Late February

The sound of laughter roused Severus from a light sleep. He groaned and rolled out of bed to see who was wandering around the house at two in the morning, although there was a very good chance that it was Harry.

Severus quietly pulled his bedroom door open and slipped into the hallway to encounter a very strange sight in the dim light that Severus always had burning, since Harry didn't like the dark.

"Mr. Potter," Severus said.

"Shhhhhh…," Harry said with a giggle.

"Mr. Potter, what do you think you are doing out of bed at this time of night?"

"I's inbis'dible. You can't see me, so go 'way. Go back to sleeps." Bright green eyes behind black-framed glasses peered out from a fold of the large loosely woven blanket that had quite clearly been taken from one of the boys' beds, and was now draped over the thin frame of Harry Potter and a second person. The blanket was pulled high enough in front to expose two pair of sock-clad feet, then it billowed out around them before dragging behind them on the floor. Harry and his companion clumsily turned and started carefully down the stairs with blanket-wrapped hands holding onto the railing.

"Where are you going, Mr. Potter?" Severus leaned against the wall at the top of the stairs and watched as the two boys under the blanket attempted to bypass all of the creaky sections on the wooden stairs.

"I can't tell you," Harry insisted. "I's inbis'dible." A soft laugh came from under the blanket.

"Is Mr. Malfoy under there with you, Mr. Potter?" Severus asked, knowing full well who was hiding under the blanket with him.

"Nope, n'body here wit' me. 'Specially not Ray."

"I see," Severus said in a serious voice. "So if I were to check Mr. Malfoy's bed, I would find him in it?"

There was a slight scuffling underneath the blanket, then the sound of whispering and Harry laughing.

"Nope," Harry called back up just before they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Ray's inbis'dible too."

Severus followed the two boys down the stairs.

"Harry…" The unmistakable sound of Draco's voice came from under the blanket as they stopped in front of the kitchen door.

"Shhh…He'll hear us." Harry whispered loudly. "We gots to be quiet."

Harry's hand poked out from the blanket. "Alamo-morris," he whispered as he turned the knob and pushed the door inward. Draco's bark of laughter turned into a harsh cough at Harry's indignant "Hey!" and Severus smothered a sudden urge to laugh along with him.

"What was that?" Draco whispered raggedly when he'd managed to stop coughing.

"Magic," Harry replied proudly.

The kitchen gleamed in the moonlight that slipped in behind frost-covered windows. The white blanket covering the two of them shone like a beacon as the boys stopped in the middle of the kitchen to have a whispered conversation, the blanket shifting with their arm movements. Severus stood behind them to listen.

"It's okay, Ray." Harry said. "I promise. It'll be fun."

"You can't promise that, Harry," Draco responded. "What if you get hurt?"

"Won't get hurt, I gots you to look after me." Harry's voice was confident.

"What if I get hurt?"

Harry huffed. "Then I takes care of you, silly!"

The two boys shuffled toward the back door.

"Mr. Potter!" Severus said sharply and the boys jumped, the blanket falling off to puddle on the floor.

"Oh, no!" Harry cried. "Look what you dones! We's not inbis'dible no more!"

Severus eyed the two sharply. "You will not leave this house in the middle of the night."

"We jus' wanted to play," Harry pouted and pointed to the window. "It snowed."

"It's February," Severus said. "You have no shoes on and it's dark. You will not go outside."

Harry picked up the blanket and wrapped it back around his shoulders. "I wants to make snowballs," he said mutinously.

"Mr. Potter, do not make me turn you over my knee," Severus said and Harry blanched. He backed away from the door to stand behind Draco, resting his chin on Draco's shoulder and glaring daggers at Severus. Severus was certain that the one hand not holding the blanket onto his shoulders was covering his backside.

"I told you he'd know," Draco said, grinning at Harry. "Come on, let's go back to bed."

With a deep, disappointed sigh from Harry, the boys turned to go back up the stairs.

"Mr. Malfoy," Severus said, stopping Draco as he opened the kitchen door. "Remain behind."

Harry looked mournfully at Draco. "Sorry, Ray," he mumbled softly and then left the kitchen, the blanket trailing behind him.

Severus listened to Harry's footsteps in the dark as he climbed the stairs, before turning back to look at Draco.

"You know better, Draco," Severus said quietly.

Draco looked levelly at Severus, his grey eyes stormy. Severus found it a bit disconcerting-not to mention annoying-that he had to tilt his head up slightly because Draco was a good inch taller.

"Yes, sir," Draco said sulkily.

"Were you planning on letting him go out?" Severus crossed his arms over his chest.

"No!" Draco exclaimed, looking horrified. "I put a sticking charm on the back door so that he couldn't open it. I planned on letting him fight with it for a minute and then coaxing him back upstairs to bed."

"How did you get a sticking charm on the door without him seeing it?" Severus bit out. "What if he had come into the room while you had your wand?"

"I put a sticking charm on the door every evening while he's in the loo. He tries to convince me to do this almost every night."

"Why did you give in tonight?" Severus said with a glare. "You shouldn't let him get his hopes up."

"I know that," Draco said grumpily, "But it snowed earlier and it was impossible to tell him no. He looked at me with those eyes and I just gave in."

"You must tell him no every time," Severus replied. "We cannot take the chance that his magic might overcome the charm on the door."

"You know that he would have just waited until I was asleep and then tried to sneak out on his own." Draco clenched his fists. "I'm doing the best I can to keep him safe."

"There has to be a way to keep him from wandering off," Severus growled with exasperation. "A tethering charm when he's asleep…"

"I am not going to tie him up like a dog, Severus!" Draco's eyes gleamed with tears of frustration. "Or lock him in the bedroom. You know that would only make it infinitely worse. God!" Draco dragged a hand through his short-cropped hair. "I don't know what to do!"

Severus pulled a chair out from the table and sat down heavily. "The research is not yielding any results. If only we knew what happened!"

Draco sighed. "The only person left who knows for certain what happened is Harry and he doesn't even know that he knows."

"Perhaps if we brought someone in to help," Severus mused.

"Who are you going to trust with this?" Draco demanded. "If the person we pick refuses to take a Wizard's Oath or an unbreakable vow, and goes to the press, Harry will be exposed within minutes. You know that what happened to Granger will happen to him even faster. We may as well just kill him and have done with it!"

Severus slumped in his chair in bitter defeat. Silence enveloped the kitchen as each man tried to work through the situation in which they had found themselves.

A few minutes later, the door to the kitchen inched open and Severus turned in his chair to see Harry peeking through the crack. His fingers curled around the edge of the door and his eyes were sad. "You comin', Ray?" he asked, tears clouding his voice. "I can't sleeps wiffout you."

Severus waved a hand at Draco. "Go," he said and without a word Draco left the kitchen, the door closing quietly behind the two boys.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

"Why's my feet so big, Ray?"

Draco looked up from the book he'd been reading on dark curses and their origins in a nearly futile attempt to find something that would cure Harry. The book was one among hundreds of books liberated from Grimmauld Place after the end of the war and before the Ministry could raid the house. For the moment all the books were hidden behind a magical barrier in the Wizard-space basement of their current safe house. A glamour was placed on the book to make it look like a text book in case Harry got curious, as he so often did.

Harry was lying on the sofa with his feet in the air, wiggling his toes. His socks had been abandoned on the floor. With a sigh, Draco set the book aside and got up from the chair to put Harry's socks back on him.

"Your feet are the right size for the rest of you," Draco told him as he crouched in front of Harry and picked his socks up off the floor. Harry immediately leaped up to sit on his feet.

"Don't wan' socks on," Harry whined.

"Daddy Sev will be upset if you go barefoot, Harry. Let me put your socks on." Draco tried to pull Harry's foot out from underneath him.

"No!" Harry jumped up and ran from the sitting room.  Draco thumped his forehead against the sofa seat and groaned.

"What is it now?" Severus's amused voice came from the doorway and Draco held up Harry's socks in his fist. "Ah, socks again. I'll go find him."

Draco laughed, his voice muffled by the sofa. "Hopefully you'll find him before he takes off the rest of his clothes."

A frustrated noise followed by a harsh cry of "Mr. Potter!" and Severus was off to look for him. Draco levered himself to his feet and followed.

Draco found Harry outside in the back garden five minutes later, standing barefoot and bare-chested in the snow.

"Harry," he said soothingly, his hand held out in front of him. "Come in the house, it's cold out here."

"No," Harry said, his head tilted back and his arms up over his head, as if waiting for someone to pick him up. "I needs to go." He brought his head up, lowered his arms and looked at Draco with confusion. "Where does I needs to go, Ray?"

"Inside the house, Harry," Draco said, his heart aching. "Remember? We have to play a game of Go Fish."

Harry's confusion disappeared in a heartbeat and his face lit up with delight. "Yay!" he cried, sprinting for the door. "I gets to wins this time!"

The back door slammed, leaving Draco staring unseeingly at the place Harry had been standing.

The door swung back open. "Whatcha doin' Ray?" Harry yelled happily. "Come in here! I can't wins wiffout you!"

"You already did, Harry," Draco said under his breath and went to make sure Harry got dressed so they could play Go Fish.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Severus was dragged unhappily from his sleep when he heard noises coming from the boys' bedroom. With a growl, he looked over at the mechanical clock ticking quietly on the bedside table to check the time. One in the morning, did that damn boy never sleep? He slid out of the bed, wincing as the cold of the hardwood floors seeped into his bare feet. He pulled on a pair of wool socks and his dressing gown before walking down the hall to the adjoining room. Opening the door he found Harry sitting on the floor soaking wet and crying. The room reeked of urine and Severus wished he dared to use his wand in front of Harry to cast an air cleaning charm. Harry's bed was stripped bare and a tired and rumpled Draco was pulling clean sheets out of the wardrobe.

"I had an ac'dent again, Daddy Sev," Harry sobbed, rocking back and forth on the floor. "I's sorry. Sorry, sorry."

Severus pulled Harry to his feet and began hauling up his pyjama top. "It's fine Harry, accidents happen. Lift up your arms so we can get this off you then we'll get you into the shower and cleaned up in no time. Draco will have the bed dry and changed by the time we get back."

"Can I has a baf, Daddy Sev?" Harry sniffled, scrubbing his tear-streaked face with the palm of his hands. "I wants to play wif the duckies."

"No duckies tonight," Severus said, helping Harry out of his stinking pyjama bottoms. "Just a shower to clean you up. You can take a bath tomorrow."

"'Kay," Harry nodded meekly as he padded naked out of the room. Severus stood by the door, then nodded to Draco once there was no possibility that Harry could see into the bedroom. Draco removed his wand from the hidden spot at the top of the wardrobe in order to cast a cleaning spell on the mattress.

"That's the third time this week Severus," Draco said morosely. "I think he's regressing again."

Severus sighed with resignation. "Put the waterproof cover back on the bed. Hopefully we'll get him over this before more drastic measures are needed."

Draco shuddered with revulsion. "Not the nappies again," he groaned. "I'll do anything but that!"

"Daddy Sev!" Harry called. "Hurry up! I can't wash up wiffout you!"

"At least it's you he can't do without this time," Draco laughed and waved his wand over the mattress, muttering the cleaning charm followed by a sterilizing spell. "You'd better go or he might decide to empty the shampoo bottle down the drain again."

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

"Harry, sit still!" Draco exclaimed as Harry wiggled about on the closed lid of the toilet seat.

"Don' wanna shave, Ray. I's not big enough yet," Harry whimpered.

"Believe me," Draco said, holding Harry by the back of the neck and dragging the razor over his chin. "You are quite big enough."

"Don' like it, Ray. Shaving stuff tastes nasty."

"You say that every morning," Draco said calmly. "Don't open your mouth and the nasty shaving stuff won't get in."

"Hmph," Harry grumbled, but kept his mouth shut.

"There, all done," Draco said, setting the razor in the sink and wiping the stray bits of shaving cream from Harry's jaw. Then he put Harry's glasses on his face, making sure the strap around the back of his head was secure. "Go get dressed and we'll go down to breakfast. I'm sure Daddy Sev is wondering where we are by now."

"Yay!" Harry raced from the room and Draco wipe a tired hand over his face. He looked in the mirror and grimaced at the haggard face looking back. Running a hand over his head, he had a moment of regret for the loss of his perfect hair, but the buzz cut he'd adopted soon after coming to care for Harry had been a necessary evil when Harry had taken to pulling it. With a last scowl at the mirror, he took Harry to breakfast.

Harry sat in his usual chair and watched as Severus plated up the eggs, bacon, and toast. He had his spoon gripped tightly in his fist in anticipation. Draco slumped into the chair next to Harry and poured himself tea before turning to his own food.

"Daddy Sev," Harry yelled a few minutes later, waving his spoon in the air and flinging egg all over himself and the floor. "Look! It's an owls! Lets it in, now, now!"

"Don't yell, Harry," Draco said and looked up from his plate to see an ordinary barn owl sitting on the sill outside the kitchen window, the Daily Prophet rolled up in his talons. "Oh crap, what now?" he muttered as Severus opened the back door to let the owl into the kitchen. The owl dropped the paper onto the table and left without waiting for a treat.

Harry's face dropped in disappointment. "How comes I didn't gets to pet it?" he asked looking longingly out the window.

"He was in a hurry," Severus said absentmindedly as he shut the door. He sat back down and unrolled the newspaper, his other hand reaching for the teapot. His reach stopped in mid-air and the fingers holding the Daily Prophet clenched, crumpling the edge of the paper as he scowled at the headline.

Wizengamot Declares Missing Saviour Dead!

Harry Potter, the man best known for surviving a Killing Curse as a baby, defeating You-Know-Who in a battle that badly damaged Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry nearly ten months ago, and then disappearing without a trace two weeks later, has been declared legally deceased by the Wizengamot. The vote came after two days of heated debate ending in a close count of twenty-five to twenty-two with five members abstaining.

"Kingsley sent this," Severus said, handing the paper to Draco and pointing to the tiny "K.S." handwritten in the bottom corner.

"Wonderful," Draco said sarcastically, shaking his head. "They can't find him for nine months so they go ahead and declare him dead. Idiots. Not only is that unethical, it's illegal too. Only a family member can have him declared dead and they can only do that after seven years and massive efforts to find him."

"We'll have to contact Kingsley and have the declaration reversed before someone pushes the Wizengamot to try and confiscate his vaults."

Draco snorted. "Go ahead and say the name, Severus. You know it's Lucius and his cronies behind the decision. He's doing all of this so that he can get his name cleared. Then he'll go back to doing what he does best, bribing politicians and creating havoc behind the scenes. Getting the Boy-Who-Lived declared dead is the first step. If this works the next thing he'll do is to try and have Kingsley booted out of office so that he can put someone more malleable into the Minister's chair. The Ministry getting their hands on the Black and Potter fortunes is just a bonus."

Severus nodded as Harry looked at the paper over Draco's shoulder. Harry had given up on trying to get the scrambled egg to stay on his spoon and was eating them with his fingers. "Whozzat?" Harry asked, pointing at the picture of himself looking to the side and talking to an unseen someone. Draco thought that the picture had been taken sometime in sixth year by Colin Creevy. The photo was cropped, but Draco could see that Harry had been sitting between two other people in a room garishly decorated in red and gold. It was probably Granger and Weasley, although only their shoulders and parts of their arms were visible.

"Just a boy," Draco said negligently as he read the article.

"Does I knows him?" Harry asked, poking an egg covered finger at the newspaper and causing picture Harry to scowl. "He gots glasses just like me!"

"No," Draco replied. Not anymore, he added silently and felt a pang of sadness and loss for what might have been.

"Read it to me, Ray!" Harry insisted, stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth.

Draco grimaced as toast crumbs fell from Harry's mouth onto his shoulder. He brushed them off with the tips of his fingers, then reached over to wipe Harry's mouth with the towel tied around his neck. "Nah, it's just trash, Harry. Let's go read the book about the doggy instead."

"Doggy, doggy, doggy," Harry chanted as Draco led him over to the sink to wash his hands. He pulled away from Draco and ran from the room with his hands still wet. "Doggy, doggy!"

"Harry," Draco called with exasperation. "Come back and dry your hands!"

"No!"

"Harry…"

"Come on Ray!" Harry shouted. "I can't read wiffout you!"

Severus's mouth turned up as Draco laughed.

"Go on," Severus said, waving him off. "I'll write the letters to Kingsley and Gringotts. We'll stop this before it gets too far."

Early March

Severus slammed the latest book shut with a growl of anger and an overpowering feeling of futility. He was nearly out of books and ideas. He couldn't remember the last time he or Draco had slept an entire night and exhaustion was relentlessly tugging at him nearly every moment of the day. He was going to have to find someone else soon to aid him with the research so that he could be of more help to Draco. Taking care of Harry was taking its toll on both of them, but it was hitting Draco the hardest.

Draco stormed into the sitting room and flung himself onto the sofa. "Harry's finally asleep," he said, his voice rough with overuse. He covered his face with an arm and groaned. "It took two stories and the threat of not having a bath tomorrow morning to get him to settle down. How's the research coming?"

"It isn't," Severus replied regretfully. "Unless we can find out exactly what was done to him, finding the counter-curse is going to be nearly impossible."

"Has Kingsley found anything?"

"No," Severus said. "His duties as Minister are consuming the majority of his time and he doesn't dare to give the research to someone else. At this point, all he can do is monitor what St. Mungo's is doing with Miss Granger in the hopes that some breakthrough is discovered with her."

"We may have to take the chance and bring someone else in." Draco turned onto his side to look at Severus. "It's such a risk, though."

Severus nodded. "I know. I was thinking the same thing. If we don't get the right person, everything will blow up in our faces and Harry will end up in St. Mungo's alongside Miss Granger."

"And we will be in Azkaban for kidnapping," Draco muttered grimly, his eyes closed.

"Among other things," Severus agreed sarcastically. "Kidnapping will be among the least of the charges."

"If the bastard that did this to them wasn't already dead…" Draco growled.

"I feel the same way," Severus said, resting his head on the back of his chair. "I think I will write to Minerva."

Draco's eyes popped open. "Professor McGonagall? Can we trust her?"

"Her, Poppy and maybe Filius would be the only ones I would trust. Anyone else I would require an Unbreakable Vow of silence. Unfortunately, there's no one I know of that would be willing to make that kind of vow, has the time to help and would be an asset." Severus rose with the book in his arms. "Go to bed, Draco, you need the sleep."

"I never thought I'd ever say this, but I wish Granger were in her right mind." Draco groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. "I don't know how much longer I can do this without a proper night's sleep, Severus."

"You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to it." Severus looked hard at Draco. "It will kill him if you leave now."

"I know that," Draco said, rubbing a hand over his face. "He just takes so much time and attention and I'm tired. I wish I could have a few days to sleep and find someone to spend an evening with."

A sudden noise caught their attention and they turned to see Harry standing in the doorway wearing nothing but his underpants, glasses dangling in his hand. He was staring at them with eyes wide and tears trickling down his face. "You not wants me no mores?" he whispered brokenly. "I's a bad boy?"

Draco was up from the sofa and at Harry's side in an instant, Severus a step behind. "No!" Draco said emphatically, carefully taking Harry's glasses from him and handing them to Severus. "That's not what I said! We want you, Harry. We're glad you're here with us."

Harry was trembling and shaking his head in disbelief. Tears dripped off the end of his chin. "Sorry, sorry," he moaned. "I not means to do nuffin' bad."

"You didn't do anything wrong." Draco wrapped his arms around Harry and rocked him back and forth, and Severus saw regret for the hasty words on Draco's face. "I'm the one who's sorry, Harry. I would never leave you."

"But you said you's tired of me," Harry said in a muffled voice, his face pressed to Draco's shoulder. "I must have done somefings bad."

"Mr. Potter," Severus said sharply. "Mr. Malfoy did not say he was tired of you, he said he was tired. You do understand the difference, I hope?"

Harry raised his head, looked at Severus for a long moment and then turned to look at Draco. "You not angry with me?" he asked in a tremulous voice.

"No, Harry, I'm not angry with you. I could never be angry."

Harry nodded and pressed his face back into Draco's shoulder, his arms wound around Draco's waist.

"Where are your pyjamas, Mr. Potter?" Severus asked as Draco unwound Harry's arms and turned to lead Harry back upstairs.

"No like the jammies," Harry muttered. "They's bunchy and itchy."

"They're your favourites," Draco said, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. "You wear them almost every night."

"No, they not fav'ites," Harry insisted. "I no likes them no more."

The bedroom looked like a storm had run through it. Harry's covers were pushed off onto the floor and his pyjamas were flung into separate corners. Severus picked the knit pyjama top up from where Harry had thrown it. "Nevertheless, you will wear them. It is too cold for you to be running around naked."

"I's not naked." Harry said petulantly, indicating his underpants.

"Close enough," Severus said as he forced Harry's arms into the sleeves, getting the pyjama top onto him even with Harry twisting and turning to try and get away. Draco picked up the sheets and blankets to remake the bed.

"Meany," Harry muttered after Severus pulled on his pyjama bottoms in spite of his loud protests. Draco snorted as he helped Harry into bed and pulled the blankets up over him.

Severus glared down at Harry and Harry glared back at him. "Mr. Potter, I will continue to be a 'meany', as you put it, until you learn to keep your clothes on."

Harry didn't respond, just flopped over onto his stomach.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

"I received a reply from Minerva a few minutes ago. I'm flooing over to see her shortly." Severus said quietly to Draco from the door of the bath. Harry sat in a half-full tub surrounded by a dozen little yellow duckies, splashing and throwing water everywhere. "I should be gone no more than two hours, so keep him as occupied as you can."

Draco nodded, his face dripping with water, the old t-shirt and sweats he normally wore to bathe Harry soaked through. "I'll do my best to keep him from knowing that you're gone," he muttered, keeping one eye on Harry to make sure he didn't hear anything.

"I'm leaving in ten minutes, don't let him out of the bath before then."

Draco snorted. "Keeping him in the bath is not the problem."

Severus smirked as he raised the teacup he was holding in a mock salute, and then drained the last of the tea with a swallow. "I've left breakfast for you on the table."

"Thank you," Draco said turning back to Harry with a flannel in his hand. "I'm starving."

"Ray!" Harry said loudly, bringing his palms down sharply into the bath and sending gouts of water all over the walls, floor and Draco. "Pays attention!"

Draco mentally hexed Severus for escaping before the battle to get Harry out of the bath began.

"Come on, Harry, it's time to wash."

"No wash! Wanna play! Play, play, play!" Harry sent a jet of water towards Draco, hitting him in the chest.

With a sigh, Draco wiped his face and neck with a towel, then sat on the edge of the tub. "No more playing. Wash, then out."

"No out, no out!" Harry insisted.

"Don't make me tell Daddy Sev that he has to come and get you out, Harry," Draco warned in a solemn tone.

"Eep," Harry squeaked and immediately sat still. "No tells Daddy Sev. I's be good."

Twenty minutes later, Harry was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, his hair damp and sticking up in all different directions. While Harry was occupied with his eggs and toast, Draco retrieved his wand and cleaned up the lake of water left on the bathroom floor, drying all the surfaces and levitating Harry's duckies up to a shelf that Severus had installed just under the ceiling and out of Harry's reach.

"Where you goes, Ray?" Harry asked when Draco came back into the kitchen and sat next to him.

"I had to clean up the mess left over from your bath," Draco replied, pouring a cup of tea and helping himself to some toast.

"I not makes a mess!" Harry insisted indignantly. "Water won't stays in baf!"

"I know," Draco said reassuringly. "Bad water."

"Yup," Harry nodded his head soberly as he picked up a bite of banana. "Bad water. Good Harry."

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Severus stepped out of the fireplace in the Headmistress's office expecting to be hit with a devastating number of bad memories. He was surprised and pleased to find that the office looked nothing like he remembered it. Even the desk was different from the heavy mahogany antique that Dumbledore had favoured, and all the former Headmasters' portraits had been removed. The wall was now blank, grey stone.

Minerva stood behind her desk as Severus emerged. "Nice to see you alive, Severus," she said sarcastically. "Care to explain how you managed that feat?"

"I would not, Minerva," Severus replied, sitting in the nearest chair. "Suffice it to say that after Arthur was attacked I took certain…precautions to safeguard myself from Nagini."

Minerva nodded. "I should have known that you couldn't be taken by surprise like that, but Mr. Potter insisted that he saw you die."

"He saw what I wanted him to see. It was necessary for my safety and his."

She came around the desk and settled in the chair next to him. "Shall I call for tea?"

"Please," Severus said.

The house elf that brought the tea swiftly prepared each cup, laying out the tray on the low table between them, and then popped silently away.

"Since I know that you didn't write to me just for a visit, please tell me what you came for," Minerva said after a few minutes of silence.

"Minerva, before I can do that, I must tell you that I require the utmost secrecy." Severus stirred his tea, then set the spoon aside. "You must swear never to mention this conversation to anyone unless I allow it."

"That's rather strict, Severus. Is this about your supposed death?"

"No. While I don't want the fact that I'm alive getting out to the Wizarding World just yet, this is much more serious."

"I see," Minerva said thoughtfully. "What can you tell me that will help me make a decision?"

Severus stared at her for several seconds before speaking, carefully gathering his thoughts. "Do you remember when Miss Granger was cursed?"

Minerva nodded sadly. "How could I forget? She was found naked and unconscious next to the Forbidden Forest. The Death Eater who cursed her was dead a few feet away."

"Have you kept up with St. Mungo's supposed treatment of her?"

Minerva shuddered. "The things that they have done to that poor girl in the name of finding a cure are criminal. Honestly, why don't they just put her with competent people who can care for her and let her live out her years as a child?"

"They have no prognosis as to whether or not she'll stay the way she is, or eventually grow up again?" Severus asked curiously. He knew the answer, but wanted to find out what Minerva knew.

"No, they have no idea even what they're doing because no one has ever seen or heard of a spell that de-ages the mind but not the body.  With the damage that they have done with their 'treatments' so far, she may never recover her sanity even if she starts to age again mentally." Minerva eyed him speculatively. "What does this have to do with you?"

Severus placed his teacup on the table and folded his hands in his lap. "There was someone else with her when she was cursed."

Minerva's mouth fell open. "Someone…someone else? Who? Where is this person?"

"That's the reason I need you to swear a Wizard's Oath, Minerva," Severus said evenly. "I trust you, but mistakes happen."

She nodded and took out her wand. Severus watched the magic briefly swirl around her as she swore her oath.

"Satisfied?" she asked, putting her wand away.

"Yes, thank you," Severus said gravely, accepting her oath with the respect it deserved. He refilled his teacup and settled back into his chair. "The other person who was with Miss Granger that day was Harry Potter."

The shattering of Minerva's teacup on the floor of her office was the only sound. Severus sat in silence as Minerva wept into her hands, offering neither comfort nor condemnation.

When she had composed herself, a damp handkerchief now clenched in her hands, she said hoarsely, "Tell me."

"I don't know how they wound up in the Forbidden Forest together, or how they were discovered by the remaining Death Eaters. I was still recovering and had heard nothing of the incident. Two days after it happened, I was out in a little known part of the forest looking for some ingredients I needed for my potions. I found Potter at the bottom of a small ravine. He was filthy, cold and severely dehydrated. I suspect that if I had not found him when I did, he would have been dead within hours."

Minerva nodded. "That would be why the search turned up no one else," she said. "He had wandered too far away from the original site of the attack."

"Yes," Severus said. "I was too weak to get him out of the ravine on my own, and my magic was unpredictable at best because of the snake bite and the antidote potions I was taking. I managed a weak Patronus and sent it to Draco Malfoy to come and help me. He was the only one at the time who knew I was alive."

"He found you?" Minerva asked. "In the Shrieking Shack?"

"He came to get me after Potter defeated the Dark Lord so that I could have a burial. Imagine his surprise to find me still alive," Severus said wryly.

"I can imagine." Minerva's voice was filled with humor. "Please continue."

"We took Potter to Grimmauld Place, but it wasn't safe." Severus gazed at the cup of tea in his hands. "The Ministry was making noises about searching the house for so-called Dark Artifacts and was within a few days of finalizing the paperwork for the search. Kreacher helped us move Harry and certain items from Grimmauld Place that we didn't want to fall into the hands of the Ministry. Even now he is the one who keeps us supplied with food and other necessities. Harry was comatose for nearly two weeks and we almost lost him twice."

"Where did you move to?" Minerva asked.

"We moved to one of the old Order safe houses that hadn't been used since the first war. I don't think that anyone even remembered its existence."

"How did you find it?"

"Dumbledore's portrait told me about it during my time as Headmaster. He recommended it to me if I needed a place to…escape to." Severus looked at the blank wall where the portraits had hung. "Where are they now?"

Minerva laughed. "I moved them to another section of the office. I can't remove them from the Headmaster's suite, but I couldn't stand their constant chattering and so-called 'advice'."

"I don't blame you. They drove me mad on more than one occasion." Severus waved a hand, dismissing the topic. After a long sip of tea he continued. "When Potter woke, I realised that I had more to deal with than just an extremely sick man. Draco did some investigating for me and found out that Miss Granger had been hit with the same curse. It was some time before we could find out any particulars of how they were treating her and we made a few of the same mistakes during that time."

Minerva sucked in a breath. "What happened?"

"I tried Legilimency on him. His mind was a seething pit of dark magic. It nearly killed both of us and he screamed in agony for two days afterward." Severus looked at the fire crackling cheerfully a few feet away from him. "Then Draco used magic in front of him. It was just a simple cleaning charm, but Harry turned into a raging maniac, nearly beating Draco to a bloody pulp. I have never seen anything like it. Even the sight of one of our wands will bring out an aggression so fierce that we have to lock him up until it stops."

"I assume you've come to me after all this time because you need help," Minerva said.

"Yes. Draco has been the primary caretaker for Harry and I have been helping when I can while trying to do most of the research. We are both exhausted and Draco is nearly at the end of his endurance. Kingsley knows about what we're doing, he has for months, but he can't do anything significant to help because of his duties as Minister." Severus grimaced. "I need assistance with the research and someone to take care of Harry a couple of times a week so that Draco can get a full night's sleep."

"Do you have anyone in mind?"

"No," Severus admitted. "I was hoping you could help me find someone. The person who's going to help with Harry must be physically strong, but not a bully. Harry can be…resistant."

Minerva snorted a laugh. "Aren't all toddlers?"

Severus smirked at the statement, then turned serious. "Unfortunately, Harry isn't just any toddler, he's a grown man with the mind of a small child. He doesn't understand most of the world anymore."

"You'll need at least two people, one of whom excels at research and has access to the sort of books you won't find in a regular library. I assume you'll want an Unbreakable Vow from them?"

"Most likely," Severus replied. "If it's someone I already know I can trust, I'll settle for a Wizards Oath, but I can't let them in without one or the other."

Minerva looked contemplative. "Give me a couple of days, I'll let you know who I can find."

Severus rose to his feet. "Thank you," he said as he took a pinch of floo powder. "Try not to recommend anyone from St. Mungo's. They're just a bunch of barbarians and I won't have them anywhere near Harry."

Minerva smiled at him. "I thought you might feel that way. I'll stay away from there."

Severus nodded, and then called out "Baron's Cottage" as he disappeared in swirl of green flames.

Early March

Severus stepped out of the floo into an empty sitting room. He locked the floo back up and then went to return his wand to its normal hiding spot in his bedroom. After it was safely put away, Severus went to investigate the thumping and loud noises coming from the boys' bedroom. He opened the door to the sound of Harry yelling "Stupid-fly!" and toys hitting the walls, followed by gleeful laughter. From the doorway, he could see that the room was a disaster area with Draco lying on his bed watching Harry, who was sitting on the floor surrounded by a large variety of Muggle toys. He had an assortment of stuffed animals at one end of the room partially hidden under his bed, large plastic action figures at the other end where Draco's bed was, and dozens of green army men flung everywhere.

"It looks like the dragons are getting ready to attack," Draco said lazily, gesturing to the two stuffed dragons amongst the other toys. "You may want to do something about that."

"No, no, no! Bad dragons, bad!" Harry yelled, crawling around the room to pick up a handful of the green army men. "Red-duck-go!" One by one, he threw the army men at the dragons, managing to hit the larger of the two. Then he jumped to his feet and bounced around the room with his hands in the air.

"I wins, I wins!" Harry shouted gleefully.  He brought his hands down and started to pull his t-shirt over his head.

"Mr. Potter," Severus snapped, stepping fully into the room. "Leave your clothes on."

Harry stopped in the middle of his victory dance, letting go of his shirt and dropping his hands to his side. "Daddy Sev, where's you been? You missed the war!" Harry waved his arms around to indicate the toys.

"I assure you, Mr. Potter, I did not miss it," Severus said. "You won."

"Yup. I always wins." Harry nodded his head vigorously, his smile wide. Then he narrowed his eyes at Severus as his hand strayed to the bottom of his shirt. "Boys who wins gets to take off their shirts," he said as he slowly started to pull up on the hem.

"No, they do not," Severus said emphatically. "Not unless they want to be punished. Boys who win are allowed to clean up the mess they created in their bedroom."

Harry looked around the room with a frown. "Not a mess," he declared obstinately. "Is a war zone." He then strode over to the laundry bin and threw open the lid. He reached in and pulled out an armload of dirty clothes, dumped them on the stuffed animals, then knelt down and started patting the clothes around the toys.

"Mr. Potter," Severus barked while Draco laughed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Bury the losers," Harry said calmly. "They's dead."

With that, Draco stopped laughing and got off the bed. "Harry, go have lunch with Daddy Sev," he said, gently pulling Harry to his feet, then pushing him towards the door. "I'll clean up the war."

It was too early for lunch, but Harry never turned down food. He eagerly grasped Severus's hand. "Lunch, lunch," he said, pulling on Severus. "Wan' sammitch!"

With a last look at Draco over his shoulder, he allowed Harry to pull him out of the room. Draco was standing in the middle of the "war zone" looking tired and sad. "Lie down and take a nap, Draco," Severus said. "I'll watch Harry for the rest of the day."

Draco looked up from his contemplation of the floor. "Thanks, Severus. I could use the sleep."

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Draco woke six hours later to the muffled sound of Harry shouting and banging on the wall. He rolled out of the bed, pulled on his trousers and shirt, then stumbled into the sitting room. He found Harry standing in the corner with his face to the wall and Severus sitting in his chair with his arms folded and a fierce scowl on his face.

"No corner! No, no, no!" Harry yelled as he pounded his fists against the wall and then laid his forehead into the corner. "Wan' Ray! Wan' Ray NOW!"

"Mr. Potter," Severus said firmly. "You will remain in that corner until you have been quiet for a full five minutes. If you have woken Mr. Malfoy, I will add an additional five minutes."

"Wan' Ray." Harry sniffled as he wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Ray's not s'posed to sleeps wiffout me. How comes you let Ray sleeps wiffout me?"

Quietly Draco backed out of the room before Harry saw him. This was one of those lessons that Harry always struggled with, and it wouldn't help to have Draco there as a distraction.

The minutes ticked by as Harry slowly settled down, finally falling silent except for the occasional sniffle. Draco sat on the floor just outside the room waiting for Severus to release Harry from the corner. The minutes seem endless, but finally Draco heard Severus say, "You may leave now, Mr. Potter."

There was the sound of scuffling feet, then Severus asked, "What do you say, Harry?"

"I's sorry, Daddy Sev," Harry's voice was low, but with mutinous undertones. "I's be good next time."

"Very good," Severus said. "I do believe Mr. Malfoy is waiting for you outside the door."

Draco laughed. He should have known that he couldn't hide from Severus.

"Ray!" Harry yelled as he poked his head out of the doorway. He looked around the hallway before noticing Draco. His eyes widened comically. "Ray, why's you on the floor?"

"It's comfortable," Draco said as he pushed himself to his feet.

Severus came out of the door. "Dinner will be shortly," he said and stalked off to the kitchen.

Draco held out a hand. "Come on Harry, let's go read a book. I'm sure Daddy Sev will appreciate some quiet."

Harry grabbed Draco's hand and allowed Draco to lead him to the sofa. "Why's Daddy Sev upset, Ray?" Harry asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Draco said as he opened a children's book about rabbits. "It's just grown-up stuff."

"'Kay," Harry said happily, leaning his head against Draco's shoulder. Draco read the book with Harry pointing at the pictures that moved across the page.

When Draco closed the book, Harry leaned over and smacked a kiss on Draco's cheek. "I loves you, Ray," he said quietly and then bounced off the sofa and ran out of the room. Draco stared after him with a shocked look on his face.

"Dinner's ready," Severus said as he walked into the sitting room. Seeing Draco's expression he asked, "What did Harry do this time?"

Draco's eyes cut over to Severus. "He told me he loves me." His voice betrayed his surprise.

Severus's eyes widened a bit, but then his face settled into a smirk. "I'm not surprised," he said. "You have spent nearly every minute with him for over nine months."

"But he's never said anything like that before," Draco said worriedly. "What if it's the curse?"

Severus looked thoughtful for a moment. "It could be, but I doubt it. I think that Harry is starting to grow mentally and is learning to express his emotions."

Draco nodded, hoping that Severus was right.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Severus exited the floo to Minerva's office the next afternoon. He brushed off the soot as he moved to sit in the chair he normally occupied.

"Minerva," he said to the headmistress. "I was glad to hear from you. Whom have you found?"

"Severus," she said, coming around the desk and standing next to him. "I think that the woman I have found will be able to help with Harry and she also has access to a huge library."

Severus narrowed his eyes at her. "There are few women who would have that kind of access and be willing to help us. Most are wives of former Death Eaters."

There was a knock on the outer office door and Minerva moved to open it. Seeing who was standing on the other side, Severus stood and backed away towards the floo, his hand reaching for the pot of floo-powder. "Minerva," he growled. "What have you done?"

"Severus, sit down." Minerva stood aside as Narcissa Malfoy entered the office. "She is here to help you."

"Severus," Narcissa said, holding out her hand. "I couldn't believe it when Minerva told me you were alive."

"Narcissa." Snape wrapped his cloak around him like a shield. "Why are you here? What will you do when Lucius finds out?"

"Lucius will not find out," Minerva said. "Narcissa has given me her oath that nothing said here today will pass beyond these walls, regardless of whether or not she decides to help you."

Narcissa sat in the chair closest to her and Severus sank into the other one, still looking at Minerva. "What made you think of contacting Narcissa?"

"She contacted me, actually," Minerva said dryly. "She has been sending me letters off and on since Draco disappeared wanting to know if I had heard from him. When you came to me the other day, I knew who I needed to contact."

Severus eyed Narcissa carefully. "You know why Draco has broken with your family."

Narcissa nodded. "Yes. Lucius is determined to do whatever is necessary to regain his power. It makes no difference to him that Harry spoke for him at his trial, or that Draco will be the one to endure the consequences of his machinations. Lucius cannot see past his aspirations."

"What is it you propose?" Severus asked.

Narcissa settled back in her chair. "I don't know the particulars, but Minerva has told me that you need help with a child. In addition, she has said that you require access to some books that would not be…readily available elsewhere. While I am not the greatest researcher, I am more than able to help with the child along with assisting where I can with the research."

"All of that is true," Severus said. "Are you willing to give me an unbreakable vow to keep silent about the situation?"

Narcissa's eyes were steady. "I am willing. You once did the same for me, how could I possibly refuse?"

Severus inclined his head, acknowledging the truth of her statement. "Before I accept, I need to know what you are going to tell Lucius. You are going to be away from the Manor quite a bit and he is bound to notice."

Narcissa waved her hand negligently. "It is of no consequence since I'm rarely home anyway. I will simply tell him that I am helping with some charity or another, or that I'm spending time in France. Provided that you do not regularly need me on weekends, we will not have a problem."

"That should work, although we will need you to spend at least one or two nights a week with us." Severus stood and held out his hand to Narcissa and she laughed lightly.

"I may just decide to move to 'France' permanently," Narcissa said as she put her hand in his. "I doubt Lucius would even care. He is so focused on politics, he rarely has time for me."

The vow took only a few minutes with Minerva as the bonder. When it was done, an elf brought up a tea tray and the three of them settled back in their chairs. There was silence for a few minutes as each prepared their cup, but finally Narcissa broke the quiet.

"Tell me what's going on." She took a sip of tea and looked at Severus.

Severus sighed and began the tale.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Severus had the beginnings of a raging headache by the time he finished telling Narcissa the entire story. He rubbed his hand over his eyes, wishing that he had time for a nap. He looked up when he felt a light touch on his shoulder and saw Minerva standing next to him holding a vial of headache potion.

"Thank you," he said, drinking the potion and returning the empty vial to Minerva.

"Well," Narcissa said, her voice hoarse and her eyes suspiciously shiny. "That was not what I expected."

Severus smirked. "Harry Potter is nothing if not the master of the unexpected."

"True," Narcissa said wryly, folding her hands in her lap. "Now, about the research you've been doing. Do you have a list of the books that you have already read?"

Severus pulled a parchment from his robes and handed it to her. She scanned it quickly, then asked, "Minerva, may a use some parchment and a quill?"

The paper was quickly passed over to her and she scratched a note along with a short list, then called. "Timmy!"

A tiny house elf appeared at her elbow. "How can Timmy be serving Mistress Narcissa?" it squeaked.

"Retrieve these books from the main library. Bring them here." Narcissa handed the house elf the list and it popped away.

Severus cocked an eyebrow at her and she smiled. "Timmy is bound to me personally. He was a gift a few years ago from the Parkinsons back when they were trying to convince Lucius to betroth Draco to Pansy. Since he is not bound to the Malfoy family, he can be trusted to bring books back and forth." Narcissa turned to Minerva. "I will use your office as the transfer place for the book, if it's acceptable to you. It's a neutral location and safer than sending Timmy to Severus's house."

"Of course," Minerva said with satisfaction. "It's a perfect solution."

Timmy popped back in with four large books, set them on the table next to Narcissa, then popped back out. Severus stood and retrieved the books, then led the way to the floo.

"Is your wand safely hidden?" He asked. At her nod, he said, "Then shall we go meet Harry?"

Narcissa took a pinch of floo powder. "After you," she said.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

"Harry, get back here!" Draco called, chasing him down the hallway.

"No jammies! No, no, no!" Harry shouted back as the door to the sitting room slammed.

Draco growled in frustration. "I swear, if I dared to use my wand in front of him, I would Obliviate that word right out of his head." He strode into the sitting room, then stopped dead in his tracks, his face slack with astonishment. Harry was standing naked in front of the fireplace, staring wide-eyed at the two people who had just emerged.

"Mother," Draco said, keeping his voice steady in spite of his racing heart. "What are you doing here?"

Harry's head swung to look at Draco, then back to Severus and Narcissa. He backed away until he was standing next to Draco.

"Ray," Harry said, his eyes never leaving Narcissa's face. "Whozzat wif Daddy Sev?"

Draco tore his eyes away from his mother, whose face was soft with sympathy. "Harry," he said firmly. "Pyjamas first, then I'll tell you who it is."

Harry's face turned defiant as he finally looked at Draco. "No jammies, Ray!" he exclaimed, stomping his foot.

Draco crossed his arms. "Fine then, I won't tell you."

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Severus put a hand on Narcissa's arm to keep her from approaching the two boys. Draco ignored both of them, looking steadily at Harry while holding onto the pyjama bottoms.

Harry huffed in exasperation, then sat on the floor. Draco knelt next to him to help him into the bottoms, and then pulled the soft knit top over his head. "Very good, Harry," Draco said softly as Harry climbed to his feet. "Come on now, there's someone for you to meet."

Harry held tightly to Draco's hand as they approached Narcissa. With a gentle hand on Harry's back, Draco pushed Harry forward to stand in front of him. "Harry," he said. "This is Narcissa Malfoy, my mother. Mother, this is Harry."

Narcissa face betrayed no recognition as she held her hand out to Harry. "Harry, I'm so glad to meet you."

Harry backed into Draco, then turned to look at him, his eyes wild and full of tears. "Ray," he whispered urgently. "Is she Mummy? I's been wishing for a mummy, is that her?"

Draco pulled Harry to him and wrapped his arms around Harry's shaking shoulders. Draco's eyes caught and held Narcissa's and she nodded her head with a slight smile.

"Yes, Harry," he said, his voice close to Harry's ear. "She's Mummy. She's come to help me and Daddy Sev take care of you."

With a cry, Harry wrenched out of Draco's arms and launched himself at Narcissa. She would have stumbled as she caught Harry in her arms, but Severus steadied her from behind.

"Mummy, where's you been?" Harry cried. Narcissa was several inches shorter than Harry was, but Harry managed to bury his face in her shoulder. "I missed you, Mummy. I missed you so much."

"I've been away, Harry," Narcissa said, one hand settled on his back and the other stroked his hair. "But I'm here now."

"Draco, can I have a moment?" Narcissa stood at the bedroom door, watching Draco read to a half-asleep Harry.

Draco looked up from the book. "Of course, Mother. Just let me finish here."

She nodded. "I'll be in the sitting room."

Draco finished reading the book and looked over to find Harry sound asleep, his face buried in his pillow. Draco set the book aside and leaned over to press a kiss to Harry's forehead. "You're going to come back to us, Harry," he murmured as he did nearly every night. "I promise we'll find a way. I want a chance to find out if we can be real friends." He stroked a hand down Harry's back, then left the room, closing the door behind him.

Draco walked into the sitting room and sat on the sofa. "Mother," he said softly to the woman sitting in the armchair across from him. "Why are you here?"

Narcissa hesitated, her hands twisting slightly in her lap. "Is it not enough that I was desperate to find you after all this time?" she hedged.

"No, Mother, it isn't." Draco sat back and crossed his legs. "You know perfectly well why I left and why I did so with no notice. Lucius was going to take the opportunity that Harry had handed him on a silver platter and destroy it. I wasn't going to stay around for that."

Narcissa flushed. "I do know that and I understand."

"But?" Draco asked.

"When Minerva told me that she might know where you were…I would have done…anything to see you again."

"And what about Lucius?"

Narcissa shook her head. "I told Severus that I would need to be back at the Manor on weekends, but I doubt I'll even need to be there that much. Lucius takes no notice of me any longer. I believe that he harbors some resentment that I lied to the Dark Lord and therefore aided the other side. He has chosen to forget how low we were brought, how humiliated he was when the Dark Lord took his wand."

Draco contemplated his mother's face. "What do you plan to do now that you're here?"

Narcissa smiled faintly. "I want us to be a family again."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Family? As in…you and me?"

"Family, meaning you, me, Severus, and Harry for as long as he needs us." She looked away from Draco. "I want the opportunity to start again and hopefully do it right this time."

Draco nodded. It was the correct answer and he was relieved that there seemed to be no deception hiding in his mother's words. "How are you going to get books we need out of the Manor's library without Lucius noticing?" he asked, changing the subject.

Narcissa visibly relaxed. "I will have Timmy help. He's going to bring books to Minerva's office and then take back the one's that we no longer need. We will only be able to bring three or four books at a time, but I think we can do it several times a week. Also, I will use part of the time that I'm back at the Manor to pull anything else from the library that we may need."

"You're going to have to be very cautious. Lucius knows more of what's in that library than anyone else."

"I know," Narcissa sighed. "But I can't think of any other way to do it."

"If you're caught…"

"I'll think of something," she said. "I won't be able to tell him the truth because of the Unbreakable Vow, but I'll work on coming up with something."

"I'll help you as much as I can," Draco said, standing.

"Thank you," Narcissa whispered, holding out her hand.

Draco impulsively leaned over and hugged her. "Good night, Mother," he whispered. "I'm glad you're here."

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

"Mummy, Mummy!" Severus heard Harry yelling from his room. Severus dragged himself out of bed with a look at the clock. He opened his bedroom door just as Harry came bounding out of his room and down the hall toward the guest room, where Narcissa was sleeping.

"Mr. Potter," Severus said, trying to clear the fog from his head. "What are you doing?"

Harry stopped and turned to Severus. "Going to see my mummy," he said grinning and then he was off again.

"Harry!" Severus said sharply. "It is five in the morning, you will not wake Narcissa."

Harry stopped just in front of Narcissa's door. He stomped his feet and growled, but then shuffled back into his room. As he grabbed hold of the doorframe, Severus said, "Do not slam that door, Mr. Potter, or you will spend the entire day in your room, without Mummy."

The door closed softly and Severus could hear Draco's voice behind from behind the door followed by Harry whining. He couldn't stop a smirk from forming at the thought of that conversation. Harry hated to be told that he was wrong.

Severus looked up from his contemplation to see Narcissa smiling at him from the doorway as she belted her robe around her. She crooked her fingers at him and he followed her back into her room.

"Has he always been like this?" she asked, sitting on the bed, while Severus took the one chair in the room.

"No, only since last year. Now, he is hotheaded, stubborn and determined to get his way." Severus laughed shortly. "With the exception of the constant desire to remove his clothing, he is exactly as I accused him of being all those years in school."

Narcissa tilted her head at him. "You accused him of those things, but he wasn't like that?" she asked.

Severus shook his head. "No," he said bitterly, nearly choking on the word. "He never was, but I refused to see anything but James in him. It wasn't until after he was…injured, that I realised how wrong I had been."

"And now, you're getting an overabundance of that attitude and no way of stopping it." Narcissa laughed at Severus's scowl. "It's a little bit of justice, don't you think?"

Severus glared at her, then left the room to go back to his own bed.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Late March

Draco was sitting down to breakfast with Severus when a yell from Harry and the sound of running feet came from down the hall. "Harry James Potter!" Narcissa's voice was firm, but not loud. The feet skidded to a halt as Draco laughed, spraying tea all over the table. Severus was hiding his face behind the Daily Prophet, but Draco knew that Severus was trying not to laugh as well. Draco reached for a towel and began wiping the tea from the table. "If I'd known before that the solution to our problems with Harry was Narcissa Malfoy, I'd have brought her in long ago," Draco said with a smirk. Severus looked up from the paper with a small smile. "It is quite amazing how well he responds to her." A rebellious looking, but quiet Harry came into the kitchen and sat down in his chair next to Draco with a low "Hmph!" Narcissa entered a moment later.

Draco looked at his mother as she sat across the table from them. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and her clothes were more casual than Draco had ever seen. She was wearing trousers, something she had never done before. He had seen her looking like this almost every morning for the last two weeks and it still amazed him.

"Ray," Harry whispered and Draco turned to look at him, while Narcissa lifted an eyebrow in their direction. Severus went back to hiding behind the paper.

"What is it Harry?" Draco asked placidly, tying the dishtowel around Harry's neck and then plating up his eggs and toast.

"Wanna baf," Harry said unhappily, as he struggled to get some eggs on his spoon. "Wanna play wif the duckies."

"No bath today," Draco said firmly. "Mummy said you didn't go to bed when you were supposed to last night."

Harry's mouth turned down and he started to pull his hand back in anticipation of throwing the spoonful of egg.

"Don't do it, Harry," Narcissa said calmly. "Unless you want to spend the day with your face in the corner."

"Why's you so mean?" Harry whined. "Daddy Sev's the meany. You's a mummy and mummy's not s'posed to be mean."

Severus set the paper down and smirked at Narcissa. Narcissa simply stirred her tea in gentle circles.

"I'm only mean when one of my boys doesn't do as they're told," she said as she took a sip of tea.

Harry looked over at Draco. "Ray…"

"Don't look at me, Harry," Draco said. "She's my mother, too."

Harry's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Hmph!"

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Severus looked up from the latest book that Timmy had retrieved from the Manor's library. He was trying to decipher the thousand-year-old text when he realised that there was no sound coming from the boys' bedroom. Narcissa was at the Manor for the afternoon and Harry had dragged Draco to their room to play after Severus had issued a firm "No" to going outside.

He walked down the hallway and silently pushed the door to the bedroom open. Draco was on his bed asleep with his arm wound around Harry, who was lying next to him holding tightly onto one of his stuffed dragons. Harry's eyes were open and glazed. They seemed to be looking at something only Harry could see. Slowly Severus entered the room and walked over to stand in front of Harry. He waited for a moment, but nothing happened, Harry's eyes continued to stare unseeingly at some distant point.

Severus put a hand on Draco's shoulder and felt Draco stir and then raise his head. "Sev…" He started to speak but Severus cut him off with a slight squeeze of his hand on Draco's shoulder. Then he lifted his hand slowly to point at Harry. Draco cautiously shifted until he was looking at Harry's face. He gazed at him for a moment, then looked over at Severus.

"Try to wake him," Severus whispered.

Draco leaned over. "Harry," he said softly.

There was no movement, so Draco placed a hand on Harry's chest. "Harry," he said again.

"Draco," Harry said in a faint voice, and Severus was shocked. Draco apparently felt the same thing because his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. Harry was speaking in the adult voice that no one had heard for almost a year.

"Draco," Harry said again, shifting slightly.

"Harry, where are you?" Draco asked.

"Safe," Harry breathed. "I saved us."

Severus was frantically trying to figure out what was happening and who Harry thought he had saved, when Harry suddenly blinked and looked up at Draco with confusion.

"Harry," Draco said and Harry blinked again and smiled.

"Ray!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, the child-like voice returning. "We tooks a nap!"

Draco's smile was strained. "We did. Are you ready to get up?"

"Yup!" Harry rolled out of the bed and bounded out the door, still clutching the stuffed dragon. "Come on Ray!"

Draco sat up slowly, scrubbing a hand over his face. "What just happened?"

Severus perched on the edge of the bed. "I have no idea. I'll talk to Narcissa and Minerva later, maybe they'll have some clue. Have you ever seen him do anything like this before?"

Draco shook his head. "No, never. I would have told you straightaway if it had. Although, it certainly could have happened before now. I would have never known this time if you hadn't come into the room."

"This means something," Severus mused. "Something important."

"But what is it?"

"Ray!" Harry's voice came from the hallway. "Come on!"

Severus pushed to his feet. "I may want to look at your memory when I talk to Minerva."

"It's not a problem," Draco said, walking towards the door. "Just get me an empty vial and I'll do it after Harry's in bed tonight."

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Severus watched as the two women emerged from the Pensieve with identical expressions of sorrow and frustration. Narcissa quickly sat down and poured herself a cup of tea, while Minerva paced back and forth behind her desk.

Just as Severus was about to speak, she turned to look at one of the portraits on the wall. "Phineas," she said, calling out to Phineas Nigellus. A moment later, the former headmaster appeared in his frame with a scowl on his face. Severus wondered what it was Minerva thought she could get from a portrait.

"What is it?" Phineas snapped, as if reading Severus's thoughts.

"I have a question regarding Harry Potter's situation," she said.

"Who?" Phineas yawned overtly, not bothering to cover his painted mouth. "I have no idea whom you're speaking of."

"Stop that, Phineas," Minerva said, irritated at his attitude. "You know very well who I'm talking about. You ran around the country with him for the better part of a year, stuffed into Miss Granger's handbag."

"Oh, yes. Him." Phineas waved a negligent hand as if to dismiss Harry as inconsequential, although his face was tight with remembered disgust.

"I also know that you've heard everything that's been discussed in this office about Mr. Potter," Minerva replied, glaring at the painted image. "I need your help trying to figure this out."

His eyes narrowed, but he bowed slightly. "Always willing to help, Headmistress," he said, sarcasm evident in his voice. "But don't you think Albus would suit you better?"

Minerva rolled her eyes and Severus barely contained a laugh. "Right," she said drolly. "Albus is off in some other portrait, as you very well know, you insolent fool."

Narcissa leaned forward in her seat. "Phineas," she said softly and his eyes snapped to hers.

"Mistress Black, a true pleasure to see you," Phineas said with real respect and a true bow. "How may I serve you?"

"You can serve me by answering the headmistress's questions," Narcissa said with an arrogant tilt to her head and haughty disdain in her voice. "Truthfully."

Phineas's lip curled with contempt, but he turned to Minerva. "What is it you want?" he snarled.

Quickly, Minerva summarised Harry's affliction and then described the memory she had just viewed. "Do you know of any dark spell that could cause such brain damage, or the reaction Harry had yesterday?"

Phineas adopted a contemplative expression as he sat back in his painted chair to think. "There is no spell that I know of that would cause an adult to become a child mentally, but not physically," he said seriously as he tilted his head back and appeared to study the frame surrounding his portrait. "However, have you considered that his brain retreating to a child-like state is not because of the spell, but his magic's attempt to protect Potter from the spell?"

Sudden clarity hit Severus and he leapt from his chair. "He said 'I saved us.' What if he did something just as the spell hit him and Miss Granger that was an attempt to protect them from the curse?"

Narcissa was nodding. "Yes," she said, her voice calm, but her eyes radiated excitement. "He could have recognised the spell and done something to try and counteract it."

"Or, it could have been accidental magic," Minerva added. "Otherwise, he would have had to react with almost inhuman speed. Accidental magic would need no conscious thought."

Severus nodded agreement. "That does make more sense. Harry's wild magic has always been very strong and unpredictable."

"But what was the spell that he was cursed with?" Phineas asked from his frame. "It had to have been one that would have seriously injured or killed them, otherwise Potter's magic would not have reacted the way that it did."

Severus considered Phineas's words. "When I attempted Legilimency on him, he nearly died. When anyone does magic in front of him, he has an overwhelmingly negative reaction."

Minerva spoke up. "It may be that his mental fortifications can't stand against any type of magic and that's the only way it has of protecting him."

"So what do we do?" Narcissa asked. "How do we solve this?"

Severus looked at Narcissa and then at Minerva. "I don't know," he finally said.

Late April

Draco watched with amusement as Harry once again waged war with the toys. It was by far his favorite pastime and once he got started, Draco could sit back and relax, keeping an eye on Harry while his brain sorted through the latest round of information.

The last month had produced no solutions to the problem of Harry's curse, and he and Narcissa were beginning to believe that Harry would continue on this way for the rest of his life. Severus, of course, refused to give in to that line of thought and had become even more determined to find out what curse had been used on Harry and how to counteract it.

Even Madam Pomfrey had been brought in two weeks ago to run diagnostics. They had waited until Harry was deeply asleep and then Severus had carefully placed him under a strong sleeping spell. They didn't dare to give him any potions because no one knew how they would interact with the curse. Even placing him under a spell was a risk, but they had no other solutions that would allow Madam Pomfrey the freedom to use her wand without waking Harry.

Madam Pomfrey had run every diagnostic she knew and then had consulted with a private healer through the floo to learn a few more. The only conclusion she had been able to confidently state was that he had been hit with a very strong unknown curse and for some reason Harry's magic was holding it at bay rather than letting it kill him.

The strangest aspect of it all had happened when Madam Pomfrey had demanded to see Granger. Three days later, she was allowed into Granger's hospital room after the bureaucratic pinheads had finally run out of excuses as to why Madam Pomfrey couldn't see Granger. She had run the same diagnostics on Granger and had come up with exactly the same results as she had received with Harry, including Harry's magical signature. The only difference that Madam Pomfrey had found was the irreparable damage done by the Healers in trying to cure her.

The Healers at St. Mungo's had demanded to see the results of her tests, but she hadn't shown them. Now, thanks to Kingsley Shacklebolt, paperwork was being rushed through the Ministry to turn over custody of Granger to Narcissa.

Severus, with his over-the-top guilt complex, had immediately started blaming himself for all of it and snarling at everyone around him. He had made Harry cry more than once and Draco had taken to hiding both of them in their room except for mealtimes. It had taken four days of Narcissa glaring at Severus and telling him to get over it, to finally make him to stop proclaiming that he should have seen it earlier. That he should have known. Whether or not he still believed that he was totally at fault was anybody's guess, but at least he had stopped saying it aloud.

A sudden shout of "Can-free-go!" and a half-dozen stuffed animals being thrown into the air dragged Draco from his thoughts. When he looked over, Harry had another batch of toys in his arms.

"Can-free-go!" he shouted again and threw the toys up as hard as he could, laughing as they hit the ceiling and then fell around the room.

"Harry," Draco said. "What are you doing now?"

Harry gave Draco a look that proclaimed loud and clear that Draco was being stupid. "War," he said simply and then started collecting all the toys up into a pile, presumably to blow them up again.

A noise coming from the direction of the sitting room caught Draco's attention. He slipped off his bed and went to look out the open bedroom door. The door to the sitting room was closed, which was not unusual, but there were definitely noises coming from the other side.

Draco turned to find Harry standing at his shoulder. "Are Daddy Sev and Mummy back?" he asked.

"I don't know," Draco said, frowning a bit. "They aren't supposed to be home until dinner-time."

"Let's go see!" Harry said eagerly, heading for the door.

"Harry." Draco put a hand on Harry's arm. "Let me go look. You stay here until I call you."

Harry frowned. "Somesing's wrong."

Draco stood in the doorway, blocking Harry's exit. "Stay here," he said very quietly, trying to keep his voice soothing. "I'll only be a minute and then I'll call you. I'm sure it's only Daddy Sev or Mummy."

Harry's face turned mutinous. "Want to go wif you," he whispered

"Please, Harry," Draco begged in a nearly silent voice, glancing over his shoulder at the still closed door to the sitting room. "Please stay here."

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and took a step back into the room. "'Kay," he said firmly. "But only fors a minute."

Draco heaved a sigh of relief and closed the bedroom door. Quietly he walked over to the sitting room door, pressing his ear to it to see if he could hear who was inside. Draco heard only the rustling of papers. Carefully, he reached out and turned the doorknob, easing the door open.

The man standing next to Severus's chair and rifling through the papers on the table next to it was not Severus. Draco gasped and the man spun around at the sound.

"Draco," Lucius Malfoy said. His face was the blank mask that all Malfoys perfected by the time they were ten, but his eyes gave away his surprise.

"Lucius," Draco said, trying to hide the shock he felt. "How did you find this place?"

Lucius sneered. "Your mother has betrayed me. I had to know where she had disappeared to." He waved a hand at the books on the side table. "And with my property no less."

Draco narrowed his eyes with fury. "What have you done to Mother?" he demanded.

Lucius tilted his head so that he was looking down his nose at Draco. "Nothing, yet," he proclaimed. "I 'questioned' her pitiful little house elf until he told me where Narcissa had been going, and then he brought me here. I assume he has returned home to die."

Draco squeezed his eyes shut for a second. They had let Timmy into the house once a few weeks ago to help Kreacher with supplies. It had not occurred to any of them that this would happen. That Lucius would find a way through the wards because of a house elf.

When he opened his eyes, Lucius had his wand out and trained on Draco. "Where is your mother?" he snapped.

"Lucius, put your wand away!" Draco felt the stirrings of panic and lowered his voice in the hopes that Harry would not hear. "You must put it away now!"

Lucius sneered. "What are you going to do if I don't? Beg?" He laughed cruelly. "I may just let you beg for your life before I kill you. You betrayed the family and left your duties. You disappeared with no word, no notice and left me with the embarrassment of having to explain. I will not forgive you for that."

Draco moved to stand in the doorway. He glanced to the side to see the bedroom door opening and Harry peeking out. Panic overwhelmed him and he screamed "NO!" just as Harry came out of the room.

Lucius looked startled for a moment, then sneered at the look on Draco's face. "Afraid, are you Draco? You sniveling little coward, the least you could do is show some backbone before your death."

Harry stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at Draco with a puzzled look on his face. He had obviously heard Lucius's voice and didn't know who it was.

"Ray?" he said. "Whozzat?"

"Who is with you?" Lucius spat out and Draco made a split-second decision. He slammed the sitting room door behind him and leaned against it, hoping to keep Harry out of the room.

Lucius narrowed his eyes at Draco. The doorknob turned and Draco felt Harry pushing on the door. "Ray!" Harry called. "Let's me in!"

Lucius strode up to Draco and roughly pushed him out of the way. Draco fell to the floor with a cry.

"Harry!" he called out. "Please don't come in. Don't!"

It was too late. The door opened and Harry was staring straight at Lucius Malfoy's wand. Draco laid his head on the floor, his eyes never leaving Harry as he waited for the end.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

"Severus!" Narcissa burst out of the floo in Minerva's office, her robes singed and a look of terror on her face.

Severus lurched out of his seat, followed closely by Minerva. "What happened?" he asked, running his wand over her to check for injuries.

Impatiently she pushed his wand away. "Timmy's been beaten. He confessed to me that Lucius did it and then forced him to take Lucius to where I've been staying."

Severus grabbed the floo-powder, took a handful, then handed it to Minerva. "Let's go," he said.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Harry glowed with rage. His magic swirled up around him as he threw his head back and howled. Draco watched Lucius step back in surprise, but Harry simply followed him, his eyes never leaving Lucius's wand.

"You will die," Harry said in a voice that was not his own. "You and the little girl are going to die right here and now."

What? Draco didn't understand what Harry was saying. He looked to Lucius and saw that his father's face was slack with fear.

"Did you think you could escape?" Harry continued in the strange voice. "Did you think that we wouldn't take revenge?"

Slowly Harry's hand came out and he plucked Lucius's wand from his fingers. Too late, Lucius made a move to stop him, but Harry simply pointed the wand at Lucius's face.

"Stupid boy," Harry said. "Thinking you were safe. You will never be safe from us. We have a new leader now, one who is stronger and smarter than the Dark Lord ever was."

Harry walked steadily towards Lucius until he was backed into the wall. Harry's magic reached out and trapped Lucius to the wall, pinning his hands to his sides and his feet to the floor. Sweat dripped from Lucius's face and ran down his neck, disappearing into the collar of his robes. Suddenly Harry pointed the wand off to the right and yelled "Incarcerous!" Thick ropes exploded from the wand, then fell to the floor when they found no victim. Before Lucius could react, Harry snapped the wand back to point in Lucius's face. "No more of those little hand signals, boy. She isn't going to get away."

Draco suddenly realised that Harry was reliving the moment that he had been cursed, only he was speaking as Thorfin Rowle, the Death Eater who had cursed him and Granger and then been somehow killed.

The sneer that appeared on Harry's face was not something Draco ever wanted to see again. It twisted his face up and made him look utterly evil. In that moment, Draco would have given anything to have the child-Harry back again.

"Lucius is going to be so pleased when I tell him what I've done," Harry crowed, then his voice lowered to a rough whisper. "All the important ones will be out of the way and we'll be free to take over."

Draco's eyes snapped open as he saw Lucius's face crumple. Lucius had done this. Lucius had had Harry cursed.

"You first," Harry said softly. "Then the little girl."

The wand came up to rest on Lucius's forehead and Harry whispered "Frangere Nervis."

Lucius started to shriek. The pitch went higher and higher until he could no longer make a sound. Harry suddenly dropped the wand and felt to the floor screaming and crying.

Draco scrambled over to Harry. Harry's eyes were open and staring straight at Draco. "Help," he said in a strangled voice, then his back arched off the floor and he began screaming again. Draco grabbed Lucius's wand and shouted a stasis spell over Harry. Instantly, Harry stopped moving. Draco ran the only diagnostic spell he knew and saw that the curse had been slowed down but was still advancing throughout Harry's body. He had minutes to figure this out or he would lose Harry.

He ran to the floo, grabbed up a handful of floo powder, but before he could call out for the Hogwarts Infirmary, the floo flared to life and Severus, Narcissa and Professor McGonagall came through.

Draco fell to his knees in relief, the floo-powder dribbling out through his fingers. "Help," he sobbed. "You have to help him."

Professor McGonagall turned back to the floo and left. A moment later she was back with Madam Pomfrey, literally dragging her through the floo.

Severus knelt down next to Harry. "What is it?" he demanded. "What happened?"

"Nerve shattering curse," Draco said as Narcissa helped him back to his feet. "I put him in a temporary stasis, but it's only slowing the curse down, not stopping it."

Severus flinched at Draco's words.

"There's no known counter-curse," Minerva whispered.

Severus looked up. "Poppy, get a vial of Draught of Living Death."

Minerva sucked in a breath. "Severus…"

"I know, Minerva," he said softly, his hand hovering over Harry's chest. "Get Filius, quickly. We'll need to put him into a long-term stasis along with the potion."

Without a glance at Lucius, who lay dead against the wall, Minerva left through the floo again.

"Narcissa," Severus said. "Go check on Granger. We'll need to know how this has affected her and make plans accordingly."

Narcissa nodded, gave Draco a hug, which he gratefully returned, then she was gone.

"Is he going to die?" Draco asked, feeling limp and useless.

"Not if I can help it," Severus said determinedly.

 ~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Late July

Draco sat by Harry's bed watching as his chest moved slowly up, then slowly back down. One breath per minute, two heartbeats per minute were the only proof that Harry still lived.

Bill Weasley stood over Harry, waving his wand and muttering. It had taken three months for a team of the best curse-breakers in the world to develop a counter-curse to Frangere Nervis, and although they had tested it numerous times on different animals, this was the first time they would use it on a human. One of the only two people to ever survive the curse beyond a few minutes.

No one could explain how Harry's magic had wrapped itself around the curse, not only in his own body, but in Granger's as well, and kept them alive for almost a year. Watching Bill now, Draco knew that if Harry didn't survive this attempt to remove the curse, no one would ever know how he'd done it.

Draco's eyes flicked over to Severus, standing guard on the other side of Harry's bed, while Narcissa sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, her eyes never leaving Harry's face. Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick stood at the foot of the bed.

Slowly Bill lowered his wand and nodded to Severus. "It's done."

Severus reached into his robes and removed a vial of the antidote to the Draught of Living Death, while Professor Flitwick started the spell to remove the stasis. Slowly Harry's breathing increased. Three breaths per minute, then ten. After several minutes, he was breathing at a normal sleeping rate.

Professor Flitwick lowered his wand. "Now, Severus," he said, and Severus reached over and dribbled the potion into Harry's mouth, massaging his throat so that he would swallow. When the vial was empty, he stood back.

Nothing happened for several minutes and Draco was beginning to despair. He could feel the tears welling up and he blinked rapidly to stop them from falling. It was not going to work. Harry was either going to stay in a coma forever or die, Draco was certain.

A gasp from Narcissa pulled his gaze and he saw Harry raise a hand. Narcissa reached out and grasped it as Draco jumped out of his chair and leaned over Harry, pushing Bill out of the way.

"Harry," Draco whispered. "It's time to wake up."

Slowly Harry's eyes blinked open, then closed, then open again. Draco looked down into those impossibly green eyes and smiled. "Are you with us?" he asked gently.

Harry's lips curved upwards. "Ray," he whispered and there was a collective sigh of both relief and disappointment.

"Yeah, Harry," Draco whispered, sadness coloring his voice, and this time he didn't try to stop the tears that were dripping down his face. "It's me, Ray."

Harry gently pulled his hand from Narcissa and raised both of his arms out to Draco. Slowly, Draco lowered himself down onto the bed until Harry's arms wrapped around him and Draco pulled him close. "I'm here," Draco whispered in a choked voice.

"Don't cry, Ray," Harry replied in a serious tone. "I'm here too. And this time, I'm going to stay."

Draco buried his face in Harry's neck and sobbed.

~hp~ss~dm~hp~ss~dm~

Late August

Harry stood in the graveyard with Draco next to him gripping his hand. Behind him stood Severus and Narcissa. His family.

Slowly he knelt in front of the headstone engraved with the words Hermione Jean Granger and placed a bouquet of roses at the base.

"I miss you, Hermione," he said softly. "You were my closest friend, the one who stood by me through everything. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better."

Draco knelt next to him. "You did all you could. You mustn't blame yourself."

Harry nodded, but the words didn't penetrate. If only he had stopped Rowle sooner, or had found a way to stop the Death Eaters from escaping after Voldemort's death. If only, if only. He knew that while he would eventually accept that there was nothing more he could have done, it was not going to be today.

He pushed himself to his feet and turned to look at Narcissa and Severus. Narcissa held her arms out to him and he gratefully walked into them. She slowly stroked his hair, but offered no platitudes or promises, and he appreciated that.

Finally, he pulled away from her and reached back to take Draco's hand. "Let's go home," Harry said and Severus laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled.