Harry Potter: Raised by Wolves.

"I have loved Severus since before I really knew what love even was," he replied unashamedly. "And difficult as it might be for you to comprehend, he loves me as well. He's just not the most… expressive man on the planet." He shook his head, snapping himself out of his daze. "Anyway, enough of my lovesick rambling. Breakfast!"

Harry followed him down to the kitchen, where Professor Snape was already sat at the table, reading the Daily Prophet with a cup of tea at his elbow. Ceri was at the stove once again, frying eggs.

"Can Ceri be getting sirs anything to drink?" she asked brightly. "We be having tea, coffee, pumpkin juice, orange juice, milk—"

"Orange juice would be great, please," Harry requested. With a snap of her fingers, a glass of orange juice began pouring itself from a jug on the counter, and floated its way over to Harry. At Remus' request, she made more tea.

"Master Sirius be snoozing in late," Ceri said in fond reprimand, and Remus chuckled. "He isn't used to being allowed a lie-in. He'll be down as soon as he smells that bacon cooking."

Harry watched as Remus leaned over Snape's shoulder with one hand on the man's back, reading the Prophet article with a frown on his face. Snape didn't seem bothered by the contact, merely tilting his head so Remus could get a better look. Then Remus just sat down at the table, in the same spot he had last night.

It was strange. Harry hadn't seen many couples interacting before. Just his aunt and uncle — never a role model for anything, let alone healthy relationships — and Mr and Mrs Weasley. He didn't think all the madly snogging teenage couples at Hogwarts counted. He couldn't imagine Snape and Remus acting like the Weasleys, with their frequent pecks on the cheek and terms of endearment. He thought Snape might explode if Remus ever called him 'sweetheart', or 'darling'. Yet he didn't doubt Remus for a second when he said Snape loved him. He just didn't think he would ever hear the professor say the words.

As Remus predicted, Sirius shuffled down the stairs in his pyjamas once the smell of bacon started filling the house, still half-asleep by the looks of it. He ran a fond hand over Harry's hair as he passed. "Morning, pup." He slumped into his seat. "Ceri, everything smells amazing."

"Yous is being late, Master Sirius," Ceri said in reply, floating the breakfast plates over to the table. Sirius shot her a dazzling grin.

"But you waited for me anyway, because you're wonderful." The house elf blushed, turning back to the stove.

Ceri was very different to Dobby, in so many ways. Harry wondered which was a more accurate example of house elves.

"So," Sirius said once everyone had started eating. "Rules of the house." Harry eyed him in trepidation, and Sirius laughed. "Don't look so scared, pup. It's just a few things. Number one; no flying without telling one of us first, and certainly not after dark." That was reasonable; Harry could get hurt flying at night. "Number two; don't go into the woods unsupervised. There's all sorts of things that'll gobble you up in there." Again, reasonable. "Number three; there's a potions lab in the basement, it's now Snape's domain. Don't go down there unless he specifically asks you to. Some of the things he brews are sensitive." Harry had no desire to go in Snape's potions lab, so he nodded quickly. "Number four; expect retaliation for any pranks played."

At this, Remus buried his head in his hands with a long-suffering sigh. "No prank wars, Padfoot."

"But Moony!" Sirius whined, sounding younger than Harry. "We just want a little fun!" Remus looked from Sirius, to Harry, to Snape, who raised an eyebrow. "If they prank me, you can be sure I will retaliate," he said unrepentantly. Remus sighed.

"You're just as bad as he is. Fine, rule five — no permanent or potentially harmful pranks," he warned sternly, using his Professor Voice.

"Ugh, fine. Spoilsport," Sirius muttered. "Carrying on. Rule six; no going outside on the full moon. Remus has his potion, but we're not taking any chances. And finally, rule seven; ask if you need help. With anything. Whether it's help with a spell, or your homework, or if you just need someone to talk to; all three of us are happy to help however we can. You don't need to handle everything by yourself anymore Got it?" "I— I'll try." It would be a hard habit to break, and Harry could make no promises. Sirius nodded; that was enough for him.

"Great. Now all that boring stuff's out of the way, any questions?"

"Am I allowed to write to my friends? Will their owls be able to find this place?" If the house was Unplottable, did that mean owls couldn't get there?

"Owl magic is different; they'll be able to find you anywhere. You're perfectly welcome to write to your friends, as long as you don't tell them where you are or who you're with, of course." Harry shot his godfather a 'duh' look. "There's a little Owlery upstairs, I'll show you it later."

"There's an owl up there that I use when I need something more… anonymous than my usual owl," Snape piped up. "Her name is Artemis, she's the tawny owl. You're welcome to use her should you have need to write to anyone that would raise questions should Hedwig be seen visiting. Snowy owls are quite distinctive."

Harry's mind immediately flashed to Draco. And some of the other heirs, too. "Oh. Thank you, Professor. I appreciate that." How long would it take him to get used to Snape being nice to him?

After breakfast, Snape was the first one to get to his feet. "I have potions to brew," he declared. Remus glanced up from the paper.

"Don't blow the house up," he said with a fond smile. Snape made a faintly offended noise, and left the room. "What do you fancy doing today, Harry? After the grand tour, of course."

"I don't know." Harry had never been allowed to do whatever he liked before. "I might go flying."

"How about I show you around, and then you can decide," Sirius said, looking eager to give Harry the tour. Harry looked down at himself.

"Give me ten minutes to take a shower and get dressed, and I'll meet you in the entrance hall," he agreed. Sirius beamed.

Harry's bathroom was much nicer than anything he was used to; with both a shower and a huge claw-foot bathtub, everything decorated in black and white marble tiles with silver accents. There was also a full-length mirror, and Harry took the opportunity to see how bad the bruises on his back were. Not as awful as he expected. He'd certainly had worse. Nonetheless, he grabbed Snape's Bruise Balm to apply after his shower. No need to look a gift horse in the mouth.

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