Nearly

Harry offers Draco a hand, but the blonde holds his own hand up with a raised eyebrow. Harry rolls his eyes — like he’ll care about getting ink on his hands, after everything that’s just happened! — He grabs Draco’s hand and helps him up. The other boy staggers slightly and winces in pain. 

”How’s your ankle?” Harry murmurs. 

Draco doesn’t answer, just grumbles something under his breath. Harry sighs and laces his arm around the boy’s waist to support some of his weight. Draco hops a little closer to him and leans into his side. It’s actually quite nice and comforting to have him pressed against his side like this, Harry thinks. And considering how angry the other boy is, it might be the only chance to be this close that Harry will get in a while, so he might as well make the most of it…

”H-Harrry? Harry?” They hear Ginny Weasley’s weak voice calling from the tunnel. 

”It’s okay, Ginny!” he shouts. ”We’re coming!”

Fawkes comes swooping down from the ceiling again and leads the way through the shadows. They find Ginny sitting on the floor, shaking uncontrollably. 

”Are you all right?” Harry says. 

”Harry, I’m so s-sorry — I swear I d-didn’t m-mean to, Riddle made me do it —!”

”I know”, Harry says. ”It’s all right. It’s all over now.”

”I’m going to be expelled!” Ginny sobs. ”It’s no more than I deserve but — what’s — what’s mum and dad going to s-say?”

”I don’t know…” Harry says awkwardly. ”I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m sure… I’m sure it’s going to be fine. I think everyone will just be happy that you’re okay. Come on… Everyone’s really worried, we really should get back… Come on, it’s okay, let’s go…”

Harry reaches out with his free hand and offers the girl a hand. She takes it gratefully and climbs to her feet, but when she tries to hold on to his hand Draco shoots her a glare and she immediately recoils, blushing. 

”Come on…” Harry mutters uncomfortably. ”I don’t know how we’re going to get up that pipe again, but… Let’s just get through the tunnel first of all—”

”POTTER!”

”Oh no…”

”Severus?” Draco exclaims in relief. 

Indeed, their Head of House suddenly steps out of the darkness like some ominous apparition, his black robes rumpled but billowing more dramatically than ever and his dark eyes blazing with fury. Harry instinctively takes a step back, but Draco restrains him. 

”Ow! Harry, my ankle—!”

Professor Dumbledore appears behind Professor Snape, but hangs back and watches silently as Snape swoops down on them. His lips are pressed thin and his entire body visibly shaking with anger. 

”I-I-I’m — I’m — I —” Harry stammers. 

”Not… A… Word…” Snape hisses. 

He sweeps a glance over the three of them to assess the damage of their adventure, then wordlessly points towards the tunnel’s exit. They scurry past him quickly and glancing uncomfortably at Dumbledore’s uncharacteristically stoic face, they continue to follow Fawkes through the gloom. 

Ginny continues to cry silently next to Harry, but he can’t seem to muster much sympathy for her right now. At least they’re all alive. And something tells him that whatever wrath Ginny will have to face when she is reunited with her parents will be nothing compared to what Snape will do to him…

When they reach the exit, Dumbledore gently instructs them all to hold onto each other and then grabs Fawkes’ tail feathers. The phoenix flap its great wings and soars high into the air as if they weighed nothing at all, and within seconds they surge out of the hole in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. 

As soon as they hit the wet tiled floor, the sink pops back into place hiding the entrance again. Harry goggles at it… But — 

”It closed”, he says in surprise and forgetting Snape’s wrath momentarily he turns to him and Dumbledore. ”But then… How did you open it, Sir?” 

Dumbledore tilts his head and twinkles at him from over the rim of his half-moon glasses. 

”I’m not a Parselmouth”, he says gently. ”But I have learned to master the basics of parseltongue over the years…”

Harry whips his head around and stares at Snape in horror. The man merely glares back, shaking out his robes and flicking his damp hair out of his face. 

”Now, now, Severus”, Dumbledore murmurs in a surprisingly soothing voice. ”Our friends are unharmed, so maybe now you can rel—”

”Don’t”, Snape says in a clipped tone.

”Very well… We’re all a little shocked, I daresay… But if you will all follow me. There are a lot of worried people waiting for us and I do believe we are all… Curious… To hear your stories…”

Professor Dumbledore leads them to Professor McGonagall’s office where Mr and Mrs Weasley are waiting along with Ron, Percy and the twins. As soon as they walk in the door, the whole Weasley family jump up and start yelling in relief and joy, and Mrs Weasley envelops Ginny in a massive bear hug even as she starts yelling at her for making them all worry. She suddenly spots Harry and Draco and, thrusting Ginny into the waiting arms of her husband, she envelops the both of them into a hug as well, completely oblivious to Draco’s wince of pain.

”You saved her! You saved her! How did you save her? I just can’t believe it! How can we ever thank you enough—!”

”Yes, how did you save her?” Professor McGonagall says hoarsely. 

Mrs Weasley finally lets go of them and Draco slumps against Harry’s side. Harry awkwardly removes the sword and the Sorting Hat from his waistband and hands them over to Dumbledore. The old wizard accepts them with a surprised look. Harry swallows thickly… Then looks at Draco. 

”The diary”, he says. 

”Oh, yeah…” 

Draco removes the diary from his pocket and hobbling over to McGonagall’s desk he puts it down. Everyone in the room follows his movements in stunned silence, then stare in shock at the old book with the huge fang sticking out of it and still oozing ink. 

”It’s a long story”, Draco says. ”But someone needs to fix my ankle.”

There is a flurry of movement around the room as several of the grown-ups get their wands out. In the end, Snape is the one who directs Draco to sit down and then kneels on the floor in front of him, gently guiding his foot onto his bent knee and performing a simple healing spell. 

”Thank you, Sir…” Draco murmurs. 

”Well, Mr Potter…” McGonagall says. ”Do you want to tell us what happened tonight?”

But Harry just shakes his head. He feels drained. Fawkes might have driven the basilisk poison from his system, but he has no strength or energy left… And on top of that, he feels pretty sure that he is about to be expelled and if that’s the case, he rather just get it over with so that he can go home to his dads and curl up in his bed and sleep for days…

”Well, I tried to stop him”, Draco says. ”But he’s the most stubborn person on the planet.”

Harry glances over at him, but still doesn’t say anything. Draco huffs and rolls his eyes, then tells everyone about how he’d followed Harry down to the Chamber and when Harry fought the basilisk, he dragged Ginny to safety. 

”You fought —” Snape snaps his mouth shut again and then proceeds to take several deep breaths while glaring at the ceiling. 

”Yeah the bird showed up”, Draco says. ”It pecked out the basilisk’s eyes, but it was still — still a giant serpent — but I dunno — You got a hold of that sword, somehow? I didn’t see where you found that actually…”

Harry takes a deep, shaky breath and points to the Sorting Hat. Everyone gives him confused looks, but he just shakes his head; too tired to talk… Snape watches him with unreadable eyes and when Harry sways, he’s in front of him in a flash, conjuring up a chair for him to sink onto and puts a gentle hand on top of his shoulder… It makes Harry feel a little better, like when Fawkes was sitting there…

”Then what happened, Mr Malfoy?” Dumbledore says gently. 

”Oh — ehm — then”, Draco mumbles, tearing his worried eyes away from Harry again and meeting those of the Headmaster politely. ”Well, he got himself bitten by the thing, didn’t he, the clumsy fool. He was dying, properly dying, but then the bird — it — it started crying and the tears — I dunno, the wound started healing up again — but Riddle still had Harry’s wand and —”

”Riddle?” Snape says sharply. 

”Yeah — from the diary”, Draco says. ”Oh, right — I forgot to tell you about the diary —”

”This?” Dumbledore says quietly and reaches for the diary, holding it up to his face curiously. ”I see… So that’s how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny… I did wonder… My sources had told me he was still hiding n the forests of Albania, you see…”

”What…” Mrs Weasley says weakly. ”What’s that? You-Know-Who? En-Enchant Ginny? But Ginny’s not… Ginny hasn’t been… has she?”

”Yes!” Ginny sobs suddenly. ”It was his diary, but I d-didn’t know! D-Didn’t know it was him, I only knew him as T-Tom… We’ve been writing to each other all year!”

”Ginny!” Mr Weasley says, shocked. ”What have I told you about things that appears to think for itself? Never trust it unless you can see where it keeps its brain! A suspiscious object like that, clearly it was full of Dark Magic! Why didn’t you show it to me or your mother, or Percy?”

”I d-don’t know!” Ginny wails. ”I just found it amongst my textbooks and thought mum had got it for me!”

”Miss Weasley should go up to the Hospital Wing right away”, Professor Dumbledore says. ”She has been through a terrible ordeal… There will be no punishement. Older and wiser wizards have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort in the past… Some bedrest and perhaps a large mug of hot chocolate? I usually finds that cheers me up!”

”What about Harry and me?” Draco pipes up. 

”Yes, of course”, Dumbldore says. ”I daresay the kitchens can whip up enough chocolate to go around… But first, if you don’t mind, I would like a word with the two of you in private?”

”Right”, Professor McGonagall says, all business-like and starts herding everyone else out of her office. 

Snape gives her a quick head-shake when she gives him a questioning look and stays next to Harry’s chair. Dumbledore twinkles at him, but doesn’t comment on the fact that he’s chosen to stay behind. 

”Have you contacted their parents, Severus?”

”Yes.”

Harry and Draco groan in unison, and Snape’s hand clamps down a little harder on Harry’s shoulder. Dumbledore nods calmly. 

”And you have some punishments in mind?”

”Yes.”

”Even though they saved young Miss Weasley’s life and maybe many more—?”

”Yes.”

”Very well… You’re their Head of House, but—”

”Albus.”

Dumbledore nods again, ”Well… I’ll make this short”, he says with a sigh. ”First of all, Harry, I’d like to thank you… You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber, for Fawkes to come to your aid…”

Harry shrugs his should awkwardly. 

”So you met Tom Riddle tonight… I bet he was very interested in you?”

”I guess…” Harry mumbles uncomfortably, then remembering something that Riddle said that struck a little too close to home at the time. ”Sir… He said… He said I’m like him…”

”Did he?” Dumbledore says. ”And what do you think, Harry?”

”Well, I… I mean… I’m a Parselmouth like him, I guess.”

”Ah, yes… You can speak parseltongue, Harry — because Lord Voldemort, who is the last known descendant of Salazar Slytherin, can speak parseltongue. If I am not mistaken, Lord Voldemort transferred some of his powers into you the night he gave you that scar. Not intentionally, of course…”

”What, Voldemort put a piece of himself in me?” Harry says, flabbergasted. 

Snape’s hand tightens on his shoulder. Harry winces and Snape immediately loosens his grip and lets go of his shoulder altogether.

Before Dumbledore has a chance to answer, the office door flies open and Lucius Malfoy strides in, looking more thunderous than Harry’s ever seen him, even more so than when he got into a fist fight with Mr Weasley in Flourish and Blotts. 

”Father!” Draco squeaks and jumps to his feet. 

”Ah, good evening, Lucius”, Dumbledore says calmly.

Lucius ignores the Headmaster entirely and strides across the room and grabs Draco by the shoulder roughly, as if needing to reassure himself that he’s actually standing there. 

”Draco… Are you… Hurt?”

”N-No, I’m fine, Sir”, Draco mumbles. 

”He sprained his ankle, but I mended it for him”, Snape supplies. 

Lucius glances over at the Potions Master and gives him a curt nod. 

”Your son is quite the hero”, Dumbledore says pleasantly. 

”Severus”, Lucius says. ”Will you please escort Draco to the Hospital Wing?”

”I really am fine, father—”

”I will join you momentarily”, Lucius continues, with a warning glare in Draco’s direction. ”I just need to have a word with the Headmaster.”

Snape nods, gesturing for Draco to come with him and the blonde quickly trails after him, pausing only to give Harry a questioning look. But Harry remains rooted to the spot, staring at Lucius Malfoy’s walking stick — or rather the heavily bandaged house-elf cowering behind it — it's the house-elf that came to visit Harry in his bedroom, to warn him about the terrible things that would be happening at Hogwarts… 

”Harry, are you coming?”

”Wait…” Harry mumbles. ”You go ahead — I just — I’ll be right there…”

Harry looks from the house-elf to Mr Malfoy’s angry face and the last piece of the puzzle suddenly falls into place. He remembers that day in Diagon Alley, in Flourish and Blotts… Hadn’t Mr Malfoy handed Ginny her books back after Harry’s daddy broke up the fight between him and Mr Weasley? He could easily have slipped the diary in between her books then… 

”Do you mind, Mr Potter”, Lucius says. ”The Headmaster and I have some private matters to discuss.”

”Yeah…” Harry mumbles. ”Yeah, I’ll… I’ll see you in the Hospital Wing…”

With a final glance at Dumbledore, Harry leaves the office and carefully shuts the door behind him. But instead of heading towards the Hospital Wing, he stays in the corridor and waits for Mr Malfoy to come out of the office. He can hear his muted voice as he demands to know what Dumbledore is doing back at the school despite being suspended. 

Whatever Dumbledore responds, Harry can’t make out the words in the older wizard’s soft voice. He inches closer to the door and holds his breath, listening intently.

”That’s ridiculous!” Lucius snarls. ”And have you managed to stop the attacks? Has the culprit been caught? — Well? Who was it?”

There is another pause. Harry presses his ear against the door.

”I see…” Lucius says slowly.

”A clever plan… If Harry and Draco hadn’t discovered the book, Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No-one would ever have been able to prove that she wasn’t acting of her own accord… And imagine the effect something like that would have had on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was convicted of killing Muggle-borns… So it’s very fortunate indeed that the truth was discovered — and that no-one has been permanently hurt, of course.”

”Very fortunate”, Lucius says coldly. 

”I would advice you, Lucius, not to go around giving away any more of Lord Voldemort’s old school things… If any more of them find their ways into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you…”

”How dare you!” Lucius spits. ”Come, Dobby! We’re going!”

Harry quickly jumps back from the door and moves aside just in time before it bursts open and the house-elf comes hurtling into the corridor with a pained squeal, followed by a furious-looking Lucius Malfoy. 

”Eavesdropping, Potter?” Lucius sneers. ”Why am I not surprised — Come, Dobby!”

Lucius whacks his walking stick against the back of the house-elf’s head and the creature lets out a strangled yelp.

Harry feels a stab of sympathy for the house-elf as it quickly scrambles to its feet again, cradling a broken arm to its’ chest. Sure, the elf’s warped way of trying to save Harry’s life actually almost got him killed, but his heart had obviously been in the right place and even if it hadn’t, no-one deserve that kind of abuse… Making his mind up, Harry slips back inside McGonagall’s office.

”Professor, would it be possible for me to have that diary back?”

Dumbledore looks up in surprise. His light-blue eyes twinkling more than ever. 

”I don’t see why not…”

”Thank you, Sir”, Harry says and strides across the room to grab it from the desk. 

He kicks off his left shoe and peels his sock off, then puts the diary inside it. 

”Thanks”, Harry says again and runs out of the room. 

He follows the house-elf’s squeaks and whimpers of pain down the corridor, until he finally catches up with him and Mr Malfoy. His clappering footsteps alert the other wizard to his presence and he whirls around to face him. 

”Mr Malfoy… I wanted to give you something…” Harry pants and thrusts the sock-clad diary into Lucius’ hand. 

”What the —?” 

Lucius scrunches up his nose at the stained and smelly sock, before pulling it off the diary quickly and throwing aside. He takes one look at the ruined diary and fixes Harry with a cold, calculating look. Harry meets his gaze straight on, and the man sneers. 

”Your parents were meddlesome fools, too… You’ll want to be careful, Harry, or one of these days you’re going to meet the same sticky end… Dobby—”

Lucius whirls around to stride off again, but the house-elf stays where it is, clutching Harry’s disgusting sock in both hands and looking at it in wonder. 

”Dobby!”

”M-Master has given Dobby a s-sock!” the house-elf squeals. 

”What? I didn’t—!” Lucius snaps, then seeing the sock in Dobby’s hands and realising what’s happened he rounds on Harry with a furious snarl. ”You’ve just lost me my servant!”

”Sorry”, Harry says drily and quirks an eyebrow. 

”Dobby has a sock! Dobby is free!”

Harry smirks. 

”Oh, you think you’re so clever”, Lucius says softly. ”But we shall see who gets the last laugh, won’t we?”

”HARRY!” The near-hysterical voice of Remus Lupin suddenly cuts through the quiet and Harry flinches.

Lucius gives him a taunting smirk to mirror the one that quickly slipped off his face, then strides off before Remus and Sirius come stalking round the corner. 

”Harry James Potter!” Remus hollers. 

Harry has never seen his daddy so furious before. Even Sirius looks slightly scared at his shoulder. 

Remus grabs Harry by the shoulders and gives him a gentle shake, bellowing, ”What the Hell do you think you’re playing at? I will pull you out of this school in a heartbeat, don’t think I won’t! What do you have to say for yourself?”

Harry’s eyes immediately well up with tears. He tries to say say Sorry, but his throat closes up. Remus lets out a strangled yell and envelops him in one of his bone-crushing hugs. 

”Don’t ever, ever do that to us again!” he exclaims thickly, with his nose buried in the hair behind Harry’s ear. ”EVER! Do you hear me? One more stint like this, Harry! ONE MORE! We will bring you straight home, I’m serious! One more visit to the Hospital Wing, one more floo call from Snape, or if you get so much as a paper cut—!”

”But Ron’s sister —” he tries to explain himself, but immediately gets a warning look from Sirius. 

”I don’t care!” Remus snarls, wrenching out of the hug and holding Harry at arm’s length. ”You are a twelve-year-old boy, Harry! You’re twelve! It is not up to you to save the day!”

Fresh tears well up in Harry’s eyes and tumble down his cheeks. He tries to burrow back into his daddy’s chest, but Remus keeps him at arm’s length and fixes him with a stern look. 

”Next time you will go straight to Professor Snape and you will listen to him when he tells you to do something! If he says to stay in the dormitory, you will stay in the dormitory! You will not put yourself in danger like this ever again! Do you hear me? I want you to promise me, Harry — or we might as well pull you out of school right now—!”

”N-no, no, I promise!” Harry sobs. ”Please, don’t be mad at me, daddy!”

Remus pulls him back into his chest and hugs him tightly. Harry burrows his face in his chest and continues to sob, all of the tension and adrenaline finally surging out of him. Remus lifts him up and cradles him to his chest, rubbing his back soothingly. 

”I’m sorry”, Harry cries. ”I’m so sorry!”

”Shhh… It’s all right now…” Remus murmurs. ”It’s okay now… You’re okay…”

”I’m going to be expelled anyway”, Harry says and snivels miserably.

”You’re not getting expelled”, Remus mutters.

”P-Professor Snape was s-so angry with me…”

Remus sighs heavily and keeps rubbing Harry’s back for a moment, then murmurs ”You scared all of us, pup…”

Harry goes to the Hospital Wing with his dads, just so Madam Pomfrey can do a quick diagnostic’s spell and reassure Remus that he is, in fact, fine. Draco is still sitting on the edge of one of the beds when they get there and Snape and Lucius are standing off to the side, talking in hushed tones. 

Harry and Lucius exchange a tense look, but neither say anything about their earlier interaction. However, as soon as Harry goes to join Draco on the bed, Lucius strides over and grabs Draco by the arm and pulls him down, saying he’ll escort him back to the Slytherin Common Room. 

”If he wants to wait for Harry, I’m sure Professor Snape doesn’t mind walking them down”, Remus suggests.

”That won’t be necessary”, Lucius says shortly. ”Come on, Draco.”

”But father—”

”I said, come on!”

For the first time, it occurs to Harry that Lucius can actually forbid Draco to be friends with Harry and he almost regrets angering the man earlier.

Remus gives Harry a pinched smile and grabs a mug of chocolate from the nightstand and hands it to him.

Madam Pomfrey comes bustling over and starts to wave her wand over his body while he sips the chocolate and finally declares some food and rest and he’ll be fit as a fiddle. Harry can’t even think of food though. It’s all he can do to get the hot chocolate down… But sleep sounds good. Amazing, in fact. 

As if reading his mind, Madam Pomfrey asks him if he wants to stay the night in the Hospital Wing. But Harry quickly shakes his head. He wants to go back to his dorm, so he can see Draco… Even though the other boy will probably be sleeping already when Harry gets there, he just needs to be close to him… Needs to have that reminder that they both made it out of the Chamber in one piece… 

”Your dad and I have checked into the Three Broomsticks”, Remus says. ”We’ll come back to see you in the morning before we head back home, so we’ll talk some more then… Okay?”

”Okay”, Harry nods. 

Remus bends down to kiss him on the top of the head and Sirius leans over and gives him a quick hug.

”Thanks again, Severus”, Remus says to the Potions Master before he turns to leave. 

Professor Snape nods curtly. Harry waves to both his dads, and they slip out the door. It then occurs to Harry that Snape is waiting for him to finish his chocolate so that they can both head back to the dungeons and go to bed. He quickly tips his head back to drain the cup and burns the roof of his mouth. Spluttering and coughing, he puts the mug down on the nightstand again. 

”Take your time, I’m not in a hurry”, Snape mutters. 

”I don’t want any more”, Harry says and hops down from the bed. ”Sir… I just… I’m—”

”I believe we agreed on one year’s worth of detentions?” Snape says smoothly. 

Harry blinks. 

”And we also discussed your Quidditch priviledges being revoked?”

”Ehm, yeah — Yes — S-Sir —” Harry stammers. 

”Good. Then that’s settled. If you’ve finished your chocolate, we’ll be going…”

Harry hesitates, then nods with a sigh, ”Yes, Sir…”

They’re halfway to the dungeons when Harry works up the courage to ask if the Quidditch priviledges are revoked for a year as well, or for ever. Watching the professor’s face intently, he feels a flare of hope when the man’s mouth gives the tiniest of twitches. 

”We’ll see…” 

During breakfast the next morning, word of what really went down in the Chamber of Secrets spreads from the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables to the other two and before long, the whole school is chatting excitedly about it. Harry is aware as always of all the looks and pointing fingers, but for once he doesn’t feel bad about it. It all culminates in Justin Finch-Fletchly and Ernie Macmillan making their way over to apologise for ever disbelieving him and Harry beams as he shakes their hands. 

Draco is the only one at the Slytherin table who doesn’t appear to love the positive attention their house is getting for once. He’s slouched over in his seat, avoiding everyone’s eye and picking at his food. 

Harry is just about to ask him if he’s okay when Sirius walks into the Great Hall. He stops inside the doors to scan the students sitting around the Slytherin table quickly. Harry sits up straighter and waves his hand to get his attention. Grinning, Sirius makes his way over and squeezes down on the bench next to him. 

”Never thought I’d see the Great Hall from this angle”, he comments lightly and reaches for the coffee. 

”Where’s daddy?” Harry asks. 

”He’s talking to Dumble — er — Professor — Headmaster Dumbledore”, Sirius says, then glances past Harry to where Draco is still sitting hunched over. ”Hey, Draco! You feeling better today?”

Draco startles and looks up in surprise. 

”Oh — uhm — yes, I feel fine, thank you, Sir.”

”You don’t have to call me Sir”, Sirius says with a careless flick of his hand. ”Call me Sirius.”

Draco looks like he rather finish his porridge than call a grown-up he barely knows by their first name, but dutifully mumbles an All right, Sirius anyway and blushes a bright pink while doing so. Harry smiles fondly, then turns back to his dad.

”Why is daddy talking to Dumbledore?” 

Sirius shrugs, ”He sent an owl this morning, requesting a meeting with Remus. Oh, don’t look so worried. If it was about you, he would have wanted to talk to the both of us.”

”Well, what else could he want to talk to daddy about?”

”I dunno”, Sirius says and shrugs again. ”Work, I expect…”

”Work?” Harry repeats with a frown. 

”Your daddy does have a career, you know”, Sirius says with a pointed look. ”Just because he put it on hold so he could focus on home-schooling you—”

”I know, I know”, Harry says hurriedly. ”I didn’t mean… I just meant…”

”I know, runt.”

”You really think Dumbledore is going to offer him a job?”

”I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll tell us…”

*

As a treat, Professor Dumbledore decides to cancel all of their exams and everyone — with the exception of Draco and Hermione Granger — cheers when he makes the annoucement. They still have to go to their remaining lessons of the year, but without the pressure of passing their exams, Harry finds them quite enjoyable now. Even Potions. And especially Defence Against the Dark Arts… It turns out that Lockhart ran away the night Ginny Weasley was taken into the Chamber of Secrets, so the morning after when Dumbledore called Remus to his office for a meeting, he’d wanted to ask him to fill in as DADA professor for the last few weeks of the school year. Remus had accepted, as long as Harry would be okay with it, and of course he was! 

Sure, he thought it might feel a little odd to have his daddy teach him and his classmates, but he figured it couldn’t possibly be worse than having either Quirrell or Lockhart as teachers — and it turns out he’d been right in thinking so, because Remus is a brilliant teacher! 

Harry isn’t the only one who thinks so either. At the end of their last DADA lesson of the year, when Remus thanks them all for their hard work and tells them how much he has enjoyed being their professor, however briefly, several of Harry’s classmates asks him if he’ll be back next year. 

”Oh, please, Professor!” Pansy simpers. ”You’re the best DADA teacher we’ve ever had! Please say you’ll be back next year?”

”I’m afraid I can’t promise that”, Remus says with a kind smile. ”But we’ll see…”

As a Hogwarts professor, Remus is allowed to take the Hogwarts Express back to London and so joins Harry and his friends in a compartment towards the end of the train, but spends most of the journey with his nose in a book, allowing Harry to chat with his friends and play Exploding Snap with Seamus. 

Draco has chosen to join them in the compartment as well, but curls up in the corner by the window and hides behind a huge tome as well. It’s not until they’re pulling into platform nine and three quarter that he looks up and meets Harry’s eyes briefly. 

”Harry, can I have a quick word with you? In private?”

”I’ll wait on the platform”, Remus tells Harry and grabs his trunk for him. 

Draco waits until everyone leaves the compartment, avoiding Harry’s gaze until they’re completely alone. 

”What is it, Draco?”

”I have to… I need to tell you something…” Draco says in a strained voice, his gaze flickering all over Harry’s face. ”Father — he — I tried to reason with him, but…”

Harry feels a sinking sensation inside and his ears are ringing, but he refuses to believe it, not until he hears Draco say it... He won’t believe it until Draco says the words…

”I— I’m s-sorry…” Draco mumbles in a strangled voice, blinking tears from his eyes. 

”I don’t understand”, Harry half-lies, because he does understand what Draco’s telling him, he just doesn’t want to. 

”I c-can’t be your — your — you know…”

”What?”

”We can’t… Anymore… Father doesn’t app-prove… I’m s-sorry!” Draco chokes down a small sob and shoves past Harry and runs out of the compartment. 

Harry stays rooted to the spot, ears still ringing and chest tight and heavy. He can’t bring himself to move his feet or do anything, it’s like he’s stuck in a daze and it’s not until Remus comes back into the compartment to check on him that Harry manages to shake out of it. Just as soon as his daddy’s hand lands heavily on his shoulder, Harry breaks down and cries into the man’s shoulder. 

Remus’s arms are strong and tight around Harry, making him feel safe… If I fall apart now, it’s okay, because daddy will hold me together, he thinks and clings even more desperately to Remus. 

”Come on, pup…” Remus murmurs. ”We have to get off the train, come on…”

In the end, Remus carries Harry off the train and then Side-Alongs him back to their house. Sirius looks up in surprise when they appear with a crack in the middle of the hallway, Harry draped over Remus’s shoulder like a cried-out toddler… 

”What happened?” Sirius says in alarm. 

”I’ll tell you later”, Remus whispers. 

He carries Harry to his room and tucks him into bed, petting his hair gently for a moment. 

”Get some rest, puppy… I’ll make you some hot chocolate, okay?”

”Mmmkay…” Harry mumbles, burrowing into his pillow gratefully. 

He dozes off for a while and the next time he blinks his eyes open, Remus is sitting on the edge of his bed, reading the same book he had his nose buried in during the train journey from Hogwarts. Two mugs of hot chocolate are steaming under a stasis charm on Harry’s bedside table and the sweet smell makes Harry’s tummy grumble softly. 

Remus looks up and smiles at him, putting the book down. 

”How are you feeling?” he asks kindly. 

”Better”, Harry mumbles and sits up against the headboard. 

Remus hands him one of the mugs and he eagerly blows on the hot liquid. 

”Do you want to talk about it?”

Harry hesitates for a second, but then shakes his head. 

”Are you sure?”

”Yeah. Not right now, maybe later…”

”Okay, you just let me know…”

”Daddy… You know how Pans said you’re the best DADA teacher we’ve had?”

”Yeah?”

”I agree with her.”

Remus smiles and blinks a suspiscious sheen out of his eyes before he says, ”Thank you, Harry. That means a lot to me, coming from you.”

”Do you think Dumbledore will let you come back and teach next year too?”

”Professor Dumbledore, Harry”, Remus chastisises him gently, then sighs and puts his mug down on the bedside table again, then turns to face Harry more fully. ”And yes. In fact, he has already offered me the post permanently.”

”Really?”

”I told him I would think about it, and talk it over with Sirius and you, before I make my decision…. So what do you think?”

”Are you kidding? I’d love it!”

”Well, then”, Remus says with a gentle smile. ”Then it’s settled…”

”Really? Dad already said yes?”

”I think he’s looking at houses in Hogsmeade as we speak…” 

Overcome with excitement, Harry flings himself at his daddy who immediately hugs him back and strokes the back of his head lovingly. 

For the first time since the Hogwarts Express Harry feels warm inside, like someone’s built a small fire out of happiness and hope in his chest. 

But it’s a short-lived sensation… As soon as Remus has kissed him goodnight and the only light left in the room is the small sliver breaking through the crack he’s left between the door and the frame, unwanted memories start flooding Harry’s mind… Images of Draco begin to dance around Harry’s head, much like the illustrations of his favourite tales — The wizard and the hopping pot and The warlock’s hairy heart — when Remus would read them to him when he was younger and charm the book to make the illustrations come alive… 

When he finally does fall asleep, his dreams are infected with the same images as well… So it’s with a heavy heart and even heavier eyelids that he drags himself into the kitchen the next morning and collapses in his seat at the table. 

”Harry, are you feeling all right?” Remus asks worriedly and presses his hand to his forehead before he’s even had a chance to open his mouth. 

”I’m fine”, Harry mumbles and leans away from his daddy’s touch. ”I just didn’t sleep very well…”

Two weeks into the summer holiday and Harry has yet to get a good night’s sleep. He hadn’t thought that it could possible get any worse than his last summer hols when he kept waiting in vain for Draco to send him a letter without knowing why he wouldn’t… But, as it turns out, not knowing is better than knowing… At least when he wasn’t sure, there was still room for a sliver of hope, but now… Now he knows for sure that Draco won’t write, because Draco doesn’t want to be Harry’s boyfriend anymore…

”Harry…” 

Remus gets up from his seat and rounds the table to envelop Harry in a big hug. Harry hadn’t even realised he’d been tearing up until his daddy starts rubbing his back and hushing soothingly. He drops his spoon with a clatter and gratefully burrows into his daddy’s chest, allowing himself to be comforted like the small child he isn’t anymore, just for a minute… 

”It’s going to be okay, you’ll see… You’ll work it out…” Remus says. 

”No we won’t”, Harry mumbles miserably. ”Mr Malfoy hates me now, he’s never going to let Draco be friends with me again…”

”He’ll come around”, Sirius offers awkwardly from across the table. ”And if he doesn’t, you know what they say… There are plenty more knarls in the daisy patch—”

”Sirius”, Remus admonishes. 

”What? I’m just saying… They’re not even thirteen yet!”

”So?” Remus counters. 

”So, what is the likelihood that Harry’s first crush at eleven will turn out to be the love of his life?”

”Well, it has been known to have happened…” Remus mutters. 

Sirius doesn’t say anything else. In fact a tense silence spreads out in the kitchen. 

Harry sits back and wipes his face with his sleeve, looking between his dads uncomfortably. Remus is very obviously avoiding Sirius’s eye and instead glares at Harry’s porridge, even as he keeps rubbing Harry’s back gently. Sirius is throwing surreptitious glances in his husband’s direction, looking positively chastisized, but doesn’t say anything. 

”I’m sorry”, Harry says in a small voice. 

”You haven’t done anything wrong, Harry”, Remus says immediately and moves back to his own chair with a final pat on Harry’s shoulder. ”You have nothing to be sorry for.”

”I’m sorry, Harry”, Sirius says with a sigh. ”I forget sometimes what it was like to be twelve, thirteen… I didn’t mean to suggest that what you’re feeling isn’t real or…”

”It’s okay, dad”, Harry says quickly. 

”Okay, good”, Sirius says relieved and leans back in his chair. ”Good, good…”

”Did you know immediately?” Harry asks, looking between the two men curiously. ”When you were in first year, did you know?”

”Know what?” Sirius says. 

”I knew…” Remus murmurs, giving Harry a small smile. ”I knew the first time I saw him.”

”Knew what?” Sirius says with a frown.

”For me, it was love at first sight”, Remus clarifies, peering over at his husband with a secretive little smile. ”But I didn’t think he felt the same…”

”What?” Sirius yelps. ”But I did—!”

”I thought his affections were directed elsewhere”, Remus continues, his smile twitching a little in amusement and his eyes getting a wistful, almost sad sheen. ”In fact, I was convinced of it… All throughout first and second year and well into our third—”

”Well, you could have said something”, Sirius grumbles.

”I didn’t want to lose either of you as friends”, Remus says and shrugs. 

Either of you, Harry thinks with pang and without his dads saying anything else, he just knows they’re talking about James Potter… Which is fine, or at least it should be fine, but just like every other time it makes Harry feel very uncomfortable… 

”Thank Merlin for Lily”, Remus continues with a sad smile, mirrored by his husband. 

”May I be excused?” Harry asks and slides off his chair. 

”Oh, yes, of course”, Remus says. ”Are you sure you’re okay though, Harry?”

”I’ll be fine”, Harry lies. ”I just need to be alone for a bit… To think…”

*

”Oh, look, Harry”, Remus exclaims one morning and spreads out the Daily Prophet over the kitchen table and points to a small article headlined Ministry of Magic employee scoops grand prize.

Harry scans the text quickly, wondering why his daddy would expect him to care about some stranger winning the Prophets annual draw, when the name Weasley suddenly pops out from the text and he looks at the accompanying photograph instead. A grin immediately splits his face in two as he looks at the whole Weasley clan, waving happily at him from the picture. 

Ron is standing in the middle, even taller and ganglier than the last time Harry saw him, grinning proudly and holding up his pet rat Scabbers in one hand and waving furiously with the other. Next to him stands his only sister Ginny, also waving but not as ferociously as the rest of her family and she also keeps shaking her hair into her face as though hoping to hide it. 

Harry lets his gaze move on to the twins, book-ended by Mr and Mrs Weasley, probably as a precaution to prevent the two of them from causing any trouble, and his grin widens. He can’t think of a family more deserving of a large pile of gold than the Weasleys, who are as poor as they are kind. He still remembers how the twins leapt to his aid, even before they realised who he was, on his first journey on the Hogwarts Express, and how they and Ron were the only ones outside of Slytherin House who didn’t believe him to be the Heir of Slytherin…

”That’s great”, he says and hands the paper back to Remus. ”I’m really happy for them.”

”Yeah, me too… It says here they spent the prize money on a holiday in Egypt and will return home for the start of the school year. Maybe we could send them an owl and ask them if they would like to meet up in Diagon Alley?”

”Daddy…” Harry mutters.

”What?” 

”I’m almost thirteen! Stop embarassing me…”

A bark of laughter behind him makes Harry whip his head around just in time to have his entire head of hair ruffled mercilessly by Sirius before the man sidles up to Remus and plants a kiss on the man’s lips. 

”Dad…” Harry groans and slaps a hand over his eyes. 

”Oh, I’m sorry!” Sirius says and sounds anything but. ”So what’s so embarrassing this time?”

”Nothing”, Harry grumbles. ”Just stop trying to set me up on playdates like I’m a baby!”

”Ah, is this about Draco again”, Sirius says knowingly. 

Harry shoots him a glare and his grin falters. He looks over at Remus uncertainly.

”We don’t use the D word…” Remus stage whispers. 

”I’m right here, I can hear you!” Harry snaps. 

”Harry…” Remus says calmly. ”If you’re in a bad mood, you may be excused from the table.”

”No, I’m sorry”, Harry mumbles and slumps down in his seat.  

There is a moment of awkward silence, broken finally when Remus opens the Prophet again and Sirius eagerly asks him what’s new in the world. 

”The Weasleys won the Prophets annual grand prize galleon draw”, Remus offers and tilts the paper to show him the article.

Suddenly Sirius cup explodes in his hand, sending steaming hot coffee and bits of porcelain flying all over the kitchen. Harry covers his head with his arms, but Remus is quicker in putting up a protection charm around him and the debris bounces off it and clatters onto the floor around his chair. 

”Sirius! What—?”

”Let me see that!” Sirius growls, snatching at the Prophet.

”What’s got into you?” Remus demands as the other man rips the paper from his hands. 

Sirius doesn’t respond, just peers at the picture of the Weasleys intently. 

”Wh-what’s going on?” Harry asks. 

”It’s okay, Harry”, Remus says immediately, but he doesn’t tear his eyes away from his husband so it’s a small comfort for Harry who has never seen him look so apprehensive. 

”Look!” Sirius demands and thrusts the paper back in Remus’s face. ”Look at the picture! It’s him!”

”What are you—?”

”The rat — look at it! — It’s him! It’s him!”

”No…” Remus murmurs, frowning at the picture. ”No, it’s just a regular rat—”

”It looks exactly like him — look!”

”I am looking!” Remus snaps back. ”And I’m telling you, it’s just a common garden rat!”

”Are you telling me that doesn’t look exactly—?”

”It would be impossible to tell in this picture”, Remus interrupts. ”Even if you had a close-up of the rat, you’d never be able to tell in a photograph! Now, stop it — you’re scaring Harry!”

”Wh-what’s going on?” Harry asks, getting more and more alarmed by the second.

”Nothing, Harry”, Remus says. ”Don’t worry about it. It’s just… Your dad and I once knew a person who… Well, he was an animagus and he could turn into a rat, similar to your friend Ron’s pet, that’s all…”

"W-Well, what happened to him?"

"He... He disappeared", Remus says, avoiding Harry's eyes. 

”Do you know how long Ron has had his rat, Harry?” Sirius asks. ”Do you remember if he had it in first year?”

”Yeah”, Harry says. ”He did, and he told me it used to be his brother Percy’s before he got it.”

”It’s not him”, Remus insists. ”It can’t be.”

Sirius doesn’t look at all convinced, Harry thinks, but he drops the subject after a particularly stern look from Remus. 

On the morning of his birthday, Harry is woken up by his dads’ off-pitch singing and grins sleepily as he sits up and rubs the sleep from his eyes before reaching for his glasses.

Remus levitates the cake over to him and makes it hover in midair in front of his face so he can blow out the thirteen candles, before directing it to perch on top of a pile of books on the bedside table. 

Sirius squeezes onto the bed next to Harry and slings his arm around him, hugging him into his side and kissing his temple. Remus leans over and kisses him smack on his forehead, before handing him the small pile of presents from the foot of the bed so he can sit there. 

”I can’t believe you’re thirteen years old…” Remus says and gets a wistful look on his face. ”It feels like only yesterday Sirius brought you home…”

”Yeah…” Sirius agrees softly, squeezing Harry’s shoulder harder. ”Before you know it, he’ll be all grown up…”

”Do we have to do this every year?” Harry mutters. 

”Yep, it’s part of the birthday ritual”, Sirius says. ”Open your presents already, I want to see what you’ve got!”

Besides the gifts from his dads, Harry has received birthday cards and small gifts from a few of his Hogwarts friends and, to his astonishment, Hagrid the gamekeeper. 

”If it weren’t for you, he might still be in Azkaban”, Remus reminds him. 

”Yeah, I guess…” Harry says, but he still feels weird about it and puts Hagrid’s gift aside to open last. 

Ron has sent him a package of Chocolate Dung Beetles, the Egyptian equivalent of Chocolate Frogs, according to the accompanying birthday card and Seamus has sent him a magically modified Muggle comic book — all the pictures move, but their movements are limited to one apiece and they keep performing the same movement over and over, even if you tip the comic sideways or prod them with your wand — about one of the many ”super heroes” that the Irish boy always keeps telling them about. This particular hero is dressed in all black, with a black cape that reminds Harry of Professor Snape — although the similarities end abruptly after the cape — and is called Bat-Man. 

”That’s fun!” Sirius comments and starts flicking through the magazine when Harry moves on to his next gift. 

Granger has sent him a card again, even though Harry completely forgot to send her anything on her birthday — or rather, he forgot to find out when her birthday is — and he’s also received cards from Blaise (”Happy birthday, Harry. With the kindest regards /Blaise”) and Adrian Pucey (”Happy birthday, Harry! Just to give you a heads up: Marcus is not happy with you getting banned from quidditch! See you soon / Adrian”)

Harry sighs. With everything that has been going on and Draco breaking up with him, Harry had somehow managed to forget about his quidditch ban… Third year is going to be awful, even with my daddy teaching DADA…

”There’s another card for you, Harry”, Remus says and Harry glances at it. ”It’s from the Weasley girl, Ginny.”

”Great”, Harry mutters. 

It’s not like he was expecting to get anything from Draco. They’re broken up now, so it would be weird if Draco sent him a card, but still… The fact that he hasn’t sent Harry anything is just a painful, unavoidable reminder that they are in fact broken up, that they’re not even friends anymore…

”This picture book is quite violent”, Sirius comments with a frown. ”I don’t know that you should—”

”I’m not a kid”, Harry protests and grabs it from him. 

”Alright, who wants some cake?” Remus asks with a grin.