want you to know, that you’re my brother now. It doesn’t matter that we didn’t get along before now, but I- we have been looking for you since you were taken. I don’t care that you’re a Gryffindor, and I don’t care that you were raised by muggles. You’re my little brother now, and that means that you’re a Malfoy. And Malfoy’s take care of each other.”

Harry was taken aback. That was quite a confession. He stayed silent for a while, and Draco scooted back till he was against the opposite side of the couch. “I thought we were twins,” Harry whispered after a while.

Draco snorted, “I’m older by 48 minutes.” Draco smirked at him over the top of the book he had picked up.

Harry rolled his eyes, before settling back into his own thoughts. The day had been a long one for sure. He had effectively started the day out as an orphan, kicked out by his only family. Throughout the course of the day he had steadily gained family member after family member. He’d gotten a set of parents (both alive), a twin brother, and a godfather. All people he had assumed hated him up until this point. He didn’t really know what to do about all of it. Should he send a letter to the headmaster to make sure that it wasn’t all a ploy by death eaters?

He trusted Mariesa, and he didn’t think that the goblins at Gringotts were evil. He also hadn’t ever felt nearly as safe or comfortable with the Dursleys than he currently felt. After thinking it all over, was it so bad even if it was all a plot to hurt him? He thought that even if he was about to be given over to the dark side, at least he’d be comfortable and full. 

So, in a comfy chair, in a warm room, with a full belly and a smile on his face, Hadrian Malfoy let his eyes slip closed before he settled into what was hopefully a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

Harry felt his body jostle slightly, but found he was too tired to actually wake up. He was barely aware that he was moving, cradled to someone’s chest who smelled like the expensive cologne Aunt Petunia liked to stop and fawn over in the department store when she dragged him along with her to carry the bags. He nuzzled slightly into the warmth and heard a slight chuckle at the action. There was a small voice in the back of his mind telling him that he needed to wake up and be aware of his surroundings, but he just couldn’t be bothered. He was just so tired . He’d spent the past summer fighting for his life from his relatives, and the year before that spending his time attempting to defend himself. Maybe he felt like he deserved a break, but he just couldn’t be bothered to fight so much anymore.

Finally, he felt himself land on a cloud. Or at least what felt like a cloud. Warm blankets were drawn over his body, and a pair of lips softly brushed over his forehead. He could hear a pair of voices murmuring softly, and he managed to wake up just enough to process them.

“I just still can’t believe it, Lucius,” that was Narcissa’s voice.

“I know love, I was so afraid… So frightened that when we got to the department we would be met with a dead body. The gods must be watching over our little family,” their murmuring got quieter until he heard the distinctive click of the door shutting. Harry knew he should try and process those words, but the siren call of sleep pulled him back into Morpheus’ arms.

–

The next morning, it was evident that the newspapers had not taken their time with distributing the next new shocking piece of gossip. Albus Dumbledore had decided to have a relaxing morning (despite waking up at the crack of dawn), not bothering to change out of his night wear, he simply threw a bathrobe over his attire and settled at the breakfast table. A Hogwarts house elf popped into the room and settled his breakfast down in front of him. He was very particular about how he liked it served. A single soft-boiled egg, a piece of toast sliced diagonally so he was left with two triangles, and a yogurt parfait, complete with mint garnish. Only one house elf needed to get his order wrong in order for them to understand that the headmaster was not forgiving in the mornings. 

The Daily Prophet popped into its usual place a second after his breakfast was served, and Dumbledore decided to let the news wait so he could truly appreciate the meal before acknowledging the suffering Wizarding world he was so determined to save. He ate in silence, only interrupted by a trill or two from falkes, who sulked on his perch. Eventually, Dumbledore finished his meal, patting the corners of his mouth with his napkin. He leaned back into his chair while he unfolded the paper, but immediately shot out of the seat when he read the headline.

Malfoy Family Reunited With Long Lost Son! Boy-Who-Lived’s Identity in Shambles!

The author of the story was none other than Rita Skeeter, a thorn in Dumbledore’s side, as she had recently been looking into his family history. He’d been slowly trying to persuade her to focus more on young Harry Potter, as to take away some of the heat on him. What use was raising a weapon if you couldn’t use him for your own gains? This, however, was not what Albus had in mind when he had sent an anonymous letter to Skeeter telling her to look into the Potter boy, what with having been kicked out of his relatives home. He had wanted to humiliate the child into never attempting a stunt like that again. 

Fury lit up in Dumbledore’s eyes. Years of manipulations he had worked towards to save the child from the Dark family had gone up in flames. He immediately ran towards his bedroom to throw on a more appropriate set of robes (A magenta and lime green ensemble), and made his way to the floo in his quarters. He had people within the ministry he needed to reach in order to pull some strings.

Exiting the floo into the DMLE, he swept past the secretary waiting at the front desk, and made his way to Alastor Moody’s office. Without knocking, he threw the door open and approached the surprisingly not startled auror.

“Albus, I would say I’m surprised to see you, but frankly, I was expecting a visit from you sometime today.”

“DARK WIZARDS ALASTOR! We have to do something about this, we can’t have the prophesied chosen one raised by dark wizards. They’ll ruin EVERYTHING I’ve done to mold him into the weapon we need!”

Alastor simply sat back in his chair watching the other wizard pace while ranting and raving. He was glad for the silencing wards over his office, it wouldn’t do for the aurors around him to hear this particular conversation. Particularly, Ferguson and Whitlock who had been a thorn in his side since the moment they’d been assigned the Malfoy kidnapping case. He’d been so close to getting the case dropped, but those putrid, meddling goblins had ruined everything he’d been doing to help the light side of the war. 

“Are you done yet?” he asked once Dumbledore’s pacing had slowed. At the silent, aggravated look he received, Moody continued. “Good, there’s a lot we need to do. As of right now, I’ve become aware of an investigation in the DCF regarding your previous guardianship of Potter. We basically have no sway over the situation right now as it is.” He gathered a couple papers into a pile, tapping the ends on his desk as he straightened them out. “The only thing we can do right now, is attempt to warn the boy of the influence the family might have on him. His case worker has already requested that you bring certain documents to her so she can turn them over to DCF and the Malfoy family. She needs the boy’s medical records and any transcripts regarding your interactions with the boy. We’ll say that you didn’t keep records of those transcripts, but there’s no way we can get away with forging medical documents.”

He stopped to take a breath, then looked Albus in the eye. “I believe we can convince the DCF to allow you to see Potter one more time as you hand over the documents. It will likely be supervised by the Malfoys and his caseworker, but we can still attempt to warn the boy. We need to keep him on our side. If we let the dark side get their hands on the power he possesses, it would be the end of our fight.” He stood abruptly. “Now come, we need to get a head start.”

Albus was almost shocked at the calm and cool demeanor of his longtime friend, but he knew that was why he kept the man at his right hand. The old, paranoid auror was just as invested in keeping dark wizards out of society as he was, and there was no better man than him to keep an eye on the ministry for him.

Smirking, he followed the limping man out of the office and towards the Department of Child Welfare.

-

Harry flung himself back against the far wall of his cupboard, attempting to flee the large meaty hands that were attempting to grab him from the outside. He sobbed and curled inwards, but the motion was interrupted by the feel of an iron tight grip around his ankle. He screamed as he was suddenly dragged out of the darkness of the cupboard and into the light.

“No, no please!” He shrieked as his shirt was ripped over his head. “I promise I’ll do better. Please! I didn’t mean it,” he sobbed and pleaded with his uncle, who was now leering over him with his belt in hand.

“Of course you meant it freak,” Harry could feel the globs of spit that spewed from his uncle's mouth land on his face. “Such an ungrateful, useless waste of space. Is this what you do to repay us? We feed you, house you, clothe you, and all you want to do is waste our time and money!” He felt his uncle's other hand grip the back of his neck and force him to turn and look him in the eyes. 

He had spent the evening preparing a roast for the Dursley’s, and he’d been making wonderful progress towards having the meal ready for the moment that Vernon would arrive, but he’d been unprepared for the sudden arrival of the man 30 minutes earlier than expected. The man had been furious that his dinner was not ready on time for him and had screamed at the boy, causing him to jump in fright and drop one of the expensive china dishes he had been carrying to the counter to plate the food on. 

Despite his attempts at fleeing his uncle, Harry had been caught, and he knew the punishment would be worse this time because he had tried to escape. Once Vernon turned the boy over onto his stomach, Harry quickly raised his arms to defend his head. He always felt funny and sick the days after Vernon hit him on the head, and he wanted to avoid that fate if possible.

Luckily, the older man didn’t seem to care about the movement, and proceeded to snap the thick belt across the child’s back. Harry flinched at the first stroke of the belt, and he could feel silent tears making their way across his face. Strange , he thought in the back of his mind. He hadn’t cried from this treatment in a long time. After the first few years living with his loving relatives, Harry had stopped letting the treatment get to his emotions, and he wondered why now all of a sudden he was letting those emotional barriers down. 

“Now, Harry my boy, you really should try and behave better for your family. They love you very much and obviously want the best for you.” Harry heard a fond, elderly voice address him.

Harry whipped his head up, uncovering his head. There in all his glory, was the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore was standing across from him, giving him a grandfatherly smile.

“Professor?” He croaked out.

“SHUT UP YOU FREAK!” he heard his uncle order him in between strokes of the belt. His back felt numb then, the only thing he could feel was the warm trickle of blood slowly soaking into his trousers.

“You’d better listen to your uncle Harry. After all, he cares for you deeply and only treats you this way as an expression of his love.” Dumbledore had a stern look on his face.

Harry didn’t understand. What was Dumbledore doing here, and why wasn’t he helping? “Please sir. It hurt-” He was cut off as Vernon raised a fist to his head and knocked into him hard. His head spun and it started to throb.

“Oh, you never do learn, do you Harry?” He looked up just in time to see Dumbledore lift his wand, his eyes flashing a violent yellow, and that was when Harry started to scream.

 -

Draco had been having a lovely morning. He’d opted to have a bit of a lie-in, cracking open a book about dragons he’d been slowly making his way through that summer. Whimsy had popped in just a couple minutes earlier with a tray of food and an order from his mother that breakfast would be taken separately that morning so they could give Harry some time to sleep in. He knew his brother had been exhausted the night before. After all, he’d fallen asleep on the couch in the most uncomfortable position ever, with his head bent at an odd angle and his feet tucked under his body. 

Suddenly, his lovely morning was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream across the hall. Draco was up and out of his room within five seconds, and that was when he realized the scream was coming from Hadrian’s room. Bursting through the unlocked doors, Draco took in the sight of the other boy thrashing in his bed. His hair was slicked down onto his forehead with sweat, and his hands were clenched into fists, gripping the sheets with fierce strength. He didn’t know what to do, and stood frozen in the doorway, before he was saved by the sound of hurried footsteps coming up the hallway.

Draco leapt to the side to avoid colliding with his father, who promptly burst into the room and hurried to the screaming boy’s side. Harry weakly reacted in his sleep and attempted to push the eldest Malfoy away from him, but Lucius merely grasped the hands and held them to his chest over his heart. His free hand reached out and shook the teenage boy’s shoulder in an attempt to bring him out of the dream. 

Draco could faintly hear his father murmuring something, before he saw Harry jerk slightly, and the flailing stopped. Now that he wasn’t moving, Draco could see tear tracks running down his face, and he heard Harry let out a wrecked sob once he must have realized it was a nightmare. Lucius released his hands, and gently laid one of them on the crown of Harry’s head, smoothing the wild hair back into place. Without the screaming, Draco could finally hear his father’s words over the sound of the sobs still wracking through Harry’s body.

“It’s all right. You’re all right, love. It was just a dream. You’re safe.” He repeated similarly reassuring words in an even tone, and surely enough, Harry’s sobs began to slow and eventually, they stopped. Draco didn’t know how long he stood there watching his father comfort Harry, but he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

His mother stood there, with a weak smile. He saw the look in her eyes though, and understood. Quietly, the two made their way down the stairs and into the sitting room they had occupied the night before. Narcissa quietly made two cups of tea, and handed Draco one as she sat next to him.

“Is Harry- will Harry- what was that?” He finally settled.

Narcissa hummed, and reached over to the sugar, spooning another lump into Draco’s tea. “It seems your brother has had a nightmare. It’s not unexpected with all that’s happened, though that one was much more violent than I would have anticipated.”

Draco’s shoulders shook, and suddenly he realized he was crying. “Oh dragon,” Narcissa murmured before gathering her son into her arms and pulling him against her. “That was pretty scary to watch wasn’t it?”

It was quite terrifying. The absolute fear and panic that he had seen in his brother was shocking. Draco didn’t know what could have caused Harry to act like that, but he almost didn’t want to know. 

He stayed in the room for a while longer, drinking his tea and calming down, until Lucius eventually entered the room, followed by Harry, still in his rumpled clothes he’d fallen asleep in the night before, but with swollen eyes and a red-tipped nose.

Harry trembled a bit, before announcing in a whisper-voice, “I’m so sorry I woke you. I didn’t mean it honestly. I usually don’t scream so loud.”

Immediately Narcissa was overcome with concern. “Do you get nightmares often?”

Meekly, Harry nodded, “I always have, they’re usually not so bad. I only ever wake my muggle family up every so often, and when I’m at Hogwarts, the curtains have silencing charms on them. Could you maybe do something like that to my door? I don’t want to inconvenience you or anything, but then you wouldn’t need to be bothered by me. “

Lucius spoke up first, “Absolutely not, Harry. If you’re having nightmares, we want to know. I don’t want you to have to suffer through them alone, and we can get you onto a potion regimen to help with sleep. I’m sure Severus wouldn’t mind brewing for you. You’re not with muggles anymore. We can do our best to help you with your issues.”

Harry was about to protest, but was immediately interrupted by three consecutive booming knocks ringing out through the manor. He jumped, frightened by the sudden noise.

“Ah no need to worry Harry, that’s just the front door. Whimsy or Loopy will answer it.” Lucius finally slumped into the chair next to his wife and threw a relaxed arm around her shoulders.

As Narcissa prepared a cup of tea for her youngest son, Loopy popped into the room. “Theres be a Misses Mariesas and two Misters Dumblydores and Moody in the entrance halls.” The elf bowed before popping away.

Chapter Text

Harry was having a weird day so far. Despite the nightmare, he woke feeling more well rested than he ever had before. He’d also slept much later than ever before, and he wondered when Mr and Mrs Malfoy would take the time to punish him for that little infraction. However, that was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. Headmaster Dumbledore was here, and Harry was sure that he would be upset with him. He hadn’t seen him since the end of second year, but he was sure that he must’ve heard about him blowing up his aunt and running away from his relatives.

Dumbledore had kindly explained at the end of his first year that he would have to stay with the Dursleys to keep him safe and hidden from Voldemort and his Deatheaters. However, Harry had protested, wondering if he could stay at Hogwarts to be safe from Voldemort and the Dursleys as well. At that, Dumbledore had gotten very serious, and told him to not take his family’s love for granted. After that, he knew that he shouldn’t bring it up to Dumbledore anymore. The more he thought about it too, he had become ungrateful. His family did protect him growing up through the bloodwards, and had taken him in when he didn’t have any family to go to, so he should really be more grateful. 

Anyways, now he had to face Dumbledore, and he really didn’t know what to expect from the man. On one hand, he had gone against the man’s orders and had run away from his relatives, but at the same time, he was found by his true blood family. Would the blood wards still hold with his biological family? Or were they based around the blood adoption that the goblins and aurors had explained to him? He was unsure, but at the end of the day, Harry was almost certain that Dumbledore would not be pleased with how the whole fiasco had come about.

He followed behind Mr. Malfoy as the entire family made their way to the foyer to greet the new arrivals. Narcissa still had an arm around Draco, and Lucius seemed to slow down his pace so he could walk closer to Harry.

When they turned the final corner into the foyer, they were greeted by the three people that Loopy had declared were waiting. Mariesa was wearing a different set of robes than the usual DOCW, evidently she had been called in to assist when she wasn’t actively working. Her robes were simple, a pale lavender, which looked practically conservative compared to the color explosion that Dumbledore was wearing. Moody stood off to the side of the group with a disgusted look on his face, his magical eye rotating left and right as if searching for something.

Mariesa smiled when Harry finally stepped out from behind his father. He looked up at Dumbledore, but quickly looked back down when he saw Albus staring directly at him. His eyes were devoid of their usual twinkle.

“It’s good to see you again Ms. Edwards,” Narcissa greeted. “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit? I thought we weren’t going to hear from you for another few days?”

Mariesa coughed, and opened her mouth as if to answer, but was quickly interrupted when Dumbledore clapped his hands together in glee. “Lady Malfoy, let me tell you. I was absolutely overjoyed to hear the news today that you had been reunited with your son. I was, however, shocked to find out that it had been our Harry here. I had absolutely no idea throughout all these years.” His voice practically oozed with sweetness and Narcissa tried to swallow down the awful feeling his words left her with.

“Yes, we’ve been trying to process all of this as a family. I actually meant to reach out to you soon. Mariesa and the aurors told us about how you’ve been acting as his magical guardian, and I wanted to discuss-”

Dumbledore hastily cut her off again , “Yes well, you know how busy I’ve been with all my responsibilities. I’ve only been able to manage a few visits here and there, but I have had a local squib in the area keeping an eye on him. If you’d like I can put you in contact with her. Arabella Figg is her name, an absolutely lovely woman if you ask me.” He turned and made direct eye contact with Harry. “Now, Alastor has told me you’d requested his documents as well, so I’ve brought everything I had on hand. However, I was hoping to have a moment to speak with Harry if that’s all right? I want to congratulate him and give him some advice!”

Lucius stepped forward, covering Harry from Dumbledore’s direct line of sight. “I’m not sure that's-”

“Perfect!” Dumbledore exclaimed before rushing forward and grabbing Harry’s arm. He pulled the barely teenaged boy over to the side of the room, where everyone would be able to see them, but not quite hear them if they spoke at a low volume. Harry looked back, and saw that his whole newly acquired family looked like they wanted to intervene. He just shook his head and smiled at them before turning back to Dumbledore. He wasn’t surprised to see a furious glare marring his face. “Harry my boy, I am very disappointed with how this has all turned out. If you hadn’t left the care of your family then you wouldn’t have gotten yourself in this mess.” 

Dumbledore paused and ran a hand exasperatedly down his face. “You left the care of your relatives and managed to get yourself trapped with death eaters.” He turned his gaze back to Harry again. “We need to figure out how the Malfoys managed to trick the ministry into claiming you’re their son, and we need to get you back to the Dursleys.” 

Harry was shocked. He had known it was too good to be true, but this just confirmed the worst of it all. He was really just Harry Potter, and the Malfoys were not his family. They were tricking him and using him. “I-” He hung his head, “I’m sorry sir.”

“You’d better be. If you can manage to lay low and play along until school starts up again, Auror Moody and I will try and figure out how to save you once you make it back to Hogwarts.” Professor Dumbledore grasped the boy's shoulders in a way that he assumed looked to be comforting, but in reality he could feel the pressure from the older man’s nails digging into his skin. “Do not trust them Harry. Whatever they say, they are trying to trick you. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they were working with Sirius Black either.”

Harry looked up, confused, but Dumbledore just plastered on a grandfatherly smile and turned back around, leading Harry back to the group. “-did recommend that you bring him in for a full medical scan when you get time.” Harry caught the tail end of what Mariesa was explaining to Lucius and Narcissa. He also noticed what looked like a staring contest going on between Draco and Moody.

“Well, I guess that’s all if you two don’t have any more questions for me?” Dumbledore’s smile was blindingly bright, but Harry knew it was all fake. He watched Dumbledore pull a stack of papers out of the left side of his robes, before walking right to the entrance. 

“Actually we were wondering if-” Lucius tried to call out, but Dumbledore and Moody had already slammed the door behind them.

“Well that was pleasant.” Mariesa commented. She turned to Harry with a genuine smile, “What did Dumbledore want to talk about?”

Harry panicked. “Uhhhhhh…” Think Harry! “He was just telling me congratulations again and reminding me to mind my manners.” He clasped his hands behind his back and rocked from his heels to the tips of his toes.

Mariesa didn’t really look like she believed him, but relented. “Well, I guess I’ll be off as well. It’s my day off, but I guess Dumbledore couldn’t wait another day to come see you.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I did just want to let you know that the aurors questioned your relatives, and as far as we’re aware, they had nothing to do with the kidnapping. They didn’t consent to the use of veritaserum, but they are muggles, so it is understandable.” She had an excited smile when she turned to Harry. “They just finished up early this morning, so you should be able to go visit and collect the rest of your things this afternoon!”

Harry tried to match her excitement, but the pit of dread pooling in his stomach only seemed to deepen. At his silence, Mariesa awkwardly scratched her neck before bidding adieu and walking through the doors.

Narcissa looked at her youngest son and sighed. The boy was obviously still shaken from the events this morning. She motioned towards Lucius with her head, and he led Draco out of the foyer, leaving Harry with his mother. “Harry, is there anything we can do to make you more comfortable?” She softened her voice and slowly stepped closer, bending down so her face could be more level with his. 

Harry jumped, backing up and shaking his hands in front of his body. “Oh no, its fine Mrs. Malfoy. I think I’m just a bit unsettled from all the changes.” He smiled awkwardly. “Really, I’m very comfortable now.”

Narcissa wasn’t convinced, but relented. “Well, I think it would definitely help if you had some more recognizable comforts. What say you we have a bit of brunch and then get ready to head to your relatives home? It might make you feel better to have more of your possessions with you, yes?”

Harry gulped, but knew that he needed to play along. “Sure,” he shrugged his shoulder and followed Mrs. Malfoy to a smaller looking dining room than the one they had dined in the previous night. Mr. Malfoy and Draco were already seated and discussing what sounded like quidditch.

Harry took a seat opposite Draco, and looked down at his hands in his lap. Once again he had hoped for too much and gotten it ripped out from underneath him. The last couple hours, despite being stressful, had been everything Harry had wanted since the moment he had been able to form coherent thoughts. A real family that loved and wanted him. He’d been immensely jealous of Ron’s family, even though they had practically adopted him as well, he knew he wasn’t really a part of the Weasley clan. Lord and Lady Malfoy had been treating him with such tenderness and love that Harry had been blindsided and had forgotten to critically analyze their motives. Of course they were death eaters and of course it was all a ploy. I mean seriously, no one had wanted him in their family before, and he was certain that it wouldn’t start now.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of his name being called. Narcissa was staring at him, and Harry cocked his head in question. “I was just wondering what you’d like to eat this morning.” He noticed his plate was in one of her hands, and she had a serving spoon grasped in the other.

Looking out to the plentiful array of food adorning the table, Harry felt his stomach give another queasy lurch. “I think maybe just a spoonful of eggs.”

Ever concerned, Narcissa frowned. “Are you sure? You didn’t eat much yesterday either.”

“I know, but my stomach has been quite queasy since this whole ordeal began.” Harry gave her a shaky smile, but hid his wringing hands under the tablecloth. He didn’t know if the food here was safe to eat. Dumbledore had warned him, and he wouldn’t put it past death eaters to try and poison or potion him with something. Especially since they seemed to be such good friends with professor Snape. He wouldn’t put it past the man to supply them with potions to manipulate him into doing what the death eaters want.

A quiet little voice in the back of his head did wonder why the death eaters would be trying to treat him so well if they just wanted him dead, but Harry just shook his head.

When Narcissa placed the plate in front of it, it had much more on it than just a spoonful of eggs. She had also served him some of the fruit salad and a couple sausage links. Harry felt his stomach protest, but thanked the woman nonetheless. 

After eating a small bite of everything on his plate, Narcissa seemed placated enough to allow him to head back upstairs to get dressed. He heard Narcissa send Draco after him, with instructions to “dress muggle”. He smiled to himself, excited to see what the pureblood family would come up with. He stared into his closet, at the out of place clothing and thought of what to wear. If he dressed too nicely then the Dursleys may be upset with him, and if he was to return next summer, then he wanted to prevent their ire as much as possible. On the other hand though, if his clothing looked too bad then the Dursleys might be embarrassed in front of Lord and Lady Malfoy.

In the end, Harry settled for the best of both worlds. He chose one of the shirts that fit him better, but was marred with a small grease stain from Dudley’s “excellent” eating manners. His trousers didn’t fit him as well, but he fixed that with a belt pulled as tight as possible over his hips.

Making his way down the stairs, he met the other Malfoys as they all arrived at the foyer. He was actually very surprised with their ability to “dress muggle”. Draco had on a button-up blue shirt, with a pair of casual looking black slacks. Mr. Malfoy was slightly more formal, with a white dress shirt and suit pants. Narcissa was wearing a long forest-green skirt paired with a white blouse. All in all, it was much more suitable than Harry was expecting, and he thought that they would probably be able to fool even the Dursleys into thinking they were normal members of society if not for accompanying Harry “The Freak” Potter. 

Draco made a face at Harry’s attire, but thankfully didn’t comment. He ignored the other two Malfoy’s stares as well, before he came to a stop by the door. Quickly he turned around. “How are we going to get to Surrey?”

Lucius just smiled while Narcissa wrapped an arm around Draco’s shoulders. “Have you ever side-along apparated before Harry?”

Chapter Text

Harry immediately bent over and proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach onto the pavement where he and Mr. Malfoy had landed in Little Whinging. He heard another crack behind him and assumed that Mrs. Malfoy and Draco had arrived just in time to see him in all his pitiful glory. His stomach gave another lurch and he gagged again, dry heaving whilst simultaneously attempting to hide himself from their view. He was genuinely upset that he’d lost the contents of his stomach. It had been so nice to have two consecutive meals in a row, a luxury he knew he wouldn’t be able to count on in the future.

He felt what he assumed to be Mr. Malfoy’s hand rubbing circles on his back in a soothing motion. That was another thing that the little voice in his head commented on. Why would Mr. Malfoy be so kind to him if he didn’t believe Harry to be his son? He had taken time that morning to soothe and comfort him after his nightmare, and now he was soothing him after he had just lost his breakfast. 

Mortified, Harry stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Mrs. Malfoy tutted and walked up to him with a handkerchief in hand while Mr. Malfoy waved his wand and wordlessly vanished the mess. “Sorry Harry, apparition can be pretty rough on first-timers,” Narcissa dabbed at his face with the cloth, before vanishing it from sight. “Next time you can take a stomach soothing draught before-hand.” Harry just nodded along, dumbfounded. Why were they not more upset about the mess he’d just made? The Dursleys would have shouted and forced him on his knees to mop up the mess with his own shirt. Left and right, the Malfoys kept acting strangely. Maybe Dumbledore had gotten it wrong? Mariesa had said that many people forgot about the Malfoy family’s switch to the ministry’s side towards the end of the war. Maybe he’d forgotten?

With that little light of hope running through his head, Harry turned and led the group of blondes out of the concealed alley and out onto Privet Drive. He noticed with a sigh of relief that there weren’t any of the neighbors outside, and thanked their random luck at choosing to appear out of nowhere at the most opportune time. Walking up the road, he scratched the back of his neck and attempted to not look back at the Malfoys’ faces. He was mildly embarrassed to show them the place he grew up in. Compared to their manor, Privet Drive was tiny, cookie cutter, and plain.

Finally, they stopped in front of number 4, and Harry took a moment to soak in the pride of the sight of the immaculately cared for garden beds. The lawn was a bit overgrown and was definitely in need of being cut, but Harry doubted that Uncle Vernon was up for that particular challenge. Seeing Harry’s hesitance, Lucius stepped forward. He was definitely saddened at the sight of the place Hadrian had grown up in, but he was trying to keep a neutral face and tone. His son was destined for great things, not basic muggle homes. He lightly squeezed his son’s shoulder, before rapping three times on the pristine, white door. 

It took a moment for the occupants of the home to open the door, and he could feel Harry tense up through the hand he still had on his shoulder when the sound of shouting sounded on the other side of the door. Eventually, the door creaked open and Lucius guessed that the skinny, horse-faced woman was Mrs. Dursley. He plastered on a smile, one he was used to using whenever participating in business deals, and he extended his arm attempting to greet the woman. However, he wasn’t able to get a word in before the woman spotted his son and shrieked.

“YOU! How dare you attempt to come back here again! Do you know what you’ve put our family through these last few days? You selfish selfish freak .” She spat at the boy,

Lucius watched his son shrink back at the harsh woman’s words, and decided to step forward, covering the boy with his body. “I apologize madam. Harry made us aware that you were upset enough to kick him out after the issues you had this summer, but I hardly think that he deserves those words.”

Mrs. Dursley just turned her glare to him. “And who might you be?” She quickly tried to turn her gaze back to Harry, but Lucius just moved to cover him more. She huffed, “you better have not brought even more of those freaks back with you. We had to deal with them twice since you left. What will the neighbors think?”

“ I am Lord Lucius Malfoy. I’m not sure what the aurors may have discussed with you, but Harry here is my son.” He gestured to Narcissa and Draco. “This is my lovely wife, Narcissa, and our first born son, Harry’s twin, Draco. We’re not here to cause you any trouble, but we just wanted to come and retrieve Harry’s belongings.”

Narcissa was concerned to say the least. She knew that the Dursleys had been upset with Harry over a bout of accidental magic, which she thought was laughable. As if the child could control something like that. However, if this was how they talked to her son, she could understand why her son had been so unconcerned with his own nightmares this morning. They must not be very attentive guardians. 

Mrs. Dursley looked slightly shaken. “L-Lord?” she asked with a quivering tone. She attempted what looked to be an awkward attempt at a curtsey, before turning to gesture the group into the house.

“What is it Pet?” A deep jarring voice shouted from another room deep inside the house.

“One moment dear!” Her shrill voice called back. Petunia gestured to the seats in the foyer of the small home, before dashing off to, Lucius assumed, wherever the voice had come from. He glanced down at the gaudy floral patterned sofa, and gingerly perched on the edge of the cushions. 

The rest of the Malfoys followed suit, but Harry remained standing, fidgeting with his hands. “Well, welcome to the Dursleys’ home I guess.” He awkwardly laughed. Narcissa didn’t fail to notice how he’d mentioned the home as belonging to the Dursleys and not him. Harry continued to fidget, refusing to sit down even when Narcissa made space for him on the sofa next to her. 

The rude woman from before swept back into the room, but this time she was followed by a rotund man with a looming presence. Harry tensed, which was not missed by the other two adults in the room. 

The large man pulled on the suspenders that were already threatening to snap from the sheer weight of his stomach hanging over the top of his trousers. He cleared his throat, “What’s this I hear of a Lord?”

Lucius grimaced, but stood to greet the off-putting man. “Lord Lucius Malfoy. Did the aurors inform you of what’s happened?”

“Yes, they mentioned something about us raising a boy we weren’t even related to.”

The Lord frowned, but continued on, “Well, we’re grateful that you’ve been taking good care of him for us.”

“Yes, about that. We’ve been taking care of your offspring all this time, and children are awfully expensive. What with all the food they eat, the clothes, the medicine, the education.” He trailed off, with a suggestive look on his face.

Lucius heard Harry snort and looked over to him. He noticed the boy had an amused grin on his face, but that he was still looking at his own feet rather than looking at his own family. “Yes, again, we’re grateful. We were hoping to gather the rest of Harry’s things as we’re going to be taking over full custody of him now.”

The man’s face grew red with what Lucius assumed was anger or humiliation. “Now you see here. My family has suffered with the burden of that boy,” he pointed a pudgy finger at Harry, “and I expect to be compensated!” 

Lucius took a step back. Burdened? With his son? Absolutely not. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but if you weren’t capable of caring for him, then you should not have accepted him into your care. I will not pay you for him as if he’s a slave! You may have done so unknowingly, but you stole 13 years from us. Thirteen years that we would have been absolutely delighted in having with our son.”

Mrs. Dursley had her husband’s arm in a death grip, as the man was somehow more red-faced than before. “The nerve , that boy was a nightmare to raise!” She responded for her husband. “We constantly suffered from his freakishness. Doing magic left and right. You freaks should never have been allowed to breed.” She spat the words at them, and in that moment, both Lucius and Narcissa realized that their son had suffered in this home. They weren’t sure to what extent, and Merlin does Narcissa hope that he was shown even a fraction of love, but the pair knew that he had not been treated well.

“I think that’s enough,” Lucius held up a hand, standing taller, and Harry noted, quite intimidatingly. “Harry, would you go retrieve your things? Narcissa, if you could help him, I think it best that we leave as soon as possible. We wouldn’t want to inconvenience the muggles .”

Harry was shocked with the way that Mr. Malfoy was speaking up to Vernon. Never in his life had he seen someone stand up to the man, and it was satisfying to see him put in his place. He quickly led the Malfoy matriarch up the stairs to Dudley’s second bedroom, hoping she wouldn’t dwell on the locks and catflap. Unfortunately, the door was locked for some reason, and he had to turn to the woman for help. Her face was neutral, as if she was attempting to block out emotion, and she whipped out her wand, a quiet Alohomora on her lips.

The door swung open, and Harry quickly ran to the wardrobe where he had stashed some of his things that he hadn’t been able to grab when he left. He grabbed the ratty old backpack from primary school that he’d had pushed all the way in the back, and started stuffing the clothing in. He failed to notice Narcissa who was standing behind him taking in the appearance of the room. The room was barren, with only a small cot on the floor with a threadbare sheet and a lumpy pillow. Other than the wardrobe, she also noticed the piles of broken toys stacked in the corners of the room, and finally the bars that had been reinstalled after the Weasleys had freed him before second year.

Once the wardrobe was empty, Harry skidded across the room and lifted the mattress from the floor, lifting the floorboard there that he had stashed some textbooks for when he got particularly bored when locked in the room for days on end. With everything stashed in the bag, he got up and faced Mrs. Malfoy again.

“Is that all?” she asked. Harry chose to ignore the concern in her voice.

“Er, I’ve got a couple…sentimental items in my closet downstairs.”

The now very concerned Narcissa followed him down and into what looked like the hallway between the foyer and the living/dining area. (Honestly, who designed these muggle homes? They’ve got no creativity.) Harry stopped in front of a small cupboard door under the staircase, and when the door unlatched (it looked like the lock had been blown off) Narcissa saw red. Up until now she had been doing a very good job on keeping a neutral face, but this was her last straw. The first thing she saw was a tattered paper sign hanging on the inside of the door that had “Harrys Room” in a child’s handwriting. She could see a tiny child’s cot that had numerous stains, and she could smell a lingering stale scent from the space. Harry seemed to be gathering what looked like broken, tiny, green figurines and a couple other paper drawings. Hopefully her son would allow her to look at them if they were from his childhood.

Harry turned back around, “I think that’s everything. Although, I’ve heard Aunt Petunia say something before about having some of my mum’s things in the attic though so OOF-” Narcissa had gathered him up in one of the tightest hugs, and Harry sunk into the warmth of it, “Oh.”

After a few minutes, Narcissa pulled back with tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry we didn’t find you earlier.”

Harry was stumped, but before he could take time to think about it, Mrs. Malfoy lifted her wand. “ Accio Lily Potter’s belongings ”. A couple cardboard boxes flew towards the pair, and Narcissa promptly shrunk them before pocketing them. A shiny, expensive necklace also zoomed out of the master bedroom, and Harry was worried that maybe the spell had gone wrong and she’d summoned the wrong items, before he heard a softly muttered “ bitch ” deciding to just leave it.

Together, Harry and Narcissa made their way back to the foyer where it looked like Mr. Malfoy was having a silent staring contest with the Dursleys and Draco was still sitting on the sofa glancing around the room in morbid fascination. “Have you got everything then?” The Malfoy patriarch asked. 

At Narcissa’s sharp nod, Draco stood and Lucius walked himself to the front door, the Dursleyss sharp on the group’s heels. The door slammed open with the force of Mr. Malfoy’s magic, but before Harry could follow the group outside, he was yanked back by Vernon’s meaty hands grasping his wrist. He yelped at the force, and immediately tried to free himself before he was dragged up to his uncle’s face. “Don’t get comfortable boy. ” He spoke low, but Harry could still feel the man’s spittle land on his face, and he could see some drops land on the lens of his glasses. “Dumbledore promised we could keep you, and I’ll be damned if you get to be treated like a little lord .” Harry heard a blasting hex whispered behind him and suddenly Vernon was flying back into the home. A soft hand gripped his shoulder, and Narcissa led a shell-shocked Harry back to the alleyway apparition point.

Chapter Text

Once Harry landed back at Malfoy Manor with Narcissa gripping his forearm, he finally broke. Not once in the entire time since the entire fiasco started with aunt Marge blowing up like a balloon had Harry taken the time to let his emotions out. It seemed like the dam had finally broken and Harry couldn’t hold it in anymore. 

Sobs were ripped out of him and his breath was coming in harsh gasps wet from the tears that were streaming liberally down his face. He hid the evidence in his elbow, the overly large t-shirt’s sleeve soaking up the tears, but it didn’t stop his mother from seeing the pain in her son. She quickly gathered him in her arms, and the pair sank to the floor together. She pulled Harry’s face away from his elbow and guided it to her shoulder, where she could feel the silk blouse soaking up his tears. She didn’t care. Not that she didn’t value her belongings, but nothing could ever be more important than taking care of her family. Lucius sank down to the floor next to Harry, and she could make out that his arm was rubbing circles on his back. 

Eventually, it seemed like Harry had cried all of the tears that he could, and he was left breathing harshly, almost hyperventilating. At that, Narcissa knew she needed to do something to calm him down. She pulled away only slightly, and tried to ignore her son’s arms that helplessly tried to tighten and pull her back to him.

“Harry, love. You need to calm down. Please, you’ll make yourself sick.” At that, Harry finally looked up at her, but his breathing never calmed. She could finally tell that within all the gasps and blubbering, her son had been trying to say something.

“Please-” gasp “please don’t make me go back.” Another sob wracked his body. Somehow tears started flowing down his face again. “I promise-” his body heaved and Lucius summoned a bin to hold under Harry’s face, but he pushed it away and kept forcing the words from his mouth. “I promise I’ll be good. I’ll do all the chores, and I won’t complain. I don’t know why you want to keep me for Voldemort, but I’ll be good-” he gasped again and wiped at his wide eyes, heavy with tears. “I’ll do anything you ask but please, I can’t go back I won’t.”

“Harry, oh my love shhhh.” She pulled her son back in towards her body and started rocking him. She had no idea what he meant, but she needed to calm down the child before they started looking for an explanation. “You’re ok. We’d never let you go back to those awful muggles. Just breathe for me.” She felt and heard the harsh gasps and heaves fade into something more manageable and smiled. “That’s it, love. You’re doing so good. Just keep breathing. I know that was an awful experience, but when you’ve calmed down we can talk.” She continued the rocking motions until all that was emanating from the teenager was small sniffles. 

Giving a pointed look to her husband who was still rubbing their son’s back, she started to rise, supporting the boy who was much too light, and Lucius held him from the other side. The pair made their way to one of the closer sitting rooms, and gingerly she helped the overtired teen to sit down. Suddenly, she noticed the absence of her other son and looked to Lucius with confusion in her eyes. He caught on quickly and whispered, “After he’d been crying for so long I told him to go get Sev. He’s gonna need a calming draught if we’re going to have a conversation about the muggles.”

She nodded and silently thanked the universe that she had such a thoughtful husband. She could still feel the silent shivers running through the boy’s body, and she could tell that he was on the verge of another breakdown. She continued whispering to her son that everything was okay, while they waited for the arrival of the potions master. Her worst fears had come true that day. She had hoped beyond hope that despite having her son ripped from her, that he had grown up to know love, but she knew the moment that the awful muggles had started speaking that she had gotten her hopes up. There was no way, with the state of his “bedrooms”, that her son had been mistreated, abused . Flashbacks of meetings with the Knights of Walpurgis when she and her husband had graduated from Hogwarts came back to her. The Dark Lord had sought to improve wizarding society and through it, improve the lives of half-blood and muggleborn children. He had shared the details of his upbringing, and many others had shared how muggles had abused and mistreated them as children as well. At this moment, she wished that she could go back in time and warn those young, bright-eyed fools of what would become of them. Maybe then her son wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.

Finally, Draco rushed into the room with a flustered Severus Snape in tow. He was carrying his potions storage bag, a magically enhanced bag with wizarding space, that was charmed to protect the contents from breaking and chemical contamination. She saw the man’s eyes widen as he took in the sight of Harry. Lucius murmured something to him, and he quickly rifled through the bag, pulling out a calming draught and handing it over. Lucius crouched down in front of Harry and offered the potion. Her son seemed tired, and saw a couple more tears escape his eyes, but he accepted the potion, downing it in one go. She saw Severus take a seat in one of the arm chairs that was closer to the corner of the room, so he could observe and participate in whatever conversation was about to happen, but not intrude too much on the familial atmosphere. She rolled her eyes at that. He’d always been slightly awkward when included in family conversations, but honestly when was the man going to realize that he was already a very integral member of the family. He was practically Lucius’ brother at this point. He too was one of the members of the knights that had shared their experience of being abused by muggles, and she knew his perspective in this conversation would be important.

Finally, she noticed Harry’s form slowly relaxed, and the tears finally dried up. He sniffled as the backlog of tears had swollen up his face, and Narcissa conjured another handkerchief for him, handing it over with a whisper of thanks from her son.

“Feeling better?” she asked, hoping that her tone came off as nice and not condescending as she was positive that Harry would feel embarrassed from the crying fit.

As she expected, he turned bright red and swiped at his eyes. He looked down at his lap and nodded his head.

“All right, well I just want to clarify something Harry. You seemed awfully upset about being made to return to the Dursley’s home, and I just wanted to make it clear that that will not be happening. We have total custody over you now, and no matter what anyone says, we will not be letting you leave us. I don’t know about the others, but I’m currently finding it difficult to let you out of my sight right now, let alone let you live with another family.”

Harry grimaced, but lifted his head. “You don’t have to fake it, you know. Dumbledore told me all about how you tricked the ministry so you could gain control over me.” Narcissa stared shocked at Harry, and he obviously picked up on it, hurrying to explain himself. “I don’t mind really. You’ve treated me better than anyone ever has before, and I’m just so fed up with the Dursleys. I don’t think I could bear to be in their presence again. I’ll do anything if you’d let me stay with you. The bed here is so comfortable, and I can even try and eat less food too if that would help. Please just, I don’t care why you wanted me here, but I’ll be so good and do whatever you want if you’d just let me stay with you. I can even pretend to be Hadrian.”

Narcissa took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure. Dumbledore had been a thorn in her side for as long as she’d known him. He’d been an awful headmaster, spouting nonsense about how perfect the gryffindors were while mistreating the slytherins. Narcissa would be eternally grateful for Severus’ presence as head of Slytherin for Draco, as Slughorn had never protected and supported the slytherins in her own time at the school. Dumbledore had also tried his hand at discrediting her and Lucius when the Dark Lord had finally fallen. He’d tried to have them both thrown in Azkaban, despite their defecting from the group and assisting the ministry after the fact.

She finally looked up at her husband and saw the man was also attempting to control his rage at hearing how Dumbledore had lied to their son. “Harry, what exactly did Professor Dumbledore tell you this morning?”

Harry’s ears turned pink, but he still stuttered out an answer. “He told me that you tricked the ministry into thinking I was Hadrian so that you’d be able to gain control over me and hand me over to Voldemort.” He was looking down at his own hands that were wringing in his lap. 

Lucius settled one of his hands over his son’s own, stopping the worried movements. “Harry, I know this is hard for you, because Dumbledore is an adult that you should have been able to trust, but what he told you is a lie.” Harry didn’t look very convinced, but didn’t speak up or interrupt the man. “Let’s think about all the facts here ok? The test was administered by Gringott’s right?” at Harry’s nod, he continued. “The goblins hate liars and cheats, and they’ve developed lots of systems to prevent people from lying and cheating their way into getting what they want. There is no way that I, despite how much power you might think I have, would be able to fool the goblins.”

Harry thought about the man’s explanation, and really, it did make sense. He wasn’t entirely convinced, but he wanted to believe him so bad. 

“Also,” Lucius continued, “my family defected from among the Dark Lords ranks the moment he started going too far with his motives. I would never harm a child, especially not for the Lord that I turned against 14 years ago.” He squeezed his son’s hand. “You don’t need to believe me now, but I give you my word that you, ” he pointed at Harry’s chest, “are my son, and no matter what Dumbledore says or does, I will not give you up and I will fight till my dying breath to keep you safe. Whether that’s from stupid, idiotic muggles or stupid idiotic headmasters it doesn’t matter.”

Harry’s bottom lip trembled, and he could feel a fresh wave of tears coming despite the dampening effect from the calming draught. Lucius saw this and quickly pulled the boy into his arms, hugging the life out of him before he could doubt his love.

“I think,” Harry took a deep breath, “I think Dumbledore has been lying to me.”

He heard a huffed laugh come from somewhere in the room. “I could have told you that Harry .” Draco’s snobbish voice seemed to lack bite though, and Harry almost felt himself huffing out a laugh too if it wasn’t for the tears that were still falling.

He pulled back after a second. “So, you really are my family?” His voice sounded so broken and small that Narcissa felt her heart break again.

“Of course we are my love,” and she leaned in to join her husband in hugging him as well before he could doubt again. She felt Draco join in the group hug, and she looked up to Severus to see if he would join as well. He had his head turned to the side, but Narcissa thought she could see the glisten of a tear falling down his cheek. She snickered and turned back to the group hug she unwittingly found herself a part of.

After several long moments where she could hear the sniffling of several members of her family, the group dispersed, with Draco taking a seat on the other side of her, and Lucius settling down on the sofa directly across from Harry.

Harry wiped the tears from his face with the handkerchief, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what to think, and when Dumbledore told me you’d lied it felt like all my hopes had gone away. I didn’t know what to think, because he’s the only adult that’s ever protected me before and I thought that’s what he was doing.”

The potions master in the corner finally spoke up for the first time since he’d arrived. “I would hardly call the headmaster’s actions protecting Harry. Throughout your first two years I would almost suggest that he’s been the one putting you in harm’s way.”

Harry was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if you recall, in your first year he set a trap for the dark lord, to protect the stone that he was after. He directly suggested to you and your merry band of gryffindors many times to investigate the, frankly, ridiculously easy to solve tests. Any first year would know how to pass those defences with ease. I tried to convince him to strengthen the defenses multiple times, but he simply brushed me off. And, if you recall, he did nothing to protect you from the backlash last year when it was discovered that you were a parselmouth.” Severus sent a pointed look at Draco. “He did nothing to circumvent the bullying you were subjected to, and when students were being petrified, he deliberately chose to wait for professor sprout’s mandrakes to mature rather than ordering them from a supplier in Hogsmeade or Diagon alley. I personally have seen no evidence from the headmaster that suggests he was acting in your best interests.”

Harry was shocked at the information he had just received. Thinking back on it, those defenses were pretty lousy if three first years could figure it out, with only one having any sort of preexisting knowledge of the wizarding world. And surely with all the power and connections that Dumbledore has, he could have found a way to stop the basilisk or cure the petrified students earlier than he had.

At the end of it all though, Harry was just tired. He was tired of Dumbledore, tired of the Dursleys, and honestly, tired of perspective altering conversations. His eyes were puffy and they hurt, his throat hurt from all his sobbing, and his stomach hurt from all the anxiety and panic. His mother seemed to sense this, as she draped her arm around him and let him droop until he was resting his head on her shoulder. 

“So I don’t have to go back to the Dursleys?”

“No, love.”

He sighed, and closed his eyes.

“You need to know that your position here is not conditional. You don’t need to do chores or even obey everything we tell you to do in order to have a home here. You are part of our family.

“Aunt Petunia said that’s how you earn love.”

Her arms tightened around him. “Not here.” she simply said. “Petunia lied. You’re worthy of love just for existing.”

He seemed to droop even more. “Harry, can we talk about the Dursleys please?” Her voice was tight with worry. As much as she wanted to put those horrid muggles behind her, she knew that this needed to be done as soon as possible. Harry tensed again, but she felt him slowly nod his head into her shoulder.

“I saw a couple things while you were packing up your things that worried me, and I just wanted to clarify.” She felt Harry sit up, and he nervously looked over to where Severus was sitting. 

The man caught on quickly and spoke up. “Whatever is spoken in this room will not leave unless it is being reported to the proper channels with the DMLE and the Department of Child Welfare.”

That must have assuaged whatever immediate concerns he’d had, because he nodded his head and turned back to his mother.

“Can you tell me why your bedroom looked like that?”

“D’you mean the locks and the cat flap?” He asked innocently, tilting his head. Luckily he missed the outraged looks on Lucius and Severus’ head.

Draco seemed to miss the silent memo to not react verbally though, “I didn’t know you had a cat.”

Harry looked sheepish. “The flap wasn’t for a cat. I don’t have one, and neither do the Dursleys. They put that on the door when I moved in there so they could feed me through it without opening the door. Aunt Petunia would pass soup tins and water through it. Always said it was so the sight of me wouldn’t ruin her day.”

“They also liked to lock me in when I wasn’t doing chores or making dinner for them. I don’t really mind that, it’s much more peaceful when I’m locked in. It could get pretty annoying when I needed the bathroom though.” His face went red as he looked like he was remembering something embarrassing.

Narcissa wasn’t really listening though. She was too busy plotting the murders of the muggles.

“Harry, I'm so sorry they treated you that way, love.” She rubbed a hand up and down his back.

He looked down at his lap again. He’d never talked about the way the Dursleys treated him before. He’d learned his lesson in grade school when his teacher had started asking too many questions and the Dursleys had taken out their anger on him when she reported her concerns to his guardians. He’d always known in the back of his mind that he was treated differently, but he’d never had someone acknowledge that their treatment was wrong or bad.

“Yeah” he simply said in response.

“I think,” Severus began, and Harry whipped up his head to watch the man with a wary expression, “that Harry needs to see a healer. It already sounds like you’ve experienced some malnourishment, and I’d need to know what kind of potions they would like to prescribe so I can get brewing as soon as possible.”

Harry was shocked. The professor, who had so blatantly expressed his dislike of him from the first day they’d met, was actively planning on brewing potions for him. He blushed at the implications that the man cared for him.

“Harry,” Narcissa interrupted his musings. “I also just need to know, and you can just say yes or no, you don’t need to explain if you don’t want to. Did the Dursleys ever hurt you physically? Did they ever hit you?”

The boy simply hung his head and nodded almost imperceptibly. She heard Severus’ sharp intake of breath before he quickly excused himself and walked out of the room. She was almost tempted to do the same. She needed something to take out her rage on, but she knew that right now she needed to be a support for her son. So she buried the rage, the hurt, and the tears behind her occlumency walls and simply hugged her son tighter. “Thank you for telling me, dove.” He relaxed against her. 

Lucius stood up from the couch. “I’ll go ahead and contact our healer to set up an appointment for tomorrow.” She could tell from his stiff posture that he also needed to let out some of his anger, and she didn’t fault him for walking away from the conversation.

Draco leaned around his mother until he had a clear view of Harry. “Harry?” The black haired twin turned his head up to meet his eyes. “They’ll have to go through me too if they ever try to make you go back to the muggles again.”

Harry genuinely smiled for the first time that day.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Harry. His mother had led him up to his bedroom, where she coaxed him into eating a few biscuits and fruit before tucking him into his bed and drawing the curtains so he was left in the dark. Later, he was woken up from a surprisingly dreamless nap by Draco who brought him downstairs for dinner. He tried to ignore the strange guilty expression that professor Snape seemed to have stuck on his face, and he dug into the meal in front of him. The conversation stuck to safe topics, like what his father was doing for work, and Professor Snape’s preparations for the new school year. 

Eventually, they made their way into anothe sitting room where Snape, Draco, and Lucius set up a strange card game Harry didn’t recognize. He found an interesting book on magical flora and settled down to read. He didn’t notice himself drifting until he felt a firm grip on his shoulder. Recoiling, Harry gazed fearfully at his brother, who simply grimaced in return.

“Sorry Harry, I just thought you’d rather walk up to your room this time instead of being carried by dad again.

Harry’s face was immediately overcome with a blush, realizing that that’s what must have happened the night before. He got up quickly and absentmindedly followed Draco. He didn’t even notice where they were going, until he realized that they had definitely walked past the staircase only moments ago. Confused, he continued to silently follow Draco to a room at the very back of the large manor. The door was inconspicuous, and Harry would have assumed it to lead into a closet of some sort, if Draco didn’t open the door, revealing a large kitchen and a startled house elf.

She was wearing a rumpled skirt covered in flour and possibly jam, Harry wasn’t too sure. She squeaked and fumbled a curtsy, but Draco just ignored her and sauntered into the room.

“Thought we could sneak some pudding without mum and dad knowing.” He smirked at Harry before taking a seat on a worn looking stool.

The elf smiled delightedly at the mention of pudding, “What cans Whimsy bes making for the little masters?”

“Hmm, Harry. What do you think?” 

Harry didn’t often have the chance to choose his dessert, he was obviously never allowed it at the Dursleys, and at Hogwarts, they usually only offered dessert occasionally, rotating between only a few options. He did remember Dudley’s tenth birthday, where he’d slaved away all day baking a fancy tart that Petunia had seen on a baking show on the telly. He wasn’t quite sure what it was called, but after describing it in detail to the little elf, she quickly nodded her head and set about floating different ingredients together.

The two brothers sat in slightly uncomfortable silence, before Draco cleared his throat. “Harry, what… why did you reject me in first year?” His question was almost whispered, and the blonde was twisting his fingers in his lap. Harry almost felt bad, but if one thing, he felt justified in his actions at that time.

“I guess, you just really reminded me of my cousin you know?”

“What? I reminded you of that muggle ?” Draco’s voice was incredulous and Harry could see that his face was quickly getting red, with embarassment or anger he couldn’t say.

“Well, you obviously don’t look like him, Draco, but the way you acted reminded me of him. You were rude and acted like you were better than my first friend I had ever made just because of his clothes and his family. Just like my cousin always assumed he was better than me because his parents were alive and treated him with love.” Harry’s cheeks turned pink at what he realized he had just revealed. 

“Oh.” Came Draco’s soft voice of acknowledgement. A couple more seconds passed. “Weasley was your first friend?” He asked the question like he knew there was a lot more behind that bit of information, but not wanting to pry too much into the other boy’s past.

Harry looked down at his lap. “Dudley wasn’t too keen on me having friends. Always told anyone who was too friendly that I was a freak and a criminal. I think he also threatened the ones who didn’t believe him.” He picked at his fingers and sucked in a breath when blood started welling from the cuticle of his thumb. “I guess, well I did have just one friend before then. I didn’t know if it counts, but there was this snake I met when I was really little, maybe five or six. She was really nice and would talk to me, obviously I didn’t know I was a parselmouth, and I guess I just assumed she was like the imaginary friend Dudley had. Her name was Clover, and I think maybe she was my first friend. Ron was just my first human friend.” Harry almost kept talking, but quickly snapped his jaw shut.

Draco just hummed along with him, “Is she still at Privet Drive? I could ask mum and dad if they’d go back and get her.”

Harry just shook his head. “She,” he took a deep breath, happy for the residual effects of the strong calming draught still pumping through his system. “One day I saw Dudley and his gang gathered around something at the park, they were poking at something with a snake and when I got closer I saw that it was Clover. She was all bloody and mangled. I don’t…I don’t know why they would hurt her. She was so nice. She never even hissed at me before I spoke to her.”

Draco didn’t know what to do when Harry started sniffling. He’d never really had to comfort any of his friends before, but he did know that it had helped when his mother had hugged him earlier, so Draco awkwardly put his arms around his brother’s stiffening shoulders. 

Luckily for the duo, they were saved from the awkward moment by Whimsy hovering the desired pastry in front of them. She snapped her fingers and two silver forks appeared on either side of the tart. Harry quickly picked up his fork and dug into the sweet treat. They ate in silence before Harry excused himself after a few bites, his stomach aching from the overly sweet flavor. It wasn’t quite as satisfying as he had hoped. 

-

The next day, Harry was woken up by Narcissa opening the curtains in his bedroom and letting in the light. He sat up quickly, unsure if she was here to yell at him for sleeping in, but she just smiled at him, “Good morning my dear, we’ve got a big day ahead of us. Your father went ahead and made an appointment with our family healer this afternoon, so we’ll have to floo over to St. Mungos after lunch. Draco wanted to take you out for a tour of the gardens before then though. How does that sound?”

Harry just nodded his head and murmured his agreement, and Narcissa smiled happily, not noticing her son's obvious discomfort and anxiety regarding the mention of a healer appointment. She left the room, and Harry continued to sit in the bed, slowly bringing his knees to his chest. He’d always felt anxious at the thought of doctors, as the only time he’d ever been taken to one growing up was because Uncle Vernon had broken his leg and he’d been unable to stop screaming at the pain. The doctor had used a needle to give him pain medicine, and while it hadn’t hurt quite as much as getting punched and knocked around, Harry had still found it to be quite frightening. The Dursleys had left Harry locked up in his room until it was time to get the cast taken off, and they’d moaned and groaned throughout the whole ordeal. While he was certain that healers in the wizarding world didn’t use needles (he was almost entirely sure that it was a muggle torture device, as Draco would word it), the thought of being at the center of attention like that and being forced to take awful tasting potions sounded terrifying.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He had to do this. It was something that the Malfoys wanted him to do, and he needed to be cooperative with them if he wanted them to keep him. Quickly, before he could start overthinking again, he hopped out of bed and wrenched open the doors of his wardrobe. His stomach turned at the sight of Dudleys old clothes. He felt like a smudge on the perfect Malfoy family whenever he was with them now, as his clothes were evidently inferior to their perfectly manicured outfits. Silently, he settled for a baggy tshirt with a hole in the armpit, and a pair of large, long jeans that Harry had to roll up at the ankle and cinch tightly around his waist. 

Once he made it down to the ground floor, Harry found Draco waiting by the doors to the veranda. He noticed a flicker of something crossing his face when he glanced at his clothes, but it was gone too fast for Harry to figure out what it was. They duo made their way out the doors together. 

“Do you wanna see the peacocks?” Harry quickly nodded, and Draco quickly led him around the side of the house and to a large field where several bright white peacocks were lazily wandering around. There were a pair of birds that were peacefully sleeping in the shade of a large oak tree that Draco led him to. “This one right here,” he gestured to the one with a single blue streak on its cheek, “is mine. His name’s Apollo.” He lovingly stroked a finger over the top of the bird’s head, and it was evident they had a strong bond as the bird simply leaned into the gesture.

“And that one,” he gestured to the slightly smaller peacock that had pale yellow feathers under its eyes, “is yours. They hatched a month before we were born. His name is Pollux.” Harry uneasily reached forward to stroke his head like Draco was to his own bird, but froze when its head reared back. It gave him an affronted look, and then quickly stood and trotted away.

“I wouldn’t take it personally. He’s never been fond of anyone. He doesn’t even like most of the other birds except for Apollo here.” Harry did his best to not feel hurt by the action, but it still stung in his chest, especially as he watched Apollo stand up, just to flop down closer to Draco so he could rest his head in the boy’s lap.

-

Meanwhile, Narcissa joined her husband in his study, where he was preparing to floo call the family lawyer. She noted the journal he was scribbling away on furiously, as he muttered to himself. The both of them hadn’t quite recovered from finding out that their son had been treated so horribly growing up. She had known about how muggles treat children, what with Severus and the Dark Lord sharing their own experiences, but she hadn’t wanted to believe that her own son could suffer the same fate.

She brushed her hand along the back of her husband’s neck to get his attention, and he stopped his scribbling to look up at her. With a slight smile, she leaned down to peck him on the lips. Nothing too outrageous, after all, their children could barge in at any moment, but she relished in the intimate gesture. Their marriage had suffered since the disappearance of their son, but in the last few days, the connection between them felt like it used to, back when they had first been engaged.

She gestured down to the journal under Lucius’ hand, “Anything good?”

He looked down, startled, as if he had just realized the world existed outside their happy little bubble. “Oh, yes, I just wanted to jot down my most pressing thoughts to bring up with Tobias.”

Narcissa nodded along and looked down to see Albus Dumbledore, child abuse, endangerment, ministry officials, and plenty of other points that she knew would need to be addressed. She could tell her husband was bloodthirsty and would stop at nothing to get justice for their son. They needed to make sure that nobody could harm him or take him away again.

Glancing over at the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room, she realized it was about time to call their lawyer. She grabbed a pinch of the powder and called out the address. A man with a halo of silver hair and silver spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose answered. “Ah, Lady Malfoy, what can I help you with today?” His voice was mildly grating, but had a sort of strength behind it.

“Hello, Tobias. I’m sure you’ve seen it all in the papers, but we’ve been recently reunited with our son, and we could really use your counsel on a couple things.”

His eyes grew wide. “So it’s true then? Harry Potter is your Hadrian?”

She smiled. She knew the awe in his voice had nothing to do with Harry Potter, and more to do with the knowledge he had on their own family. After all, he had handled most of their dealings with the ministry and the press. “Yes, we’ve found him.”

“I’ll be through in just a moment then. I’ll just need to grab my things.” The flames flared brightly for one moment more, before they went out. Narcissa shifted out of the fireplace and brushed the remaining powder on the skirt of her dress.

When the flames glowed again, an older man stepped through. Despite his age, he stood tall and sturdy, dressed in a solid grey suit with a white pocket square and a gold pocket watch. He carried a black briefcase, which he set on top of Lucius’ desk.

“I’d like to offer you my congratulations, I truly wasn’t sure if this day would ever come.” Lucius simply smiled and accepted the man’s handshake. “Where is he now? Do you simply need help gaining custody of him?”

“Oh no, Tobias,” Lucius quickly corrected the man. “Harry’s out with Draco right now. I believe they’re exploring the grounds right now. We actually got custody over him practically immediately. Unfortunately, some other issues came up.”

Lucius and Narcissa quickly filled him in on the events from the recent days, including the abysmal treatment of Harry, and the issues with Dumbledore as Harry’s magical guardian, as well as his attempts of controlling him further and the threats of his removal from their family.

“Well, it sounds like we can at least start a case against the muggle adults who had guardianship over Harry, but I think we need to do some more investigation into the blood adoption and Dumbledore’s own involvement. It’s incredibly suspicious the way he has been speaking with Harry. I’ll reach out to my contacts within the ministry and we’ll start a full investigation. If anything, I think we’ll at least be able to get some sort of restraining order against Dumbledore. He’s caused Harry mental anguish and has definitely worsened the trauma of these changes in his life.”

Narcissa and Lucius both quickly agreed with his deductions, and Narcissa could feel a little bit of the weight on her chest lift. They would make them pay.

Chapter Text

Harry was laying in the grass next to his brother. He and Draco were taking turns playing eye spy with the different cloud shapes in the sky when Narcissa found them. She was surprised at how fast the two boys were getting along. After all, she knew it was one of Draco and Lucius’ biggest fears that their past, volatile relationship would cause a rift too large to close, but it seemed that her youngest son had an innate ability to forgive and forget. Already the boys seemed like two peas in a pod and she couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to see their relationship grow if they had never been separated in the first place.

“Harry, love. We need to leave for St Mungo’s in about in about 5 minutes. Would you mind heading over to the floo in Lucius’ study? He should be waiting for you.” Harry sat up and brushed the dirt and grass from his trousers. Narcissa ran a hand over the top of his hair in a futile attempt at smoothing over the birds nest before she continued. “I’ll be along in just a moment.” Harry nodded, turning to Draco who smiled encouragingly at him, before he started his trek back inside the manor.

Narcissa turned to her older son, “We shouldn’t be more than a few hours. If you need anything, call your godfather, he knows that you’ll be left alone so he has his floo turned on. If anything you might want to give him a call just to soothe his nerves. The poor man has been a wreck since this whole thing began.” She stopped and took a deep breath. Draco met his mother’s tired eyes as she stepped forward and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You should know that your father and I are incredibly proud of the way you’ve been handling everything. But you’re also just a child and you should know we don’t expect you to be perfect. If you need to talk about anything or just be mad or sad or cry it all out, you can.” Draco’s cheeks were red, but he nodded and mumbled his acknowledgement before following his twin.

-

As Harry stepped through the green flames and into the receiving room for St. Mungo’s, he was assaulted by the strong smell of disinfectant. An odd thing, he thought, as he recognized the smell from the one time he’d been sent to the school nurse’s office. He thought it interesting that the wizarding equivalent would smell so similarly. Narcissa stepped out of the floo behind him, and he silently followed his parents to the front desk. 

As Narcissa checked them in, Harry looked around the receiving room. There weren’t too many people there at the moment, but there was a man that looked like he had been at the wrong end of a curse, as his head had ballooned about three sizes too big. There was also a mother and daughter duo where the sniffly little witch seemed to be nursing a sore thumb.

“I'll let your healer know that you’re here. If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll call for you when he’s ready.” Harry heard the receptionist say before he made his way to a small grouping of empty chairs in the back. He picked up what looked to be an old copy of Witch Weekly sitting on a table in the center, and he flipped through it mindlessly, nervously bouncing his leg the entire time.

It wasn’t that he was nervous , he told himself. He’d just never had too much experience with doctors, and his only experience with wizarding healing methods had been limited to his time at Hogwarts, which had never been positive either. He had hated the needles that the school nurse had used when giving him what she’d called a “vaccination”, and while he knew that madam pompfrey had never used anything like that, he was still nervous at the possibility. He didn’t know if the doctor would be mad at him if he wasn’t healthy, and he was worried that Lucius and Narcissa might be embarrassed by his lack of knowledge and decorum surrounding the medicinal field.

It took about ten minutes for them to be called back, and Narcissa laid a hand at the top of Harry’s back in an attempt to soothe his anxiety. The room they were led to was simple, with an examination table and a couple of chairs for the doctor and any guests to sit in. Lucius settled into one of the chairs while Narcissa stood by Harry as he hopped up onto the table.

Narcissa smiled when their healer walked in, as she had a sense of familiarity with the man. He had been the one to care for the twins after they’d been delivered after all, and she knew that Hadrian would be in good hands with the man.

“Well,” the man clasped his hands together and a genuine smile graced his face, “I would personally like to congratulate your family. This is a day I’ve been waiting for ever since the last time I saw you when you came in for your three month check up.” Harry just smiled uneasily at the man that obviously recognized him. He felt a bit awkward that he couldn’t reciprocate,

“Ah, my apologies. My name is Healer Findley.” Harry had to give it to the man, he definitely was a very friendly and warm person. However, his attitude only slightly eased some of his anxieties. 

At the lack of response, Healer Findley gracefully moved the conversation onto a new topic. “Well, shall we get started then? Just a regular check-up then?” He started flipping through a series of papers and charts before Narcissa spoke up.

“Actually, we need to do a comprehensive exam today. Harry has only ever received emergency treatment from his school and muggle medicinal care.” As she made that statement, Narcissa could only doubt the words coming from her own mouth.

The wizard’s eyes widened before he flipped to a page and remained there. “Ah, yes I can see the Hogwarts Matron documented the treatment. It looks like she treated you in your first year, but she doesn’t make any notes here about what it was for.” When the healer looked at Harry, he just shrugged. He didn’t exactly know how to describe the incident with Quirrel without raising any sort of alarm. Healer Findley just hummed and continued. “It also looks like she had to regrow the bones in your arm last year as well.” Harry grimaced as he recalled the awful experience of ingesting Skele-Gro, but nodded his head.

“Well, that doesn’t give us a lot of information on your medical history, but we can go over that after I perform the examination.” He gestured for Narcissa to step back before lifting his wand and performing a complicated set of movements. Harry watched in amazement as various colored lights lit up around his form, and he wondered why Madam Pomfrey had never performed anything like it before. 

Harry got more and more nervous the longer time passed and the healer’s smile dropped more and more, but he met his father’s eyes who gave him a comforting smile in return. It seemed like the more time passed the more the silence seemed to get louder. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Healer Findley turned to Harry’s parents. “You are opening an investigation into his prior care, correct?” At Lucius’ nod, he continued, “I’m assuming you’ll need a record of my findings, yes?”

Narcissa’s heart dropped at the thought that the healer could immediately tell her child had been abused. Obviously she had been aware of the abuse, but it hurt so much that her baby had to go through this. Lucius was the one to respond to the healer, detailing exactly what they would need to pass on to their lawyer. “His godfather would also like to have a list of the potions he’ll need to have prescribed. He’d rather brew them himself.”

Healer Findley gave a strained smile. “Yes, I remember Severus has always been quite picky about the quality of potions for Draco as well.” He sighed and turned so that he could address both Harry and his parents. “Well, I’m not going to sugarcoat this. If I weren’t already aware of the fact that you were recently transferred into the care of your parents then I would definitely be forced to report this case to the DCW. It is evident that you’ve been heavily mistreated growing up. Your nutrition levels are severely lacking right now, and I’m genuinely surprised that you haven’t keeled over yet. I’ve also got some readings of broken ribs and various other bones all over the body. Many of them are concentrated in the small bones of the hand. There is also evidence of a healed skull fracture at the back of the head.”

He turned to face only Harry then. “Harry, can you think of anything that could have caused that? It would have been a very hard hit to the back of the head.” Harry quickly thought of all the times he’d been hit by Vernon’s meaty fists, Petunia’s frying pan, and the many many times Dudley had shoved him down the stairs.

“Umm, yeah there were a couple of times. Uncle Vernon liked to smack me in the head a lot, and there were a couple times that Aunt Petunia hit me with the frying pan. I also uhh… fell down the stairs a couple times. Might’ve hit my head on the way down.” He stared down at his lap, not wanting to see the faces of the adults around him. If he had looked up, he would have seen the righteous fury in their eyes, and the obvious concern laced within.

“This is important, Harry. Did they ever take you to be treated afterwards?” Harry shook his head. “Did you ever experience any weird symptoms afterwards? Like dizziness, nausea, memory loss, vision loss, etc.?” 

“Oh yeah, loads of times.” He responded nonchalantly.

“Well, I think that it's easy to assume that he’s going to have lingering issues from that. Brain injuries are tricky, as a wizard’s own magic is going to immediately attempt to heal extreme injuries like those, but with the malnourishment and general abuse to Harry’s body, his magic was likely stretched thin. Because of the lack of immediate treatment, he could develop further issues. We’re probably safe unless you notice any symptoms such as seizures, memory problems, etc. Let me know immediately if he does.”

He turned back to his stack of papers and summoned a quill to jot down some notes. “I want to start treating the malnourishment as well as the broken bones. After those are treated we can look at furthering his treatment, but those are the most urgent. What I’d like to do, if you’re amenable, is vanish the bones with old breaks and regrow them. With the exception of the skull. The currently unhealed ribs and the bones in the hand we can simply heal as they’ve not improperly healed yet.” Harry groaned at the mention of growing bones. 

Healer Findley laughed. “Not a big fan of Skele-Gro then eh?” Harry hung his head. “Don’t worry. I’m sure your godfather can brew the potion well enough that it will go down easy. I’ve heard he knows a couple tricks to make it taste better.” He tapped the side of his nose. “This procedure would be better done at home, so I can heal the ribs now, and then we can schedule a home visit for a time later this week.” He quickly scribbled something on a sheet of paper before extending it towards Narcissa. “Tell Severus that he can start with that dosage for our Harry here for the first two months, afterwards we’ll schedule another visit to see his progress and adjust from there. Long-term malnourishment is always tricky to treat, but I’m confident that we can get him completely healthy by this time next year.”

“Now Harry, if you could remove your shirt then I can treat the broken ribs as well as your hand.” Harry meekly nodded his head before removing the thin garment. Narcissa could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as her son’s torso was revealed. His ribs were protruding, almost to the point where she could see some that had healed at the wrong angle. He also had what looked to be a couple of old scars as well, varying in shape from what looked to be a blade to possible burns.

Healer Findley took a deep breath before turning to Narcissa with a dark look in his eyes. “Tell Severus to whip up some of his famous Scar vanishing cream.” He continued, but lowered his voice to a whisper so that only she and Lucius could hear. “I would also like to recommend that you make him some appointments with a mind healer. This sort of treatment is likely to leave both physical and emotional scars.”

He quickly threw on a more pleasant expression before turning back to Harry, who was nervously running a hand up and down his arm. “Right, well if you wouldn’t mind laying back for me.” He quickly adjusted the pillow at the head of the bed while Harry flopped backwards, his arms splayed to the side. The healer chuckled, “That’s one way to do it.” He lifted his wand, but hesitated, “Well, I’ll try and explain everything as I do it. Right now I’m going to perform the bone mending charm. You should feel a slight pressure and a snap, but let me know immediately if you are in any pain.” 

Harry closed his eyes in anticipation, but true to his word, after the healer had muttered the enchantment, Harry felt slight warmth around his midsection and a snap, almost like popping a joint. Immediately, Harry could feel relief from having the bone set back in its proper place. He could breathe a little better, without feeling pain with every inhale. He opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at his mother who was anxiously standing at his bedside. 

“Just the hand now. Just rest it on your stomach… there you go. Perfect.” The same feeling spread through his hand. Gently, he stretched out his fingers and was relieved to find that the pain he used to feel was practically gone now.

“Well, that’s all we’ll have time for today, but please contact me immediately for anything at all. His current condition is so fragile that I want to be contacted the moment he starts showing any symptoms. Here’s my home floo address to contact if you need me outside of work hours or on the weekend.” He handed a small card that reminded Harry of his Uncle’s business cards he used to carry around in the breast pockets of all his tshirts (they were always quite annoying if he accidentally left them in the shirt when Harry was doing the wash). Narcissa helped Harry sit up and hop off the table while the healer opened the door to lead them towards the reception area. “You lot have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you in a week.”

Narcissa quickly made the appointment with the receptionist at the front desk, before Harry was whisked out of the building. “Harry, how do you feel about popping over to Diagon for a bit? We just need to do some quick errands if that’s all right.”

Harry quickly nodded, curious as to why they would ask for his approval. After all, he was used to being dragged around by his aunt whenever she fancied a shopping trip. This time, he was prepared for the twisting feeling in his gut when he side-alonged with Lucius, and he quickly brushed himself off in an effort to hide the deep breaths he was taking in an attempt to calm his nausea. Narcissa met Lucius’ eyes filled with amusement at the act, before leading the group out of the designated apparition point, and towards their first stop.

Twilfitt and Tattings had long held Narcissa’s loyalty, as they were one of the only stores that she could count on to provide clothing that held up to her expectations of quality. There was no way that she would clothe herself and her family in clothing that was subpar. She heard the door jingle behind her as Harry and Lucius stepped in behind her, and she was quickly greeted by the sight of Monsieur Twilfitt stepping around the corner. 

“Narcissa, dear!” He stepped forward and kissed her on the cheek. Lucius stepped forward and greeted the man in a similar way. Narcissa looked to see if Harry would attempt to copy the movement, but that thought was immediately shot down at the look of horror on his face. She stifled a giggle, but proceeded to greet her long time friend. 

“Monsieur, it is good to see you.”

“A pleasure as always Lady Malfoy, but I have to admit I am a bit confused. You were just in here with Draco a couple weeks ago, were you not?” His thick French accent was evident as he questioned Narcissa. 

“Yes, but I wanted to get more clothing options for the rest of my family.” She slyly gestured with her eyes towards her son, and Twilfitt quickly picked up on the implication.

“Ah, of course. Please peruse our different fabrics and let me know when you are ready to be measured and fitted.”

Narcissa smiled at the man before placing her hand at the top of Harry’s back and guiding him over to the aisles of fabric that easily took up half of the store. She noted how he kept his hands to himself, most people tempted to touch and feel the different materials. She was at a bit of a loss as to how she would learn his preferences, but decided to simply ask his opinion directly.

“Harry, what do you think about this kind of fabric? I was thinking it would be lovely as a cloak.”

Harry seemed to genuinely ponder the question. He reached out to touch the material as Narcissa was holding out for him. “I think it's a good material, but I don’t like the color too much. It would stand out quite a bit.” He was referring to the sky blue color of it. 

Narcissa pondered his response. While it was quite common to wear bright colors and eccentric patterns in the Wizarding world, she could see his train of thought. He was likely someone who was used to standing out all on his own, and likely didn’t want to have to wear anything that would make him stand out even more. 

“That’s quite sensible of you Harry.”

Narcissa led him to quite a few more samples, repeating the same line of questioning, before she felt like she had a feel for the styles and colors he would like. Pulling out the samples that she knew she wanted, she gestured for Monsieur Twilfitt to come over. 

“I think we would like to get at least five cloaks with these fabrics, in the Venetian style please. Then we’ll need Twenty…” She continued telling the man her exact specifications, as a quick quotes quill hovered by his head, jotting them down. 

Harry seemed to be quite bored of it all, not paying any attention. He was a bit jealous of his father who was sitting on what looked to be a very comfy couch reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. Suddenly, however, he was brought out of his musings by his mother calling his name. He looked at her in surprise, as she led him to the other side of the store where there was a small set up with a mirror and a round box that he recognized from when he had to be measured for his school robes. 

“Up you get Harry.” Harry was confused before realization dawned on his face.

“I didn’t…” he sputtered. “You mean you’re getting me clothes?” He was affronted and frankly, felt a little bit betrayed at being tricked by his mother into giving his opinion on all the fabric.

“Of course darling. I was just in here with Draco getting his wardrobe for the school year. Of course I would treat you the same. You deserve to have nice clothing as well. Also, I couldn’t bear to see you in those muggle rags any longer.”

“But it… it’s too much.”

“Harry, dear. You’re a Malfoy. I don’t know if you’ve noticed from the way Draco acts, but we tend to enjoy spoiling our children.” She smiled as Harry’s face grew red. “Even then, I would hardly qualify buying clothing for your child as spoiling them. Your relatives should have been purchasing you well fitting clothing from the start. They were horrid caretakers.” Harry looked down at his feet. In an attempt at getting her child to understand, she took a different route of logic. “When your friend Ron receives clothing from his parents, do you think that it’s too much?”

Harry spluttered, “Of course not. But his parents dont get him clothing like,” he gestured to the racks of expensive fabrics and clothing and the man that was actively measuring him with a white measuring tape, “ this.”

“That is what their family is capable of, and this is what our family is capable of.” Narcissa took a deep breath. Time to really sink in the claws. “Dove, would you let me do this for you? Please? Let me take care of my baby.” She conjured the best puppy dog eyes that she possibly could, and watched her son break.

“Fine,” was all he said as he crossed his arms across his chest. A battle well won, Narcissa considered.

“Well, as much as I have found this conversation highly entertaining, you, little monsieur, are done. I will send the bill with your clothing by owl. I believe I can get it all done by tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you dear,” Narcissa kissed his cheek once more before heading towards the door. The rest of her family on her heels. She could hear Lucius talking to their son behind her back.

“I wouldn’t try and reason with her any more. She’s a viper when it comes to things like this. She’ll be much more amenable if you just let her spoil you.” She turned and saw him patting Harry’s back, who looked very dejected at the comments.

“I can see why she’s a slytherin,” was all her son said in response.

Chapter Text

It was about an hour later that Narcissa felt they had done enough shopping for the day. They weren’t completely finished yet, but they had acquired the bare essentials, including a full wardrobe, about a bookshelf’s worth of entertaining books to read (shrunken down and stored safely in Lucius’ pocket), and the rest of his required school supplies for the upcoming year. Harry had whined and protested the whole way, but Narcissa knew how to get what she wanted, and what she wanted was to spoil Harry as much as he deserved. Narcissa also managed to get Lucius to agree to stopping for lunch at her favorite bistro, where both of Harry’s parents encouraged him to eat as much as possible. He was feeling quite bloated by the time they finished.

They reached Narcissa’s final destination, and she took a deep breath before gesturing for Harry to follow her. She threaded her arm through Harry’s elbow and guided him into the small store. It was one that Harry hadn’t quite noticed in Diagon Alley before, with a red brick exterior and a small sign above the wooden door that said “Tan’s Whimsical Adventures”. It was beyond Harry’s abilities to discern what kind of store they were about to enter, but once they made it past the threshold, he figured it out. It was what seemed like a wizarding toy store. There were displays of various different toys that were beyond Harry’s wildest dreams. Small figurines on brooms zipped around his head and he couldn’t help himself but giggle as he chased them with his eyes. They seemed to be following a tiny model of a snitch.

“Welcome in!” A bright voice called out through the shop. Harry turned to see a short woman with shoulder length black hair standing behind the counter. Her voice carried the hint of an accent, but it was nowhere near as thick as Monsieur Twilfitt’s. Her eyes widened as she took in the appearance of her guests. “Lady Malfoy! I haven’t seen you in so long. How have you been?”

Narcissa guided Harry over to the woman and greeted her in kind. “I’m doing wonderful, Xiao. We’ve been celebrating our Harry here, and I thought it would be a good idea to start up his collection. We’ll need to buy quite a bit if he’s going to catch up to Draco.” The woman’s eyes lit up, and Narcissa knew she was excited for the large sale she knew she was about to make. Narcissa turned to her son, “Well,” she gestured expectantly, “look around and see if anything catches your eye.” Harry looked like he was going to start protesting, but at Narcissa’s signature ‘mom look’, his shoulders slumped and he turned away. Narcissa caught her husband’s eye, and gestured with her head to follow him. They had started this system back at the bookstore when Harry refused to pick out any books for himself. They found that if one of them kept an eye on him, they could quickly figure out what caught his interest and add it to their list of purchases. Lucius nodded almost imperceptibly, and started following the boy. 

She turned back to Ms. Tan in front of her, who quickly spoke up. “How has Draco been handling everything?” She had known the boy since he was quite little. The Malfoy’s had been one of her first patrons when she first opened the store, and she had seen as their purchases changed and grew with the growth of their child.

“He’s doing very well. Almost too well. He’s been acting a bit too mature for his own good. It’s made it easier on us while we deal with everything, but I’m worried that the dam is going to break soon.” She sighed and let her eyes wander for a second. “Speaking of, I thought I would get him one or two things while we’re here. Have you gotten anything new from the Puddlemere line?”

Draco had taken to collecting Quidditch figurines, and his current favorite was Puddlemere. He followed their games like a hawk, with Lucius usually not far behind. “Actually, yes we have ,” Xiao spoke, gesturing to the table to the left of the counter. “They finally released the figurines for the new players. I’ve got them all; Beck, Draven, Piotrowski, and Wolford.” She smirked as a fond look took over Narcissa’s face.

“Is Piotrowski their new seeker? I think he’s the one Draco was ranting and raving to Severus about a while ago.” She smiled as she remembered the constipated look on her friend’s face. He had never been a fan of quidditch, but put up with it for Draco’s sake. With a sigh, she relented, “I suppose I should get them all. He’s been very good and I think he deserves it at this point. Could you wrap them up for me please?”

Meanwhile, Lucius was keeping a keen eye on Harry, while also trying to engage him in their surroundings. “Are there any games or toys you’ve wanted to get before?”

Harry trailed his fingers over a large wooden replica of Hogwarts. The miniature model had a couple carved figurines of witches and wizards dressed in school robes. He poked and knocked over another figure that looked oddly similar to the headmaster of the school. At Lucius’ question, Harry just snorted. “I think the better question would be if there are any that I haven’t wanted before.” He sighed, “The only toys I ever had were from Dudley’s broken collection.”

At that, Lucius decided that he would just buy the whole store. However, his train of thought stopped when he remembered how Harry had acted when they had simply tried to purchase the bare minimum for him. He quickly made up his mind that he would simply have to spoil his son for the rest of his life to balance out the scales of injustice. 

“Well,” Lucius gestured to a table with models of different dragons, “how do you feel about these? I know Draco has a couple of these. He seems to find them very interesting.” He didn’t miss the spark of interest and curiosity that lit up Harry’s verdant eyes.

Lucius continued to point out different items in the store, gauging his son’s reaction to them. There weren’t any things that he looked particularly turned off from, but there were definitely toys and games that immediately sparked interest. Lucius was just glad that Hadrian was no good at hiding his emotions on his face. He already had a hard enough time reading Narcissa and Severus, with Draco close behind, so he was glad that he didn’t have to struggle with his youngest yet.

By the time they’d made it through the whole store, Narcissa had gathered a couple more items for Draco, and Lucius discreetly told Ms. Tan what items they wanted to buy for Hadrian. Narcissa turned to see where Harry had gone, when she spotted him standing by a small mountain of stuffed animals. She quickly made her way over, and noticed how her son’s attention had been grabbed by a very soft looking teddy bear smack dab in the middle of the pile. He was trailing a finger over the soft brown fur, and was gazing longingly at it.

“Should we take him home with us?” She asked quietly.

Harry had obviously not been expecting the presence of another person, as he practically jumped ten feet in the air. He clenched a hand over his heart and Narcissa stifled a giggle. “Umm…” He obviously hadn’t been expecting to get caught with his attention on the object as he continued to stutter.

“It’s alright love, we can just buy him.”

“But it's… Dudley always said stuffies were for babies.” Harry remembered the old ratty stuffed bear he’d inherited from his supposed cousin before it had been taken and ripped up in front of him.

“Nonsense,” Narcissa quickly grabbed the bear from the pile. “Draco has one of the biggest collections I’ve seen, and even I still have some of my old stuffed animals from when I was young. They’re just soft toys. Nothing babyish about wanting a cuddle.”

Harry blushed, but didn’t stop his mother from grabbing the bear, and a couple more animals for good measure. He silently followed her up to the counter, and when Narcissa handed the bear to Ms. Tan, he ignored the excitement welling up inside his chest.

With the last of their purchases made, the group quickly made their way back to the apparition point, wanting to avoid being spotted and stopped. 

Harry managed to maintain his composure this time around, and part of him thought that it might have something to do with his healed ribs, but he was quickly distracted from that thought by the sight of his brother and godfather rounding the corner. 

“Oh! Sev, it’s good to see you. Did something happen?” Narcissa turned to her older son, immediately worried that he’d had to call Severus due to an emergency.

“Oh, no mother, nothing happened. We just had been talking for so long that he came through the floo. Didn’t want to sit on our knees for much longer.

“Well, either way it’s good you’re here. We were going to call you to join us for dinner soon.” She smiled and gestured to her husband. “Lucius has the prescribed potions for Hadrian. How soon do you think you can get them done?” 

Lucius quickly pulled out the sheet of parchment from an inner pocket, and handed it over to his friend. Severus rested one hand on Draco’s shoulder while he pondered over the contents of the list. “Hmm. I should be able to get the nutrient potions done by the end of the day. The skele-gro might take me a couple days though.”

Narcissa smiled. “That’s perfect! His appointment to get the bones vanished won’t be for another four days, so as long as you can get it done by then.”

“Oh yes, no problem at all.” 

Harry just shifted uncomfortably as all the talk happened around them. Lucius noticed this, and quickly took out their shrunken packages from one of his pockets. “Harry? Shall we go unpack your purchases then?” His son looked up at him in relief, and smiled. When he quickly nodded his assent, Lucius turned to Severus. “Sev, why don’t you join us? Narcissa got some things for Draco as well, so I imagine they’ll be occupied in his room.” He watched his younger son’s smile diminish, but Lucius simply shrugged it off. His son will have to get used to the presence of his godfather sooner or later. 

Meanwhile, his older son had a self-satisfied smile on his face at the mention of his mother buying him gifts, and he giddily trotted up the stairs with his mother shaking her head at his antics behind him. Harry’s group had a much slower pace as Harry realized he’d have to unpack all of the items with his father and godfather to help. He trudged up the stairs with the two adult men giving each other amused looks behind him. Once in the room, Lucius took the packages and unshrunk them at his feet. 

Harry’s eyes grew wider and wider as the packages individually unshrunk, and he was momentarily in shock as he realized just how much his parents had purchased for him. He had no idea how he was going to pay them back for the items, but he imagined they might be willing to accept cleaning and chores as payment. With shaky hands, he opened the first box, one that was filled with books. Luckily for Lucius, he had been able to place a featherlight charm on the box so he wasn’t weighed down by the sheer weight of thousands of years of knowledge. He realized the lack of a bookshelf, and quickly remedied that. He called Loopy, who appeared with a slight pop, and requested that the elf bring one of the bookshelves from their storage. With a snap of the small creature’s fingers, a large bookshelf appeared, lined up neatly against a bit of empty wall space.

Severus was quick to help, and he grabbed some of the books and brought them over to the bookshelf, placing the novels in the empty space. The group worked in silence for the first few boxes, with Harry feeling heavier and heavier with the weight of the burden he had just received through those items. Eventually, they got to the last four boxes, which Harry quickly found were filled with practically every item he had shown interest in at the toy store. His cheeks quickly grew red and he froze with his hands hovering over the soft brown teddy bear. 

“Is something the matter?” Lucius was quick to worry about his son that was seemingly frozen in front of the toy box. Severus was just finishing organizing and shelving Hadrian’s books, and he stood, dusting off his pants.

Harry stuttered out an answer, his eyes never leaving the box filled to the brim with toys. “I-I just…” His hands clenched and unclenched. “I don’t think I need all of this stuff.” He turned to his father with what looked like tears in his eyes. “You should take it back.” He stood straight with his hands clenched at his sides. 

“Harry dear,” Lucius was quick to adopt a soothing tone to his voice. “You might not need those items, but I could tell that you wanted them.” He stood and placed a gentle hand on his son’s shoulder in an attempt to soothe the obviously distressed teenager. “Your mother and I want you to have anything you could possibly ever want.” 

Harry didn’t seem very pacified by that. “But…” His voice cracked. “I haven’t done anything to deserve it.” He looked up to his father with panic in his eyes. “Do you want me to work off the debt for it?” He asked genuinely.

Severus watched the exchange, and sighed as he realized how little this boy must have grown up with. To have such a visceral reaction to receiving gifts did not bode well for Severus’ previous assumptions of the child.

Lucius, on the other hand, was astounded at the question his child had just asked him. He quickly pulled the stiff teen into a bear hug, having to bend over a considerable amount so his son could press his face into his shoulder. “You do not ever need to work off any kind of debt from us. The way you were treated by those muggles,” his voice dripped with disdain when he spoke the term, “was horrendous and nothing like how you should have been raised.” He brought a hand up and stroked the messy hair on his son’s head. “Everything we give you, is given without any conditions. It is a gift.”

Harry simply rested with those words having been said. He pressed his face into his father’s shoulder and sighed. However, they only abated a small amount of the worry that was weighing him down. He simply could not understand how he was being given the world in exchange for nothing. Sooner or later, the ball was going to drop, and he was going to regret letting his guard down.

Once the emotions had lowered, Lucius stepped back, but did not release his son from the now loose embrace. He kept his hand at the back of his neck as he addressed the child again, “Your mother and I expect you to take all of these things, and enjoy them. That is the only expectation we have for you.” He finally released the slightly less tense boy, and stepped back again, looking at his son’s godfather with a fond look in his eye. “Shall we find a place for all of these things? I can have Loopy bring up more shelves if we need them.” 

Harry shrugged, and went to open the box once again, until he noticed that the stuffed animals were right on top. His eyes quickly flickered nervously to the potions master, who immediately picked up on the tension.

Deciding to remedy the child’s anxiety as quickly as possible, he swiftly stepped forward, snatching the bear from the box. Harry suddenly reached forward, as if he wanted to snatch the toy back from the larger man, but he quickly stopped himself, with his arm reaching forward. Severus raised an eyebrow, but immediately relinquished the soft toy to the evidently attached child. He did, however, grab another of the stuffed animals that Narcissa had snatched up, a fuzzy black cat, and made his way to the neatly made bed. “Shall we place them on the bed?” He looked at Hadrian. “Or would you rather have them on a shelf somewhere? Or perhaps a basket?”

With flushed cheeks, Harry whispered that he wanted them placed on the bed, where the rest of the animals quickly joined it. Severus continued to maintain an impassive expression on his face, until they got to the quidditch figures, where he quickly rolled his eyes. He did, however, assist his godson in setting up the mini quidditch pitch, and storing away the figures that he didn’t want out. He quietly asked Harry questions about the sport, who immediately started babbling all about it.

“And the balls are so accurate! I can’t believe how well made they are for being so tiny. You can even see the tiny wings on the snitch!” Severus smiled, and quickly realized that he wouldn’t have to try hard to find things to talk to the boy about. While he found no enjoyment in the sport, he did have a plethora of knowledge on it after listening to Draco go on and on.

After they had made their way through all the boxes, Harry looked around his room. He had various toys scattered about, in a surprisingly neat way given the sheer amount of them. They had also placed some quidditch posters on the walls, and he smiled as he realized he had successfully made the room his own. Never had he had a space that he could control and enjoy as much as he wanted. He’d had the room at the Dursley’s but it had been made abundantly clear that the room was Dudley’s and not his, and while he had also been able to hang some of his childish drawings and place his toy soldiers in his cupboard, that hadn’t quite been a room, and it definitely hadn’t been a space he had enjoyed. He hoped against all hope that this would last for him.

Chapter Text

Severus excused himself after dinner, claiming that he needed to get to work on Hadrian’s potions as soon as possible. Lucius had only smiled and nodded as his friend left the dining room. He looked across the table where Hadrian and Draco were sitting side by side, engaged in a thrilling conversation about their new quidditch figures. They had all been very anxious to ensure the youngest member of their family had eaten a proper amount of food, but despite their best efforts, Harry was only capable of eating slightly more than he had eaten their first night together. Hopefully with the introduction of nutrition potions into his system, they’d be able to make up for the missed calories in his current diet.

He coughed once to interrupt the boys’ conversation, and suggested that they go entertain themselves with Hadrian’s new toys, while he and Narcissa managed some business. Draco hastily led his twin upstairs, and Lucius quickly made his way to his office with his wife hanging off of his arm. He peeked once into the hallway to make sure there weren’t any children about, before quietly shutting the door. 

Lucius had received a letter from Tobias stating that he urgently needed to meet with them at their earliest convenience. Despite the late hour, they had agreed to meet after dinner. Now, Lucius checked his watch as he waited for the man to step through the flames.

“Hello, thank you for meeting with me. I had some news I wished to relay as soon as possible.” Tobias looked haggard when he finally made his way into the office. His tie hung loosely around his neck, and he was missing his suit jacket. His usually impeccable halo of hair stuck out at odd angles, as if he had run his hand through it one too many times. 

Tobias quickly took out a stack of papers out of his briefcase and set them haphazardly on the top of Lucius’ desk. “I’ve found a couple of leads, but first I need to be honest with you. A lot of this info was incredibly difficult to get my hands on, and it only goes deeper. 

The sense of urgency in his voice immediately set the couple into action as they stood and took in the different papers and documents. Tobias pointed out one document in particular. “This is the record for Harry Potter’s blood adoption.” Narcissa picked it up to look closer, and immediately recognized the names. “It lists the witnesses for the ritual as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, which makes sense as Black was Harry’s godfather and Lupin was one of the couple’s closest friends, but what really drew some concern for me was the Ministry official that attended and signed off on it.”

Narcissa noticed the name was recorded as Beatrice Fornsworth, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard this woman’s name.”

Tobias’ face lit up and he pointed at Narcissa, “Exactly! As far as I can tell, she doesn’t exist. I searched through all of the records for the ministry and I couldn’t find a single person employed under that name in the last twenty years. However,” Tobias produced another record, “I did find a Beatrice Fornsworth who was employed by the department of child welfare in the 1890s, but she passed away in 1911 after being retired for almost twenty years.”

Lucius’ eye twitched and he sighed. “So, we need to find out who was imitating Beatrice Fornsworth, and what connection they have to Hadrian’s kidnapping.”

“I’m already on it. I have one of my assistants going in to look through records tomorrow morning, but I’m hesitant to do more than that right now. I don’t want to tip off whoever is responsible that we’re close to figuring them out at all right now.”

Lucius nodded his head along, agreeing. Narcissa, however, hummed and lifted her eyes off of the document in her hands. “What I’m curious about is how this did not raise any red flags with the department. Surely this document would have had to pass through someone else’s hands. Why did no one raise any questions?”

Tobias simply sighed and sagged his shoulders in defeat. “It could be a number of things. Obliviation, compulsions, etc. There would just be too many people to interview, and with it having happened so long ago, I doubt anyone would be able to recall a slip in their memory or something similar.”

Lucius nodded, but paused. “I could possibly do that though. I certainly have the time on my hands right now, and I doubt it would raise anyone’s suspicions if I spend a couple extra hours in the department with the current investigation into my son.”

Tobias seemed to ponder on it before quickly shaking his head. “Lord Malfoy, I would never imagine requesting your help on this. Especially right after being reunited with your child. I’m sure you’d like to spend as much time as possible with him.”

“Tobias, It wouldn’t be much trouble at all. You’re right I wouldn’t have the time right now, but the boys go back to Hogwarts in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, you can work on getting that restraining order against Dumbledore so that they can have a peaceful year, and then we can continue to look into this once Narcissa and I have more time on our hands.”

The older man seemed surprised, if his raised bushy eyebrows indicated anything. “That… I think that would work quite well actually.” 

Lucius smiled, and clapped his hands together, “Now! What have you got on the Dursleys.”

-

While the group of adults wrapped up their business, Draco and Hadrian were upstairs in the latter’s bedroom admiring all of the new items their parents had gotten for the younger boy. Draco surveyed the items in the room with awe.

“Oh, hey I have the same gobstones set!”

Harry smiled, “Yeah. Your dad said that it was the same as yours so I really liked it.”

Draco cringed a little, “He’s your dad too.” He shoved Harry with his shoulder.

The younger boy huffed, “Well, I guess. It just feels weird to call him that.” He spoke a little quieter, “Never had a dad before.”

“I think he’s a pretty good dad.”

“Yeah he’s great so far” Harry recalled how Mr. Malfoy had helped calm him down when he’d woken up screaming bloody murder that first night at the manor.

“I just. I don’t know if I can call them mom or dad yet.” Draco nodded his head while Harry spoke. “I always thought of my parents… err I guess Lily and James as mum and dad.”

“I don’t think they mind though.” Draco reassured his brother. “Honestly we’re all mostly just thrilled that we found you.” He gave Harry a mischievous smirk. “Wanna play a round with me?” he asked, gesturing to the brand new set of gobstones.

Harry flushed. “Well… I didn’t really ask for all of this stuff. I think Lucius was just grabbing anything I looked at for longer than five seconds.” He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve never actually played gobstones before.”

“What! But it’s a classic!” Draco quickly set up the game on Harry’s bed. Harry nervously knelt on the opposite side of his brother. “So first you have to…”

That was the scene that Narcissa and Lucius were greeted with when they made their way upstairs two hours later. Harry’s face was red with laughter, and Draco’s face was intently focused on the game in front of him.

“How!?” Draco’s voice projected incredulously. “Empty your pockets! You have to be cheating. There’s no reason for you to be this good at the game already!”

Harry just threw his head back and laughed even harder.

They kept playing like this for another two minutes before Harry noticed their parents standing in the doorway with a fond look on their face. He sobered up immediately, straightening his spine. Draco looked at him quizzically before he followed his eyes and smiled at his parents. “Harry is way too good at this. We’ve got to get him to join the Gobstones team at Hogwarts!” Draco stood and stretched, and Harry scrambled to get the game put away properly.

Narcissa strode forward and placed a kiss to the crown of Draco’s head. “I’m not sure he’d have time to do that and play quidditch, would he?”

Harry’s face scrunched and he shook his head, staying quiet. Narcissa smiled sadly, but relented the conversation. “Your father and I were just headed to bed, but you boys feel free to stay up a bit longer if you’d like. No later than 11pm though, alright dove?” Draco smiled sweetly at his mother with his hands clasped behind his back, but when she and Lucius turned to leave the room, they could practically hear him pumping his fist in the air.

-

Harry was crouched, resting on his scraped and bruised knees, as he scrubbed the floor in Aunt Petunia’s kitchen. He could hear Uncle Vernon’s booming laughter as he watched something on the telly in the other room. Harry had always wished he could watch tv with the Dursleys whenever they had it on, but this time he was grateful at being banished from the presence of the device whenever it was on. Dudley had spent almost two hours that day chasing Harry throughout Little Whinging with his gang, and when he had finally been caught by his much larger cousin, he had been dragged by the collar of his shirt back to Number 4.

Petunia had shrieked when she saw the blood and mud trailing after the smaller boy throughout the kitchen, and Vernon had sought justice for his affronted wife by kicking him in the head before yelling at him to scrub the floor until he could see his reflection. Currently, his small hands were cracked and sluggishly bleeding from the abrasive cleaner and brillo pad that he was using, but Aunt Petunia had made it abundantly clear that the bright yellow cleaning gloves were for her use only to protect her dainty skin. Freaks weren’t allowed gloves.

Harry heard a snort, and looked up to see Dudley standing in the doorway with a smirk painting his face. He did his best to ignore his cousin, but suddenly, out of nowhere, he was shoved face first into the bucket of cleaning solution. Immediately his eyes started burning and he screeched in pain. 

Aunt Petunia was the first to hear the commotion and walked into the kitchen with vengeance on her mind. She saw her nephew scrambling and scratching at his eyes, but what mostly caught her attention was the overturned bucket and large puddle of cleaning fluid that was slowly inching its way towards her very expensive and very fancy rug.

“VERNON!” She shrieked for the second time that night.

The large man swore, and large footfalls could be heard as the man made his way to the kitchen. “You boy! You had one job, and you managed to screw it up. Lazy good-for-nothing…” Harry’s uncle continued his list of insults as he dragged the young boy to the cupboard. Unlatching it, he tossed the young boy who was still rubbing his eyes into the closet and slammed the door shut. The sound of the lock turning was all Harry could hear. He continued to whimper and scratch at his eyes. The burning had only intensified as he tried to open his eyelids, so he simply cried and scratched at them, yearning for relief.

“Please! Make it stop! Please” He screamed and screamed to his aunt and uncle. Anyone.

“Harry!” He turned his head trying to make out the voice in the dark. Who was it? 

“Wake up darling.” A softer voice soothed and immediately Harry gasped, sitting up. His heart was thumping in his chest and his eyes still burned, but not nearly as much as he remembered. 

“There you are, son.” He finally realized that he had been dreaming, but he still couldn’t calm his racing mind. He reached up and furiously rubbed at his eyes. A familiar set of hands started rubbing circles on his back. After about a minute of prolonged rubbing, suddenly the hands stopped and they carefully pulled his own hands away from his face. “No more of that. Is there something wrong with your eyes?”

Harry sobbed and collapsed into the body of his father who was sitting next to him on the bed. “They burned so much.” He sobbed again.

“Your eyes? Let me see.” His father moved to pull away from him.

“NO!” Harry yelled and threw his arms around the man.

“Oh Harry.” His father sighed and returned the embrace, softly rocking his son. After a moment, the phantom burning returned and Harry lifted his hand to rub at his eyes again. “No more love.” Lucius pulled Harry’s hand away and held onto it this time. “Is there something in your eyes?”

“They burn,” Harry whispered into his chest.

“Let's see then.” His father didn’t pull all the way away this time, but he did lean back so he could look down at his son. His eyes were red and watering, but he couldn’t see much with his eyes squinted as they were. “Do you want to try rinsing them in the bathroom?”

Harry seemed to think about it, his arms tightening around Lucius for only a moment before he nodded and leaned back. Luckily, his father left one arm around him as he guided his son to the bathroom. Lucius turned the tap on to warm and helped Harry lean over as they both splashed water in his eyes. His son’s soft whimpers broke something in his chest. 

Eventually, Harry seemed to be satisfied with the rinsing and leaned back. Lucius made him stand still as he pried open his eyelids and looked to make sure there wasn’t any debris in them. He led his son back to his bed, and from the black sky outside, he realized it was still the middle of the night.

“Oh god. I’m so sorry I woke you up.” He floundered and looked up at his father with fearful eyes. Lucius just shushed him and guided him to lay back down. He sat down beside his son and slowly tucked him back in

“I would rather you wake me up than have to suffer through the nightmares.” Harry’s cheeks turned pink, but he didn’t say anything more. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It was just the Dursleys.” Harry attempted to dismiss it.

“Your experience with those muggles,” he spat the word out, “was despicable and would give any accomplished wizard nightmares for weeks on end.” Lucius smoothed down a piece of his son’s unruly hair. His look turned from vengeful to pensive in the span of a second. “Perhaps we should make an appointment with an oculist. Near-sightedness does not run in either the Black or Malfoy family, and you shouldn’t have been able to inherit the condition through a blood adoption.”

Harry just nodded, suddenly overcome with a yawn. Lucius smiled fondly and made to leave the room, but he was stopped by his son’s hand gripping his own. He turned back and noted the frightened look in the teenager’s eyes. He slowly lowered himself back down onto the bed and squeezed Harry’s hand quickly. 

Harry smiled and slowly drifted back to sleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Harry jolted awake. He couldn’t quite recall what had caused him to abruptly wake, but his heart was still pounding in his chest. He quickly stood, grateful for his sock covered feet on the cold, stone floor of the manor. Peeking through the curtains of his window, he saw that the sun had barely just started rising. He breathed a sigh of relief, that meant he could get started on some chores. 

While he hadn’t seen Draco or either of the adults doing any chores, he was almost certain that the house elves were dealing with all of the chores on their own. The more he thought about it, the better of an idea it sounded like. Lucius and Narcissa had promised that he wouldn’t be treated the same way he had been at the Dursleys, but surely they had some expectations for him staying with them. He had to pay them back for all of the things they had bought him somehow . Sooner or later the ball was going to drop and they would realize he was a burden. He may as well put himself in their good graces. Besides, what else would he occupy himself with for the rest of the summer.

He quickly changed into one of his less nice pairs of clothing he had inherited from Dudley, and he quietly opened his bedroom door. The lights in the hallway and further into the house were blessedly off, meaning no one was awake yet. Making his way down to the kitchen, he started peeking in every little closet he could find, hoping to see some sort of cleaning equipment. Eventually, when he finally made his way into the kitchen where Whimsy had made him and draco a tart, he saw a large collection of cleaning equipment in the corner Harry gathered a bucket, some cleaning rags, what he assumed to be the cleaning chemicals, and he made his way into the first bathroom he could find. 

-

Narcissa woke feeling incredibly refreshed and relaxed. The sun was lightly shining through the curtains, and she stretched lazily. Her arm ended up knocking into her dear, sweet husband, who merely grumbled and turned farther into the blankets. She couldn’t fault him. They had both been woken up in the middle of the night when Hadrian was crying out in his sleep, but like Lucius had done every night with Draco as a baby, he quickly got up and told Narcissa to go back to sleep. Despite her anxiety at hearing her son in obvious distress, she had been pulled back with the siren call of sleep, and had slept soundly the rest of the night. 

She quietly got out of bed, turning around to pulle the blankets back up over her husband, before she grabbed her dressing gown and stepped out of the room. She planned to make her way down to the parlor to enjoy a cup of tea before the rest of the household awoke. She peeked into Draco’s bedroom and smiled when she saw him flung across the top of his sheets. His hair was wildly sticking up in multiple places and drool was leaking out the side of his mouth. 

The door silently clicked behind her as she made her way across the hall. When she went to peer into Hadrian’s room, she was surprised to see his bed empty. The sheets were neatly pulled up and the duvet was straightened, a shocking sight for any thirteen year old boy’s room. She quickly stepped into the room, alert. A glance towards the en-suite bathroom told her that it was also abandoned, as the lights were off and the door was left ajar.

“Harry?” She called. No answer.

Narcissa took off back towards her bedroom and burst into the room. Lucius sat up immediately, his hair haloed haphazardly around his head.

“Waz goin on?” Who said a lord had to sound eloquent all of the time?

“Hadrian’s not in his room.” Her heart was pounding in her chest.

Lucius was immediately alert. He threw the covers off of himself and followed Narcissa as she fled back into the hallway

“Harry?” She started simply yelling, opening any and all doors that the couple passed.

“Dad?” A sleepy Draco poked his head out of his room.

“Have you seen Hadrian?” Lucius asked Draco, frantic.

Draco’s eyes grew wide. “Not since last night.”

Narcissa suddenly turned to Lucius, her hands grabbing frantically at his robe. “What happened last night? You got up to help him.” Her eyes were wide, face pale. She looked like a feral animal.

“I just calmed him down and put him back to sleep. He shouldn’t have left his room after I left.” Lucius tried his best to reassure his wife. Suddenly a thought struck him. “Loopy!”

The small elf immediately popped in. He had flour covering his arms, but he looked at Lucius with only minor impatience. “Yes?”

“Have you or Whimsy seen Hadrian? He’s not in his bed.”

The elf’s eyes grew large as he shook his head, long floppy ears swinging back and forth. “Wes been cooking the breakyfast, sir. Not seen little Hadrian.”

“Well, drop everything and look for Hadrian. If we can’t find him in the next fifteen minutes, I’m calling the aurors.”

Narcissa already had tears streaming down her face, but she nodded. Loopy popped away and the Malfoys immediately split up to search the manor. Lucius sent a quick patronus to Severus, telling him the situation and to drop everything immediately. 

Meanwhile, Harry was on the floor of one of the manor’s plentiful bathrooms. He was quietly humming to himself while he scrubbed at the marble tile. The chemicals he had found were suspicious, but they smelled like cleaning fluids and they were doing a good job removing some of the dirt from the floor. It was the fourth room that he had scrubbed the floors of, and he couldn’t help but feel happy about finally getting a chance to pay the Malfoys back for their kindness to him. 

He was brought out of his happy musing by shouting near him. It sounded like his name. He was about to stand up and respond to the calling, when the door burst open. A frantic Narcissa was standing in the doorway. A strangled sound left her throat before she was rushing forward, skidding to her knees in front of Harry. 

Her hands reached for his face, and Harry couldn’t help but flinch away minutely. Another cry wrenched itself out of Narcissa’s throat before she turned her face back towards the doorway. “I found him! He’s over here!” 

“What-” his question was cut short before he was abruptly pulled forward into his mother’s embrace. His face was pressed into her shoulder, but he managed to peek an eye over to the doorway to see Lucius and Severus emerge to stand in the doorway. Lucius had a hand over his heart and he’d slumped towards the wall, taking a moment to breathe.

He struggled against Narcissa’s hold for a moment, but she just tightened her arms around him. They stayed that way for a while before Severus stepped forward. He placed a hand on Narcissa’s shoulder, “Alright you’ve got him, Cissy.” She just let out a broken cry. Both Lucius and Severus managed to coax Narcissa off the floor, but she never let go of her son. 

A couple minutes later, Harry found himself sitting on a comfy couch, leaning into his mother’s side as she hugged him to her. She hadn’t let him go, and hadn’t said a word yet. Severus had managed to coax her into taking a calming draught though, and her hold had relaxed slightly since then. Lucius was sat across from them on a loveseat with a tired looking Draco draped on the other side.

“What on Earth were you doing in the bathroom?” Draco questioned exasperatedly. He threw an arm over his eyes.

Harry blushed. He hadn’t planned on being confronted this way. “I was just cleaning.” He replied quietly.

Narcissa took that moment to pull away to look at her son. “Cleaning?”

“Yeah. I know you already said that I didn’t need to pay you back for any of the things you got me,” he looked at his father as he said this, “but I felt like I needed to do something. I’m good at cleaning! I think I was doing a good job.”

“Harry love,” Lucius interjected, “I wish you didn’t feel like you needed to do anything. You’re welcome to clean up after yourself, but there’s no need for you to do any chores around here. We employ house elves for a reason.” At this point, Lucius had no idea what to do. He felt exasperated, unsure how to help his son see that he was welcome in their home with no strings attached.

“But,” Harry looked down at his hands, “what am I meant to do then?”

Severus spoke up from where he was lurking in the corner. “Draco tends to spend his summers taking extra-curricular lessons and enjoying his hobbies.”

“Lessons? During the summer?”

Narcissa seemed to have calmed considerably, as she finally extracted her arms from around Harry. “He takes music lessons. It’s one of his hobbies, and since music classes aren’t offered at Hogwarts until third year, he catches up during the summers.” Narcissa spoke softly, her voice heavy.

Draco seemed to perk up now that the conversation was about him. “Yeah, I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to take music this year or not. I’m already going to be taking ancient runes and care of magical creatures, and I don’t want to overburden my schedule.” Lucius smiled and reached a hand over to ruffle Draco’s hair. Draco squawked and flung himself off the couch onto the floor.

“Hobbies.” Harry whispered to himself. Of course he knew what hobbies were, but he wouldn’t say that he had a plethora of them. Ron always enjoyed playing chess, exploding snap, and reading quidditch magazines. Harry guessed that he could count those as his own hobbies as well, if not for the fact that he didn’t really love doing them. He enjoyed spending time with Ron. He did always like drawing though. Evidenced from the plentiful drawings he had saved from his childhood that the Dursleys hadn’t managed to destroy. His notes and homework always had the margins filled with small doodles.

“I guess, well,” Harry started, embarrassed to be talking about himself, “I’ve always liked drawing and art.”

Lucius smiled. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find an art tutor.”

“Would you be interested in taking art lessons?” Severus asked, wanting to make sure that his godson was getting something that he’d actually enjoy.

Harry took a second to think it over. He nodded his head slightly, “Yes, I think I would.” He looked his Uncle Severus in the eyes and smiled almost imperceptibly.

The whole family was suddenly shocked out of the moment by the sound of tapping on the window. A large, brown owl was flying at the window, tapping the glass panes with its beak and talons. A parcel was tied around its leg. Draco was the first to react. Jumping up from his slumped position on the floor, he opened the window, letting the owl swoop into the room and land on the arm rest next to Harry. Harry immediately reached for the parcel, but was stopped by Severus who stepped forward holding a hand out in a ‘stop’ motion. The dark haired man waved his wand, muttering a spell under his breath. After a moment of nothing happening, he nodded, acquiescing the package to Harry. 

The teen held his breath as he loosened the string tying the contents of the package to the owl’s leg. The owl ruffled its feathers before quickly swooping back towards the window and out of sight. Immediately, Harry recognized Ron’s handwriting, and his heart got stuck in his throat. 

“Well?” Draco asked impatiently, “Who’s it from?”

Harry rolled his eyes at Draco’s tone, “It’s Ron.”

“Ah, well I think that’s our cue to leave.” Lucius grabbed Draco’s shoulder and lead him out of the room with Severus in tow. Narcissa turned to Harry first, “I don’t want you to feel like you have to do any sort of cleaning or chores in this home. But, if you feel like you need to do something like htis again, please tell someone first. Whether it’s me, your brother, your father, or one of the elves. I-” She took a shaky breath “I thought someone had taken you again.”

Harry’s heart clenched. He hadn’t meant to scare his mother, he had thought she’d have been thrilled with him working to earn his keep. “Ok,” he responded, looking down at his lap. He felt his mother press a kiss to the crown of his head before she stood up from the couch and made her way out of the room. 

“I’ll have Whimsy start on breakfast. Please join us once you’re done with your letter.” Harry nodded at his mother, before she shut the door to the room with a soft click.

Slowly, Harry untied the string surrounding the brown paper package. The wrapping fell away to reveal a couple of items. A sheaf of paper sat neatly on the top of a package of strange looking biscuits and a stack of photographs. He smiled at the enclosed items before unfolding the letter.

Harry,

Merlin, Dad just got the mail and I had to write to you IMMEDIATELY. Is it true? The papers are saying that you’re the Malfoys missing kid. You don’t really act like a Malfoy, but I guess you wouldn’t what with being raised with those muggles. I know the Prophet tends to write a whole bunch of lies, especially about you, but it sounded like they had good sources. Write back ASAP. Anything is better than those muggles, but if you don’t feel safe, just say the word and I’ll get Fred and George to steal another car. It might take longer since we’re still in Egypt, but anything for you mate.

Ron

P.S. I sent you some biscuits that we found in Egypt. They’re actually really good even though they look a bit strange.

Harry smiled after reading the contents of the letter. He’d been afraid of what Ron might do after hearing the news. After all, it seemed like he’d had some sort of rivalry with Draco and the Malfoy family from the get go. It seemed like Ron had shown himself to be the best kind of friend possible. Not that he’d doubted him much after Ron had followed him into the Chamber of Secrets and sacrificed himself during the life-size chess match. But he couldn’t bear to lose his best friend. After all, he was probably the closest he’d ever gotten to having a brother before he found out about his long lost family. 

He was about to run back upstairs to his bedroom to pen a response to the letter, but as he passed the dining room, he remembered his mother’s request. He quickly amended his route, and made his way into the room, where he could see serving trays start popping onto the table heaped with all sorts of breakfast goodies. 

He slid into his regular seat next to Narcissa, and he looked up at her with a relieved smile. She looked back at him, but Harry could see a cloudy look in her eyes. She smiled and sighed, resting her head in her hand with her elbow on the table. Draco looked horrified, but Lucius just stifled a laugh. “She tends to get like this when under the influence of calming draught. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t last very long.”

Harry nodded, but couldn’t help looking down at his lap in shame. He had been the one to upset his mother so much that she’d needed the calming draught. Thus, he ended up eating almost all of the food that the woman piled on his plate. By the end, he felt like he was going to throw up, but kept swallowing, in hopes of convincing his stomach to calm.

Snape looked at him with sympathy in his eyes, and then withdrew two vials from somewhere within his robes. “Here, the one on the left is your nutrition potion. You’ll have to take one with breakfast and dinner in order to get the correct dosage.” Harry grimaced, but nodded. He wasn’t sure he could swallow anything else. “The one on the right is a stomach soother. I figured it would take you a while to get used to larger portions so I whipped up a couple extra. You can take them as needed.”

Harry sighed, relieved. “Thank you sir.” He missed the grimace on Snape’s face at the term of address as he downed the soother in one go. He almost missed the minty flavor and he smiled brightly up at his godfather. “Did you change the taste?”

The potions master nodded, “I don’t do it often, as it rather complicates the brewing process, but I figured it was worth it to make the process all the more pleasant for you.”

A warm feeling blossomed in his chest, but Harry ignored it. He could already feel the nausea forming in his gut start to fade, so he quickly unstoppered the nutrition potion. He took his time finishing this potion, and he was pleased to find that it tasted faintly of bubblegum. 

Draco stood up and stretched. “Do you fancy a bit of quidditch?” 

Harry almost immediately responded yes, but then he remembered the letter from Ron. “Erm, can I respond to Ron first?” He asked meekly.

“Oh yeah. Maybe we can head out in like an hour? I'll just do some homework while I wait.” Draco then stepped out of the room, and Harry got up from the table as well. He was stopped by his mother gripping his hand. 

“Just a moment.” She whispered. Harry sat down and turned his hand around so he was holding her hand too. They sat like that for a while before she took a deep breath and loosened her hold. 

-

Ron,

Yeah, it’s all true. It’s been a wild week so far, and I’m sorry I didn’t respond. Hedwig was right pissed at me for dragging her throughout London and now to wherever Malfoy Manor is. She only just showed up this morning. I ran away from the Dursleys after I accidentally blew up Aunt Marge. When I went into Gringotts to get some money for my school supplies, I realized I didn’t have my key so they had to do this weird blood test to make sure I’m really me. Turns out I’m not. Everyone lost their minds and they dragged me down to the ministry. Then the Malfoys showed up and picked me up. I was terrified until the case worker explained what happened during the war. Did you know that the Malfoys turned on Voldemort and were spies for the ministry? It definitely made me feel a whole lot better. And Draco’s been weirdly nice to me the last couple of days. Not to mention that my parents are being weirdly nice to me. They haven’t made me do any sort of chores and they actually got UPSET when I tried to do some. And they’ve been feeding me so much food I think I might actually get fat before school starts again. 

The weirdest has probably been Snape though. Apparently he’s mine and Draco’s godfather. He’s been so nice and he actually apologized . I had to pinch myself. I have so so much to tell you about that I can’t put into a letter. Hopefully I can remember it all by the time I see you again. Maybe the Malfoys will let me come visit the burrow when you get back from Egypt. When is that again?”

Harry,

P.S. Thanks for the biscuits. Tell your family I say hi!

  Harry turned to see Hedwig who was still sitting on the brand new owl perch with her feathers ruffled. She was doing her best to not look at him, and when he tried to get closer to her to give her the letter she nipped him and then flew out the window to a nearby tree. Harry huffed, not quite knowing what to do. Maybe Draco would let him borrow his owl?

He knocked on Draco’s door, and about ten seconds later the door swung open with Draco on the other side. He was still wearing his pajamas, and it looked like he had just gotten out of bed. He didn’t mention that Draco was supposed to be doing homework. 

“Can I borrow your owl? Hedwig’s really mad at me right now.”

Draco laughed. “Yeah, you can borrow Freya. She’s a bit moody in the mornings, but I can usually coax her with some bacon.” He turned around and gestured for Harry to follow him into the room. Draco’s room was almost identical to his, but it had an obviously different color scheme and different decorations. There was a lot of Green, which didn’t surprise him with how loyal Draco was to his house. He also noticed a poster for the Tutshill Tornados on the wall next to his bed. The window was open, letting a pleasant breeze draft through the room, and sitting on a gilded perch next to it was a large Grey Eagle Owl. She turned her head and stared calculatingly at Harry. He approached her cautiously, but she seemed to decide that she liked him because she clambered closer to Harry on her perch and leaned her head towards him, obviously inviting him to scratch her head. 

Draco gaped at him. “She’s never that nice in the mornings.”

Harry just shrugged and held the letter out towards the beautiful owl. “Could you deliver this to Ron Weasley? He’s in Egypt so it might be a difficult flight.” Freya looked at him for a short second before puffing out her chest and grasping the letter in her beak. She hopped from the perch onto Draco’s shoulder, nuzzling his cheek quickly, before gliding out the window.

Harry turned to Draco with a mischievous smile on his face. “So, Quidditch?”

Chapter Text

It was the next day, when The Event happened. That’s what Narcissa called it in her head at least. Of course, a lot of different events had occurred in the last couple of days, but this one was probably the worst out of all of them.

It was around lunchtime, when she called the boys in from the sunroom. They’d decided to take their summer homework to enjoy the warmth from the morning sun. Well, mostly Harry. Draco had gotten the majority of his work done at the beginning of the summer, but he was excited to help his brother with his own homework, if only to spend more time with him.

Draco had raced into the dining room, with Harry trailing quietly behind. Narcissa was beginning to notice the variety in her son’s personality. Some days he would be vivacious, loud, snarky even. But other days she could barely even tell that he was there. The child would sink into himself, even minimalizing the sound of his breath. It seemed to be that kind of day, as she could tell from the way he wordlessly and quietly settled himself into the seat that had practically become his designated place at the table. Draco kept up a steady string of chatter while they waited for Lucius to arrive, the elves having plated finger sandwiches and sliced fruit in the center of the table. That was when it happened.

Her husband had been spending the morning in meetings with their lawyer, as they worked to build a case against the Dursleys. She could tell that the meeting hadn’t been pleasant from the moment she could hear his harsh steps out in the hallway. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Hadrian stiffen. The doors burst open, and Lucius trudged in

“Out of all the stupid, insufferable things!” Her husband’s voice was raised, and he ran a hand through his now messy hair.

“Darling-” Narcissa started, attempting to abate the obvious frustration and rage present in her husband. 

“The ministry is absolutely out of their minds if they think that their muggle liaison office is actually capable of doing anything competently.” He cut her off. At that moment, Lucius raised his arm in a grand sweeping gesture as if to emphasize the grandeur of the moment. Unfortunately, he raised his arm in the direction of their youngest child, and Harry flinched so hard that he flung himself off his chair and landed on the floor.

Lucius, startled by the clattering sound his chair made as the legs teetered, whipped around to face Hadrian. 

Narcissa immediately stood as well, shocked by the flurry of motion around her. As one, they both moved in sync to help their son, but Harry started scrambling back from them.

“I-I’m so-sorry sir!” His voice cracked, and his breathing picked up, taking deep gasping breaths of air. He scrambled backwards, never taking his wide eyes off his father.

Narcissa didn’t quite know what to do, and she foolishly started forward, arms outstretched in hopes of comforting her terrified child.

“No!” Hadrian shouted, and like a flash, he suddenly bolted from the room.

Draco, who had been sitting, silently up until this point, stood fast “Harry!” and went running after him.

They left their parents behind them, both of them standing and staring at each other with fear and confusion painting their faces, before they too, bolted after their flight risk of a child. They followed the sound of Draco and Hadrian’s footfalls through the manor, and they stopped behind Draco as he stood in front of a small broom closet. They were still trying to catch their breath, but they could hear small whimpers escaping from the door.

Draco kneeled down and pressed a hand against the wood of the door, letting out a quiet whimper when he heard a shaky sob emerge from the inside of the door. He turned a pair of large teary eyes towards his mother and father. “Is he okay?” 

Lucius reached a reassuring hand out to his son, placing it on his shoulder, but he didn’t know what he could say to assuage his son’s fears. Narcissa made a cooing sound and pulled him away from the door, letting Lucius’ hand drop from his shoulder. “We’re going to try and calm him down. Would you go floo call your uncle? We’ll probably need his help.” Draco nodded, and reached a hand up to wipe away a stray tear as he made his way down the hall.

Lucius stepped up to the door, and he could hear shuffling inside the closet, as if someone was trying to get away from the door. “Harry?” He called out as he let his hand gently tap the outside of the door. A high pitched keening sound responded, and he knew this wasn’t good. He wasn’t sure if he should open the door or not, if it would make it worse, or if he should throw open the door and envelop his child in an embrace.

Narcissa was the one to make a decision, as she pulled his hand away from the door and shook her head. “Harry? This is your mother. Vernon and Petunia Dursley are not here. They’ll never hurt you again. I promise.” Her voice was full of sadness, but it was backed by a strong conviction that she held behind her words. “ We will never hurt you either love. You’re safe here.” She looked at Lucius, urging him to affirm her words with her eyes.

“I’m sorry dove. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Lucius tried to say his words with as much regret and meaning as he could muster from the well inside of him. “I promise I will never lay a hand on you, or curse you in any way.” He slowly lowered himself to the ground outside the door. “You take as much time as you need love. Your mother and I will be right here when you’re ready to come out. Just know that everyone in this family loves you and would never hurt you. I know words are hard to trust in, but I mean it at the very core of my soul. I swear my magic on it, I will never purposefully harm you.”

Narcissa gave him a teary smile as she too lowered herself to the floor, spreading out the skirt of her dress to cushion herself. They both leaned against the wall opposite the closet door, and that’s where Severus found them a couple of minutes later.

“Is he alright?” His deep voice startled Narcissa as she had been laying her head on her husband’s shoulder.

“We think so. If he’s injured, it wasn’t visible. We just thought we would wait until he felt safe enough to come out.”

Severus nodded his head, and produced a vial from the depths of his black robe. Here’s a calming draught and a pain reliever. They’re fresh from my last batch I made for Madam Pomphrey. Draco told me he took a fall, so at the very least he’s probably bruised somewhere.” Lucius accepted the vials gratefully. “I’ve got the wireless playing a rerun of the last quidditch match for Draco in the parlor. I’ll go wait with him there. Call me if you need anything.

The pair smiled at him, but didn’t answer, both tired and exhausted with the emotional turmoil of the last couple of days. After twenty minutes had passed, Lucius, bored with the silence, eventually started telling a story to pass the time.

“Once upon a time, there lived a little witch and her father. Her mother had passed when she was very young, so her father sought to fill the space she would have filled. He loved his daughter very much, and his daughter grew up never wanting for anything. On the day of her tenth birthday her father surprised her by telling her he had found a wonderful witch to marry, and she would be getting a new mother and two new sisters as her birthday present. The little witch was so pleased, and was very polite and kind to her new family members. One day, her father had to take an international portkey to Romania to do some business, so he kissed his wife goodbye and told the little witch to be good and obey her stepmother, as he gave her the biggest hug he could. However, after an accident with a dragon, he didn’t make it back home, and the little witch was left at the mercy of her wicked stepmother and her ugly stepsisters…”

Lucius did his best to make the story as magical and fantastical as he could, hoping he could distract his son from whatever was going through his mind at the moment to make him so scared. It was just as he was telling the part of the story where the prince discovered the little witch’s identity and swooped her off to their happily ever after, that he heard some shuffling behind the door. Narcissa perked up, leaning towards the door in anticipation. Lucius froze, worried that a sudden movement would frighten the child again, but eventually, the door creaked open just enough that they could see Harry’s bright green eyes peek through the crack.

His voice was rough as the result of the panic and tears as he asked, “I didn’t know there was a wizard version of Cinderella.” His voice was so quiet that Narcissa almost couldn’t hear him.

“What is a ‘Cinderella’?” Lucius asked, confused. He had no idea what that word had to do with the tale of Flooella. But then Hadrian giggled, a genuine laugh, overarching any confusion Lucius had on the subject. The door creaked open even more, enough to see the various bits and bobbles that were stored on the shelves in there, but also enough for them to see the state that Harry was in. His hair was disheveled as if he had been running his hands through it, or pulling on the thick, messy strands. His cheeks were red, and wet, the remnants of tears dried around the edges. After his laughter faded, he just sat there, looking so lost. Slowly, as if afraid to spook the child, Lucius opened his arms in invitation to his son, which prompted the child to hurtle into his arms.

After a couple minutes of rocking the child back and forth in his arms, with Narcissa shooshing his cries and rubbing his back, Harry whispered something. “What was that love?” Lucius gently prompted.

Harry lifted his face so it wasn’t smooshed in the fabric of Lucius’ shirt. “I’m sorry.” his voice almost sounded quieter than before, but without the added barrier of his chest, Lucius could hear it clearly.

“Oh no dove,” he quickly reassured. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He ran a hand through his son’s hair, noting that the child winced as his fingers ran over a tender spot. He pulled his hand away and returned it to his spot on Harry’s back. “It’s my fault for coming into the dining room angry. I should’ve calmed myself down before I came in. And if it’s truly anyone’s fault, then it’s the Dursley’s or Dumbledore’s. You, my dear, are not at fault for this.”

He felt Harry nod as he returned to his spot with his face shoved in Lucius’ chest. Narcissa thought it would be a good moment to step in. “Harry, your father and I have actually been meaning to speak to you about this.” Lucius could feel his son suddenly tense in his arms, but he didn’t move, and Lucius continued to rub soothing circles on Harry’s back. “It was recommended to us, and we think it would be helpful, if you maybe saw a mind healer. At least a couple of times before school starts again.”

Hadrian sat up, reaching up to wipe the fresh tears from his face. “What’s a mind healer?”

“I think the muggles call it a ‘therapist’,” the word felt foreign on Narcissa’s tongue as she said it, “but they’re simply people who help people with problems that don’t necessarily manifest physically. Like how you just panicked about your father getting angry. They would help you understand why you react like that and help you to gain the skills to react with less angry. They’re also just someone you can talk to about any problems you might not feel safe enough to talk about with us.”

Harry looked mildly uncomfortable as Narcissa explained, but simply nodded his head along with her words. “And it would make you happy if I went?” 

Narcissa sighed, “We will be happy with you whether you choose to or not. We just want you to be as happy and healthy as possible, and we think they might be able to help.”

Harry looked like he didn’t quite believe her, but he nodded his head, “I’ll go.” His response was quiet, but it made a small knot loosen in his parent’s chest.

“That’s wonderful love,” Lucius slowly sat back from where he was holding his son. He stretched with a groan as Hadrian awkwardly sat back as well. “Shall we make an appointment for tomorrow before your appointment with Healer Findley?” Harry nodded his assent, and Narcissa stood, helping the pair of father and son stand as well.

“Should we try lunch again then? We don’t want you missing any meals anymore.” Lucius cast a quick tempus, and his eyes grew wide. “Well, it might end up being dinner seeing as it’s been almost three hours.” Harry ducked his head as his cheeks grew warm.

Picking up on his embarrassment, Narcissa laid an arm over his shoulders in a half hug as they made their way back. “We can make it a combination of meals then hmm?” she squeezed one of his shoulders. “I mean, I have brunch with my friends often enough. Who’s to say we can’t combine dinner and lunch together. What would that be called anyways?”

“Lunner?” Harry half answered, half questioned.

“Dinch?” Lucius offered

Narcissa laughed at both of the offered answers. “I think I like the way Lunner sounds more.” 

As they finally made their way to the dining room, they passed a parlor, where they could see Severus and Draco sitting across from each other with a chess board laid out on the table in front of them. The intense looks of concentration on both their faces made Lucius knock lightly on the door. “We’re on our way to have some Lunner. Care to join us?”

The potion master’s head snapped up at the knock, and he stared at the eldest Malfoy with a mixed look of mild horror and confusion. “Lunner?”

“Yes, it’s a tradition we’re starting today for days when we simply can’t make it to lunch and we need to eat a mixed meal. Lunch, Dinner, Lunner.” Narcissa provided.

Draco perked up. “I ate a bit of a snack cause I didn’t know if you were going to make it back for lunch or not. I’m pretty hungry now though.” He hopped up from his chair and made his way over to Harry, where he pulled his twin brother away from his mother’s embrace, crushing him in a hug of his own. “Are you ok?” He simply asked. Harry nodded, and that seemed to be everything Draco needed, as he smiled, wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulder, as the duo made their way towards their Lunner, leaving the adults behind.

Lucius finally relaxed, sighing deeply as he watched his children leave the room. He made his way to follow them, but was interrupted by Severus clearing his throat. Turning to face his friend, he saw his eyebrow raised at him. “He’s okay. I just,” Lucius felt his throat close as his voice wobbled a bit. Narcissa ran her hand up and down his forearm in a comforting motion. “It hurts so much to see him so scared. I wish I could just go back and save him years ago.”

“We’re saving him now,” was Narcissa’s response. She pulled him into a comforting hug as Severus came closer to the pair. 

“Did you talk to him about the mind healer?” Severus asked. 

Lucius pulled away from the embrace with his wife. “Yes. He didn’t look excited about the idea, but I think he assumes we’ll be upset with him if he doesn’t go.”

Severus nodded, “Hopefully the mind healer will help him understand, but at least he’s willing to go. It’s much easier with him being willing to go, even if he thinks it’s required.” Severus reached into his pocket, pulling out a white envelope. “This arrived for you while you were calming him down.”

Lucius took the letter gratefully, and blanched at the name on the envelope. “The Weasley Family” read at the top corner. He looked at his wife, and handed it over to her. It had been a long day for him and he couldn’t handle any more drama. She rolled her eyes at him and tore open the letter. 

Reading over the contents quickly, Narcissa’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Arthur and Molly want to meet to discuss the issues between our families. Apparently they consider Harry a part of their family, and don’t want the feud to get between their contact with each other.” She handed the letter back to her husband, who quickly looked over the contents of the letter as if making sure Narcissa had been right.

“What do you think?” He asked after a moment of silence.

Severus stepped in quickly. “I will say that from my own observations of the children, the youngest Weasley boy and Hadrian have been close friends from the moment they started at Hogwarts. The rest of the Weasley brood that attends treats Harry as a family member as well.”

“Yes, but what about their devotion to Dumbledore?” Narcissa asked hesitantly.

Lucius seemed to think about it for a moment. “I think that we should agree to meet with them. They may not be aware of Harry’s mistreatment. If what Severus says is true, then I’m sure they wouldn’t be supportive of the Dursleys and Dumbledore’s decisions surrounding it.” He looked mildly hopeful. “I don’t want Harry to have to lose friends or family because of a silly feud between us. Nothing could be more important than his comfort, right?” He looked for confirmation from his wife, and after receiving it, turned to a desk in the corner of the room. “I’m just going to write a quick response, and then I’ll join you all in a moment. Best not mention this to Hadrian though. I don’t want him to get his hopes up if the meeting doesn’t go well.” Severus and Narcissa left him to write out his response, stepping out of the parlor.

Writing down his agreement to the meeting, he wrote out the nearest date and time that would work for him, and sent the letter with the owl waiting on the perch by the window. Feeling rather calm and satisfied, he left the room and made his way to share a meal with his family.

Chapter Text

“How would you say you’re getting along with your family?”

Harry looked down at where his hands were clasped in his lap. His legs swung back and forth, hitting the base of the plush couch where he was seated. His legs were a bit too short to reach the floor. He really hoped the nutrient potions professor Snape was making him take would help. It wasn’t fair how much taller Draco was than him. 

“Ahem. Harry?”

The mind healer his mother had taken him to see was nice enough. She had short, curly, brown hair that curled into her face, which was framed with a pair of round glasses that looked very similar to his own. Her smile looked genuine, but Harry was still wary of her.

“I guess they’re fine.” He finally mumbled.

He noticed her quickly scribbling something down on the notepad in front of her. “What do you mean by fine?” She prompted. She seemed to be full of endless patience.

Harry swung his legs back and forth a couple more times before he mustered up an answer. “They’re pretty nice to me I guess. Draco is a lot nicer than he used to be, and Narcissa and Lucius speak very kindly to me. They bought me a lot of stuff and they always have me eat a lot of food.” He didn’t look up at her as he spoke, preferring the view of the soft, shag carpet. 

“That all sounds pretty great to me.” If Harry had looked up, he would have seen her smiling softly at him again. “Why is it just ‘fine’ though?”

Harry huffed. Why did this random lady have to ask him such hard questions? He started picking at the dead skin around his fingernails, but was stopped when the mind healer shoved a soft pillow at him. He startled, but when he looked up he saw the mind healer, smiling at him and gesturing at the pillow. “You can pick at the fabric on the pillow instead of your nails.” When he just stared at her she added, “Wouldn’t want to ruin your manicure now would you?”

Blushing, Harry looked down at the pillow in his hands, running his hands over the soft, velvety texture. He pulled at one of the long threads poking out, and was pleased to find that a couple of seconds after being unraveled, it magically pulled back into the pillow as if new. Pleased, Harry picked at the interesting texture as he began to speak to the mind healer (what was her name again?). 

“I guess, they just make me really nervous. One day out of nowhere I’m suddenly just a new person, and I don’t know how to be part of their family.” He found himself snowballing and he couldn’t seem to stop himself as he continued. “What if they decide I’m not good enough? The Dursley’s were bad enough, but they were muggles. I can’t imagine how much worse they could have been if they’d had magic.” He shivered as he imagined the worst of the worst. Then he couldn’t stop shaking.

Eventually a blanket emanating heat was draped over his shoulders and he looked up to realize that the mind healer was the one who’d given it to him. She had a worried look on her face and he could see that her lips were moving but he couldn’t hear any words coming from her. She unstoppered a vial that looked similar to some of the ones professor Snape had given to him, and he obediently sipped as the bottle was tipped against his lips.

Eventually, he could hear words. It sounded like he was underwater and someone was trying to speak to him, but they were words nonetheless. “There you go. You’re doing so well Harry. Just keep breathing, just like that.” He felt the shivering lessen, his body still wracked with them every so often, but they were slowing down.

The mind healer pulled the blanket slightly tighter around his shoulders, before she backed up and took a seat in her chair again. “Alright, that was a bit exciting now wasn’t it?” Harry nodded dumbly at her. She cleared her throat and wrote something on her notepad again. “I think it would be good to end here. Would you be alright with calling in Lady Malfoy now, or would you rather we take another moment or two?” Harry noticed that she’d avoided calling Narcissa ‘his mother’, and he appreciated the action. 

His voice wobbled when he responded, “You can call her in. I don’t mind.”

The mind healer stood, opening the door and murmuring something out into the corridor. Narcissa swept into the room a moment later. Her skirts flowing around her as she sat next to Harry on the couch, pulling him into her side and kissing the side of his head. 

“Harry, are you alright if I share some of what happened today with Lady Malfoy?” He appreciated her asking his consent, even if he doubted she’d avoid telling her if he didn’t give it. With a nod, she continued, turning to the other woman in the room. “I believe that, from what Harry displayed today and what you’ve described has been happening at home, Harry has post traumatic stress disorder.” Narcissa took a deep breath and grabbed Harry’s hand, squeezing it. “From the panic attacks, nightmares, and avoidant behaviors, I am almost 100% certain that this is the case.” Oddly enough, her clinical manner and words were comforting to Harry. “I’d like to recommend continuing his therapy, as well as implementing a regimend of…” Harry let her words wash over him as he zoned out, overtired and overwhelmed with the events of the day already, and he hadn’t even finished with them yet. He still had his healer appointment scheduled for right after this, and then after that, he was told it would be a week of healing. He let out a long, low sigh and sunk into his mother’s side.

-

Severus Snape had had an extraordinarily unusual summer already, and there were still two weeks left of it. It had been so unusual already, that he hadn’t even thought it was strange when he received an owl with a summons to Hogwarts a week before they usually went out. He simply pinched his face into its usual sneer and traveled through the floo into the staff meeting room. Minerva was already there, stirring a small cup of tea where she sat next to Pomona, the two seemed to be locked in a heated conversation before they both froze at the sight of the potions master.

“Severus!” Minerva’s eyes held an unusual level of glee in them. “I’ve been meaning to reach out to you these last few days. I must ask, how is Hadrian?” Snape sighed. Minerva had always been fiercely protective of her lions, and he was absolutely sure she’d been plotting to confront him in person at this meeting.

“He’s doing much better, now that he’s had time to adjust. He’s actually currently attending a healer’s appointment. Merlin knows he needed it.”

Minerva frowned. “What do you mean?”

Severus quickly looked over at Pomona with a sharp gaze, and she quickly excused herself from her seat, meandering over to Professor Trelawney. Murmuring a quick muffliato, he continued, “I’m only telling you this because you’re his head of house and his parents are likely to set up an appointment with you anyways, but those muggles that Albus stuck Hadrian with were horribly abusive to him.” Minerva sucked in a sharp gasp, but Severus continued quickly, knowing he only had a few moments left before their meeting was set to start and Albus would descend on them all. “Lucius is attempting to get a restraining order for Albus as we speak. I’m not sure if they’re willing to send him back to Hogwarts without it. After that, I’m almost certain Lucius is pulling together a case to get him dismissed as Headmaster.”

“A restraining order?” Despite Minerva’s soft voice, her tone held an enormous amount of vitriol. “Surely Albus had no idea!”

Severus held up a hand. “Even if he didn’t know, he still holds all the responsibility for it. He was listed as the boy’s magical guardian for Merlin’s sake. He’d never even checked in on the boy before his first year. Not to mention that he attempted to coerce Hadrian into believing his parents were only tricking him into believing he was their son. The poor child believed they were working with death eaters, and he still begged them to not return him to that awful muggle family.” He spat the last words out, the words filled with contempt.

Minerva stared at him in shock, and opened her mouth to respond, only for the headmaster himself to walk into the room. She shut her mouth just as quickly, but reached under the table for Severus’ hand, squeezing it tightly once before releasing him. Her eyes met his as he canceled the muffliato, and a fire seemed to be blazing behind them. Severus almost pitied the poor headmaster.

“I hope you’ve all had a wonderful holiday everyone!” The headmaster’s tone felt bright, but as Severus studied his face, his eyes were missing their signature twinkle. “I know we ended last year with a large amount of scandal,” he paused to chuckle, but when no one followed him he quickly continued, “but I hope this year will be calm and peaceful.”

Severus zoned out as Dumbledore proceeded to address each professor individually, asking them about their specific lesson plans for the year. Why the man didn’t schedule individual meetings with them, he’d never know, but he simply waited for his own turn to speak with him.

“All right, there are just a few announcements that I’d like to make to all of you. I know you’ve likely heard of it by now, but if you haven’t it’s crucial for you all to know this.” Dumbledore clasped his hands in front of himself, his eyes darkening, “Sirius Black, renowned death eater, has escaped from Azkaban.” He paused for dramatic effect, taking in the sharp gasps from the professors who hadn’t heard the news yet.

Severus, like many of the other professors, had somehow not heard the news yet, and his eyebrows lifted in shock.

“The news was only released this morning, but Minister Fudge has already reached out to me. It seems that Black was exposed to a newspaper addressing the recent scandal around Harry Potter, and he escaped from his cell late last night. After speaking with the Minister, I have agreed to the measures he believes are necessary to protect the school, and Mr. Potter as well.”

Severus resisted the urge to roll his eyes after he heard the headmaster refer to him by his previous name. He did, however, lean closer, wanting to hear what the man had arranged.

“Now, this will only be until he is caught, but the minister is sending the Azkaban guards to protect the school. Namely, the dementors, as they can patrol outside the school wards.”

The room immediately erupted in shouts of protest. Minerva’s sharp voice rising above the rest. “Albus! You cannot be serious! Exposing the students to dementors is foolish and dangerous.” A few people shouted in agreement.

As he examined the man’s face, Severus could have sworn he saw the older man’s eye twitch. “And so is exposing them to an escaped convict, my dear. I fear this may be the lesser evil.” He smiled patronizingly at the group as they continued to loudly protest. “Now, now, unfortunately this isn’t something that’s up for debate right now. The ministry is gracious enough to provide the dementors to protect the school, and I won’t have you impeding their current efforts to capture the convict who is currently hunting down one of our most precious students. On that note, Severus would you mind setting up an appointment with Harry for me? I would love to speak with him about these security measures, and it seems the owls I’ve sent are struggling to get through the wards at Malfoy manor.” He smiled, and Severus assumed the man had attempted to use the smile to make him look harmless, but all he could see was the smile of someone dangerous, plotting.

“I’ll speak with his parents.” He simply stated, and this time he was certain that the headmaster’s eye twitched. 

“Well, I think that’s all I wanted to speak with you about today. I’ll send letters with any follow-up instructions, but I’ll look forward to seeing you all at the start of the school year.” As everyone started to stand and make their way over to the floo, Severus was interrupted. “Severus! My dear boy, would you stay behind? I’d like to speak with you privately.”

The potions master stopped, turning to face the man as Minerva passed him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder before she disappeared in a flash of green light. “Yes, headmaster?” He spoke once he was sure that everyone else had left.

“Ah, now that we’re alone, I wanted to check with you. I haven’t been able to reach Mr. Potter, and I’m beginning to get worried. I’d hoped you might have some information for me as my spy on the inside.” The man’s predatory grin caused a slight shiver to race up Severus’ spine.

“I apologize, headmaster, I don’t believe this is an appropriate conversation for us to have right now. My duties as your spy ended with the end of the war, and I don’t believe indulging information about my family to you is appropriate. I’ll be sure to pass on the information that you’d like to meet to Lucius and Narcissa, but I can’t promise you anything.” Severus stood as tall as possible, meeting the man’s glare with an unrelenting stare of his own. 

“But Severus! You can’t possibly think it safe to leave Lily’s son with those death eater-”

“Enough!” His interruption seemed to take Dumbledore by surprise. “Do not forget that that child is my godson. He is my family. I am no longer your pawn, Albus.” Without waiting for the headmaster to respond Severus swept away to the floo, shouting out the address for his home.

Albus watched him leave. He watched and he seethed.

Chapter Text

Harry lay in his extraordinarily extravagant and lush bed, lightly tapping his fingers on the duvet, well, the ones that currently housed bones, that is. About an hour ago, Healer Findley had vanished an exorbitant amount of his bones, and he’d been promptly forced to scoff down a large dose of skelegrow. Now he sat in his bed under strict orders to remain in place, and a threat to be sedated even more than he currently was. His whole body felt heavy, and most of it was wrapped in a variety of bandages. While he was currently excited to see what it would feel like to finally have all of his bones in working order, he couldn’t shake the heavy weight of fear that his parents wouldn’t be happy to go through all this trouble for him. He obviously knew from first-hand experience that they hadn’t shown any overt annoyance at his neediness, but who knew if that was a true expression of their character. 

“True or False: In brewing Doxycide, the potioneer first heats the cauldron, then stirs” His Godfather’s voice drifted towards him from where he sat in an armchair near the bed. Lucius and Narcissa had some sort of meeting they'd needed to attend, and Draco was currently with his piano tutor, so Severus Snape had been employed as his babysitter for the time being. He had been told this would be an excellent time to work on some of his summer homework, and with the help of Professor Snape reading the questions and jotting down his answers for him, he was making slow progress. 

He watched as Snape settled his quill over the blank space on the parchment, and realized he was still waiting for an answer. “Errr, True?” Snape looked up at him, refraining from recording his answer. He quirked an eyebrow and Harry quickly amended, “I mean False. Definitely False.”

“Are you sure?” His deep voice sounded annoyingly neutral. 

“Yes?” 

Snape sighed before jotting the answer down. “Have you even had the chance to read any of the third year material yet?” Surprisingly, his tone wasn’t mocking, but still annoyingly neutral.

“My books were locked in the cupboard, so, no.” Harry couldn’t help the bite of sass that accompanied his words. He quickly regretted his tone when he saw Snape’s eyes darken and his face took on an expression of rage. Harry shrank back into his pillows. “I-I’m sorry sir. I didn’t mean to take that tone.” He hung his head and attempted to look small, which wasn’t exactly difficult when you compared his small stature to the grandeur of the room surrounding him.

Severus realized his mistake immediately. “I apologize, Harry. I promise I am not angry with you.” Harry looked up, and noticed that the man had risen from his chair and had kneeled down at the side of the bed. “I am simply upset with those muggles and regretful of the actions I had taken in the past. I have grossly misunderstood you and your academic efforts these last two years. I’m afraid I acted harshly and didn’t support you in the way that a professor should have. I’m sorry.”

Harry felt his lower lip wobble. His cheeks burned as a tear made its way down his cheek. He couldn’t tell why his emotions seemed to be all over the place but it was a bloody nuisance at this point. He couldn’t muster the energy or will to accept his godfather’s apology, and he didn’t know if he was necessarily ready to accept it either, so he simply nodded his head. He felt the side of the bed dip, as the man rose from the floor and sat on the edge of the mattress. The man pointed his wand towards his potions bag still resting against his original chair. A murmured enchantment later, and a small handheld radio flew into the potions master’s hand.

“It is summer after all, and I think after that procedure you deserve a bit of entertainment. Draco mentioned a programme on the Wizarding Wireless Network that details recent quidditch matches. Would you like to listen?”

Harry brightened up at that, and Severus rolled his eyes. Teenage boys were quite predictable. He quickly found the right channel, before settling back into his armchair, noticing how content his godson was to simply sit back and listen. Babysitting wasn’t quite so difficult now, was it?

-

Lucius and Narcissa sat in the corner booth of a small muggle cafe, just a short walk from the Leaky Cauldron. With much reluctance, they had left Hadrian in the highly capable hands of his godfather, and had made their way to the agreed meeting point to see if they couldn’t come to some sort of understanding with Arthur and Molly Weasley. Narcissa impatiently tapped a perfectly manicured nail against the side of her teacup, as she kept a sharp eye on the cafe’s entrance. Lucius wasn’t much better, as he had begun tapping his cane on the toe of his boot. They weren’t eager for the meeting to start, but they were eager for it to be over, hopefully with a new ally and familiar faces to aid their son in his recovery.

A bell rang through the cafe when a red-headed couple stepped through the door. Narcissa straightened her posture, and waited for the pair to spot them. Mild pleasantries were exchanged as the pair took their seats across from them, Arthur pulling out the chair for his wife before seating himself. They sat in awkward silence before both matriarchs attempted to speak at the same time.

“What did you know about-”

“How is Harry? What happened-”

Silence stretched between the two as they both abruptly stopped. Molly very obviously stifled a small giggle before Narcissa yielded to the older woman, gesturing with her hand for her to continue.

“We’ve just been so worried ever since we heard about what’s happened with Harry. First he’s finally getting away from those awful muggles, and then he finds out he’s Hadrian Malfoy! We just want to make sure he’s doing alright.” Molly’s expression of concern felt genuine to Narcissa, but one thing stood out to her.

“You knew about his muggle family?” She attempted to control her tone and expression of rage, likely unsuccessfully.

“Yes,” Molly looked at her husband and they shared a guilty look. “My three youngest boys had to retrieve Harry from his home last summer, and Fred and George told me that they’d had to wrench bars off of his window. I immediately reported it to the headmaster, and he told me that he’d resolved the situation, that it was all a misunderstanding and a strange muggle practice. I offered to house Harry this summer, but there was the issue with the blood wards. Albus reassured me that Harry would be alright though. He told me he was keeping constant surveillance on the home.”

The rage inside Narcissa boiled over, and the handle of her teacup snapped under her grip. The action caused the whole table to jump, and Lucius quickly cast a quick reparo under the table before they caught any of the waitstaff’s attention. “That is definitely not what happened.” Lucius spoke in a low, deadly tone.

Concerned, the Weasley couple shared a look before they leaned in to hear the Malfoy family’s story.

“That wretched, senile, manipulative, old coot!” Molly Weasley suddenly shrieked, standing up and slamming her hands on the table, catching the attention of every muggle within the cafe. Arthur laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder and turned around with an apologetic look on his face.

“Sorry!” he called out before ushering his wife to settle back down into her chair.

A pleased sort of feeling blossomed in Narcissa’s chest at seeing someone who shared her own outrage at the old man.

Lucius spoke up, “Our solicitor has managed to almost get his hands on a restraining order for the headmaster so we can send the children to Hogwarts again. If not, we’ve considered Beauxbatons, but that would be even harder on Hadrian and we’re trying not to disrupt his life any further than we already have.”

Narcissa nodded along, adding in, “He’s also convinced us to hire a private investigator to look into whether or not he was involved in Hadrian’s kidnapping.

Molly gasped, “You don’t think…?”

Narcissa nodded her head solemnly, and Molly reached a hand out to lay over Narcissa’s own. “Arthur and I have been thinking, ever since Albus brushed us off about Harry’s home life really, that we don’t want to follow Albus anymore. We followed him during the war, and he was a great leader then, but these recent events are leading us to believe that we’ve been tricked into something. The children are the most important ones to focus on now, and Albus has shown he doesn’t care much for their safety. Especially with his attempted manipulations of Harry. The Goblin’s magic never lies, and we trust that he’s truly your son. We were overjoyed when we heard you’d found your child. We could never imagine what it would be like losing one of ours.”

Narcissa smiled and looked over at her husband. They seemed to come to an agreement with just a look, and they turned back to the Weasleys. “We’re glad to hear that. We want to expand Harry’s support system, and where he already knows and trusts your family, it would be fantastic to have you around the manor sometime. I’m sure Harry would be thrilled to see Ron. Draco has told us all about how they’ve been stuck at the hip at school."

Molly let out a surprised laugh, and nodded her head. They swiftly made plans for the rest of summer, and both couples stood to leave. Lucius and Arthur stood together, staring silently at each other as their wives became fast friends. Lord Malfoy was the first to extend his hand, which Arthur swiftly accepted.

-

About half an hour after turning the radio show on for his godson, Severus looked up from the papers in his lap, to see Harry sitting on the bed with an alarming amount of tears streaming down his face. Urgently, he stood and made his way back over to Harry’s bedside, unsure what to do. “Harry? What is the matter? Are you in pain?”

The child looked up at him with cloudy eyes filled with tears. “What do you mean?”

Severus conjured a handkerchief and lightly dabbed at Harry’s reddened cheeks. “You’re crying.” 

Harry looked confused, before he attempted to lift his bandaged hand towards his face, only to be stopped by his godfather gently pushing it back down onto the blankets. “I-I didn’t mean to. I mean… I’m s-sorry.” The poor boy looked so confused, and Severus could only come to the conclusion that this was the result of the extra-strength pain relieving potions he’d been given before his procedure. 

“It’s okay, you can cry. Sometimes people experience confused emotions after procedures like these, and it isn’t helped by the strong potion side effects you’ll no doubt experience.” Severus did his best to soothe the child, but it wasn’t necessarily his area of expertise, and he frankly felt a bit out of his depth.

Thankfully, the child’s parents appeared in the doorway, and frantically hurried over when they saw the state of their child. 

“Oh no, dear. What happened?” Narcissa came up on the other side of Severus, starting to reach her arms out to embrace her son, before stopping herself. She likely forgot about the fragile state of his bones at the moment.

“Are you in pain? Should I call for the healer?” Lucius attempted to resolve the situation quickly. “He’s not set to return for a couple more minutes, but if you’re in pain we can call him right now.”

“No!” Harry called out, sniffling through the tears. God, he felt like such a crybaby lately. “I’m fine.” He sounded almost exasperated, and Narcissa looked to Severus with a confused expression.

“He’s just experiencing heightened emotions as a result of the procedure and the pain relieving potions.” He stated simply for the room to hear. 

Narcissa’s relief was visible on her face as she gently settled down on the edge of Hadrian’s bed. “Oh that’s good, How are you feeling then?

“I’m fine.” Harry’s voice broke as tears continued to stream down his face. Narcissa couldn’t help but to smile fondly at her child, taking the handkerchief from a grateful Severus and continuing to catch the tears as they made their way down the boy’s face.

Lucius barked out a laugh, “As long as you’re sure.”

“We do have some good news, though, if you want to hear it?” Narcissa looked at her son with a bright smile on her face. He sniffled and nodded his head. “We spoke with the Weasleys today,” Harry immediately brightened and he attempted to sit up more before he was pushed down by his mother’s gentle hand. “We thought you’d enjoy having them come visit tomorrow for dinner.”

Harry frantically began nodding his head, groaning as the motion jostled his ribs. “Darling, you’ve got to sit still, or you won’t be healed enough by tomorrow for them to come.” Suddenly filled with conviction, Harry stopped moving, settling himself back against the plush pillows and attempting to relax as much as possible. 

Narcissa looked over to where Severus was standing, “Severus, would you like to join us tomorrow night?” 

“As much as I… enjoy… the presence of the Weasley twins, I’m suddenly remembering that I must spend tomorrow night brewing potions to restock the hospital wing.” Lucius snorted, before attempting to cover it up with a cough.

The sound of footsteps out in the hallway quieted the group, before Healer Findley poked his head through the door. “Ah, all gathered then. Perfect.” He walked up to Harry’s bed, before he pulled out his wand and ran a few diagnostics on the youngest Malfoy. “Looks like you’re healing within the required parameters, so I think I can leave you now with no more follow ups. For this at least.” He smiled reassuringly at his patient, then turned to face the whole room. “Before I go, there is one last thing I wanted to discuss with you. The blood glamour that was placed on Harry when he was adopted by the Potters is obviously still in place. The older he gets, the deeper the magic is going to tie itself to his core. If removing the glamour is something you’re all interested in,” he pointedly looked at Harry, “then I would suggest getting it removed sooner than later. I’ve a colleague who is particularly skilled at unweaving the magic associated with blood adoptions, and I cannot recommend her enough.” Findley pulled out a card and handed it over to Narcissa, who accepted it gratefully. “Talk it over, and if you decide to remove the glamour and blood adoption, go ahead and give her a call.” He bid a polite farewell, and then let himself out. 

Narcissa looked at her son hopefully. It would mean the world to her if her son was interested in reclaiming his family’s looks, but she also realized that that would mean he’d look in the mirror and not recognize himself. She would rather have him as a Potter, than not at all. She decided to gently prompt him to think on the subject. “Darling,” she started, “you don’t have to decide now, but you should know that your father and I will love you not matter what you look like. We’ll support you either way.”

This seemed like a novel concept to Harry, as he looked at his mother with awe and simply responded, “Oh.” He felt absolutely rotten the longer he sat here covered in bandages with his bones feeling like goo, so it wasn’t necessarily a topic that he felt like deciding on at the moment. “Can I think about it?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Absolutely,” Lucuis and Narcissa spoke almost in unison.

Harry’s jaw popped as he yawned loudly, and his eyelids felt heavy. “I suppose we ought to let you sleep now?” Severus prompted. “You need all your rest if you’re going to keep up with the Weasley clan tomorrow.” He smirked at the exasperated look Lucius threw at him.

Narcissa stood and tucked the blankets in a little tighter around Harry. “I’ll wake you for dinner.” On their way out, Severus set the wizarding wireless on Harry’s bedside table, turning the volume down so it became pleasant background noise for the young wizard.

Chapter Text

Lucius glared down at the paper in front of him. The words “SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPED FROM AZKABAN!” glared back at him

“Darling,” he got his wife’s attention, before he slid the paper over to where she sat next to him at the breakfast table. She turned her attention away from where she had gently been coaxing Harry to eat more eggs, and gasped as she saw the stark black letters on the front page of the newspaper. 

“What?” Draco stood from his spot across from his mother, and attempted to get a good look at the paper. Before he could, Narcissa snatched the paper up to get a closer look at the story detailed under the headline. Her hand drifted towards Harry, and she laid a gentle, yet possessive, hand on his shoulder. 

Harry eyed his mother nervously as she took in the entire story. She seemed to attempt to speak, but proceeded to simply open and close her mouth multiple times before she looked at her husband helplessly. He cleared his throat before he spoke, “It appears that a well known death eater, Sirius Black, has managed to escape from Azkaban.”

Draco’s jaw dropped, and he scrambled to get up from his spot at the table so he could come round the side and read the paper over his mother’s shoulder. 

“Azkaban? What’s Azkaban?” Harry asked quietly. 

His parents eyed each other carefully, before Lucius took over again. “It is the highest security prison in Great Britain. It’s contained on an island in the North Sea, and it houses some of the worst criminals the British wizarding community has ever encountered. The majority of the Dark Lord’s deatheaters were imprisoned there after their trials.” He sighed, “Dumbledore attempted to have me put in there with no trial right after the Dark Lord was defeated, but thankfully the minister put a stop to it.”

“And Sirius Black? What made him so bad?” The boy asked with an innocent curiosity, and Lucius was frankly so happy that his son didn’t seem afraid to ask that he couldn’t refrain from answering the question.

“He was the deatheater who betrayed the Potter family to the Dark Lord. His betrayal was so shocking because no one knew he was a deatheater. He was a Gryffindor, and one of James Potter’s best friends, in fact, the Potter’s made him your Godfather when they adopted you.” Harry looked shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth was hanging slightly open. “We were all pretty shocked, and he was kept close to the Dark Lord’s chest. Even Severus and I, some of his closest confidants, had no idea that he was working for Him. I don’t know all the details, as I didn’t get the chance to attend his trial, and the paper didn’t include any details of the event, but it must have been horrible since he was thrown into Azkaban fairly quickly.” Lucius shook his head. 

“He was my cousin.” Narcissa stated quietly, her gaze still fixed to the paper. Lucius grasped his wife’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. She looked up with a small amount of tears in her eyes. “It shocked me when I found out. He’d been so very adamantly against the pureblood agenda, and then to find out it had all been a lie… it was so very disheartening. I’d hoped to reconnect with him after the war.” She sighed before she looked down at the paper showing her cousin’s crazed face roaring on loop. “What have you done now Siri?” she whispered to him.

“I’m going to contact the aurors to see what they’re doing about this. No doubt you’ll be a target, Harry. We need to keep you as safe as possible.” Lucius stood and marched out of the dining room. An elf popped in to clear his spot at the table.

Narcissa seemed to shake off whatever nostalgic reverie had taken over her, and she gestured to Harry’s half full plate. “Do be a dear and try to eat the rest darling.”

Harry sighed and made a stab at the scrambled eggs waiting for him.

-

“Ronald Weasley! If you don’t get down here in the next ten seconds we’re leaving you behind!” Ron could hear his mother’s voice yelling at him from downstairs, but he HAD to find the gift he’d gotten Harry in Egypt. He lunged over his bed until his head hung over, peering into the space between his bed and the floor. 

“AHA!” he proclaimed, snatching the box brightly wrapped in red and gold. He hurried down the stairs and got there just in the nick of time as his mother had started counting down from five. She lightly smacked the back of his head before throwing floo powder into the fireplace and shouting out a name. Ron was quick to step into the lights, and was greeted on the other side by Fred and George who were gazing around the large room in awe. Ron stepped to the side as Ginny stepped out of the fireplace, before being followed by her parents in quick succession.

Ron could see a flash of bright blonde hair before Lucius Malfoy stepped forward and shook his dad’s hand. “Good to see you again Arthur,” he nodded at his mum and stepped forward to lightly kiss her cheek. “The rest of the family is gathered in one of the sitting rooms while we wait for dinner to be ready.” He made his way over to the archway that led out of the greeting room, turning around and gesturing with his cane, “shall we?”

Ron and his family were led through opulent halls decorated in marble and gold trimmings, paintings of grim looking people glaring down at them. Ron tried to pay attention to them, but he was too excited to see his friend. This summer had been extra difficult because his family had been out of the country. Ron had been worried about leaving Harry to his relatives, but despite all his begging, his parents had been too reluctant to ask Dumbledore if they could take him with them. Apparently the headmaster had thought it too dangerous for the boy-who-lived to leave the country. Ron thought it was all hogwash, and his parents hadn’t looked too convinced either.

When the doors to the sitting room opened, Ron was delighted to see a dark shock of wild hair sitting atop a rather healthy looking boy. Evidently, his time with his true family had been good for him. He knew for a fact that Harry had been eating much better.

“Harry!” he hollered, ignoring the disapproving remark his mother tried to make. He ran towards his best friend who stood from his own seat, meeting him halfway in a huge bear hug. 

Narcissa was thrilled to see her son seem to come out of his shell. Watching him openly seek out physical affection from his friend was refreshing. His ensuing laughter as he hugged his best friend was even more lovely.

She stood from her own spot, greeting Molly with a kiss on the cheek before turning and receiving one from Arthur as well. “Glad you were able to make it safely. I trust your trip was uneventful.”

Molly sharply laughed, “It felt like wrangling a pack of kneazles to get them all here. Ron here almost made us late. He decided at the last minute that he needed to grab something for Harry.”

Ron and Harry stepped away from each other, before Ron handed over the messily wrapped box. “Here. It’s your birthday present.”

Harry’s eyes brightened, and he sat down on one of the sofa’s elegantly placed around the room. Ron sat close to him, eagerly waiting for his friend to open the gift he’d painstakingly searched for. Harry hesitated though, looking up at his parents who curiously peered over to where Harry sat with his best friend. 

Narcissa smiled, “Go on, then. How kind of you to remember Harry, Ronald. Thank you very much.”

Harry grinned and lifted the top of the box, before pinching his brows together in confusion. “It’s… a dead snake.” At the same time, a multitidue of reactions echoed through the room.

Mrs. Weasley shrieked at her son, “RONALD WEASLEY,” as she moved forward to cuff him over the head. Narcissa took in a sharp breath before she moved forward to remove the offending box from her son’s lap. Sounds of pure confusion came from both Malfoys and Weasleys alike, and Harry looked up at his friend in hurt confusion, before flinching at the incoming matriarch’s sudden movements.

“No! No you’ve got it wrong,” Ron shook off his mother’s grip on his arm, and snatched the box before Narcissa could confiscate it. “The shopkeeper put him in a stasis.” Ron pointed to the potion with a dropper that was laying slightly obscured by the snake’s tail. “Bill helped me find the perfect gift, and we thought that a parselmouth ought to have a pet snake!” Ron handed the box back to Harry. “When we were looking at the tombs and stuff in Egypt, Bill taught me all about how ancient Egypt had a lot of famous parselmouths and they usually had snake familiars.” He grinned at his friend who had slow understanding dawning on his face. “I know you’ve already got Hedwig, but I thought it would just be so cool if you had a snake too.”

Harry stared at his overly excited friend in shock, before he took a closer look at the snake in the box. It was tightly coiled in on itself, but he could tell it was rather small, with its body being entirely covered in tan colored scales.

“What is it?” he asked as he gently lifted the stiff body out of the box. He looked up at his mother who was stiffly positioned very close to him. Her face looked nervous. ‘Not mad’ he told himself, ‘just nervous’.

“Bill helped me pick her out. She’s a Saharan Sand Viper. They’re a little venomous,” he carefully glanced at Narcissa, “but the shopkeeper placed a charm on her that covers her fangs so she can’t bite.” Narcissa relaxed a fraction of a bit.

Harry stared at the snake body, a small smile on his face. “Cool,” he whispered. He looked up at his mother with hopeful eyes. “Can I keep her?”

Narcissa stared into the eyes of the two teenage boys who looked at her hopefully. She sighed. How could she think to deprive Harry of anything? “You may. AFTER,” she stopped the duo’s mini celebration, “your father takes a look at that charm on her fangs.” The snake was gently placed back into the box, and handed over to Lucius, who left the room with it, presumably to drop the snake off in his office. 

Loopy quickly popped into the room. “Dinner bes ready to serve.”

“Well, that was a bit too exciting for me.” Mrs. Weasley placed a hand over her heart. Narcissa smiled and nodded her head in agreement, before leading the group to the dining room. Harry took his usual seat next to his mother, and Ron quickly claimed the seat on his other side. Draco quietly sat down across from Harry, who gave him a reassuring smile.

“Ahem,” Draco attempted to grab the duo’s attention. “How was your trip to Egypt, Ron.” Ron’s first name tumbled out of Draco’s mouth like he was attempting a foreign food with a brand new flavor profile.

Ron shared a look with Harry before he smiled and turned to the blonde who sat across from him. “It was very good. Other than reacquainting with your long lost twin, how has your summer been?” His voice sounded much too posh for him, imitating Draco, but either the blonde didn’t notice, or he didn’t care, as he smiled and answered back quickly.

Chapter Text

Harry and Draco, now in their pajamas, sat in their father’s study, as he administered the potion to Hadrian’s new pet snake. The Weasleys had left about thirty minutes before, and the Malfoy twins had been sent to get ready for bed before being allowed to meet Harry’s new snake. Lucius had examined the charms placed on the snake and the accompanying potions, and he determined that Ron and his older brother had gotten the pet snake from a reliable breeder with competent magic skills. Not that he had doubted the oldest Weasley child, but he is still quite young.

He leaned back in his chair as he finished administering the rest of the potion down the snake’s throat, and the three Malfoy’s waited in anticipation. Eventually, the snake twitched, and its unnatural stiffness melted as it uncoiled its body. Slowly, it shook its head and raised its eyes. Seeing the people around it, it shrunk back as it hissed.

“Sssstay away”. The creature attempted to coil its body tightly again, frantically jerking its head to look for a hiding spot.

Harry, understanding the snake’s fear, quickly answered, attempting to soothe it, “ Hello, you are sssafe I promisssse.”

The viper immediately made eye contact with the teenage boy. “ You ssspeak?”

“ Yessss, I can ssspeak SSSerpent Tongue.” He held his hand out to the snake who flickered its tongue out, smelling him.

“ You ssssmell sssafe. I will keep you.” Harry didn’t get much warning before suddenly the snake was coiling itself around his arm.

Draco laughed, in surprise. “I take it she likes you?”

Harry was mildly perplexed at how quickly he’d been accepted, “She said that she’s going to keep me.” Her scales were surprisingly smooth against his skin, and a pleasant warmth emanated from her.

“ Make the other humans leave pleasssse.” she pled to her new human.

Harry giggled, “ I can’t really make them leave. They’re my family though and I promise they’re really nice. ”

She seemed to ponder this. “ Let me ssssmelll them. I will decide.”

“Err, she wants to smell you?” He looked at his brother and father. Draco quickly offered his hand to the snake, her tongue flicking out. She seemed to think, before she turned her gaze to the older Malfoy. Lucius maintained a mask of coolness as he copied Draco’s movements. Again, the snake seemed to think about his scent before she pulled her head back. 

“ They may ssstay .” She stated simply before beginning a journey up Harry’s body. She slowly coiled and uncoiled herself, making her way up his arm first, before coiling around his neck. Gently, she dove into the mess of hair that always sat upon his head. “ Diiiig, diiiiiig, diiiiig,” Harry could hear her gently hissing at the same time as he could feel her wiggling her body in his hair. 

Draco immediately burst into laughter as he watched his twin brother’s new snake attempt to dig and bury itself into Harry’s hair. Lucius could admit as well that the sight was quite amusing. Hadrian’s hair when he was a baby, while thick, had never been quite as chaotic as it currently was at the moment. He wondered if it would remain this way after having the blood adoption undone.

“I think we should look through some catalogues in the morning and order some care supplies, but for tonight, I will transfigure an enclosure for our new family member.” Harry felt something warm blossom in his chest as his father referred to his new pet as a family member. He could still feel the fear he’d had for Hedwig after returning to the Dursley’s with her. Watching her locked in her cage for the entire summer had hurt Harry almost as much as it had hurt Hedwig.

“What will you name her?” Draco thankfully interrupted Harry’s train of thought.

He looked up as if he could attempt to see the snake that was currently buried in his hair, “ Do you have a name?”  

“Name? What purpossse would I have for a name? Foolish human. Sssserpents do not require namesss.” 

“ But I mussst call you ssssomething. I cannot just call you sssnake.” Harry attempted to argue.

“Of courssse not. I am a majestic sssand viper. The best of the sssserpents.” Harry restrained himself from rolling his eyes. “ You may choossse a name, human, ” she said with finality.

“I feel like she needs a fierce name. I can already tell that she’s stubborn.” Harry thought for a second. What was the fiercest creature he had met so far? “Oh! I’ve got it. How about Basilisk?”

Draco stared at him. “You want to name your snake after a different kind of snake. That’s like if I got a crup and named it Kneazle.”

“I think it suits her. After all, a basilisk is the fiercest snake I’ve ever met!”

While Harry was congratulating himself on the name of his new pet, Lucius had stopped moving entirely, stuck on what Harry had just said. “I’m sorry Hadrian. Did you just say you’ve met a basilisk?”

Harry suddenly stopped, unsure of the tone of voice his father had just taken. “I-I… I’m sorry?” His voice broke as he shrunk

Lucius attempted to reassure his son. “I’m not mad at you Harry. I’m simply curious how you managed to meet a Basilisk and come out of it alive.” He continued, “You’re not in trouble Harry. I’m mad for you, dear.”

Oh, well that’s better, Harry thought. He’s not quite sure if anyone has ever been angry on his behalf before, but it was nice. “The petrifications that happened at Hogwarts were all caused by a Basilisk,” Harry ignored his fathers sharp intake of breath and continued, “Salazar Slytherin hid the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets before he died, and it had been released by Voldemort possessing a student.”

Ignoring the obvious danger that both his children had been in at Hogwarts, he prompted his youngest to continue, “And you met this basilisk?” Maintaining an even tone was starting to become difficult.

“Well I was the one who killed it,” He said innocently, staring at his father with large eyes. Lucius took a deep breath, and released it in a controlled stream of air. He turned to his other child, who was staring at his brother in obvious shock.

“Draco, would you mind retrieving your mother? I think she ought to be a part of this conversation.” After his son scrambled out of his chair and out the door, he turned back to Harry, coming around his desk so he could stand right in front of him. “You’re not in trouble Harry.” He attempted to soothe the anxious child by reaching out and rubbing his back. “I’m just concerned that you were subjected to great danger at your school. Your mother will be just as concerned.”

At that moment, Narcissa strode quickly into the study, followed by Draco close at her heel. “What’s this I hear about Harry killing a basilisk?” She was already in her dressing gown, and there was a smudge of white face cream under both of her eyes. Evidently, they had interrupted her in the middle of getting ready for bed. 

Harry attempted to explain himself, “Well, there was a basilisk in the chamber of secrets that was opened by a possessed student and had been petrifying students. After it petrified Hermione, Ron and I found the chamber and we tried to get professor Lockhart to come with us, but then he tried to obliviate Ron, and obviously it went wrong but it did cave in the entrance to the chamber. So I had to go save Ginny, who had been kidnapped by the ghost of Voldemort, all by myself. Dumbledore’s phoenix brought me the sorting hat, but it actually had the sword of Gryffindor in it, so I killed the basilisk with it, but not before one of its teeth stabbed me in the arm. But it was all okay though!” he immediately held up his hands to placate his mother who was growing more and more upset, “Fawkes cried on it and it all healed up!” Harry immediately took a couple of deep breaths after he rambled the entire story out.

Narcissa crowded into Harry’s space, grabbing his arms and pushing the sleeves of his pajamas all the way up. After inspecting his skin and finding nothing, she sighed in relief and hugged him close to her chest. “You’re such a brave boy Harry. I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Harry hugged his emotionally distraught mother back, and made eye contact with Draco. “It’s no wonder you sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin.” Draco commented in awe. 

“Did you tell anyone? The headmaster?” Lucius asked while Harry was still being smothered.

“After I brought Ginny to the hospital wing, I told Dumbledore everything. He told me about Voldemort and congratulated me before you came in.” Harry eyed his father.

“We were all told that the children were being petrified by an older student who had already been turned into the authorities. With it being a minor he didn’t tell us their name, but we were assured that Hogwarts was safe.” Lucius sighed and joined his wife in hugging Harry. Draco followed suit, always down for a group hug.

“This is abhorrent and irresponsible. That man should NOT be headmaster.” Everyone stepped away from the hug, but Lucius remained close. “Would you be willing to recount this tale to the authorities? It would be most helpful in the case we’re building against the headmaster. I don’t want him to have any access to you whatsoever.” Harry thought for a second, before nodding minutely. Originally, he had been hesitant to recount the tale, afraid of being compared to Voldemort or being called to heir of Slytherin again, but as he looked at his gathered family, he felt safe, supported. He could do anything.

“Oh!” Narcissa exclaimed as Basilisk poked her head out of the nest she’d created in Harry’s hair.

“ Isss this your nesssst mother, human? She sssmells like you.”

“ Well hello there little thing,” Narcissa greeted the small snake. “I take it she likes you then?”

Draco laughed and recounted the tale of her meeting Harry. “You should have seen the way she was trying to dig into his hair. It was adorable!” The blonde boy practically had hearts in his eyes.

“ Yesss, she is my mother.” Harry answered her question with a smile on his face. “ I’ve come up with a name for you. What do you think of Basilisk?”

“A sssstrong name…yesss I shall take the name of the king of sssnakes. Good choice human of mine.” Harry felt her drop her head back down as she wiggled minutely to settle herself again. 

Harry’s smile grew as he turned to his family. “She has approved, her name is Basilisk.”

Narcissa looked like she had swallowed a lemon, and Lucius huffed, but Draco’s approving smile practically reached his ears. “Good, just don’t let her start thinking that she is a basilisk.

-

His shaggy dark hair hung in front of his eyes as he peered at the large manor home in front of him. His ribs felt tight against his canine skin, and the pain of hunger gnawed at him, but he had bigger priorities, as he watched the lights turn out one… by… one.