The Chronicles of Black.

"Well, you seem perfectly fine." Remus sounded amazed yet relieved and his stance sort of shrunk as he relaxed. "I'm so happy."

Harry nodded. "James and Lily will always be my mum and dad, always, and nothing will ever change that, but I never knew them. I have no memories of them, only of the night they died when a Dementor comes too close to me and that's not a memory that I like thinking about, it's too painful. Yet, I never had anyone to replace them once they were gone, not until now and Lucius…he's the only father that I've ever known. No one else has ever been a father figure to me and Narcissa is the same. She's a mother to me now and I'm so happy. I've never had any sort of parental figure before, no one I could call family before. I was just getting used to Sirius and then he was snatched away from me. Lucius is stern, of course, but he cares about me, Remus. He's teaching me so much and he's sorting everything out for me, absolutely everything. He's getting me back on track to be a true grown man and I'm so grateful. He and Narcissa are teaching me things that I actually need to know, things that aren't taught at Hogwarts and no one else thought to teach me; things like how to magically pay bills, how to run a magical household, how to conduct myself in the Wizengamot, even how to care for a magical newborn. I had no idea how to do any of that, yet, it's only since I was adopted by the Malfoys that I've been taught how to do these things."

"I know your relatives are muggles, but weren't they showing you how to run a household?" Remus asked bemusedly.

Harry snorted harshly. "They taught me how to cook and clean, and how to garden, and paint a fence and the outside of a house with no ladder. Oh, and how to ration food, but that's about it. They were unfit to care for a child, Remus. What did you think the newspaper article meant when they reported that I was removed from them for 'unspecified neglect'? It's why Lucius adopted me when it came out at Gringotts." Harry lied.

He and Lucius had talked endlessly about him going back to Hogwarts and it was by mutual agreement that they decided not to mention Dumbledore's neglect as a magical guardian. Lucius wanted Dumbledore to believe that Harry was still 'on his side' so to say, just in case something happened to him while he was at the school and Lucius was so far away.

So, instead of skirting the issue or changing the topic as he had discussed with Lucius, Harry was twisting the truth slightly and the 'unspecified neglect' that the papers had mentioned as the reason behind Lucius adopting him was now the abuse that the Dursleys had put him through, seeing as all of that was going to come out too. He could easily make that the reason behind his adoption, even though Lucius didn't know about the abuse of the Dursleys yet and it had actually been Dumbledore's neglect as a magical guardian that had spurned Lucius into adopting him almost two months ago now.

"You should have come to speak to me before all of this, Harry." Harry looked at Dumbledore sitting behind his desk for the first time and he crushed the wave of cold, icy rage before he could give himself away.

"I had very little choice in the matter. I was taken to the Ministry via a guard without being told what was going on, just that my immediate presence was required at the Ministry and that I was to bring all of my belongings and then, when I arrived, I was immediately handed over to Lucius and I was told that he'd adopted me and that he was now my legal guardian. I admit that I was very unhappy in the beginning, I did pitch a fit, but I was unceremoniously told to shut up, that I couldn't do anything to change what had happened and to go home with my new custodian. Frankly, I don't care anymore, the Malfoys are the best thing to ever happen to me."

"Do you really mean that?" Remus asked him. Harry nodded firmly. "I do. Everything that has happened in these last seven weeks…everything I've learnt, everything I've been given and taught, to how I've been treated…I don't ever want to lose that now."

"Have you signed anything for Mister Malfoy, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry scrunched up his face. "No, why would he have me sign anything?"

"Would you care for a lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered randomly.

"No, thank you. I've just eaten dinner and I'm planning on going to bed very soon."

"Are you sure he hasn't made you sign anything?"

Harry frowned. "I'm not sure I like the way that you're insinuating that I have poor memory, Headmaster." Harry stressed. "I haven't signed anything, only the papers in Gringotts to allow me to claim both of my lordships early and that was my doing, not my father's."

"This really has to stop, my boy."

"What does?" Harry asked, just a slight bite of anger in his tone.

"You know that Lucius is not your father, James Potter is."

"As I said just a moment ago to Remus, James and Lily will always be my parents. Always. They loved me, cared for me, did everything for me and they even died for me. I'm not forgetting what they did and I'm not replacing them because, to me, there's nothing to replace. I don't remember anything about them, I didn't even know what they looked like until I looked into the Mirror of Erised in my first year and I never had a picture of them until Hagrid gave me that photo album in my first year. I was eleven before I even knew what they looked like…what else am I supposed to do? If someone offers me a loving, caring home where I can learn to be a strong, independent man, but still have all the love, care, and support that I need, I'm going to take it with both hands because I've never had it before and now that I have had it…I crave it. I crave all of it and I won't be able to let go; I don't want to let go of that."

"You disappoint me, Harry."

"Why? Because I choose to live in a loving home instead of the abusive hell that I was living in before? Why does that disappoint you? No, in fact, what the hell does it have to do with you in the first place?" Harry demanded angrily. "As my father said at our last meeting, you are the headmaster of my school, nothing more, so why am I even here? Is this meeting to do with my education? Why are my living arrangements so interesting to you? It shouldn't matter to the headmaster of a mere school where I'm living!"

"You know why." Dumbledore said quietly. "You know about the prophecy, I told you…"

"Fuck that stupid prophecy, it was made by an insane old woman who drinks far too much cooking sherry and suffocates herself with incense in a tiny room stuffed in the top of a tiny tower. I don't believe a damn word of it!" Harry shouted.

A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "Watch your language, Harry." Was all that Remus said and Harry breathed in deeply and composed himself.

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