The child's injuries would have faded by the time that the mediwitch arrived, but Severus' memory would be proof as to the extent of them and images could be pulled from his memory with special spells. Madam Pomphrey would already need to know the child's medical situation in order to remain his healer and Harry would likely be more comfortable with her. The aurors had arrested the boy's relatives and with help from a squib police officer and a few well-placed spells, they were being held in a muggle jail. He had a few plans in mind as to how to make their experience there as unpleasant as possible, but at the moment, his godsons needed him and he did not have the time to see to that. Revenge was a dish best served cold anyway.

He gave a quick glance to his stock of dreamless sleep and calming droughts and filed away a mental note that he would need to brew more of those in the near future as well. He knew that both boys would likely need them on occasion, though dreamless sleep was a potion that could only be taken sparingly. He pulled out the ingredients he would need and set to work on both potions. He didn't have time to think about anything other than the potions until he reached a stage where both needed to rest.

He could have cursed himself for never noticing that something was wrong with Harry. The more he went through his memories, the more small signs he found, more than there had been with Draco. Draco's tense behavior around his father and when voices were raised were signs that had already been haunting him. Now Harry's similar reaction to raised voices, his tiny size and the way he had flinched slightly at touches he didn't see coming and had often gone still and tense at any touch that lasted more than an instant was haunting him as well.

He had tried his best to ignore the child when he didn't need to protect him. Having to be around his best friend's child, his godson and know that the child would never feel anything but hate for him had been too hard. The boy's eyes had been so painful to see and he had shoved his emotions as far behind his shields as possible when near Harry. It had caused him to miss every sign and now he regretted that more than anything in his life other than not finding a way to protect Lily and Harry when Voldemort had gone after them. He had failed both of his godsons and all he could do now was try to repair the damage that he could.

Draco was trying his best to be strong but he had finally begun to open up a little before Harry had been rescued. He had a feeling that the other boy's arrival had likely set Draco back in that slightly as he knew that the boy wouldn't want to appear weak in front of his classmate. Harry would be even harder to get to open up as he knew that the child was coming into the situation with no trust in either him or Draco. The child was putting on a strong act just as Draco was but for a spy who had worked with children for over a decade, he could now easily see that Harry was still terrified and traumatized behind his mask.

As rare as it was, he had seen a few cases of abuse in his time as a professor, but it had never affected him as much as it did knowing that the victims were his own godsons. It had been easier to know how to handle Draco as he knew the child and personal experience had allowed him to understand what it was like when your father's punishments went too far. The sexual abuse that Harry had gone through was something he didn't know quite how to deal with. The idea that someone would so brutally rape a child was horrifying. Though there were several inner circle Death Eaters he had known were capable of doing that to a child, he had made it a personal goal to insure that the ones he knew had committed such crimes were sentenced to Azkaban after Voldemort's fall and he had been successful.

Harry had grown up in a home that he now suspected had never been safe. He had known Petunia well enough in the past that he had no trouble believing she had known about at least the physical abuse - and had possibly participated. He had believed that she had changed, but the house had not been big enough to believe that she had never heard Harry scream and the boy had too many scars to believe that she had never seen injuries. Narcissa Malfoy at least hadn't known what her husband had done and she had loved her son in her own way. Harry had not even had that. Knowing what the boy had been through in his first two years at Hogwarts, he wondered if the child even knew what safe was.

He was making it a personal goal to break the child of his end-of-year near death experiences before they became even more of a habit. Now that Harry was in his custody, he would make sure that the boy learned what it meant to be safe. He might be learning as he was going with both boys, but he would make sure he kept them safe, fed, clothed and never harmed them. That alone would be an improvement, he knew, but he hoped that they could be happy as well. He had promised himself that he would protect his godsons and he had failed them both. He was determined not to fail them again.

He wondered when Harry would be up to a shopping trip. He had suspected they would need to go soon when he saw how few things the elf had gathered, but the boy wearing his Hogwarts uniform confirmed his suspicions even further. He would have to glance in the boy's room once he had unpacked and figure out just how much the child would need. Draco had at least come with more than enough belongings, he simply wanted the child to be able to make his room his own and not an exact copy of his room at Malfoy Manor - and he also wished to avoid any jealousy.

The trip would require quite a few glamour spells if he wished for any semblance of peace, but it was necessary. Though he did not believe himself to currently be in much danger in highly public areas, the wizarding world was annoying enough with their sudden change in opinion of him after it was confirmed that he had always been a spy. He did not wish to know how they would react to the fact that he was now the guardian of The Boy Who Lived in addition to the Malfoy heir. He had never had any wish to be seen as a celebrity and he desperately hoped that something new would come up soon and take the attention off of him. It would be ridiculous if it remained necessary for all three of them to use glamour's anytime he needed to take the boys out in public. If they would calm down about him, he could easily scare off any reporters or 'fans' who tried to approach Harry.

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Harry was placing the last of his things in his new room and trying not to be embarrassed at how that almost made it look even more bare. The bookshelf held a single shelf of his school books and only half a second shelf containing the four books he had felt safe in taking from Dudley's bookshelf in his second bedroom (he had feared that if he confiscated anymore it would be noticed) and the couple of books he had received from his friends in addition to his photo album. He had placed his flute from Hagrid on one of the other shelves and the Quill Hermione had given him was sitting on his desk with some extra parchment.

The rest of his school things had been placed in the drawers of his desk and his school uniforms and pajamas were in the wardrobe while his trunk, broom and winter clothes were in the cupboard. The only reason he even had pajamas and winter clothes was because one of his dorm mates - he still didn't know which one - had told a seventh year prefect that he had none that fit in their first year. He had made it sound as though he had simply outgrown his own coat and forgotten to pack his other things. Somehow, the girl had believed it and had pulled out a catalog to help him order a cloak, scarf, hat and gloves in addition to some pajamas. He had always wished that he had been able to keep the catalog and order clothes other than his uniform, but he hadn't been given the chance.

With his Weasley sweaters, he felt more normal in colder weather, but in warmer weather he still had nothing to wear other than his uniform and the near-rags from the Dursley's that he refused to wear in the wizarding world. A part of him hoped that if the professor was going to take them shopping, he would be allowed to pick up some clothes as well. He still had some money from his first trip to Gringots as he had never had the chance to spend it except when catalogs for jokes shops, candy stores and books went around the dorms for birthdays and Christmas and he could always get a little more from the bank.

He couldn't help but wonder how his friends would react to him staying with the potions professor and how it would be explained to the rest of their world. He really didn't want to end up the center of another Hogwarts 'scandal' and he was afraid that his friends might react badly to the situation. He didn't exactly have a choice yet and he knew that Hermione at least would understand that and the others probably would, at least after a while. He just hoped that if he did end up choosing to stay with his godfather, his friends would be able to see that the man wasn't who they had thought he was as well.

He pulled out the parchments with his homework assignments written on them and took his potions book off the bookshelf, deciding it would be best to start with the class his new guardian taught. He had no idea what to expect now and though things had gone well so far, he couldn't let himself trust that it would stay that way. He hoped that maybe if he did a good job with his potions essay it would please the man. He buried himself in the task, forcing himself to forget about everything else. He was in the middle of reading back through the essay when a knock sent him jumping what felt like several feet into the air. He turned around to see Snape standing in the doorway, having obviously knocked on the open door.

"Yes sir?" he said carefully as he tried to calm down his now racing heart.

"I simply wanted to see how you were doing." The man replied, seeming to realize he had frightened him, "Have you unpacked?" he asked as he looked around the room.

"Yes sir." Harry repeated, blushing slightly but keeping a slightly wary eye on the man.

"Very well. We will be shopping soon and I shall pick you up some new things." Snape said.

"You don't have to do that, sir. I have enough." Harry replied, shocked that the man really did seem to plan on taking him shopping - and seemed to be indicating that he would pay for it.

"No, you do not." The man replied in a strangely gentle tone, "I am your guardian; it is my job to make sure you have the things you need. I can see that your relatives did not do that, but they were certainly no model for how any human being should behave."

Harry paused for a moment to try to figure out how to reply. He struggled to push away the feelings that came up at the mention of his relatives. He was trying so hard to forget about the things that had happened in that house, hoping that if he didn't think about it he could pretend it never happened, but he was never successful for very long at all. He knew logically that parents and guardians were supposed to provide a lot more for the children in their care than his relatives ever had, but it was still hard to understand that it really did apply to him as well, especially when that guardian was a man who had seemed to hate him until only the night before.

"I can pay for it." He offered carefully, unsure of how to deal with the situation.

"That is not your job. I know that your parents left you a trust vault, but that was meant to be for extra things, things that you wanted but did not need. All of your godparents knew going into it that it would be our job to provide for you if you ever came to live with us and we all willingly agreed. Money is not a problem for me so you do not need to worry." Snape said in the same gentle tone of voice.

"Thank you." Harry managed to say, slightly baffled at how different the man seemed. It really was as if he was living with someone he had never met before.

"May I look at your belongings? I need to know what we will need to get when we leave for our shopping trip. I would prefer to get everything finished in one day as it will require disguises." His godfather stated with an annoyed look on his face.

Harry nodded his agreement as he blushed at the thought of the man seeing how little he had and the condition of some of it before becoming confused at the last part of what the man had said, "Disguises?" he asked, liking the idea of no one being able to recognize him, but curious as to why the man thought it necessary.

Snape stepped towards the wardrobe, frowning at seeing only uniforms and too-big stained and holey socks and underwear. Harry blushed even further but felt a small amount of relief that he had managed to fold the boxers so that the blood stains didn't show. Mostly. Even though he knew that the man was aware of what his uncle had done to him, he didn't want there to be any more reminders for either of them. He quickly blinked away tears of shame before the man answered him.

"It seems that I am now considered to be a ... hero. I find the excessive attention distasteful at best. Despite what I have said in the past, I know that you feel the same. I plan on making use of glamours when we are required to be in public until things die down." The man said as he looked into the cupboard and a brief flash of confusion registered on his face.

Harry had nodded quietly in agreement before speaking, "A prefect helped me order some things when it got cold in first year." he explained softly before the man asked, "Someone told her I didn't really have anything." He added, looking at the floor in embarrassment.

"You do not need to be ashamed about any of this." His godfather said before pausing for a moment as if he was trying to decide what to say, "Your relatives were nothing short of monsters and the blame lies solely on them for the things they have done. You are only a child. They were meant to care for you and provide for you and they did not. That is in no way your fault."

A part of Harry wanted to protest but he quickly thought better of it, shifting slightly in his seat and trying to push the soreness of the not-yet-healed injuries out of his mind. He had dealt with much more pain in the past and felt almost silly for letting it bother him so much, but it was a near constant reminder of what had happened when he so desperately wanted to forget.

"There is no shame in asking for a pain potion, child. I have seen people with much less severe injuries request them. It has not even been a full day and magic does not heal everything." Snape said and Harry was once again shocked by the kind words, "Do you want me to bring you a potion?" the man asked.

Harry fought with himself for a moment before sighing softly, "Yes sir. Please." He responded and the man stepped out of the room before returning with a potion vial a few seconds later.

"Drink all of it, it is a single dose." Snape told him as he handed the vial over.

Harry quickly downed the contents and tried not to grimace at the taste, "Thank you." He told the man softly.

His godfather nodded, "I will be in the sitting room with Draco if you would like to join us." He said before stepping out of the room.

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Draco had watched as his godfather came out of his potions lab and head for Pot-Harry's room before turning back to the book he had been attempting to read, but when the man came back out and headed quickly for his lab before walking back out a moment later carrying what Draco knew was a pain potion, he set his book down, giving up all pretenses of actually reading the book he had only made a few pages of progress in as he waited in concern for Severus to come back. He didn't want to interrupt whatever was going on and embarrass Harry, but he found himself suddenly more concerned for the small boy.

He still couldn't get the image of the other boy unconscious, bleeding and looking so small the night before out of his mind. The sight had shaken Draco badly, he had never disliked the other boy and had hoped they could someday be friends and seeing him so injured was hard. As his mind had wandered back to the situation over the last few hours, he had done a lot of thinking on what to do now. The only thing he had managed to figure out was that if Harry was going to stay as Severus wanted, he would have to trust them so Draco was going to do his best to make Harry feel welcome and safe with them.

He would have to watch his tongue carefully for a while as he didn't want to slip up and say something that would upset his new god-brother. He didn't want to give the other boy any reason to think that the Draco he had known for the last two years really was the real one. If Harry was going to choose to live with them, Draco would have to show him that they could be friends. They would both have to make Harry believe that he was safe with them and Draco knew that with the acts they had both put on, that would be easier said than done.

He watched as his godfather walked in and as soon as he sat down Draco spoke, "Is he alright?" he asked, still concerned about the pain potion he had seen Severus take to the other boy.

"He will be fine." Severus replied, "He had been holding off on asking for the potion but he allowed me to give it to him." he explained.

Draco nodded and turned back to his book but after several minutes, he found that he still couldn't keep his mind on the story. He had yet to really have a conversation with his new godbrother, not counting the brief discussion when he had first woken up, and he decided that he needed to fix that. He marked his place and set the book down before making his way to the other boy's room.

Harry was sitting at his desk, looking to be making corrections on a piece of parchment and Draco knocked softly on the door, "Can I come in?" he asked carefully.

The other boy jumped at the noise and turned around quickly before nodding carefully and Draco stepped inside, making his way into the room and sitting on the edge of Harry's bed. "So ... what are you working on?" he questioned.

Harry looked slightly nervous as he glanced back to the parchment before looking over to Draco, "The potions essay." he answered.

Draco nodded, "Yeah, that one's pretty hard, but Uncle Severus already read mine and he said that I did a good job." he said before pausing a moment as he tried to decide how to word what he wanted to say, "If you want I could read over yours . I know potions never ... went that well for you. I'm sorry about that. I just ... I didn't want anyone to suspect I wasn't really on Father's side of things."

The other boy gave a slightly hesitant nod of his own, "If you don't mind." he said before continuing, "And it's okay, I understand."

Draco suddenly felt the need to explain himself further and he looked down for a minute to gather the courage he needed, "I was afraid to give Father any reason to think I didn't agree with him." He offered softly, knowing that it was only fair for his godbrother to know the basics about his life when he had seen Harry so injured, "Father hit me when he was displeased with me and I ... I was afraid." he explained, saying the words as quickly as he could before looking at the floor again, "Severus had to heal me too." he added hoping that the information would help Harry to understand his actions and be able to more easily trust him.

When Draco looked back up, he saw the other boy looking at him with wide eyes before he seemed to regain his composure. Harry gave a small understanding nod before turning to pick up the parchment he had been writing on and then holding it out to Draco.

"It's only the first draft. So ... let me know how I did?" he asked with a small smile.

Draco grinned at what seemed to be a peace offering and took the parchment from Harry, beginning to read through it and offer advice as he went. He was slightly surprised at just how well Harry had done on his own and made sure to tell him that, smiling again at the shocked and mildly proud look that appeared on the other boy's face.