It was the first Quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and Harry was not sure how to feel about the game. He hadn’t been too worried about Quidditch this year, because he knew that he would not have to face his brother since Slytherin didn’t allow the younger years to play. But then Lucius Malfoy had bought the Slytherin team new brooms…on the condition that Draco be made primary seeker. Now the two brothers would face each other for the first time on the pitch. Harry kept his eyes on his brother as he followed Oliver Wood onto the pitch and mounted his broom.

He flew to his favorite spot high above the pitch, where he could look for the snitch yet stay out of the way of play. Spotting a bludger headed his way out of the corner of his eye, he dropped a few feet.

“Studying for the ballet,” a familiar voice laughed nearby.

Harry turned to see his brother hovering beside him. Just as he opened his mouth to respond, the golden snitch fluttered between them and took off. Harry dove after it, knowing his brother was right behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a bludger headed right for them. ‘Bludger behind you!’ he shouted through their connection.

Draco turned to look at the bludger and then sped up so that he was even with Harry. For the next half hour they both flew around the pitch, both chasing the snitch and being chased by the bludger.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the bludger catch the tip of his brother’s broom and send the blond flying over Harry’s head and tumbling onto the pitch. Distracted, he didn’t see the bludger coming back at him until he heard a sickening crunch and felt an very sudden, intense pain in his right arm. Cradling his injured arm against his chest, he gripped his broom with his knees and took his left arm off the broom. This was the move that Draco had been attempting when they had lost their brooms the first time this summer. Urging his broom forward, he caught the snitch but lost his balance and rolled onto the pitch. He had to roll a couple times to get out of the way of the bludger that was still intent on killing him, but then Hermione caused it to explode and he breathed a sigh of relief as his two friends and the rest of his team surrounded him.

Professor Lockhart knelt in front of him. “I can fix that arm right up, Harry.”

“No, Professor…not you,” Harry protested. Uncle Sev! Help, he screamed inwardly, wishing that he really could call out for the man. Lockhart spouted an incantation that caused the bones in his arm to disappear and Harry thought he was going to be sick.

An hour later, Harry and his brother were alone in the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey having shooed all of their friends from the room with a wink at Harry. Harry looked over at his twin. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked, not wanting to speak out loud in case someone came into the room.

Draco rolled over and looked at him. ‘Yeah. Just a little sore and bruised. Nothing too bad. She said I could go back to the common room after dinner.’

‘She’s giving us some time together.’ Harry told him with a chuckle.

‘She knows?!’

‘Yes, baby brother,’ he said. He had wanted to call Draco that ever since Severus had told them that Harry was the older one. Harry was rewarded with a scowl from across the room, to which he just laughed. ‘Uncle Sev told her the day we were fighting in the changing room. It’s a good thing he did, considering you were holding me hen they got there.’

‘I guess it’s a good thing she’s under the Fidelius Charm…’

‘Don’t worry so much, Uncle Sev knows that he’s doing.’

They stopped talking when the door to the infirmary and Lucius Malfoy walked in. Harry had forgotten that he had been at the game and quickly turned on his side away from the door.

Draco looked up at his father. “Hello, Father.”

“Draco,” the man said stiffly.

“I’m sorry I lost, sir,” he replied, looking down at his hands.

Lucius used the cane to lift his son’s face. “I have arranged for you to come home next weekend. Your mother wants to see you.”

The boy nodded, knowing that the trip home had nothing to do with his mother. He was to be punished for losing the match, especially to Harry Potter. “Yes, sir.”

“I will see you on Friday,” the man said before leaving the two boys alone.

As soon as the door closed, Harry could feel waves of despair coming from his brother. ‘Draco…’

The blonde didn’t respond.

Harry sat up. “Draco…Damn it, Draco. Don’t make me call Uncle Sev.”

“Just leave it alone, Harry,” the other boy finally spoke. “There is nothing you can do.”

Nothing he could do? Hadn’t Uncle Sev come and rescued him from the Dursleys this summer? And if Draco was his godson, then surely he could do something…anything to help the boy. “Nothing? Surely there is something…”

“He tried once, but Father threatened to have someone else named my godfather. Just drop it, Harry,” he told his brother before adding ‘Please.’

Harry sighed and nodded. He would drop it for now, but he would take it up with Uncle Sev later.

--

The next Friday as his potions class was ending, Snape snapped at Harry to stay behind and snarled at Ron and Hermione to leave the room. “In my office,” Snape ordered Harry and the boy quickly hurried into the man’s office. Once the door was closed, Snape looked down at the boy. “Draco told me what happened last Saturday in the infirmary.”

Harry sank into the sofa. “He’s going home today and Mr. Malfoy is mad at him because I won the game. It’s not his fault that that bloody bludger hit him first.”

“Language, Harry,” he said, kneeling in front of the boy.

“Sorry, sir…but can’t you do something to stop him?”

Severus sighed and moved to sit beside the boy, putting his arm around Harry, who snuggled into his side. “In the wizarding world there is no such thing as Family Services. Parents can treat their children however they want, right or wrong. As his godfather, the only time I could take custody of Draco is if something were to happen to Lucius and Narcissa before Draco’s seventeenth birthday. Right now all I can do is heal him when Lucius sends him to me. My hands are tied, Harry, but know this…I hate it. That is why I try to convince Lucius to allow Draco to spend as much of his holidays with me as possible.”

Harry was silent for several minutes before speaking quietly. “What about me, Uncle Sev? Do I have to go back to the Dursleys next summer?”

“Unfortunately, you’ll have to go back for a short time each summer. I’m afraid that I can’t tell you why right now. You’ll just have to trust me.” He looked down at the boy sitting next to him. “Would you like to stay down here with me tonight?”

“Could I, sir? Maybe I won’t worry so much if I’m with you.”

“Of course, Harry.” Severus snapped his fingers and a quill and parchment appeared before him. He scratched out a quick note before calling for a house elf to take the note away. “There…I have informed your head of house and she will give some excuse to your friends and they won’t be looking for you until tomorrow.”

“Thank you, sir!” Harry said, snuggling closer to the man’s side. Severus reached out and ran his fingers through the unruly mop of hair, making Harry close his eyes and sigh contentedly. Oh, that felt nice!

Unable to keep from smiling at Harry’s reaction, Severus ran his fingers through the boy’s hair again. It had become obvious to him that the poor boy was starved for affection, much the same way that Draco was. I’ll do my best by them, Lily. I already love Draco as my own and Harry is quickly finding a place in my heart…Yes, dear Lily, I do still have a heart.

--

Harry was alone in his dorm room Sunday night studying when he heard the soft sound that told him Severus was trying to reach him using the mirror. He fumbled for his robes and pulled out his mirror. “Is he back?” Harry asked as soon as he saw the man’s face.

“Not yet,” Severus replied. “But he should be coming through soon. Use your invisibility cloak and come to my rooms.”

The boy nodded. “Yes, sir. How did you…”

“The headmaster told me after he gave it to you. Come, Harry. He’ll be back soon.”

Harry put the mirror in his pocket and set his school books on the table beside his bed and closing the drapes, making it look like he had already gone to sleep. He pulled his invisibility cloak from his trunk and wrapped it around himself. A few minutes later, he slipped from the tower and raced unseen down the stairs toward the dungeon rooms of the Potions Master. He took off the cloak once in was in the man’s private rooms.

Severus took the cloak and hung it up near the door. “I informed your head of house that you were with me so that she wouldn’t worry.”

“I pulled the drapes on my bed. Hopefully no one will look to see if I’m actually sleeping.” Just then the Floo flared and Harry ran over to catch his brother before he fell, easing to the ground and cradling his brother in his arms. “Uncle Sev…”

Severus dropped to his knees beside the two boys, his wand out as he cast the diagnostic spell. Rather than move Draco to the couch and have to deal with Harry hovering nearby, Severus left the two boys where they were as he summoned potions and chanted healing charms.

‘Hold still, baby brother,’ Harry whispered through their connection when Draco started to stir. ‘Uncle Sev is trying to heal you.’

‘It hurts, Harry,’ Draco whimpered. ‘So bad…make it stop…’

Without even realizing what he was doing, Harry started stroking his brother’s hair in the same way that Severus had done for him only two nights before when he had sat in this very room worried about his brother. He knew that it had comforted him that night and hoped that it would comfort his brother now while they waited for the spells and potions to take effect. ‘Uncle Sev is working on it, Draco. Just be patient.’ Draco turned his face into his brother’s shoulder, his free hand gripping Harry’s robes in an effort to fight the pain.

Severus watched in fascination as Harry continued to hold his brother, reaching up to stroke the blonde locks much like Severus did we he comforted the two boys. The young Slytherin settled against the Gryffindor’s shoulder, his eyes still closed and one hand gripping Harry’s robe. Severus was almost certain that they were somehow communicating between the two of them and made a mental note to ask them about it later. He had read that there were sometimes very strong bonds between twins, even twins separated at birth. If his suspicions were correct, these two shared the strongest of bonds. That could come in handy later on once the Dark Lord returned to power and it came time to vanquish him once and for all.

He let them stay where they were for several minutes before standing and gently lifting the blond into his arms with practiced ease. “Harry, get your cloak. I’ll let you stay with me while I take him to his room, but you must stay very close.”

The Gryffindor nodded and disappeared under his cloak once more. He followed Severus out the door and down the hall to the Slytherin dorm. Harry was surprised when the Slytherins looked up when Snape walked into the common room with Draco in his arms, but then they went back to what they were doing as if there was nothing unusual about seeing their head of house carry one of their housemates into the dorms barely conscious. Then again, if their fathers were anything like Lucius Malfoy, it might not be such a rare occurrence.

Harry followed him through the large common room and down a hallway to the dorm room shared by the second years. Unlike his own dorm, the Slytherin room was long and thin with the beds in a single row instead of circled around a stove like his Gryffindor dorm.

Severus carried Draco to one of the beds and tucked the boy in. He pulled a small vial from his pocket and lifted the boy’s head. “Drink this, dragon.” The boy made a small noise of protest. “It’s Dreamless Sleep,” he told his godson, who then drank the potion. He waited a few moments to make sure the boy was sleeping, before leading Harry from the room and toward the Gryffindor tower.

“Uncle Sev?” Harry spoke softly as they stood outside the entrance to his common room.

“Yes, Harry?” he replied.

Harry pushed the hood off the cloak so that he could look up at the man. “If you showed someone the memories, could you take Draco from Mr. Malfoy?”

Severus sighed. “I’ve considered it, but there is more to think about than just taking Draco away from his father. Many of the students in my house have parents that were followers of the Dark Lord. It would not be wise to take him away from one threat and put him under another one.” When Harry’s face fell, he continued. “But I am considering the option, Harry, and am trying to come up with a way to get him away from Malfoy.”

Harry nodded and gave the man a hug. “Good night, Uncle Sev,” he whispered, before putting the hood over his head again and disappearing into his common room.

--

He told Albus that putting Lockhart in charge of a dueling club was a bad idea! Severus muttered the curse to destroy the snake that his godson had created and then grabbed the boy by the ear and drug him from the room, noticing that Granger and the youngest Mr. Weasley were pulling Harry out another door. He had to speak to Harry about the Parseltongue, but first he had to deal with Draco.

“Ow! Uncle Sev! You’re hurting me!” the boy protested, trying to pull free.

Severus gave his ear another tug for good measure. “I told you not to use anything that your father had taught you. I told you only to use things that had been taught here at school!” he snapped at the boy, opening the door to his rooms and leading him inside.

“Those are boring,” Draco said, pulling away from his godfather and dropping into his favorite chair. “Did you know that Harry was a Parselmouth?”

“You deliberately disobeyed me, Draco! And don’t change the subject!”

“Uncle Sev…”

“I know and I’m going to talk to him. But you are not going to talk your way out of this one, young man.”

Draco sighed deeply. Sometimes he hated the fact that his godfather knew him so well. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“Are you?” Severus demanded. “Are you really sorry for what you did? Or because you got caught? Because what I’m looking at is not a boy who is truly sorry for being disobedience, but merely sorry that he got caught…a boy who is about to be spanked.”

“No!”

“Oh yes, young man. As your godfather, I’m going to turn you over my knee…but as your head of house, you have a detention with me tomorrow night. Is that clear?” he said, giving the boy a look that stated plainly that he was supposed to stop arguing.

“Yes sir,” the boy whispered, looking down.

Severus pulled the boy up from the chair, sat down and turned him over his knee, giving him a few sharp swats. He then lifted the boy into his arms and hugging him. “You know how much I hate to do that, dragon, but you must learn to obey me…in the little things and the big things. I only have your best interests at heart, little one, and I love you very much. That’s why I work so hard to teach you right from wrong.”

“I love you too, Uncle Sev,” Draco whispered, curling up in the man’s arms. He was silent for several minutes before asking, “Did you know about Harry?”

“No, I didn’t. And I think you owe him an apology. Parseltongue is considered one of the dark arts, Draco. Because Harry used it to stop that snake from attacking the other students, many will now consider him to be a dark wizard…and possibly the heir of Slytherin.”

Draco looked up at him. “I didn’t mean for any of that to happen. I was just trying to have a little fun.”

“But you hurt your brother and you need to apologize. And you need to learn to use that head of yours,” he told the boy, making a fist and lighting knocking on the boy’s head. “Is there anything up there?”

“Look and see,” he replied, tilting his face up to his godfather. This was a game that they had often played to see how if Draco had been practicing Occlumency like his godfather had been teaching him. Only during a true lesson did Severus try to break through the boy’s shields.

With a silent command, he entered the boy’s mind, sifting through harmless memories of Quidditch and brewing potions, classes and homework. He retreated from Draco’s mind. “Very good, dragon. It’s not very often that you find one so young so skilled in such a discipline.”

“Thank you, Uncle Sev,” he replied with a smile. “I practice every night like you told me.”

“Good. Keep doing it.” He put the boy on his feet and gave him a light swat. “Go on back to your dorm so that I can talk to Harry. You can find a way to apologize to him tomorrow.” Draco gave him another hug and hurried from the room.

--

Harry was huddled in one corner of the common room with Ron and Hermione, trying to hide from the rest of his housemates. When the rest of the Gryffindors had returned from the disaster that had been the first meeting of the dueling club, no one had approached him, but they were looking at him and talking in hushed whispers. Just as he was about to get up and go to his room, the portrait hole opened and Professor Snape stepped inside. Instantly, the room grew silent.

“Where is Potter?” the Potions Master demanded.

Biting his lip, Harry stood from where he was hidden behind one of the couches. “Here, sir.”

Snape nodded. “The Headmaster wishes to speak with you,” he said, turning and heading toward the door without waiting to see if Harry followed.

“Don’t wait up,” the boy told his two friends before hurrying to catch up with the man. “Am I in trouble?”

Severus looked down at him. “No. And the Headmaster does not wish to see you.” He didn’t say anything more until they were in his warded quarters. He sat down and pulled the boy to stand in front of him. “Have you ever spoken to snakes before?”

Harry bit his lip again. “Once…I accidentally set a snake loose at the zoo.”

“I’m sure that Granger and Weasley have explained to you that you are a Parselmouth.” Harry merely nodded. As if sensing the boy’s unease, Severus reached up and ran his fingers through the boy’s messy hair. He knew the gesture calmed and comforted the boy. “What you have is a rare gift, Harry…and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Just because the greatest dark wizard of our time has the same gift does not make you a dark wizard. Your heart is too pure to allow you to become dark.” Harry smiled at that compliment and moved closer to the older man, who put his arms around the boy and pulled him close, allowing Harry to lean against his side. “I just ask that you not use your gift unless you absolutely have to.”

Harry nodded against his shoulder, enjoying the warmth, comfort and feelings of safety the man’s arms offered. “I won’t use it. I don’t like everyone looking at me like that.”

“Thank you.” Severus continued to hold Harry close, tucking the boy’s head under his chin. Would this child have been his if he had not allowed his temper to get the better of him during fifth year? If he had tried harder to win Lily’s heart? He could no longer deny that he was beginning to think of Lily’s son as his own.