Harry watched, reeling a bit, as Snape stalked out of the room and down the corridor, in the same direction he had escorted Draco in earlier. He bit his lip nervously, wondering if he should follow the man and apologize. He hadn’t meant to just blurt it out like that. And of course the man didn’t want to see Sirius and Remus: the three had never gotten along.

The sound of ‘whoshing’ interrupted his thoughts, and Harry turned back around to find a slightly bewildered looking Remus standing on the hearth. He only became more confused when he caught sight of Harry. Before he could voice the questions flitting trough his mind, Sirius, in dog form, toppled out of the fireplace, barreling into Remus and sending them both to the floor.

Harry giggled. Emotionally exhausted or not, that was funny. At the sound of childish merriment, Sirius bounded over and tackled Harry, covering the boy’s face with his doggie saliva.

“Eurgh! Sirius, gerroff!”

The dog gave the equivalent of a canine snigger and gave the boy some breathing room, before transforming into his human form and giving Harry a good once over with his eyes.

“Hey pup,” Sirius enunciated slowly, softly, his eyes strangely glittering. “How are you?”

“More importantly,” cut in the now standing Remus, “What are you doing in Snape’s rooms?”

Sirius looked around, surprised.”These are Snape’s rooms?” he asked incredulously. “Where’s all the black? And the scary potions ingredients? And the magically cured body parts?

Harry stared up at him wonderingly, then turned the same expression to Lupin, who was giving Sirius an odd look all his own.

Sirius, oblivious to the strange looks he was getting, continued to gaze around the room in wonder. Harry rolled his eyes at the man. Really, it wasn’t that shocking. So Snape’s rooms were done up in neutral shades of blue and beige, and all the wood was a really beautiful dark cherry, and there were huge artificial windows lining one entire wall and an artificial skylight opened up to the sky that they shouldn't have been able to see, and the place was slightly cluttered, in a well-lived-in kind of way, but was it really that surprising?

“Blimey.” Sirius was still gawking.

Harry guessed it was.

Remus walked over and settled on Harry’s other side, rapping Sirius on the head with a sharp “Pay attention!” as he passed. An arm snaked around his shoulders, and Harry felt himself tense. Not because he was afraid Remus would hurt him, but because he knew that while Sirius might be easily distracted, Remus would be sure to find out just why Harry, pubescent minor, was sitting comfortably in his professor’s rooms.

Why had he asked for this again?

True to form, Remus pressed him again. “Harry? Is there something you want to tell us?”

This time, Sirius began paying attention. “Yea, Harry. Why are you in the Greasy Git’s rooms?”

“He’s not greasy,” Harry protested weakly. “He’s really nice.”

Whether any of them thought he sounded a wee bit like a pouting toddler they made no mention of it. Instead he was graced with very pointed stares, and an eyebrow that said “Answer the question”, and Harry Potter sighed.

“He’s my guardian now.”

3…2…1…

“WHAT?”

Instinctively, Harry flinched, then angrily cursed himself for his weakness. They weren’t angry with him. Well, on second thought, and after a look at Sirius’ face, maybe they were, kinda. But was it really that bad? Really? He was safe now, shouldn’t they be happy?

The flinch and following quivering did not go unnoticed by Remus, but as Sirius was currently having a very wild tantrum in the center of Snape’s living rooms, he thought it prudent to calm the animagus down first, since he couldn’t very well get Harry to talk if he was terrified.

But Sirius wasn’t very easily calmed down.

Cursing softly under his breath, Remus pulled his wand, intent on binding and silencing his taller friend. He really didn’t want to, but when it came to Harry, it was impossible to deal with the man logically.

Before he could cast the first spell, however, he was interrupted by a sharp, “Comport yourself, Black!”, and turned to find Snape standing behind the couch he had just vacated, scowling fiercely.

While Sirius seemed to inflate himself and launched into an even louder, more violent round of cursing, Remus noticed a few things. For one thing, Harry had stopped his involuntary quivering almost immediately after Snape spoke. Secondly, Severus wasn’t snarling at them. Or really, at all. He was glaring at the seething animagus though, but other than that his expression was fairly neutral. The werewolf blinked. It boggled the mind.

Remus narrowed his eyes. Something was going on here, and he wanted to know what. And he wanted to know now.

With a flick of his wrist he had Sirius disarmed (the idiot hadn’t even gone for his wand) and silent, though that didn’t stop the man from making some very rude signs with his wildly gesticulating hands in anger.

Another lazy flick and he was bound to a chair, a very safe distance away from anyone he might want to harm, which at that moment included everyone besides Harry.

Satisfied that his friend’s position would have to do till they sorted this mess out, Remus turned his amber eyes onto the small teenager and possibly the most hated professor in the history of Hogwarts, and smiled.

“Well then, now that we have some peace and quiet, how about the two of you explain this situation, yes?”

Severus repressed the urge to shudder. When the wolf was just noticeable beneath the surface, Remus Lupin could be a very scary man.

Harry paled, and gazed at his older friend with wide eyes. He knew Remus and Sirius would be angry, but he hadn’t expected this. Remus was about to go feral. He gulped. How was he supposed to explain it? ‘My relatives beat me’ didn’t sound like a good way to start, since it would only enrage the werewolf further.

But, unfortunately, that was exactly what tumbled out of his mouth.

Remus’ eyes widened as he gripped his wand convulsively. “What?” he asked breathlessly. Severus, who had let out a string of expletives when the words had tumbled out of Harry’s mouth, sent the boy a glare and snapped, “Not another word till I say so, understood?” Harry could only nod warily and shrink further into his cushion. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth. How had he managed to make everyone in the room mad at him?

Severus watched as the boy withdrew into himself, and could have hexed himself for his stupidity. The child was teetering on the brink of emotional instability and here he goes yelling at him. I'm not cut out for this!  At this rate, if the boy wasn’t taken away now, he’d cause the child to have mental break. Soon!

Wearily, Snape closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Turning his attention to Lupin he spoke, in his trademark Snape whisper. “Mr. Potter has brought it to my attention that his previous guardians' treatment of his person left much to be desired.”

Harry snorted, and when Snape gave him a Look, he raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Much to be desired?” Harry asked. “Why don’t you be frank and say what you’re really thinking?”

Severus scowled at the boy. “Stay out of my head, brat.” Much to his horror, the boy grinned, and flopped back onto the couch. “Kay,” he said happily, “but Remus is waiting.”

The potions master’s scowl deepened. Why hadn’t he kept his mouth shut? His head throbbed. Hadn't the boy been upset just moments earlier? Rubbing his temples, he turned back to the werewolf, and, not giving anyone a chance to make a rebuttal, gave the two men a summary of Harry’s life so far.

Well, a detailed summary, anyway. He wasn’t known for sugarcoating anything, afterall.

~*~

At the end, he was faced with one highly uncomfortable teenager, a absolutely fuming werewolf (that he had had to bind and dose with a calming draught halfway through), and an apparently comatose animagus, and he wasn’t too happy about it. He had taken a vindictive pleasure in each one of Black and the werewolf’s flinches, though his stomach had knotted up uncomfortably when he noticed Black had tears running down his face.

There was no more to tell, except how he came to know all of this in the first place. He did so, just managing to explain about Harry’s reverse Legilimency, and it’s causes, when Sirius suddenly jumped up, crossing the sitting room in very few strides to pick up and cuddle Harry, who Severus had nearly forgotten was in the room, as quiet as the child had been.

Harry had sat numbly through the whole retelling, not even bothered by is guardian’s frankness. He couldn’t deny how very bad it had been, and neither could he begrudge the man for being so harsh. He got the feeling Sev was angry they hadn’t seen anything sooner, but then again, Harry had been very good at hiding.

And when Harry had asked for Sirius and Remus to come over, he had expected many things. Yelling, swearing, hexes and curses being thrown left and right (mostly from Sirius, he could admit) sure, but that wasn’t what he got.

What he got was a completely unexpected cuddle from Sirius, who had flew across the room and swept him up into his lap. Harry really didn’t mind the cuddle, especially when Sirius called him “My little pup” though he’d never admit it, but his fifteen year old dignity dictated that he protest.

“But Padfoot, I’m ok now, really,” he said, wiggling into a more comfortable position. “Sev’s got me now and he’s taking really good care of me, honest.”

Sirius pulled back to look into his godson’s face. “How can you be alright after everything you’ve been through? After everything those stinking Muggles did to you?”

“I dunno,” the boy shrugged, and Severus rolled his eyes. “It really wasn’t that bad, kinda. Really!” he insisted, under Black’s outraged, disbelieving expression. “they could only really hurt me when they hit me and didn’t feed me and stuff. I kinda stopped believing the things they said a few years ago. And every time they hit me or whatever I’d just remember it was almost over ‘cause I was gonna tell someone as soon as I got to Hogwarts,” he explained, twisting a bit of Sirius’ robes around his fingers. “It was only ever really, really bad when I couldn’t control my magic, or when I disobeyed or broke a rule….. ok, nevermind.”

Sirius let out something between a growl and a whimper, pulling Harry closer against his chest Harry, for is part, tried really, really hard not to smile, but it was hard. Sirius still wanted him! E had been afraid, in the tiny, seldom paid-attention-to part of is brain that his godfather would reject him because he wasn’t like his dad (because surely James wouldn’t let himself be beat up by some muggle). He felt a grin creep onto his face, and quickly hid it in his godfather’s chest.

Severus watched the sickly sweet scene through narrowed eyes, valiantly fighting the urge to sneer. ‘Sentimental Gryffindors, the lot of them.’ Sirius sat rocking slowly, Harry clutched tightly to his chest, his chin resting on the boy’s head. Harry was, of course, soaking up the comfort like a sponge, clutching the front of Black’s robes. Severus scowled. The boy had no decency! Hadn’t he clung to him like that mere minutes ago? That was the last time he comforted the brat, since he was so inclined to seek cuddles from hither and yon!

Remus shifted again in his peripheral vision, and Severus got the impression that the man was trying to calm himself. He was suddenly very uneasy. The full moon was only two nights away, and the beast lurked closer to the surface as the day drew near. If Remus became too angry…

“Lupin, I think it would be prudent for you to take your potion now, don’t you?” he asked silkily. Of course it wasn’t a question, or even a suggestion. His skin was already beginning to prickle. “If you will excuse me a moment, I’ll bring the usual dosage,” he continued, moving towards the hallway.

“Not just yet, Severus, but thank you,” Remus said tiredly. His voice had taken on a gravelly texture, his features lengthened just the slightest bit that only Sirius and Severus could only possibly notice. “But I’d like to know what caused the Dursely’s to fall back on their earlier treatment of my godson, if you don’t mind.”

Severus watched as Harry, who he had turned to watch, tensed, and wanted to hex the werewolf into the next week. “Potion first,” he snarled, turning away from them all.

“But Severus, I want – “

He whipped around to give the man his deadliest glare. “Potion. First.” He spun away in a flurry of robes before the wolf could protest further.

Barely a minute later, after taking a quick peek in at Draco, Severus returned to the sitting room, having been anxious about leaving Harry in the same room with an almost werewolf, even if Black was capable of handling it. When this statement fully registered itself to him, the Potions Master wanted to curse himself. ‘I must be losing my mind!’

Without a word, he handed the steaming goblet to Lupin and watched dispassionately as he drank it all with a grimace.

“Thank you, Severus,” Remus intoned softly, giving him a look that was both grateful yet strangely expectant at the same time.

Thoroughly disgusted with himself (and all of his guests for being there), Severus turned to his Harry, who was still hiding his face in Sirius’ robes.

“Harry,” he called gently, ignoring the surprised looks he was getting from two quarters. “Would you like to continue, or should I?”

At first, nothing happened. Severus was beginning to think the little brat was deliberately ignoring him. The clock ticked loudly in the corner. Snape frowned. ‘Why that little – ‘

“Harry  - "

But then there was movement. Harry extended one pale hand towards Remus, face still hidden from the world. He trembled slightly, a sight that caused a wave to go through Snape and a frown to conform his face while the werewolf took the proffered appendage, kneeling close to the pair and bringing the boy’s hand against his chest.

Fairly certain of what was going to happen and dreading it, Severus watched as Remus’ eyes glazed over, the faintest flicker of shadow images across those dark eyes affirming his fear. He fingered his wand restlessly, a strong stunner on the tip of his lips.

The boy had undoubtedly shown them a shorter sequence of events, as Sirius and Remus resurfaced nearly a minute later, ashen-faced and reeling in shock.

Severus frowned, not even in the mood to be particularly nasty. ‘None of them had better vomit on my couch’, he thought to himself as consolation. He was just about to remind them where they were when the love-fest began.

Literally.

Sirius pulled the boy closer to his chest while Remus leaned forward so that they both had Harry wrapped quite snuggly between them, and then the old troublemakers started to glow. First it was a soft, barely noticeable glow, but then they started rocking, and soon someone was crying and the three of the started to glow, Sirius a bright green and Remus a blazing blue and Harry some sort of mixture in between, and they got brighter and brighter till Severus had to shield his eyes, the light became almost painful in its intensity, and then it was gone.

Blinking furiously, Severus reached for his wand, not sure what he was going to cast, but feeling better with it ready all the same. The men were still wrapped around his ward, though Sirius and Remus were both looking at him.

Instantly he was on the defensive. “What?” he snarled.

“Nothing, nothing,” Remus said, disentangling himself from the mass of human, smiling slightly. “Nothing at all.”

Sirius gave him a wide grin and stood, Harry still in his arms. “I’ll go put this one to bed, yes?” Severus wanted to tell him no and demand that he put the boy down, but before he could Sirius was already past the sofa and turning down the corridor.

“Second door on the right, you imbecile,” he called irritably.

In the minute it took Sirius to disappear down the hall and hopefully into the right room, Remus gazed at the potions master with an undisguised amusement. Severus wanted to wipe the amiable smile off of his face with a slab of dragon spleen, if only he could waste the Galleons.

While his death glare was going head to head with Remus’ genial smile, there came a shout of surprise from the direction of the  bedroom,, and Severus was down the corridor in a flash.

He burst into the room, wand drawn, heart hammering and battle mask in place, to find Sirius standing, slack-jawed in the middle of Harry’s bedroom, gazing around him like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Which only served to irritate Severus further. “What is the problem, you idiot?” he snarled, advancing on the animagus menacingly. “What are you screaming for?”

Sirius snapped his mouth shut long enough to give the dour man a reproachful glare. “I didn’t scream” he snapped indignantly. “I made a….. manly noise.” His gaze slipped to rest on something behind him and his face lit up. “Moony! Do you see all this stuff?

Severus whirled around to gaze at the other man, who was gazing around the room in much the same manner as his friend before. Severus growled. “Close your mouth, man, before you catch something!”

Remus obliged, is eyes still roving over the room, taking in every stitch of fabric, trimming and accessory, and Severus was sorely tempted to hex him into a bug so his eyes would fit better. He ignored it in favor of checking on Harry.

The boy was sprawled across his bed, fully clothed and breathing deeply. And Severus felt is scowl deepen. Black you idiot!  He strode forward, flicking his wand and sending the covers folding towards the end of the bed. With quick, smooth movements (because Severus was a naturally smooth character, not because he was trying not to wake the boy) he undressed his charge and slipped him into pajamas. And because the boy would freeze to death down in the dungeons if he didn’t, he spilled a pair of socks from the nearby dresser onto twin feet, and tucked Harry firmly into bed. Of course, in his own mind Severus called it ‘keeping the brat from catching his death of cold’ and ‘preventing the boy from giving himself a head injury’, but Remus and Sirius, who had stopped their gawping at Harry’s newly furnished room and now stood transfixed by the sight before them, saw Snape’s actions for what they were.  

When Severus finally turned around after adjusting the angle of the boy’s head on his pillow (not, though it looked so, caressing said boy’s cheeks), the two friends were still staring. Then, after a minute of gaping and being glared at, both men exchanged a look, and turned to him with wide grins.

Severus was not pleased.