When Boy woke up he was incredibly surprised that he could feel no pain in any of his body at all. He wiggled his toes. There was no pain. He wiggled his fingers. There was no pain. He gently moved his arms and legs up and down. There was no pain. And finally, he moved his head side to side. There was no pain. The feeling alone made him cry, startling the blonde-haired man who sat in the chair in the corner of the room who had drifted off to sleep after watching the young boy all night. Boy flinched when a hand gently touched his shoulder and curled up into a tight ball, made easier by him being in no pain. He hadn’t realised there was anyone else in the room with him.
“Shh now, your okay, your safe,” Lucius whispered gently coaxing the young boy from the tight ball he had curled himself into. Lucius knew it was his fault, it was understandable after what the poor child had gone through that he would start easily especially since he knew Harry wasn’t aware he was in the room. “I’m sorry I startled you! It wasn’t my intention I promise. Let me go and get Severus, I’m sure he would like to know you are awake.”
Boy was glad the man had left the room so he could collect himself. He didn’t like showing vulnerabilities in front of anyone let alone. He did take this time to look around the room he was in. The bed he was on seemed to never end it was that big, green silk sheets with a large green fluffy quilt that felt so soft to his touch. The window could have been mistaken for a wall, the cupboard felt miles away. The furnishings were soft, even nicer than what Petunia deemed as ‘high class. He stared around wide-eyed just trying to take it all in. Luckily, when the door opened, he was prepared and he couldn’t stop the smile that drifted across his face when he saw the familiar face of the dark man who had rescued him from the bench he thought he was going to die on. He very nearly burst into tears again, he thought it had all been a dream, even though he was certainly not in the Dursley house or on the bench.
Fortunately for Harry, Severus had noticed his distress and had silently ushered Lucius out of the room with a quick tell you later look. He cautiously made his way to the bed and slowly sat down in front of Harry, making his actions very clear to the young boy so as not to cause him any more distress.
‘Hey Harry, how are you doing?’ he said gently. He almost flinched at the watery green eyes that locked with his. He did flinch when the body connected to those green eyes flung towards him, clambering into his lap and burying his head into his neck. Startled Severus failed to react for a few minutes until he felt wetness soaking into his collar and then he gently wrapped his arms around the boy. No, child. He hated the word boy now after knowing that’s what Harry thought he was called. The pair sat like this for a long time, Severus allowing due to the fact he knew Harry had to let it all out. He understood from the look on his face when he walked in that Harry knew he was safe and would never be going back to the Dursleys. He hummed and whispered comforting words to the child in his arms, whether he heard them or not.
Boy didn’t know what had possessed him to throw himself into his protector's arms but all he could explain was that it felt right. He seemed to fit perfectly against the man but he knew he couldn’t stay here forever, so he pulled away feeling cold from the lack of warmth that radiated from his dark man.
“m sorry sir” he whispered, grimacing at the mess on the man's collar. He gasped when the mess was gone with a flick of the man's hand.
“It is of no worry young one, How are you doing?” Severus asked again.
Boy sat there for a moment not saying anything. How was he feeling? Well, he didn’t feel any pain and he voiced that.
“I am glad, are you hungry” Severus knew now wasn’t the time to be talking about Harry's mental health, after all, they didn’t know what it would be like and wanted to avoid anything that could delay the boy's recovery right at this moment. He waited for the boy to reply, which he did with a nod, and the continued. “I'd rather like to take you downstairs to the garden to join my husband so you can get some fresh air but you can eat up here if you would prefer?’
Again harry took a moment to answer. “Is he the man who was in here before?” he asked quietly and after seeing the dark man nod he spoke again. “I don’t want him to eat on his own, that would be rude sir”
“I’m going to pick you up Harry if you don’t mind? You shouldn’t be walking just yet, is that okay?”
Once again Harry took a second before holding out his arms in a telltale sign to be picked up, and so Severus did.
Upon word of the House-elves, Lucius prepared himself for Harry's arrival at the table. He had suggested to Severus earlier in the day that Draco be sent to his cousin Regulus’ for a few days and he had readily agreed, fortunately so had Draco. He then suggested if Harry was amenable that they eat outside to give the poor child some fresh air. Whilst the boy was sleeping the pair had spoken quite animatedly about what they were going to do. They refused to let the boy slip back into Albus Dumbledore’s hands again considering he lost track of the boy completely. Severus had to floo call the headmaster and tell him they hadn’t found the boy just yet and that he was still looking so that they would have more time on what to do. In the end, they decided the only option would be to blood adopt Harry. And they needed to get his permission soon not only because it was important but so that Harry knew for sure he would not be going back to the blasted Dursleys.
He had asked the house elves to prepare a light meal for harry, a bowl of soup and some bread in the hope that it wouldn’t upset his stomach and he was very clearly emancipated and malnourished so it would take a while for him to be able to eat a normal amount of food for a ten-year-old. He had also ordered soup for both him and Severus so the child felt included.
It was a short while later that Lucius was greeted with the adorable sight of his husband carrying the little messy black-haired child out towards the garden table. He could see the bright emerald green eyes glancing around the garden taking it all in. It caused Lucius to swell up with pride of the garden he had slaved over for years to get to the way he wanted, not that he would ever admit to anyone that he loved gardening in his downtime and no one else could touch it. Severus had his own greenhouse for his potion ingredients that he grew himself because they were an eyesore in his perfect garden and if they were in the garden Lucius would be forced to let someone else into his gardening routine. And that was not happening. At. All. He was brought back into the present by Severus addressing the little boy who he had now seated on his lap. The little soul was too small to eat his food properly if sat on the chairs and Severus wouldn’t admit he could have used magic to fix that but liked the fact that the boy trusted him enough to stay there.
“Hey little one,” Lucius said gently. “My name is Lucius”
Harry timidly said hi before trying to hide in Severus’ shoulder which brought a slight chuckle out of the normally stern man. He gently nudged the boy to face Lucius again.
“Harry, this is my Husband Lucius, you can trust him, I wouldn’t have brought you to him if you couldn’t okay.”
“okay” came the quiet reply. Severus nodded in recognition of the child wanted to stay quiet so wrapped on the table for the food to arrive, hiding a smile at Harrys little gasp of surprise and the proceeded to start a conversation whilst slowly feeding the little one on his lap when he hadn’t picked up his spoon.
It was half an hour later when the real topic of conversation came to light. They had already explained to Harry about magic, about Draco and his classification. They were aware that he probably had no idea what was going on but he seemed to take it on its head and try anyway. Harry had come out of his shell a bit during the conversation, even going to ask questions himself although you had to strain to hear him but at least now he knew what was going on. But now Severus was going to ask the question they had been waiting to ask him for a while.
“Harry, Lucius and I want to blood adopt you but only if you wanted us to.”
“You want me?” came the broken reply.
“Yes Harry,” Lucius spoke this time with a reassuring smile, “We want you to be our son and Draco wants you to be his brother. What do you say?”
Harry stared at both of him with watery eyes. He seemed to be taking in every inch of them. From Severus’ black hair to his black boots. Lucius’ blonde hair to his emerald green slip on’s he wore. To the tree and flowers and animals that surrounded them and the house that stood behind them. He remembered the bed he had led on this morning, the room he had woken up in, the bathroom he had been shown when he was brought down to the garden. Even the two men’s bedroom who sat before him with the words “you can come in here whenever you need us, you don’t need to knock, just come in and we will be there for you”. He remembered the words of kindness that had been whispered when he was distressed that morning, the comfort both men had provided him.
And then he knew his answer.
These men had saved him. Men who already had a family. Men who wanted him to be a part of their family even though he didn’t think he deserved it. These men chose him. Lucius and Severus chose him. They weren’t stuck with him. They didn’t call him Boy or Freak. They fed him, from their laps even though they needed to eat themselves.
They fixed him.
So he said Yes.