Chapter Text
Harry knows his family is weird, if only because he knows they are nothing like the Dursleys, who are completely normal.
He knows it in the nonanswers he gets to certain questions (“Hey Dawn, I need a book recommendation for the Philosopher's stone.” “Get a bunch of chocolate frogs.”). He knows it in the way that Riddle’s eyes will flash red and his hands will shake and sometimes Dawn and Riddle have rows to rival dragons, although Harry The Yellow One always makes sure he can’t understand what they’re saying. He knows it by the way only two people in the house ever age, and those are him and Kreacher. He knows it in the ways that Dawn will vanish for hours or days and the top floor becomes a warzone of magic and shattering objects (“It’s PTSD,” Yellow explains when Harry is five. “It happens to people who have been through bad things, of any type, and Dawn’s gone through a lot of them.”). He knows it in the way Ither struggles with words and seems to be learning english despite other conversations being had perfectly. (Harry learns much, much later that Ither grew up speaking only parseltongue and really is learning english). He knows it in the way that Les isn’t allowed out alone, the way he laughs sometimes and is the most threatening thing in the house. He knows it from the way Riddle smirks and hides, wanting to talk to a dad that he doesn’t share, despite being their brother. He knows it in the way Dawn introduced him to his parents when he was nine - shades of them, at least. Her version of their parents, who died during one war and watched as Dawn fought through the other.
He knows it in the way Yellow’s head starts bleeding when he does strong magic, the way Yellow and Riddle talk about souls as though they can be moved and cut and shared, when it’s supposed to be one soul per person.
He knows it in the way that Dawn freezes, the way Les cackles, the way Riddle snarls, the way Ither tilts his head, the way Yellow reads. And Harry knows it in the way they hug, always tossing insults and compliments in equal measure and always, always protecting each other.
They’re immune to some of the worst curses out there, but the mere attempt from an unknown wizard to kill Riddle ended with them foaming at the end of Les’ wand. Dawn wasn’t happy.
When Harry boards the train, it’s with a smile and an understanding and wondering if maybe he should go into ravenclaw just to complete the family set. (Les and Riddle are Slytherins, Dawn’s a Gryffindor, and Yellow’s a Hufflepuff. Ither hasn’t been sorted. He’s too little.)
He meets Ron and Draco and sees the twins and Percy and Lee and Hermione and Neville and Lavender and… and a lot of the names he learns are names he knows, from Riddle and Dawn’s stories and Dawn’s nightmares. It’s a bit worrying.
It’s less worrying when he realizes that yes, his family is very, very nonsensical and has a penchant for riddles (he can’t wait to say that to Riddle’s face, because it will be glorious), but his family also cares for him implicitly. They give him veiled hints and point out passageways and Ither and Riddle teach him how to make friends with the Basilisk in the basement despite Dawn’s disapproval.
When Quirrel dies, it’s Dawn who meets him when he wakes up, who talks about the war she tried to hide - she talks about watching her best friend’s sister die, how Rachel had screamed and tried to rush straight back into danger and how Dawn had wanted to too, but Perenelle and Felicity were there to get revenge, so she, Rachel, and Hermes helped protect the body before they went to finish it. She tells him about Blood and Love and Souls and their inherent magic and how there are ways to use it on purpose, and Dumbledore listens from where Dawn is ignoring him, because if he can finally understand the danger he caused in his pursuit of peace, if he can make the connections, that would be wonderful. But the real reason she doesn’t stop is because not only does Dawn wish her headmistress had been this straight with her, but Harry deserves to know.
And weeks later, when Harry wakes up sweating because Quirrel’s face is haunting his dreams, ripping apart at the seams, he goes to Dawn. And he asks her if she ever killed anyone.
And she tells him. She tells him about how she had dusted someone, similar to what he did to his professor, about when she used unforgivable spells, about watching someone she hated die by the hands of her enemy and realizing that yes, she was horrible to Dawn, but she wasn’t evil. She tells him again about blood wards and love wards and the powers that protect people and about the time she died to erect some of her own before her secondary soul glitch brought her back. She tells him about meeting her parents and godmother and aunt in the forbidden forest with the resurrection stone, about the memories of watching her dad die. She tells him everything that’s horrible and and how she dealt with it or how she is dealing with it or how she should have dealt with it ages ago. And thats… important.
Riddle talks to him about horcruxes and how souls can be preserved when Harry asks. Together, Dawn, Yellow, and Riddle get more in depth about everything. Why Yellow’s scar bleeds, why Riddle can’t get hurt, why Dawn is here even though she died. Riddle talks about reactions and relationships and how they play into the wards, and brings up a version of Les that Harry has never met. Dawn talks about constructing them, about loyalty and phoenixes and goblin metal. Yellow slips away from the theme to talk about seers. He tells Harry about clues and riddles and how they want him to grow, but he can ask for help. He tells Harry about Luna and Trewlany and Dawn tells him about Rachel and they’re all there, all stuck, and.
And when Harry comes back for his second year, he understands what Dumbledore didn’t tell him. He recognises the horcrux and tells Tom he knows his son. He takes the diary home and gives it to Riddle, who is grateful despite the later row about Harry’s safety.
He talks to the Basilisk and tries to tame her or at least make her less spited and it doesn’t really work well, but he never stops trying because Ither knows a basilisk and loves that one with all his heart - Harry wants to do right by the unknown snake who kept his brother alive.
He talks to Dobby and still sets him free - offers him a home should he ever need it.
Dawn cries when Dobby shows up, and she loves him so.
That Christmas, he takes a chance and invites professor Snape to hang with them for the holidays. Its rather.. wild. Snape isn't convinced his family isn't high. Harry just explains they're going slightly insane from immortality.
Snape goes along with it. It helps Dawn immensely.
(Later, much later, when Voldemort is back by Cedric's blood and everyone is worried, Snape makes a suggestion. It's small, simple, and honest. "I think we would have a much larger chance at winning if we recruited the Potters."
"Severus, he's already coming, the prophecy will make sure of that."
"Not Harry Potter. The immortal Potters."
And that gets them into an explanation. It’s actually… easy to talk about them. The Order isn't happy to learn Harry has almost never lived with his aunt and uncle, but by Snape's accounts the place isn't that bad. Riddle talks about murder and immortality and has the self preservation of a confounded rat, but he's also very immortal so it's… less worrying. (He wants to kill the Malfoys but won't because he loves Dawn and Dawn has bleed over from Cassiopeia and Leo and Levanna). Lestrange is demented and creepy and hard to get a read on. Yellow is nice and he likes to learn. Dawn is disturbed but she hides it well and she fights like a valkyrie. Ither doesn't fight but he talks nicely and has an actual army of snake informants. It's interesting.)