Harry rubbed his temples.

He’d given up. He sat on the bench, sighing deeply. His head hurt. He was exhausted. He needed to sleep. His accidental magic had put a deep amount of strain on his body. He didn’t have the mind space to consider what that meant. The shouting match was too much to take. The volume of their voices had woken the portraits of the house, Mrs. Black included. Their fierce wails added to the chaos. It was a ridiculous amount of noise.

These were adults?

Hah. Hilarious.

All three of them had devolved into prepubescents. Even Snape, while maintaining a sense of dignity, still fiercely fought with soft vindictive pleasure. The contrast of his quiet voice seemed to make everything sound louder. It was aggravating. It wasn’t stopping any time soon.

All the broken glass had been ignored.

They just wanted to yell at each other.

By this point, Harry wasn’t even sure they knew what they were fighting about any more. They were working on this immense hatred for one another – why, Harry wasn’t sure. He hadn’t even been on this level with Malfoy before they came to a neutral understanding.

This was Dursley level of stupidity.

If only I could cast a silencing charm or anything to shut them all up, but I can’t do magic without messing stuff up. Ugh. I wish they’d stop already. They’re giving me a headache.

What had caused such irrational hatred between them? How could they continue to act like this, even in their thirties? Was it simply the division of the houses that had caused this? Was it more?

How could Harry intervene in this fight between three adult men? While he knew they wouldn’t purposely hurt him, an accident was sure to happen. Harry gritted his teeth. He had to do something. He couldn’t sit here and wait for them to collect their senses.

Select words entered his ears.

“Snivellus.”

“Mutt.”

“Are you so desperate for Lily that you’d try to claim her son as your own?!”

“James is Harry’s Dad. She chose him!”

Am I only allowed to have one family? I’m never allowed to have another one or more than one? Does that mean Ron can’t be my family? Even though he’s like a brother to me? Life took my first family away. Is that why the Dursleys were never going to be my family?

Because I already had one?

That’s absolute bull and I refuse to accept that.

Magic filled the air, soft and gentle. Blissful silence entered his ears. Another wave of exhaustion washed over Harry. He gasped, his eyesight darkening completely. Still conscious, Harry lost all energy to hold himself up. He slipped off the bench, collapsing onto the kitchen floor.

“Harry!”

Strong arms lifted him. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t speak. Sweat poured from his body, soaking his clothes. Something pressed against his lips; a hand forced his mouth open. A strong liquid slipped down his throat. Harry closed his eyes, grimacing.

“What did you give him?” demanded Sirius. “What are you doing? Get away—

“Sirius, calm down!” said Remus, sounding exasperated. “Severus is a potions master. He isn’t going to poison him!”

“But I would enter into an inappropriate relationship with him?” snarled Snape. “Aren’t you just full of s—”

Oh, for the love of Merlin, please stop.

The magic grew stronger in the air, silencing all voices. Harry lost his breath; he blacked out.

***

Fear clamped around Severus’ throat. He pressed a finger to the boy’s neck. His pulse was far too fast, pounding with fluttering desperation. Harry had gone pale, nearly white.

Voices blended in his ears, but he couldn’t hear them.

Every time Harry used magic, whether accidently or not, it drained him. But this was to the extreme. This wasn’t normal. It was like using magic harmed his physical body.

What did that blasted quill do to him?

A strange idea occurred to Severus. Frowning, he cast a spell to check the boy’s levels. He sucked in his breath as words and numbers floated above Harry. The voices stopped.

30% blood loss.

“Black!” snapped Severus. “Do you have any blood replenishers in stock?”

“Y–yes…”

“Well, don’t just stand there!” shouted Severus. “Go get some!”

Losing blood? But there aren’t any wounds. Internal bleeding? But since when does accidental magic drain blood?

That quill…

Since its affects were unknown, since it had caused a vast many problems and issues on so many different scales, there was little understanding of how much damage the quill could do. One thing was for sure: it had changed something in Harry. But if using magic meant draining his blood… Harry would never be able to use large amounts of magic at a time.

A sense of despair entered Severus, conflicting with a wave of relief.

Harry would never be strong enough to face Voldemort now.

It was a relief, of course. He wouldn’t have to watch the showdown between his son and the Dark Lord. He was one hundred percent okay with that.

But that wouldn’t stop the Dark Lord from hunting them both. The prophecy had claimed that Harry had power the Dark Lord knew not, but now Harry wouldn’t have enough power to last more than five minutes before he would collapse from blood loss.

If the prophecy was to be believed in, then Harry would still have something, a power, something that would and could end Voldemort. But without a strong magical ability, Severus couldn’t see the possibility.

Though, at this point, Severus wondered if a simple muggle gun would do the trick.

Perhaps, this condition would change and evolve over time. Maybe it wouldn’t be this bad forever. But Voldemort was here. There wasn’t another decade of waiting and wondering. The Dark Lord would launch an attack on the Wizarding World within the next few years – that much was certain.

Harry wouldn’t last.

“Here,” said Black, entering the kitchen. He handed Severus a number of blood replenishing vials. “They’re only a month old.”

Severus nodded and popped the cork, tipping the edge to Harry’s lips. He forced the boy’s mouth open and poured the contents into his mouth, helping him swallow it down. He poured a second vial as well. As the color slowly began to return to the boy’s skin, Severus scooped him into his arms and stood up.

“He won’t be able to travel until he wakes,” said Severus, holding Harry close. The boy’s skin was damp and ice cold. “Where is his summer bedroom?”

“This way,” murmured Black.

As Severus followed him in silence, a wash of shame and guilt sunk into his stomach. He was at fault here. Yes, he wasn’t the only one, but he could’ve done better. He didn’t have to provoke Black even further.

No matter how much he hated Black.

Although, in Severus’ defense, he wouldn’t have completely lost it if it hadn’t been for that disgusting insinuation made by the mangy wolf. How dare he. It was absolutely uncalled for – Severus had never implied such things in his behavior. Yes, he was a complete git. He knew it. He accepted it.

Anything else, though?

Merlin, no.

They entered a dark room that was covered in dust. With a roll of his eyes, Severus flicked his wand and, a few spells after, the room was cleaned to a modest condition. The room would need a deeper cleaning than that. 

Severus placed Harry onto the bed, tucking him beneath the covers. He cast a few more spells to make Harry more comfortable. He stared at the boy for a long moment, ignoring the awkward silence behind him. He touched the boy’s forehead; sweat clung to his skin. He carded his fingers through the unruly fringe. He pulled away and turned around.

Time for a change.

“I shall make one thing clear to the both of you,” said Severus in an even, yet unwavering tone. “I love this boy like a son. You are not the only ones who care for him.”

Black’s expression pinched. Lupin opened his mouth, before slowly closing it.

“I adopted him because I grew fond of him,” continue Severus, forcing all emotion behind his shields. He couldn’t lose control now. Every word was true, yet spoken with an impassive tone. “I also could not allow him to go back to those disturbing monsters called his relatives. While I had gained guardianship of Harry near the beginning of the school year, I have since chosen to make it permanent. Everything has been submitted. Approval papers should be arriving any day now.”

Black slumped onto the edge of the bed and hunched over, dropping his face into his hands.

“This enmity between us must end tonight,” said Severus, lifting his chin slightly. “Black, I hate you. I’ve hated you and James Potter for decades. You were glorified bullies at school and no one corrected this behavior. You lured me to Lupin on a full moon, hoping I would be bitten or worse – all without regard for what would happen to him if I werebitten.”

Lupin glanced away, pain glittering in his eyes. Sirius’ head whipped up, fury burning in his eyes. Severus flicked a silencing spell at him.

“I’m not finished,” said Severus, a lace of darkness entering his voice. “I am more than aware of my own failings before you shout them at me. I became a Death Eater, something I deeply regret. I couldn’t save Lily and her family. I don’t deserve to be a father to her son. But the least I can do for her is be a father to her son. Harry needs a father and has accepted me. If I had known the horrible conditions of his life, I would’ve removed him from his relatives immediately.”

Severus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Black,” he said. “I don’t like you, but for Harry’s sake, I will do everything in my power to get along with you.”

Black stared at him with a strange expression.

He didn’t expect an apology. He would never get one. Black would never seek forgiveness for almost ruining his life with lycanthropy or worse: getting him killed. He would let that grudge go. Harry needed peace. He would give that to him.

“Severus, I am deeply sorry for the actions of my friends and my inactions,” said Lupin, sincerity in his tone. “It’s little consolation, but I didn’t speak to Sirius for months after he lured you to the shrieking shack.”

Severus inclined his head. More than he expected…

“There is more to tell, but I think Harry would want to tell you himself,” said Severus. “I refuse to argue any more. Harry needs all of us and I have no desire to cause him more distress. His magic reacted to us.” His tone dropped to an ominous inflection. “We have acted like bratty school children, but I’m done with that. We all will be calm and collect when he wakes.”

“Is this revenge?” whispered Black. “Is this your revenge on James and I?”

Severus gritted his teeth, his heart wincing in pain at those words. He shoved all of his fury and angry even further behind his shields. His expression remained impassive.

“I realize you cannot fathom that you’re not just insulting me by that question,” said Severus. “Your question implies that I could never love Harry on his own merits. This is false. Harry Potter is not James Potter. It took me awhile to learn that, but I have. I suggest you do the same.”

And with that, Severus conjured a chair at the bedside of Harry and sat down. He folded a leg over the other, crossed his arms, and stared at the other two men.

He wouldn’t leave the boy’s side.