Draco was alone in his dorm room, packing his belongings in preparation for the trip home tomorrow for summer holidays. He and his brother would spend two weeks in their own homes before going to spend six weeks with Uncle Sev at Spinner’s End. The week before school started again Harry would go to the Burrow and Draco would return to Malfoy Manor. Even though they would both be grounded for the duration of their stay at Spinner’s End, they were both looking forward to their time there…time where they could be themselves, without worrying about their parents in his case or guardians in Harry’s and they wouldn’t have to pretend to hate each other like they did at school.

In his own dorm room Harry was having similar thoughts. ‘Two weeks is a long time,’ Harry said through their bond.

Draco smirked. ‘I was just thinking the same thing.’

‘Think we’ll be able to talk like this?’

‘Don’t know. We’ve never tried it while we are in different buildings.’

‘We always have our mirrors. Maybe we can use those.’

‘Sure. Just make sure to keep it in your pocket so that your Uncle doesn’t lock it up.’ Draco didn’t even want to think about what would happen if his father found the mirror. Severus may have been Draco’s godfather, but that didn’t mean Lucius was exactly thrilled that the Potions Master healed his son whenever he could and had done other things to circumvent his authority.

Draco really didn’t want to go home. He knew that his father had heard about the events that had happened in the Chamber of Secrets. Lucius had as much as told him that he was displeased with his son for his actions. He hadn’t sent his son a Howler, for according to Lucius that just wasn’t done. He had however sent his son a cursed parchment that had burned the poor boy’s hands. Sev had healed his hands, but Draco knew he was in trouble when he got home.

‘You alright, Ri?’ Harry asked, using a shortened version of his brother’s true name.

Draco shook his head and went back to his packing. ‘Yeah. Why?’

‘I just felt…fear, I guess. Are you scared of something?’

‘No,’ He answered shortly.

‘Liar. I can sense your emotions sometimes…like that night with the photo album last summer. Not all the time, just sometimes.’

Draco sighed deeply. ‘Probably just when I let my shields down…’

‘Shields?’

‘Occlumency shields.’

‘What’s Occlumency?’

‘It’s one of the mental disciplines. One of the things that Occlumency does is block a Legilimens from entering their mind. Uncle Sev says that I’m a natural Occlumens. I’ve got a book about it at Uncle Sev’s. I’ll let you read it.’

‘Thanks!’

--

The next morning Harry left Ron doing his packing at the last minute and went down to breakfast alone. The four petrified students had been returned to health the week before and Hermione seemed to spend every free minute in the library, even though exams had been cancelled. Harry took a seat at the Gryffindor table, facing the Slytherin table as he usually did. He noticed his brother come in flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. ‘Morning, Ri,’ he said, greeting his brother as he did every morning.

‘What’s with calling me ‘Ri’? You did that last night too?’

Harry grinned. ‘Your name is Orion, right? I think Ri fits you better.’

‘Whatever you say…Weasley alert.’

‘Huh?’ Harry was startled when the Weasley twins sat on either side of him. “Morning, Fred. George.”

“Good morning, Harry,” they said, helping themselves to the food.

“Did you two need something?”

Fred shook his head. “We just thought we would keep you company.”

Harry nodded and went back to his own food as the owls came in with the morning mail.

‘A letter from home,’ Draco told him as he took the letter from his father’s owl. ‘From Father.’

‘What does he want?’ Harry asked. Draco quickly scanned the letter and then purposefully lowered his shields, allowing waves of relief to wash over them both. ‘What? Good news?’

‘Father will be gone for about ten days…he’ll be back a few days before he and Mother take their scheduled trip abroad and I go to Uncle Sev’s.’

‘Maybe he’ll forget…’

‘Maybe. The Weasleys are talking to you…’

Harry glanced around him and then blushed. Sure enough the Weasley twins were grinning down at him.

“We know about your little Slytherin double,” George whispered, putting his arm around the younger boy. “As well as your Slytherin protector.”

“He told you?” Harry asked, glancing at the staff table. He caught Snape’s eye and the man nodded.

“He told us some,” Fred explained. “And some we figured out for ourselves.”

“We know that you and your Slytherin double are able to talk to each other without anyone hearing,” George continued. “Fred and I have a similar bond ourselves.”

“Are you going to tell anyone?” he asked, forgetting for a moment about the Fidelus Charm.

“No,” Fred answered. “We’ll keep your secret until your protector decides to make the secret known.”

George nodded. “And if you ever need anything, you can come to us, Harry. That goes for your double as well.”

“Thanks,” Harry told them.

“You’re welcome,” they replied, getting up and leaving him alone.

‘What did they want, Jamie?’

‘Jamie?’

‘If you can call me ‘Ri’, then I can call you Jamie.’

‘Fine!’

‘What did they want?’

‘To tell me that they know we are twins…and about the bond…and we can talk to them if we need to, or something.’

Draco turned and glanced over his shoulder at his brother, then he turned his gaze up to his godfather at the staff table. ‘Does Uncle Sev know?’

‘Fred said that he told them some and the rest the figured out on their own.’

Draco sighed. ‘You know them…can we trust them?’

‘Uncle Sev obviously does, since he told them. And I do too.’

‘If you are sure…’

‘I am. Don’t worry.’

--

Harry was lugging his trunk and Hedwig’s cage off the train when Draco brushed past him.

‘Uncle Sev wants you to contact him every night on the mirror.’

‘Why?’ Harry asked his brother.

‘Just to check in and make sure that you are alright. I’ll be doing the same thing.’

Harry nodded. ‘Alright. Stay safe, Ri.’

‘You too, Jamie.’ And with that Draco was gone.

Sighing, Harry loaded his trunk and the cage onto a trolley and slipped through the barrier. He looked around, but the Durselys were no where in sight. Had they forgotten about him? He went to the station entrance to see if maybe they were waiting for him outside. When they weren’t there either, he found a place where he could watch the door and sat on a bench, talking softly to Hedwig.

After a while he curled up in the bench and fell asleep, waking only several hours later when he felt the mirror in his pocket warm slightly and heard the soft alarm. Stretching, he sat up and pulled the mirror from his pocket. “Hey Uncle Sev.”

“Harry,” the man replied. “Did Draco give you my message?”

Harry yawned and nodded.

“Good. I want you to check in with me every night so that I can make sure that you are alright. If they treat you the way they did last summer, even once, then I will come get you. I don’t care what the Headmaster says. I won’t leave you there to be mistreated. Your mother wouldn’t have wanted that.”

Harry smiled at the man, still trying to wake up. “Thanks, Uncle Sev.”

“You are welcome, Harry. Where are you? Was that a train whistle I just heard?”

“I’m still at King’s Cross,” he told the man. “I think they forgot about me.”

“I’ll be right there,” Severus told him and then the mirror went blank. Five minutes later he walked up to Harry, pulling the boy into a tight hug.

Harry returned the hug. “I’m fine, Uncle Sev,” he said, his tone light and teasing.

“Hush, scamp,” he replied half-sternly. He took Harry’s trunk. “Let’s find an out of the way place so that we can Apperate.”

“That sounds good.”

Severus led Harry out of the train station and found a quiet alley.

Hedwig chirped softly and Harry looked down at her, sighing softly. “Uncle Sev…can I send Hedwig to Spinner’s End? If she goes with me she’ll be locked in her cage until you come get me.”

The man nodded. “That’s fine, Harry.” Harry released the majestic bird and Severus shrunk the cage, sticking it in his pocket. He looked down at the boy. “You know I would take you straight to Spinner’s End if I could, right?”

Harry nodded. “I know, sir.”

“It’s only for two weeks.”

Harry nodded once more, wrapping his arm around the man’s waist so that they could Apperate to Privet Drive . Moments later they were walking up the street to the Dursely’s house. Harry looked over at the Potions Master. “You look different without the robes.”

Severus eyed the boy beside him. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“It’s a good thing, Uncle Sev. You don’t look as fearsome or bat-like.”

“Bat-like?”

Harry grinned up at the man impishly.

Severus gave him a playful smack on the back of his head and led him up the walk to Number Four. Setting the trunk aside, he knocked on the door.

A moment later Petunia opened the door. Upon seeing who was standing on her doorstep, she glared at them. “You come and take him from here by force last summer and now you want to bring him back? It’s not going to work, Severus Snape. Vernon refuses to allow him into the house. And I don’t want him either.” Before either of them could respond she slammed the door.

Harry felt a heavy weight settle on his shoulders and tears prick the back of his eyes. He wasn’t going to cry! His aunt and uncle had never wanted him and he had known that as long as he could remember, so why was it bothering him now? He was not going to cry over them, damn it!

As Petunia had said her last words before slamming the door, Severus had felt a crackle of magic. He pulled out his wand and under the cover of darkness stepped out onto the lawn and ran through a string of charms to test the wards around the house. Just as he had suspected, there was nothing there. Nothing!

He pulled Hedwig’s cage from his pocket and restored it to its proper size before tapping it with his wand and sending it on to Spinner’s End. He did the same with Harry’s trunk before turning back to the boy. The boy’s emotions were playing on his face as they usually did and Severus could tell he was struggling not to cry. “Come here, Harry,” he said, pulling the boy into another hug.

Harry went willingly, burying his face in the Potions Master’s shirt. A small part of him wished that the man was wearing the soft robes that he normally did. They were much better for hiding his face when he wanted to cry. After a few minutes Harry pulled away from the man. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. I need to go to Hogwarts and let the headmaster know what happened and then I’ll take you to Spinner’s End, alright?” Severus asked, running his fingers through Harry’s hair in the now familiar comforting gesture.

Harry nodded. “Are we going to Apperate?”

“No. I can’t Apperate onto the school grounds, so we’ll go over to Mrs. Figg’s and use her Floo.”

Harry looked up at him. “Mrs. Figg is a witch?”

He chuckled. “She’s a Squib, Harry,” he said, leading the boy down the street.

--

Once at Hogwarts, Severus sent Harry down to visit Hagrid and then went to collect McGonagall before going to the headmaster’s office. “We need to talk, Albus,” he informed the older man.

“Come in,” he told them, waving them toward the two chairs in front of his desk. “I thought you went to Spinner’s End, Severus.”

The Potions Master ignored the comment. “I want guardianship of Harry.”

“We went through this at the end of last summer, Severus,” Albus replied. “He must stay with his relatives because of the blood wards.”

“Blood wards that fell about fifteen minutes ago. They did not come to retrieve him from King’s Cross and when I took him to their house, Petunia refused him. As I was the one who constructed most of the wards, I felt them fall. I tested them. They no longer exist.”

“How did you know they left him at King’s Cross?” Minerva asked him, looking concerned.

Severus sighed. “For many years Draco has had a two way mirror. I had its match. I got Filius to help me add another mirror to the set for Harry. Before they left school I told both boys to check in with me every night. When I did not hear from Harry tonight, I contacted him myself. That’s when he told me that he was still at King’s Cross.”

Albus folded his hands. “And you are sure she refused him?”

Lifting his head, he met the older man’s eyes with a silent invitation. A brief second later he felt the presence in his mind and he called forth the memory of what had happened with Petunia. Finally, the presence left his mind. “She refused him. The wards fell. And I want guardianship. Tomorrow, Albus!”

“I will see what I can do, my boy.”

Severus stood. “I know that you have the power in the ministry to get it done. Make sure that it happens, or I will let everyone know what you’ve let the Boy-Who-Lived go through these last twelve years.”

“He’ll do it,” Minerva said firmly, giving the older man a steely look.

Without another word, Severus turned and left the office, heading down to Hagrid’s hut to collect Harry.

--

After arriving at Spinner’s End, Severus sent Harry to shower and get ready for bed, while he hauled the boy’s trunk up to Harry’s room and started unpacking for the boy. Harry’s photo album and the blanket Lily had made for him were on the top. Smiling, he placed the album on the small table beside the bed where he knew Harry had kept it the summer before. Then he draped the blanket on the foot of the bed. He probably wouldn’t need it this summer, but since it was on the top, Severus figured that the boy liked to keep it close. That done, he used his wand to put away the rest of Harry’s things: the school books on the shelves above the desk, the robes in the closet and the clothes in the dresser.

“Thanks, Uncle Sev,” Harry said as he came into the room after his shower.

Severus turned down the sheets and light blanket on the bed before moving aside and allowing Harry to climb in. He sat beside the boy. “I want you to take a mild Calming Draft. You’ve been through a lot tonight and it will help you relax so that you can sleep again.”

Harry started to protest, but then just nodded, holding his hand out. Maybe the potion would help him forget too. When the potion was handed to him, he tossed it back easily before handing the vial back to Severus. Harry curled up on his side and closed his eyes. A moment later he felt long fingers stroking his hair gently as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

--

Harry sat up in the bed about a week and a half after coming to Spinner’s End, gasping for breath. It hadn’t been a dream that woke him, but something had indeed caused him to wake from a rather deep sleep. After a few minutes he realized what it was…terror. He was terrified. No…it wasn’t him. It was Draco!

Without a second thought, he slipped his school robe around his shoulders and raced down the stairs to the Floo. Tossing the powder down, he yelled, “Malfoy Manor!” and was gone in a flash of green.

--

Severus woke up when the alarm on the Floo went off. He had set it years ago to let him know if someone came in or out after a five-year-old Draco had come through and then sat on the floor all night because he hadn’t known where to find his godfather. That had been the first summer that Draco had ever stayed with him.

He rushed into the living room only to find it empty. A quick spell told him that Harry wasn’t in the house and had used to Floo to go to Malfoy Manor. He hurried back to his room to get dressed and grab his emergency kit. Lily, if Lucius doesn’t kill Harry first, I just might strangle your son!

--

Harry stumbled as he exited the Floo and the first thing that caught his eye was his brother lying, unmoving, on the floor across the room, his back and legs bloody. ‘Orion!’ he screamed silently.

He scrambled across the floor and carefully lifted his brother’s head onto his lap. His brother was alive, but barely conscious. “Hold on, dragon,” he whispered. “I’ll get Uncle Sev…”

Before he even had a chance to look for his mirror, he realized the presence of a third person in the room. “Well, well, well…if it isn’t Harry Potter.”

Harry looked up to see Lucius Malfoy staring down at him. “What have you done to him?!” he demanded.

“I’m teaching my son his place,” the man sneered.

“You nearly killed him! I won’t let you hurt him anymore!” Harry yelled, pulling out his wand.

Lucius laughed; the sound cold and harsh. “I should have gotten rid of you last year when I had the chance.” He pulled his wand and pointed it at Harry.

“Expelliarmus!”

“Avada Kedavra!”

The red and green sparks met in mid air and the two curses deflected back at their caster’s. Lucius managed to dodge the killing curse as it came back at him, but Harry was unable to move in time and the red light hit him square in the chest. He was thrown a few feet away from his brother, his wand tossed across the room.

Before Harry could even recover from the hit, Lucius threw another curse at him. “Crucio!”

Unearthly screams filled the air as Harry began to writhe on the floor in pain.

Severus heard the screams as he came through the Floo and with two quick curses; Lucius hit the floor and was bound with ropes. He hurried over to his boys, swearing colorfully. Both boys were unconscious from the pain, which at the moment was a blessing. Pausing long enough to conjure three Patronuses and send them to deliver messages, he turned back to Harry and Draco, uttering every healing spell he knew.

Moments later loud pops could be heard in the other room and three people entered the room. Severus looked up. “Poppy…help…”

Poppy Pomfrey’s heart broke at the look of distress on the normally stern man’s face and she quickly knelt beside him, pulling out her wand and running diagnostic scans on both boys.

Severus turned to the two men who had come with her. “Kingsley, Lucius used Cruciatus on Harry and who knows what else before I got here. I’m not sure what all he’s done to Draco. But I want to add kidnapping charges as well.”

“Kidnapping, Severus?” Arthur Weasley asked. “He kidnapped Harry?”

“No. He kidnapped Orion Potter nearly twelve years ago,” Severus told them.

“Orion…Harry’s twin? But I thought he died.”

“It was Lucius’ son that died. He switched the babies. I have everything you need to prove it in my vault at Gringotts.”

Kingsley Shacklebolt nodded. “I’ll take care of it, Severus.” He pulled a portkey from his robes and he and the bound Lucius disappeared.

Arthur moved closer to Severus, Poppy and the two boys. “What do you need me to do, Severus?”

“I thought your team might like to go through the manor, but first I need your help getting them to Hogwarts,” Severus told him, turning to Poppy. “Is it safe to move them?”

She nodded. “Yes. I’ve done what I can for them. The rest will just take time.”

The two men each carefully lifted a boy into his arms and headed toward the Floo.