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Family Means More Than Blood	By : WingsofaDream Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 59825 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its associated characters are property of J K Rowling, not me. This story is not being written for profit, just for the lols.

Chapter List
- 9
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- 11
4th September 1989: Midday

It was the day. The most important day in a young wizard's or witch's life; it was the day that the Hogwarts Express left for Hogwarts to take students, young and old alike, to one of the best schools of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. And this year, it was Harry and Draco's turn to head off for the first time.

Harry followed along behind Lucius and beside Draco as they made their way across the platform having just had all their luggage put aboard the train for them, including Harry's new owl Hedwig and Draco's cat Elincia who he was taking as his familiar. None of them had seen any point of Severus coming to see them off as he would see them again in a mere few hours, so it was Lucius' job to take on his own.

As they walked along, all three were more than aware of the stares and looks they were attracting but they were not surprised by them in the least; considering who they all were it would have been far more surprising if there were not people gaping at openly. That fact hardly helped to make Harry any more comfortable though. He just wanted to blend into the background and stay there, not have everyone notice him and whisper about him.

"Now," Lucius said as he brought the two boys to a stop as they were now only a few feet away from one of the entrances onto the train and the time to say goodbye had come. "Severus and I have already spoken to you about how we both expect you both to behave so I won't make you listen to it all again. I will, however, remind you both to keep up appearances, especially you Draco; you have certain standards to live up to."

"Yes Father." Draco assured obediently.

"And you, Haryon, you have to live up to the same standards. Just because you have a different last name makes you no less of a Malfoy." The blond man told him in his cold, public voice.

"Yes, Uncle Lucius." Harry agreed with a small nod.

"Very well then." Lucius said with a prim nod. "I will see you both at Christmas and I'll write to you both during the year of course."

"Of course. Goodbye Father." Draco bid politely, shaking his father's hand warmly.

"See you soon, Uncle Lucius." Harry said as he took his turn to shake the older man's hand, intentionally not saying goodbye; he hated the word "goodbye", it sounded so horribly final. He always imagined his birth mother must have whispered goodbye to him the night she abandoned him in that alleyway.

Without further word, Harry and Draco turned from Lucius and climbed onto the train, the blond going on first and the dark haired boy following on behind. They took a few steps in the corridor so that they were not blocking the entrance way and spent a few minutes waving to Lucius as the last of the students got on and the train began to pull away. As soon as the train began to move, they moved on, allowing space for others to give their parents a few last farewells.

"Did Uncle Sev give you any money for when the trolley comes around?" Draco asked as the two boys moved along, peering into compartments as they went to try and find an empty one for them to share.

"No, he said that it'd ruin my dinner. I think it was rather mean of him to tell us about it and then say I can't take advantage of it."

"Don't worry, Father gave me more than enough for the both of us. We could probably actually afford the whole trolley with the amount he gave me." Draco assured as they moved on to yet another compartment.

Harry said nothing to that revelation and kept his opinion silent. Naturally, he was no psychologist, but he thought that it was painfully obvious that his godfather was doing one of two things. He was either over-compensating for the loss of Draco's mother's love with material things or it was Lucius' way of expressing his own love to his son as it was clear the man had physical affection issues. After all, the last time Harry ever saw Lucius give Draco a hug was when Narcissa died. Since then all Draco's cuddles had come from Harry which was why they did it so often he imagined.

"Ah, here's one." Draco's voice suddenly broke into Harry's thoughts and, turning his attention back onto reality, he discovered that, indeed, they now stood outside an empty compartment. Without even thinking about it, Harry pulled the door open despite the fact that Draco was closer to it, though the blond made no move to open it, and went to step in. However, he stopped when a call drew his attention away.

"Draco!" A female voice came from down the corridor and, looking, the two boys both saw a black girl in expensive robes waving over to them, or more accurately to Draco.

"Hello Bethany." Draco greeted in return, sounding neither particularly enthusiastic or cold.

"Come sit with us; we're all in here." The girl insisted, beckoning him over with her hand.

Now that caught the blond's attention and his body language just screamed that he wanted to go over there and join his other friends, the ones that he had met during his primary schooling. It was not uncommon for pure-blooded families to share tutors among their children so that they could work on their social skills and make connections with the right people at an early age. However, at that moment, Draco seemed more inclined to stay with Harry who had been his best friend since practically the day he was born, though it was clear it was more out of loyalty than anything else.

"Go ahead." Harry said kindly upon realising his best friend's dilemma, giving Draco's shoulder a small nudge with his own.

"Why don't you come with me?" The blond suggested earnestly, turning to take hold of the other boy's hand, intending to drag him along.

"Because you and I both know that I don't care one ounce for the people who you call your friends. Remember all those painful birthday parties?" He reminded as he gently pulled his hand out of his best friend's. "It would just be uncomfortable for all if I tagged along; best all around if I don't."

"I'll come sit with you then."

"Draco Malfoy, you are going to go and sit with your friends because I know that's what you want to do. You've spent the entire summer with me and you haven't seen any of them in months. Go and spend some time with them."

"But you'll be on your own."

"Doesn't matter; the alone time might even do me some good."

"But..."

"Draco." Harry said sternly, giving the other boy a pointed look.

Draco gave a small sigh. "You come and find us the second you get lonely." He ordered in his own stern tone, giving his best friend a determined look.

Harry smiled at him cheerfully. "Of course."

"All right then." The blond said grudgingly. "I'll see you later then. Meet me when you get off, we'll share a boat."

"If you want to." The dark haired boy agreed, prepared for the other boy to completely forget his offer or decide he wanted to share a boat with his other friends. Draco may have been Harry's best friend and he may have loved the blond with all his heart but the boy could sometimes be far too spoiled and selfish for his own good.

With a few more goodbyes between the two, Draco walked down to the compartment his friends had disappeared into and, after one more quick wave to Harry, he pulled the door open and disappeared inside. Harry smiled to himself slightly before slipping inside the empty compartment next to him, carefully shutting the door behind himself. Once he had settled himself into his seat, leaning his back against the side of the compartment just next to the window with his legs stretched out across the rest of the seats, he pulled out a small, dark ink-green leather bound book from the inside of his robes to read.

The book was a sort of beginners guide to being a Havanist Priest with starter details on how to use his staff and the new prayers he would have to memorise. Sephiran had sent it to him on his birthday with a note apologising for the fact he was sending what was basically a school book as a birthday present. Harry had not minded in the least, he was glad for anything which would help him with his Havanist themed learning. Also, having knowledge of another sort of magic besides that which needed a wand and a Latin incantation could be nothing but an advantage, especially when considering just who he was and the situation he had once found himself in with a certain Dark Lord.

Harry had not been alone and reading for more than five minutes before the sound of yelling broke his concentration, interrupting his reading. He swung his legs over the side of the seat so he was sitting properly and looked up just in time to see the door to his compartment fly open and two identical, ginger-haired boys stumble in before slamming the door shut behind them.

"If anyone asks..." One of the boys began to say as he stood up on the edge of the vacant seat and hauled himself up onto the luggage rack above.

"...You haven't seen us." The other boy, obviously the other's twin brother, finished off the sentence as he copied his brother, using the edge of the seat Harry was on to give himself a boost and pulling himself up onto the luggage rack opposite the other, above Harry. Together, the two ginger boys then huddled against the side that the door was located in as much as possible, pulling their legs up to their chests tightly.

Harry looked up at them, more than a little bewildered, until he noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was someone at the door of the compartment again. Turning his attention onto the third newcomer, the dark haired boy recognised the person now opening the door to be Percy Weasley, Bill and Charlie's younger brother who was now in Third Year. Percy looked more than a little flustered, his face bright red and his body sagging a little as he tried to catch his breath, and rather cheesed off as well.

"You haven't seen two twin boys running around insanely have you? Both ginger, both loud, often finish one another's sentences." The older Weasley enquired once he had concluded that the ones he was looking for were, apparently, not in this compartment.

"Erm, no, can't say that I have. Sorry Percy." Harry answered politely.

Percy frowned at that and looked as though he was about to come inside when another ginger head popped up behind him. "Alright there, Harry." Charlie greeted with a playful smile as he glanced around the compartment. "Not seen our little brothers have you? About, so high," he held up his hand to up to his elbow, "answer to the names of Fred and George?"

"Just told Percy, I'm afraid I can't help."

"I could've sworn I saw them come in here." Percy muttered, once again going to step into the compartment. However, he was stopped when his older brother's hand pulled on his shoulder.

"You must've been mistaken, Perce; you know as well as I do that if Harry had seen anything he'd have told us. Ain't that right Harry?"

"Of course."

"There, you see. Come on, it's not like they jumped off the train, they're around here somewhere." Charlie told his younger brother in a soothing voice as he steered the boy our of the door way and back into the train's corridor. "We'll see you at the Sorting, Harry." He smiled before sliding the door shut again and going off with Percy.

Silence reigned for several moments before one of the twins raised their heads and peered down cautiously. "Are they gone?"

"Yeah, they're gone." Harry confirmed, settling back into his seat the way he had before.

Both of the ginger boys released relieved sighs before climbing down from the luggage racks with a sort of monkey-like grace. They landed on the floor of the compartment at the same time and then moved so they were perfectly in line with the seats opposite Harry. Together, they collapsed into the seats lazily before beaming identical, mischievous smiles at the smaller boy. "Hi." They greeted at the same time.

"Hi." Harry returned, a little bemused but still remaining friendly.

"Thanks for that by the way." The twin on the left hand side said.

"Yeah, dread to think what they would've done if they'd caught us." The other twin added.

"We didn't even do anything that bad."

"Some people just have no sense of humour."

Harry blinked a couple of times, slightly un-nerved by the twin's double act before giving them a small smile. "You're Bill's, Charlie's and Percy's younger brother's then?" He asked politely for lack of anything better to say.

"Yep." The two nodded together.

"I'm Fred." The twin on the left spoke.

"And I'm George." The other twin said afterwards.

"You're Haryon right?" Fred checked with a smile to which Harry merely nodded.

"Bill told us a lot about you." George revealed.

"All good stuff of course."

"Says he hopes you'll have a good influence on us."

"Though we'll probably corrupt you before you reform us." The two twins laughed at that.

"So," George said abruptly, grinning at Harry again. "We hear that your dad's the meanest teacher at Hogwarts."

Fred grinned as well, leaning forward eagerly, his elbows resting on his knees. "How's that for ya?"

*******************************************************************

4th September 1989: Evening

Harry was probably the only new First Year who was not gaping at his surroundings as he entered the Great Hall with his new Year mates. He had seen it all before after all, it was nothing new to him. In the double line they were all walking down the aisle down the centre of the hall, he was positioned behind Fred and George and to the right of Draco, who had kept to his word and had, indeed, shared a boat with him. The blond had not been too pleased about having to share it with Fred and George as well but Harry and quickly been able to hush him by discreetly lacing his fingers with Draco's so that they had been holding hands loosely.

Looking up, he saw his father at the front of the hall sitting with all the other teachers. Rather than calm him as one would assume his father's presence would do, it only served to increase the fluttering feeling in the pit his stomach. He had a serious dilemma on his hands. He really, seriously, completely, did not want to make Slytherin and he was unsure if his family would understand why. A few months ago, he had been hoping for Slytherin as it would be where Draco would end up and it was his father's House as well. But then he had abruptly remembered one very important fact which changed everything:

Voldemort had been in Slytherin when he had attended Hogwarts.

And if there was one thing which Harry truly did not want, it was to be anything like that monstrous snake. So now, he was hoping for Ravenclaw; nice and neutral and friendly with everyone.

Abruptly, the large group of eleven year olds began to fan out as they reached the front of the Great Hall. Harry followed as Fred and George shifted over to the right and was pleased when he noticed that Draco followed them as well. They were still shifting into position when Professor MaGonagall began to speak to them, explaining what was about to happen. While she was speaking, Harry allowed his eyes to wander across the space around him and everyone else. It was because of that lack of attention that he missed a good chunk of the Sorting and was only brought back into reality when Draco moved from his side.

The Sorting Hat had barely been put on the blond's head before the call of "Slytherin" echoed throughout the Great Hall. Cheering erupted at the Slytherin table while the other three tables clapped politely. Draco got to his feet gracefully, a superior smirk on his face, and moved over to the table of his new House. Harry watched him go with a slightly sick feeling in his stomach; he was not sure why, but knowing for sure that Draco was in Slytherin made him feel worse. Not that there had ever been any doubt that the blond would be put in Slytherin though.

Several more people were called up to the front in order to be Sorted and Harry only got more nervous as it happened. What would happen when he was not Sorted into Slytherin? What if he was not made a Ravenclaw either? He really could not see himself as a Hufflepuff and he really did not want to be in Gryffindor...Maybe he should just be put in Slytherin, it would probably save a lot of hassle in the long run. He could just put his feelings aside surely.

"Snape, Haryon." McGonagoll call suddenly came and Harry released a low, slightly shuddered breath as he felt himself be gently nudged along by Fred and George.

A hush of anticipation fell over the entire Great Hall as Harry stepped forward. With a glance over his shoulder, he noticed the Weasley twins giving him the thumbs up from the rest of the crowd of new First Years. Then his eyes flickered over to the Gryffindor table where he spotted Charlie and Percy giving him the same signal. He sighed a little, glancing over at the Slytherin table where Draco was watching him eagerly, as he stepped up to the stool. In an act of grace which surprised himself greatly, he perched up on the stool in one, fluid movement. Back straight, knees together, ready and waiting as his family had instructed, he awaited the female teacher beside him to place the hat on his head.

The moment the small weight landed on his head, a voice started to speak. "Ah, yes...Right...Hmm, difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness yes; and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting...So, where shall I put you...Perhaps Slytherin?"

"No!" Harry cried out in his mind, panic immediately gripping him. "No, please, not Slytherin."

"Are you sure? You could be great, you know. It's all here, in your head, and Slytherin will definitely help you on your way to greatness..."

"Not Slytherin, anywhere but Slytherin." He could not be in the same House as Voldemort had, he did not want to be any more like him.

"Hmm, alright, better make it..."

Anywhere but Slytherin, anywhere but Slytherin...

"...Gryffindor!"

...Or Gryffindor.

Harry felt his stomach turn to lead as the name of his new House rang out clear and loud. The Gryffindor table wasted no time in breaking out in ecstatic cheering and applause, beyond happy to have the famous Boy-Who-Lived as part of their happy House. Others from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw clapped politely, neither excited nor bitter, but happy for the Boy-Who-Lived, everyone's friend even if they had never met before. The Slytherin table, however, remained completely silent. No one spoke, no one clapped, and the tense atmosphere which surrounded that entire area seemed to radiate from the newly Sorted Malfoy who was glaring over at Harry with the most intensity that he ever had. At the Head table, all the teachers applauded just a little more enthusiastically than with any of the other students. All except one. Severus Snape simply sat there frowning and stubbornly keeping his arms crossed.

All this registered in Harry's mind as he left the stool, feeling rather numb, and made his way over to the Gryffindor table where he was immediately smothered in a pile of people who wanted to shake his hand or ruffle his hair or introduce themselves. Despite all the hubbub going on around him however, Harry could still feel the cold gaze of his best friend on the back of his head and he was only too aware of the sour mood his father was now in.

Maybe it really would have just been easier to have been put in Slytherin.

******************************************************************

5th September 1989: Early Morning

Harry yawned tiredly as he plodded back into his dorm room which he shared with Fred and George and another two boys whose names he had not yet learnt. He was fresh from the shower in the bathroom he shared with the other Gryffindor boys, fully dressed in his school uniform and robes and carrying a slightly wet towel over his right arm.

Harry's first official night as a Hogwarts student had not exactly been restful. It had taken him an absolute age to drift off to sleep and, once he had finally managed that, a few mere hours had passed before he had woken up again to once more not be able to go to sleep. He must have only got five or six hours of sleep at the most having gone to bed at about half past nine and to finally getting up at about half past six. It was his damn tendency to worry which had kept him up. He was so worried about his father's and Draco's reactions to him being Sorted into Gryffindor. Stupid Sorting Hat. Why could not it have put him in Ravenclaw or even Hufflepuff for goodness sake! Hufflepuff would have been better than Gryffindor; at least it was somewhat more neutral.

Moving across the dark room silently, Harry folded his towel neatly and, upon reaching it, placed it back inside his trunk. Then, he moved around to the side of his bed and yanked off all the sheets so that he could set about making it. It was after a few minutes, when he was in the middle of straightening out the thick blanket which went on top of the thinner sheet, that a loud yawn broke the almost-silence of the room.

"What time is it?" One of the twins, Fred judging from the direction the voice was coming from, asked once the yawn had ended.

"Probably coming up close to seven o'clock." Harry answered quietly, respectful of the fact the other occupants of the room were still asleep.

"Ugh, 'spose I better get up then." Fred grunted as he threw the covers off of himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Harry paid him no mind, concentrating on finishing off the position of his comforter before he began work on the placement of the pillow, until the ginger twin spoke. "What are you doing?"

Harry paused mid-plump and looked up at the boy who had spoken. "Making my bed, what else does it look like?"

"Well, yeah, I know that much." Fred said with a slightly amused grin. "I meant why are you bothering to make your bed at all? That's the house-elves' job here. And even if it wasn't, why are you doing it the Muggle way? You've got a wand now."

"It's a force of habit I suppose. We always had to make our beds first thing at my old school."

"Oh yeah, Bill mentioned that. Some religious Elvish school wasn't it?"

"The Saint Gwenifwar School of Havanist Youth; yeah."

"Did you like it there?"

"Yeah, it was fun. All the teachers were really nice and easy going and the majority of the other students were nice. I'm going to continue my lessons you know?" Harry told his new friend with an excited smile. "Every Sunday afternoon, High Priest Sephiran will come to tutor me in Professor Dumbledore's office."

Fred wrinkled his nose. "Extra work? Not my sort of thing but whatever makes you happy and all that." He paused and yawned before standing up and heading out of the room. "Could you do me a favour and wake George? We'll all head down to breakfast early so we don't miss all the good stuff."

"We'll all?" Harry echoed, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, you, me and George unless you've already planned something?" He asked, pausing and glancing over his shoulder.

Harry shook his head a little.

"There you go then."

Harry watched the ginger boy until he left with a small smile on his face before turning and making his way over to George in order to wake him up for breakfast.

****************************************************************

5th September 1989: Morning

"What lesson have we got first?" George asked as he and his twin wandered down a corridor with Harry by his side.

"Transfiguration with Professor McGonagoll." Harry read off of the time table he held in his hands.

"When's the first time we have a Potions lesson?" The red head enquired, leaning close to Harry and trying to get a better look at the piece of parchment.

"After lunch." Harry sighed lightly just as Fred jabbed his brother in the side with a small frown.

"Don't worry about it, mate, I'm sure your dad isn't that mad about you being Sorted into Gryffindor." Fred reassured, encouraging a look of realisation to bloom on George's face.

"Yeah, he probably doesn't even care that much." George added earnestly.

Harry smiled a little at their efforts and tried to reassure them with a smile which, although was forced, appeared convincing. "I wouldn't go that far but maybe you're right; I hope you're right anyway."

The two red haired boys smiled back at him and Harry was pretty certain that he had managed to put a rest to their fears. Unfortunately, his fears were very much a reality. He was afraid of what his father's opinion of him was now, he was worried that him being a Gryffindor would be too much for the man, he was worried that he would no longer be loved. And that was exactly the same case with Draco, because the blond had appeared to be less than pleased with his Sorting too.

A loud, obnoxious laugh caught Harry's attention abruptly and he turned around to see a small group of Slytherins, First Years, walking down the same corridor as he and Fred and George, a couple of feet behind. What caught his eye the most though was the head of bright, blond hair which was in the centre of the cluster and could only belong to one person; one person that Harry knew he had to talk to despite the fact he would rather have a friendly cup of tea with Voldemort more at that moment.

"I'll catch you guys up in a minute." Harry assured his two new friends as he turned to hurry off to speak to Draco.

The twins took a moment to look behind before they both gave Harry a small nod. "See you in a minute then." They chorused together.

Harry gave them both a small smile before he turned and dashed off towards the group of Slytherins. As he approached them, they dropped into silence and regarded him with a cold distaste which was more then evident in all of their expressions. Harry slowed to a stop about a foot away from them and, trying his best to ignore the hard glares he was getting from the entire group, allowed his gaze to settle on Draco who was also glaring at him though with less intensity.

"Can I, uh, can I talk for a second, Draco?"

"Draco doesn't want to talk to you anymore, not after what you did." The dark skinned girl, that Harry recognised as Bethany Zabini, sneered.

"I'll see you all in the Great Hall." Draco said abruptly, not taking his eyes off of Harry.

"What? But Draco, he..." Bethany began to protest.

"I said, I'll see you in the Great Hall." The blond repeated himself, his tone more firm and commanding, but his eyes still did not move off of the nervous dark haired boy in front on them all.

None of the other Slytherins seemed particularly keen on the idea of leaving but they had little choice in the matter. With a last glare in Harry's direction, the other six or seven eleven year olds began to file past the Gryffindor. When one sandy-brown haired boy shoved his way past Harry, he intentionally knocked into Harry's shoulder rather roughly.

"Spari." Draco said in a warning tone.

The boy said nothing in reply, merely shot another glare in Harry direction as the shorter, spectacled boy rubbed his slightly sore shoulder. He walked away and so Draco and Harry were left alone in the corridor.

"Erm, thanks." Harry said shyly, allowing the hand which was soothing his shoulder to fall to his side again.

A small moment of silence passed as Harry tried to think of a way to start what he wanted to say. The silence was broken however when Draco gave a small sigh. "I do have friends waiting for me." He reminded with the sneer in his voice which Harry had heard plenty of times before but never directed at him.

"Please don't be like this, Draco." Harry murmured quietly, un-used to such confrontation with someone he cared about. Bullies he could handle, but arguing with someone who he cared about so much was horrible and heart-wrenching. "I didn't turn down Slytherin to hurt you."

"You turned down Slytherin!" Draco asked, shocked horror in his voice. "And there was me just thinking that you were just a natural Gryffindor. Now I know that you're there because you don't think Slytherin is good enough for you."

"Oh Draco, for goodness sake!" Harry cried, losing his patience. "You want to know why I turned down Slytherin? Because of Voldemort! Voldemort was a Slytherin when he attended Hogwarts." He paused for a moment to calm himself down so that he spoke rationally and did not cause an even bigger argument by saying something he did not mean. "I don't hold it against everyone; I'm pleased you made Slytherin just like you wanted to, but I can't do it, Draco. I can't have another constant reminder of him, I can't live in a place where I'd be continuously wondering if I was sleeping in the same room as he had once or sitting in the same chair as he has before. I know I've disappointed you and Father and no doubt Uncle Lucius too but I can't live like that, Draco, I'm not strong enough..."

Draco remained silent for several moments before giving a small sigh and closing the gap between him and Harry, flinging his arms around the other boy. "I'm sorry I was a jerk about it, I never knew you felt that way." The blond drew back but did not remove his arms and gave the dark haired boy a small grin. "Though why you couldn't be a Ravenclaw I'll never know."

Harry gave a small laugh before his smile faded again and worry returned. "Father looked less than happy about my Sorting."

"He's just a bit miffed is all. As soon as you explain your reasons to him he'll probably be glad you weren't put in Slytherin. He wouldn't want you to be somewhere where you didn't feel entirely comfortable and having said that, neither do I. It's going to be hard to spend time together now but we'll work something out, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"C'mon then, we'd better get to the Great Hall and have some breakfast before classes start." Draco instructed, dropping his arms from around the other boy and catching one of his hands in his pale one. "Maybe someday you can join me at the Slytherin table or, maybe, I'll be able to pluck up the strength to sit with you and the rest of your Gryffindors."

"Don't strain yourself." Harry teased playfully, inching himself a little closer to his best friend, infinitely relieved that things had been sorted out between them so quickly. Now if things could go exactly the same with his father then everything would be completely perfect.

**************************************************************

5th September 1989: Midday

Harry sucked in a deep breath to calm his nerves as he came to a stop in front of the door into his father's classroom. It was lunch time and he was determined to speak to Severus before his first Potions lesson which would start in under an hour. He had not yet had the opportunity to sort things out with the sour man, what with lessons and getting to know his new House mates and friends and such. Now was the ideal time. His father had not been in the Great Hall for lunch and, when asking, Harry had discovered he had already given out the first detention of the school year in any subject. However, that did throw up the question of whether the man would be in a bad mood or not; he always did get some sort of sadistic pleasure when giving detentions to those students who he really disliked but then there was the possibility that he was still annoyed from whatever it was the student had done to warrant detention.

Steeling himself, Harry knocked on the classroom door three times and then waited politely, nervously pushing a few strands of his rather shaggy looking hair. He was conforming to the traditions of Havanist Priests and had not had his hair cut since his apprenticeship ended. It was at that awkward point where it was not long enough to tie back but it was long enough to make itself a nuisance.

"Enter." The deep voice of his father boomed from behind the door.

Harry hastened to obey the command, grabbing the door handle and then pushing the large, heavy, wooden door with all his might. Inside the classroom, he was greeted with the sight of a student from Gryffindor; a boy, looked like a third or fourth year judging my his size, on his knees on the floor by a desk, scrubbing away at the stone beneath with a wire bristled brush and with rubbery looking, black gloves on his hands. Next to him was a bucket full of some kind of clear, light blue liquid. Looking up from the slaving Gryffindor, Harry spotted Severus at his desk at the front of the classroom who, after finishing whatever it was he was writing, looked up directly at him. The man's expression was un-readable and the dark haired boy swallowed nervously.

"If this is a bad time I can come back later..." He said somewhat shyly, his body staying half hidden behind the still open door.

"Don't be foolish, you're here now, you may as well come in and say what it is you intend to." Snape replied curtly, rising from his seat and moving over to the wall to the left of the desk where there was a door which led into his chambers. "We'll talk in my rooms." He told his son as an order for the boy to make his way down to him. Harry stepped into the classroom quickly at that, easing the door shut carefully before hurrying off towards his father. "Be careful of Wood when you pass him, Haryon; he's using a very corrosive potion and you aren't sufficiently protected."

Doing as he was told, Harry edged himself around the boy named Wood carefully before carrying on towards Severus at a normal pace. Upon reaching the man, the door to his rooms was opened and the boy moved forward with the sensation of a hand resting lightly on his shoulder.

"I expect you to be finished by the time I come back in, Wood." His father said to the other boy in the classroom before he followed Harry in, shutting the door behind them both. "So, to what do I owe this visit from my son on his first lunch break as a Hogwarts student? I would have surely thought you'd be more intent on spending time outside classes with your new friends."

"I-I just wanted to see how your first day was..." Harry told him a little unsurely as he turned to face the man.

"...And?"

"And...I was wondering if...If you mind about what House I've been Sorted into." The boy answered, not saying it as a question, more of a declaration of intent.

"Well, I must admit, I'd be lying if I said I was thrilled with the fact that you've been put into Gryffindor." His father sighed, moving away from the door, gliding towards the three-seat sofa in front of the lit fire place. Reaching the sofa, he gestured to Harry to join him and the boy eagerly moved forward and sat beside the man. "And I must also admit that I am more than a little miffed that you weren't put in Slytherin."

"I'm sorry." Harry said meekly, his eyes downcast.

The roughened pads of his father's fingers were suddenly pressed underneath Harry's chin and his head was tilted up so he was looking the man in the face. "However, even I must admit that I am somewhat relieved that you weren't put in my House."

"Really?"

"Really. You're not a Slytherin, my little prince, and you wouldn't have been happy there despite the fact you would have myself and Draco with you. It is probably for the best that you've escaped Slytherin, although," a small grin graced the usually stoic man's face, "Merlin knows why you couldn't have been a Ravenclaw."

"Could've be worse." Harry said quickly, a small grin of his own appearing. "I could've been put into Hufflepuff."

That earned an amused laughed from his father before he was pulled closer to the man's side as one of Severus' arms curled around his small frame. "Indeed." He chuckled giving Harry a few squeezes and rubbing the arm his hand was resting on.

Harry smiled brightly and held his father back enthusiastically. Everything was okay again.
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Family Means More Than Blood