Withering to Death

Chapter 4

When Harry next woke, he felt warmer and safer than he had ever felt before. He, at first, couldn't pinpoint why, but then he felt the familiar tingling of two magical signatures and remembered.
His mates.
/He had mates!/
He carefully opened his eyes and smiled. His older mate, Severus, was asleep; head back against the couch, but tilted slightly to the side facing towards Harry. Draco was cuddled into Harry's side. Both of his mates successfully had him ensconced in between them. He shifted slightly when his stomach protested that it was time to eat and his silver-green eyes softened when this movement caused his mates to awaken.
Severus looked at him first.

"How long have you been awake, brat?" he asked gruffly, gently running fingers through Harry's bed head black hair.

Harry stiffly manouvered his arms so he could reply.

*Only a few minutes, Sev. What time is it?*

"It's time for dinner Ry." came Draco's voice as the blond yawned and sat up, pulling Harry with him.

He ran his hand through his own blond locks in an attempt to tame them. Harry smiled winningly at both of his mates and gave them each a gentle kiss on the lips before standing up.

*Do you think that Remy will still want to be my mum?* he suddenly asked, hands trembling in nervousness as his mates stood as well, stretching out their stiff muscles.

Severus tensed. In all honesty he had no clue. He knew that Remus cared a great deal for Harry...but now that it was known that Harry was his child...

"If he doesn't, we'll work from there. For now we should get you dressed in different clothes and ready for dinner." he finally replied and scooped up the smaller teen in his arms.

*Hey! I can walk you know!* he signed indignantly. He was mute, not crippled.

Draco snickered, falling in step with his godfather as they made their way out of the library and up the winding staircase to the second floor, where Harry's room resided.

"We know, Ry. But it's just so much fun to hold you."

Draco actually laughed when his mate blushed beautifully. It was definitely calling up his more basic Veela instincts to protect. To love. To mate. But Draco adamantly stuffed the mating side down. Harry wasn't ready for that yet. Not yet.
Scenting the air, Draco smirked. It seemed Sev was experiencing the same problem.
Finally at Harry's room, Severus set his mate down and while the younger wizard scrambled into the bathroom to the shower, the two dominates set about getting Harry's clothes ready. They jointly decided on slightly loose black pants and a tight emerald green shirt. They didn't bother with footwear as Tom never wore shoes and didn't require his precious people to either.
Casting cleaning and various other primping charms on themselves, they sat on the bed to wait for Harry.

"Dumbledore did this to our mate. Made him doubt himself and the others who love him." Draco finally snapped.

He hadn't forgotten how they found Harry. Severus, although seething with anger, merely sighed.

"We will just have to show Harry that he can trust /us/. That he has a family here with us and our Lord." he replied, his obsidian eyes locking firmly with his godson's silver.

Draco nodded slowly. He understood the underlying conversation. Dumbledore would soon learn his mistake. Harry would be firmly theirs before he realized it. Their thoughts were drawn back to the bathroom as the water shut off.
A few minutes later Harry walked out, a towel around his waist and another in his hand as he roughly dried his hair. Severus and Draco hissed as one. All over Harry's body there were scars and burn marks. On his stomach was the word 'FREAK'. It looked to have been cut. With a wand.
Why hadn't Narcissa informed them of this when she had healed him?
Harry looked up at them then down at his body and he paled.