The following day, Severus sighed quietly, watching Aurora continue to sleep. Pomfrey had given him an update on Aurora's condition a few hours earlier. There wasn't much to that regrettably. While she was healing, it'd be at least a week before she'd have enough strength to remain awake for long periods of time. The last thing Pomfrey had said was that it was only a matter of time before Aurora woke, so he'd just have to be patient. So naturally he was just as impatient as one could be.

Leaning forward in his chair, he brushed her curls back from her face, a ritual he had developed lately. He thanked whoever above that Fudge was now locked up in Azkaban, far from Hogwarts. Otherwise, he'd have seen to the man's death personally. He then sighed with a deep frown. On second thought, he truthfully found himself waiting for word that the Dementors had accidentally sucked out Fudge's soul. It wouldn't happen he knew. Severus couldn't be so lucky, but the hope was there. If only because he knew Fudge's accidental Dementor's Kiss would spare Aurora the pain of a trial later, and they frankly had enough on their plate as it was now.

Then there was Leonidas, who had been moved to a secure, unknown location. Syra days earlier had stripped him of his magic temporarily, which trapped the Dark Lord inside the man. In essence, two birds were killed with one stone, something of which Severus was quite thankful for. He wouldn't have to worry any longer about the Dark Lord attempting to harm his son anymore. That part of their lives was over, and it was long overdue quite frankly.

Severus shook his head then as his mind wandered back to Fudge's Veritaserum-induced interrogation. Sure, Leonidas might not have been as bad as they had all first thought. In fact, he came off as being a seemingly misguided man who quickly became consumed with finding the serum that he lost himself in the process and fell victim to darkness. They had learned during Dumbledore's quick scan of Leonidas's mind that Fudge had suggested to one of the released Death Eaters the idea of the Dark Lord possessing Leonidas's body. The idea was that with the Dark Lord controlling Leonidas, the medical assistant couldn't double cross Fudge then. Yet another display of cowardice and stupidity on Fudge's part. However, all these unfortunate events that occurred to Leonidas didn't change Severus's opinion of the man in the slightest.

In Severus's mind, Leonidas was far from a church boy or some innocent victim. The damning evidence was that according to Dumbledore, it was late April when the Dark Lord took control of Leonidas. So, everything from December to April was Leonidas himself, which meant the good medical assistant was the one who had tortured and experimented on Aurora, not the Dark Lord.

Furthermore, from what they had learned from perusing through Leonidas's mind, it seemed that Leonidas had spent more than a decade grooming Gilderoy Lockhart into being the slick liar he had been before his death. Lockhart truly had been nothing but a fake, as Severus had rightly pointed out at the beginning of the term. The curly blond had stolen the stories of others, Obliviated his victims when he had all the information, and happily took all the credit. He and Leonidas did all this so they could gain access to the Ministry and in turn access to the Project Unicorn files that had been seized by the Ministry decades earlier.

If it hadn't been so pathetic, in fact, Severus might have chuckled at the fact that Weasley had been surprisingly correct. Lockhart had used a glamour charm to hide the fact that he was truly a hideous-looking man. The man wasn't even really a Ravenclaw according to Pomfrey who had finally looked his file up. The only truthful thing about Gilderoy Lockhart was his name. Everything else was elaborate lies he and Leonidas had concocted. In fact, it seemed the only reasons Lockhart had even taken the Defense position at Hogwarts were to steal more stories and lure young witches into his bed. Thankfully, the Chamber of Secrets fiasco helped prevent both from occurring.

Severus shook his head in disbelief. All of this had been a result of four men being consumed by their obsessions. Fudge had been consumed with paranoia to the point where he was convinced that Dumbledore would overthrow the Ministry someday and take away Fudge's power, throwing aside his morals. Leonidas had been consumed with his quest of finding the serum that he stopped at nothing to ensure his success, ignoring his oath to do no harm. Lockhart had been consumed with his vanity and his need to remain popular, becoming a monster that preyed on others. And the Dark Lord had been consumed with his insatiable hunger of dominance and irrational fear of death, damaging his soul beyond all repair in the process. Four men consumed by each of their obsessions that led to their individual downfalls. It was a lesson Severus would have to remember in the future he decided since he had a habit of becoming obsessed easily himself.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, then, and Severus glanced up. He gave his father a slight nod before his eyes darted back to Aurora. His dad had a habit of checking on him now, something Severus secretly enjoyed truth be told.

"She looks better today, doesn't she?" Tobias gruffly said, jerking his head in her direction.

"I suppose." Severus shrugged. She was breathing at least. That was a good sign.

"How are you holding up?"

"Fine." He frowned when he heard his dad's scoff. "What?" He glanced back up. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, sure you are. Bet you'd say that if you just got yer arm ripped off, too."

He scoffed, shaking his head. "What do you want me to say, Dad?"

Tobias half-shrugged and shifted his weight. "Well, the truth would be nice."

"You know how I feel."

"Yeah, but do you?" Tobias replied quietly.

Severus growled under his breath in annoyance. He hated it when his dad tossed questions back at him like that. It was pointless and stupid. However, he guessed it was some sort of annoying parent trait, since he had found himself doing the same to Harry earlier in the day.

"It doesn't matter what I feel. It doesn't change anything. She'd still be like this, and I'd still be waiting for her to wake up. It's just a waste of energy," Severus grumbled before shaking his head. "I thought this stupid link was supposed to help her heal faster." His frown deepened when he heard his dad's snort of amusement. "It's not funny, Dad."

"No. It ain't. But you pouting sort of is."

"I'm not pouting!" The urge to punch the man in the jaw was overwhelming.

"Well, hate to break it to you, but you ain't exactly not pouting."

"I just want her to wake up. Is that so much to ask?"

"No. But this link of yers ain't some miracle thing, though."

"It doesn't seem to be any sort of thing," Severus huffed.

"Kept you two alive now, didn't it?"

"We're bound together, Dad. We share magic, blood, minds, soul, hearts—you name it. But I can't hear her right now. I can't sense her. If Pomfrey didn't have all these damn number things and I didn't see her chest rising, I wouldn't know she was alive." His mouth then snapped shut. He needed to be quiet. It wouldn't do any good anyway.

"Go on."

"What do you mean, 'Go on?" Severus snapped.

"You been pussy-footing around and keeping all this stuff inside since you woke up yesterday. Get it out, son. Trust me. It'll do wonders for you."

He glared at Tobias before shaking his head fiercely. Get it all out. Easy for the old man to say. He huffed loudly and clenched his jaw. His dad was right, which annoyed him to no ends. He needed to get it off his chest, but he couldn't get the words out. He always was pants at talking about his emotions, about his fears.

"I ain't leaving until you do."

"It's not going to make me feel any better," Severus argued.

"You won't know until you at least try," Tobias replied with a half-shrug.

"It doesn't change anything."

"Who you trying to convince here, you or me?"

Severus growled, clenching his fist. His anger was always the one emotion that he could freely express. He turned away from Tobias and kept his eyes focused solely on Aurora's face.

"She begged me, Dad." His mouth clamped shut for several moments before more exploded out of him. The dam inside him burst. "Begged me to let her die. To let her go. And I wouldn't."

"And then?"

"What do you mean, 'And then?" Severus snarled, glaring at his dad. "I didn't want to lose her!" He growled out his frustration. "Merlin, you have no idea how good she is with Harry. I—hell, I didn't even want to tell him that I was his father last year when he nearly died. I thought that it'd just upset the boy needlessly, so I stayed in my rooms. Instead of being with my son in his final moments. Aurora was there, though. She nearly sacrificed herself for him. Just so I'd have a chance to get to know my son. So I'd get this second chance."

"Sounds like a good woman."

"She is, Dad. More than you know." He shook his head, exhaling slowly before he glanced back at her. "I owe her so much. And all I can think about now is how for the first time in my life I'm actually loved back. And I don't want to lose that feeling." He paused for a moment, reaching for her hand. "I don't want my son to lose that feeling either. So when she begged, I held her tighter and pleaded to whoever would listen not to take her from us, from me. But it was selfish, you know?" He glanced at his father for a brief moment. "She went through hell and back. And I knew that she was broken. That she had been hurt badly, but I told her that I'd put her back together piece by piece until she was whole again." He swallowed back his fears and spoke it out loud. "What if I can't do that, though, Dad? What if my selfishness causes her to suffer even longer?"

"That ain't gonna happen, Severus." Tobias sighed heavily. "It'll be tough as hell at first I bet after she wakes up, but she's got you and Harry. None of you are alone anymore. You got each other. And we got your backs as well. Just remember that."

"She begged me to let her go, and I wouldn't," he argued. His father didn't understand. No one could. They all had some instinct, some natural gut feeling on how to deal with all this family stuff. He didn't, though. He just had his Occlumency, and even that was failing him at the moment. He glanced towards his mother when she walked into the room with Harry by her side.

"Oh, my silly little Prince," Eileen whispered softly. She gave him some sort of look that he couldn't discern. "I once begged for death as well when I was held captive," she admitted. "I didn't mean it, though." She scoffed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "I was tired. I had given up for that split second." Her eyes fell on him with that familiar loving mothering look. "I would bet my firstborn grandchild that she was tired as well. That she truly didn't want to die anymore than I had."

"You'd bet on me, Grandmum?" Harry quietly asked with a frown.

Eileen merely gave a soft smile to Harry before her eyes returned to Severus again. "Second guessing yourself now is only going to cause you unnecessary pain. You did what you thought you had to do. Now, just move on. That's all you can do at this point."

"What if—"

"You'll drive yourself insane if you consider all the asinine what ifs in life." His mother drew in a deliberate sharp breath. "Focus on the here and now, on the material. Otherwise, you'll miss out on all the menial steps that bring you to where you need to be." She gave her son a veiled look.

"I didn't want to let Lily go either, though. I held onto her until—"

"And you've learned your lesson from that, Severus," Eileen replied, talking over him. She sighed. "Only time will tell what happens from here. But at least you know you gave it your all. Do you understand?" She glanced away for a moment before she continued speaking. "She has you to rely on. Harry as well. Just as I had you, Tobias, and Harry to help me find my way again."

More footsteps echoed around the room before Pomfrey entered. It was clear to Severus that she had just been outside listening in on their conversation, unable to wait outside any longer.

"It's certainly not going to be easy at first, Severus," the mediwitch announced. "She'll likely do as she always does and try to fight against the perceived pain. But your mother is right. As long as she has you and Harry, she'll eventually be well again. Of that I have no doubt." Pomfrey laughed with a soft smile.

He shook his head, though. He wished he could believe them, but he didn't see how it would be possible. He only saw how he had refused her request as a result of his own selfishness. Then again, he always was the hardest person on himself.

"She's going to need months of physical therapy. Retrain everything she's lost." He ran a hand through his silky raven hair. His decision to hold onto her was looking even worse of a mistake than just a few second prior. "She hates the hospital wing. Merlin, you mentioned that in her file, in fact. She finds this place to be some sort of prison to her, and she always tries to escape. Yet here we are, going to keep her here for months." He scoffed. "The moment she wakes up, she's going to try to work out a way to escape. To get away from all this. And she'll likely just end up hurting herself even worse."

"I'm aware of her instincts," Pomfrey replied with a slight bow of her head. "However, we—that is Harry and I—have come up with a possible solution. That is if you're agreeable to it."

He glanced towards his son. His brows furrowed instantly at the sight of Harry's wide smile. He was missing something. Then again, it wasn't as if Severus was at the top of his game right now.

"What is it?"

"Mum hates the hospital wing." Harry gave a short laugh. "Sort of like you do." He then shifted his weight. "Well, last year, you asked her to stay with us in the dungeons. So you and she could keep an eye on me after the whole Quirrell thing in the forest."

Severus nodded slowly. He recalled that vividly. It was one of his more unorthodox actions. However, it had helped in the end. Mostly because it allowed him to bond with his son without feeling too—something. He still couldn't put a name on it.

"Go on," he quietly urged, holding his son's green eyes.

"Well, that got me thinking. Mum was recovering then, too. I mean, she nearly gave her life for me and nearly died herself. But she seemed—I don't know—relaxed with us." Harry laughed awkwardly. "I mean, one of the first things I saw after waking up was seeing her try to grab her wand and leave the hospital wing. Followed by you telling her that she was an idiot."

"You're suggesting that we have her recover in the dungeons?" Severus sighed, shaking his head. How could Pomfrey even consider that? "Harry, she needs months of intensive therapy."

"You're correct. She does," Pomfrey interrupted, taking a step towards him. "However, with certain modifications, her therapy could be done somewhere other than the hospital wing. In other words, somewhere she feels the most comfortable."

He frowned. "Are you proposing that she does her therapy at Windsor?" He didn't envision Aurora's therapy going well there, but he wasn't about to suggest his home. It wasn't proper after all.

"Not exactly," Pomfrey replied, clearing her throat. She glanced towards his parents casually.

"What she's trying to say is that Harry and she have it worked out that she could do the therapy at home. Sort of treat it like couple's therapy," Tobias said with a faint smile. "Since we all know that there ain't no way in hell you're going to let her out of your sight."

"Or out of mine," Harry piped up saying.

Severus's eyes darted to Pomfrey. Aurora could leave the hospital wing? She'd allow that? He could hear his heart beating rapidly with anxiousness. A part of him knew it wasn't right to want to take her home with him, but another part of him—the larger section—didn't give a flying hippogriff. He didn't know how to explain it, but he just knew that he and Harry could help her.

"I don't understand. How would her therapy work?"

"Well, I'll need to be there for her therapy regularly of course, but you and Harry could handle practice exercises with her when I'm not there. I'll teach her the exercises before leaving. And if need be, I'm always an owl away if you need me to supervise. So, if you'd like, we could modify her therapy so that she wouldn't need to be here for it." Pomfrey flashed a soft smile. "She trusts you, Severus, which is something that's needed when working with a patient that suffered the trauma she did." She drew in a quick breath. "However, I'll warn you right now. There will be good days, and there will be bad days with her." Pomfrey glanced at Aurora. "I know I don't have to tell you this, but she's stubborn as hell. Almost as stubborn as you are. So some days she'd fight us and lash out."

He nodded. He could imagine those days, having experienced days like that himself. He could overlook it. Hell, Harry had those same days last year when they were first starting after his attack, and look where they were now. Father and son—and rather inseparable.

"Treat her like a potion, Severus." He chuckled at Pomfrey's words. "I'm serious. Some days we're going to have to push her, which will usually make her seem at first explosive—so she'll lash out. Other days we'll need to back off and just let her rest. Now, I know this is confusing and overwhelming. Hence why we developed a tentative plan." Pomfrey pulled out a roll of parchment and handed it to him. "As I said, it'll take her a bit before she can keep her eyes open. So, we won't be doing much for awhile. Only make sure she's drinking and that she's comfortable."

"Poppy," he started to say, his eyes looking up from the schedule. Feeling overwhelmed was an understatement. The tentative schedule was pretty straightforward and easy to understand as well. However, many days he saw Aurora's therapy would be very physically demanding. His imagination ran amok with his fears, visualizing the pain she'd be in afterwards, the breakdowns that were certain to happen. It'd be torture for him to listen to her cries, not being able to help. Honestly. What had he done?

"Dad, it's okay," Harry cut in, smiling at him. "Think of it as sort of a never-ending family thing. I mean, think of all the bonding that'll go on. It'll be just like our summer last year. Only this time we'll be together at the house."

Severus closed his eyes and hung his head. "Harry, she's not going to be—"

"I know," the twelve-year-old replied instantly. "She's changed. We all have in some way, Dad." He smiled, glancing at her. "My mother—that is—Lily wrote in her journal once that when terrible events sometimes happen, they can tear away at relationships because you start to see the person you're with in another light. So there are two choices. You can either let the event destroy a friendship because things have changed now and aren't like they used to be. Which frankly I think is stupid. Or you can adapt and grow because of the changed things, and end up in a totally new path."

Severus felt a tug at the corner of his lips as he stared at his son. His young boy was growing up. He nodded back at Harry slowly.

"Then, you recommend that we take the new path?"

"Yeah, I do." Harry laughed nervously. "I mean, Mum never gave up on us, Dad. And she . . ." He shrugged his shoulders listlessly. "I don't know. I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for her you know. I wouldn't be your bratty second-year son, and you wouldn't be my dad. And we wouldn't know what it's like to have a family, to be loved." He glanced down, smiling shyly. "I think it's our turn to help her. Show her how much she means to us, you know? Be her rock for once."

He nodded slowly, grabbing his son's hand and squeezing it. He then glanced at Pomfrey.

"So," Severus drawled loudly. "When can we take her home?"

~FKTF~

The day after his mum was released from the hospital wing, Syra went home to Windsor, stating before she left that she knew her daughter was in good hands with Harry and his dad. For being a bitch at first, she certainly had changed her tune, Harry decided. Though, he guessed that was because she had come very close to losing her daughter forever. A long overdue wakeup call had gotten her to realize something, whatever that something was.

It was actually funny looking back on it now. Harry had given Syra a hug prior to her leaving, and the woman tensed up instantly as if she wasn't used to hugs. He had heard the shocked gasps all around them, but he didn't care. Syra was a part of their family now, his family. Even if things didn't work out between his parents, something his father kept repeating and Harry thought had no chance of happening, Syra was still family. And families hug. His grandpa had joked afterwards that Harry deserved some House points for hugging Syra, but his dad only snorted in response.

During the following week, Harry, his dad, and his grandparents each took short shifts watching his mum rest at their temporarily home at Hogwarts in the dungeons. Since his mum hadn't woken up yet, Pomfrey wasn't quite comfortable releasing her from the castle. The matron of course would check in and see how his mum was doing, sometimes examining her or changing her dressings. So far according to Pomfrey, his mum was healing nicely. However, the family was all quite ready for his mum to wake up so they could go home to Cokeworth and get away from all the prying eyes.

It was only a matter of time that she'd wake up everyone said. So, Harry waited patiently, sticking close to his dad's side and ready to help whenever he could. In fact, whenever Pomfrey would come and check on Aurora, Harry would quickly tell the matron that he and his dad had it well in hand. His dad would usually roll his eyes in response.

As it neared the end of the school year, the young Gryffindor found his classes thankfully letting out early usually. The only classes that didn't were Potions—his dad was an old stick in the mud so it was to be expected—and History of Magic—where Binns was a ghost who didn't have a care in the world because of his being dead. So, whenever his classes let out early, Harry would either head outside for a quick moment or head directly to the dungeons.

It was on this day that Harry found himself running outside to his favorite spot that was still on the grounds. He nodded to Malfoy when he walked past the blond and Hermione sitting on a bench together in the courtyard. His eyes then noticed Ron lurking and looking longingly at the young couple from behind one of the nearby trees. He sighed and headed towards his best friend.

"Why don't you just go over there and apologize for acting like a prat?" Harry sighed. He said nothing when Ron jumped, but he caught the redhead's deep frown.

"I can't just go over there now."

"Fine." Harry shrugged, starting to walk away. "Suit yourself."

Ron grabbed Harry's shoulder, though, and stopped him. He jerked his head across the courtyard towards Hermione and Malfoy. With a sneer, he said, "Look at them. All lovey-dovey with each other."

Harry raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the couple. He frowned before he looked back at Ron. He shook his head.

"Looks to me like they're studying for Potions, Ron."

"Trust me. I know lovey-dovey. I've seen my brothers around girls. And that's lovey-dovey."

Harry's eyes darted back to Hermione and Malfoy. The couple was sitting at an arm's length apart from one another on the bench. Their heads were bent together, their eyes on the opened book in between them. He saw absolutely nothing lovey-dovey about them.

"You're seeing things, Ron." Harry quickly continued to the spot, then. Honestly. He had seen more romance from Binns and Trelawney than Malfoy and Hermione. They were just really good friends. He shook his head and bent down, picking various wildflowers. His mum would like these today. He smiled to himself and quickly headed back to the dungeons. Several minutes later, he sighed contently when Salazar's portrait swung open to allow him inside.

"Awe. You shouldn't have," his grandpa drawled from the other side of the room, chuckling as he sat beside Harry's grandmum on the sofa.

With the flowers in hand, Harry laughed and shook his head. Leave it to his grandpa.

"Sorry," the young boy said with a shrug. "They're for Mum, not you. Not your color anyway."

"Well, shit on a log," his grandpa exclaimed, slapping his knee.

"Tobias," his grandmother scolded, shaking her head.

His grandpa only winked at Harry, though, before nodding towards the master bedroom.

Without another word, Harry walked down the long hallway, knocked on the door, and walked in. He smiled at his dad who was in bed holding his mum, her head on his chest.

"Better make sure Madam Pomfrey doesn't catch you two being all lovey-dovey." Harry giggled when his dad's brow rose. He shrugged in response. "Ron's going on again about how Malfoy and Hermione are all sweet on each other."

"Ah." His dad snorted, shaking his head before he glanced down and ran a hand through her hair lightly. "Jealousy. It makes us all idiots."

Harry nodded, walking towards one of the vases on the nearby nightstand. He pulled out the wilting flowers and added the freshly picked ones. He quickly checked out the other flowers before turning back. He laughed when he caught his dad whispering in her ear.

"Has she responded yet?" the young Gryffindor softly asked.

"She moves every now and then, so she's starting to wake up."

"Maybe we should do what Grandmum did and throw ice water on her?"

"Harry," his dad lightly scolded.

The young boy laughed. "I know. I'm just joking."

"You better be." His dad sighed, shaking his head. "The flowers are a nice touch."

"Thanks." Harry smiled, glancing at the vase of fresh flowers. "Thought it'd cheer the place up or something. Maybe help her come home sooner." He sat down on the edge of the bed, sighing. "Think we'll ever have a quiet year here?"

"With you around? I doubt it." His dad chuckled a moment later, threading his fingers with his mum's. "I'd imagine it'll be quieter than usual with the Dark Lord gone now."

"He can't like jump bodies, right?"

"No. He's stuck in Leonidas's body for now." His dad sighed. "So, if all goes well and we find the Horcruxes, then we can get rid of him once and for all."

"Good. Because my education is starting to suffer with all these near-deaths," Harry semi-joked.

"Been around your grandfather a lot, I see." His dad then frowned suddenly, glancing down.

"What is—whoa! She's squeezing your hand!" Harry shot up, feeling his excitement skyrocket as his eyes remained trained on their joined hands. His mum was squeezing his dad's hand! "She's squeezing your hand!" he happily announced. "That's good, right? That means she's waking up?"

"Easy, Harry," his father replied, running his fingers through her long hair gently. His dad was right of course. They had these close calls before, and she had only fallen back asleep then.

Harry's eyes darted to his dad when he heard a soft noise from his mum. He nearly laughed at the sight of his dad's raised eyebrow. She was snuggling, or at least attempting to, into him more. He watched his father play with her curls for a few more moments, noticing that it was soothing her.

"Aurora?" His dad paused for a moment, his rich baritone voice surrounding them. "If you can hear me, please open your eyes." His lips curved upwards slightly when she mumbled something. "It's okay. You're safe now. I promise. You're home."

Harry glanced between them, waiting impatiently. She was on the cusp of consciousness. Just a little bit more, he thought. He bit his bottom lip, shifting his weight nervously. In his head, he went through a series of encouraging chants he had adopted over the past week.

"Shh," whispered his dad, running his fingers through her hair. "They can't hurt you anymore."

More noises escaped from her firmly pressed lips. Harry thought she sounded scared. The young boy didn't blame her in a bit, though. Not with the hell she went through. He swallowed back his emotions and slowly crawled to her, wrapping his arms around her and embracing her with his dad.

"Come on, Mum," Harry murmured. "It's okay. Dad and I have you now." He sniffled and buried his head against her. "We'll keep you safe. And kick anyone's arse if they try to hurt you." Harry heard his dad's soft laugh instantly. It was true, though. They would kick anyone's arse.

More fearful whimpers surrounded them, so Harry pulled back from her. Maybe they were hurting her? He didn't know at this point. He just wished she woke up. He had missed her terribly. At the sound of his father's voice speaking some unknown language then, he glanced up at his father. Was it a spell his dad was casting? It didn't seem to be one. He frowned in confusion and waited. A moment later, his eyes widened again when he heard a word, just a single word, from her lips.

"Forever," she rasped, her throat clearly having been dry.

"Always," his dad replied, smiling before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. His dad's black eyes then darted to him before glancing at the glass of water on the nightstand.

Harry understood immediately, getting up and grabbing it. He noticed her instant reactive flinch. "It's just water," he explained quietly. At her nod of understanding, he quickly but carefully brought the glass to her lips, tilting it back. He waited patiently for her to take a drink before he set it aside.

"How do you feel?" his dad asked quietly, his fingers still running through her hair.

"Hurts." She then coughed loudly. Her whole body tensed up before she went limp again.

"Do you want me to stop?"

She shook her head minutely, so he didn't. Harry stood off to the side, unsure of what to do. A part of him wanted to launch himself at her and hug her forever. Another part decided that wasn't a good idea. So, he waited as the minutes ticked by with absolute silence.

"You don't have to answer right away. In fact, I don't want you to," his dad stated. "I just want you to know that if you're all right with it, Madam Pomfrey has allowed us to take you home with us for the summer. It'll just be you, me, and Harry." His dad then winced. "And Poppy every now and then."

Harry shifted again as he waited to hear her reply. He noticed his dad's eyes moving back and forth and wondered if they were having one of those mental conversations. Harry had after all always found thinking easier to do than talking when he was in pain.

"She said she could come to Cokeworth and work with you there. Help you heal in other words."

"Dad and I would help you practice," Harry chimed in when it was quiet for awhile. "And if all goes well, you and Dad can see me off next year at King's Cross." He immediately closed his mouth when his dad gave him a sharp look after his mum inhaled shakily. He hadn't meant to upset her.

"It's okay. You don't have to decide now. Just think about it, okay?" his dad said to her softly.

She blinked and then nodded. However, quick as lightning, her mood shifted again as her hand flew to her chest. Her eyes widened in clear fear before she glanced about the room wildly.

"What is it?" his dad asked, trying to calm her. "Aurora, tell me what it is, and we'll fix it."

Harry looked on in confusion. Something was wrong. But she wasn't letting in on what it was. No, instead, she kept looking about the room as if searching for something. Her hand kept pressing against her chest, feeling around for something that she clearly thought should have been there.

"Dad?" For a moment, the young boy thought about yelling for help. However, he quelled that instinct when he noticed his dad's eyes slowly convey comprehension.

"Grab the necklace out of my right front robe pocket and bring it here," his dad ordered, motioning with his head towards the folded black cloth lying on the back of the nearby chair.

Harry did as he was asked, thrusting his hand deep into the pocket before pulling out a necklace. His green eyes widened in recognition instantly. He knew this necklace. He swallowed as his eyes trailed over the shimmering silver circle that enclosed two snakes on either side of an emerald. He had dreamt about this same emblem in September.

"Harry!"

His dad yelling his name pulled him out of his mind for half a moment. He quickly strode back to the bed, holding it out. He had dreamt about trying to grab this necklace in September at the Burrow. What on earth was going on?

"Dad, I know this necklace." Harry watched his father quickly put it around her neck and fasten the clasps and noticed her relaxing as a result of it being around her neck again. "I've seen it before."

"Of course you've seen it before," his dad replied offhandedly, his focus clearly on Aurora. "It's always around her neck. It's been that way since before I knew her."

Harry glanced at his mum, narrowing his eyes on her as she blankly stared out into space. He couldn't recall seeing the necklace before, though. In real life that was. He had dreamt about it a few times over the summer, but this was the first time he could recall seeing it in real life.

"No. Dad, I dreamt about it." Her eyes met his then. Did she know why he had dreamt about it?

"Probably because of last year." His dad still didn't look away from Aurora.

Harry's face contorted into even more confusion when he saw her pull back from his dad before lightly pressing her fingers against the man's temples. Pomfrey had said that she'd likely talk a few moments and fall back asleep. His mum, however, seemed to have some more energy than Pomfrey had previously thought she'd have. He watched his dad close his eyes and waited. She was talking to his dad, he guessed a few moments later. He stepped back when he heard his dad's sudden chuckle.

"I'll tell him," his father said quietly to her. "Just rest. Please. Otherwise, Pomfrey won't let us leave with you at all." She slowly settled against him again, burying herself into his chest for a moment before glancing at Harry. She seemed more comfortable now.

"Tell me what?" the young boy asked hesitantly, glancing between his parents.

"When she performed the Martyr's Gift last year, she held you against her chest. You probably saw it during that time. She also said that you could have run across it in a book. Supposedly, one of her ancestors received from Slytherin as a gift. It's been passed on through the female line for centuries since. In fact, several of her ancestors have been noted to be wearing it over the years."

Harry nodded slowly. He guessed it made sense that he'd have recalled it from last year. Sure, he was badly hurt then, but maybe his consciousness or whatever had felt it pressing against his face. His eyes narrowed further when his dad stated that he could have run across it in a book. Harry barely remembered cracking open his texts this year. Or last year for that matter. So that had to be out.

"I guess," the young Lion said with a shrug. He watched his dad pull her closer and sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed again. "Could I do that? Hear her, I mean? If she wanted me to?"

His dad shook his head slowly. "No. I can only hear her because of our bond now."

"Oh." Harry glanced down, sighing. It wasn't long before he felt a soft hand slipping into his. He looked up and smiled faintly at his mum, noting that it was hers. Warmth enveloped him as she rubbed her thumb against the back of his hand. "Everything's going to be all right now. We've got your back. I promise. Dad and I won't let anyone hurt you ever again, Mum. We'll keep you safe."

She gave him a weak smile in return, as if to say she knew all that. He couldn't stop himself at the sight of her responding faint smile. He kept thinking that if he kept talking, then maybe she wouldn't fall back asleep and make it so they'd wait anxiously for her to awaken again. So, he continued.

"Dad's been sitting with you almost every moment he's awake." The young boy then winced, rubbing his neck. That wasn't exactly true. "Well, except when he has to teach or use the loo. Then, either me or Grandmum or Grandpa sit with you." He caught her eyes then darting to the flowers around the bedroom. "Do you like them? I've been picking them myself for a bit now. Thought they might help give the room a splash of color or something. Plus, they smell nice. Course I can't get real ones like roses or something, but these will do for now, won't they? If not, I can—" Harry stopped immediately after she squeezed his hand firmly. He sighed loudly and hung his head. "I'm sorry. I know. You're probably tired. Madam Pomfrey told us you would be for a bit."

The young Lion took a hesitant peek, finding her staring back at him with that same weak smile of hers. He could see that she was clearly fighting against her fatigue to stay awake, so he glanced back down, ashamed with himself. He swallowed when she gently tugged on his hand, as if to tell him to come closer. Without a word, he complied, lying down on his side in front of her with his back to her.

He smiled widely when her arms encircled around him and held him against her as any mother would. He felt safe, warm, loved, and protected in her arms. Mostly loved. This was how a family should be, he thought happily. He didn't care he was twelve and being held by his mum. He didn't even feel awkward knowing his dad, who was now resting on his side as well, was all snuggled up against his mum's backside. All that mattered was that they were together, safe and sound. As it should be.

Who would have guessed that with last year's tragedy would come the realization that Harry was his father's most prized treasure? Surely not his dad or even Harry himself if one had asked them last year. Or even to this year, who would have guessed that a kinship formed last year would later solidify into the unbreakable bonds of a family this year. A crazy messed up family of course, but a family nonetheless. The young boy smiled gleefully, closing his eyes as he and his parents cuddled up to one another in bed. His last thought before falling asleep was that next year would be even better.