Harry sat in a room in the Department of Mysteries translating a book. It was now three weeks since their arrival in the past. Severus had been given his potions mastery but had also been given a job in the department. Harry had been asked by Fisher to translate a few parselscript books and scrolls that the department had. The condition of course was that no one knew that he was doing it. Fisher had told him that while being a parselmouth was rare and there were some dark associations with it, he was not to be ashamed of his gifts. Harry assumed that most of the fear in their day was because of Voldemort.

Harry had on more than one occasion, thought of the psychopathic Dark Lord.  Harry had been horrified to see the man's wand in his trunk. Severus explained that Kreacher must have felt that since Harry had defeated the man, that he should have the wand. Harry had wanted to destroy it but a part of him couldn't. 

He was currently translating a book that was written by one of Salazar Slytherin's grandsons. The book was about taking care of your snake familiar. Harry smirked and thought of Nagini. He thanked Merlin that he would not have to worry about that evil snake for a while; he then mused that he would not have to deal with Voldemort for a while. He sat back and thought about the man... he wondered what the man was doing... if he was even alive. Harry calculated... in his second year the diary was fifty and Riddle was sixteen when he wrote it. He chuckled; Tom Riddle was about two years old.

Harry went back to his translating. After a few minutes he stopped. He ran out of the room and ran through the department to the labs, where Severus was. Severus and Potions Master looked up when he entered the lab.

"Dad!"

"What! What is it Harry?" Severus sounded concerned.

Harry waved his wand and cast a muffliato spell, which would give them privacy. "I know why we were sent to this time."

Severus raised his eyebrow.

"Tom... Tom Riddle, he is in an orphanage and he was abused, just like I was; but he was in an orphanage and he turned dark.  I didn't. We could save him, raise him up right; he should be around the same age I was when my parents died."

"Adopt Lord Voldemort" Severus said angrily.

"He wouldn't be Lord Voldemort now would he, he is just a toddler. He is an innocent child right now, we could ensure he is brought up in a home, where he is loved, guided and brought up right.  If that happens then I am sure he would not turn dark.  We could save him."

Severus obviously did not like the idea.

"Please dad, if we save him now, then think of the ripple effects.  We could save everyone by simply saving one," Harry said.

Severus nodded.

-------

Severus had spoken to Fisher. They had told Fisher and Potions Master a variation of the truth without specifying places, times or names. They knew both men were suspicious but did not ask. Fisher however, turned out to be a good source of information and connections. He helped them with the arrangements for purchasing their new home in Manchester, which was currently being furnished and given magical protections. They were expecting to enter it before the weekend in three days. Fisher also happily made arrangements for them to adopt Tom.

At eight o'clock the next morning, Fisher sent an owl stating that no applications for guardianship or adoption had been made for Tom Marvolo Riddle, and he had started the paperwork for Severus to legally adopt the child. He sent documents for the head of the orphanage to sign.

Harry and Severus changed into rich muggle clothing and made their way to the London orphanage where the toddler Tom Riddle was kept. It had been one of the places Harry had checked for horcruxes, so he knew where it was.

The matron, Mrs. Cole, who ran the orphanage, was a cold woman who looked like she used to be a prison warden.   She looked at Harry and Severus sternly.

"I am looking for a child, I am told he is here; his name is Tom Riddle. I wish to adopt him," Severus said seriously.

"Why Tom... why him in particular, are you family?" she asked, eyeing Severus coldly.

"No, but we are just like him" Harry said.

Mrs. Cole considered him. "His mother told us about her special ability before she died; she did not want him growing up with that curse."

Harry sighed. "Magic is not a curse. Merope did not have a good life in either the magical world or in the non-magical world but for her, the magical world was worse. Her father was a hard man. I grew up without my parents and lived with relatives who, like you and like Merope, thought magic was a curse. They tried to beat the magic out of me, exorcise the magic; but it can't be removed, it is part of you. If left on its own, the magic will turn you mad. Tom is powerful and as such if he cannot learn to control and harness his magic it would become wild and lash out and hurt him and others."

"You are not mad?"

"No, my mother left me certain protections. However I was rescued in a sense and sent somewhere where I was trained."

"Did you hurt others?"

"No, but because of me others were."

She looked at Harry and Severus and considered them. After a minute of consideration she said, "You are not the first to come concerning Tom. Two others came; one said he was a teacher. They said that Tom had to be heavily disciplined, to be isolated from the children and to be worked hard so he would learn that he is not above others. We were told that not all magic is good; that he had a dark spirit in him and we had to beat the spirit whenever it showed itself."

Severus looked at her seriously. "He is a child. An innocent child. If you treat him like a slave, one of two things would happen; he will always be a slave, using his power for a master or two, he will rebel and fight against his oppressor."

Harry looked at her. "If they are who I think they are... one, the red head, he is the one who placed me with my aunt.  She did exactly what he told you, so when he rescued me; I thought him my saviour and did whatever he wanted. He became my master.  I am powerful, madam, very powerful; and he used my magic, he used me as a weapon. I however was able to escape, with Mr. Reiner's help. Those two will do the same to Tom. I had hoped that I would have found Tom before they became aware of him. I will not have them use another child the way they did me."

Mrs. Cole looked at the adoption papers. "Are these real?"

"Yes."

She looked at them, unsure and Severus said, "I will be a good father to him, and Harry will be a brother to him. We will protect him, we will raise him with love and when needed, discipline. We will help him control his magic, with proper training and patience."

She looked at them and then picked up a little bell and rang it; she asked the plump woman who came in to bring Tom Riddle immediately.

The plump woman came back a few minutes later with a small boy with black hair and blue eyes.

Severus moved to take the boy but Harry stopped him "That is not Tom."

The plump woman frowned "Sure it is.  This is Tom."

Harry looked at her and his magic came forward. "This is not Tom Riddle."

The matron turned to the woman. "Hattie they are adopting Tom. I want you to bring Tom Riddle."

"I... I can't find him ma'am he is gone," Hattie said.

Severus looked at her and then at Harry. "She is lying."

Mrs Cole stood up and asked them to follow her. She took them to a room with a few cribs and five small beds. There were about twelve toddlers between the ages of one and three in the room.

"Where is Tom?" Mrs. Cole asked and none of the children answered.

Hattie came in, "I told you he is not here."

Harry put up his hand to silence her. "[Tom. Tom Riddle, are you here?]"

There was no answer and everyone (besides Severus) looked at Harry in amazement or fear as they heard him speak like a snake.

"[Tom, I am not here to hurt you, I am here to take you to my home.]" Harry walked around. "[I want to be your brother; I want you to come and live with me and my dad. We will keep you safe, we will drive the monsters away...]"

"[S'aky?]" A tiny voice asked and Harry turned around and saw a small cupboard... a cupboard like his, a cupboard with a lock on the outside.

"[No, I am not a snake. My name is Harry and I am like you,]" Harry said and with a wave of his hand, the lock broke and the door opened. The child hissed as the light came in the room,; he had on rags and was covered in his own filth and looked scared.  With another wave of his hand, Harry banished the filth and cleaned the child. He then bent down and put his hands out, inviting the boy to come to him.

The little boy looked down at himself and then at Harry, unsure. Harry, knowing his own fears from a child said, "[I am here to rescue you, Tom]".

The little boy came to him and Harry picked him up holding him close. He was a tiny child, a baby... but he looked like he had eaten recently; the abuse had only now started.

Mrs. Cole looked at Tom in Harry's embrace and then looked on as the boy introduced the toddler to his new father. She smiled and knew that Tom had found a good family.

"Come, we need to sign the paper work," she said with a smile.

Hattie looked at her. "Mrs. Cole what about the others, what about the money they promised; with it we would get new beds, clothes."

Severus looked the plump woman. "So you sold the child to slavery?"

"No... they said that the child was evil and that it was for the greater good," Hattie said.

"And locking a baby in a closet in his own filth with a lock on the outside, that is an example of your goodness," Severus said coldly and the woman bowed her head.

They went back to Mrs. Coles' office where she signed the Ministry of Magic forms and placed the Orphanage's official seal on the papers, making it legal.

There was a knock on the door and Hattie came in with a change of clothes, nappies and a bottle of milk. Severus sighed; he knew it was her way of apologising but still, he wandlessly checked the bottle and clothes for spells or poisons; they were all clear, so he fed Tom and then changed him. 

He rocked Tom until the boy fell asleep on his shoulder. Severus asked the matron about information on Merope. She gave him Tom's birth paper and his immunization card and showed him the boy's file. Harry pointed a special notation on June 1st of that year. Mrs. Cole said that this was the first time Tom showed any magic; he had levitated a toy to him when another child had taken it away. She said that two days later, Dumbledore and Grindelwald came in inquiring about the boy.  Another notation dated the day before showed that Tom had been caught ‘playing' with a snake.

Severus said that he would organise protection for the orphan home against the other wizards and Mrs. Cole said she would be grateful.

------

They took Tom back to the DoM and Fisher took them to the Department's healer to look at the child. Tom screamed when he saw the tall, thin, vampire looking healer. Shadow looked at the child, nodded and left the room. A minute later, a tall woman with beautiful platinum blond hair and deep blue eyes came in the room. Tom liked her. Harry gave Severus a look and the man rolled his eyes. She told Tom her name was Healer Sarah. She examined him and told Severus that besides a few diaper sores, which would heal by this evening, he was fine.

She looked at Harry and then asked Severus, "Do you want your other son to be checked as well? He does not look to well."

Severus looked at Harry, who nodded. When she started examining him, she gasped. "How did you survive two killing curses, a Basilisk bite, an acromantula attack, a dragon attack, a dementors' partial kiss, mind penetration attacks, over a dozen cruciatus..."

"You are not to concern yourself with that," Fisher said even though it was obvious he too was looking at Harry in curiosity.

"Fisher, I am accustomed seeing the injuries of Unspeakables, and what I see here I have never seen. I have a list of abuse, both physical and magical, from since the child was two. From what I see here, I would not recommend leaving another innocent child with that man," the Healer said pointing to Severus.

"Severus is not my real father, I am adopted. He took me away from that life," Harry said.

Sarah nodded and looked at Severus apologetically. She then said, "Henri has several magical binds on him, his magic has been drained several times in his life and it has left severe scars on his core. His body is stunted and underdeveloped and his eyes are irreparably damaged due to several physical blows to the head. If I were to guess you suffer from migraines?"

Harry nodded.

"And right now his body is severely sleep deprived. I could recommend a series of potions to help heal his body physically, though there is nothing that would help the worst damage. He also desperately needs some dreamless sleep potion," she told them.

"The dreamless sleep potion does not affect me. Even the strongest batch dad could make does not help" Harry said.

"So how do you sleep?"

"Dad puts up an occlumency shield."

"And for how long does that hold?"

"About three hours, sometimes four; once or twice it was only two but he cast it a second time," Harry said.

She shook her head. "That is not good enough; if you don't find a way to solve this problem fast, you will go crazy or worse, you could sink into your mind and never come out."

"Henri, we could go the option of blocking your memories like I suggested," Fisher said.

Severus looked at Harry and said, "My offer still stands, now more than ever."

Harry looked at Severus and at the little boy who was now sleeping in his arms. He shook his head.

"You need my help with Tom. If they come looking for him, I will need to fight."

"I think the best help Tom could have, is by having a big brother who he could climb trees with, go swimming, and catch snakes with. I think Tom would like that more than a body guard," Severus said.

Harry looked at the boy again and Severus said, "I am not a slouch in fighting. I think I could hold my own... and while I never killed Basilisks or fought off a hundred dementors or battled dragons and trolls, I have had my share of battle scars."

Harry smiled, "Yeah, werewolves and Grims."

"And cheeky teenagers," Severus said with a smile.

Harry bit his bottom lip and looked at the report in the healer's hand. He knew he was guaranteed to live another hundred and thirty two years and he did not think he wanted to live it as a mad man.  He looked at his dad "You have to promise me that you will read bedtime stories, take us fishing and take us to Quidditch matches."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Of course brat, but you know I will not let you become like James and Sirius, so there will be bedtimes, rules and spankings... but no whips, no belts, no being locked in a cupboard and no frying pans to the head."

Harry nodded.  Severus put Tom down on a bed and went to Harry. "I take my role as Dad really seriously Harry, I will take good care of you. You know the promise I made to your mother. It still holds. I made a promise in front of Death that I would help you and protect you. I am very proud of the man you are and I know Lily and James and... the mutt and wolf are very proud of you. I am sure they will all agree with me that you deserve a new start."

Harry leaned in to him and Severus held him. After a minute Harry said "I want you to make me three promises."

"What?"

"That you will try and heal yourself. You are just as scarred as I am and you need to take care of yourself as well. Come on you're thirty eight and you look eight three," Harry said.

Severus rolled his eyes.

"And two, you will find someone to take care of you" Harry said.

Severus gave him the dreaded Snape glare.

"Mum's been dead over sixteen years. It's time to move on. Sure mum was beautiful and your soul mate and all that, but dad you have to find another. We came here to start over, to leave the past. You have to leave her in the past and find someone new."

Severus scowled and said "And three?"

Harry looked at him sadly. Snape shook his head.

"Okay I will wash my hair and go on a date. Now three?"

"You have to buy Willow Castle in Scotland," Harry said.

Severus rubbed his temples. "Harry, we have been over this. It is not a castle or even a house.  It is a big pile of rock and bush and it doesn't even have a roof."

"Dad, please. I was thinking of buying it and building it over as a sort of project for the next few years, but now I wouldn't be able to. Dad, listen, there is something about that place. As soon as I saw the picture, I was just drawn to it and when we went I felt... I felt the same way as when I held my wand for the first time or when I saw Hedwig. It felt like home. Please, even if you buy it and leave it for when I turn seventeen again, I will fix it up then. Please, dad please" Harry said.

Severus sighed. "Alright, I will wash my hair, go on a date and buy the big pile of rock."

Harry smiled. "Thanks dad. Okay I'll do this."  Harry passed his wand and his hidden vault keys to Severus; he had already keyed Severus to the vault so he did not have to worry about passwords.

Healer Sarah and Fisher looked on and then Severus took out a purple vial from his pocket. He explained what it was and the other two nodded.

Severus got a medicine spoon from the healer and poured out a small measure of the potion as if it were medicine. Harry took a deep breath and took it.  It took about a minute, but Harry shrunk. Severus estimated he was about fourteen.

The boy looked at him and then looked around "Where am I, Snape?"

Severus glared at him. "That is Professor Snape. What was the last thing you remember doing?"

"Hermione and I were practicing spells for the Tri-Wizard finals... wait was I hit by some sort of spell?"

"Yes, and you need to take this potion immediately," Severus said.

Harry looked at him "Where is Pomfrey? Who are these people?"

"Now, Potter.  I don't have all day," Severus snapped in his stern Professor voice.

Harry glared at him but obeyed. Another minute later, a scared nine year old was looking at him. Severus approached him. Harry screamed loudly.  Tom immediately got up and started wailing. The blond healer went and picked him up.

Severus shook his head and Fisher took out his wand to cast a silencing spell. The boy looked at the wand.

"I be good, no use whip" Harry said, almost petrified in fright.

Severus looked at him sternly. "Okay, well just take this medicine and he will not use the whip."

Harry quickly took the medicine and what looked like a two year old stood in his place. Severus wondered if he had poured too much, he was estimating Harry to be about four but he looked barely older than Tom, who wasn't even two. 

"Hello, who are you?" the boy asked, looking at Severus.

"I am your new daddy Harry," Severus answered, putting his arms out.  The boy did not come to him, but looked around fearfully.

"If you are looking for your Aunt and Uncle, they are gone and you will never see those bad people again. I am your new daddy and that is your brother Tom," Severus said, pointing out Tom.

Sarah turned Tom around so he could see Harry.

"Daddy and Tom? No Aunt ‘Tunia? No Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked.

Severus smiled. "Just Daddy and Tom and Harry."

Harry looked at Sarah. "She new mummy?"

Sarah blushed red but said, "No, I am Healer Sarah."

"She is the doctor who is going to do a check up on you," Severus said before turning to Fisher. "And that is Mr. Fisher. He is a friend."

Fisher smiled. "I am a police man, so if any bad people come, I will catch them and locked them away."

Harry looked at Fisher and smiled.

Sarah passed Tom to Severus and then took out her wand to examine Harry. The boy flinched, but Severus sat on the examining table next to him and put Harry to sit on one leg, while Tom sat on the other.

Sarah smiled and waved her wand over Harry. "You have been successful in reversing most of the damage. There is still a block on his magic; he is malnourished and a bit underdeveloped. He is four, but looks like two. He has suffered some abuse; I see scarring on his skull from what I assume is a frying pan. It has affected his eyes, but all of the physical damage can be healed. You put him at a correct age. I am concerned about the block on his magic. Fisher I assume you can remove it?"

Fisher examined Harry and then nodded. "He is very powerful. I suspect the person who orchestrated all of the damage put it on him. I will take it off slowly over the next month or two, so he will become accustom to it."

Severus smiled and thanked them. He looked at the two boys in his arms and smiled. This was the happiest day of his life.