When Draco woke he found himself in a room that looked surprisingly like his room at his godfather’s house. The blanket that Lily had made was covering his bed and he ran his fingers over the soft yarn as he sat up slowly, wondering exactly where he was.
The door opened and Lily Evans Potter walked into the room, smiling when she noticed that he was awake. He decided that she was even more beautiful than her pictures. “Mum…” he whispered softly. Narcissa had never allowed him such a familiar term, preferring the more formal ‘Mother’.
“Hello, my darling,” Lily said, moving to sit on the edge of his bed. She reached out and brushed the hair from his brow, before placing a gentle kiss there.
Draco bit back a sob, closing his eyes and hanging his head. He had spent much of the last year wondering what Lily would have been like if Lucius hadn’t taken him and Voldemort hadn’t killed her. Many nights had been spent curled up under the blanket that she had made for him, dreaming of what might have been.
Lily took him in her arms, holding him like one would hold a child half his age. But he couldn’t bring himself to care, he merely clung to her, wrapping his arms around her neck and burying his face against her shoulder. “It’s alright, sweetheart,” she whispered, rubbing his back and rocking him gently.
“Am I dead?” he asked after several minutes.
“No, ‘Rion,” she told him softly. “It’s not your time yet.”
“Where am I then?”
She kissed the top of his head. “You went to the only safe place you could think of…your bedroom at Sev’s house.”
“He’s always taken good care of me. Better than Fath…Lucius and Narcissa,” he told her, making no move to leave the comfort of her arms. “Do you think he’s doing a good job raising us?”
Lily nodded. “Yes, sweetheart. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have take care of my two boys.”
“Do I have to go back?” he asked her.
“Let me show you something, darling,” she said. She waved her hand and a small mist appeared, circling tightly. Then in the middle of the mist an image appeared. It was an image of the Infirmary at Hogwarts. Severus sat between two beds, each bed holding the still form of a boy: one with hair so light it almost disappeared against the sheets and the other an unruly mop of dark hair. “He hasn’t left your sides, little dragon. He loves you both very much. It would hurt him very badly if he lost either one or both of you.”
He sighed and nodded. “Can I just stay a little longer? I want to spend some more time with you…”
“You can stay a little longer, but then you must go back, my darling.”
--
Severus sat in a chair between the beds where Harry and Draco lay. Poppy had told him that they were both just sleeping, and that they would both probably sleep for quite some time as their bodies needed the rest that a healing sleep provided. He knew that they would sleep for another several hours, but he just couldn’t bring himself to leave them. Not after what they had been through at the hands of Lucius Malfoy.
A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up to see McGonagall standing behind him. In an uncharacteristic gesture, he reached up and covered her hand with his own. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“How are they, Severus?” she asked him.
He sighed. “Sleeping now. Draco wasn’t cursed, but he did suffer a cruel beating. The worst I’ve ever seen Lucius give him. Harry only got hit with the Cruciatus, but he’s so little…”
“You care for them.”
“I love them, Minerva. Not just because they are Lily’s sons, but like they were my own. I…I don’t know what I would do if I lose them.”
She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Albus is at the Ministry making sure that Lucius gets prosecuted and that you are named temporary guardian of Draco. You already have guardianship of Harry.”
“I don’t want guardianship. I want to adopt them.”
Minerva smiled softly. “You’ll get to adopt them, but a guardian needs to be named while the paperwork is processed. And you know how the Ministry likes to drag its feet with things like this.”
He nodded. “Albus better not mess this up for me, or I’ll take the boys and go to Beauxbatons or Drumstrang or even Salem, if I have to.”
“You wouldn’t leave Hogwarts, Severus. It’s your home.”
“Minerva, nothing matters anymore except these two boys. I tried telling him something like this would happen, but he didn’t listen. He didn’t even want me to tell them that they were twins.”
“Don’t worry, dear. I’ll make sure that he doesn’t mess this up.”
--
Harry sat up and stretched, wondering what he was doing in the Gryffindor changing room at the Quidditch pitch.
“It’s about time you woke up, sleepyhead.”
Harry whipped around to see his father standing in the entrance. “Dad!” He flew off the bench and threw himself at his father. “What are you doing here?”
James held his son close for a moment. “I came to talk to you, son.” He led the boy back to the bench and they both sat down.
“I…I’m not dead am I? I mean, that was a pretty nasty curse that Mr. Malfoy threw at me…and it really hurt.”
He ran his hand over his son’s messy hair. “No, Harry, you aren’t dead. Just sleeping, but you need to wake up.”
“Why?”
“It’s not your time. And Severus needs you.”
Harry leaned his head against his father’s side. “I don’t think he liked you very much, Dad.”
James chuckled. “No. Severus and I didn’t get along very well.”
“He’s my guardian now. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn’t want me anymore.”
He put his arm around his son. “Lily and I never wanted you to go to them. But Severus will be a good guardian for you.”
“I think he wants to adopt me, but he wants to wait until he can adopt Dra…Orion too.”
“I’m glad you two finally found each other.”
Harry sighed. “When do I have to wake up?”
“Soon, Harry,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of his son’s head. “Very soon.”
“Can…can we go flying first?” Harry asked, looking up at his dad, hope shining in his eyes.
James laughed. “Sure. Come on.”
--
Harry was the first to stir and Severus was sitting on the edge of his bed a moment later. “That’s it, phoenix…come on. Wake up.”
“Uncle Sev?” the boy whispered, opening his eyes. He attempted to move, but even the slightest movement was painful.
“I’m here, scamp,” Severus replied, gently taking Harry’s hand in his.
“It hurts…”
Severus summoned a pain killing potion and gently lifted Harry’s head so that he could drink the potion. Within moments the boy’s features seemed to relax. “Better?”
Harry nodded. “Draco?”
“He’s still sleeping, phoenix.”
“Phoenix?”
“I’m sure you are aware of what I call Draco.”
“You call him dragon. I think I’ve done it once or twice,” Harry answered.
Severus nodded. “Not only does his name mean dragon, but he also reminds me of one. You remind me of a phoenix. Do you know what a phoenix is?” Harry shook his head. “A phoenix is a very rare, magical bird. When it reaches a certain time, a phoenix will burst into flames and then will rise again from the ashes.” He ran his fingers through Harry’s unruly mop of hair. Harry leaned into the touch. “No matter what life throws at you, Harry, you always rise from the ashes: the death of your parents and the dark lord’s attack on you as a baby, the attack when you saved the Stone, the Chamber of Secrets this year…and now this.”
“I guess that name does fit, doesn’t it?”
“It does, Harry. But that doesn’t mean you can go rushing off into danger all the time. That will stop.”
He looked up at the man sheepishly. “I guess I’m in big trouble, huh?”
“Yes. You are. But I think they pain you will be in for the next couple days from the Cruciatus Curse that Lucius threw at you will be punishment enough.”
“That was a really nasty curse, Uncle Sev,” Harry said, making a face. “It still hurts even with the potion you gave me.”
Severus sighed. “I’m afraid that because of your age I can’t give you anything stronger. The potion that I use is much too strong for you.”
“You’ve had someone use that curse on you?”
“It is a favorite of the Dark Lord. It was not unusual for him to have used it more than once in the same evening to show his displeasure.”
Harry nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. “Uncle Sev?”
“Yes Harry?”
He opened his eyes and looked up at the man again. “I saw my dad…before I woke up.”
“And what did he say?” Severus asked, careful to keep all emotion from his voice. Surely James Potter had nothing good to say about him to Harry and Harry would now probably regret allowing Severus to take him in and become his guardian.
“Well…he said that he thought that you would make a good guardian for us.”
Alright, so he hadn’t been expecting that! James Potter actually thought he would be a good guardian to his son…his sons. This was one of the rare occasions that Severus Snape was left speechless.
Harry glanced up at the man briefly before continuing. “He also told me that I had to come back because it wasn’t my time yet…and because you needed me.” The last part was whispered just loud enough for the man to hear. Harry rolled onto his stomach to get more comfortable as he began to grow drowsy. It was a move he had seen his brother make the few nights they had spent together in their room in the Potions Master’s quarters at Hogwarts and it never failed to get the man to rub his brother’s back until he feel asleep. Well, Harry had decided it was time to find out it if was as wonderful as his brother made it out to be.
“He was right, Harry,” Severus replied almost as softly, as he began gently rubbing the boy’s back as he had done with Draco since Draco was little. Draco, who could act like a spoiled puppy at times, was definitely rubbing off on his brother. “At first I took you in simply because you were Lily’s son and I knew that she wouldn’t want you to have been raised by her sister. But over this last year you’ve become just as special to me as Draco is. I can’t imagine going back to a life without my two scamps…” He continued the gentle massage until he was sure that Harry was sleeping. Sleep was the best medicine that he could offer the boy right now. “I would be proud to one day call you my sons,” he whispered. He brushed the hair from the boy’s brow and pressed a gentle kiss on the lightening bolt scar, before standing and tucking the boy in.
He turned to the next bed to check on Draco, pulling out his wand and running a quick diagnostic scan. Draco was still sleeping deeply. Lucius had somehow charmed his cane and the wounds left by it were resisting all their efforts to heal them. Thankfully they had been able to stop the internal bleeding and it was just the bruises and open wounds on his back that they had to worry about.
Severus sat on the edge of the bed and pulled back the light sheet covering his godson to make sure infection wasn’t setting into the boy’s back. He cast a glance at the boy’s face and relaxed slightly at the peaceful look on the boy’s face. He hadn’t seen that look since Draco had been a toddler. “What are you dreaming about, little dragon?” he asked softly, knowing that he wouldn’t get an answer. “If you are with Lily, tell her that I…I miss her.”
--
“Why did all this have to happen?” Draco asked Lily. He still sat on her lap, unwilling to leave the safety and comfort of her arms until he had to.
Lily kissed his brow. “I wish I knew, my darling.”
Draco sighed softly. “I don’t think Moth…Narcissa ever really wanted me. She would teach me things she thought were important, but she never held me…I was raised by house elves. All he did was teach me what purebloods should and shouldn’t do. The only time he touched me was to try to hold me still so that he could cane me.”
“My poor baby,” Lily whispered, holding him even closer. “No one deserves to live like that and you did nothing wrong, my son. Lucius is the one that is wrong. It’s not your fault.”
“Uncle Sev has tried to help me…when he was allowed to, but sometimes he wasn’t allowed anywhere near me. I wish he could have been my father instead of Lucius.” He looked up at her. “I’m sorry…I just…” He hadn’t really meant for it to come out like that.
She gently placed a finger on his lips. “You don’t have to explain. I do understand, Orion.” He rested his head against her shoulder again. “Go back and let him be more than just your father…let him be your dad. Let him love you and care for you as he would his own child. I used to tell him all the time that he would make a good daddy.”
Draco chuckled. “He might hurt me if I called him ‘daddy’.”
“He might, but I think deep down he’d be honored,” she told him with a smile. “It’s time for you to go back now.”
“Alright,” he sighed deeply.
“Will you give Sev a message for me?” He nodded against her shoulder. “Tell him that the things that happened in the hours after my death were not as they appeared.”
Draco looked up at her. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I can not explain or say anything more than that. But if I know Sev, what little I can say will intrigue him enough to look into those events.”
He nodded. “I’ll tell him.”
Lily pressed another kiss to his brow. “Close your eyes now, my darling. It’s time for you to go back.”
--
‘It’s about time you woke up,’ Harry said through their bond when he noticed his brother starting to stir.
Draco cracked open an eye and gave his brother a dirty look. ‘Shut up. I was having a good dream.’
‘You’ve been sleeping for two days.’
‘With the way I hurt right now, I’m glad I’ve been asleep.’
‘I’ll get Uncle Sev,´ Harry told him, carefully standing up and taking two steps toward where Severus was sleeping in the chair where he had stayed since they had brought the boys to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall had come in nearly an hour before and discovered Severus asleep in the wooden, straight-backed chair and had transfigured it into something more comfortable. The man hadn’t even stirred. Harry placed his hand on his guardian’s shoulder. “Uncle Sev…Draco’s awake.”
The Potions Master woke up, instantly moving to the blond boy’s bedside. “How are you feeling?”
Draco looked up at his godfather. “My back hurts…”
Severus brushed the hair from the boy’s face. “I’ll spell some pain reliever into you in just a minute,” he said, pulling out his wand and running a diagnostic spell. Draco nodded and then winced. When he finished, he spoke to the boy again. “The potion should kick in soon, dragon.”
“Thanks, Uncle Sev. I’m really sorry about this…”
He gave the boy a stern look. “It is not your fault, Draco. You have done nothing wrong.”
“That’s what Lily…what Mum told me.”
Severus face softened and he returned his chair back to its original state and moved it closer to the bed so that he could sit where Draco could see him better. “You spoke to Lily?”
“Yeah,” Draco answered. “She stayed with me. Mum seemed happy that you were taking care of us.” All Severus could do was nod; he was lost in thoughts of his Lily. “Uncle Sev?”
“Hmm?” the man asked, being pulled from his thoughts.
“She asked me to give you a message…said that you will figure out what it means.”
He looked back down at his godson. “What’s the message?”
Draco was quiet for a moment, trying to make sure that he had the message right. “She said to tell you that ‘the things that happened in the hours after my death were not as they appeared’. She couldn’t say anything else about it, but she said that you wouldn’t stop until you found the answers.”
Severus quietly repeated the message and then nodded. “Now that I know that something needs to be looked at a little more closely, I will look at the other events of that night again.”
--
“Is it really true?” Hermione asked the next day as she and Ron sat on Harry’s bed in the infirmary. Dumbledore had agreed to allow them to come and speak to Harry personally. The day before the Daily Prophet had reported that Lucius had been arrested for using an Unforgivable curse on Harry and had nearly beaten his son to death. The rest of the charges against Lucius were being kept quiet while Severus and the Aurors decided how to handle releasing the news to the public.
Harry nodded. “He used the Cruciatus on me.”
Ron looked over at his friend. “What were you doing at Malfoy Manor anyway? The paper didn’t say.”
“That’s because Uncle Sev wouldn’t let them,” Harry answered.
“Uncle Sev?! You call him ‘Uncle Sev’?”
Harry winced. “He’s my guardian and he told me that I could call him that if I wanted to.”
“He’s your guardian?” Hermione questioned. “When did that happen?”
“Officially or unofficially?”
“Both!” Ron responded.
He sighed. “Officially about two weeks…since school let out. My aunt wouldn’t take me back.”
“And unofficially?” Hermione asked.
“Since my birthday last year,” he answered.
“And you didn’t tell us?!” Ron snapped. “Why?”
“He did not tell you, Mr. Weasley, because he could not say anything for his own safety as well as Mr. Malfoy’s,” Severus said, walking up behind them with his pensieve in his hands. He set the basin on the table beside Harry’s bed.
“What does Malfoy have to do with…”
Severus cut him off. “This is a pensieve, Mr. Weasley. If you and Miss Granger will join me, I will show you why he could not say anything.”
Ron started to protest, but Hermione rolled her eyes. “Come on, Ron,” she said, moving closer to Severus. After a moment of hesitation, Ron followed her and the three disappeared into the pensieve.
They returned a few minutes later and Ron sat on the edge of the bed with his mouth hanging open. Hermione moved over to give Harry a hug. “Are you happy?” she asked him.
“My baby brother’s not that bad,” he replied with a slight smirk, knowing that Draco wasn’t sleeping as he pretended.
‘Watch it…’ the blond growled through their bond and Harry laughed.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Draco took offense to being called my baby brother…”
“They even twin-talk,” Ron grumbled. “That’s just great.”
Severus crossed his arms and looked down at the red head. “Mr. Weasley, perhaps it would be best for you to return home so that you can prepare for your trip tomorrow.”
Ron nodded and stalked out of the room.
Harry frowned at his friend’s retreating back. Hermione gave him another hug. “He’ll come around, Harry.”
Harry sighed and nodded. “I hope so. Where’s he going tomorrow?”
“His father won some kind of prize at work,” Hermione answered, sitting beside him. “So they are all going to see his oldest brother in Egypt. Don’t worry about him, he’s being a prat.”
‘She’s right, you know,’ Draco said.
Harry turned to his brother. “Stop pretending to sleep, Draco.”
“I’m not pretending,” Draco replied without opening his eyes. “I’m attempting. There is a big difference, thank you very much.”
Hermione giggled. “Hello Malfoy.”
He cracked an eye and looked over at her before closing his eyes again. “Good night, Granger.”
Harry threw a pillow at his brother. “Go to sleep.”
Severus rolled his eyes and left the three teenagers alone.