Chapter Text
Harry was sitting up in the hospital bed, cradling his broom. He looked around morosely, seeing Hermione crouching on a plush chair, Ron looking up and away from it all. Nobody else was in the room. Ron was relaxed, unworried. He could let go.
Harry sniffled quietly, and curled up. He let his tears fall from his eyes silently, hitting his hand so it wouldn’t leave any evidence of his weakness. Hermione looked at him and then went back to her book. She worked hard to keep a glamour over his back each time Madame Pomfrey checked him over.
There was a knock at the door, light. Harry straightened again and wiped away his tears. Ron’s eyes snapped to the door, sitting straight and his guard rising. Hermione shifted to a polite and proper position, smoothing her features into a look of smug elegance. Harry let out a, “Yeah, come on in.”
The door opened and- Severus walked in. The wizard shut the door behind him, and the three instantly relaxed. Hermione had lost her put-together look, settling into an exhaustion far older than herself. She tucked up her legs again, making herself small and quiet as she read. Ron went back to his day dreaming, allowing someone else to finally watch over them all.
Harry began to sniffle again, rubbing his eyes. “My broom… it was mine , Severus. It was my first gift ever, and it was mine. And it’s gone now, it’s gone Severus!”
“I know Harry.” Severus sat on the edge of the bed and took the slivers of wood out of his lap and set them on the nearby table. He took Harry’s glasses off him and handed them to Hermione, who slipped them on the top of her head. “I know.”
“Why? Why does it have to be me?”
“A lot of reasons. Most of which have to do with the fact that you are quite possibly one of the three only people strong enough to handle it,” Severus murmured, running long fingers through fluffy black hair.
“I don’t want to be strong anymore! I’m tired! I don’t want to have to be strong, I don’t want Voldemort,” he ignored Ron’s minor flinch, “Or Black to be after me, I don’t want to live at the Dursleys’!” Harry burst out through his quiet tears.
“Black?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were fighting,” Harry sniffled, “And I heard them saying that Sirius Black is after me. Everyone else seems to think the same thing, so…”
Severus scowled deeply. “Black used to be one of your father’s best friends. As far as I’m aware, he was the secret keeper of your parents’ house.”
“Secret keeper?”
“The Fidalius charm. Hermione?”
“It’s a charm,” Hermione began, “That completely and utterly hides a location. One person is known as ‘secret keeper’ and is the only person capable of divulging the name of the place under the charm. That means…”
“Black sold my parents out to Voldemort?”
“Turn out your pockets, Harry.”
Harry pouted and huffed, pulling the Marauders' Map from his robes. “It’s harmless, Severus! It’s just a map of Hogwarts!”
Severus stilled as he heard the words, reading the text on the front of the paper. “Harry. This,” he gestured to the map, and took it from his hands carefully, “Was created by your father.”
“What..?”
Severus sighed and started to walk to his office, flipping the map to face Harry. “Your father and his friends each had little nicknames for each other. Prongs was James. Padfoot was Sirius Black. Wormtail was the little lump of lard called Peter Pettigrew that followed him around. Black killed him.”
“I know! But- Severus, I saw Pettigrew’s name!”
There was a loud thud in the hallway next to Severus’s office door. Severus and Harry turned at once to see Professor Lupin standing shocked still. “You saw… Peter? On the map?”
Harry nodded once, immediately falling into his guarded persona. “Yeah, but there wasn’t anyone there. Plus he’s dead, so the map must have lied.”
Professor Lupin paled significantly. “Oh my… Oh Sirius, oh no…” He buried his face in his hands. “The map doesn’t lie. We made sure of it. He’s alive… Peter Pettigrew wasn’t killed by Sirius Black!”
Sirius was proven innocent. The man held Harry tight in his arms, thanking him. Pettigrew would be going to a small cell in Azkaban, the bars too thin for him to slip through as a rat. Ron was devastated, but he knew how to hide it. He and Hermione completely made up, with loud sobs on Hermione’s end. Ron held her close and apologized at the same rate as her.
Severus had partitioned for a full pardon for Buckbeak as soon as he saw the pain the trio felt at the thought of Hagrid’s sorrow. They won the case, thanks to his help and Hermione’s research. Hagrid was drunk a lot on weekends. Severus was essentially forced to hang out with the kids and Hagrid.
Ron talked animatedly to Remus about being a werewolf and all the treatments that worked on the ailment. He and Hermione soaked up all the knowledge they could about wolfsbane potions and other such things. Ron spoke passionately about his new goal of being a healer, with Severus’s guidance. He boasted about his skills for the first time since Harry knew him. It was rather nice to see.
Of course, all three children kept their guard partially up. They were with adults who they could not be sure were fully trustworthy. It was better when Severus was nearby. Ron felt more sure that they were protected enough for him to relax a bit.
“You know, Harry,” Sirius brought up, “Since I’m free, maybe… I mean, since I’m your godfather, you could… If you wanted to…”
“Sirius, are you… asking me to live with you?”
“Well, you’re right, you have your own family, those Muggles, right? Makes sense that you wouldn’t want to-”
“Are you kidding? When can I move in?” Harry grinned. Sirius matched him instantly.
There was a soft clearing of a throat, and the pair turned. Dumbledore was standing right in front of the door. He smiled, eyes twinkling like he knew a joke nobody else did. Severus stiffened. Ron caught the motion, looking confused. But he raised his guard further. Hermione noticed that, and slipped into her mature act.
Dumbledore spoke. “Unfortunately, Harry, I must insist that you return to Privet Drive. Sirius does not currently have a residence that is… suitable for common life.”
Harry deflated instantly. Nobody noticed how his world shattered by one sentence, one that damned him to suffering he just couldn’t, or maybe wouldn’t, put into words. “But where will Sirius stay this summer?”
Remus perked up. “Sirius, if you’d like, you can stay with me. Unfortunately I don’t have enough room for Harry…”
Sirius grinned wide. “That’s a great idea! We can clean up my old house over the summer, and Harry can move in next year!”
Dumbledore chuckled. “Perhaps. But at least for now, Harry will have to return to-”
“He will not.”
Harry looked at Severus quickly, Hermione gasping out, “Severus!”
Ron watched warily as Dumbledore turned to him in surprise. Severus was standing upright, tall and determined. He met the older wizard’s eyes evenly. “What was that, Severus?”
“I beg your pardon, Headmaster, but Potter will not be going back to his aunt and uncle. Not this year, not any year.”
“I’m afraid, Severus,” Dumbledore started, voice lowering minutely, but even that slight change in tone snapped Harry, Ron and Hermione on guard. The wizard continued, unaware of the children’s rapt attention, “That whether or not Harry returns home is not your call.”
Severus narrowed his eyes. Remus and Sirius were tuned into the conversation with confusion and uncertainty. Dumbledore straightened his shoulders, fixing his posture just the littlest bit. Ron slunk closer to Harry, Hermione following his lead. They got close together, and Severus’s eyes hardened.
“He will not go back there,” Severus snapped, “I don’t trust them. Lily specifically stated that her son was never to be under her care, no matter what.”
“Lily said that?” Sirius asked cautiously, “Why?”
“It’s nothing, Sirius,” Harry muttered. Severus huffed.
“I refuse to do anything that Lily said not to. He will not go to that house, and I have a full right to say that,” Severus challenged.
Dumbledore’s eye twitched in warning, his smile never faltering. “It is for Harry’s own good that he stays with Petunia. I trust you understand, they are family after all. Don’t you think Harry should live with his family?”
“They should not be called that. They have given me no proof that they deserve the right to be related to this boy, and I will not tolerate it being referred to again unless I am proven utterly incorrect. Until you can provide me with evidence that they will treat him correctly, I will not allow him to be taken back there.”
“Severus…” Harry choked out, but he quickly stuffed down his emotions. It wasn’t safe. Ron was tense and he was on guard. He couldn’t be weak here.
“Enough, Severus!” Dumbledore’s harsh voice cut through the air, nearly startling a flinch to break out of Hermione’s perfect mask. Ron glowered, but held his tongue. Sirius looked panicked for a second, mind most likely flashing to his years in Azkaban.
“Harry will return to his home, and that is final! I do not know why you are arguing, but this is for Harry’s own good! You have nothing to say that I am not aware of! I calculated everything, and I know that Harry will be safer there.”
Severus stilled. He turned to Harry and looked in his eyes. “Harry,” he started, and Dumbledore looked surprised at the use of his first name, “Does Professor Dumbledore know?”
Harry shifted uncomfortably, all the eyes of the adult wizards trained on him. Ron and Hermione drew nearer, closing around him protectively. Sirius tilts his head in worry, slowly starting to speak, “Does he know what? Harry?”
“Er…” Harry murmured quietly, “No, Professor Dumbledore doesn’t know. As far as I’m aware, at least. He knows I don’t like it there though. Um… I don’t… I don’t want to…”
His voice trailed off at the end, but Ron continued for him. “He doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it. It’s nothing serious.”
Hermione pursed her lips in clear disapproval, but ended up reluctantly nodding her agreement. Severus seemed to soften at their actions. He kneeled, eyes open and serious. The children knew that whatever he said next would be important.
“Harry. If you don’t want to go back there, you can come with me. I was, technically, the second in line to take you in. Lily’s idea. Professor Dumbledore assured me, after her death, that you had another home and that you were safe.”
Harry’s eyes widened in shock. “I could… I could stay with you? I wouldn’t have to go back? Really, Severus?”
Severus nodded. “Legally, you should be my charge, and you should have been your whole life. If it’s what you want, nobody could make you go back to the Dursleys.”
“Severus… Severus, I wanna stay with you!”
Apparently, compulsions were a thing. Harry sat in Gringotts and stared at the parchment in front of him, detailing the blocks on his magic he didn’t know he had. Detailing all the things he was left that he didn’t know about because nobody had ever told him.
Harry James Potter, age thirteen. Wandless magic, fifty percent blocked. Wordless magic, seventy five percent blocked. Blood magic, fully blocked. Magic sense, ninety percent blocked. Parseltongue, fully blocked, compulsion broken. Loyalty to Albus Dumbledore. Loyalty to the Weasley family. Shame towards his home life. Distrust to Slytherin.
Heir to Potter. Heir to Black by blood adoption. Heir to Prince by blood adoption. Heir to Gryffindor. Heir to Slytherin by right of conquest. Heir to Perevell.
Vault of James F. Potter and Lily J. Potter nee Evans.
Vault of Lily J. Evans, blood ward accessibility.
Potter Vault, locked.
Potter Artifact Vault, locked.
Black Vault, locked.
Black Artifact Vault, locked.
Vault of Sirius O. Black, locked.
Vault of Sirius O. Black, formerly belonging to Regulus A. Black, locked.
Prince Vault, locked.
Gryffindor Vault, locked.
Gryffindor Artifact Vault, locked.
Slytherin Vault, parseltongue accessibility.
Slytherin Artifact Vault, parseltongue accessibility.
Perevel Vault, locked.
Harry stared at the sheer amount of money he had. He honestly didn’t know what to do with it all. “Um… please remove these compulsions.” He hesitated. “And add two people to my Gryffindor and Slytherin vaults. Hermione Jean Granger and Ronald Billius Weasley.”