Unseen Scars

"Harry!" Sirius said brightly as he emerged from the Floo. "How was work?"

"Shite."

"Language!" Remus called from the kitchen.

"Says the swearwolf!" Harry and Sirius chorused back.

"Fuck off," Remus complained.

"What's he making?" Harry asked Sirius as he threw his work robes carelessly on the floor. Kreatcher appeared, looking scandalized, and disappeared with Harry's robes.

"Dunno," Sirius replied, clearly lying.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Well, I need to talk to both of you."

"What for?"

"I'll tell you when I don't smell like sweat."

Half an hour later, Harry was seated in the living room, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Remus and Sirius sat across from him, looking expectant.

"I'll just get to the point," Harry sighed. "When I speak Parseltongue, it affects the Dark Marks."

"How?" Remus asked with a curious, concerned tone. Sirius was looking alarmed.

Harry explained the raid. "Robards benched me until I know more about what the fuck's going on."

"Lang-" Remus dodged Sirius' swat "-uage. Shut up, Padfoot." Ignoring Sirius' snickering, Remus said, "You could talk to Severus."

Sirius made a face.

"No," Harry said vehemently. "He despises me. And anyway, after I saved him from Nagini's venom, he's been avoiding me."

"Lucius Malfoy, then," Remus suggested, looking faintly sympathetic.

"Maybe. I haven't seen Cissa for a while," Harry mused. "Their library might have something."

"Who else knows?" Remus asked.

"The Aurors who went on the raid with me," Harry said, "Robards, and Gornuk. Unless Robards ordered this to be secret, the entire fucking world will find out tomorrow."

They still hadn't found something to arrest Skeeter with.

Remus and Sirius grimaced in unison. "You should probably tell the Weasleys now, then," Remus said gently, "before they hear about it from someone else."

Harry sighed. "Fine. Have you heard from Ron and Hermione?" he asked hopefully.

They both shook their heads, looking angry and worried. "I can Floo-call Molly if you like," Remus offered. "You probably won't be allowed over until tomorrow, so they'll probably come here."

"Sure. Malfoy probably already told his parents, so I won't need to talk to Cissa yet," Harry decided.

Suddenly, the Floo turned green, and Narcissa's head appeared in the fire. "Harry, can Lucius and I come through?" she asked, looking concerned.

"You can," Harry replied dryly, after glancing at Remus and Sirius. It was their house, after all. "I want to wait until the day after tomorrow to talk to your husband."

"All right."

Cissa appeared a moment later and pulled Harry into a gentle hug. "Are you all right?" she asked softly.

Harry hugged her back. "Mostly annoyed," he muttered into her shoulder. He refrained from swearing in front of the Malfoy matriarch. "Everyone will know by tomorrow."

"You're telling Molly and her flock first?" Cissa murmured into his hair.

"Siri's inviting them over now," Harry replied.

"Do you want me to stay?" Cissa asked gently.

Harry swallowed. "Yeah."

They both sat down on the couch again. A moment later, most of the Weasleys were crowded in Grimmauld Place's living room.

"Where's Teddy?" Charlie asked, plopping on the floor next to the twins.

"He's asleep at Andi's," Sirius said with a tight smile. "We Floo-called her after Bill," he told Harry.

"How did she react?"

"She's surprised but not upset," Remus replied.

"Why's she surprised?" asked Bill.

"What's going on?" Percy demanded.

"My Parseltongue affects Dark Marks," Harry said bluntly.

Ginny bristled in alarm. "You-"

"Gornuk checked, I'm not Voldemort in disguise," Harry snapped at her. Charlie and Percy, who were both dating men, glared at her.

"We know that, Harry," Arthur said patiently, shooting Ginny a stern look. "Have you talked to Severus?"

"How did you find out, anyway?" Bill asked curiously, his eyes alight with interest.

Harry explained the raid yet again, then said to Arthur, "I don't think he wants to talk to me. I'm going to talk to Lucius Malfoy after my birthday."

"Blimey, Harry," Fred said dryly.

"Everything happens to you, doesn't it," George said wryly.

Harry snorted. "Ya think?" Cissa squeezed his shoulder gently, and he relaxed a little. "I wanted to tell you before Skeeter got a hold of it."

"I'll write Luna, see if you can get an interview in the Quibbler," Remus suggested.

"Robards isn't going to fire me because the wizarding world hates me," Harry drawled. "I don't care what people think, as long as you guys don't hate me."

"Never!" the twins said indignantly.

"You're our brother," Charlie agreed. Bill and Percy nodded.

"Has... has Ron written to you?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Yes; he hasn't talked about you," Arthur said apologetically. Most of the Weasleys looked furious, but Ginny wouldn't look at him.

Harry swallowed. "You can tell Fleur, right?" he asked Bill. She was heavily pregnant, and hated Flooing.

"I will," he agreed. "She'll be at the Burrow tomorrow, though, I promise."

"She doesn't have to-"

"She wants to," Bill said simply.

Sirius wailed dramatically and fell onto Remus' lap. "You're all so sweet!" he sobbed. Harry, Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie started snickering. Percy and Molly looked both disapproving and amused. Cissa was just amused.

"Get off of me, mutt," Remus said exasperatedly, shoving Sirius to the floor. The laughing grew louder.

There was a beeping noise from the kitchen, and Remus yelped, "Merlin's fucking balls!" He shot into the kitchen to Molly's and Cissa's shouts of "Language!" and howls of laughter from everyone except Percy, Arthur, and Ginny.

Sure enough, the first page of the Prophet loudly proclaimed that Harry was going Dark. Harry didn't let it bother him, though; the Weasleys and Sirius had put up mail wards since the end of the war, so no one could bother him on his birthday.

He arrived at the Burrow for breakfast, which was pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns, and fruit salad. After breakfast, Harry opened his presents, which were mostly Quidditch-themed, except for the prank kit from the twins and the giant green rubber duck from Arthur. They all went outside to either play Quidditch or watch the game (in Fleur's, Arthur's and Remus' case).

When the game was over, Luna and her father entered the yard. Luna gave Harry a hug, smiling dreamily. "Hello, Harry."

"Luna," Harry said in relief, hugging her back. "I was afraid you wouldn't make it." He nodded a greeting to Xeno.

"I wouldn't miss my brother's birthday," Luna said. "You should talk to Severus," she said seriously. "He'll help you with the nargles."

Harry sighed. "I know, but..."

Luna patted his arm. "He wants to protect you."

"He has to, you mean."

"I said what I said," Luna said mildly.

"Harry!" Fred yowled from the door. "Lunch is ready!"

"Hey, Lu!" George called, waving over-dramatically and almost falling over onto his brother. Sirius snickered.

Harry was glad he didn't have to talk to Luna about Snape, because she was distracted by Molly's delicious ham-and-cheese sandwiches. Afterward, Remus proudly displayed the cake he'd been making the day before: a two-tier, Slytherin green cake with writing in silver: Happy Birthday, Harry!

The cake was delicious.

They spent the afternoon in the Weasleys' living room, all doing different things; Luna and Bill were discussing creatures in Egypt, with Fleur listening sleepily; Charlie and Oliver Wood, Percy's boyfriend, were bickering about which Quidditch team was the best; Percy and Remus were playing chess in one corner; Charlie's boyfriend, Max, was watching Sirius, Fred, and George with a wary look on his face (they were muttering in the corner, mischievous expressions on their faces, so Harry wasn't surprised); Xeno was telling Arthur and Molly about his and Luna's vacation to Atlantis; and Harry and Luna were cuddled up on the couch, trying not to fall asleep.

Molly and Remus went into the kitchen at around six to make dinner, at which point Cissa showed up in the Floo.

"Happy birthday, dear," she said warmly, handing Harry a small wrapped gift. "Hello, Luna, love."

"Hello, Cissy," Luna said sleepily. "How's Draco?"

"He's doing well," Cissa said with a smile. "I'm going to help Molly and Remus." She disappeared into the kitchen.

"What'd Cissa get you?" Fred asked, and Harry jumped. The twins and Sirius had appeared in front of Harry, exaggerated looks of excitement on their faces.

"Fucking Merlin!" Harry exclaimed indignantly. "Stop giving me a heart attack!"

The room filled with laughter.

Cissa had gotten him beautiful green dress robes that matched his eyes, as well as a midnight blue gown. Harry blushed, shoving the dress out of sight; he hadn't really told anyone outside of Luna and Cissa that he liked feminine clothes, too.

"They won't mind," Luna whispered to him as they all filed into the kitchen for dinner.

As it started getting dark outside, most people began Flooing home. Fleur and Bill were first to leave, followed quickly by Percy, Charlie, Max, and Oliver. Soon, only Arthur, Molly, and Harry were left.

"Thanks for today," Harry said softly, hugging Molly tightly.

"You're welcome, love," she whispered, squeezing him back.

There was a sudden crack from outside. Molly and Arthur froze in surprise, and Harry reached for his wand, turning to face the door.

"Mum?" a familiar voice called. "Dad? You home?"

The door opened, revealing Ron, with even more freckles and longer hair, and Hermione, who was lightly tanned. They stopped in the doorway when they saw Harry.

"Harry?" Ron said. "What are you doing here?"