Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from writing this. It's actually pulling me away from the non-fanfiction writing that I'm supposed to be doing, so take that for what it is.
Author's Note: The German numbers have no real significance to the story - they're just the titles to these chapters. (I apologize for any confusion brought about by the sudden language change.) And this is probably the last chapter until closer to Christmas - Final exams are a killer and I need to focus on those until the semester is over.
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Chapter 8: Drei
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Upon first seeing Pepper, most people thought she was nothing more than a frail old lady. She stood about five feet tall, and she looked very much like a strong gust of wind could knock her onto her back. Her light brown eyes were constantly on guard, and she was incredibly proud of her short, bright blue mohawk.
The first time that Harry saw Pepper, back when he was six years old, she was just finishing up lighting someone's hair on fire for insinuating that she was senile. That immediately killed any interest that he might have had in taunting the woman, and it had inspired a sort of hero worship in him that lasted as he got older.
...
"Well, if it isn't the little boy who plays with snakes," Pepper said with a smile as Harry walked into the restaurant. "And I thought I told you last time that I don't like seeing that snake looped around your neck," she added.
Harry scowled, raising a hand up to rub Aviva's head almost reassuringly. "She hasn't hurt me yet," he said. "So there hasn't been a problem. Anyway, that's not why I came over here," he added.
"No, I don't suppose that it would be," she said, studying the look on the young man's face. "What's wrong?" she asked after a minute.
"He's back in the shop, and he's trying to keep them at a distance, but they keep on pushing him," Harry said hurriedly. "And he told me what he is and that's making me and the snakes more nervous, because his claws are coming out and he might actually do some lasting damage."
"Slow down a minute, baby," she said, taking hold of Harry's hands with her own hands.
He paused, allowing the soothing pulses she sent him to do their jobs and calm him down a bit.
"Take a deep breath and start again, honey," Pepper said.
"Two light wizards have Toby cornered back in the shop, and he's holding them off as best he can, but they've still got the advantage on him somehow," Harry said. "He got me into the back office and told me to come get you so that you can get rid of them."
Pepper straightened a bit, finally letting go of the young man's hands. "I'll excuse the presence of the snake, then," she said absently before pulling her wand off of a nearby table. "Let's go, and we're going back inside through the door that you snuck out of," she added.
Harry nodded and led the way.
...
When they made it back into the shop, Harry noticed that Severus was gone, and there was some blood where he had previously been standing.
Albus, though, had managed to back the blond demon against the back wall of the shop and had his wand pressed just under Tobias' right eye. "You are making this far more difficult than it needs to be, my boy," he said.
Harry opened his mouth and took half a step forward to try and intervene, but Pepper put a hand on his chest to stop him. He glanced down at her and she shook her head slightly.
"You're going to have to kill me, old man," Tobias said with a feral grin. He spat out a bit of blood onto Albus' robes. "And I don't know shit about what you're asking about," he snapped.
The old man murmured something and a cut suddenly appeared on Tobias' face, accompanied by a small hiss from the demon.
Pepper took a step forward, deliberately putting herself in front of Harry, and cleared her throat loudly.
Albus looked over at her and frowned. "Is there something that I can help you with, madam?" he asked, not even bothering to hide his patronizing tone of voice.
"You can start by putting your wand back in your sleeve, and you may then step away from my welcomed guest," she said, her tone glacial.
Albus watched her for a long moment, and it seemed like he wasn't going to do as Pepper told him.
She narrowed her eyes at him and immediately the temperature in the shop lowered about ten degrees.
Harry hissed irritably at the sudden temperature change - a sentiment that was echoed by most of the snakes present in the main room. "Pepper," he snapped quietly, looking down at the old woman. "A warning would be helpful next time," he hissed.
"Young man, I will not tolerate your backtalk right now," Pepper said without looking at him. "Now, sir, I will tell you again to lower your wand and step away from the man who you just assaulted."
Albus hesitated another long moment.
Harry growled and walked over to Tobias, grabbing the blond man's arm and pulling him out of the old man's hold. "You're coming upstairs with me," he said coldly, ignoring the shocked looks on both Tobias' and Albus' faces. "Pepper, put the temperature back when it's safe again, would you?" he asked.
...
Tobias made himself comfortable on the sitting room of the loft above the shop while Harry paced back and forth in front of the couch. "I'm going to be fine, little boy," Tobias said after a moment. He took hold of Harry's hand and gently pulled the younger man to sit on the couch next to him.
"You're bleeding," Harry said plainly. "And I don't know if I want to know what happened while I was out getting Pepper," he added.
Tobias scowled. "You don't want to know, Harry, and I don't want to tell you," he said. "Because I don't want you exposed to the sort of hatred against my kind that the Light wizards regularly employ," he said.
"It was that bad?" Harry asked.
Tobias nodded. "He did not learn what he set out to find out, though, and Pepper will make sure that he doesn't get any answers at all," he said.
"But what was it that he wanted to find out?" Harry asked.
"You haven't asked Cain yet?" Tobias asked curiously, leaning back in the sofa. "I'd have thought that you would already know all about that," he said.
Harry frowned. He leaned over and pressed his hand against the cut on Tobias' forehead, silently healing it. "If it has something to do with my life before living here with Cain, then I've deliberately not asked about it," he said. "And at the moment, I don't particularly care about that life."
"Why not?" Tobias asked. "You've never brought it up with me before, but I always thought that was because Cain was answering your questions and you didn't need me to fill anything in for you."
Harry shook his head. "The only thing that I remember about that life was my Uncle threatening to kill me and my cousin beating the living shit out of me, so I never had any interest in remembering anything else about that life," he said. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked.
"My ribs a bit, but that's not from the old man," he said, wincing when Harry put a hand on his chest and carefully healed the few broken ribs. "That's from the demon making its appearance," he said.
A calm silence settled in between the two, and as a number of snakes moved into the sitting room, they heard a loud crashing sound from the floor below.
Harry could hear Bull's agitated cursing from his spot on the couch, and he couldn't help but grin when he heard a familiar string of cursing from Pepper. He looked back over at Tobias. "So, the old man came here to get answers about me?" he asked.
Tobias nodded. "Cain should have at least filled you on the basics," he muttered.
"You could do that right now," Harry suggested.
The blond man shook his head. "I can't," he said quietly. "I only know what Cain told me, and that was only enough to convince me that he should keep you around," he added.
"Great," Harry said, standing up and resuming his pacing.
"Thomas might have some answers about your past," Aviva hissed from her spot around Harry's neck. "He did seem to be in charge of Cain when the two of you visited his Manor," she said.
Harry nodded a bit. "I'll ask him if he shows up again, I suppose," he said.
Another loud crash from downstairs caught both of their attention and Harry turned, ready to head downstairs to see what was going on, but Tobias grabbed his arm. "I refuse to let this shop fall to ruin while Cain is away," Harry said, jerking his arm from Tobias' hold.
"Then stay up here where you're safe, little boy," Tobias said quietly. "Pepper is not as powerful as the ever revered Albus Dumbledore, but she has the home field advantage and she likes to make noise," he added, but another crash had him sighing heavily. "Let her work her magic," he said with a slight grin.
Harry hesitated, but nodded as Bull slipped into the sitting room.
"Tell Tobias that the old woman is insane," Bull said, looking over at Tobias and hissing irritably at the man. "And he is the one responsible for bringing her here, so I hold him fully accountable."
Tobias looked at Harry. "That wasn't a nice thing that he said, was it?" he asked.
Harry just shook his head.
...
After another hour and three more crashes, Pepper walked upstairs to the sitting room.
"Is everything alright?" Tobias asked, looking over at the woman.
She smiled tiredly at him. "That was quite the workout," she said, panting slightly. "But he won't be coming back into the courtyard unless he wants to risk crossing paths with me again," she added. "Harry, be a good lad and fetch me something to drink, would you?" she asked.
Harry nodded and stood up. He glanced back at Tobias. "Did you want anything to eat or drink?" he asked.
"I'll be fine for now," he said quietly. "Just keep the anaconda away from me and there won't be any more exciting new situations to deal with."
Harry grinned. "Bull, make sure to respect Toby's personal space," he hissed before heading into the kitchen and fixing the berry tea that Pepper asked for whenever she came to visit the shop.
"If there are people who are willing to show up and start demanding answers to questions about you, it is very much within your best interest to find out what they were so keen on finding out," Aviva hissed quietly.
Harry hesitated a moment but nodded. "I'll ask Cain when he returns to the shop, and I'll ask Thomas if he knows anything when he shows up again," he said.
Aviva chuckled. "About an hour ago, it was 'if' he showed up and now it is 'when' he shows up," she said. "What is it about this man that has you so fascinated?" she asked.
Harry just shrugged and walked back out to the sitting room with Pepper's tea. He handed it to her and took a seat on the sofa next to Tobias.
"Now," Pepper said once she had made herself comfortable in the armchair across from the sofa. She took a small sip of her tea and looked over at the two of them. "Would either of you care to tell me just what the hell happened that you needed me to step in?" she asked. "Or are you going to make excuses?"
Tobias leaned forward, crossing his arms over his chest. "Apparently, the British Potions Master dropped by to see if Harry was willing to sell him some incredibly illegal items -"
"And I didn't," Harry interjected. "And the one thing that wasn't illegal involved him carving open one of my snakes," he said quietly.
"Right," Tobias said. "And our boy recognized the man for the scum that he is, and refused to even tolerate him. He sent him packing and I dropped by, but the Potions Master came by today with Albus fucking Dumbledore as back up," he said. "They started pushing some issues that they really had no business pushing, so I sent our boy to get you."
"Why does it matter?" Harry asked.
Pepper looked over at him. "I normally try not to attack the famed Leader of the Light without a good reason, and while I usually do my best to make sure that I have that reason before the fight starts, I was willing to make an exception this time," she said. "It also helps iron out any sort of legal issues that might crop up from this little altercation of ours. Now, am I going to have to tell Cain about this?" she asked.
Harry and Tobias looked over at each other before staring at the floor in front of them, neither of them offering an answer to Pepper.
"Harry, am I going to have to tell Cain about this attack?" Pepper asked, leveling her brown eyes onto the younger man.
A sudden movement in the doorway of the sitting room captured the attention of all three occupants of the room.
A black traveling cloak was set on the bookshelf next to the doorway and the owner of the coat took a step inside the room. "What attack?" he asked coldly.
