To Be Little

Chapter 3: Welcome Home

Harry simply couldn't bring himself to care about the people around him as his head was too fuzzy. He was hungry and tired. He was warm and didn't hurt anywhere except when the person holding him would poke his ouchies that he was so used to ignoring. He sucked on his dummy in confusion, trying to make sense of the warm feeling all over him. He had never been warm for as long as he could remember.

He was too tired to cry, but his tummy was really empty. He gurgled as someone was rubbing something into the ouchies all around his body, making them disappear. It tickled. He tried to play with the black cloth hanging around him, but it was too hard to grasp. He was disgruntled when something cold wiped his face. All these new feelings and the fuzzy, floaty feeling he was experiencing was causing Harry to become confused, but not entirely fearful.

The hands that made him feel safe and grounded disappeared, and he started to wail. The arms soon returned to gently holding him and Harry calmed down immediately, only for his tummy to start growling. His pacifier was then removed and a bottle was gently placed in his mouth. He sucked on it immediately, falling asleep halfway through it.

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Severus was gentle as he cleaned Harry's face, healed the worst of the wounds, and fed the Little. He didn't know how old Harry's mindset was, only that he seemed to act quite young. He and his bond mates discussed how to go about the re-sorting. Bella interrupted them with a genius plan: Harry's name was different, Gryffindor was a massive house, and it would be easy to declare Harry Potter dead. The boy honestly didn't look like Harry Potter as he was immediately blood adopted as soon as the group left the Dursleys' residence and his new name appeared on the student books without Potter disappearing.

Tom would be here in an hour to oversee the sorting of his grandson and would make sure Dumbledore didn't figure out their plan. Harry would soon be safely in Slytherin where everyone would protect him.

Severus felt like kissing his sister in law. She ignored the strange looks her sane plan had earned her, instead preparing a bottle for the baby and humming. Harry didn't resist the bottle, falling asleep halfway through drinking the milk with nutrition potion mixed in. Severus just held the boy closer, marveling about how small and perfect the boy was. He would be sorted in a few hours but until then Severus was planning to let the boy rest as much as he could.

Soon after Harry was fast asleep the Slytherins came through the floo, only glancing at the boy in their head of house's arms, before starting to mingle as food and drinks popped onto tables. Draco ran to his parents when he had come through the floo.

"Mom! Dad! Blaise's mom came to visit and Blaise can't wait for you to meet her. She'll be here in an hour or so!" Draco was being swept into a hug by Lucius before he could finish. He hugged his father back, slightly shocked at the public display of affection.

"I love you, Draco. Never forget that. Never stop being who you are." Lucius couldn't help himself as he tightened his hug on his son.

"Father, what's wrong?" Draco asked softly. Lucius realized that he had been crying.

"Harry Potter is part of our family now, Dragon. It was not pretty. Just know that I will always love you." Lucius composed himself and released his son, smiling as the boy looked at Severus.

"I'm a big brother?" Draco whispered, shock and joy mixed in his voice. Severus nodded, a smile playing on his lips. Draco beamed before he ran off to tell his friends. Honestly, that boy was a giant ball of energy.

For most of the hour, people were still arriving and mingling, all of them waiting for the sorting of the Little. Tom arrived in proper robes, looking like a Prince without the glamours Severus wore around the Hogwarts student body. Hair of pitch black with a peppering of grey/white and smooth to the touch, noble bone structures similar to the Malfoys and Blacks, and long fingers used for potion making. His robes were a dark green bordering on black with the coat of arms for the Slytherin and Prince families proudly on display. He wore the robes like a true head of household did and looked like the protector he was said to be by the Sacred 13 Families Of Wizarding Britain. Albus Too Many Names To Remember Dumbledore was going to have to fight this man for control of Harrison Severus Malfoy-Black-Prince's future. Thomas would not lose the boy's freedom, of that all of Slytherin agreed.

Tom smiled at the young children asking him questions, answering with ease or promising to owl the answers when he found them. He was slowly making his way to his family, a few robes over his arm. They were matching robes to his own. A re-sort of this magnitude called for more formal wear and he was the one selected to pick the robes up for the family. Draco, being a student, was not allowed to watch the re-sort but the rest of the family was going up to ensure the safety of Harry. It only took a few minutes for the family to get ready and dress Harry, Bella gently explaining everything to the Little. Severus sighed as he was about to pull his glamour up when he was told he would play the part of the Prince he was instead of the Snape he acted like.

Severus smiled, a handsome look to match a heartbreakingly handsome man forced to hide behind glamours.

Tom carried Harry to the Headmaster's office, uncaring of the stares directed at him by the occasional house elf or staff member. No one stopped them and Harry's mindset remained an infant until they got to the door. Tom had been whispering to him to act big and stay silent while the Headmaster was near, using magic to help Harry return to an older mindset for the re-sort.

"Just stay calm and everything will work out just fine."

Dumbledore was smiling as the Malfoy-Black-Prince Family entered the room, Bella dropped her glamours and looked sane and smiled softly at Harry. Needless to say, that grandfatherly smile dropped faster than the killing curse could kill. Tom placed Harry on his lap and looked at the Headmaster expectedly.

"Welcome. Lemon drop?"

The Slytherins almost groaned in annoyance.