The lawyers arrived bright and early at Malfoy Manor. Narcissa's pair reviewed the paperwork Lucius' chief lawyer and his two aides gave them - with all Narcissa's signatures giving up rights to vaults, etc. They sputtered a bit, but knew they were hamstrung before they even started.

After some whining from both Narcissa and her lawyers Lucius agreed to give her a sizable amount of galleons, a house in France and a chalet she was fond of in Switzerland. In return she agreed to not contest the custody he had of Draco per their prenuptial agreement - and she would retrieve certain papers and artifacts that Cygnus and Abraxas had secured in the Black Vault.

Narcissa had looked puzzled at that and Lucius didn't dare press too hard. He tensed, hoping she did not become suspicious. He was determined to obtain that damnable cup that Severus was sure was a Horcrux. She finally agreed with a shrug - did she really have a choice? She would receive no property and be practically a pauper if she said no to any of it.

The papers were drawn up and the lawyers left ‘They would meet the next day at Gringotts for finalization'. Narcissa went off in a huff ‘to visit friends'. Draco, who was listening at a far door, was relieved that his father had total custody, but was still a bit disappointed that his mother didn't bother to say goodbye.

Lucius gathered Draco into a hug, and shook his head at his son in sympathy. "At least the torment will be at an end."

Draco nodded with a tight smile. "I found some games to introduce Harry to." He held up a wizardspace bag that Lucius was sure was packed full of only Merlin knew what.

Lucius chuckled briefly, and then spoke to his heir seriously, "I know I do not have to tell you how important first impressions are, Draco." The boy nodded, "Harry and his cousin are novices here in the wizarding world and you could quickly become a valued friend to them, with your knowledge - just remember that no one appreciates a know-it-all."

Draco nodded - he recalled how little he appreciated Pansy constantly correcting him at a star-gazing camp they attended together.

Lucius continued "Harry may be a half-blood, but you need to forget all your mother's prejudices against them. Some of the most powerful wizards in the world are half-bloods - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and for all his posturing- the Dark Lord was one, too." Lucius smiled, "And I don't need to tell you that there are few wizards stronger or smarter than your godfather. And further - Harry seems to be fond of his cousin so politeness is called for toward him, Dudley seems nice enough, though not as well-mannered."

"I'll remember, father." Draco promised. He was finally getting to meet an ally worth cultivating. He was tired of the dull witted Greg and Vincent, and the fawning Pansy. Blaise seemed alright, but Lucius was wary of his frequently widowed mother.

The Malfoys flooed to Dragonsrest, with Draco eagerly grinning. He found Harry and Dudley sitting in the window seat in Harry's upstairs room, leafing through the large book of Dragons and peering out the large bay window. They were sure they could see a Hebredian Black sunning itself on a distant rock. Draco dropped the bag near them and pulled out a pair of magical binoculars and aimed them where they were pointing.

"Yes, you are correct - it would be hard to tell from this distance without the binoculars." Draco handed the binoculars to Dudley and turned to Harry, and put out his hand a bit nervously. "I am Draco Malfoy. Pleased to meet you."

"Very pleased to meet you as well, I am Harry Potter." Harry was relieved that Draco seemed a friendly sort. Draco pulled two more binoculars from the bag, and soon all three were yelping with excitement. Draco told them that the Director of the Reserve had brought his elderly Chinese Fireball with him when he had taken the position, and he tended to stick close to the buildings to soak in the hot spring there. They all hoped to be the first to sight the scarlet colored Chinese dragon.

Severus and Lucius watched from the door for a few minutes, pleased that things had gone well, so far. They then retired to the sitting room to gloat about hoodwinking Narcissa.

"I'm sure she'll get the cup for us. I listed several things, and made it sound like just one more artifact that had belonged to Abraxas. She'll want the money and houses badly enough to release almost anything. She can't remove money from the Black Family Vault - but she can get objects out, luckily." Lucius gloated; having his blood-obsessed soon-to-be-ex wife retrieving one of Voldemort's Horcruxes was the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae of a day.

He and Severus toasted each other with their bottles of butterbeer; it was just too early for any serious drinking. They plotted companionably; they would need to accelerate their plans for a certain diary Lucius had in his possession. Albus might begin working harder on the Horcruxes, and they needed to be a step ahead.

"We need to break the binding on Dudley's magic" Severus interjected, "It will make it unnecessary to invite Albus here, or to have to meet him elsewhere - where we might be at a disadvantage. I think the two of us can break one of his spells, working together."

Lucius shuddered, "I still wouldn't want to be at the other end of his wand, if he's out for blood."

Lunch was served and they explained the plans to release Dudley's magic. Draco was horrified to hear of the binding. The idea was truly nightmarish to Draco. Having one's magic bound? There couldn't be anything worse.

"Yes", Dudley said with a hesitant smile. "It will be the best birthday present ever."

Damn, Severus thought, he had forgotten that Petunia had mentioned a birthday - Vernon's sister had been coming, and they had decided to leave before her arrival. "I apologize that your day was forgotten - due to circumstances." Severus looked at Dudley ruefully.

Dudley grinned a bit sheepishly, "I forgot about it, myself, until just now, and I don't think a big celebration would be...well..." He hesitated, uncertainly. He was sure that having a party while your mother might be dying and your father was dead was just not right.

"Yes", Severus answered, relieved at Dudley's apparent understanding. "There is no reason to not serve your favorites tonight at supper, with a special desert." Severus brightened with an idea. "I'm sure that an excursion to the Dragon Reserve's Center would be enjoyable for all three of you dragon-obsessed lads - I need to see the Director, anyway."

All three boys lit up at the suggestion. "Do you think we could see the Chinese Fireball, Severus?" Harry asked.

Severus' heart warmed a bit at Harry's ease at using his name. Lucius' eyebrows rose, but Severus just smirked at him.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Lucius' chief lawyer Angus Essex, along with his muggle-born aide stood in front of number 5 Privet Drive. Roger Eastlake was invaluable at times like these when a wizard with less experience of the muggle world could easily slip up. He had only had one episode where Obliviators had needed to be brought in. He shuddered, he never wanted to experience that again.

It had only been a few days since the shooting and there was still crime scene tape up, and an officer was poking around, presumably for clues.

Angus waved to the officer, who eyed him suspiciously as he approached. "I do apologized for the interruption, but my client wished to let you know that the boys - Dudley Dursley and Harry Potter arrived safely at his home. He didn't know they were coming, you see, or he would have informed you immediately."

The officer was quite excited to hear this, and the pair was hustled into a police vehicle, and taken to a nearby station. Angus provided proof of his being Petunia's Power of Attorney and copies of the guardianship to Dudley and Harry naming them as wards of Severus Snape.

"I realize all this is highly irregular, but Mrs. Dursley was in fear of her life - with good reason obviously." He watched the officers nod in agreement. "When she was shot she told the boys to go to Mr Snape, and they used the escape plan she had put in place. She had intended to give guardianship of Harry Potter all along, to keep him out of Vernon Dursley's hands. The guardianship of Dudley was merely a back up plan in case the worst happened, as indeed it did." The officers continued nodding in agreement. "I understand from the heal...um Doctors that Petunia Dursley is now expected to live, and once she is well, she will, of course resume custody of Dudley herself."

"Well, everything seems to be in order, here. I'm glad the lads are safe. They seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth." The detective said ruefully. Angus explained Harry's convoluted escape method. The officers roared with laughter, now that the boys were safe they could afford to be amused at being outsmarted. "I'll have to give that Turk lad credit for helping them out. He doesn't usually go out of his way for anyone."

Angus frowned uncomfortably. "The boys were quite concerned that they not get Turk in trouble, as he was doing them a good turn. At the time they were fleeing a drunken, gun - wielding Vernon Dursley."

The officers nodded easily, "No, we'll just let him know that they're safe, and that he's in no trouble."

The meeting was abruptly turned into a scene of chaos as Marge Dursley broke through the door. "Where is he, you kidnapper! Where is Dudders? What has that freak done with him? Dudders would never run off with him willingly." The astonished pair of wizards watched in fascinated horror as the officers tried to calm the clearly inebriated woman down. She finally sat with a huff. "I have friends you know! Judge Hartley and Judge Bennett will see that things are put right."

The officers squirmed uncomfortably. "Ms. Dursley - Petunia Dursley has given guardianship of Dudley to - Severus Snape, temporarily, until she is well, after being shot by your brother, Vernon."

"It wasn't his fault I tell you!!" Marge was immediately shouting. "He said Petunia was acting strangely - sticking up for that freak of a nephew of hers. Not feeding Dudley right - making him think he needed to lose weight. It was no wonder he went off the deep end!"

The detective frowned, it sounded as if the woman approved of how her brother had treated the Potter boy - calling him a freak like that - in front of officers, too! The officers looked at Angus a bit pleadingly.

"However Vernon Dursley came to be pointing a gun at two boys and his wife, the fact remains that he ended by shooting his wife. Now that Vernon is deceased, Petunia has the say in who will care for Dudley - she is, after all, his mother. Severus Snape has guardianship of both boys, and that is the end to it." Angus looked to the detective, who nodded in satisfaction of Angus' clarification of the situation to Marge.

Marge's eyes bugged at what Angus had said. Surely she couldn't be thwarted so easily by that wishy-washy Petunia? "You haven't heard the last of me!" She roared, and stomped off.

They all breathed a sigh of relief. Then the detective narrowed his eyes. "Harvey, Kevin - she was quite drunk - as we could all see - and hear, and I'll bet she doesn't have a driver. She clearly should not be driving. Perhaps you can see to that?" The two grinned, and ran off to see if there could be a bit of perfectly legal payback.

Angus and the detective smiled and nodded to each other in satisfaction.

"Would it be alright if some things for the boys were removed from the house?" Angus asked.

"Sure, we were only hanging about to see if the boys came back." The detective said. "I would lock it up fi I were you - thieves often prey on homes when they know the occupants are in hospital."

Angus nodded and they shook hands. Angus was quite pleased; the muggles had all been quite cooperative - except for that creature, Marge. And even the other muggles hadn't liked her.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Yuan Chang watched a group of five wander across the small field from the mostly empty housing outlying the Reserve Center. Many families had stopped living here, he hoped to change that. He sighed, the war had decimated the population more than many wished to admit. Deaths had thinned the numbers a bit, but also many muggleborns chose to not live in the magical world - further lowering numbers.

He shook his head and peered more closely at the group, and noticed Rigel Blackthorn run up to them. Surely this wasn't the group who had taken the house? That was a woman and two boys, if he remembered correctly.

The crowd was soon at his building, and he could hear the secretary greet them. He said "Bring them in." before she could say anything, when she opened the door. She huffed and shooed the six in.

Rigel spoke up a bit nervously. "Director Chang, may I present Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. These are Mr. Snapes wards, Dudley Dursley and Ha..Harry Potter, and Lucius' son Draco Malfoy."

Director Chang was a bit stunned at the list of names, but managed to maintain a coolly unaffected facade - he hoped. ‘The Boy Who Lived', his guardian - a renowned Potions Master, A very rich pair of Malfoys, and one unknown - although he was keeping quite elite company. Very well, he had faced more daunting groups, although he couldn't remember just when that was.

"Rigel, perhaps you could give the young gentleman a tour of the Center?" He smiled at the eager looks from the trio. "I expect they will want to see Yao - my Chinese Fireball?" They nodded with grins. "He's quite a ham - he'll enjoy the company." He waved the four off, and turned to Severus and Lucius and waited expectantly.

"I am the one who bought Dragonsrest a few days ago." Severus started. "I had intended it for Petunia Dursley and her son and nephew - her husband was increasingly abusive, and she needed help fleeing. Although Dudley has magic, and her nephew Harry Potter is most certainly a wizard - Petunia has no magic." Yuan nodded carefully, and Severus continued. "A few hours before they intended to escape Vernon Dursley came home and there was...a confrontation. Harry's aunt was shot by a gun, and came close to dying. Even now she is still gravely ill. Vernon Dursley died soon afterwards in a car smash - although I won't pretend he was any great loss."

Yuan was fairly sure that dismay was now on his face, but he managed to again nod at Potionsmaster Snape to continue the tale.

"She stayed conscious long enough to tell the boys to flee to my home by whatever means necessary - they had a plan, for back up although Harry had to make some decisions on the fly." Severus and Lucius smiled in fondness - the boy had some cunning. "Petunia gave me complete guardianship of Harry Potter, and temporary guardianship of Dudley - until she is well. This changes the plans I had made. I intend to live at Dragonsrest, now, with Harry and Dudley. I intend, of course to return to teaching at Hogwarts, if all goes well. Petunia will likely stay there, this last year until the boys start school. At some point Petunia may need to buy her own home."

"And what does Albus Dumbledore think of all this?" Yuan had not become director on his skill with dragons alone - his wits were well sharpened, as well.

Lucius looked over at Severus who had raised an eyebrow almost to his hairline. They smiled, again, they liked this man, already. He had seen straight to the heart of their problem.

"He has not challenged the guardianship, yet, and if he does we have information to deter him with. This is also why I chose the Dragon Reserve; you are under IFOW control, not the ministry. And Chairman Rustim Argonne is not a fan of Albus'. Rustim will hold the chair for another eight years - Harry will have his majority by then, if we have to hold Albus off by staying here...if you are agreeable to that." Severus was well aware of the possible fallout he was asking this man to bear, if the British Ministry of Magic came into play.

"We are not dependent on the British Ministry, but they could become a nuisance. However, we will shelter you if need be, and I have a great many friends on other reserves, most of whom are cousins. We can move you to one of them - far away, if things become too hot, here." Yuan smiled at the obvious relief on Severus' face, and the pleased smile on Lucius'.

They both bowed to the director, well aware of the valuable ally he had chosen to become. "We are deeply in your debt, Director Chang." Severus said simply and sincerely.

Yuan smiled back and stood. "Shall we see where your lads have run off to?"