The Arcobaleno were his Family at this point.

Skull isn't even sure how it happened.

It hadn't been planned.

Hell, Skull had been sure it wouldn't happen.

Not with the way the others all looked down on him, how they judged him, how they hit him and then hit him again, how they never took him seriously.

At first he had only come back to them because it had been such a contrast to being 'Harry'. It was nearly the opposite. He was considered 'weak' he didn't have to lead anybody, no one asked him to charge in and save somebody, no one looked to him for the answers.

He was just a Lackey. A nobody who had been called in to the World's Strongest.

It was strangely…relieving.

He was…free.

There was no expectations to drown in, no demands beyond physical labor and even that…well he'd been doing that since he was old enough to understand orders, so what did this matter?

It had been a slow process to be sure, something Skull hadn't realized had happened until his protective instincts kicked in.

War…war had effects on people. Hermione had once said he had a 'saving people thing'. She had been right once. He used to have that, the urge to stand up for those who needed it- whoever needed it.

War changed that. Skull had learned the hard dirty way that there was no saving everyone. So he shifted his focus.

He was vicious about protecting what was his. He couldn't save everyone, so he saved his people. Protected them.

He almost laughed all those years later when he learned about Cloud Flames. He was an Inverted Cloud meaning some Classic Cloud characteristics flipped. For example- Skull liked contact (he suspected this came from his childhood at the Dursley's house and all the negative attention he received) but only from those he chose. As a Cloud he didn't react well if strangers tried getting close. Another example- Clouds were stubborn- usually about everything. Their way or the highway. Skull was willing to compromise if there was a compelling reason though he still had that steel spine most Clouds were known for when it was needed. Something else that Skull differed from with most Clouds- most Clouds had territory that they guarded for most this was a town. Skull didn't have any sort of happy memories attached to his home in England so Skull's territory tended to be people.

Not in the sense that he owned them, Skull would never even think about claiming to own anybody- he was a Cloud and all Clouds no matter where they fell on the scale valued their freedom above all things. (This, Skull knew, was especially true for him after he realized how he had been lead around by the nose when he was younger.)

No- people that Skull claimed as his found that they had a vicious protector when the need arose. Someone who would guide them if it was needed but was most content to walk at their side, only stepping in front of them if it was to shield them, or behind them to block the unseen dagger aimed for the throat.

Skull had what amounted to a network of informants, and he used them to stay three steps ahead of those who meant to harm his people.

This too, was a mark of war.

Skull was paranoid. Most couldn't tell just looking at him, not with the over the top antics he tended to use, they dismissed him as a threat dismissed him as a fool, but he really was. It wasn't paranoia if they were really out to get you, and Skull (Harry) had quite the number of people who wanted him dead or captured after the war. Some because they were remnants of the war and others because they wanted their General.

But Skull?

He was a Cloud and he would go where he chose.