Blood Ties.

"Harry, I'm not sure you're ready for this."

Snape was studying Harry with concern and fear shadowing his eyes, a frown tugging down on the corners of his lips. That open display of emotion always surprised and warmed his heart as nothing else ever could. He was still guilty over how hard he had made life for this complex, deeply faceted man, but knew that he could only atone by loving him as fiercely as possible.

"I know you're worried, Severus. I love that you worry about me, but this is what we've been planning for since Aunt Petunia let slip that my mother wasn't really her sister, and I ran away. We can't have planned all this time just to back out at the penultimate moment out of fear. You're better than that, and I know it, Severus."

Severus stared at Harry, startled yet again by the maturity and strength of the boy.

'No. Harry's not a boy any longer, he's a man now.'

He jerked his head as he felt tears pricking his eyes, hands trembling with emotion. How he wished that they could have known each other this way from the very beginning, forged a relationship the likes of Harry and Dumbledore. He might have had the pleasure of watching him grow up, instead of being suddenly confronted with the knowledge of what he missed out on. His eyes closed and he swallowed a lump in his throat before turning back to Harry.

"You're right. My emotions almost got the better of me, and I apologize. We need to do the targeted Occlumens now."

Harry smiled up at him and then moved to take his chair, speaking softly as he settled in.

"Never apologize for your emotions, Severus. It always moves me deeply when you express them."

Draco was watching silently from across the room, storm clouds roiling in his eyes as he took in the simple, yet poignant, scene of love. It hurt him to see the two men being so open and honest with one another, for they were closer than he had ever been with his own father. How could two men who had once fought so hard, who barely knew each other, have a relationship stronger than he had with the man who raised him? Draco shivered and sighed, moving over to stroke a hand through Harry's hair, envy slicing like a knife across his heart.

Harry leaned into Draco's touch and looked up at him, seeing the pain in his eyes and reaching up to touch the corner of his mouth, whispering.

"Severus had an abusive father, and my own father died before I knew him, but of the three of us, I think you've had it the hardest, Draco. Your father never abused you, so it's difficult for you to hate him, and his abandonment was his own choosing, so you can't truly love him. He left you stranded in a limbo between love and hate, a yearning child who will always wonder what it would have been like to be held in his arms and treated with love, rather than indifference."

Draco's eyes filled with tears and he leaned into Harry's fingers, turning his head to kiss them with a silent sob.

"I try so hard, Harry. I've always struggled to make him smile my way, to make myself deserving of his love, but nothing works."

Harry shook his head and leaned up to kiss away a tear that had escaped from Draco's tightly closed eyes.

"A child should never have to do anything to deserve the love of their parents, Draco. You are not the one lacking in the relationship, he is. And he will one day realize how he has cursed himself by not taking the time he had with you and making it worth something."

Draco nodded slightly, wanting to believe that was true, then stepped back, swallowing hard.

Severus turned back at the silence, having purposefully found something other to occupy his attention so that the boys could have their moment. This all felt uncomfortably like goodbye to him, and he settled his mask into place so that Harry would not be upset over the fear he was feeling.

"Severus. If I die, there are letters in my trunk for Ron and Hermione, as well as my last will and testament. I trust you will see they get to the proper places?"

Harry's voice was cool and collected, eyes flinty with determination, no hint of fear in his voice or expression. Snape inwardly shuddered at the bold pronouncement he had hoped to avoid, and then he nodded.

"You know you can, Harry. But, nothing..."

Harry shook his head firmly to cut off that denial, reaching to take Draco's hand and squeeze it gently as the boy started to sob.

"I won't hide behind pretty lies when I'm with the two of you. There's a fifty-fifty chance that I will die tonight, and I won't pretend otherwise. I love you, Severus. You have given me more joy in the last four months than I have had in my entire life. I'm lucky to have gotten to know the brave man behind the mask, for now I have had three fathers in my lifetime. Three wonderful fathers who have each given me something important, strengthening me in their own ways. Tell me you love me, Severus."

Snape felt the urge to cry come upon him again, but straightened and fought it down, not wanting Harry's last memories of him to be a weeping, weakened old man. He drew in a deep breath and smiled instead, letting the incredible depth of his love shine forth from his eyes and face like a beacon.

"I've never loved anyone better, Harry. Nor anyone more, than I have loved you, and will continue to love you until I draw my last breath."

Tears sprang to Harry's bright green eyes and his smile trembled, then he turned to face Draco, looking up at the blond. Tears continued to stream from the soft grey eyes and he tugged the slim boy into his lap, hugging him to his chest and murmuring fiercely.

"I don't know how or why we fell in love so swiftly, Draco, but I consider it the greatest blessing ever given to me. I love you until it hurts in every part of me, my mind, body and soul. If I die tonight, I will wait for you on the other side of the veil until you can join me. I will wait without impatience, for I want your life to be long and filled with joy. If I die, I want you to fight for that joy, Draco. I want to hear your laughter as I wait for you. Promise me, Draco."

Draco shuddered and clutched at his shirt, sobbing into his shoulder, trying to find the words to explain the depth of his own feelings. In the end, he could only speak the truth in such plain words that they were beautiful.

"I promise, Harry. I love you."

Harry lifted his chin and pressed soft kisses to his cheeks, soothing the fear and licking away the tears, until Draco's trembling had ceased and he felt a peace settle over his heart. When Harry's lips finally met his, he opened his mouth and took him in a way they had never experienced before, their souls connecting and blending as their tongues slowly waltzed. They breathed one another's breath, existed as one being until Harry finally broke the kiss with a sigh.

"It's time."

Draco nodded and stood, swallowing back his terror as Snape began the slow, intense process of helping Harry build the ramparts that blocked off the dangerous parts of Harry's memories and personality.

~~:~~

An hour later Harry stood in the center of the room, allowing Draco to place the special manacles on his wrists, his head lifted and his eyes as shockingly hard and cold as a snake's. He wondered idly if the Dark Lord thought to humiliate him with the chains, and a smirk like the curve of a scimitar curled his lips. The Dark Lord clearly underestimated him if he thought such a simple ploy could shatter his pride. Good.

"There. Lord Voldemort has instructed me that the chains can not be broken, and they will deny you the ability to use wandless magic."

Harry dropped his gaze to the manacles, lifting his hands and inspected them with a calculating air, then shrugged one shoulder.

"It's good he respects me enough to take the precaution. I would be insulted if he hadn't."

His voice was crisp and forceful, and he smiled suggestively at Draco, letting his tongue flick out over his lips.

"I wonder if he will let us keep them after this little show. I can think of many...wonderful uses."

Draco shivered at him and flashed his own wicked smile, then curled his fingers about the chain linking the cuffs.

"Deviant. Only you would find a way to be turned on moments before going into a room full of your former enemies."

Harry's laughter was sharp and cynical, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Key word former. Let's go, I'm eager to see the look in his eyes when I actually show up."

Draco nodded and donned his mask, pulling up the hood of his robes before muttering an incantation beneath his breath that split the air before them and allowed them to step through directly into the presence of the Dark Lord.

~~:~~

They emerged into the large room that Harry had often seen in his visions, though this version of himself had no recollection of such visions, thus it was new to him. He passed a slow, thoughtful glance over the ring of Death-Eaters gathered in the large hall, then surveyed the columns that supported the ceiling. His cunning gaze spotted four exits off the room, noting their locations before finally moving to the elevated throne at the other end of the room. He tilted his head, showing, and feeling, no fear as he studied the snake-like creature perched atop the seat that seemed constructed from bones.

"Harry Potter."

The creature's voice hissed and seemed to tingle across his skin, the power radiating from Voldemort filling his body with an indefinable need that he neatly quelled. He moved forward at the tug to the chain between his hands, gliding gracefully and proudly behind Draco as if he were not chained and helpless. His glittering green eyes surveyed his uncle from head to toe before lifting to boldly meet the slit-pupiled, red eyes.

"Good Evening, Uncle."

Voldemort's eyes briefly betrayed his surprise, but his thin lips curled into a smile as Harry spoke, his thick, forked black tongue flicking out to taste the air. What he tasted seemed to both intrigue and disappoint him, and he motioned Draco away from Harry.

"You do not fear me, boy. In fact, I think I excite you."

Draco moved to the side to stand with the other Death-Eaters, and Harry threw his head back, letting his lips curl into a smile that nearly mirrored that of the Dark Lord.

"Power always excites me, Uncle, and you have it in abundance."

Voldemort actually shivered at this, and Harry chanced moving forward, longing to be closer to the creature, wanting to make him do more than shiver.

"I do not fear you, for death does not frighten me, not by such a skilled hand. I should be disgraced to die by any other means, but it would be an honor to fall to the might of one such as you."

Harry paused, turning his head to lock a forbidding gaze on the annoying Lestrange woman, who had shifted restlessly when he'd begun to draw close to Voldemort. She widened her eyes at him and went still, prompting an amused smirk to his lips and a hiss of pleasure from the Dark Lord.

"Even bound you command their fear."

Harry's eyes returned to Voldemort, now nearly close enough to touch, the intensity of the creature's power swirling around him and making him harden painfully. He locked his gaze once more on the blood-red eyes, flicking his tongue out to lick his lips.

"No, Master. You command their fear, their respect...their loyalty. It is your blood in my veins that makes them respond that way to me, nothing of my own power."

Voldemort's pupils dilated and he hissed, responding to Harry's suggestive tongue, and the stroking of his ego, one hand reaching to beckon the boy closer.

"I admit I had my doubts as to the veracity of your changes, Harry, but now I see for myself they are true. No one could fake your reaction to me."

Harry stepped closer and allowed the hand to guide him until he was sitting in the creature's lap, arching into the stroking of the hand along his arm and leaning in boldly to press his lips to the thin mouth, murmuring against it.

"Feel free to touch my mind, Uncle. My memories are yours to examine if any doubt remains within you."

Voldemort's tongue flicked out to taste Harry's lips, which parted eagerly and closed around it to suckle hungrily until the Dark Lord pulled back with a hiss.

"Shall I send them away while we get acquainted, Harry, or let them watch?"

Harry leaned back and cast an imperious glance over the Death-Eaters, sensing their eagerness to watch and smiling.

"Let them stay."