As soon as he saw Padfoot, Harry's heart skipped a beat. He laughed, dropping to his knees with his arms wide open, but by the time the dog took his last huge leap towards Harry he was transformed back into a man, wrapping the boy in a crushing hug. "Hello, pup," he greeted huskily.
"Sirius." Harry clung to the man like he might disappear, burying his face in the man's robe.
"I may vomit," Snape drawled, and Harry heard a familiar chuckle.
"Behave, Severus."
Harry's head snapped up, his grin getting, if possible, even wider. "Professor Lupin!"
The werewolf smiled back at him, standing shoulder to shoulder with Snape. "I'm not your professor anymore, remember?" he pointed out lightly. "I think it's about time you called me Remus."
Harry tore himself away from his godfather, getting to his feet in order to hug his ex-professor too. "Remus," he echoed. Remus' cheek pressed against his hair for a brief moment.
"It's good to see you, cub."
Sirius stood up, slinging one arm each around Harry and Remus. He'd showered and shaved since Harry had last seen him, and already he looked like a much younger man. He looked happy.
"What is this place?" Harry asked again, looking back to the manor in front of him.
"This is Seren Du House," Sirius announced, a strange accent on the words; Welsh, maybe, or Gaelic. "It's been in the Black family for centuries."
"But this one wasn't in the portfolio the goblins sent me," Harry said with a frown. Sirius' grin widened.
"This is one of two Black properties the goblins don't know about. Our family does love its secrets, after all." Harry's heart fluttered at the easy way he said 'our family', including Harry without batting an eyelash. "It's completely Unplottable; that means no one can find it on a map, or with any tracking spells. You have to know where to look. And, as that's in the middle of nowhere in North Wales, and there's only about six people alive who have ever been here before, I'd say you're pretty safe."
"Wow." Harry wished he could think of something more eloquent to say, but words had failed him.
"Are you quite done gaping?" Snape cut in, though his words weren't quite as harsh as they might have been a year ago. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Let him stare, Snape. He's had a shock." He glanced down to Harry, his expression growing softer, more tentative. "You said, before I had to run again, that you'd like to live with me. If you could. Well… here you are. A new home, if you'd like it."
"It's brilliant," Harry assured, beaming.
Sirius rocked up on his toes, releasing him and Remus and bounding back towards the house. "Come on, I'll show you inside!"
"It's like having another child," Snape muttered. Harry's eyes widened when Remus elbowed the man gently in the side.
"Leave him be, he's just excited. He hasn't had much to be happy about in the last twelve years," he chided.
Harry followed his godfather up to the manor doors, and into a grand entrance hall. There was a huge dark wood staircase in front of him, the walls painted dark blue and the floors a gleaming white marble. The only portraits hanging were landscapes; no people whatsoever. "We'll give you the grand tour tomorrow," Sirius promised. "But Ceri almost has dinner ready."
With Sirius' guiding hand on his shoulder, Harry was led into a large kitchen and dining area, with a long wooden table set for four places. At the stove, perched on a stool, was a house elf. The elf wore a little black pinafore dress with a crest on the front that Harry recognised as the Black family crest. She — presumably a girl, going by the dress — turned when they entered, and her face lit up. "Master Harry, sir!" she greeted, bowing so low her nose touched the stool. "Master Sirius be saying he was bringing his godson soon! I is Ceri, young master; the elf of Seren Du. It is being an honour to have you here!"
"It's, uh, nice to meet you too, Ceri," Harry replied. His only previous experience of house elves was Dobby, and that had been… a little volatile.
"Such manners, young master!" Ceri muttered approvingly. "Please be sittings for dinner, sirs."
The four of them sat at the table, and Ceri soon had enormous plates of roast dinner in front of them; beef with all the trimmings, even Yorkshire puddings. Harry, who had barely eaten more than a few slices of bread and some cheese since he'd left Hogwarts, felt his mouth start to water. "This looks amazing, Ceri."
"Thank you, young master! If yous be needing anything else, just call for Ceri." With that she disappeared, leaving the four of them to their meal.
"Pass the gravy, would you, Snape?" Sirius asked politely, reaching out for the porcelain gravy boat. Snape did as asked, and Harry goggled. Last he'd known, Sirius and Snape hated each other. Snape had reluctantly agreed to hear him out the night of Pettigrew's escape, but there was definitely no love lost between the pair. What had changed?
Harry's eyes turned to Remus, who was sat beside Snape, happily stealing the man's parsnips in exchange for his own carrots. He'd bet his Firebolt the werewolf had something to do with it.
"So you've been here since you escaped, have you?" Harry asked, once he'd sated his immediate hunger. He had to eat slowly, or he'd make himself sick. "Where's Buckbeak?"
"In the stables, out back. Loves it out here, he does; free run of the woods, as long as he's home by nightfall," Sirius said, looking pleased. Harry was glad; Buckbeak deserved some freedom, after being cooped up in Hagrid's hut for so long. "I stopped off long enough to find that owl and get a letter to you, then took a quick jaunt down to Norfolk to let some muggles see me, before heading this way. I hadn't been here since I was about thirteen, but I found it in the end."
"This place is incredible," Harry muttered, looking around. It was old-fashioned, but very clean, and surprisingly well decorated for a house that apparently hadn't seen people in two decades.
"Ceri kept it in good nick, waiting for the day the family would come use it again," Sirius agreed. "Just wait 'til you see the rest of it. I loved it as a kid — it's for family only, not visitors, so it's not nearly as stuffy and pretentious as the rest of the Black properties. Closest thing to home I had, except Hogwarts." He smiled, as if thinking of fond memories. "Anyway, as soon as Remus left the school he wrote me to see where I was, and I went and picked him up outside of Aberystwyth. He brought Snape with him a week or so later when the term ended."
"Wait, you live here too?" Harry blurted, turning to Snape. The dark-haired man nodded.
"Not permanently. I have a role to play back at Hogwarts, and the headmaster expects certain things of me. But I plan to spend much of my summer here." For some reason, that made Remus grin into his roast potatoes, and Sirius roll his eyes.
"Lucky me," he muttered under his breath, then cursed. Harry got the feeling Remus had just kicked him under the table. "Anyway," he continued, turning back to Harry, "when Remus told me you'd been living with Lily's harpy of a sister, we knew we couldn't let that slide. So I had Ceri clear a room for you, and Snape was kind enough to play chaperone. Was it everything you dreamed of?" That was directed at the Potions Master, who smirked, eyes flashing.
"Seeing Petunia again was quite satisfying, thank you."
"She looked like she'd seen a ghost," Harry said, laughing. "How do you know her, Professor?" If Sirius was making an effort to be nice to Snape, then he supposed he could as well. The man had just rescued him, after all.
"I grew up in the same town as your mother's family; Cokeworth, not far from Wolverhampton. Lily and I met when we were seven, and Petunia was… not pleased with our association. Especially not once Lily got her Hogwarts letter and I was allowed to tell her the truth about magic," Snape explained.
"You knew my mum when she was little? What was she like?"
"That is a story for another time, Potter," Snape said, his tone surprisingly gentle. "One that I would be willing to share with you. Not tonight, however."
"You're safe from Dumbledore here, cub. He'll never even know you're gone," Remus promised.
"And you wanna know the best part?" Sirius was practically bouncing in his seat as he spoke. "The place is Unplottable, and the woods are full of old, wild magic — you can do as much magic as you like here and the Ministry won't know a thing."
Harry's eyes were round and gleaming at the prospect of being able to do as much magic as he wanted all summer. "Brilliant."
When their plates started growing empty, there was a small pop, and the centre of the table suddenly held a delicious-looking tower of profiteroles. "Your house elf is going to give me diabetes, Black," Snape muttered, though he served himself a decent-sized bowl of the dessert. Sirius barked out a laugh.
"She'll calm down eventually, she's just happy to have people to cook for again. Besides, according to her we could all do with a bit more meat on our bones. I can't say she's wrong, to be honest."
Harry looked around the table; all four of them were indeed painfully skinny, Sirius and Harry more than the other two. "It's like being at Hogwarts, but better," Harry remarked, swallowing a mouthful of profiterole.
There wasn't much talking while the four ate their dessert, and when the table was clear Remus cleared his throat. "I thought we might head to the living room and talk for a while. There's still so much Sirius and I don't know about your life, Harry, and I thought it might be good for Sirius and Severus to learn about what happened to you last summer." The two men in question gave him a concerned look, and Harry grimaced. Yes, he had a lot of explaining to do.
The living room turned out to be upstairs, and Ceri already had a fire going to ward off the evening chill. It held two comfortable-looking sofas and a pair of squashy armchairs, and Harry chose one of the sofas, surprised when Sirius sat next to him. Remus and Snape took the other sofa.
Ceri popped into the room. "Can Ceri be getting sirs anything to drink?"
"Just tea if you wouldn't mind, Ceri," Remus requested. The house elf nodded, her large ears flopping, and she returned moments later with a tea tray set for four, a small pile of biscuits in the centre.
"How does Master Harry like his tea?" She was already making up three other cups, and Harry blinked.
"Uh, bit of milk, one sugar, thanks." Ceri floated a teacup in his direction, then bowed and disappeared.
"What happened last summer, pup?" Sirius asked, dark brows knitted together in worry. Harry took a deep breath.
"Well, I suppose I should give you a bit of backstory, first. You know I live — lived — with the Dursleys. Well, Uncle Vernon has this sister…" Harry gave them a brief run-down of the joys of Aunt Marge, and a summary of what she'd said about his parents; something that had Sirius growling like his canine counterpart, and even Remus baring his teeth. "So I ended up living in Diagon Alley for the last couple weeks of summer. And at one point, I went to Gringotts to get money from my vault, only I didn't have my key, so the goblins scanned my magic. And…" Here he swallowed thickly. Sirius' hand rested on his knee, squeezing in support. Slowly, Harry revealed what the goblins had discovered — all of it. He told them all four houses he was inheriting, and their suspicions about who cast the magic, and the consequences Gorrak had heavily implied would come of him turning seventeen with the block still active.
By the end of his tale, Sirius was pacing the length of the living room in white-knuckled fury. "That manipulative, lying, no-good, scheming," he muttered under his breath. Some of the knickknacks on the shelves began to rattle.
"Sirius, control yourself," Remus called in a firm voice. "I'm as angry as you are, but blowing up the crockery won't help anything." Sirius seemed to realise his magic was getting away from him, and his shoulders slumped, a long breath escaping him.
"I knew Dumbledore was ruthless in the face of the Greater Good, but I didn't realise he would go to such lengths on a child," Snape murmured. "Mr Potter, might you permit me to do a scan of my own? I have no doubt the goblins were entirely thorough, but there are certain spells their particular brand of magic will not catch."
Harry went wide-eyed in horror at the thought of having more of Dumbledore's magic on him. "Please," he agreed, nodding frantically. Snape stood, waving his wand and murmuring something under his breath. Harry's chest glowed blue for a second, then red, then black. "What does that mean?"
"A Tracking spell. A passive one — he can only find you if he checks the spell, rather than knowing exactly where you are at all times. Also a minor Suggestibility charm, and a Truth-Telling charm. The combination would encourage you to spill secrets to the headmaster you might have preferred to keep to yourself. Not in a way you'd notice, but rather to make you feel like you can trust him. Though they're weak enough that I'd imagine you've been able to ignore them since you learned the truth." Snape looked disgusted all the same, and Harry mirrored his expression. "Can you remove them?" He especially didn't like the idea of Dumbledore being able to check his location at any time.
"Of course." Snape did some complicated-looking wandwork, and when he scanned Harry again, his chest glowed white. "You're clear. I do wonder, though…" He turned his wand on Remus, raising an eyebrow. After a nod of consent, he performed the same spell he had on Harry. Remus glowed black, then purple. Snape swore loudly. "The same Tracking spell, and an incredibly rare spell designed to target dual-natured creatures. I haven't seen it in years; The Dark Lord used to use it on the werewolves who had displeased them, to cut them off from their wolf halves; it would drive them insane, eventually."
"Moony," Remus breathed, looking heartbroken. "Severus, do— do you know how long that spell has been present?"
"By the looks of it, since you were a child. Perhaps since Hogwarts, maybe even before then."
Remus' expression was devastated. "I always wondered why it felt like my wolf and my human mind were always fighting each other," he said softly. "I thought that was just how it was to be a werewolf. That it was normal to be scratching myself to pieces every moon."
"That one will take work to remove," Snape said. "But I can do it, if you give me time." He met Remus' gaze, and Harry looked away suddenly, his cheeks heating. It felt like he was watching something he shouldn't.
Eventually, Remus cleared his throat. "Well," he said, a little flustered. "That was… unexpected."
"Dumbledore must be stopped," Sirius growled, dropping back onto the sofa next to Harry. A quick wave of Snape's wand showed the dog animagus glowing black; also a victim of the passive Tracking spell.
"We're all in agreement there," Snape said, scowling at the results. "But until we know exactly what his plan is, we must stay quiet and play his game."
"I won't let his game stop me from raising my godson as my heir," Sirius retorted. "Harry needs to know his place in the world."
"Neville's been helping me," Harry piped up tentatively. "And— others." He wasn't quite ready to tell the truth about Draco Malfoy just yet. "Most of the heirs at school don't like Dumbledore either. Neville got me learning Occlumency, so I can keep my secrets better."
"Longbottom, really?" Snape was skeptical. "I'll test your shields tomorrow, see how far you've come. It is vital that you're able to keep all this hidden once you return to school, amongst anyone who might be in Dumbledore's pocket — yes, that includes your precious Weasleys, and the Granger girl. Trust no one until proven otherwise. Until we know what we're dealing with, you must be Dumbledore's Golden Boy."
His stomach squirmed uncomfortably. He didn't know how many of the Weasleys would take his side, or how many were loyal to Dumbledore. He already had a strong feeling that if he pushed Ron much further, it would make him snap.
"This summer should be enough to get you prepared," Remus told him. "Between the three of us, we should be able to give you a fairly good crash course in everything you'll need to know. Secrecy, defence, wizarding society; I know studying during the summer isn't the most fun, but Harry—"
"I want to learn," Harry cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Please, I want to learn everything I can." He'd be bored stiff if he couldn't do anything, and learning magic was great when it wasn't accompanied by three-foot-long essays.
"We'll discuss that more in the morning," Sirius suggested. "Figure out what you need to know, where you're at with everything. It's getting late."
The clock on the mantle said it was past eleven, and Harry suddenly realised how tired he was. It had been a hell of a day. He couldn't stifle the jaw-cracking yawn that escaped him. "Definitely bedtime," Sirius said with a grin, ruffling Harry's hair. "Come on, I'll show you your room. Where's your things?"
Snape held out Harry's shrunken trunk and owl cage, and Sirius resized them with a wave of his wand. They bobbed along behind the four as Sirius showed him up to the third floor of the house. "This is your room," he said, tapping on a door to his left. "I'm in that one at the end of the hall, and Moony's three doors down and to your right. Grab either of us, or Ceri, if you need anything."
"Where does Professor Snape sleep?" Harry asked curiously.
Sirius about doubled over laughing, and Remus' face turned a shocking shade of pink. Snape's pale cheeks went faintly red, and he coughed.
"Severus, ah— Severus is in with me, Harry," Remus volunteered, looking like he'd quite happily sink through the floor.
For a minute, Harry furrowed his brow — in a house that big, surely there were plenty of bedrooms? Then it dawned on him. A dim memory flickered through his brain, from back in the Shrieking Shack; We didn't trust Moony 'cause of his boyfriend. Sorry, Moons.
"Oh. Oh!" Harry felt his own cheeks heat up. "That— that's okay, in the wizarding world, then?" He'd heard more than a few rants from Uncle Vernon about those people, and heard all sorts of things about it on the telly. Then again, Vernon thought he was a freak too, yet he was perfectly normal in the wizarding world.
"People don't care about gender, much," Remus confirmed. Harry noticed now how close he was standing to Snape, their shoulders brushing ever so slightly. "Blood purity is more their issue. Society will care more that I'm a werewolf than that we're both men." He paused, glancing at the floor. "Is it… okay with you?"
"Well," Harry said, after a beat of silence. "I figured anything that Uncle Vernon says is bad has to be alright, yeah? As long as you're happy." He was more stuck on the fact of it being Snape than the two of them being men, but he didn't think that would go down well.
Remus perked up like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and Sirius let out an impatient whine. "Yes, we're here, we're queer, hallelujah — can I show Harry his room now, please?"
A laugh bubbled from Remus' lips. "Alright, Padfoot. I think we're going to go back to the living room. Goodnight, Harry."
"Goodnight, Remus. Professor," he added, and Snape nodded at him in reply. When the pair left, they didn't hold hands or anything, but their strides matched and their elbows touched. It seemed obvious, now Harry knew.
"Now, if you don't like it, we can change just about anything," Sirius told him, sounding nervous as he pushed the door open. Harry's breath caught in his throat. His room was three times the size of his old one back at the Dursleys', with honey-coloured wood flooring and a fluffy looking grey rug in the centre. The walls were painted a soft grey-blue, with one wall taken up entirely by bookshelves waiting to be filled. He had his own fireplace, and a desk with a black leather chair. The wardrobe and dresser matched the enormous four-poster bed, all beautiful dark wood, detailed with some kind of intricate bird carving. Directly opposite the door was a huge window, overlooking the back garden and the woods beyond. "It's perfect."
"You like it?" Sirius brightened. "Really?"
"Sirius, I love it." Harry walked over to the bed, running a hand over the soft grey duvet cover. He'd been half expecting some Gryffindor explosion of red and gold; this was much more his style.
"Good." Sirius stood in the doorway, clearly unsure what to do with himself now. "I'll, uh, leave you to it, then. Nearest bathroom is directly opposite, by the way. You'll be the only one using it." He crossed the distance between them in three long strides, wrapping wiry arms around Harry. "It's really good to have you here, pup."
"It's good to be here," Sirius," Harry returned with a smile. He was so happy he could cast an army of Patroni, he was sure.
It was going to be the best summer ever.
.-.-.-.
Remus looked up when Sirius slipped back into the living room, sinking down onto the sofa. "Harry likes his room?"
"Yeah," Sirius replied, grinning. "Thanks for helping me with it, Moons."
"My pleasure."
The three of them went silent, until Sirius let out a sigh. "How could I have spent so long sitting in Azkaban while Harry was out here left to Dumbledore's manipulative little claws? I should've been there to protect him."
"You can't beat yourself up over it, Sirius, you had no idea. Believe me, I've been doing plenty of that since I found out."
"At least the truth has been discovered before it's too late," Severus added. "Potter has plenty of time for his magical core to balance out before he inherits the rest of his family magics."
"True. We'll get him ready for the future, whatever it holds." Sirius' grey eyes gleamed with determination.
Remus thought back to what Harry had said before he'd left the castle, about Trelawney's prophecy. He'd shared that with his two companions, of course, but he could hardly believe it; Peter was going to be the one to help Voldemort back to power. It would happen, no doubt sooner than any of them would like. "Will we have enough time?" he asked plaintively, knowing the two men were thinking along the same lines.
Beside him, Severus tensed. "Now that we have the boy safely, and I have been… enlightened about Dumbledore's true regard for him, I fear there's something I need to tell you both." He looked up, meeting Remus' gaze. "Remus, do you remember when I told you I had turned to the side of the Light?"
Remus could remember it all too well. They'd had a hugely explosive fight about six months after graduation, when Severus had taken the Dark Mark. Remus had begged him to reconsider, to go to Dumbledore for help, but Severus had stood firm in his decision. It was the first time Remus thought he'd truly lost the man for good. They didn't speak again for almost a year, until one day Remus came home to find Severus on his doorstep, looking heartbroken and promising that he'd changed, that he'd agreed to turn spy for Dumbledore and rejoin the light. It had taken time for them to trust each other again — indeed, they'd been just starting to properly figure it out when Lily and James had been killed, and Remus had practically dropped off the face of the earth in mourning.
"I never told you why," Severus continued, his long fingers curling around Remus' own. "What event caused me to realise the truth of the decision I had made." He glanced over at Sirius, who was listening intently. "This is going to be… difficult for you to hear. I only ask that you allow me to say my piece before you hex me into oblivion." His lips quirked in a wry smile. Remus' heart clenched.
"One evening, I was spying on Dumbledore at the Dark Lord's orders; he was interviewing a new teaching candidate. For the Divination post. She seemed as batty as every other seer I'd met, so I didn't think much of it— until she began to make a genuine prophecy."
Remus listened in dawning horror as Severus recited the words. "I was discovered before I could hear the end, but I took what I knew to the Dark Lord. It took several weeks for him to parse the meaning, but eventually he decided he knew enough."
Born as the seventh month dies.
"Harry." Sirius' voice was a low growl, his hands clenched into fists on his lap. His wand was beside him, untouched.
"Potter," Severus confirmed. "Or the Longbottom boy. The Dark Lord decided there was a good chance it could be either, so he set his followers to find both families." The firelight flickered off of Severus' sharp cheekbones, making him look haggard, his eyes full of grief. "As soon as I realised the Dark Lord planned to kill a child — Lily's child — I went to Dumbledore and begged him for mercy, pleaded with him to protect Lily and her son. I offered my services as a spy for the light, to repent for what I had done. I hoped it would be enough. I was wrong." He gave a twisted sort of grimace, drawing his hands away from Remus' lap. "I am the reason Lily and James are dead. And that knowledge will haunt me for the rest of my days."
The silence that followed was painfully thick. Remus didn't know what to say, Severus' words echoing in his mind, the pieces falling together. Harry was prophesised to defeat Voldemort. Voldemort knew that, which was why he went after Lily and James. Severus was the one who had given him that information.
"I was the one who convinced Lily and James to use Peter as the Secret Keeper," Sirius said eventually. "I thought I'd be too obvious a choice. No one would suspect Peter. Not even us. Because of me, Voldemort got to them. He could've known about the prophecy for years and never been any the wiser if it had been me." He looked up at Severus with hollow eyes, eyes that spoke of twelve years of Azkaban. "You're as much to blame as I am, Snape."
"Both of you carry around far more guilt than one man should bear," Remus declared, staring into his teacup. "The past is the past, and we have all suffered from our mistakes. Some more than others. But what matters now is keeping Harry safe — from Voldemort and Dumbledore." If Harry was the one destined to destroy Voldemort, and Dumbledore knew the full prophecy, Harry would be in grave danger on both sides when Voldemort returned to power. "We have to train him. Not just with his family magic, or Occlumency," Sirius realised. "He needs to know how to survive a war."
"We can't tell him why," Remus insisted. "He's not even fourteen yet. That's far too large a burden to place on his shoulders, on top of everything else."
"I think Potter has a good idea that he's going to have to face something," Severus pointed out. "We don't need to tell him about the prophecy for him to know he needs to be prepared."
From how eager Harry had been to learn from them throughout the summer, Remus had to agree.
"Fuck," Sirius said abruptly, tugging at his hair. "Why did it have to be him? Hasn't he been through enough?"
There was no response to that. All three of them sat silently, lost in their thoughts, their minds on the boy sleeping peacefully one floor above them. Remus reached out to grip Severus' hand once more, needing the contact, the comfort.
It was a while before any of them went to bed that night.