Harry looked over at Hermione and nodded. They had decided a few days ago to use Polyjuice Potion to sneak into the Slytherin common room and see if Draco and his buddies knew anything about the Chamber of Secrets or the Heir of Slytherin or what had petrified two students now. He really didn’t want to trick his brother, but he was also tired of everyone at school thinking that he was the Heir of Slytherin.

Polyjuice Potion was an advanced potion, but Hermione said that she could do it. However, they didn’t have access to two of the ingredients that they needed and they weren’t in the student stores in the potion lab either. They knew that Snape, as a Potions Master, would have the ingredients in his private stores…they just needed a distraction so that Hermione could sneak into the room and steal what they needed.

Harry was going to provide that distraction. He was going to try and sneak into the man’s private stores and then while Snape was distracted yelling at him, Hermione would steal what they actually needed. Seventh years had the class just before this and Harry was hoping that Severus hadn’t locked the door to his private stores back after that class, as he sometimes allowed the seventh years to use his private stores.

Taking a deep breath, he slipped across the room and opened the door that connected the student lab to Snape’s personal lab. The knob turned easily under his hand and he slipped inside, darting across the room and grabbing a vial off the shelf at random. He dropped the vial in his pocket and hurried back into the classroom.

“POTTER!” Snape yelled as he came back through the door.

Harry gulped. He knew the man would be mad at him, but he hadn’t counted on that tone of voice. He was going to get walloped for sure! “Yes, sir?”

“My office! Now!”

Harry cast a glance at Hermione before nodding and heading into the man’s office, his head down.

Severus followed him into the office and closed the door, casting a silencing charm over the door. Grabbing Harry around the waist, he brushed aside the boy’s heavy robes and gave him a swat on the trousers. It was the hardest swat he had ever given the boy and Harry let out a startled yelp. He let the boy go and glared down at him. “Give me whatever it was that you took!”

Rubbing his sore backside with one hand, Harry took the vial from his pocket and handed it over to the man.

“You better have a good explanation for stealing from me, young man.” When Harry started to speak, Severus held up his hand. “You can tell me tonight in detention. Be here at seven and be prepared to work very hard.”

Harry nodded. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry, Uncle Sev.”

“Just get back to work,” he told the boy, pointing toward the door.

Head down, Harry went back into the classroom and back to work on his potion. He looked at Hermione hopefully and she nodded, smiling at him.

--

“I’ve got to go,” Harry told his two friends at dinner.

“Where?” Ron asked him.

He sighed. “I got detention with Snape.”

Hermione’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, Harry…I’m so sorry.”

“We got what we needed, didn’t we?” he asked. “Don’t wait up for me.” Sighing deeply, he turned and left the Great Hall, heading down for the dungeons and the potions classroom.

Severus was sitting at his desk grading papers when he came in. “Get started scrubbing,” he said, nodding toward a pile of dirty cauldrons at the sink in the back of the room.

Harry started to go to the sink as directed, but stopped and turned back to the man. “Uncle Sev…are you really mad at me?”

“Do as you are told, Harry,” the man directed, not even looking up from his work.

Sighing deeply and struggling to keep from giving in to the tears that threatened, Harry went over to the sink and began scrubbing the cauldrons. He’d really done it now. Uncle Sev was furious with him and had probably changed his mind about letting him spend his summers with him and his brother. Not that Harry blamed him. He had really messed up this time, and Uncle Sev…no, Professor Snape, he wouldn’t want Harry to call him Uncle Sev now…didn’t even know the whole truth. He had spent enough hours at the Dursleys washing dishes that the chore wasn’t too hard for him, but it did take a lot of elbow grease to get rid of some of the more stubborn stains and some of the cauldrons were quite heavy.

Once finished Harry walked back over to the man, his head still down. “I’m done sir.”

Severus looked up at the boy. “Come into my office.” Harry nodded and followed the man into the next room. Severus sat down on his sofa and Harry moved to stand in front of him. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m very sorry for stealing from you, Professor Snape.”

“Profess…Harry, look at me,” he told the boy. After the boy looked up at him, he continued. “I told you that you may call me Uncle Sev when we are alone.”

“But you’re mad at me and don’t want me anymore,” he said, unable to hold back the tears any longer. He put his face in his hands to keep the man from seeing.

He pulled Harry into his arms, letting the boy sit on his lap. “What makes you think that I don’t want you anymore?”

“Because I stole from you…”

“Silly child. I am very disappointed in you, Harry, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want you. Yes, you will have to go back to the Dursleys ever summer, but never for more than a week. You will still be coming to my house. Nothing you do could make me change my mind.”

Harry looked up at him, drying his eyes with the back of his hands. “Really? You really mean it?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, you fool boy. I really mean it.”

“Oh, thank you, Uncle Sev!” Harry exclaimed, throwing his arms around the man’s neck and hugging him.

“You’re welcome, Harry.” He snapped his fingers and a vial appeared. “Take this in the morning. It will help with your sore muscles.”

Harry took the vial and put it in his pocket. “Thank you, sir.”

The man nodded. “Come, I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”

--

Severus looked around his classroom as his fourth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class packed up their things to leave. “Weasleys. Stay behind please.”

The two red heads nodded. “Yes sir.” Though they didn’t let on to anyone, they didn’t think that the Potions Master was as bad as everyone in school made him out to be. In fact, he had helped the two boys out a few times by giving them tips for some of their inventions and he was always willing to answer their questions, even if they owled him during the summer.

After the rest of the class had left, he ushered the two boys into his office, closing and warding the door. He took a seat behind his desk. “I need your assistance.”

Fred and George grinned at each other and then sat down across from him. “Does this have anything to do with the potion that we tested for you at the end of last year?” Fred asked him.

“As a matter of fact, it does,” he told them. Though they didn’t act like it most times, these two had two of the most brilliant minds he had ever seen during his years as a teacher. And he would never admit to playing favorites, but these two were, in fact, his favorite students. He often found ways to give them points when no one else was around. Severus had found them to be sneaky, resourceful and very Slytherin. Any detentions they served with him were far from unpleasant for he allowed them to brew with him, the three of them working together, making quite a team. “But before I get into what I need, I have a question for you. Do you have a way to communicate with each other without actually speaking?”

“We can read –“

“-each others minds.”

“That’s how we can-“

“-finish each others sentences.” They grinned at him, knowing how much it drove teachers crazy when they did that. Usually, they refrained from finishing each others sentences around him out of respect.

He gave them a mild scowl. “Is there any other type of bond that you share? Such as feeling each others pain?”

“No, sir,” George answered. “But I know that some twins can.”

Fred nodded. “And the Patil twins can feel each others emotions”

“Do you know of any twins that can do all three?” he asked them.

“I’ve never heard of any. But if they did, that would be quite a bond, sir,” Fred replied.

“Did you have a set of firsties that tested as twins using the Frater potion that they brewed at the end of last year?” George questioned. “That’s why you had us test it, correct?”

“Yes, to both of your questions,” Severus told him. “I had them working in teams, a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, to brew the potion. Then I had them test the potion.”

The two looked at each other. “Harry,” they said together.

“And may I ask how you came to that conclusion?” he asked them.

“It’s really quite simple, sir,” George replied. “When you brought Harry to the Burrow this summer, all his clothes were new and they fit.”

“Last year only his school clothes fit him. Every thing else he owned was at least three sizes too big for him,” Fred continued.

“He didn’t say why, but I do know that he asked the headmaster to allow him to stay here over the summer, but the headmaster told him that he had to go back. I don’t think he would have looked that healthy if he had stayed with his relatives all summer.”

Severus nodded. “He did spend some time with me this summer. Along with his twin. I can’t go into any details now, but they do know and for the time being they must act like nothing has changed. For the safety of both of them.”

“What did you need our assistance with, sir?” Fred asked him.

“I would like the two of you to watch Harry and do two things for me. First, I want you to see if you can figure out who his twin is. I mostly want to see if it is obvious to anyone else. The second thing I want you to do is see if you can figure out the bond between them. I know that one can feel the pain of the other, but I don’t know if they both can. I would also like to know if they can communicate between themselves. Can you handle this for me, gentlemen?”

The two teens grinned. “We sure can, sir.”

“It would be an honor.”

“Thank you,” Severus told them. “If you succeed, I will allow you one afternoon in my private lab.”

“Your private lab, sir?”

“Oh…we won’t fail you!”

Severus nodded. “Very good. Remember, this stays between the three of us. You are dismissed.”

--

On Christmas Eve, Harry told Ron and Hermione that he was really tired and pretended to go to bed early. Once there, he changed into his pajamas and closed the curtains on his bed, before slipping under his invisibility cloak. He and Draco were going to spend the night in the Potions Master’s quarters and then Uncle Sev would wake him up early in the morning to come back before any of the others woke up. Harry hated to keep this a secret from Ron and Hermione, but only Uncle Sev could tell them. Maybe he should talk to the man and ask about letting them in on the secret. It was easier for Draco, because he at least had an excuse for spending time with his godfather. Harry didn’t have that excuse…or any excuse really, because as far as every one in school knew the Potions Master hated him.

Severus greeted the boy with a smile when he opened the door to his quarters. “Good evening, Harry. Did you have any trouble slipping away?”

“No, sir,” he replied, hanging the cloak on a hook by the door. “I just told them that I was tired and wanted to go to bed early.

“Hurry up, you two,” Draco called from where he sat on the floor near the tree that Hagrid had brought in. “I want to open the presents!”

“Hold your horses, boy,” Severus told him as he and Harry moved over to where he was sitting. He took a seat in his favorite chair while Harry settled on the couch. “Alright…now you may hand out the presents.”

Harry grinned. “Open mine first, baby brother.”

Draco wrinkled his nose at the nickname, but grabbed the package from under the tree and ripped off the paper. In his lap lay a photo album. “You gave me your photo album?” he asked, looking up at his brother.

“No. I got another one and copied the pictures for you. That one is yours,” Harry explained.

“Thanks, Harry,” he said, running his finger over the blank name plate on the front of the album.

“I didn’t know if you would want to put Draco on there or your real name…so I left it blank.”

Draco nodded and pulled out his wand, thinking for a moment before turning to Severus. “What is my real name, Uncle Sev?” he asked. He had never stopped to consider what his birth name was, but now he really wanted to know even if he couldn’t ever go by that name.

“I was wondering when you might ask about that,” Severus answered. He gestured and a name appeared on the photo album.

Orion John Potter

Draco stared down at the name, whispering it softly. “Orion…you’d think I was a Black and not a Potter…”

Severus chuckled. “I think you were named after Potter’s two closest friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.”

“Oh…well, I guess that makes sense then,” he replied with a shrug. “Thanks again, little brother.” He handed him a small envelope. “I couldn’t figure out what to get you, but Uncle Sev helped me find that. It’s for your photo album.”

Harry took the envelope and carefully opened it, removing a single photograph. It was a picture of James and Lily smiling at each other, each with a tiny baby in their arms. They were having a silent conversation and then James leaned in and kissed his wife. He looked up at the Potions Master.

“To my knowledge it is the only photograph of the four of you,” he told the boys. “Lily told me later that it was a very long, hard labor and she only got to hold the two of you for a few minutes before they took you away so that she could rest. When she woke up they told her that Orion had died.”

Harry nodded. “Thank you, Draco,” he said, before pulling out his wand and uttering the copying spell that Professor McGonagall had taught him. He handed the copy to his brother, who opened his own photo album and placed it inside.

Draco turned and grabbed the last box from under the tree. “Here you go, Uncle Sev. This is from the two of us.”

Severus took the box and opened it. Inside was a very old and very rare, handwritten book. “How did you two…” There had only been a handful of copies made of the book and only two said to still be in existence.

Draco grinned at him. “I told Father that you wanted it and he got it. We both chipped in and helped pay for it though. But I didn’t tell him that half of the money was from Harry.”

“Thank you, boys. Very much.” He waved his hand and two envelopes appeared in front of the boys. “Happy Christmas.”

The two boys looked at each other for a moment before opening their envelopes at the same time. “Quidditch tickets!” Harry exclaimed.

“Not just any tickets, little brother,” Draco told him. “Season tickets for Puddlemere United!”

“Puddlemere United? Wood says they are the best!

Severus suddenly found himself nearly tackled by the two preteens as they both tried to hug him at the same time. “You’re welcome, scamps,” he said with a laugh.

--

After the presents had been opened, Severus sent the two boys to bed in his spare room, which he had had the house elves redecorate for him a few days before. There had been one bed in there already for the rare times that Draco had come to stay with him while at school. Now there were two beds so that he could allow both boys to spend the night at the same time without forcing one of them to sleep on the couch.

The two boys changed into their new pajamas, courtesy of their Uncle Sev, and climbed into their beds, settling down to sleep. Severus came and tucked them both in, promising to wake Harry early enough so that he could return to his dorm before anyone realized that he was missing. The Potions Master turned off the light and went to his own room for the night.

“Draco?” Harry asked a few minutes later.

“Hmm?” the other boy answered softly, very close to falling asleep.

“You know I’m not the Heir of Slytherin, right?” It was important to him that his brother knew that he wasn’t.

“That’s a stupid question, little brother,” the blond said. “Because if you are, then so am I. And I know that I’m not the one doing it.”

Harry sighed. “I know. It’s just that…well…everyone else thinks it’s me.”

“I don’t, Harry.”

“Some of the Gryffindors think that it’s you.”

Draco rolled onto his side, facing his brother. “What did you tell them?”

“I have to play along with them, but I know you aren’t.” Harry was quiet for several minutes before speaking again. “Do you know who it might be?”

“No. I think Father knows something, but he won’t tell me. I’ve asked him several times.”

“Have you asked Uncle Sev about it?”

“Yeah…he won’t tell me anything either.”

The door to their room opened and Severus stepped inside. “Go to sleep, boys.”

“Yes sir,” they both murmured, closing their eyes and trying to sleep.

--

“It’s finished!” Hermione chirped the next morning after she, Ron and Harry had opened their presents.

“I don’t think we should do it,” Harry told them, settling in his favorite chair near the fire. It wasn’t often that he was able to curl up in this chair, because the older students usually claimed it first.

The other two looked at him in shock. “Why not? Harry, we’ve been brewing this potion for a month…and we stole from Snape to do it!” Ron said.

He sighed. “Well…you saw what the book said could happen if we got it wrong…I don’t want to end up like that.”

“But I brewed it right, Harry,” Hermione told him. “I followed the directions exactly and it looks just like the book said it should.”

“Look, that’s not the only reason. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I went for a walk using my dad’s cloak. I overheard Snape and Malfoy talking. Malfoy doesn’t know anything and was trying to get Snape to tell him what was going on. Snape told him that it wasn’t any of his business.”

“So what am I supposed to do with my Polyjuice Potion?”

“We’ll just save it for later. We may need it for something else.”

Hermione sighed deeply. “Oh, alright. But you owe me, Harry.”

“I know, ‘Mione,” he told her, tossing her chocolate frog.