Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

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
- 17
- 18
- 19
13th September 1991: Evening

Harry paused in his writing in order to stretch his arms and back until several satisfying cracks sounding from various joints. He then allowed everything to slump as he looked down at his just-finished Divination essay on reading tea leaves which was resting on his lap. Boring and pointless but it was at least easy. With a small sigh, Harry leaned forward and reached for his school bag which was resting by his seat in order to get his Potions book and another sheet of parchment.

It was evening and, for some unknown reason, Harry had been banished from his dorm room by Fred and George for the next few hours. He was a little miffed that neither of the boys would at least tell him what they were planning and why exactly he could not be there for it but he did have to admit that the alone time was very useful for getting his work done. He had learned quickly in First Year that there was no point in trying to do work while in the company of either of the twins. Fred was slightly better than George when it came to education, but not by much. It was more like whereas George would not even start his work, Fred would start but last all of five minutes before he got bored and decided to do something else, namely, distract Harry.

So, Harry continued on with his work, enjoying the peace and quiet and the warmth of the fire he was sitting in front of. There was a low hum of chatter throughout the room which was more comforting than distracting, reassuring him that he was not alone. However, that was abruptly broken when the portrait hole opened and Oliver Wood all but jumped in. Harry watched as the Fifth Year glanced around the common room before going over to a couple of students who were playing chess.

"Hey, have you seen Harry? I need him." Oliver asked the pair quickly, sounding a little breathless.

"Oliver?" Harry called over to him, giving a small wave when the older boy looked over to him.

"Ah, Harry, I need you." Oliver told him quickly, hurrying over him as soon as he caught sight of him.

"What for?"

"Well, it's more like Gryffindor needs you...In a Quidditch way."

"Oh Oliver, I don't know..."

"Please Harry! You should've seen try-outs this afternoon!"

"I did see them, I was there with Fred and George remember?"

"Then you know exactly what I talking about! Oh please, Harry! You'd be a brilliant Seeker! Remember your first year? That day that Charlie was knocked off his broom; just before that you caught that snitch as though it was a normal ball!"

"Yes, but that wasn't in a competition. I just like playing Quidditch for fun."

"You'll still be playing it for fun, you'll just have reason to win."

Harry merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"Please, I need you on the team; Gryffindor needs you on the team."

Harry stared at the Quidditch Captain neutrally for a second before rolling his eyes and releasing a huge sigh as his finger-tips snaked underneath his glasses to rub his eyes. "Fine, okay."

"Seriously? You really will?"

"Yes, I'll play Seeker for you." Harry assured with a small smile at the other boy's enthusiasm.

"Oh yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!" Oliver laughed happily as he pulled Harry out of his seat and actually picked him up, crushing him in a hug for a second before putting him back down. In doing so, he drew the attention of most of the common room. "I owe you one, Harry, I really do." The older boy grinned as he backed up towards the entrance. "I have to go tell Professor McGonagall. I'll let you know when practice will be."

He reached the portrait hole and disappeared through it leaving Harry to be the sole focus of the common room. The dark haired boy glanced around at all the people who were staring at him before giving another sigh and reaching down to snap the cover of his book over; he would get no more work done down here this evening. As he gathered his stuff, he decided to wander down to the dungeons to spend some time with his father, tell him about being on the Quidditch team now, and maybe get some help with his Potions essay.

All eyes were still on Harry even as he left the common room and he felt noticeably more relaxed the second he was outside and there was no one else around. He did not hesitate to head off in the direction of the dungeons but when he was halfway down the stairs, he found he had to pause as the staircase decided it wanted to change its position. It was while that was happening that he looked back over to the Fat Lady and saw Ron, Potter, and the frizzy haired girl from yesterday's breakfast charging through the portrait hole as if they had just narrowly escaped death. He thought nothing of it though, they were just three hyper-active First Years after all, and once his staircase had stopped moving, he continued on his way down.

Several minutes later, Harry found himself in front of the door into the Potions classroom, his hand raised so that he could knock on it lightly. After he had knocked, he lowered his hand and waited for his father to invite him in. However, after a couple of minutes had passed and there was still no sound from within, Harry decided to ignore previous advice to not go in the classroom without permission (to avoid possible accidents he imagined). He tried to push the door open but found that it would not budge; it was obviously locked. Sheer reluctance to admit that he had come here only to find a locked door led Harry to jiggle the door handle. Sighing when that predictably failed, he wandered backwards slowly before turning around, having decided to try his father's personal rooms.

It took Harry all of two minutes to find his way to the portrait of Salazar Slytherin which always made Harry want to shudder. He very lightly tapped on the frame of the painting, all the while suffering under the intimidating glare of the Hogwarts Founder. It was not surprising that his father did not answer his knock considering how quiet it was and so Harry decided that the man would not mind if he just let himself in. Even if he did, a slight telling off from his father was preferable to standing there with the man in the portrait staring at him darkly without blinking.

"Half-blood Prince." Harry murmured, making sure to keep his eyes off of the portrait. The picture swung away without comment for which Harry was infinitely grateful for. "Thank you." He said quickly as he dashed through the hole. Glanced over his shoulder, he watched the portrait close before turning to look into the room only to find it dark and empty.

Walking further into the room, the candles on the walls flared to life, effectively lighting the area to a comfortable degree. Harry took a moment to look around himself in contemplation before heading over to the bedroom door to check if maybe the man had already gone to bed. That possibility was quickly dismissed though when he peered into the bedroom and saw that although it was dark, there was no tell-tale lump in the bed which would indicate someone in it. So, having established that, he closed the door again and then leaned back against it as he thought.

It was quite possible that there was a staff meeting that evening or the Potions Master might have just had a meeting with Dumbledore on his own. Or he might have been down in the greenhouses checking on ingredients that he sometimes grew himself. He might even have been patrolling the corridors though that was doubtful as it was only just past curfew.

It mattered little where the man was at that moment; what did matter was that he would have to come back eventually. With that in mind, Harry decided that he could wait. He did not try and kid himself that he would do his homework while he waited and simply slumped on the sofa in front of the fire. Swinging his legs up onto the other two seats and stretching out lazily, he shuffled until the top of his head brushing up against the side of the arm rest.

Time began to slip away then and Harry lost track of how long he spent staring up at the ceiling above him, watching as the shadows flickered from dark to darker with the slight movements of the candle flames. Eventually, the waiting did pay off as the sound of the door to the room opening came, shortly followed by the sound of said door closing. Harry could not quite summon the effort to sit up fully so he instead chose to simply raise an arm so that his hand would be visible over the back of the sofa.

"What exactly are you doing in my room?" His father's deep voice came in reply to his hand.

"Well, I did come to spend some time with you but then you weren't here so I thought I'd stare at the ceiling instead." Harry answered playfully, allowing his arm to drop to his side again. When the only reply he got was a non-committal grunt he made the effort to sit up and peek at his father over the top of the sofa. "Bad day?"

"I have, admittedly, had better." Severus sighed tiredly as he moved around the sofa. He leaned down and pecked a kiss on his son's cheek. After, Harry shifted over enough to give his father room to sit down where his head had previously been. Once Severus was settled, Harry lay back down so that the back of his head was resting on his father's thigh. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" The man queried as he brought the tip of Harry's braid up and began to untie the neat bow which secured it.

"I needed to get out of the common room."

"Oh?"

"Oliver Wood talked me into playing Seeker for the Quidditch team; everyone found it fascinating."

"Congratulations are in order then." His father murmured quietly as he flicked his wand in the direction of the fire-place causing the charred logs to burst into life with a new strength. He then returned to his son's braid, starting to take the tie apart.

"Hmm."

"You don't sound too enthusiastic."

"You know me, Father, I'm not really one for competition."

"Yes, I must admit that it does seem an odd choice on your behalf."

Harry gave another sigh and let his head role to the side so he was staring into the now-lit fire. "He just seemed so desperate and he wanted me to say yes so badly..."

"So you did so, just to make him happy." Severus finished off for his son in a knowing voice. "You think entirely too much of other people, Haryon; I've told you that before."

"You say it like it's a bad thing."

"In many situations it could very well be."

They lapped into silence then, the only sound coming from the occasional crackle from the fire-place. As Severus finished pulling the braid loose, he switched to combing the length of it through with his fingers while Harry kept his gaze on the fire. The glow and dancing of the flames were rather captivating, almost hypnotic. Harry suddenly remembered the other day with Draco, the one where they had almost kissed, with that thought and he considered asking his father about it or at least making the situation known. He had decided at some point, he was unsure when exactly, that he was going to try and confide in others around him more often. His constant lying was neither healthy nor even particularly mature and it showed a mistrust in those he should trust the most. So, he was going to try and stop. When something happened which he thought someone ought to know, he would tell them and this thing with Draco seemed like a perfectly good place to start.

"Draco was acting strangely the other day." He murmured quietly, his eyes not straying from the fire.

"How so?"

"He was completely normal when I first met up with him but then he seemed to suddenly get very serious without warning. And then we had a bit of a thing with Potter shooting his mouth off and he got un-necessarily angry. I mean, considering the situation and what was actually said, he did over-react a little. Though he did seem to calm down drastically when I touched his arm and spoke to him."

"I see."

"Do you think there's something wrong maybe? Or was he just having a bad day and I'm worrying too much?" Harry asked quietly, turning his head so he could look back up at his father's face.

"He was most likely just having a bad day but I will make sure to speak with him if it will put your mind at ease." Severus assured his son as he gently patted the top of the teenager's head.

Harry smiled happily at that, glad that he had told his father and his mind was now at rest, on that subject at least.

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

31st October 1991: Evening

A figure in a black cloak swept through an open door easily, glancing over their shoulder as they moved. Once inside, they turned and began to shut the door, slowly. Over their shoulder, a glimpse of what was inside the room could be seen; a dog, a really big dog and, as it moved, another head came into view. So, either there were two really big dogs in there or it was part of the same monster. As the crack between the door and the door-frame continued to shrink, the figure turned back to face the inside of the room just as another black cloaked figure ran up to the door and flung it open...

Harry gasped as he staggered uneasily, slumping against the wall beside him as he brought a hand up to press against his forehead. It had been quite a while since he had last "seen" something. His head swam nauseatingly and the ground felt as if it were moving underneath his feet; if he was not already having his weight supported by the wall, he would have definitely be on the floor.

What he had seen had been terribly confusing. Usually it was pretty clear what was going to happen: the girl at Saint Gwenifwars getting injured; Lucius being killed by Voldemort; Charlie getting hit by the bludger; hearing how to use the Marauder's Map. All of that had been obvious. This one was not so. Although what had happened had been clear to see, its meaning was a total mystery. Was what he had seen happening or about to happen? And whereabouts was it going to happen or was already happening? It was no where that Harry recognised and so he wondered why he had seen it. Everything else he had seen before had been useful for him even if he got them too late to stop what he saw from happening. This one though; what could he do if he did not know who he had seen or where they had been? Though there had been the previous school year when he had fainted just before his DADA lesson one day; what he saw then still made no sense to him because nothing had ever come of it as far as he was aware. Maybe not everything he saw was meant to be effect him directly.

With a somewhat shuddered sigh, Harry dropped his hands and opened his eyes. A dull ache pounded behind his eyes and he felt suddenly drowsy as he usually did. Carefully, he edged across the wall, ignoring the dizziness which made his head spin, intending to make his way to the boy's bathroom in order to get a drink of water or at least splash some cold water on his face. However, when he reached the girl's bathroom first, he decided to risk going in there. He could honestly see himself passing out in a minute or two if he kept on walking and considering it was half way through dinner it was very unlikely that there was going to be any girls in there to disturb.

He stumbled into the silent bathroom and almost immediately went tumbling to his knees, only just managing to catch himself on the door frame of one of the cubicles. With a small, relieved breath, he slid onto the floor so his legs were curled to his side and leaned heavily against the door frame which he had caught himself on. If he could just sit there for a while and give his head some time to stop swirling and his legs to regain their usefulness then he might still make it for the last of the Hallowe'en celebration.

Harry's eyes closed restfully and was actually glad of the chill that the floor beneath him possessed as it was helping him from not drifting off to sleep. That was quite possibly the last thing he wanted; falling asleep and then being found in an hour's time by a girl. Not only would that be extremely hard to explain, it would also be the most embarrassing thing ever. He doubted it would happen with the constant cold which seeped in through his robes and chilled his skin though.

A few minutes passed without any sound except for Harry's steady breathing. However, when he was starting to feel better and was growing increasingly aware of his surroundings again, he realised there was another sound in the bathroom. It sounded like quiet sniffling, as if someone was crying but trying really hard not to be too loud. With a light frown, he shuffled over on the floor a bit and pressed his ear against the shut door of the cubical next to him. The sniffling was definitely coming from in there. He raised his hand and, very gently, knocked on the door.

"Go away!" A tearful voice ordered almost instantly.

"Are you alright in there?"

"You're a boy!" The girl behind the door accused. "What are you doing in the girl's bathroom?"

"Don't try and get out of answering." Harry chided her lightly, doing exactly that himself. Nothing else was said then and he waited only a few seconds before he tried again. "Talking about it might help."

Another few seconds of silence passed before a sniff came and then, finally, an answer: "Everybody hates me."

"Aww, now I'm sure that's not true."

"It is. I heard them making fun of me. They said I was a nightmare and it's no wonder I don't have any friends."

"And who are "them" then?"

"Johnathan Potter and Ron Weasley."

Harry felt a small flare of anger at that and resolved to have a firm talking to with Ron. Potter there was nothing he could do about but he could at least have a go at the youngest male Weasley. "I wouldn't worry about what they think; they're eleven year old boys, what do they know?"

"What about everyone else though? If they're not right why don't I have any friends?" The quivering voice challenged.

"Well, have you made an effort to get to know people yourself? Sometimes you have to make the first move when you're making friends and maybe wait a little while until they become true friends, until they're used to your personality and have learned to appreciate your little quirks rather than be annoyed by them." He paused then, waiting to see if the girl had a reply for him. When she only sniffed, he continued. "When I was younger and went to a different boarding school, I didn't know anyone and I was completely different to them all as well. But I got past that. I started to talk to people because I knew if I didn't I'd spend most of the year in isolation. Meeting new people and trying to make friends can be scary and intimidating, but it's something you need to do, especially at a boarding school. And if, for some odd reason, there really isn't anyone your age who wants to spend time with you, you can always come and find me, I'm usually hanging around somewhere on my own seeing as my friends Fred and George are in detention so often."

"You're Haryon Snape!" The voice gasped in realisation.

"Most people call me Harry but, yeah, that's me."

The click of a lock being slid away came suddenly and Harry quickly struggled to his feet, clinging to the painted wood of the cubical to haul himself up. Slowly, the door to the cubical opened and the girl with frizzy brown hair came out, her cheeks flushed and clammy and she rubbed her eyes with her hands. She stopped when she was just in front of Harry but did not lift her head to look at him, instead keeping her eyes on the floor, her hair coming around her head like a protective curtain. Carefully, Harry leaned forward slightly before reaching out and pushing some hair behind her ear so he could see her face a little more clearly.

"What's your name?"

"Hermione Granger."

"It's nice to meet you, Hermione." He said with a warm smile which she hesitantly returned. "C'mon, if we hurry we can still make the Hallowe'en Feast. Best splash some cool water on your face before we go though, just to take some of the flush away." He instructed kindly, ushering her towards the sinks with a hand on her shoulder.

The girl gave another sniff and a small nod as she moved forward obediently.

"So, how are you enjoying Hogwarts so far? Class-wise that is."

"Oh, classes are fascinating! Though I must admit that I'm glad that flying lessons aren't going to last much longer."

"Not a very sporty person then, hmm?"

No answer came until Hermione finished splashing her face. "No, not really. Not even back home. I was one of the only people in my class at Primary school who wasn't interested in football."

"Oh, are you Muggle-born then?"

"You don't mind, do you?" She asked him unsurely, a drip of water falling from her nose.

"Course not; I dealt with Voldemort after all." He told her with a playful nudge which made her smile again. She glanced around herself, most probably looking for something to dry her face with. Harry noticed that there was nothing suitable around so he fished his handkerchief out of a pocket of his robes. "Here you go."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, I have plenty of them." He assured her, remembering that George had said the very same to him earlier that year. As Hermione accepted the cloth and began to dry her face, Harry thought that he heard a dull thud come from somewhere. A light frown crossed his face and he stood complete still, listening carefully. When the thud came again, he was positive he had actually heard it. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That thudding."

They both fell into silence then, listening as intently as they could. They glanced at each other when they both heard the noise again, Hermione's eyes widened slightly in apprehension. Harry looked away after a few seconds, when the noise came again, a little louder. When it came once again, just a little louder than before, a horrible feeling swept through Harry making him shudder unpleasantly. Without really thinking about it, he shifted so he was standing in front of Hermione, his eyes glued to the entrance of the bathroom was which was being blocked from his view at his angle by one of the cubicles.

"Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked him fearfully, glancing up at his face before looking where he was.

Harry could not quite find his voice to answer but that turned out not to matter. The thuds were so loud that they sounded as though they were coming from somewhere very nearby. So nearby that it could have been right in front of them...

Slowly, over the top of the cubicles, the two Gryffindors saw the ugly, grey head of what they both instantly recognised as a mountain troll. The breath caught in both of their throats as the giant creature stomped further into the bathroom, a massive club clutched in its hand dragging along the floor behind it. Harry backed them both up a few steps when the monster turned and looked at them and, for a few tense seconds, none of them moved.

Then, when the troll decided to stagger forward, Harry reacted instantly. He grabbed Hermione around the waist before flinging open the door to the cubical next to them and dodging them in there, shutting and locking the door behind them. When the sound of splintering wood reached their ears, they both dropped to their knees and covered their heads with their hands just in time to escaped having their heads taken off by the troll's club, Hermione screaming all the while. Harry silently cursed to himself and began to crawl out of the now ruined cubical, making sure to nudge his companion as he passed her to get her to follow along. Luckily, she caught on to what he wanted her to do and started to wriggle forward as well.

Harry scrambled up onto his feet the moment he was able to stand up properly again and hastily started to search the pockets of his robe for his wand. Unfortunately, it soon became horribly obvious that he did not have it with him and it did not take him long after that to remember why. The nap he had been taking earlier, before he fell asleep his wand had been digging into him; he had simply pulled it out and dropped it on the floor and then forgotten to pick it back up! He suddenly felt like screaming himself as the troll seemed to only just realise that he and Hermione were not dead and started to head over to them again. But then he remembered...

His staff! He could use his staff! True, he had never used it for anything else but really basic healing spells and one time he managed to send High Priest Sephiran's cat to sleep but he had little choice at that precise moment. He at least knew how to create a shield to protect them until help arrived and he was pretty confident that help would arrive; a fully grown mountain troll surely could not go un-noticed by the professors.

With Hermione once again on her feet and now standing behind him, Harry pulled off the pendant around his neck and held it out in the palm of his right hand. "Tolth(1)." He said quickly and immediately the pendant began to shine brightly. The light burst to reveal the fully-formed staff and he wasted no time in clutching the staff. He held it out in front of himself and in a clear, commanding, tone called the word: "Beria(2)!"

The effect was, fortunately, instantaneous. The pearl on the top of his staff shined a brilliant white and then, in the blink of an eye, the white had left the pearl and had covered Harry and Hermione in a misty dome which they could just about see out of. So, they were both more than ready for seeing the massive club come crashing down towards them as they had been able to see the troll approaching. However, what Harry had not been ready for was how much the impact would affect him. When the club hit the shield, Harry felt the jolt through his entire body. It did not hurt but it was a strain and it made keeping the barrier intact extremely hard. His control was poor as it was, what with it being the first time he had ever cast this spell let alone used it practically, and the un-nerving sensation he was now feeling in a constant rhythm as the troll continuously pounded on the dome was not helping things.

Predictably, it soon got too much for Harry and with a gasp of effort, the barrier shattered with the sound of tinkling glass just after it had protected them one last time from an attack. Harry forced himself to shake of the shock to his system at having his spell broken so violently and quickly made a dive for the corner, making sure to pull Hermione along with him, before the troll could swing at them again. It would take him another minute or two to regain the strength and focus to recast a shield and he was afraid that was time they could not afford.

"I don't suppose you have your wand with you?" He whispered to her breathlessly as he pressed her back into a corner, protecting her with his own body.

"It's in my bag inside the cubical I was in." She whispered back, her tone full of self-disappointment.

"That's alright, it's okay." He assured her quickly, keeping his eyes focused on the troll which had luckily seemed to have lost track of them when they had moved position so quickly and were now they pressed tightly into a corner. It was going to be all right. The teachers would be there soon. They just had to keep very still and very quiet.

"Hermione? Are you in here? There's a troll in the school so we came to..." The voice of Potter came just as he and Ron came running into their view, stopping right in front of the troll. They stared up at it in horror and as they were now the easiest target, the troll headed for them.

Knowing that neither of the young boys would be any match for a head-on confrontation with the troll, Harry thought quickly and dove for a piece of wood from the ruined cubicles. He picked it up quickly and chucked it up at the troll, aiming for its head. The wood missed, but only just, sailing by its ear rather than hitting the back of its head. Hermione, now free to move again now that she was no longer trapped in the corner, joined Harry in his task and started throwing bits of wood at the trolls head as well. She even ended up having more luck than Harry as the second piece of wood she threw hit the monster right on the back of its head.

The troll's attention was now firmly on Harry and Hermione and it was making his way back over to them. Harry quickly grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her back until they were backed against the wall and could go no further.

"For goodness sake, one of you do something!" Harry ordered the two younger boys, throwing a glare at them around the approaching troll.

"Like what?" Ron asked desperately.

"I don't know! Anything, any little spell you can remember, just do it quickly!"

"Ron, remember Charms class this afternoon!" Hermione reminded him quickly, holding her arm out to the side and doing the necessary hand action for the boy to see.

The youngest Weasley immediately got his wand out of his robes and pointed it at the troll just as it had drawn the arm which held the club up and back, preparing to bring it crashing down on Harry and Hermione. "Wingardium Leviosa!" He said with a swish and flick of his wand.

The four Gryffindors watched with no small amount of relief as the club remained floating in the air directly above the monster's head as it brought its arm down. They all winced when the spell faded and the club came dropping down, hitting the troll directly on the head with a horrible clunk. But that solved their problem as the troll's eyes rolled back in its head and it fell to the floor with a crash, sending up a cloud of dust which they all shielded their faces from by turning their heads to the side.

Only when all movement had stopped and everything was quiet again did any of them move. Tentatively, Harry allowed Hermione to move away from behind him and she stepped forward carefully, not taking her eyes off of the still form of the troll. "Is...Is it dead?"

Potter stepped towards the troll and leaned in closer to it. After a few minutes of silent study, he straightened back up. "No, doesn't look like it; just knocked out."

"How'd it get in though? That's what I'd like to know. It's too stupid to do it by itself." Ron pointed out, also stepping up to observe it now he was positive it was safe.

"Yes, well what I'd like to know is what you two are doing down here?" Harry asked with a stern frown; they had known there was a troll, they said so when they first came in.

"We could ask the same thing of you." Potter replied with an accusing glare.

"We came here to get Hermione." Ron quickly interrupted, obviously wanting to nip any argument between his best friend and the best friend of his elder brothers in the bud. "Neville told us Hermione was here and we knew she wouldn't know about the troll."

Upon hearing that, Harry gave Hermione a small smile and a knowing look which made her blush lightly and a small, pleased smile to make it onto her face.

"Oh my goodness! What has happened here?" The voice of Professor McGonagall suddenly interrupted and the four Gryffindors turned to look at their Head of House enter the bathroom with Severus and Professor Quirrel in tow. Quirrel, unsurprisingly, looked nervous and on edge while Severus was staring at his son in a cross between surprise, horror, and anger. "Explain yourself, all of you."

"Er...Erm, well...You see..." Harry, Potter and Ron each stammered, unsure of what they could say.

Professor McGonagall gave them all a disapproving look until suddenly, Hermione spoke up. "It's my fault, Professor."

The three boys stopped talking immediately and everyone turned to stare at her in disbelief. "Miss Granger?" The female professor asked, sounding slightly aghast.

"I came looking for the troll. I've read about them and thought I could handle it...But I was wrong. If it wasn't for Harry, Ron and John, I'd probably be dead." She told her Head of House, lying rather convincingly.

"Be that as it may, all have you have put yourselves in very real danger. And you should feel lucky; there aren't many students your age who could take on a fully grown mountain troll." The woman said to all of them before turning her attention to Hermione."Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger, for your serious lack of judgement. As for you three," she said, glancing at each of the boys in turn. "Five points will be awarded to each of you. For sheer dumb luck." She told them primly before turning and sweeping out of the bathroom.

The four Gryffindors released sighs of relief; all things considering, they had got out of that pretty well. However, when Harry caught his father's gaze, he knew that he, at least, was in for far more trouble. Hermione must have noticed as well because she gave his arm a small, sympathetic pat. Harry managed to give her a weak smile in thanks before stepping forward and around the unconscious troll, using his staff to keep himself balanced, making his way over to his father. The man only gave him a small glare when Harry reached him but the boy knew it was the same as an order to follow him. With a very small groan, Harry obediently followed his father out of the bathroom.

The father and son walked all the way down to the dungeons in complete silence but that only meant that Harry could concentrate on how his father was walking. The man was definitely moving with a limp, a rather large one. He so wanted to ask his father if there was something wrong and if he could do something for him but he knew that asking at that moment would not be a good idea. Maybe after he had explained what happened and Severus no longer wanted to kill him he would ask if there was anything he could do to help.

Upon reaching Severus rooms, the professor said the password and the portrait swung open. Harry did as he was expected and stepped in first. When he reached the middle of the sitting area, he stopped and turned back to where his father would enter from, holding his staff close to him in an unconscious gesture of self-protection. He kept his eyes lowered and his head slightly bowed but he did manage to see when his father was standing in front of him. The teenager steeled himself for a what was coming.

"What were you doing in there, Haryon?" Severus asked his son and although his tone was stern, there was no crippling anger there. Harry looked up at him in surprise and the man seemed to understand why he did. "Despite what Miss Granger said and your innate nature would indicate, I do not believe that you would have risked yourself like that. You would have wanted to help but I believe you would have done so by alerting either myself or another professor. Now, I want you to tell me why you were there."

Harry took in a deep breath, preparing himself to tell the truth. He would fight the lie playing on his lips and he would tell the truth; the complete truth. "I didn't sleep very well last night so I thought I'd have a rest before dinner. I fell asleep though and when I woke up, the feast had already started. I didn't want to be anymore late than I already was so I took a short-cut which led be past the girl's bathroom and...Well...Do you remember that on the day the Dark Lord attacked me the first time I passed out that afternoon?" Harry paused until Severus nodded his head. "That time, I saw an image of Uncle Lucius dying. Just as I was walking down the corridor, I saw something, like last time...Sort of. There was someone in a black cloak, I don't know who, going into a room through a door and, in the room, there was a really big dog, I think it had two heads. When the image faded, I was on the verge of passing out. I went into the girl's bathroom to splash some water on my face to perk myself up and that's where I heard Hermione crying so I went to check on her. We were just getting ready to go to the Great Hall when the troll came in."

Severus studied his son carefully for several moments before releasing a sigh and pulling the teenager into his arms. Harry did not hesitate in returning the hug, wrapping his arms around his father's shoulders, holding his staff in one hand behind the man's back. "You are going to be the death of me, Haryon. You definitely took a few years off of my life when I saw you standing there."

"I'm sorry." Harry whispered sincerely, burying his face in the slope of Severus' neck.

"I've suffered worse." His father assured before pressing a kiss to the side of his son's head. "But I am concerned about what you saw and that fact you felt so drained afterwards. Perhaps you should discuss this with Professor Trelawney."

Harry wrinkled his nose at that. "I'd rather not, I don't have much faith in her abilities."

"Perhaps your priest then." Severus said with a hint of reluctance in his tone.

"High Priest." Harry corrected without really thinking about it. "If it'll put your mind at rest then I'll mention it during our next lesson."

"That is all I ask." His father conceded.

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(1) Eteleht: Based on LotR Elvish for "release"

(2) Beria: Based on LotR Elvish for "protect"
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Family Means More Than Blood