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The Guile and Devotion of a Black Heir	By : StarLightMassacre Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 104291 -:- Recommendations : 9 -:- Currently Reading : 26
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter; all rights go to J. K. Rowling. I make no money for this piece of fictional writing and never will.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Last Time

The three of them made it back to courtroom seven and Harry gracefully sat himself back down. He was not looking forward to another several hours of debating back and forth over an issue that was so very clear to him now that the new, additional information had been revealed in the trial report. Mister Dennis Jute, Muggleborn he might be, but he had a chip on his shoulder from something to do with the Muggles and Harry was certain that he had meant to kill as many Muggles as possible on that night…he was not going to allow the full court of the wizarding world to let this man off of the ten year sentence to Azkaban. It was no less than the drunken brute deserved and Harry would not allow him to escape justice.

Chapter Thirteen - Health

Harry had spent the next few days just recovering from the all day trial as those on the Council of Magical Law had argued against the Wizengamot’s decision to sentence this man, Dennis Jute, to Azkaban. As had been pointed out several times, the Wizengamot was superior to the Council of Magical Law and their sentence was final and was not the issue in the courtroom. The meeting had descended into chaos and had only ended once members had started complaining of the very late hour and still nothing had gotten done because of the pointless arguing. Harry hoped that before he had to go back, Fudge called the Council of Magical Law into order. They had no right to oppose or question the decision of the Wizengamot.

Harry had come back late to Hogwarts, after curfew late, and he had had to almost scream at Filch that he was Lord Potter-Black and that he had only just gotten back to Hogwarts after flooing into Professor McGonagall’s office. He had explained as patiently as he could, that he had been at a Wizengamot meeting that had only in the last hour finished, but it hadn’t worked and Filch had demanded that Harry be written up for detention. That had been when Harry had started losing control of his already frayed temper. He had stomped his way to his rooms, after losing Filch first of course, as he refused to follow the man back to his office to be written up like a delinquent and had, in no uncertain terms, told the man that if he laid a single finger on him then he’d have him fired and locked up. After being gone the entire day, Harry had finally gotten back to his rooms, but he was in an absolutely foul mood thanks to the actual trial meeting and his run in with Filch.
Once safely locked inside his private rooms he’d stripped off his robes and sluggishly pulled on his pyjamas. He knew he should have started his homework then and there, but he had been far too tired, so instead he’d just curled up in his bed and he’d gone almost straight to sleep after the incredibly long day locked up in the dungeon like courtroom seven.
Now he was paying for it, especially as Draco and Blaise had gleefully dumped a load of assignments on him that morning at breakfast, on top of those that he already had to do, and they both refused to help him stating haughtily that they were too busy. Blaise was on the hunt for a new conquest, his Ravenclaw was no longer keeping his interest and was talking about their long term future, something which Blaise wouldn’t allow and Draco was going to spend some time with Astoria. It did not help Harry’s sinking mood that from one until three in the afternoon today he had to take Ancient Runes tutoring from Marcus. He had too much to do and very little time in which to do it in.
Harry rubbed his forehead and went back to his Transfiguration homework, one of the hardest assignments that he had for one of the hardest subjects. He didn’t understand half of it and he knew that he had to go to Professor McGonagall to ask her for some help. He just didn’t want to take the time it would take when he knew that he had a mountain of homework still to do.
Sighing and biting the proverbial bullet, he plucked up his Transfiguration books and his homework assignments, shoved them all into his satchel and left his rooms, closing the door securely behind him. If he was quick and he picked up this theory easily enough then he might be able to do a few more assignments before Marcus came to tutor him. He didn’t really relish the thought of being awake past midnight tonight still doing homework.
He made his way down the corridors and up three flights of stairs to get to the seventh floor and he wandered the familiar path to Gryffindor Tower. He stopped just before he reached the Fat Lady’s portrait, at Professor McGonagall’s office. He knocked firmly on the door and he waited, hoping that she was even there. He did not have the time to hunt the Professor down all over the castle for one piece of homework when he had a dozen more assignments that needed his attention too.

“Enter.” The stern voice he knew so well called out from inside and he breathed a sigh of relief that she was here before he straightened and smartened himself up and did as asked, stepping into the office. “Ah, Potter, just the boy I wanted to speak to.”

Harry ducked his head in a small bow as a show of respect. “Sorry to bother you, Professor. I just wanted to ask you about the work that I missed yesterday, I’m afraid I just don’t understand it.”

“Mister Filch came to see me about you being out after curfew and that you refused to be written up for detention.” McGonagall said disapprovingly. “You have your own rooms, but that does not mean that you can be out after curfew, you need to adhere to the same rules as everyone else, Potter.”

“Professor, as I told Mister Filch at the time, I’d only just gotten back from the Wizengamot meeting. It went on for almost the entire day and it was only called to a halt when some members started to complain about how late it was getting. I went straight to my rooms from this office, which I used to floo back into the school. My being out after the curfew wasn’t preventable and I don’t believe it requires a term of detention as it couldn’t have been helped. Unless, of course, I’d stayed at home overnight and had come back early this morning, but I wanted to start on my remaining homework as soon as possible, so I elected to return to the school last night.”

McGonagall stared at him for several moments and then she nodded her head once. “What was this about an assignment that you don’t understand?”

Harry smiled and got his work out of his bag and handed it over. He spent the next hour listening to his Professor lecture and teach him what he’d missed during his unavoidable absence. He learnt a lot more in a one-to-one setting it seemed and that gave him hope for his tutoring from Marcus, maybe it wasn’t going to be so awful after all and at least he already knew that his Transfiguration homework was going to be top notch, after all, it couldn’t possibly be anything else under the personal tutelage of Professor McGonagall.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

Harry was nervous as he waited with all of his Ancient Runes books, all of his homework assignments for that year and what marks he’d gotten and spare parchment and ink. He even had a set of cubes that each had a rune carved into the front of it, the pronunciation of said rune was on the bottom that could be tapped with a wand which then revealed the translation. They had belonged to Draco as a small child to help him learn his runes before he came to Hogwarts, but Harry had no qualms about using them as a sixteen year old if they helped him and they did, to an extent.

He took a deep breath and then another. This was just another lesson and he was here to learn, nothing more. He shouldn’t be this bloody nervous, but ridiculously, Rabastan’s words kept coming back to him. Marcus was much larger than him, he was much stronger, and he could easily hurt him without anyone knowing about it for several hours. He growled at himself and forced those thoughts away furiously. Marcus was a man now, a grown man, and he wasn’t going to hurt him. He was absolutely, one hundred percent sure of it, but still, Rabastan’s fears had his Fiancé genuinely worried and because his Fiancé was worried, he was nervous himself. It was completely ridiculous, irrational even, but he couldn’t help it.
The door knocked and he almost jumped out of his skin before he scolded himself harshly, pulled himself together and he stood up to let Marcus into his private rooms and the older man whistled, impressed, as he looked around.

“You got yourself a good deal here. I had no idea that Hogwarts offered individual rooms to students or I’d have gotten one for myself. Three of my dorm mates snored terribly.” He added when he caught Harry’s questioning glace. “I spent half my time at Hogwarts trying to catch up on disrupted sleep, at least until I finally figured out the silencing ward, using Runes instead of a spell, of course.”

Harry laughed at the explanation, thinking fondly of his portrait of the younger Sirius. “Do you want a drink?”

“You can get drinks in here too? Merlin, I really wish I’d known about these rooms.”

Harry grinned happily and put his little tea pot on the hot plate he had to make tea with.

“Only water, juice or tea. I can get small snacks too. It means I don’t have to leave very often, though I do have to go down to the Great Hall for meals.”

Harry made them both tea and set up a plate of biscuits before he sat on the floor by his coffee table and Marcus followed his lead and eased his big, bulky body down to join him.

“Let’s get started then. I want to see what you’re capable of first, do you have your past assignments as I requested?”

Harry nodded and picked up the parchment with all his marks from Professor Babbling off of the table where he’d left them, including his extra assignments that he’d asked for, and he handed them over to Marcus to scrutinise.

He nervously waited as Marcus went through all of the sheaves of parchment, very slowly and consideringly, one by one. At least this time he was nervous of what Marcus would think of his work and his marks and not of anything happening to him.
He shakily took sip after sip of tea for something to do and he breathed evenly and deeply to calm and centre himself as he fought the urge to fidget, a phantom pain rippling through his hands as he remembered his lessons from Lucius and Narcissa. He could almost hear them chastising him, telling him that he was the Lord of two ancient esteemed houses and an adoptee of a third. He was not supposed to fidget like a small, nervous child. It almost made him smile, but he controlled the urge as he gave his undivided attention to Marcus. He wanted to prove that he deserved this tutoring from such a specialised expert, that he wasn’t going to be a waste of Marcus’ time. He needed this chance to get him back onto an even keel with his classmates and if he could surpass them, well, that would be an extra juicy bonus if he could manage it and a very proud moment for him too. His classmates did have three years learning over him after all.

“This is better than I was expecting.” Marcus told him some time later. “For someone who only picked up Runes this year and has had only six months of teaching and instruction, you have a very good base understanding of the subject.”

Harry very nearly blew out a relieved breath, but he managed to control himself and give a small, more acceptable nod of his head.

“I can work with this.” Marcus said simply, putting the sheaves of parchment back down on the coffee table. “You’re not completely clueless, so let’s get started.”

Harry listened intently and he watched everything that Marcus did, absorbing it all as best as he could and even doing all the little exercises that Marcus gave him. Finishing each one and handing over his answers to Marcus to mark and then either receiving praise or having it ripped apart and pointed out exactly where he’d gone wrong.

“You’ve mixed up Perthro and Kenaz, Harry.” Marcus told him, laying the parchment down and pointing out his answer.

Harry deflated as he blew out a frustrated breath and he looked at the two wrong answers and he thought harder about it. He took his quill up and he corrected the one right away, but the other one he had no clue. He shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“You do.” Marcus told him with no preamble. “Think!”

Harry bit his lip and all but glared at the parchment. Marcus gave him no help whatsoever and every time that Harry insisted that he didn’t know it, Marcus would growl back that he did and to use his fucking brain to think of it.

“We don’t have all fucking day!” Marcus snapped.

Harry grit his teeth and tried not to snap his quill in half. He was half considering throwing his bottle of ink at Marcus’ head.

He put down another rune and Marcus scoffed and swooped in to draw a thick red line through it.

“You know that that’s not right! Don’t just put anything down!”

“Then help me!” Harry growled.

“I am helping you! I’m not going to just give you the damn answer, think about it!”

“But I don’t know it!” Harry pleaded.

“You do.” Marcus insisted.

Harry frowned and bit his lip again, tapping his quill against his hand. He tentatively drew another rune and looked to Marcus, half expecting a thick red line through it.

“Well done.” Marcus praised him and Harry was stunned.

“Really? That’s right?” He asked, looking back at it and staring.

“Yes. Now tell me where you went wrong.”

“I…I didn’t think that this was the right answer because I thought my first attempt was the right one. I overlooked this rune.”

“It’s a very common mistake. Overlooking one rune because you’re sure it’s another. It’ll throw you off the rest of them as you head in the opposite direction to the overlooked rune. I’m surprised you got it so quickly. So what have you learnt?”

“That sometimes, even if I think I know the answer, I can still be wrong.”

“No! You’ve learnt that you knew the answer all along! Don’t waste time arguing about it, accept that you know the answer and find it.”

Harry nodded and he settled himself down, carrying on the exercise sheets that Marcus had taken the time to make especially for his tutoring.

“Wrong.” Marcus told him, scratching out the very first rune. “Do it again.”

Harry sighed and frowned. He frowned harder as he realised that he seemed to have made exactly the same mistake. He’d been so sure that he’d put down the correct rune. In fact, he was incredibly sure that it was the correct rune.

“I’m sure that that one was right.”

“It’s not.” Marcus said simply.

“I’m sure it was.”

Marcus raised an eyebrow and Harry scowled. He went back to his exercise and thought hard, but his mind drew a blank. He tried a few more runes, but all of them received a red mark through them.

He was more patient this time, trying out different ideas, but eventually a coil of heated anger reared its head and he started losing his temper the more Marcus drew a red line through his attempts.

“I’ve gone through almost all of them!” He raged. “I’m sure that the first one was right!”

Marcus snorted and drew a rune in red next to his many failed attempts. Harry was horrified to see that it was identical to his first attempt.

“I had it right the first time. I knew it!” He shouted. “Why did you mark it as wrong when it was right?!”

“Never second guess yourself. If you know it’s right. It probably is.” Marcus told him.

“I thought the other one was right too.”

Marcus shook his head. “No, you only thought it was right because you’d overlooked the actual correct rune, you didn’t know that it was. You actually argued about me correcting this rune, you knew that it was the right one, but you accepted it was wrong, not because you thought it was, but because I’m superior to you. That’s how mistakes are made and how fatalities occur. If you are working on something, never let anyone correct you. If you know it’s right, it probably is and if you’re unsure, check it yourself or you’ll end up dead.”

Harry blew out a breath and tried to squash the anger that had risen in him.

“I think we’ll leave it here. It’s half three, we went over a little bit. You’re not as terrible as I thought you’d be. I’ll have more exercises for you next week.”

Harry nodded his head tightly. “If anything changes, I’ll owl you. But if it’s too late, I’ll floo call you instead.”

Marcus nodded back as he stood up with all of his stuff. He threw a hand out and shook Harry’s own firmly.

“I’ll see you soon, Potter. Oh and congratulations by the way. That ring suits you.”

Harry looked down at his ring and smiled as Marcus shut the door to his private rooms behind him. He collapsed back onto his settee and he stayed there for several minutes, just thinking. Marcus hadn’t been kidding when he said he’d be hard and abrasive while tutoring him. Which reminded him, he needed to send a letter to Rabastan to ease his Fiancé’s frantic mind and let him know that he hadn’t been attacked and he wasn’t dead on his sitting room floor.

Clearing up all the Ancient Runes paraphernalia, Harry left his spare parchment and went into his little study room to drop everything off and collect his beautiful set of thirty different coloured inks. It was in a decorative sterling silver holder so that he could carry and display all thirty bottles at once. He’d bought it after he’d realised that writing to Rabastan in different coloured inks as he had, had really, really helped his, then betrothed, now Fiancé. It had been a pain begging for different coloured inks from Draco and Blaise, so now he had his own set that he could use.
It had, like almost everything else he’d owned, been replaced by his Father in October when his dorm mates had destroyed all of his stuff. Some of the inks had been running low, particularly the red, blue, green and black inks, and he’d been thinking of replacing them himself. He’d laughed to himself when his set had been fully replaced, all the inks coming back full and unopened, their wax seals still unbroken.
He spent the next hour and a half writing a massive letter to Rabastan, making sure to drastically change colours with every paragraph and he stretched out his cramping hand and left the letter to dry on his coffee table while he went down to the Great Hall for dinner.
His first tutoring session had gone fine, if that sort of rage inducing teaching could be called fine. Now he just had to survive weekly tutoring sessions with Marcus, he could feel a tension headache forming at both temples and he groaned. He needed a headache reliever and fast. Which did nothing to improve his mood as that reminded him that tomorrow morning he had to get up early to go to Saint Mungos for a Healer check-up.
Harry looked at the ring nestled on his left hand and he brought it to his mouth so that he could kiss it. It helped him feel marginally better.

“I really wish that I was with you.” He whispered before moodily stabbing at his food. He was not looking forward to his Healer visit, but for Rabastan, he would endure it silently.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

The next morning, at a quarter past nine in the morning, Harry found himself stripped to his new black boxer-briefs and sat on the end of an examination bed. He wasn’t cold, the room being temperature controlled with magic, but he was uncomfortable as his thin and bony body was exposed to the view of anyone and everyone who cared to look, which was quite a few people as he was seeing a whole team of Healers and not just the one.

“Will you stop shifting in agitation?” Lucius commanded from the chair in the large room that they were currently in.

“I can’t help it, I am agitated!” Harry hissed as he shifted yet again in discomfort.

He was nervous, and a little scared and insecure too. He’d put off this visit for so long that he’d fooled himself into thinking that it would never happen, that Lucius would just forget about it. Now that it was actually happening, he wanted it to stop. He wanted time to stand still so that he never had to put himself through this ordeal.

All too soon the head Healer of the team who would be examining him, who had left for five minutes while Harry had been undressing, knocked once on the door and entered the examination room again.

“Alright, Mister Potter, I’m going to start the examination now. We’ll be including all angles here, visual, physical and magical.”

“Just to be extra thorough.” Harry groused, evil temperedly.

“We, at this hospital, pride ourselves on being very thorough.” The Healer answered, obviously well used to difficult patients.

Harry sat still and stiff as the Healer prodded, poked and touched his bony, scarred body with his firm, sure fingers. Harry’s jaw clenched, his back locked ramrod straight and his hands were digging into the edge of the stupid bed he was sat on as he endured someone, anyone, touching his body like this. He didn’t like it at all.

“Your Father tells us that you’ve never had a booster inoculation for Dragon Pox.” The Healer said conversationally.

“I’ve never had any vaccines.” Harry bit out.

“Not even the standard Muggle vaccines?”

“No.” Harry said shortly.

The Healer nodded as his fingers played with the knot of scarring at his elbow.

“Where did this come from?” The Healer asked.

“Basilisk fang.” Harry answered tightly.

“Pardon me?” Lucius asked in a silky, deadly quiet whisper.

“A basilisk bit me when I was twelve and I had to yank the broken fang out of my arm.”

“How did you survive?” The Healer demanded.

“Dumbledore just happens to have a phoenix.”

“A basilisk should have bitten you in half.”

“It was trying to, I stabbed it through the roof of its mouth and into its head with a sword, but a fang stabbed into my arm while I did so.”

The Healer made a notation on his clipboard and then touched the scar on his left, inner forearm. It was long and straight, a couple of inches in length.

“Where did you get this one?”

Harry glared at the Healer, because he’d gotten this scar from Pettigrew in the ritual that had reborn Voldemort, but he couldn’t actually come out and say that. Not anymore.

“A crazed man slit my arm for me in a ritual he believed would bring back Voldemort. It’s in the same place and it’s near the same size as the Dark Mark.” He said through gritted teeth. He noticed that though Lucius winced at the Dark Lord’s name, the Healer all but jumped.

The Healer swallowed and nodded, before he pointed to a scar that was just barely visible on his hip.

“This one?” He questioned.

Harry looked at it and prodded at it himself.

“No idea. I’ve got so many that I don’t keep count and I’m not overly bothered when new ones appear.”

The Healer looked him over more closely and he saw what Harry meant as he noted down all of the various scars on his body on a chart of the human body he had on his clipboard.

“I tracked down your medical file. Not surprisingly it’s quite bare, you’re going to need quite a few injections today, Harry. We’ll do those now and get them out of the way.”

Harry felt sick and his whole body tensed as his heart started beating several times faster. He watched, like a deer in the headlights, as the Healer went digging in cupboards, bringing out several little bottles and packets of single needles.

The Healer injected him quickly and carefully and at the small, barely there pinch, Harry relaxed insurmountably. It didn’t hurt that badly, he didn’t need to worry about the injections. He sat calmly and stoically through the rest of the vaccines as the Healer injected him again and again, never in the same place.

“This is for Measles, Mumps and Rubella.” The Healer said as he switched arms and then loaded another one up. “This is for Tuberculosis.” He said as another load of vaccine went into Harry’s body, this time in the top of his leg. “And this one is for Meningitis.”

Harry took a deep, steadying breath when all the vaccines were done and the Healer had used several needles and disposed of them all in a bright yellow bucket.

“That wasn’t so bad now, was it?” The Healer said with a smile, even as he got out another needle and another bottle.

“What’s that one for?” Harry questioned curiously.

“Dragon Pox. This one will hurt and it’ll feel like you’re burning. But if you choose not to have this vaccine and you do get Dragon Pox, then there’s nothing that we can do except to make you as comfortable as we can. You will die.”

“He doesn’t have a choice in the matter.” Lucius said smoothly from his chair. “He will be having the vaccine, even if I have to put him under a body binding curse in order to have it done.”

The Healer nodded and Harry sat very still as the needle was inserted under his skin and the vaccine was emptied into his bloodstream. It burnt terribly. He grit his teeth and closed his eyes as he waited for it to pass. It didn’t pass, it just kept burning, growing in intensity and it was slowly spreading too.

“There we go.” The Healer said, disposing of yet another used needle before handing him a glass almost half full of a purplish-grey potion. “Swallow this potion now, it’ll help your body to accept all of the different vaccines that you’ve just been given without making you seriously ill.”

Harry gulped the endless seeming potion down from the tumbler glass it had been handed over in and he grimaced, shaking his head in reflex to the vile taste. That had been twice as much potion as he’d ever been forced to drink in one go before and it was a struggle to get it down and to actually keep it down too as his stomach rebelled and clenched painfully. It made him heave to try and get the potion back out. He controlled the urge fiercely and he clamped his mouth shut, continuously swallowing to get the potion to stay down as he tried to calm his stomach.

The Healer gave him a minute or two to recover from the vaccines and the potion before he started casting spells and whatever else he was doing as Harry sat there, trying to ignore the burning pain in his arm, that was rapidly spreading down to his hand and up to his shoulder, not to mention the vile taste lingering on his tongue and his rebelling stomach.
It took hours for the team of Healers around him to be happy that they’d covered every single base that they could think of, they’d even redone the test to check for the special gene that made him a barer and they checked his fertility, and when he finally got the all clear to leave the hospital, it was with the words malnourished and brittle hanging over his head. He had almost as many potions to take as Rabastan and Rodolphus and he wasn’t happy about it.

“I have half a mind to pull you from the Quidditch team.” Lucius told him as he helped a lethargic, exhausted Harry back into his clothes.

“I want to carry on playing if I can.” Harry answered sluggishly.

“You have the bones of a sixty year old man.” Lucius reminded him.

“I know. I heard the Healers, I was there.” Harry said tonelessly. “I still want to play though and the bone potions should help rather quickly. I only have to take them for a month or two.”

Lucius sighed. “Narcissa is going to be beside herself with concern when she hears. We had prepared ourselves for some bad news, but not to this extent! I knew that we should have done this in the summer and not waited until now.”

Harry sighed and he allowed Lucius to support him with an arm around his back and under his arm as they left the hospital, walking slowly down the clinically clean corridors to the nearest waiting room which would have a floo point. He allowed Lucius to hold him tightly to his chest as they flooed back to Malfoy manor together instead of separately, like they usually would have.

After hearing how bad he actually was, Lucius was insistent on keeping him off of school for a couple of days, instead of the one night that they had originally planned, letting him go back to Hogwarts on the Monday morning. Now he was going to be at home for most of the week, if not the entire of the week and he was going to miss even more lessons. He was going to have so many catch up assignments to do when he was better.

“You rest now.” Lucius told him firmly, sitting him on his bed in his own bedroom and sort of hovering over him, like he was at a loss for what to do.

“I’m not going to break in half.” Harry said in amusement, even as his heart swelled with love at being actually, truly cared for.

“The Healers said that you have brittle bones!” Lucius said sternly. Again. It was like the older man couldn’t get past that bit of information, like he couldn’t process it or didn’t know what to do with it.

“Walking isn’t going to do any harm. Otherwise they would have broken before now.” Harry insisted.

Lucius sighed. “Just rest for today, you’ve been through a lot and you need to rest. For today at least.”

Harry nodded. “I was planning on staying on the settee in my sitting room and finishing off all that homework that’s been piling up. I told you that my tutoring ran over by half an hour. Marcus is frustrating at best, infuriating at his worst.”

“Did you learn from him?” Lucius asked shrewdly.

Harry smiled and nodded. “Yeah, he has a very unorthodox method of teaching, but I did learn a lot from him and I learnt several new ways of thinking about runes and the different ways in which they can be applied. He didn’t try to attack me either.”

“Ah, which reminds me, did you write to Rabastan as you said that you would?”

“Of course.” Harry answered as he took the letter that he’d written last night, sealed in an envelope, out of his robe pocket. “I didn’t send it off because I knew that I’d see you today and I’d hoped to see him in person too. I guess with me staying here longer than originally planned, I will get to see him, but could you please give it to him anyway? I am getting tired so I just want to sleep for a bit.”

Lucius inclined his head as he took the letter from him before he tucked the sealed parchment carefully into a pocket on the inside of his robes.

“I need to go and inform the others of what has happened, I will floo Severus and have him inform Draco that you will be staying here longer than previously thought. We all knew that you’d need several injections and that that would take it out of you, so it won’t be odd or out of place if you don’t do so in person.”

Harry sighed. “I promise not to move for the rest of the day. I just want to rest and at the moment go to sleep. I might get up to do some homework later, but for now I’m completely exhausted.”

Lucius nodded and Harry sighed again, painfully inching out of his robes with Lucius’ help before settling himself on his bed more comfortably as his Father left him alone and saw himself out, not wanting Harry to move in order to see him to the door, as proper etiquette demanded. Proper etiquette wasn’t expected in such situations when one was so unwell.

Harry laid back and pulled the duvet over himself trying desperately not to think about what he’d learnt today. He’d known that the Dursleys hadn’t treated him particularly well, but he hadn’t much thought of the long term damage. To find out that he was very malnourished and had the brittle bones of an old man at just sixteen, it had frightened him. He hadn’t expected it and knowing that the Dursleys had ruined him, even though he wasn’t under their thumb anymore, it had shocked him and he needed some alone time to take it all in.
His years of mistreatment had left his body permanently scarred, he’d already known this, but to find out that the years of missed meals and even starvation in his teens had left him malnourished, like he’d been living in poverty, and with the bones of a sixty year old. That he hadn’t known about, all the unknown, unseen damage that had been done to him over the last fifteen years.
It scared him to think that he might never have known about it, that it might never have been rectified and that right now, he could still be in their care, living at Privet Drive, which would have only made the damage worse.
Harry breathed deeply and he pushed it from his mind for the time being. He’d had injections, he’d swallowed several, absolutely disgusting potions already and he had a couple months’ worth of potions to take now and he would hopefully be completely fit and healthy by the summer. He didn’t want to think on it any longer, he wanted to rest and get some much needed sleep and he needed to take some time to absorb this information. It had come as a huge, nasty shock to him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

Lucius was in a foul mood as he made his way back down the wide stairs of his home. He strode through the hallways and he went straight to the family parlour, where his Wife was entertaining their three guests. With the Aurors in disgrace with the Minister for Magic and being removed from staking out his home, the three Lestranges were allowed to visit once again, and they were here waiting for news on Harry’s hospital visit.

“How did things go?” Narcissa asked as soon as he arrived into the room, standing to greet him with a kiss.

Lucius kissed her back and he sighed. “It was worse than we were expecting.” He said quietly, sitting in a seat and greeting their guests with a short nod.

“How much worse?” Rabastan asked in concern. “Where is Harry? I thought that you were bringing him back.”

“He is in his bed sleeping as he’s exhausted. It is much worse than we previously feared.” Lucius sighed as he absentmindedly took Harry’s letter from inside his robes and handed it over.

He called for a house elf and got himself a drink of Firewhiskey, just to settle himself after the news that he’d had to listen to.

“Lucius, do not keep such things from me. Harry is our son, not just yours. Tell me.” Narcissa said with a hard stare.

“Those Muggles must have tortured him. This is the first time that I’ve seen his body bared in such harsh, clinical lighting and he is covered in scars.”

“Scars?” Narcissa gasped. “He’s a sixteen year old boy!”

“There are hundreds of them and they cover him from head to foot. There isn’t an inch of skin without a scar on it from something or other and Harry has become so numb to such behaviours that he doesn’t know where most of them have come from.” Lucius sighed, sipping some more Firewhiskey.

“I get the feeling that that isn’t all.” Xerxes said with a bite of anger to his voice.

“He’s very malnourished. The Healer said that it was as if Harry had been living in childhood poverty.”

“Did Harry shed any light as to why that was?” Narcissa demanded.

“Remember his first letter, dear. He let slip that the Muggles starved him. Obviously that was much worse than we initially believed too to have led to such serious malnourishment.”

“If I get my hands on them.” Rabastan snarled.

“It gets worse.”

“How?” Xerxes demanded furiously. “How much worse can it get, Lucius? Those beasts tortured and starved him!”

“Harry has the equivalent bone strength of a sixty year old man. They are very brittle. The Healer didn’t believe him when Harry said that he’d been playing Quidditch for years. The only part of his body not affected is his right hand and arm. Those bones are, perhaps not as strong as they could be, but are much stronger than any other bone in his body.”

“Why?” Narcissa asked curiously.

“In his second year, I went to watch Draco play a Quidditch game. I saw the bludger smash into his right elbow, breaking his arm. The fool Lockhart insisted that he could repair the arm, but instead he removed the bones. Harry told the Healer that he was given Skele-gro, which would have regrown the bones as they were supposed to be, completely undamaged and healthy, but only in his right arm. Despite this, the Healer said that during the four years that Harry has had these new bones, they have suffered slight damage too. A stark indicator of the poor treatment and nutrition he has been receiving from those Muggles.”

Rabastan found it hard to breathe as he sat forward and tried to control his rage.

“He’s so deficient in calcium and vitamin D that the Healer was surprised that Harry was walking around. These severe deficiencies have resulted in an overall more serious condition, Harry has hypocalcaemia. Out of the possible symptoms, Harry has several, including brittle bones, bad eye sight and suspect hallucinations. We were told that if Harry had left this condition untreated, it would have eventually led to his premature death.”

“But the Healers have done their jobs?” Xerxes demanded angrily.

“Harry is now on several very strong dosage potions, including one to give him the calcium he desperately needs, one to strengthen his bones and one to tackle the malnutrition. I’ve told him that he has to drink a glass of milk with every meal to help combat the disease. Draco will let me know if Harry is doing as instructed when he goes back to Hogwarts in several days’ time.”

“Did he have all of his vaccines?” Narcissa asked before the furious silence could thicken to violence.

Lucius nodded curtly. “He didn’t make a sound. Not even with the Dragon Pox vaccine. His pain threshold is incredibly high.”

Rabastan ground his teeth together and he had to force himself not to leap out of his chair and go to throttle the Muggles who had abused Harry, his beautiful, wonderful, kind Fiancé. The one, amazing boy who had looked at him and had seen a person and not a ruined cripple. The boy who cared for him and took care of him when those who hadn’t suffered through what Harry had couldn’t even give him a second thought or a second glance. It helped his tenuous control and his anger to think of how kind Harry was. Plus he didn’t know where those filth lived, not yet.

“Did he say where those beasts live?” Rodolphus asked calmly, as if reading his mind. Too calmly, Rabastan realised.

Rabastan knew his older brother very well, he knew what that calmness meant, what vicious danger it hid underneath the surface. It was with the same calmness that they had gone, with Rodolphus’ hateful Wife Bellatrix, to torture information from the Longbottoms. One of only a handful of times that the three of them had worked together in relative peace, all for their Lord. They had only ever worked together when it was on their Lord’s orders, every other interaction was riddled with curses and spiteful comments and barbs, particularly now that he and Rodolphus were ruined by Azkaban. Bellatrix revelled in reminding them how weak they’d become, how useless.

But they were preparing for their future, for their long term recovery, and Bellatrix wasn’t. The insane woman was just carrying on as normal, or as normal as the unhinged woman ever got these days. He and Rodolphus were going to get better, stronger and Bellatrix was not going to recover if she didn’t work at it. She could try all she liked to hide the damage and the pain under her insane mask, but sooner or later, it was going to catch up with her and then she would be the useless one. Rabastan comforted himself with that knowledge. He could be patient, he could wait for his revenge when he and Rodolphus were perfectly strong and healthy again and she was still haggard and gaunt and suffering.

“No, I suspect that he never will.” Lucius sighed. “He’s an intelligent boy, but overly compassionate. He knows what we’ll do to the Muggles if he ever reveals to us where they are and for the moment at least, he feels like he still owes some loyalty to them, despite everything that they’ve done to him.”

“We need to change his mind and get the location of those Muggles from him.” Xerxes growled. “No one treats a member of the Lestrange family, my family, in such a deplorable manner.”

Lucius inclined his head and sighed dispassionately. “I fear that Harry will never tell us, in which case, we need to find them from the small hints and clues that he accidentally lets slip. Those animals need to be taught a lesson.”

“They need to be put down.” Rabastan contradicted harshly.

“I fully agree.” Xerxes said angrily. “A mere lesson isn’t enough, Lucius. They need to pay for what they’ve done to that precious boy. He’s a wizard, not Muggle filth like them and they should have been honoured that he was even living with them, let alone related to such a prominent Lord. Rabastan, you listen closely to what he says, he’ll be more relaxed and less guarded with you. The minute he lets slip of their location, come to us so we can play with and then punish those Muggles in exactly the manner that they deserve.”

Rabastan nodded and he sighed heavily. Just the thought of Harry being hurt or put in any danger made his anger surge. If he ever found out where those Muggle beasts were hiding, he wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter them like the filthy pigs that they were. He just needed to wait and bide his time, Harry would let something slip eventually and then the hunt for the Muggles would start and he could take vengeance upon them for all the hurt and horror that they had put Harry through. No one hurt a member of his family. No one got away with hurting his future Husband. He didn’t care how long it took him, he could be patient when he needed to and for Harry, he could be more patient than most, but he would find out where those beasts lived and he would play with and then kill them for the pain that they’d caused Harry, even if it took him years.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

Harry was groggy and lethargic when he finally woke up. He had not gotten up after a small nap to get some of his homework done as he’d planned, in fact, he hadn’t stirred at all. The burning through his body from the Dragon Pox vaccine had tempered down a little to a more manageable tingling feeling at the injection site, more like pins and needles, it was annoying, but not painful.

He was sweating rather a lot and he was achy too. His body felt completely leaden and stiff. He tried to sit himself up, but he couldn’t and it was a very uncomfortable feeling as his head spun with just the merest effort of trying to sit up.

“Pimsey.” He called out. His voice was a weak, raspy croak and he forced a hand up to his throat, which felt dry and sandpapery.

A house elf appeared immediately and curtseyed automatically before she looked at him and gasped.

“Young Master, yous not looking well.” She cried out in alarm, coming to lay a hand over his burning forehead, knowing that Harry was kinder than anyone she’d ever met and that he would not tell her to punish herself for touching him. “Yous burning up!”

“Get my parents, Pimsey, please.” He almost begged. His head had started pounding with his heartbeat and it was starting to affect his vision, he was having problems breathing and staying awake was taking a lot of energy and effort. He was panicking he realised and he tried to calm himself as he waited, unable to move and feeling like his chest was being constricted.

Pimsey nodded and then she was gone and Harry was left to his misery, unable to move much, his body felt like it was made from stone and every movement was a slow agony as he carefully rolled onto his side, even that small movement took a brutal amount of effort and he panted harshly as if he’d been running uphill.

A hand touched his forehead what seemed like hours later and he peeled open his eyes with an excruciating amount of effort to look up at Narcissa with a pathetic, kicked expression, pleading silently with her to help him.

“He’s fevered, Lucius. Call that Healer and get him here at once!”

“Calm yourself, dear. The Healer said that this was a probable side effect of having so many injections in one go. The potion given to Harry would have taken the edge off, but a fever was likely. He’ll be ill for a day or two, which is why we were keeping him home in the first place, but the other potions he’s on will make him very groggy and sluggish for a while. That is why I’ve decided to keep him home for longer.”

“Will a fever reducer work? Can we give him one?” Narcissa demanded as she sat on the side of his bed and pushed his damp hair from his face.

“Yes, I believe that that would be for the best.”

“Pimsey!”

“Yes Mistr…”

“Get an adolescent strength fever reducer for Harry. Quickly now.” Narcissa ordered, cutting Pimsey off mid-sentence.

Harry moaned pathetically and his head lolled backwards without his consent. Lucius’ hand caught his head and tipped it forwards again. His hand came away wet.

“He’s soaked through. He needs a bath.”

Narcissa put a hand gently under the duvet and touched Harry’s chest. Her hand came away damp.

“His pyjamas are absolutely soaked. Lucius, do something!”

“There’s not much to do, dear. He’s not well.”

“Where is that blasted elf with that…?”

“Here, Mistress.” Pimsey answered holding out the small vial of ice blue potion and a glass of water.

Narcissa snatched them both and shooed the elf away as soon as she’d come, handing the water to her Husband as she uncorked the vial and tried to coax her son into drinking it. Harry just made a soft noise and his head lolled back again.

Narcissa didn’t give up, she was determined to get the potion into her son as she slipped an arm under Harry’s neck and lifted his head. Harry opened his mouth, he really wanted the potion that he knew would make him feel better, but his mind was very slow and he wasn’t in full control of himself, as he found out when the potion was tipped into his mouth and he needed help to swallow it.

“You need to call that Healer and ask him what we need to do.” Narcissa told her Husband sternly, her tone brooking no room for arguing. “This isn’t normal, not even for a high fever.”

“I’ll do so now and I’ll send up Rabastan. He needs to…”

“No. Don’t want him to see me like this.” Harry moaned pathetically.

“He is your Fiancé.” Lucius said firmly. “He is to be your Husband and as you have been looking after him, so he must reciprocate. I want to see how he copes looking after you.”

“‘M not a test.” Harry croaked out.

“Everything you two do together is a test to make sure that your future marriage will survive for the rest of your lives and not just a few honeymoon years.” Narcissa told him. “If he can’t or won’t look after you when you’re ill then he doesn’t deserve you.”

Harry shut up then and he relaxed back in his bed. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have Rabastan looking after him. He could spend more time with him this way. Time he hadn’t thought that he’d be able to have as he was only supposed to be staying here overnight.

Harry hadn’t realised that he’d dozed off again until a shaky hand brushed roughly through his damp hair. His eyes flickered open and he gave the best smile that he could muster to Rabastan, who was leaning over him and looking at him with obvious, blatant concern.

“How are you feeling?” Rabastan asked softly, considerate of Harry’s pounding head.

He was sat on the side of Harry’s bed, leaning over him and his face was lined with worry.

“Hot.” Harry croaked.

“Oh.” Rabastan almost dived for the bedside table and a glass of cool water as he heard how rough Harry’s voice was.

He helped Harry sit up and helped him to drink careful, measured sips of water.

“You’re still fevered.” Rabastan informed him gently. “But you’re not as bad as you were last night.”

“Last night?” Harry questioned with a frown.

Rabastan nodded curtly. “You dragged Lucius and Narcissa out of bed at four in the morning then you fell asleep and you haven’t really woken up since, it’s early evening now. I’ve been with you since Lucius told me to take care of you. You would wake up for a few seconds every other hour for some water, but other than that, you’ve been sleeping.”

“Have you been with me this whole time? You could have gone to bed. I know you need your own sleep.”

Rabastan smiled at him and bent to kiss Harry’s forehead.

“You are more important.”

“Nothing is more important than your health.”

“There is. At least to me. Your health.” Rabastan told him seriously.

“It’s just a fever. Right?” Harry asked, swiping his own forehead with his arm. Even he could feel how hot he was, his arm came away damp with sweat.

“A very bad fever, but Narcissa got a fever reducer into you quick enough for it not to have spiked too high, but you are still very ill.”

“I feel ill.” Harry sighed. “I feel gritty and dirty too, though.”

“Let’s get you in the bath then.”

“Is that allowed?” Harry frowned, his face pinched with fever and exhaustion.

“Do you care? I want to take care of you, not take advantage of you. I love you. Now come on, let’s get you in the bath and clean you off, the spells that we’ve been using to keep you a little comfortable can only go so far.”

Harry went to sit up, but Rabastan slipped his arms under Harry’s shoulders and knees and picked him up gently, before he could actually manage to sit himself up.

“Are you okay to do this, Rabastan?” Harry asked concernedly, even as his head throbbed with pain at the slight movement.

“I’ve been getting much stronger in recent weeks.” Rabastan told him with a grin. “Dolphus and I have been lifting a lot of weights. You’re lighter than the maximum weight I’ve been lifting recently, but I can’t sustain it for too long.”

As if to prove his point home, Rabastan’s arms started shaking under Harry’s body and his Fiancé growled in frustration with himself, even as they made it to Harry’s en suite and Rabastan sat Harry on the bath mat, sinking to his knees to get Harry down safely.

Rabastan stayed on his knees even as he used his wand to turn on the bath taps, running a couple inches of water before stopping the tap and testing the water.

“How do you want to do this?” Rabastan asked, looking as nervous as Harry felt.

“I don’t know, I just need a bath and I’m too exhausted and too groggy to help myself and I really don’t want to drown.” Harry sighed, even as his already fever flushed cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “I don’t want you, or anyone else, to see me either.”

Rabastan chuckled. “I really want to see you. We’re engaged and I hope that we will be married next year. I would love to see my Husband-to-be and when we are married, I will be seeing you a lot. I hate sex with no lighting. I want to be able to see every inch and curve of you.”

Harry blushed so hard his pounding head felt like it was going to split. Rabastan chuckled again.

“That is a long way off. Over a year away, so for today, I just want to look after your health first.” Rabastan assured him.

Harry bolstered his Gryffindor courage and he nodded. Lucius had seen him near naked yesterday, as had a team of Healers, if he could sit through all of that in just his boxers, he could be naked for the man who would become his Husband in a little over a year.

Rabastan smiled at him and bent forward to push his hands under Harry’s shirt. He carefully took off the sweat sodden, grimy feeling pyjama shirt. To his credit, he didn’t linger too much or stare too much, which would have made Harry uncomfortable, but he did look and he looked a lot.
When he removed Harry’s pyjama bottoms, Harry saw the physical effect that he was having on Rabastan, but instead of terrifying him, he took courage from it. It gave him a boldness, the knowledge that he was affecting Rabastan was enough to make him relax and he helped himself as much as he could by helping Rabastan who supported him into the bath and the scant couple inches of warm water.
Harry didn’t make a murmur of complaint as Rabastan grabbed a flannel and washed his sticky body, getting rid of the gel like sweat that had dried on his body, particularly on his back and his neck.
He lay back in the water when Rabastan directed him too. The water wasn’t deep enough to cover his face even when he lay fully back, so there was no risk of him drowning and he didn’t need to waste any energy holding himself halfway up out of the water and Rabastan was able to wash his hair with gentle tugs and hair tingling massages that made him relax and groan happily.
Rabastan smiled down at him, still massaging Harry’s scalp and he just seemed so happy to be looking after him that Harry just relaxed and let Rabastan carry on until he was clean and feeling a little better.

“I forgot to pick you up a change of clothes.” Rabastan said as he sat Harry in his lap, wrapped securely in a towel.

“So summon them.” Harry replied with a tired grin, placing his face into Rabastan’s neck and resting.

“Hmm…” Rabastan hummed before standing up, Harry in his arms again.

He took him back into his bedroom and only just managed to place Harry on the bed before his shaking arms gave out.

“That was too close.” Rabastan growled in frustration at himself.

“You’re getting so much stronger.” Harry praised to remove the negativity from Rabastan’s accomplishments. “A few months ago…fuck a few weeks ago, you couldn’t even lift me off of the floor. Now you can carry me. I call that progress, my love. Don’t push yourself too hard, too fast or you’ll hurt yourself and I don’t want that.”

“Dolphus is right, you are soft. You’re making me soft.” Rabastan groaned before laying his body over Harry’s and kissing him. “Yet I couldn’t give a fuck.”

“I’m not making you anything that you never had the potential to be in the first place, Rabastan.” Harry said seriously. “I am not trying to change you in the least. Everything you’re becoming, you’re doing it on your own.”

“I know. That somehow makes it worse. I don’t deserve you. I’m vile and evil and cruel and you’re the exact polar opposite.”

“Well, there is a Muggle saying. Opposites attract.” Harry smiled happily up at Rabastan. “Perhaps that’s why we mesh so well. We’re opposites, but we can each see a little of ourselves in the other, so we can understand and get closer.”

Rabastan sighed. “Perhaps. I just know that I don’t want to let you go. I love you and I want you.”

Rabastan picked up Harry’s left hand and kissed his engagement ring and Harry grinned wider. He had done the same over the last few weeks in Hogwarts. He’d taken to kissing his ring whenever he had felt like kissing Rabastan. It wasn’t the same as actually kissing his Fiancé, nothing was, but it had helped a little.

Harry pulled Rabastan’s head to his and kissed him uninhibited. With no one to stop them, things quickly escalated and climbed out of control to the point where Rabastan had opened up the towel, leaving Harry bare, and he was kissing over his chest and stomach.

“I love you.” Rabastan told him, panting, his breath fluttering over Harry’s skin and pulling one nipple taut.

“I love you.” Harry gasped. “Please.”

They kissed and Harry slipped his own hands under Rabastan’s shirt, impatiently rolling the fabric up, ignoring the buttons.

Rabastan tore his own shirt off and allowed Harry to touch as he pleased. Neither of them thought about being caught or the consequences of breaking tradition. They just needed to be close to one another, they needed to touch and kiss, so that was exactly what they did. At least until a sudden wave of pain through his skull had Harry gasping and going soft immediately as his hands let go of Rabastan and pressed against his splitting skull, holding it together for surely this pain was splintering it in half.

“Harry?”

“My head.” He moaned in pain.

“Merlin, how the fuck could I forget that you’re not well?” Rabastan hissed, more to himself than to Harry, as he pressed a hand to Harry’s forehead. “I thought you’d flushed and gone hot with arousal, but your fever is back.”

“Was aroused.” Harry told him through the pain in his head.

“That is entirely not the point.” Rabastan told him as he waved his wand over his body and dried him off completely.

Rabastan got up and pulled out Harry’s clean pyjamas and got him dressed before banishing the damp towel and tucking Harry back into his bed.

Harry couldn’t believe that their first moment of this sort had been interrupted by a headache and a fever, he was so frustrated with himself, but mostly, he was just very disappointed.

“Will you still stay with me?” He asked quietly.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to leave your side.”

“What about your diet and exercise regime? You can’t make yourself ill too.”

“I’m still doing everything I need to. I’m just doing them here, in your room, while you sleep. You’re different when you sleep.”

“Different how?” Harry asked, trying to shove away the wave of exhaustion that tried to drag him into sleepy oblivion.

“Just different. More peaceful, more beautiful. You’ve always been beautiful to me, from the very first moment of our first meeting.”

“It was the first thing you ever said to me.” Harry smiled, remembering with a fond grin.

“I tried to break your hand.”

“Saying it that way implies intent, Rabastan. You’re implying that you knowingly tried to break my hand and you didn’t. I don’t hold that against you, I never have, not even from that first meeting. I was prepared back then and I still am now, perhaps even more so now, to help you through the awful things that happened to you in that hellish place. The damage that you have lingering from Azkaban and the Dementors will not go away overnight, you have been working so hard to regain your health and strength, how could I ever hold a few accidents against you?”

“You’re so forgiving. I love you.”

Harry snorted. “Just lie down and hold me while I’m sick. My head feels like it’s tearing itself in two.”

Rabastan did as instructed and slipped an arm under Harry’s neck and pulled him in close, his free hand rubbing against the side of Harry’s head and he groaned with the pleasure of the soothing touch.

“That feels better.” Harry moaned happily.

“Better?”

“Much, much better.”

“Try and get some more sleep. You need to rest.”

Harry nodded, already giving into his enervating fever and his eyes fluttered as he tried to resist sleep for a moment before it took him over. He was out like a light within minutes, leaving Rabastan to hold him close and trace his face with his free hand and his eyes as the room fell silent around him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

Harry’s fever had broken a few days later, but he was still very ill from the combination of potions that he was taking daily. He was sluggish, tired, lethargic and lackadaisical. He stayed where he was put without moving a muscle as his body felt mouldable, like jelly. His awful, skull splitting headaches came and went depending on when he’d last taken his bone strengthening potions and he was still suffering from awful night sweats that left him sticky and feeling grubby. They were an unfortunate side effect of the strong nutrient potion he was taking twice daily.

The best thing about his illness was actually not about him at all. It was that it had given Rabastan a purpose. Instead of moping around as Rodolphus insisted he did while Harry was at school, he was invigorated by Harry’s illness and his need for someone to look after him. He had become an adorable little bedside nurse and even at night, Rabastan never left him alone and he was always on hand to help him, even if he woke up at four in the morning needing a few sips of water, Rabastan was there for him.
Narcissa strongly approved if her satisfied smiles were any indication as she watched closely as Rabastan supported Harry slightly upright to drink a few more mouthfuls of fresh water.

“Is that better?” He asked. “Do you need more?”

“‘M fine.” Harry mumbled, resting his aching head back down into Rabastan’s lap and humming happily as those fingers went immediately back to massaging his scalp and playing with his hair. “Feels nice.”

Rodolphus strode through the door and all the attention was on him immediately. He had such dominating presence that he commanded attention just by entering a room. He said nothing, his muscles were lax and his face happily blank, so nothing had happened, nothing had upset him, he was just wandering around, likely looking for Rabastan to talk to as he came over to them.

He touched his brother’s shoulder before dropping his hand to Harry’s head and ruffling his hair gently.

“How are you?” He asked.

“‘M fine.” Harry repeated softly.

Rodolphus stared hard at him for a moment before turning to Rabastan. “How is he?”

“More of the same.” Rabastan answered. “He’s taking more water than he has been in the last few days and he’s staying awake for longer. I believe he’s on the mend, now. A few more days and he’ll be just fine and back to himself.”

“Good. Seeing him so quiet and still is very unnerving and knowing that he’s so sick is doing strange things to my mentality.”

Harry grinned as he read between the lines of that statement, even in his jellied state, and found that Rodolphus was worried for him and that he cared for him. As Rabastan’s extremely overprotective big brother, that Rodolphus had come to actually like and care for him was a huge achievement.

“Go to sleep.” Rodolphus ordered firmly when he noticed Harry’s grin. “Go on, you need to rest.”

Rodolphus placed his hand over Harry’s eyes and in the soothing darkness behind it, Harry’s headache stopped spiking. With that cool, dry palm against his forehead, he felt soothed and comforted. It took an embarrassingly short amount of time for him to fall asleep behind that hand and after only a few minutes, Rodolphus carefully removed his hand and allowed his brother to stroke and touch the sleeping face of his Fiancé.

“Our Lord has been in touch.”

“What are his orders?” Rabastan replied immediately, giving all of his attention to his brother, but keeping his hand on Harry’s head, stroking his hair gently.

“He wanted an update on Harry and how far he’s come. He’s impressed with Harry’s natural progress and at the widening rift between him and Dumbledore.”

“I am too.” Rabastan smiled. “He’s too bright to be cooped up in Dumbledore’s cage of expectations. He has so much potential.”

Rodolphus nodded. “I see it too. How he took out Rowle…a blasting curse, not meant for use on the living I might add, that was so powerful that it severed his entire leg! I tried not to show it, but Merlin was I impressed that this little fluff head could be so vicious and so very powerful too.”

“Don’t call him names, Dolphus.” Rabastan growled immediately.

Rodolphus scoffed and sat himself down. “He is a soft little fluff ball. He’s skinny as a rake, up to my waist and he is polite to the elves. You need to sort that out.”

“No, Rodolphus.” Rabastan said firmly. “He isn’t trying to change me and I won’t try and change him.”

“You already are changing him in small, almost unnoticeable ways and he is doing the same to you. You’re more confident, you’re happier and you take more pride in yourself than what you used to. You’ve grown since he’s come into your life. When you first met him you were still clinging to my hand and needing me to go to the bathroom with you. Look at you now just half a year later. He has changed you, but for the better and I’m sure that you’re changing him too, even if neither of you notice nor realise it.”

Rabastan considered that thoughtfully. “We aren’t doing it on purpose.” He finally answered.

“Perhaps not, but it is happening all the same. Neither of you can see it because it is happening so slowly and so naturally. It’s only natural to want to be better for your Fiancé, to us outsiders looking in, we can see the changes happening. I have known you your entire life, Rabastan, there is nothing that you can hide from me, no change to you that I can’t pick up on.”

“We’ve spent most of our lives together.” Rabastan said as he stroked Harry’s hair.

“Of course. It was unavoidable after we spent fifteen years in prison together. Fifteen years in neighbouring cells is a long time.”

“Sometimes I wonder if Harry is right about setting up a way to remove the Dementors.”

Rodolphus scoffed harshly. “You see, this is what I mean, Rabastan. The only reason we were even afraid of Azkaban was because of the Dementors. If they weren’t there then we likely would have been able to get out of that prison ourselves within a week and so will all the other pieces of scum who actually deserve to be there.”

“We didn’t care about Azkaban at the time.”

“Of course not. It was for our Lord. I would have walked into Azkaban and faced the Dementors head on, despite my fear, if it would have led us to him.”

Rabastan nodded his agreement. “Of course. But knowing the damage they have done to us both, how Harry, a perfectly innocent bystander, reacts to them. He’s right you know. They are too dangerous to control and more and more of them slip away without anyone knowing about it. I looked into Harry’s research myself and he’s right, Dolphus!”

“I don’t care if he’s right about some rogue Dementors going Merlin knows where, they need to stay in their place in that fucking prison. What if his little ploy does work and he gets rid of them, what then, Rabastan? What happens to the prisoners who were being locked in by their presence? What about the lowlifes out on the street who only stop short of breaking the law because of the threat of the Dementors? Don’t let his pretty face warp your intelligent mind, you’re better than this.”

“He’s not just a pretty face!” Rabastan growled.

“Perhaps not, but he’s a legitimised Halfblood who was raised by filthy Muggles! He doesn’t understand and he’s never going to if we don’t head him off now instead of indulging his dangerous ideas and fantasies. He doesn’t know what he’s doing or what he’s messing with, he’s a boy!”

“Have more respect for him!” Rabastan snarled, almost shaking with the effort it took to keep from shouting and waking Harry back up.

“I’ll give him respect when he grows up and earns it.” Rodolphus said before standing up and leaving the room.

Rabastan breathed out harshly and went back to touching and stroking Harry’s face, thankful that he had slept peacefully through that exchange and was none the wiser to it. He held Harry’s hand, loosely curling his fingers under Harry’s so that even if he did tense his hand and clench it into a fist, he couldn’t crush Harry’s hand again. He’d never do that again, he swore it.

He needed to try and come to a compromise between his brother and his Fiancé. He adored his older brother and he’d always looked up to and respected him, he’d emulated and admired Rodolphus all of his life, but Harry was his own Fiancé, he would one day be his Husband and the Mother to his children. He needed to prove that he could support Harry in his beliefs and thoughts, to do any less would diminish their marriage.
Rabastan sighed and he hoped that Rodolphus would become more open to Harry’s ideas and worries. If he would just listen and try to reason things out with Harry, that would be better than outright claiming him as stupid and deluded.
Rabastan himself didn’t think that removing the Dementors was a good idea, he could see Rodolphus’ point about the Dementors being a deterrent and keeping the lowlifes in line, but he could also see Harry’s point of view about them leaving the prison of their own accord and putting innocent people in danger, even if they were just Muggles. No one deserved to be exposed to the Dementors, especially if they’d done nothing wrong. It helped Harry’s argument that he himself had suffered so greatly at the hands of the Dementors and had a healthy fear of them. That the vile creatures affected an innocent boy like Harry so badly also helped Rabastan hate them more, but he couldn’t use that to justify removing the Dementors from the prison. It just wasn’t feasible.

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Harry was feeling better the next afternoon. He’d managed to eat something a little more substantial than a thin broth and he could move himself without feeling like he was going to vomit or split in half. Walking still caused him to break out in a sweat and had his knobbly knees knocking together however.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard.” Narcissa said worriedly, pandering to Harry’s illness and trying to get him back into bed. She wanted to keep him home for at least another week, but both Harry and Lucius were insisting that it wasn’t needed and that he could go back to school tomorrow.

Harry was inclined to agree with her that he was pushing too hard though, especially when his left leg refused to hold his weight and folded on itself and he slipped to the floor in a heap. He groaned pathetically as he tried to raise himself from the floor and his entire body started shaking like a leaf.

“Need some help?” Rodolphus smirked as he walked down the hallway from the bathroom.

Harry moaned pathetically and he breathed out a huff of air. He nodded his head and lifted his arms. “Yes.” He said simply.

“Say please.”

“Don’t milk it or my stubbornness will have me sitting on this floor all day.” Harry snapped.

Rodolphus laughed and he bent down and hefted Harry up, not content to just get him to his feet, he had to go the extra mile and carry him too.

“Dolphus, I was practising walking!” Harry complained as Narcissa followed behind with a satisfied smile on her mouth.

“You’ve had enough practice for one day.” Rodolphus said simply and just as they got into the drawing room, his arms started to shake.

Rodolphus controlled the movement with a single-minded determination so that the weakness didn’t show outwardly, but Harry could still feel it. Rodolphus wasn’t anywhere near as recovered as he was trying to make out.

“Here, Basti. Keep him with you before he passes out somewhere in the manor. He’s not ready to go walking about out on his own.” Rodolphus said as he placed Harry’s back into Rabastan’s lap and stretched his legs out over the settee.

Harry groaned in embarrassment and rolled over, hiding his face in Rabastan’s thigh. Rabastan chuckled and immediately started petting his hair, tugging gently on it and scratching his scalp with his nails. It felt wonderful.

“I warned you not to push yourself too hard.” Narcissa told him.

“I know, I know.” Harry said. “I just don’t like it. I feel so much better today, but I can’t even walk from here to the bathroom.”

“You’re still ill.” Rabastan fretted over him, touching and caressing his shoulders. He stayed well away from Harry’s neck. He wasn’t that confident in himself yet.

“You still have weak and brittle bones. Don’t push it. Wait for the potions to work first.” Rodolphus coached him.

“I’ve played Quidditch for six years with these bones.” Harry grumbled. “The only bone I ever broke was my right arm and that was because of that rogue bludger. I fell over a hundred feet in my third year too because of the Dementors and nothing broke then either.”

“What?!” Rabastan exploded. “You never told me that. How did they get onto the grounds of Hogwarts?!”

“There were Dementors posted around the school that year because of Sirius Black’s breakout. Lucius tried his hardest to get them removed, but he wasn’t a school governor at the time.” Narcissa explained.

“They were on the Hogwarts Express too, the first time I ever saw one. I never knew about them before that and I passed out then too. They were posted all around the school, at every entrance, but they were never supposed to come onto the grounds.” Harry said, rolling back over onto his back so that he could see Rabastan’s face. “But the high emotions of the Quidditch game drew them in regardless, it was explained to me that it would have been something of a feast to them with all the high emotions of the game, and they swarmed the Quidditch pitch. I told you that I have a really bad reaction to them when they’re close and…and I blacked out because of their presence. It just so happens that I was over a hundred feet in the air chasing the snitch when they glided onto the pitch. Naturally, as soon as I blacked out, I fell. I was almost kissed at the end of that year too.”

Rabastan looked appalled.

Harry nodded when he saw his Fiancé’s expression. “Yeah, that’s when Fudge finally realised that putting the Dementors anywhere near a school filled with a thousand children was a really bad idea and he shipped them back off to Azkaban. If I hadn’t known how to cast a Patronus by the end of my third year, then there’s no way that I’d be here right now…or at least, not with a mind of my own.”

“No wonder you’re so scared of them.” Rabastan said gently.

“The Dementors are my boggart form too.” Harry admitted.

“The one thing you fear is fear.” Rodolphus said, rather impressed.

Harry nodded his head. “It hasn’t been so bad now that I can cast a Corporeal Patronus, but not everyone can. Not everyone can protect themselves and just the mist stage of a Patronus charm is difficult to achieve and it’s incredibly draining and taxing too. It doesn’t last and the mist stage can only hold off a Dementor, only the Corporeal Patronus can repel it.”

“Can you show me your Patronus?” Rabastan asked curiously.

“He is still ill and too weak!” Narcissa cried out in denial.

“I’m not too ill for magic.” Harry insisted. “It’s been humming under my skin for a few days now, begging to be used. It’ll relieve the pressure to use it a little.”

Harry slipped his wand out of his sleeve and he looked up at Rabastan, he smiled happily, almost on the point of grinning uncontrollably. He thought of them being together, of their wedding day, their first child. He thought back to their engagement night, when Rabastan had slid his adored ring onto his finger and asked him to marry him, to be his Husband. He kept eye contact with Rabastan and then whispered the incantation, watching as the majestic silver-white stag burst from his wand and charged around the room, filling his chest, and those around him, with hope and happiness.

It ran around for a couple of seconds, before realising that there was no danger, no enemies around and it came back to him at a walk, lowering its head for him to touch. Rabastan’s hand reached up and touched the warm, silver stag too and their hands touched and Harry’s happiness spiked, causing the Patronus to glow even more brightly for a moment before it shimmered out of existence when Rabastan’s lips touched his and Harry’s concentration immediately switched from maintaining his Patronus to being completely about Rabastan.

“I’ve never seen a Corporeal Patronus with my own eyes.” A familiar voice from the doorway said, very impressed.

Harry smiled at Xerxes Lestrange, he and Lucius still in their work robes, who had just walked through the door.

“Why a stag?” Lucius asked curiously.

Harry shook his head. “You don’t pick your Patronus, just like an Animagus form, it has to mean something to you.”

“What does a stag mean to you?” Rabastan asked even more curiously.

Harry gave a shy smile. “It was my Dad’s Animagus form, his Patronus too. My Mum’s Patronus was a doe.”

“Your Father wasn’t on the Animagus register.” Lucius said with narrowed eyes.

“Neither was Sirius or Peter Pettigrew, but all three of them were unregistered Animagi.”

“You’re not entertaining thoughts of joining this…illegality, are you?” Lucius asked shrewdly.

Harry shook his head. “No. I’ve never once thought of becoming an animal. My life is too complicated as a human, without adding an animal form on top of it. Knowing my luck I’d mess it up and get stuck with fur and a tail.” He shivered remembering Hermione with the Polyjuice potion backfire. “You wouldn’t love me then.” He added to Rabastan.

“I don’t know. It might be interesting to rub against fur and have a tail wrapped around me.” He teased.

Harry burst out laughing and he couldn’t stop, not even when tears fell from his eyes. A large hand brushed the tears away for him and Harry let out a couple of uncontrollable giggles.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” He said once he could breathe again.

“Of course.” Rabastan grinned.

“I love you.” Harry declared.

“If you two kiss once more I’m throwing my water over you.” Rodolphus told them as his hand moved to grip around his glass of water, proving his seriousness.

“You are such a killjoy, Rodolphus!” Harry groaned.

“All you’ve done all this week is kiss!”

“Maybe because that’s all we can do.” Harry muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear.

Rabastan laughed himself and touched his hair, running his thick fingers through it.

“Make sure that it’s all that you do, do.” Lucius reminded him, sitting down next to Narcissa and kissing her soundly before quietly striking up a conversation about his day at the Ministry.

Harry shared a secret look with Rabastan…only they knew what had gone on in his bathroom and his bedroom a few days ago, when he had been naked and wriggling on his bed as Rabastan had rained kisses down over his bare, damp body. Not to mention the time at the New Year’s ball where Harry had straddled Rabastan’s lap and snogged him very passionately. To their credit, hey had both been fully dressed on that occasion though, which hadn’t been the case a few days ago as Rabastan had been in the process of stripping when Harry’s headache had spiked and interrupted their little moment.

Of course in the light of day they both knew that they shouldn’t have done it, that it was against the strict traditions of the Purebloods for Rabastan to have even seen him naked, but for Merlin’s sake they had another year and a half to go before they were married, another year and a half to go before they were even allowed to so much as look at one another’s naked bodies. It was frustrating all to hell. Rabastan hadn’t had sex in sixteen years thanks to his imprisonment and Harry was a normal, hormonal teenaged boy and he had urges and desires to sate. It got so bad that sometimes that he wanted to rut against Rabastan’s leg like he’d seen Marge’s dog Ripper doing to Petunia’s leg. There was only so many times that he could touch himself before the need for something more took over.
He groaned and rolled back over onto his belly as he felt himself twitching. That’s all he needed, an erection in the middle of his family drawing room with his parents, his Fiancé and Xerxes and Rodolphus able to see him.

“Are you okay? Are you feeling sick?” Rabastan asked immediately.

“No.” Harry whispered back under his breath. “I’m thinking of naughty things about you and getting aroused. It’s your fault for saying that thing with the fur and tail.”

Rabastan looked a bit shocked for a moment, before he grinned, then smirked and Harry felt a hand touch his back heavily, before it eased off a little and started rubbing teasingly soft over his spine and he groaned again, stuffing his head into Rabastan’s thigh and praying that he could keep still and not give away the fact that he was trying his hardest not to rub himself on the seat of the settee.

“I’ll pay you back for this, I swear.” He threatened, trying to get Rabastan to stop.

Of course his Fiancé did no such thing. Instead he made himself look concerned and worried and he shifted his hand under Harry’s body and rubbed his ‘stomach’.

“There, does that feel better?” He asked in his most concerned voice. “If you’re going to be sick, tell me.”

“I’m going to rip your spine out and beat you to death with it.” Harry growled through clenched teeth. “I’m ill, you shouldn’t be doing this to me!”

“Oh? If you really feel that way then I’ll just leave you alone…”

“No!” Harry hissed as Rabastan inched his hand away.

Rabastan chuckled and his large hand slid back into place and he started rubbing again. Harry’s breathing came quick and shallow, hitching every now and then until he locked his throat, clenched his teeth and his whole body shuddered as Rabastan teased him over the edge.

“Harry? Are you okay, darling?” Narcissa asked suddenly, breaking through his afterglow.

“I’m fine.” Harry practically squeaked as the tail of his orgasm still clung to him.

“You don’t sound fine.” Lucius added.

Rabastan removed his hand from Harry’s boxers and Harry curled up into a ball.

“Are you sure you’re not feeling sick?” His Fiancé asked in false concern.

He shook his head vigorously.

“Is it time for his Potion?” Xerxes asked.

“No, he’s got another half an hour to go.” Narcissa replied worriedly.

“Basti, is his fever spiking?” Xerxes demanded.

Rabastan touched Harry’s sweaty, flushed face and he made a huge show of biting his lip.

“I think it is. He feels overly warm.”

“I will get you back for this.” Harry hissed threateningly.

“Try and get some sleep, Harry.” He said soothingly.

“Bathroom, now.” He demanded loudly and Rabastan rolled him over and picked him up. He took long strides out of the family room and down the corridor to get to the bathroom just down the hallway.

He shut the door and got Harry down and then he had the gall to laugh as if this were the most hilarious thing in the world.

“This is not funny!” Harry said as he went to the sink and wetted a flannel to clean himself off with.

“It’s fucking sexy.” Rabastan said with a smirk.

“It’s embarrassing!”

“Is that the first time you’ve had a hand job?”

“Rabastan, I took that Veritaserum test of Rodolphus’, what did you think untouched and pure meant? Of course that was my first!”

“But…you’ve touched yourself, right?”

Harry nodded. “It’s not the same though. It’s overly more…intense, when it’s someone else doing it, when I can’t control the speed, the pressure or anything myself.”

“I wish I could have seen your face.” Rabastan lamented. “You’d look so stunning at the moment of release.”

Harry huffed and turned his back, cleaning himself up. Rabastan washed his hands and then dried them before wrapping them around Harry’s waist.

“You get it all?” He asked with that damnable smirk.

“Yes.” Harry grunted.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, a bit of real concern showing through.

“Better.” Harry actually smiled then, answering honestly.

“See, you weren’t ill at all, just sexually frustrated.”

Harry laughed and turned in Rabastan’s arms. “No more of that, okay? Do you know how difficult it was not to rut against the chair or moan out loud? I couldn’t take the shame or the embarrassment of it.”

“No more.” Rabastan agreed. “It worked me up too.” He admitted. “Thankfully your head was in the way or I’d be sent back home in disgrace.”

“Maybe it is a good thing I’m at Hogwarts so much. I’m sure that if I stayed here with you and we still had to get married next year, then we’d definitely break tradition.”

“Without a doubt.” Rabastan agreed easily before he pecked Harry’s lips. “Come on, let’s get back to the others before they guess, correctly, that I’m ravishing you in the bathroom of all places.”

Harry was able to wobble his way back to the drawing room where he was asked if he was okay and he just nodded, not trusting his shaky voice just yet. Rabastan sat down and Harry curled up, his head and shoulders back in his Fiancé’s lap and he yawned. He was actually really tired now.

“Have a nap, Harry, I’ll wake you in twenty minutes for your next potion.” Rabastan told him quietly.

Harry groaned. “It’s the vile one that gives me a skull splitting headache next.”

“I know. I’ll be sure to massage your head for you.”

Harry blushed pink and he groaned again. “You’re fucking evil.”

“You knew that before you met me, love.” Rabastan countered with a grin.

Harry chuckled and then he yawned. With any luck he’d be feeling a bit better by tomorrow and he’d be able to keep his legs under him better so that he’d be able to go back to Hogwarts, and get himself out of the reach of such irresistible temptation.

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A/N: I can’t believe my break went so quickly. I need another month or two off, but if I did, then I’d probably never come back. These last stress free months have been utterly blissful, but my break is over now and I am back to updating at last. It might be nice to get some new chapters up and out.

I got some very epic reviews from the last chapter, I just hope that this one carries on the same high standard that this fic has set. We’ll be back in the Wizengamot now in the next chapter I believe as Harry goes back to Hogwarts and his mountain of homework that awaits him.

StarLight Massacre. X
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The Guile and Devotion of a Black Heir