When Severus returned from Hogwarts it was still fairly early in the evening. He could see Tom at the library table flipping through a book catalog, searching for books on ancient weapons. Severus poked his head in. "Start looking for books on legendary enchanted stones. The Headmaster thinks the stone in the Peverell ring is one."

Tom abruptly sat up straight, eyes wide, and stared at Severus.

"Tom?" Severus asked slowly, not sure what that particular wild-eyed look meant.

"Abraxas Malfoy and I researched a lot of old legends and objects reputed to contain a great deal of power. Seth Avery had an interesting theory that Grindelwald rose to power with rocket speed because he had obtained ‘the wand of destiny' - a special wand that was a part of a trio of magical objects." Tom shook his head and continued reluctantly. "Avery and Abraxas both had extensive knowledge about those objects. They were known as ‘the Deathly Hollows'. They were quite sure they truly existed. The wand was much sought after because the possessor of the wand became almost unbeatable in battle."

Severus frowned, he had also heard of them - everyone knew the 15th century book ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard'. "Lucius may still have the books Abraxas used in that research."

"We were still looking into the legends up to when ... well, when my memory of that time ends. But I do recall that the other two objects were an invisibility cloak and a stone - called the resurrection stone. According to legend it calls the spirits of the dead."

Severus sense of dread doubled. He wasn't sure why Albus would want to talk to the dead. Of course there were many obsessed with contacting those in the beyond, but Albus had never mentioned any interest in it before.

"Well, if you remember any of the books - write them down and we'll let Lucius know tomorrow. Of course during your excursion to Diagonalley, look for more." Severus said with a sigh, and bid Tom goodnight.

Severus trudged up the stairs. Dudley was in the room prepared for Petunia, fussing over the bedside table - arranging the roses Tom had conjured for him. Tom seemed a bit skeptical of Petunia's abilities as a caretaker when Severus left for Hogwarts in the coming week. He had barely contained his sneer when he had heard about Harry's situation before Dudley's revolt. Like his own mother, she had bowed under the weight of the abusive males in her life. Yvane had remonstrated with him at length, and he had finally said he would simply ‘wait and see'. Yvane had had to be content with that.

Yvane had spoken to him briefly, while Tom slept several days ago - something Yvane rarely did. Yvane had not been concerned that Tom would harm Petunia, but he was sure Tom was likely to treat her rather coolly and unlikely to warm up to her right away. He wanted it explained to Petunia beforehand, in hopes she could be patient with him.

Severus had visited Petunia alone the next day. He had told her that the boys tutor was utterly trustworthy - that he owed his existence to the intervention of a dragon, and the dragon essentially ‘lived in his head', and that Wizard oaths bound him to protect the boys. However, Tom had a difficult childhood at an orphanage that made him wary and cold to muggles.

After a speechless few seconds absorbing Severus' tale regarding the dragon, Petunia assured him that as long as this ‘Tom' was good with the boys, she would cut him a great deal of slack, and be as patient as possible. Severus had been relieved at that; he didn't need to leave the household in a state of uproar - even if Lucius would be looking in on things on an almost daily basis.

Severus moved toward his own room, but looked in on Harry first. Harry was sorting through the boxes he'd received from Gringotts. Harry now had a large floor to ceiling bookcase. It only had a couple shelves full, at present, but Severus was confident that Harry would be adding to his personal collection.

"Need any help, Harry? It's getting late." Severus asked.

Harry looked up with a relieved smile. "Yeah, I don't even know what some of this stuff is, although it said on the list it belonged to my dad, or mum. The books are easy - some of them are over my head, but it's still nice to have them. Mum was pretty into Charms - there are tons of books on it with her name on them."

Severus wandered over and dropped onto the floor beside him. Harry pulled over a box full of gadgets that had been James'. Severus rolled his eyes and explained the sneakascopes to Harry and some of the others. There was a Lunascope, and Severus showed him how that would show the phases of the moon. There was an old omnioculor, similar to the magical binoculars Draco had brought for dragon-watching. A few objects were a mystery to Severus. Severus knew that Harry wanted to hear more about his father, but was hesitant to ask Severus outright. Severus groped frantically through his memories, trying to find a tale that was repeatable about Harry's father.

"Your father and his friends liked to experiment with things. I suspect a few of these were pranks they were working on, or failed experiments had failed and he simply hadn't thrown them away." Severus attempted to explain the presence of so many unusable items in the box. He was wary of telling tales about James Potter, it was usually easier to talk about Lily. But, Harry was looking at him wistfully, and he had found he was a bit of a pushover for pleading green eyes.

Severus cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Once, in our fourth year, your father had managed to slip a quill into my school-bag. He and his friends had charmed it to insult me and everyone around me - during class. They were...rather exuberant insults regarding Slytherins." Severus managed a sly smile at Harry's faintly appalled look. "Would you like to hear how I got back at him?"

Harry nodded uncertainly. "So all of this was in fun?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Most of their pranks were just for fun. You have to understand that the Gryffindor and Slytherin rivalry was rather...intense at the time, so the ‘pranks' between our two houses tended to be more extreme." Severus looked at Harry's encouraged look; he could only hope that Harry wouldn't hear of how ‘extreme' some of the encounters between the marauders and Severus had been. "And, of course, after starting with fifth year we were rivals for your mother's attention - we could never have been friends."

"So, how did you get back at them?" Harry asked, more brightly.

"I spent a week brewing a potion; it combined several different potions into one and had a few extras in it." Severus smirked happily at the memory. "I coated their cauldrons with a layer of it - it was colorless and they didn't notice it. I knew what we were brewing that day, and it activated the potion. It erupted in a cloud of rainbow colors that settled on just them. They were completely covered in all different colored polka-dots." Harry giggled in delight at this.

Severus was smiling in remembrance, himself - the marauders had been practically foaming at the mouth in rage, especially when Horace had insisted that Severus ‘a mere fourth year' could not have brewed the potion and Severus had gotten away with the prank, completely.

"The dots would all go orange if they lied, and pink if they were near someone they were attracted to, and green if they were jealous. And best of all, the dots would sing along with whatever anyone nearby was humming - I'm afraid several of my friends started humming inappropriate material over the following week, until it wore off. It was one of my best efforts at a prank potion."

Severus smiled at Harry's laughter in relief. He hadn't expected to be able to tell Harry anything of James without causing anguish for both of them, and Harry had been obviously disturbed by Severus avoiding all mention of his father. Severus sighed; relieved he had dodged another bullet. He could likely come up with enough stories of less traumatic pranking and his retaliations to satisfy Harry for a time.

"What happened to all his friends? I know you said one of them betrayed them to the Voldemort, but weren't there others?" Harry watched the stiffened form of his guardian; he'd been relieved that Severus had been more open about his father today. He'd talked to Dudley and Tom a bit about Severus only telling stories about Lily, with James only even briefly mentioned. They'd agreed that if Severus had been in love with Lily he'd hardly be a fan of the man that had married her. They'd all hoped that since Severus was now involved with Rosemerta, he'd perhaps be less hostile about him, now. With this first, brief story about James already told to him, he was anxious to hear more.

"I hate to ruin your evening telling such unhappy tales to you, now." Severus started, but Harry just looked stubborn, and hopeful. Severus grimaced and hoped he could blunt the full horror of it. "There were four in James' little group called ‘the marauders'. One was Sirius Black - he was a cousin of Narcissa's. He was one of the few Blacks to not follow Voldemort - or so we thought. Remus Lupin was another, and Peter Pettigrew the last."

Severus rubbed his head, hunting for a starting place. "They had other friends, of course, but the four of them were very tight. Remus, as I discovered in fifth year was a werewolf." Severus smiled ruefully at Harry's astonished look. "Remus seemed nice, much of the time, but he was a follower and usually went along with whatever James and Sirius planned. I didn't pay much attention to Peter; he was a bit of a tag-along and did a lot of ‘fetching and carrying' for the other three."

Severus called Tinker for some hot chocolate and sipped at the drink, as did the attentive Harry. "I may have resented and at times even hated your father, Harry, mostly because we both wanted Lily. But Sirius - him I really hated. He was unreasoning in his antipathy for all Slytherins, even his brother Regulus. It wouldn't have mattered what I did or said - he considered me to be evil and dark simply because of the house I was sorted into. I've often thought that James would not have been half so obnoxious if Sirius had not been his friend, and fanning his dislike of all Slytherins, and especially me."

Harry nodded encouragingly and Severus continued reluctantly. "When your parents went into hiding they used a fidelus charm. This meant only one person ‘the secret keeper' knew where they were and was the only one who could tell others where they were. You could stand in front of their house and not see it if the Secret keeper hadn't told you where they were."

"Sirius Black was their secret keeper, and he betrayed you and your parents to Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew followed and confronted him after it was known what happened. Sirius Black killed Peter and several muggles before he was taken into custody. I'm afraid I have no idea what happened to Lupin after your parents died."

"He was their friend." Harry whispered. "He was their friend for almost ten years and he betrayed them." Harry's voice turned fierce, and his eyes flashed angrily. "Where is he now?"

"Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban prison, for life." Severus said quietly, and with a certain smug satisfaction. He hadn't thought he could hate Sirius Black more than he already did, until he had heard that Sirius had betrayed Lily to her death.

Harry's eyes were shiny with tears, and Severus was a bit uncertain of what to do, and wished Rosemerta was there with them. He finally put an arm around Harry's shoulders and drew him close enough for Harry to sniffle into his coat for a few minutes. Severus drew out a handkerchief and dangled it in front of Harry. Harry smiled sloppily and mopped his eyes with it.

"I'll try to remember some more tales about your father and I pranking each other in our little war if you want to hear them, and I'm sure that Roland Higgs could tell you many stories of the Quidditch matches he played against your father." Severus desperately offered, and was rewarded with a more sincere smile from Harry.

"Thanks for telling me, Severus. I did wonder exactly what happened to my parents, and where all these friends they had, had gone to." Harry huffed angrily, and then looked at Severus hopefully. "I wouldn't mind more stories, if it doesn't bother you?"

Severus groaned and rolled his eyes. "I'll try to remember some. Hogwarts will be starting next week, so I may not be able to tell you many before I leave, but I promise to write you often and put the stories in the letters, okay?"

Harry beamed happily, "I'll send letters to you with Hedwig, and you can send the stories back with her."

"It's a deal." Severus said and shook Harry's hand formally. Severus got to his feet and left the room, missing Harry's look of beaming admiration aimed at his back.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The next morning Lucius and Draco dressed in some of their best formal robes, and Lucius fussed a bit with his cane, and mentally went over his strategy again. He hoped Andromeda would at least listen before throwing him out. He had explained to Draco that his Aunt very well might refuse to even speak to them, and to not be hurt if that happened. Lucius was counting on Draco's presence deterring any hexing from his sister-in-law.

Draco actually gave him an encouraging smile and patted his arm sympathetically, alerting Lucius to the fact that his nervousness was showing.

They apparated to the end of the lane of the cottage at the edge of the small village the Tonks family lived in. Lucius and Draco entered through the small gate. Lucius felt some low-level wards slide over them, and he walked slowly to the front door, letting whoever was inside have time to assess who was visiting, and hopefully be curious enough to ask him his intentions.

Lucius had barely knocked once when the door flew open. He flinched at how much Andromeda resembled Bellatrix. Her wand was in her hand and a hostile look in her eye. "Lucius Malfoy...my dearest brother-in-law...why are you here?" He voice was sarcastically sweet. She eyed Draco, but said nothing to him to Lucius' relief.

"I have a request to make that could be of benefit to your daughter, and I should advise you that as I divorced your sister, I'm no longer your ‘in-law'." Lucius hoped that curiosity would have her wanting to hear more.

Andromeda did raise an eyebrow, and she eyed him thoughtfully. "Well, if you would allow me to hold your cane for you while you visit you may enter."

Lucius smiled in amusement. Andromeda had been a Ravenclaw - a barely acceptable house to the Black family, and she had apparently lost none of her sharpness of wit. She knew his wand was in his cane, and hoped that would render him helpless. Lucius did know a few wandless spells, but none that would help if she decided to curse him. Both he and Draco had parchment with portkey spells to escape with if necessary, so he felt confident when he handed over his cane to the witch's astonishment.

Andromeda backed away, and led them to a small parlor and they took a seat on the sofa at her direction. Andromeda sat in a chair across from him, and a young woman with alarming orange hair stood behind her who was introduced as her daughter, Nymphadora Tonks.

Lucius and Draco nodded to her and murmured ‘A pleasure to meet you'.

Lucius looked at the rather stubborn looks of the women, and knew this would be difficult. Severus had said that ‘Tonks' had been a badger, with their usual obstinate nature, but she had been clever as well. She had gotten enough ‘O's on her NEWTS to ensure an entry into the Auror ranks, if she could afford the apprenticeship.

"I realize that you have no reason to believe I am here with any good intent, but if you will hear me out I assure you everything can be verified by Albus Dumbledore. Almost two years ago Severus Snape rather gleefully informed me that the Dark Lord, on top of being mostly mad and rather sadistic, was also a bit hypocritical - since he is a half-blood." Lucius watched Andromeda and Nymphadora's faces look stunned, and then they broke into hysterical laughter.

Draco gasped and then tried to choke down his enthusiastic "Cool!", when Nymphadora's hair turned a glossy bubble-gum pink. Tonks forgot the pair of blonds were possible enemies, and grinned at Draco and winked, making him blush a little.

"I verified what I was told by Severus, and when he asked for assistance in securing Harry Potters safety, I of course helped him." Lucius watched their faces take on skeptical expressions, and smiled in understanding. He explained Petunia's request for help from Severus, and her being shot by her husband during their escape. "I'm sure you saw the article in the Daily Prophet about Severus now being Harry's guardian."

Andromeda nodded ruefully. "I wasn't sure how much of that article was true. I did notice Draco sitting with Harry and his cousin, but I didn't now how much of that was...set up beforehand."

"I proved my loyalty to Harry Potter to Severus and Albus' satisfaction. When the Dark Lord returns I can count on the most horrific traitor's death he can devise - if he can catch me." Lucius gave the pair a grimace of a smile. "The reason I am here, though, is that I need a tutor for a young man so that he can take his NEWTS next spring. He is actually instructing Harry, Dudley and Draco until they start Hogwarts. We would not mind assistance with that, either. I was hoping to employ your daughter in this capacity."

The two once again took on a glassy-eyed look of shock. "You want to hire Dora as a tutor?" Andromeda asked cautiously.

"Yes, she could floo in 3-4 times a week for a few hours - how many will be up to her and Tom. If the three boys need any questions answered that Tom couldn't assist them with, she could answer them. I will be there at times. Dudley's mother, Petunia will be living there. She would be a good chaperon, if you feel that makes it more appropriate." Lucius offered hoping that would tip things in their favor.

"Didn't you say Lily's sister, Petunia was a muggle?" Andromeda asked faintly. At his nod, she sat back in shock. Lucius was assisting Harry Potter, and consorting not only with muggleborns, but muggles as well. The world must be ending.

"Rosemerta will be checking in with Petunia frequently. Petunia is being released from hospital today, but she isn't totally well. There are two house elves that will do all the real work, but we'll all feel better having Rosemerta make sure she isn't overdoing things. Three young boys can be exhausting even when they are behaving." Lucius knew Andromeda would remember Rosemerta, as they had only been a year apart at Hogwarts, although in different houses.

"Rosemerta? I haven't seen her since...well, graduation." Andromeda looked at him in inquiry.

"Rosemerta is seeing Severus, has been for several years apparently." Lucius added ruefully. Severus had kept it quiet for a very long time, and it had taken all of Lucius' cunning to discover his secret. Severus had finally been more open about her with the arrival of Harry and Dudley.

"Severus...and Rosemerta, she must be four years older than him...the sly minx, bagging a younger man." Andromeda gave her first real smile and laugh. Andromeda looked at Lucius closely. "I need to verify all of this with Albus, you understand."

Lucius smiled and nodded agreeably to her answer. She'd be an idiot not to. "I would, of course be willing to pay her enough to afford her Auror apprenticeship." The pair looked at him, Andromeda with hesitant hope, and Dora with eagerness.

"I will discuss this with Ted and Dora of course." She said thoughtfully. Dora, behind her, shuffled her feet anxiously but stayed silent with obvious reluctance.

"Owl me if you would like to meet Tom and the boys. Petunia may not be up to a long visit, you understand. I'm sure she would like to meet you though, even if you decline the tutoring position. She could use female company, surrounded as she will be by males." Lucius appealed to the universal female bond.

Andromeda nodded slowly. "I will owl you soon Lucius." And she stood, holding out his cane firmly in dismissal. Lucius bowed to her, and he and Draco said their goodbyes.

Lucius hoped that went as well as he felt it had- after all she hadn't hexed them.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Petunia arrived to Dragonsrest via portkey with the Healer fairly early in the morning. She was immediately put to bed by a fussing Dudley, and checked over by the Healer. The healer announced that she had tolerated the move very well, and was just tired by the stress of portkeying.

Dudley pulled up an overstuffed chair with several books at his side, and announced he would watch over her for the day.

Harry grinned and gave his aunt a hug. "Tom and I are going shopping in Diagonalley, mostly for books. Is there anything you would like?" Harry asked.

"Well, if you see any books you think I might like to read - I wouldn't mind a good mystery." Petunia smiled at him. She looked over to the doorway. Severus was there, looking enigmatic as always. A tall older boy was standing just behind him.

Severus noticed her look and pulled Tom forward and introduced him. Tom at least looked neutral as he shook Petunia's hand. Petunia smiled at him and hoped he would eventually warm up to her. Severus had vouched for him strongly and she owed him enough to give Tom quite a bit of time if necessary.

Rosemerta arrived as Tom and Harry prepared to leave. "Would you like to meet for lunch? How about at the café next to Fortescue's at noon?" The boys nodded with smiles and flooed to the Leakey Cauldron.

Rosemerta went up the stairs at Severus' wave and was introduced to Petunia. To her relief Petunia seemed as eager to be friends as she was. They talked briefly and Rosemerta promised to return the next day when Petunia had rested. Rosemerta bounced down the stairs, followed by the bemused Severus.

Rosemerta grabbed him in a tight hug. "I have an actual female to talk to, and she's not a giggling idiot hanging off the arm of some half-inebriated wizard at my pub."

Severus laughed and kissed her, and handed her a Gringotts key. "Enjoy yourself today, buy some nice things for yourself, and if you see anything that might help Petunia feel at home don't hesitate to get it."

"Oooh, a shopping spree." Rosemerta laughed in delight.

Severus smiled in return. He liked it when Rosemerta was happy. He knew that in spite of the seemingly active social life she had, that running a pub wasn't actually conducive to making true friends. She often remarked on how lonely it sometimes felt. He truly hoped she would find a friend in Petunia, and Petunia obviously felt the same. Cho arrived and Severus shooed them into the floo to head for Diagonalley to shop and went happily off to his lab, rubbing his hands in anticipation.