After one last check on Harry, Severus spun out of the room in a flurry of black, scowl firmly in place on his face. Oh, but he was in for a long night.

He glared fiercely at the men sitting on is couch, both wearing far-too-amused expressions and seeming quite at home in his domain. He scowled harder. “One would think, that after witnessing your godchild being assaulted in such a fashion as the boy was, you’d be less inclined to wear such sunny expressions, or can’t the magnitude of the whale-boy’s transgressions penetrate those thick Gryffindor skulls?” he sneered.

Both smiles faltered, and Sirius’ face actually darkened for a few moments. “No, we Understand. Petunia and her whale of a husband will understand too, soon enough,” he said lowly.

“And that…boy,” Remus added in a voice so low it as barely more than a growl

Severus resisted the urge to shiver. He knew from experience that an angry Sirius Black was a sight nearly as terrifying as the Dark Lord, and that was saying something. He had spent time puzzling that out, naturally, and had decided that it was the madness in his blood. After all, Bellatrix was his cousin. And Remus, well, the man was frightening on a good day. The amiable persona he employed was a skillfully constructed ruse that nearly no one could see through. But when the man switched it off….it was easy to see how he could have been best friends with the likes of James Potter and Sirius Black.

Lupin, however, seemed to have pulled himself together. He linked his fingers together in his lap, fixing the potions master with a wide smile again. “Well, when Harry showed us how…nice,” here the smile grew wider, “you were to him, I must say I was greatly surprised.”

Sirius snorted. “More like shocked to death.” He looked at Snape from the corner of his eyes, lips quirking. “Who would have thought that the greasy git of the dungeons actually had a heart?”

Severus snarled at them both, causing them to chuckle, before sighing tiredly. This is what he signed up for the moment he decided to take custody of Potter. He resisted the urge to groan. I need a drink.

Several minutes later found our three men seated around the living room, all nursing cups of mead. Severus had added a rather large drop of firewhiskey to his mug, but that wasn’t to be common knowledge.

“I must say, Severus, I’m rather impressed with the way you’ve been handling Harry.” Remus ventured. When he got no response he continued, “You never had been one for patience, so – “

“That hasn’t changed,” Severus snapped. “I’m impatiently waiting for you both to remove yourselves from my chambers.”

Sirius grinned. “Oh, but we’ve got lots to talk about. Like those cuddles, for instance.”

Remus shook with laughter. “Oh yes, two in as many days. Good lord Severus, I do believe your mask is slipping.”

“And calling him ‘idiot child’. He quite likes that you know,” Sirius continued, much to Severus’ discomfort.

Unfortunately, Remus had caught on. “And taking him shopping, when you know no one has ever done that for him – “

“And calming him down when he had that little panic attack – “

“And letting him see us, of all people – “

“We have reason to be surprised, you understand.”

Severus only scowled. “I couldn’t very well force him to be miserable, could I? Anything I did was for my own benefit. There is nothing more maddening than a whiny child,” he sneered, but his heart wasn’t in it.

“Sure you did,” Remus said, smiling.

“What I don’t understand is, “Sirius began, after taking a draught from his cup, “why you didn’t have custody of him in the first place.”

Snape gazed at him through narrowed eyes. “Perhaps this bottled of Odgen’s is a mite too strong for your deprived palette, Black, and has addled your mind some. Potter was placed with relatives, a family connection I do not and cannot hope to possess.”

Remus looked confused. “No, Sirius is right. Since the Dursely’s were Muggles, by law he should have been placed with you first, or at least asked your permission for him to be placed with them, even if at the time they still thought you were a Death Eater.”

Confused himself, Severus held up and inspected the whiskey bottle. “Perhaps this has been tampered with,” he muttered to himself. “Why on earth would the Ministry have to ask me for permission to place Potter with his relatives? Have you forgotten that little matter of blood? Besides the well-known fact that James Potter and I hated each other with a fierce, burning passion, we are not related!” he snapped angrily.

Sirius blinked blankly. “Because you’re his stepfather, that’s why.”

To say Severus was floored would have been a gross understatement. “What?”

“His stepfather,” Remus repeated. “You were married to Lily first, remember, for three years,” he continued softly. “She….left you, and about a year later she and James tied the knot.”

Severus closed his eyes, and willed himself to breathe. “We weren’t married.” The room was suddenly blazing hot and blindingly cold, and spinning wildly to boot.

“No,” Remus answered. “But you were sworn to one another. That’s about as binding as any piece of parchment that the Ministry could give you.”

Severus breathed deeply, focusing on keeping the memories from overwhelming him. It was true. His Lily, beautiful Lily had been his for three years. Three blissful years till it had suddenly came crashing down around him, and he still couldn’t pick up the pieces. “You’re wrong,” he whispered, suddenly feeling far much older than his years. “To be his step-father she would have had to marry him first, not second.”

“Even so,” Sirius contradicted, in an uncharacteristically soft voice, “you had a vested interest in his continued existence. All marriages, official and sworn, are registered automatically at the Ministry. They should have contacted you.”

Snape grit his teeth angrily, forcing down his rising ire lest he disturb the young man sleeping two rooms over. What he really wanted to do was wring someone’s neck and he had a sneaking suspicion whose it would be for this crime. Harry should not have grown up there. To know this after witnessing all that the boy had been through, and to find out that all of it, every cruel word and action could have been avoided was like adding gunpowder to a burning blaze. Two boys he told himself. Two beautiful boys he had failed. ‘I lost both my boys, and all because I let someone else tell me what was best for them.’

He hadn’t realized he had said anything out loud, but he had. Remus and Sirius gazed on him with expressions of sympathy so strong it nearly hurt, and Severus was instantly uncomfortable.

“No luck, then?” Remus asked into the tense silence.

“No,’ was his terse reply. No he hadn’t had any luck locating his son. Whatever protections Lily had woven over the boy to keep him safe was holding fast. That she had felt the need to keep the little one safe from him just like a knife in his heart, just as painful as the day she had left.

Clenching his jaw, Severus snarled internally at himself. He was absolutely pathetic. Here he was, very nearly close to weeping in front of two of his childhood tormentors. He must be going mad! Did he never learn? He sneered at himself. ‘Pull yourself together, man!

Where were those damn voices when he needed them?

Severus grimaced. Damn Black for telling him he was Potter’s stepfather. The thought had honestly never crossed his mind. Damn the werewolf for making him think of Lily, damn them all for making him think of –

Damn.

Ruthlessly, he gathered all those treasured, heartbreaking memories of a little boy with midnight blue eyes together and shoved them into the farthest corner of his mind. Layer after layer of mental shields rose up around them, sealing the beautiful snatches of a time behind the man’s best defenses. Deeper and deeper he pushed them, bring up layer after layer of his most impenetrable masks. Nothing would phase him again. He would not show such weakness in front of these men. Never.

Finally, when his mask was back in place, Severus looked up, only to find two pairs of soft gazes on him. “See something you like, gentlemen?” he sneered.

Sirius sighed, and shook his shaggy head. “On of these days you’re going to have to let someone in, Sevie.” He took another long drink from his cup. “It’s just not healthy to keep things in like that.”

Severus ignored him in favor of draining is cup and giving himself a refill. “Perhaps now that you’ve been watered and fed” he glanced distastefully at the thrice emptied tray Winky had brought in, “you would care to explain the ephemeral demonstration of hue and intensity you displayed earlier?” When neither of them hastened to respond, he tried a simpler tact. “You were glowing. Explain.”

Remus’ gaze turned thoughtful. “Glowing, you say,” he murmured. “I haven’t a clue what that could mean, do you, Sirius?”

“Not sure,” Sirius managed, reaching for a carton of biscuits that had just magically appeared on the table before him. “Were we a particular color, Snape?”

Severus’ eyes narrowed. “You were green, and Remus was blue, and Harry was a mixture of both.”

Sirius eyebrows furrowed. “Only thing I can think of is Claiming.”

Remus’ eyes lit up in recognition. “Indeed?”

Severus scowled. He hated being out of the loop. “Will either of you dunderheads explain, or will I ave to throw you out on your ears?”

Sirius grinned. “Patience, Sevie. Claiming is an old – “

“Archaic, really,” Remus interjected.

“ – pureblood ritual, used by families accepting injured or traumatized wizards and witches into their family line. It wasn’t a common practice, really, but one kept up in the smaller families, more likely to see someone hurting and help them.” He paused to munch on a biscuit, ignoring Snape’s glare at the crumbs he was getting on the sofa. “It was usually the head of house that performed the ritual, stating his intent to protect and care for the wizard as a member of his house, as he would any other of his family. The family aura was said to emanate from the head, covering the newest addition, and fusing with their personal aura,” he explained, while licking his fingers. Remus wrinkled his nose in disgust and threw him a handkerchief. After giving is friend a winning smile, Sirius continued.”If I’m right, then that means Harry is now part of three families, and from the looks of it, sole heir of each. Harry James Potter Lupin Black. Wow,” he said, blinking slowly. “What a mouthful.”

“His status has changed? Legally?” Severus inquired. One could almost see the gears turning in his mind.

“Yes, I believe so. Unless I’m mistaken, when you peruse the adoption documents in a few weeks time, little Harry should have three lasts names.”

“And you would each have rights to primary guardianship, I assume,” He enquired silkily.

“Well, not exactly,” Remus hedged. “Magically, Sirius would be the sole guardian, since my lycanthropy makes me unfit to care for children,” he explained, giving a wry smile. “But the law hardly ever recognizes magical rights any longer, so the fact that Moony had long before claimed Harry as his cub carries about the same weight as my claim as godparent. So, by law, since you signed for guardianship and were approved, Sirius and I are secondary guardians, to take over if ever you should become incapable, or unfit.”

“Indeed.” Severus sipped from is cup again, the cool liquid trailing a burning path down to his stomach. Oh yes, this was working out nicely. As heir to both the Potter and Black families, Harry had more political clout than he could shake a stick at, never mind his own for being The-Boy-Who-Lived. If this adoption ever came before a trial, the elder members of the Wizenmagot would be hard-pressed to discount it. Besides holding four seats in the house itself, and thus four votes in any matter presented, none of them were foolhardy enough to try and take Harry on. Te boy was simply too powerful.

And with a Slytherin like Severus Snape behind him, he was about to become a force to reckon with.