Bond of Love

Chapter 7
Diagon Alley

The world seemed to spin as Harry and Severus appeared just outside of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry pressed closer to Severus, with an embarrassed flush, as he realized what a sight he must make standing there in his hospital pajamas. Severus realizing that they had forgot to transfigure the pajamas, let out a soft chuckle and changed the pajamas into a pair of black slacks, and an emerald green shirt. He kissed Harry lightly, before taking his hand, and pulling him towards Remus, who was already waiting at the entrance to Diagon Alley.

The three of them made their way towards Gringotts. Harry, who had not been in Diagon Alley since he was 13, was looking in the windows of every shop they passed, much to the amusement of his companions. Severus and Remus both laughed when Harry caught a glimpse of the newest racing broom. Harry just glared at them, and continued to drool. A cart ride later the three of them were heading back into the alley, all three carrying bags full of Galleons. Remus and Harry had been left with the majority of Sirius’ money, with the exception of the gifts he had made to Tonks, and the Weasleys. Ron’s family was now very well off and had even rebuilt The Burrow. Mione had been left the majority of the books in the Black library; with the exception of several Dark Arts books he had wanted Severus and Remus to teach Harry from.

Their first stop was Ollivanders’ wand shop. Harry, who could not help but feel vulnerable without a wand even though he had learned to fight without one anyway and everyway. As with the last time walking into the wand shop gave Harry the creeps. He had not been there since he had gotten his first wand. Remembering that day always gave him the chills.

“Well, Mr. Potter, I was wondering when you would be coming for your new wand. The nerve of that muggle burning a wand like that. No matter now. Let’s see, hmmm, you really are a difficult one to find a wand for, you know. Ah try this one.” All of this was said very swiftly from behind Harry in a raspy sort of voice that made his skin crawl.

Taking the wand, Harry gave it a flick knowing already that it would not work for him. About fifty wands later, they finally found the right wand for him. It was 13” inches, made of ebony wood and contained a phoenix feather. Luckily, this one was not one of Fawkes’ feathers. Paying for the wand, the three of them stepped out on the street and headed for Madame Malkin’s. Severus had stayed silent the whole time they were in the wand shop, having sensed Harry’s worry about being in the place. Now that they were out, he stepped up behind Harry, and wrapped his arms around him, holding him close for a minute, till his body relaxed and the tension of the last hour had drained. Luckily, this time Ollivander had not made any cryptic comments.

Having relaxed Harry, led the way into Madame Malkin’s, ready for the horror of shopping for clothes. Going to the muggle section, he began laughing as behind him Severus and Remus started arguing about colors for his robes. Severus wanted everything black or green, whilst Remus wanted red. Harry knew he would end up with all the colors, just to keep the peace between the two of them. Quickly, Harry picked up a couple pairs of jeans, and some tee shirts. He would not need much in the way of muggle clothes; after all, he would now be living in the Wizarding world full time now.
Moving to the wizard section, he found several racks of slacks, in a very soft material he did not recognize. He picked up a couple of black pairs, and one in a deep blue. For being a Gryffindor, Harry really did prefer the colors of Ravenclaw and Slytherin house. As he half listened to the two older wizards, still arguing with each other, he moved on to some Acromantula silk shirts. He quickly picked up one in black, green, blue, red and white, knowing that the three jewel tones looked the best on him. He found some Marino wool sweaters in the same colors, and purchased those in all but the white. He then moved on to the robe section, where Madame Malkin was waiting with a grin on her face, having been listening to Severus and Remus arguing.

“Mr. Potter, a pleasure to see you again. It has been far too long. Tell me; are those two always like that? They sound like an old married couple.” The purple clad witch laughed merrily and pulled Harry forward to be measured.

“They have always argued about everything as long as I have known them, and I agree. Were it not for the fact, that Severus and I are soul-mates, I definitely would have thought that those two were married. You should have seen them last year when they were training me in hand to hand combat.” Harry grinned at the witch, who had been one of the first people he saw on his first trip here.

Together they chose his robes, leaving the other two to argue. By the time he was ready to leave, he had several robes in varying shades of green, blue, and red as well as two dress robes, one of which was a beautiful black iridescent silk that would shimmer red when the light hit it, and the other with green shimmering through it. He thought that was a good compromise between Remus and Severus. He had more undergarments then he had ever had, as well as socks and several pairs of shoes to coordinate with the different outfits. Of course, he had new school robes and several capes for different weather. Slipping into a dressing room, he quickly changed out of his transfigured sleep wear, and into a pair of the soft black slacks a matching black silk shirt that he had had embroidered with silver snakes, and lions and a simple green summer weight cloak. Seeing the transfigured clothes reminded him he needed pajamas, so he quickly grabbed a red pair and several in black silk with either gold or silver embroidery. Madame Malkin also convinced him to get several clips for his hair. The clips were all platinum, and had been encrusted with rubies, sapphires, onyx or emeralds. Taking an emerald one, she showed him how to tie his hair back. Liking the look he grabbed another emerald and onyx one for Severus, before paying and leading the other two out.

Having finally stopped arguing, the two men finally noticed Harry’s appearance. Remus just grinned, knowing Harry looked as he would, if his parents had been able to raise him, in the wizarding world. Severus, however, could do nothing but stare at him. Gone was the awkward teenager in ill-fitting clothing. The young man in his place looked every bit the wizard and very much like a descendant of Gryffindor. Not to mention how beautiful the boy looked. He had always been a rather beautiful boy, but the clothing tailored to actually fit him, and the added height from the potions had given him a boost in his confidence. The shy boy was still there, but he carried himself as if nothing could bother him.

Harry looked back at Severus, and grinned before walking into the bookshop. The rest of the afternoon was spent buying school supplies, and anything else that attracted the eyes of one of the three men. Soon they had been to all the stores, but one. Standing outside the Magical Menagerie, Harry felt a sense of loss yet again over Hedwig. Severus hugged him from behind, while Remus placed a hand on his shoulder. Both of them telling him without words that if he wanted to look it was ok, and that they were there for him. After a moment, Severus explained that, as he was actually an owner of the castle due to his Gryffindor blood; that he was not restricted in the type of pet he got, or in the number. With that in mind, he entered the store and began looking around. In a corner of the store, he found a beautiful white cat. She was pure white; while the other cat with her was so black; it almost sucked up all the light around it. Coming up behind him, Severus chuckled. Leave it to his Harry, to be drawn to these two. Though they both looked like regular cats, they were not. In truth, they were a rare breed of magical cat, known as Avari, which meant of the heavens. They could go from being an ordinary house cat, to a cat the size of a lion. It was said that they were born only in times of great danger, for the wizarding world. Smiling he placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder, and when he looked up, nodded to show him that these were an excellent choice. Harry grinned and ran off to talk to the sales witch.

Half an hour later, all three of them were heading back to the Leaky Cauldron. The white cat was curled into Harry’s arms, while the black cat had launched itself up to perch on Severus’ shoulder. Harry had no trouble at all getting the cats. The moment their cage was opened, they launched themselves at Harry, purring and butting up against him. Remus couldn’t stop laughing, as he recognized their behavior as marking Harry their territory. The wolf in him wanted to fight the cats, for marking its cub.

“What’s so funny back there anyway Remus? The moment the cats started rubbing against me, you started laughing. It isn’t like you haven’t seen Crookshanks do the same thing.” Harry asked, prompting a chuckle from Remus at the memory of Hermione’s half kneazle and it penchant for kissing up to Harry when Mione was studying.

“Well, let’s just say that werewolves get very jealous when other creatures mark their pack-mates.” At this, all three men started laughing, having learned in the past year, just how temperamental Remus’ wolf side could be. Once the wolf had taken over, and attacked Severus; when it saw a bruise on Harry after a very heavy training session. The two of them had teased Remus for weeks about Severus marking Remus’ cub. Both had found it so funny, that the wolf would see that as Severus marking Harry as his territory. It had been about that time; that Harry had realized he really wouldn’t have minded Severus marking him as his territory. The confusion that little revelation caused had taken Harry weeks to sort out.

Now walking down the street with Remus and Severus, listening to the two older men tease each other, while Severus’ arm around his waist, held him against his side, and it seemed as though it was the most natural thing in the world. The two cats purred happily, sensing the contentment in their human. At this moment; for Harry nothing was more important then being right were he was. He finally felt he had found where he belonged.

Severus smiled absently, as he half listened to Remus, who was telling him how jealous the wolf had become when James and Lily had married. He could feel the contentment pouring through Harry, and it made him happy knowing he could finally be with the one he loved with all of his heart. Harry laughed at the story Remus was telling, while being cuddled closer to Severus. Once in the Leaky Cauldron, they ordered food and butter beer and found a booth in a shadowed corner of the bar. The cats leaping to the empty spot next to Remus, as Harry sat next to Severus. The cats curled up together, purring when Remus reached down to scratch their ears. It was odd, but Remus could feel that the cats had decided these three humans belonged to them.

“So Harry, any ideas what to name these two?” Remus asked, as he pet the cats. Harry thought for a moment then grinned he had come up with the perfect names while reading a book on Hindu religions and culture. Something that Hermione had interested him in.

“Well, the white one is Sitara. Her name is Hindi for starlight. Her sister there, is Kali also Hindi. It means Dark Goddess.” Hearing the names both cats purred loudly, and preened. The three wizards laughed; taking that as their way of saying they liked the names.
Severus smiled hearing Harry laugh. Before the three of them had begun to get close last year, Harry had always seemed to only talk when others expected him to, and only laugh when others were. Since he and Remus had started spending time with Harry, he had opened up a lot. Harry’s laugh was infectious now that it was a true laugh, and his green eyes seemed to glow when he was truly happy. It was something that Severus had rarely seen, and would be something he would love to see constantly. With his arm around Harry, he sat watching his expressive face as he and Remus began to swap stories about the Weasley twins. Severus would never admit it, but those two boys had been among his favorite students. Yes, they played a lot of pranks, but they loved to experiment and Severus had even encouraged them a time or two, giving them tips on ingredient combinations when no one was listening.

Truthfully, he loved the entire Weasley family, with exception of Ron and Percy. Percy was just a power hungry git, and Ron was too quick to anger or to turn his back on Harry, if Harry got attention Ron did not. He had thankfully mellowed a bit, after Sirius died. It seemed, he had finally realized that money and fame were not as important as family and love. Hermione had backed off a bit as well. She was not as bossy with Harry, as she had been in the past. She still reminded him of homework, but no longer acted like it was the end of the world, if it wasn’t done immediately. Of course, that could have had something to do with the fact that Harry had become the second highest rated student in school. The only reason Hermione even stayed on top was because Harry let her. The moment he and Remus had learned that Harry always held back was because he was not allowed to be smarter then Dudley, they had put a stop to it and the results were astounding. Being encouraged to study had opened floodgates of sorts and Harry now almost always had a book in front of him.

Remus was thinking along the same lines as Severus. It made him happy to see his cub with a true smile on his face. The past few days, he had watched Severus and Harry together. Severus was so gentle with Harry, that it was hard to believe it was the same man who scared all his students. Among all of them, Harry was most relaxed with Severus. Remus had yet to see the boy flinch or pull away from the man. He had even been somewhat surprised when he had entered the hospital wing last night, to find them both in Harry’s bed, kissing and touching each other. He had been worried that having been raped would keep Harry from being able to be intimate with Severus, and truth be told, he had been worried about how his friend would react to rejection. He had to admit he felt sorry for Severus. He knew what it was like to be separated from his mate for so many years and he and Sirius had not even been soul-mates.

After an hour of talking, as they ate and drank their butter beers, Harry let out a large yawn. It had been a long day, and he was still not yet at his full strength. Leaning against Severus, he turned his face into the older man’s neck, brushing his lips lightly against his skin. He grinned slightly as he felt a small shudder run through Severus. The man was normally so in control of him-self that it was funny to see him lose even that small amount of control. After a moment, Severus stood, pulling Harry up with him. He whispered to the cats to tell them where they were going, and with a look at Remus, the three of them walked to the apparition point. Wrapping his arms tight around Harry, he leaned down and kissed him as he apparated them back to Hogwarts. The cats joined the three of them, and together they began walking up to the castle. With a smile on his face, Harry opened his mind and the castle began to glow as all the lights turned on. The heir of Gryffindor had returned home.