Harry found it difficult to sleep, although he was exhausted. His well-tuned sense of self -preservation was alarmed at the thought of his guardian facing danger. Harry had already grown fond of his snarky guardian. He knew that Severus and Lucius must be powerful wizards. Aunt Petunia had said that Albus was supposed to be the greatest alive - and the two of them were outsmarting HIM, so they must know what they were doing. Still, he shrank from the very idea of losing Severus. Having someone who cared about him was something that his heart had latched onto, and the possibility of that being endangered was intolerable.

After what seemed like hours of looking at the same page of what had seemed to be an interesting book, Harry had turned out the lights. But then he just lay there, imaging horrible deaths that Severus and Lucius might be enduring. He finally crept to the window seat and watched patiently for the pair's return. He desperately wanted to go look for them, but knew it was foolish to think he could rescue trained wizards.

He was rewarded well after midnight by the sight of three figures walking across the meadow. Three? Lucius and Severus flanked a teenager who appeared to be in shock. Harry raced to his bed. Severus had sharp eyes, and could possibly have seen him in the window.

Severus was back home, and safe. He had been promised an explanation in the morning - well, it actually was almost morning. Harry fell asleep wondering about the teenager.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The young Tom Riddle had not taken the news that it was now 1990, not 1943 very well at all. The added information that ‘Lord Voldemort' was only alive as an unembodied spirit had been a further shock. Lucius and Severus had made it clear that Yvane was in his head for as long as it took to ‘teach Tom what he needed to know' - Tom would find out what that was, later.

Yvane had calmly bound Tom's magic to the dragons will, leaving the wizard infuriated. Yvane assured him he could use his magic as much as he pleased, unless Tom was intending to do something Yvane disapproved of. Severus and Lucius were delighted at this development - it was even better than a wizard oath, although they intended to try and pile that on him as well.

Tom had walked to Dragonsrest mostly in silence, realizing he was hamstrung for the present. It was unnerving to have Yvane in the back of his mind, interesting as it might be to converse with a dragon.

He watched as Lucius Malfoy flooed to his Manor. He had realized that the handsome blonde had to be the son of his old school-chum, Abraxas. Abraxas had been a couple years ahead of him, but they had kept in touch. He had intended him to be a close associate.

The Potionsmaster turned to him, and he tensed, unsure of what the pair had intended for him. They had said they wanted him as an ally, and the dragon was to ensure that even if he didn't comply with that - that he at least could do them no harm. He wished he was better versed at Legilimency, but if the Potionsmaster was good enough to use it on a dragon, he likely could hold Tom off with no difficulty.

Severus waved him up the stairs and gave him his choice of the remaining bedrooms. Tom took the one furthest from the others to the other man's amusement. He entered the room, and Severus stood in the door for a few moments.

"I know this is all sudden, and unwelcome. We intend to do our best to prove ourselves your friends. This is now your home, whether you believe it or not. We will talk more in the morning." Severus almost laughed at the glare Tom leveled him. The Dark Lord had perfected a chilling stare - this youngster had a ways to go before he mastered it.

Severus transfigured a handkerchief into a pair of pajamas for Tom, handed him a vial of dreamless sleep and then left him to settle in. The house was warded to alert him if any of his charges left, and to alert him if they were roaming after hours. Tom would have felt the wards, and did not need to be told that Severus would know if he was out of bounds. Not to mention that Yvane wouldn't allow it.

Severus settled into bed, chuckling, Yvane was becoming invaluable in this.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tom stared at the doorway for a long while, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The dragon finally chuckled.

"He isn't going to come back and hex you or beat you, Tom."

"You can't know that. He's up to something, and I'm just a pawn in it." Tom answered in a whisper. He wasn't sure how to answer in just thoughts - his thoughts were in such turmoil, he was sure he would be incoherent.

"Of course he's up to something - he and Lucius are Slytherins, they can't be conscious and not be plotting. And, yes, you are a component of their plan - however helping you is also a part of it." Yvane chuckled at Tom. "I know you can sense me - if you try, you can also sense that I cannot lie to you anymore than you can lie to me. You have but to extend you reach a bit."

Tom thought about that as he closed the bedroom door slowly and changed into the pajamas. He settled into the bed, deciding he may as well go along with whatever charade these wizards were playing. He tentatively reached out to the part of his consciousness that Yvane was centered in and pushed.

He gasped in awe, it was like entering another universe - this dragon had had such a broad experience of the world, and looking at things through his eyes was...so very different. Most of all he could somehow sense that dragons were simply unable to lie, and therefore could sense anything false.

Tom slowly pulled away, unable to endure the sheer vastness of Yvane's knowledge. But he now had a new goal; he was going to learn everything that Yvane knew. He had always hungered for knowledge. Before - it had been the dark arts to keep himself safe, now he sensed that Yvane knew so much more than that. Tom could feel Yvane's laughter, but he didn't care - he felt centered once more, with his promise to himself to learn all about the world of dragons, and their vast store of knowledge.

He didn't even need that potion to fall asleep.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Albus hummed happily to himself. Things seemed to be back on track with Harry Potter. With Vernon's demise, he would no longer have to be worried about abuse. It was unfortunate that Harry was aware of the wizarding world ahead of schedule. He had wanted Harry to be ‘rescued' by himself or one of his most faithful Order members - Hagrid or Minerva.

He sighed; he had hoped to keep Severus out of the mix. To keep up appearances for the Death Eaters he would have to pretend hatred for Harry Potter. That would be impossible as Harry's guardian.

Albus frowned. Severus was proving stubborn on this issue. There was no way Severus could keep Harry Potter as his ward - he was needed as a spy. Perhaps he should ease the boy and his cousin out from under Severus now, so it would be easier when Petunia was recovered enough to take up the reins of guardianship. Severus could sign the boy back over to her, and no one need know that Severus had ever been his guardian.

A visit for Harry and the cousin to the Weasleys would be easy to arrange, and then it could become an extended visit - and before Severus knew it, the school year would be upon them.

He chuckled again and went to firecall Molly.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Dobby hesitantly popped up to the bedrooms, picking up dirty clothing from each room. He reached the last room - someone new was there. He didn't recognize the wizard but on closer inspection, he realized there was a draconic presence as well. He popped back downstairs and left the dirty laundry, and whimpered to himself.

So far, when he had thought he was rescuing Harry Potter, he had been mistaken. Tinker had been irate and had, at great length, lectured Dobby on the virtues of the Potionsmaster. But Dobby knew that Severus bore the Dark Mark - as well as Lucius. He couldn't reconcile the two of them being good wizards, now, if they had ever been Death Eaters.

Now, there was a wizard that was somehow part dragon. He had no knowledge of dragons, but he just knew this couldn't be good. He crept up to Harry's room, again, gritting his teeth. Malfoy and Snape had told him to protect Harry Potter. This was the only thing allowing him to go forward with this. He could twist the order to mean protecting Harry from Snape and Malfoy themselves.

Harry was still dressing after his shower when Dobby peeked in. Harry looked at him warily.

"Is Master Harry Potter sir well?" Dobby asked nervously.

"Of course I'm well." Harry asked impatiently. "Why wouldn't I be?"

That was all the opening Dobby needed. "Well there is a new wizard here that is part dragon, which could only have been done with dark arts." Dobby said slyly. "But what can you expect from those that bear the Dark Mark?"

"Dark mark?" Harry asked, confused and becoming alarmed.

"It is the mark that the followers of the Dark Lord bear. Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape both have it." Dobby finished triumphantly.

"No!" Harry screamed at him in horror. Was he being tricked? He couldn't bear it if his new guardian was betraying him. He finally had someone that was his. "You're lying - take it back - you're lying!" The filthy little beast had to be lying.

Dobby had somehow not expected the young wizard to react this way - with such pain. He was horrified, and immediately started his own howling and beating his head on a wall.

Severus charged in to find Harry shaking the elf and howling, "Take it back."

"What's he done now?" Severus asked with a groan.

"He's lying about you." Harry yelled. That sharpened Severus' interest quickly. Dobby whimpered in terror at Severus' narrowed eyes and dissipated into mist.

Severus took Harry by the shoulders and sat him down. "What did he say Harry?"

"He said that you follow the Dark Lord - that you have a dark mark." Harry said in a rush.

Severus gritted his teeth. He had wanted to tell Harry about this in his own way. Now that traitorous elf had forced his hand. Harry looked at him in confusion when he did not immediately deny it. "Severus?"

Severus pulled up a chair in front of him. "Do you remember that I promised to explain certain things to you, today?" Harry nodded numbly. "This was one of the things I had to tell you. You recall that my father disliked magic, and he treated me much the same as Vernon did you?" Another nod. "This, as well as the bullying I received at school - even worse that what Petunia described in her letter as you having done to you at school. Well let's just say that I was an easy target for Voldemort when I was seventeen - all he had to do was promise protection and safety. Of course an outcast like myself also craved being a part of something important and to simply belong."

Severus sat back in the chair, his mind reluctantly going over the horrible days of realizing he had made a mistake, and not knowing quite how to fix it. "I knew it was all wrong very soon after I graduated from Hogwarts and had my Potions Mastery. The Dark Lord sent me to try for a position at Hogwarts, and I overheard Dumbledore in an interview with another teacher." He leaned forward toward Harry. "You must understand that alot of wizards don't believe in divination - trying to foretell the future."

Harry smiled, "Aunt Petunia and some of her friends used to try to read tea leaves or played with Tarot cards, but they said it was all bunk."

Severus grimaced. "There have been a few true seers, but they are rare - and even they say the future is impossible to totally predict. Anyway Dumbledore was interviewing a woman called Trelawney for the position of Divination Professor, and I heard her speak part of a prophecy. Everyone knew she was a total fraud and a lush as well, so I thought it was hysterically funny that she would pretend to have a vision in the middle of her interview. The barkeeper found me and threw me out, so I told Voldemort about it, thinking he would find it amusing. Instead, to my shock he took it seriously, and started hunting the two families it described."

Harry lost his smile at this, he was afraid he knew where it was going.

"I was already trying to get out, so I went to Dumbledore, hoping he could save Lily. I expected to go to Azkaban. Sometimes I think that would have been kinder of him. Instead he sent me back to spy. I did my best to counter all the Dark Lords moves, and keep her safe." Severus' dark eyes sought Harry's, "I truly tried to stop him, but in the end you and your parents were betrayed by one of their friends, and Voldemort killed them. I stopped being Voldemort's follower long ago." Severus swallowed hard, "I am so very sorry for what happened."

Harry was fighting tears by then, and leaned forward to grip his guardian in a hug, to Severus' shock. His arms finally came up to hug Harry in return, hardly believing he was forgiven so easily. Harry finally sat back, sniffling, and Severus handed him a handkerchief with a flourish that made Harry giggle.

"Is Mr. Malfoy...? And Dobby said that the new wizard is part dragon, and that it had to be dark arts?" Harry looked at his guardian hesitantly.

"Lucius also turned away from Voldemort - he is helping guard you, and Voldemort would see that as a betrayal - and he does not take traitors back, he kills them." Severus smiled a bit grimly. "As for the ‘new wizard' - the dragon Yvane died last night, and volunteered to have a part of himself stay and help young Tom, who is having a great many difficulties. It was definitely not dark arts that did it."

"Why is Dobby so very...malicious toward you?" Harry asked, a bit angry again. "I can't take much more from him, I hardly feel safe with him around, now."

"I'm not sure, but it is probably because his old owner hated Lucius, and by extension - me. A house elf is greatly influenced by that." Severus sighed. What to do with a betraying house elf?

Severus handed Harry a headache potion laced with calming draught, and then took one himself, before heading down to breakfast, with Severus' arm across Harry's shoulders.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tom looked up and down Diagonalley hesitantly. It hadn't changed a great deal, and most of the robes and gowns seemed only slightly different. The teenagers and children were the ones who had on different clothing, under their open robes. Jeans had not been common in the 1940's, and even muggle girls certainly didn't wear pants - certainly witches in the 40's wouldn't wear some of the clothing he saw.

Lucius and Severus had decided on a shopping spree - to outfit him, and get Harry birthday presents, and a few belated ones for Dudley.

A puzzled Yuan had shown up at the door just before they left with a long narrow box. "Yao told me that Yvane told him to have me obtain one of his heartstrings for Harry to have a wand made with. Yvane said that having a heartstring from a dragon who considered himself your protector would be ... auspicious."

Tom had seen the level look Yuan had given Severus, who had nodded in return. Yuan wanted better answers from him later, he expected. Yuan had then looked at Tom with puzzled incredulity.

Harry had taken the box gently. "Thank You, sir."

Tom shook his head; it was ridiculous the way these two wizards catered to the boys. He grimaced at Yvane's snicker, yes he realized he was a bit jealous, but still - they were going to spoil the lot of them. Draco and Dudley were already well on their way, and Harry would be, too.

The entire crowd of them bustled into Madame Malkins, and Tom submitted to the indignity of a total makeover. Boxes and bags were given to a summoned Tinker to take back to his rooms. Harry and Dudley got a couple of new outfits, as well.

They wandered into the Magical Menagerie, as Harry was sure he wanted an owl for his birthday.

Dudley declined, though. "I'm rubbish at taking care of animals, maybe later on." It was true, Severus had had to hide the owl treats, as Dudley had fed Severus' owl so many he could barely fly.

The boys looked over the owls happily, Draco cheerfully reminiscing about some of the Malfoy family owls. His own was a very nice tawny owl that was quite patient with his absentminded care. Tom had been viewing the reptiles with a smirk, wondering if he dared speak to them. It would likely make his jailers nervous.

"Jailers, Tom?" Yvane asked. "You're not of age, have no money, haven't taken your NEWT's. You need their guardianship, for a time."

Tom grimaced, and came face to face with a young, barely fledged snowy owl. An unusual breed to have here. "Harry, have you seen this one?" He called casually to the trio of owl shoppers. The boys had been quite polite to him at breakfast, although he could see they were burning with curiosity. He didn't have anything against them, really.

They trotted over and oohed. "She's beautiful. I want her, Severus." The snowy seemed taken with Harry as well, grooming his hair and nibbling at his fingers.

Severus came over and winced a bit at the price. The Reserves orders alone had given him back the price of the house he'd bought, and he hadn't spent much of the money he made as a teacher and the numerous orders he filled each summer. He would consider himself wealthy - if he didn't measure what he had against the Malfoy vaults. Still, Tobias had beaten the idea of hoarding money into him, and it was hard to change.

Severus smiled at Harry, refusing to cause his happiness at finding the owl to diminish. It was obviously a good match. "An excellent find, Tom, you have a good eye." The lad blinked at the compliment, then nodded.

Paraphernalia for the owl was bought by Lucius, as his and Draco's gift, and Tinker was summoned once again to take things to Dragonsrest. Severus hoped they weren't overloading poor Tinker. Dobby' magic was now bound totally to Tinker, and he couldn't make a move or even speak without Tinkers approval, and was confined to the kitchen and laundry, where he was hopefully making himself useful. Tinker had been outraged at Dobby's further insult to Tinkers master. Severus was sure that Dobby would wish his head had merely been placed on a convenient wall by the time Tinker was through with him.

They stopped at Ollivander's and shocked the poor man. He stared hard at Tom, "We have met before, young man. And yet here you are now, and already not the same. Even without the dragon guarding your mind, you are on a different path." Severus and Lucius froze, and listened closely. The boys, luckily sensed they should stay very quiet.

Tom glared at him. "How can I be different from...the other, we're the same."

"Were the same - like identical twins - they come from the same egg, - they are from the very same cells. Then they are split, as you were. The moment you parted from the other you became different. With the dragon to guide you, I see a very different person emerging." Ollivander looked a bit creepy, grinning as he was, Tom thought.

Ollivander muttered and searched, and finally pulled a box down. Tom could feel the pull even before the box was opened, and he practically lunged for the wand. It was heaven, to feel his magic reawaken, and coalesce around him in sparkling rainbows of color. He smiled at Ollivander, and decided he was okay for a creepy old man.

Tom wasn't sure he totally understood what the man had been saying, but Yvane agreed totally. He could see Severus and Lucius looking a bit smug - he supposed that this is what they had wanted to hear, as well.

Ollivander smiled at him. "The phoenix who gave the feather that is in that wand of Holly gave only one other - it is in the wand that chose ‘He who must not be named'."

Tom frowned; he really hated hearing that people called him by such stupid monikers. He looked down at the wand. He could remember the old one - he liked this one better.

Severus stepped forward with Harry, who handed Ollivander the box from Yuan, and explained Yvane's request. Ollivander opened it and looked at the heartstring, then looked over at Tom. Tom fidgeted a bit, then answered Ollivander's unasked question.

"Yvane says that it is his greatest wish, and he is sure that his heart will help guard Harry better than anyone else's bits and pieces because he chose Harry to have it." Tom looked at Ollivander, hoping the old man understood. Ollivander nodded - of course he understood.

"It will be ready in a few days." He promised. "I will send word."

Flourish and Blotts was raided for more dragon books and whatever they could find on the founders. Severus rejected a few. ‘The author is an idiot' or ‘I have that one if you search for it in our library'. They picked up a catalog, to order further books from. Tom found a book on dragon magic the Yvane said he would find useful, and Severus paid for it with a smile, happy that Tom felt he could ask for things.

They had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. Tom looked around and smirked. "I'm quite sure that the cobwebs in those corners are the same ones I saw when I was here last - in 1943." They all laughed at that. Lucius and Severus were relieved that Tom seemed to be cooperating, so far, and even felt enough at ease to make jokes.

They intended to have a more serious talk with him, later.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

They had barely made it back to Dragonsrest after lunch when the alarm went off. Another floo call at Spinners End. Why couldn't the Headmaster take a day off, already?

Lucius nodded at Severus, and suggested a swim to the others. Tom looked mystified.

Severus emerged from the now-bigger lab and thank god for house-elves. They'd done a splendid job on the renovated house. It looked very nice, and the furniture conjured by them was elegant. He answered the floo to find a beaming Albus.

"Hello! Just wanted to see if Harry and his cousin could make it to the Weasley's tomorrow, or the next day. They'd like to throw a birthday party for him, and perhaps have the pair spend the night." Albus twinkled at him.

"I'm afraid tomorrow is Vernon's funeral Dudley is attending, and I'm sure Harry would find a party inappropriate. We plan on a small, family party the next day, ourselves." Severus smiled tightly.

Albus' eyes dimmed and his smile was more forced. "The day after that, then. The Weasley's have several boys around their age for them to play with. They were Order members and would like to extend their hospitality."

"Very well, but no overnight stays." Severus said flatly, he could see that Albus would not be put off.

Albus nodded, he would let the Weasley children work on the boys to get them to stay overnight, then another night, and another - etc. Severus would eventually prefer them to stay there, so he could get on with his real duties.

The said their goodbyes and shut the floos.

Severus grimaced as he apparated back - Weasley's. They were tolerable in ones and twos, but they always ran in ... herds. He had seen Bill graduated with relief; the boy was always looking for a curse to break, and nearly had gotten himself killed numerous times. This year was Charlie's last, thank Merlin - he was even more rambunctious than Bill. Percy was tolerable, he at least was not a rule breaker - and even could brew decently.

He had heard there was a set of twins starting this year. Hmmm.

The Headmaster was obviously plotting to lure Harry and Dudley away from the boring old Potionsmaster with the promise of playmates. The Weasley's weren't subtle enough to do this without being obvious. He laughed as he arrived at Dragonsrest. He knew how to make the Weasley's pay for any interference.

They would need several calming draughts when he was done.