Harry Potter:Bonds of Hope

Chapter 14: Back to Hogwarts

It was October the 1st and Harry was pacing their room in the bowels of Gringotts whilst Severus changed Draco into a clean babygrow, his eyes flickering between their baby and Harry with clear worry.

"We don't have to go back, Harry. We can stay here, or move into one of our homes, I can get you a tutor, and I can make potions for people from home, doing some experiments," Severus said softly as he picked a slightly squirming Draco up and held him close to his chest.

Their baby was doing much better than expected by this point. It had been estimated that a month would be needed for him to be okay, but apparently their Little Dragon was a fighter. Harry stopped his pacing to smile at his soulmate and child, hoping that Draco would continue to be okay, and the both of them too.

"I don't want to go back, but we have to," Harry sighed, "They haven't been able to pick a new Head yet, because you aren't there. I know McGonagall is acting Head but she doesn't have full power, even if she thinks she does. And we own Hogwarts, technically, right, we can't just abandon our home, or the children that live there. As much as I would really rather not be around Hermione, or Ron, or Ginny, or, well anyone really, with the exception of our family, I want to make sure that the children are safe, and that Hogwarts is good. The way I'm sure it was meant to be. Especially considering a hoard of other students will be arriving soon for the Tournament. Unless that has been cancelled now that Dumbledore isn't there?"

Severus scoffed, "I seriously doubt it. Adults are idiots,"

"You are an adult," Harry smirked.

"Okay, most adults are idiots, especially at Hogwarts, and in the Ministry," Severus shrugged, also smirking.

"Do you want to go back to Hogwarts?" Harry said softly.

"I don't mind. I mean, part of me wants to, and part of me doesn't. But we do need to make sure Hogwarts is safe, for everyone. I feel like we will have our work cut out for us, though," Severus chuckled darkly.

"Probably. Who knows what the bloody old coot has done in the decades he has been in charge," Harry shrugged, also chuckling as he walked towards Severus, "Maybe you will be chosen as Headmaster," Harry said, smiling brightly as Severus' eyes almost bugged out of their sockets.

"I'm currently seventeen. And everyone hates me, who the hell, in their right mind, would choose me to be the Headmaster?" Severus breathed out, shock on his face, and in his voice.

"Well, do we know how the new Head is going to be chosen? But you are also the Lord of two of the Hogwarts Founders families, and the proxy for the other two until I become physically of age, or even after that if I decide that I don't want to do all the Wizengamot stuff and whatnot. So it only makes sense for you to be chosen, if those are good enough criteria. You have also been a Professor and Head of House for over a decade now, so you have the experience and such. I also think you will be a great Headmaster," Harry said, smiling at the older man, "You at least care about the students; their safety, their health, their happiness, both in and out of the school. You won't be using us as part of some horrible game of human chess,"

"Hm, I still doubt that I will be successful. Knowing our luck Dumbledore has something in place to make sure someone close to him gets the position," Severus muttered, worrying his brows.

"Probably," Harry whispered nervously, "But, we are now the Lords of our Houses, maybe that gives us more rights over Hogwarts. Maybe, we can have some control over the wards, or something. And maybe, we can use that to our advantage. And given what has come out about the bastard, maybe no one will trust whoever may come in as Headmaster, if it is, in fact, someone close to the man,"

"We can only hope," Severus said, and Harry nodded in agreement.

Harry sighed, "We should go and see the goblins before we leave,"

Severus hummed, "We do have everything, right?" he said, looking around the room to see if anything had been left behind.

"I hope so, but if we get home and find anything missing we can have Dobby come back for it," Harry said.

"Okay. Are you feeling alright?" Severus said, concerned as he eyed Harry up and down to check for any signs that he wasn't well.

"I'm fine. If that changes I will be sure to let you know," Harry smiled brightly at the man.

"Okay. I suppose it is time to leave, then," Severus said, although he made no move to leave. Neither did Harry.

"I suppose so," Harry agreed.

It took them five minutes to actually leave the room, both too nervous to actually do so. But soon they were meeting with the goblin members of their family in the office that King Ragnok uses. Healer Greyclaw rushed to check all three of them over with her healer's wand despite knowing that they were all as healthy as they could be at that time. Harry thought that she was just desperate to find some reason to keep them in the Bank for a longer period of time.

"Harry, dear, your temperature is elevated by one degree, do you feel okay? You can stay for as long as you need. Forever if you wish," Healer Greyclaw muttered, almost desperately, her eyes somehow both dark and caring at the same time.

"I'm fine, I promise. But if anythin changes I will come straight back. You are mine, and my family's, personal healer after all. And I trust you far more than I trust Pomfrey. But, if it makes you feel better, supposing we are able to get away we could always come here for dinner or something, even to spend the night if we are able, on the weekend anyway" Harry said, smiling knowingly at the motherly goblin (dragon.)

"Fine, but you had better come home every weekend unless you have a bloody good reason for not doing so. And if any of you, even those kids of yours that aren't here at the moment, feel even the slightest bit sick, then you had better come here straight away," she said fiercely, her hands on her hips, her eyes both hard and soft with warmth and love.

"Okay," Harry nodded, beaming at her.

She narrowed her eyes for a few seconds before nodding with a sigh, her arms going around Harry's waist and his around her back.

"Look after yourselves, and each other. I don't want to be hearing that either of you have been put in, or putting yourselves in danger. If I do then I don't care about anything or anyone else, but I will be coming to Hogwarts, and I will hurt anyone who gets in the way of me and you," she said, looking at both him and Severus with stern eyes.

"Okay," Harry said with a smirk.

"And you," she focussed her eyes on Severus, "If I hear anything about you hurting Harry, or Draco, or about you not keeping them safe as much as you can, then I will do what I told you I would do,"

"No, you won't," Harry said, still smirking.

"Yes, I will," she said, glaring slightly at Harry.

"No, you won't," King Ragnok said with a slight chuckle, "But please do remain as safe as possible, both of you, for the sake of all of us," he said, looking between Severus and Harry with caring eyes.

"We will. And we will keep you updated on what is going on in the Castle. As much as we can, anyway," Severus said with a grateful nod.

"Thank you. That would be much appreciated," Ragnok said.

They spent about half an hour saying goodbye to everyone, not that many people are there, just the goblins that had been with them for most of the whirlwind the past almost month had been. Neither of them wanted to go back, at least not fully. Both too worried about what may happen. With the students, the staff, and the Tournament. But they knew they had to. And there were parts of them that wanted to, Hogwarts was their home in some way, despite all the shit they had been through in her walls.

And then they were floo'ing to Severus' personal quarters, that was now their home, with a nursery for Draco (when they were ready to let him sleep in it, which Harry thought might be a while) and everything else they needed. The wards engulfed them almost straight away, washing them with warmth, and love, and care, and so many other things that made Harry feel almost at home.

Harry loved it. He especially loved the floor to ceiling bookshelves packed with books of all kinds, and the large window looking into the depths of the lake which had a window seat, too, so that they could sit there together as a family, and watch the underwater life float by. It was soothing, and homely in a nice way.

They were just settling Draco into the Moses basket which Severus had moved from their bedroom to the living room so they could keep Draco close whilst they settled back into the Castle, when they were interrupted by a knock on the door, which didn't disrupt Draco's rest, thankfully.

Harry sighed and looked at Severus with worried eyes, who also sighed tiredly before heading to answer the door, to find McGonagall on the other side.

"Severus," she said, shock in her eyes as she took in his younger form, "You're back,"

"I assume you knew that anyway, and that is why you are here," he said, raising an eyebrow, "Or have you made a habit of knocking on the door to my quarters at this time of the day in the weeks that I have been gone?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Harry, and the Moses basket, over Severus' shoulder, her eyes widening a tad more.

"You can't have a student in your private quarters, Severus," she said, both her voice and her eyes stern.

"You can if they are either your child, godchild, or soulmate," he said, "Harry is my soulmate, and the mother of our child,"

"You had sex with a student?" she gaped at the now seventeen year old.

"No, of course not," Severus said angrily, "Honestly, who do you take me for? If I did, based on the fact that our child has clearly been born already, we would have had sex during the last school year, when Harry was thirteen years old. Do you really think me the type to do that? In any case, I am sure Dumbledore told you what happened," Severus said, his voice, and Harry thought his face probably was too, fierce.

"Well, yes, but it is a tad hard to believe. I mean the Bonds of Hope ritual, really?" she said, a little confusion in her eyes.

"Really. You can read our goblin verified inheritance tests if you would like, our I am sure Poppy would happily agree to show you our medical records from the night it happened,"

She huffed indignantly, crossing her arms, "Severus, even if you have both been honoured with such a rare ritual by Lady Magic, Harry cannot stay with you when he is fourteen years old,"

"He can if it is for medical reasons, or if we have a child," Severus said, his voice a tad louder, and fiercer, "Both of which are true. We have a child, who used to be Draco Lucius Malfoy, but is now Draco Severus Potter-Prince. And he and our child cannot be away from each other for too long whilst they are still healing magically from the C-section Harry was forced into for no reason whilst he was unconscious. Lest they both set back their recovery, which has already been hard enough, for both of them, and I would rather it not get bad again. In any case, though, since you do not have the full power of a Headmistress, you cannot actually do anything to stop us living together,"

"I will have full power soon. Now that you are back we can do what needs to be done to put the school to rights again," she said, raising an eyebrow of her own.

"Just because you were Deputy, it does not mean you will automatically take the top spot. But yes, we can certainly work to put the school to rights again. You know, now that the previous Headmaster has been arrested," Harry could hear the smirk in Severus' voice, and he had to fight to not smirk himself.

She rolled her eyes and huffed again, "I expect to see you in the staff room tonight, an hour before dinner, so that we can choose the new Head. I believe some members of the DMLE will be there also,"

"Okay," Severus nodded, and then he closed the door in her face.

"Well, that was certainly eventful," Harry said with a small chuckle.

"Indeed," Severus said, still smirking as he looked at Harry with warm, dark eyes.

"I really hope you get chosen. Then we won't have to worry too much about anything," Harry said worriedly, his finger twisting together in front of him.

"Hm, part of me hopes so, too. But I rather doubt that will be the case," Severus sighed, "We can hope for someone who will help us, though, or just won't be terrible at looking after the students,"

"We can hope," Harry nodded.

And he really was hoping.