Luminescent
Part Nine
The Inquisition

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Pity, because I need the funds. I do own the Lugovaloses, however. Even if I still question if that's a good thing.

Warnings: This story contains SLASH. I'm glad we're clear on this point. There is also Umbridge bitchiness. I can't forget about Leon. I'm not sure how to warn you, since it's Leon being, well, Leon, but it's there so I'll warn you.

Author's Note: So, the next chapter. Break is almost over, but I do plan to get at least one more chapter in before I head back and loose all my free time. I'm really excited to get this chapter up, because it's Leon, and it doesn't get much better than Leon dealing with Umbitch. Seriously, I think you'll all enjoy the show.

To digiMist: Sorry for the confusion. Harry was screaming from the pain in his scar. I think I have that further explained later, but no spoilers for you! Sorry:P

To TheSlytherinMuggle: Not Harry in leather, Harry in skintight leather. Silly silly. Lol.

To Everyone: Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm glad you're still with me on the third book, and I'm still really glad you like Phyrrus so much. I've grown to like him too. Even if he does still have a tendency to drive me nuts. Although I'm willing to sell River and Rayne cheap. No, just kidding, I love them too. Usually. Lol.

Beyond all that, however, I'm still really thankful for the amazing reviews and I hope you stay faithful for longer.
Just do me one, teeny, tiny, little, bitty favor.
Enjoy Chapter Nine.
oOooOo

To everyone's shocked surprise--and relief--nothing actually exploded, and no one found any pranks played the day Umbridge announced the new position gifted to her by the ministry. River and Rayne were still obviously plotting something with the Weasely twins, but since none of the students--or other Hogwarts staff--appeared to be in any danger, they contented themselves with leaving it alone. After all, there was no reason to tempt fate or turn either set of twins against anyone aside from Umbridge. No, it was for the best she remain public enemy number one.

Harry sighed and flopped into the overstuffed chair, pulling his various assignments closer so he could work on more than one at a time. Phyrrus had a tendency to pick two related subjects, work on one until he was bored, then switch to another. Harry had, the year before, decided to try his boyfriend's way of work and found he actually did better on completely unrelated subjects, especially when he was looking at three or more at a time. That had gotten him some strange looks.

"What is it today?" Phyrrus asked, kicked his feet up on the coffee table and staring at Harry.

"Transfigurations, Potions, and Divination," Harry made a face. "Did you pick up your extra assignments like your mother said to?"

"Yes, thank you," Phyrrus crossed his eyes. In preparation for going to the Lugovalos farm for Thanksgiving, Phyrrus tended to get his assignments early so he could turn them in before he left for a week long vacation. Harry, who was finally going to accompany him, had opted to do the same. He didn't want to have homework there, nor did he want to have homework when he came back.

"Is Uncle Sev finally going too?" Harry wondered absently as he jotted down another notation in his potions essay.

"Finally," Phyrrus rolled his eyes. "We've been waiting forever. I thought Grandma was going to go insane when she heard you and Uncle Sev were going to get to come, and Grandma Carlisle is already planning something huge with her. I've never seen them so happy. That and this is going to be a huge Thanksgiving because Aunt Anya's family--Aunt Anya is Clayton's wife, by the way--is coming in from South America to party with us this year."

"What're they doing there?"

"Apparently her parents visited once and liked it so much they bought some random small island and live there now. I think it's near Northern Chile, but don't take my word on that. I don't keep track, and I don't like them much anyway."

"Why not?"

"You think Draco's snobby? Just wait until you meet them." Phyrrus snorted. "I met them once, and we had to sit through an entire two hours of them saying what a disgrace Dad was for being a squib. No thanks. I'm avoiding them like the plague!"

Harry shuddered, but chuckled all the same. "And Grandma Lugovalos likes them?"

"Not a chance. But she wants family to be together, so we'll deal. Just as long as they don't sleep at our house." All of the original fourteen Lugovalos siblings had houses on the huge family farm they either lived in or stayed at over vacations or breaks. Harry had seen Phyrrus' family homestead every summer for the past two, and knew fully well how crowded some of them were. They were all about the same size, and some of the Lugovalos siblings had more than ten children. It was no wonder they knew every place on the farm to hide. There was no privacy otherwise.

"So when are we leaving?" Harry finally looked up from his essays, giving Phyrrus his full attention.

"Monday before Thanksgiving, and we'll be back Saturday. That time change is killer while in school," Phyrrus explained, stretching.

"You really should do your homework," Harry pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Since Umbridge had made her announcement the first Monday of November, they would also have to put up with her before they left in three weeks. Since it was only Wednesday of the first week, Harry had a feeling it was going to feel like an eternity.

"When do you think Umbitch is going to start inspecting our classes?" Phyrrus obediently pulled out his work and spread it over the other half of the table. Charms and Transfigurations, just to match Harry's eclectic collection.

"I heard that's next Monday. So far she's just interviewed the professors and gotten some 'input' from the students. All though, I really can't say who she's talking to, because no one I've talked to, or any of our friends have talked to, has actually spoken to her." Harry mused, tapping his quill on the table.

Phyrrus raised an eyebrow and nodded at his boyfriend absently, trying to get at least a little work done so Hermione wouldn't pester him later and he could avoid the disappointed look Harry would certainly have on his face. "Holy shit," Hermione's choked voice rang through the common room, making most conversation grind to a halt. "Flame and Harry are actually working?"

Phyrrus winced and turned, giving Harry a smirk as they capped their ink bottles and swept their things into their schoolbags. "Dammit," Harry offered good naturedly to Hermione's half-teasing shock. "She caught us."

"Run away!" Phyrrus announced, grabbing his bag and Harry's before snatching up Harry's wrist and taking off up the stairs, Harry laughing like a loon behind him. Harry managed to offer a single wave at Hermione before they disappeared, and Hermione sighed, crossing her arms.

"You'd almost think they were afraid of me," She commented to no one, making most of the common room laugh as she grabbed a few rolls of parchment and headed towards the library. "Oh well."

Harry grinned at Phyrrus, leaning against the door. "She's gone, it's safe to go out, now."

Phyrrus gave a wicked smirk. "Who said I wanted to go out?" He asked softly, lifting Harry in his arms. "I can think of plenty of things to do right here."

Harry laughed, throwing his arms around Phyrrus' neck, green eyes half-lidded. "Oh, can you now?" Harry's tone was deep and smooth, making both of them shiver as Phyrrus leaned in for a kiss.

"I certainly can."

They were lucky Ron walked in right then, as neither were sure where it would have gone if he hadn't, but they could have done without his screams about his virgin eyes and for them to find a private room. Harry pouted. They weren't that bad, right?

Right?
oOooOo

"I don't want that woman in my classroom," Severus hissed, pacing across his study as Leon watched, one eyebrow half-raised at the potion master's frustration. "I don't want her anywhere near me, or near my students, or anything like that! I want her to go out in the forbidden forest and die."

"I think you're just nervous," Leon tried to soothe his lover, but Severus was having none of it.

"I'm not nervous," Severus hissed, glaring at Leon. "I'm annoyed. She's shit at potions, I've asked around and found that out, and having an absolute idiot in my classroom could be dangerous. It's not like we're working with simple muggle chemistry!"

"So have Neville turn her purple." Leon shrugged. "He can make it look like an accident. Well, if he's working with Hermione, of course."

"And get fired?" Severus frowned at Leon.

"Hey, you can come live with me," Leon smiled happily.

"And you're currently stationed over here," Severus reminded him, crossed his arms. "I don't think so. Besides, you're bound to get fed up with me at some point. There's no way I'm just going to upend myself and move across the ocean."

"Severus," Leon moved, then, tilting his lover's face up and catching his lips in a kiss, "I am not going to get fed up with you and leave you. Not now, and not ever."

"Don't say that," Severus pulled away. "I might begin to believe it."

"You should believe it," Leon sighed, knowing there was no way to convince Severus of that. Not until Severus had a ring on his finger. Which wouldn't be until New Year's, because that was in his order was due in. "But you'll be away for at least a little while. You deserve a vacation."

"With the mad house I'll be entering for your Thanksgiving celebration, I don't think it'll be a vacation." Severus shook his head and sighed. "At least I'll be away from here. But I need to think of a way to keep her from pestering my students while brewing. I can't have them distracted, we're due to go over one of the harder potions that'll surely be on the O.W.L.s this year, and I need them paying strict attention to what they're doing."

"I'm surprised you do this so early in the year." Leon blinked.

"It's not above their skills right now," Severus explained, shaking his head. "It is complicated, but it will allow them to see what they'll be in for on the O.W.L.s and to better prepare for them. I've found this works quite well to get them to take the class seriously when they discover what they'll be doing. Right now they don't know."

"I could go along," Leon suggested, rubbing his chin, "just to keep her in line. I'm no potions expert, but at least I can keep her out of your hair."

"I'm not sure what she'd say to that," Severus mused, before shrugging. "I suppose I'll need you to, then. Just make sure she doesn't bother the students. I have to monitor them. I can't divide my time between them and her. Make sure she knows that this is an important session and meet her at the door so she knows to pester you, not me."

"Just spell some eyes into the back of your head," Leon teased, pressing a kiss to Severus' lips. "I'll handle the rest."

Severus shook his head and allowed Leon to lead him back to the bedroom. He certainly hoped Leon was right.
oOooOo

Harry stepped gingerly into the potions classroom Monday morning, half expecting Severus to be standing at the board like an overgrown bat and order complete and utter silence. Severus was at the board, but he wasn't looming like Harry expected. Everyone was surprised to see Leon standing next to him as both quietly went over notes for the class. Taking their normal places, Harry and Phyrrus exchanged looks. "What on earth is going on?" Harry muttered, making Cyrrus and Draco shrug.

"Leon must be here for damage control," Cyrrus muttered, mostly to his cousin.

"That means that Umbridge is likely to be here and we're going to have a hard potion," Harry grumbled in reply. Hermione stared at Leon with a slight frown.

"I don't think unqualified people are supposed to be in here," She finally admitted, watching them closely. "I'm not sure how Umbridge will take this."

"Leon's qualified enough," Ron reminded them of Leon's real job. "Besides, he's not overseeing the potions. I bet he's just making sure Professor Snape can."

"This is bound to be a bad day," Draco spoke after several moments, making the others nod in agreement. "Here she comes."

The entire class was suddenly on their best behavior as Umbridge stepped through the door, quill and parchment in hand. To her surprise, it was not Severus that met her at the door, but Leon. "They will have a particularly difficult potion today, in preparation for the O.W.L.s," Leon explained, showing Umbridge to an empty table in the back. "Severus will need to keep vigilant watch over the students, so has asked me to answer any questions you may have during class. If you need anything further, he will speak with you afterwards. He simply didn't wish to risk safety for a simple evaluation."

"Take your seats," Severus' voice was always low and quiet, but it also caught everyone's attention. The students swept into place, quills and parchment out, hands folded, and ready to go for the day. Severus allowed a small smirk to cross his features. His students clearly hated Umbridge as much as he did. "We will be brewing the Forgetfulness Potion today. It is a complicated potion that requires intense concentration, so you will be working in pairs. This potion is often seen on the O.W.L.s, but I do not expect everyone to brew it correctly today as it is very violate.

"Should something happen, however, notify me immediately, as it could cause serious consequences. If I catch any horseplay today, you will be asked to leave, and you will not be returning to this class. Does everyone understand?" Severus crossed his arms.

"Yes, sir!" The class was surprised at both the expected failure and the warning.

"Good. Most of you are in acceptable pairs, however, some changes need to be made. Miss Granger, please work with Mr. Longbottom. Mr. Malfoy, you will work with Mr. Goyle. Mr. Zambini, please move to the seat next to Mr. Crabbe." Severus looked over his choices. The weakest with the strongest to avoid accidents. " Mr. Torrent, if you will work with Miss Parkinson," Severus directed. Pansy glanced over at the auburn haired boy to receive a polite nod in response. Cyrrus didn't necessarily get along with all of his house mates, but Pansy was a nice girl when she wasn't mooning over Malfoy.

Severus checked over everyone else and decided that they would be fine and that most of them were unlikely to blow up the potions lab. He wasn't sure about Weasely working with Lavender Brown, but both were adequate at Potions and would probably be fine. "There will be no talking except to your partner, and I expect that to remain quiet. You may consult page 478 for directions in your book, or the chalkboard."

The students rose to being work when Umbridge cleared her throat loudly. Everyone paused and stared at her, making Umbridge look slightly embarrassed before she glanced at Severus, arms crossed. "We will also be watched today," Severus added, gesturing ambiguously to Umbridge. "Be on your best behavior. Now, get to work."

Umbridge cleared her throat again, but everyone ignored her in the rush to gather ingredients. Harry and Phyrrus were efficient at it, Harry digging through their combined stores to gather what they already had while Phyrrus made his way to the front of the room to collect what they did not. He and Cyrrus carefully doled out several ingredients to other students as they collected their own, receiving other needed ingredients in return for their help, and soon all the students were back at their tables, double checking everything. "We're short some beetle eyes," Harry examined the collection. "And some lacewings."

"Anything else?" Phyrrus carefully measured some water into the cauldron.

"Armadillo bile," Harry finished taking stock. "I guess we didn't replace what we used last time."

"No, don't use what we have, remember, Professor Snape said it was going bad and would reduce potency."

"That's right. We didn't have time to clean out the vial so we didn't replace it. Don't put the water on until I'm back. We can't let it boil too early or it won't be right." Harry called, hurrying to the front of the room, aware of Umbridge's eyes on him the entire way.

"You are aware of the accusations that Mr. Lugovalos has abused Mr. Potter, correct?" Umbridge half-hissed to Leon.

"There is no evidence of the fact, Ms. Umbridge," Leon's cold reply caught her off guard. "And in this setting, he is either Flame or Mr. Flame since there is more than one Lugovalos in the room."

"But Professor Snape lets them work together?"

"He generally allows people to choose their own partners, but since the potion today could create problems, he has decided to pair his strongest brewers with his weakest in hopes of deterring mistakes." Leon watched them move around the room, Harry finally back at his table, the cauldron over the fire. Even the slowest of the pairs had finally settled into the real work, creating chopping sounds that spread quickly around the room. A few students called Severus over for questions, and others poked the people next to them for advice.

So far, so good.

Severus continued to oversee the students, mindful to watch Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle closely for mistakes. Hermione was doing well to keep Neville out of trouble, he listened to her without question, but Draco and Zambini were having more trouble with Goyle and Crabbe. Adjusting their potion every five minutes to prevent problems thanks to the oafs they were working with, both gave the professor a dark glare. Severus frowned. He'd have to make it up to them later.

"Crabbe, don't!" How Hermione noticed it all the way across the dungeon, Severus never knew, but he turned in time to see Crabbe add fly wings instead of lacewings to the potion while Zambini's back was turned to collect another ingredient.

The once-green potion turned a sick yellow, and Severus cursed, rushing towards the group. "Take it off the heat," Severus snarled, grateful he'd left the group near Cyrrus and Pansy who jumped into action almost immediately. Pansy tossed Cyrrus a heavy cloth, and the tall student reached over the table to wrench the heavy cauldron off the heat, miraculously not spilling a drop. "Don't touch it!" Severus added, skidding to a halt next to the bubbling potion.

"Give it to me: it's become an acid. Drinking this now would result in things no man would like to have occur," Severus smiled, showing teeth, and making Crabbe gulp. Severus sighed and collected the cauldron. "I will have to dispose of this properly," He added, carrying it to his desk and putting it down while he dug through his stores to find a neutralizer.

"Thanks, Crabbe," Zambini sighed sarcastically and buried his face in his hands. "You idiot."

"Fast thinking, Pansy," Cyrrus praised. "That was smart, to give me the cloth."

The petite blonde rolled her eyes. "Like I can reach over and pull that off? I figured that if you were half as strong as your cousin you'd be able to lift the thing without trouble."

"Still, that was fast thinking. I would've burnt myself," Cyrrus grinned. "We make a good team. We should seriously work together more often in here."

"Nice, Mr. Hero, but we need to add the lacewings ourselves about now," Pansy pointed out, grabbing the stir rod and directing Cyrrus to add the wings. Severus rested his head on his desk for a moment. Maybe he should have shifted the lesson over a day.

Harry frowned at the exhausted look on Severus' face as he shifted passed to refill part of his and Phyrrus' ingredients. Students were to replenish common ingredients from the school stores, and since the potion had to simmer for the next ten minutes, Harry decided that Phyrrus could watch it by himself while he gathered some things. Shifting slightly so he brushed Severus' arm, Harry let a thin trickle of power drift between them to replenish Severus' exhausted stores. He clearly hadn't been sleeping or eating well, despite Leon's best efforts.

Umbridge continued to stare at the controlled chaos called potions and made several more notes on her parchment as she watched. Leon casually read over her shoulder--though she wasn't aware of it--and smirked to himself. He would be able to refute several of those points later, to his relief. As would the rest of the class. "Okay, Neville, let's bottle this up," Hermione sounded proud of herself and Leon could see why when he glanced at the potion. It was an almost perfect potion, just needed a few little tweaks. Most of the class was ready to bottle it, with varying degrees of success, and Draco groaned as Goyle attempted to scrape some of the congealed potion from their cauldron. Leon wasn't sure what they'd done to get that, but he was fairly sure it wasn't Draco's fault.

As they carried them to the front, Severus directed them one of two ways. The almost perfect brews that just needed a little tweaking because of stale ingredients or slight mis-measurements, or the side that had completely ruined potions. They were all neatly labeled and set on his desk by the now-smoking cauldron once full of acid. "Those of you in this pile," Severus pointed to the almost perfect brews. There were only four on the desk. "Will have one foot on the effects of this potion."

He glared at the other pile. "Those of you with potions in this pile will be writing three feet on how to brew this potion, and how the ingredients interact with each other to make it. I also want you to try to figure out where your potion went so wrong. Next class we will explore these possibilities as we re-brew a few variations and try to re-create some of this. You are dismissed."

Harry and Phyrrus did manage an almost-perfect potion, and were the only other Gryffindors that did. On the other side, Pansy and Cyrrus had an almost perfect potion as did another set of Slytherin girls. "I should assign pairs more often," Severus muttered, going back to talk to Umbridge. She looked rather irked with him for ignoring her.

"How dare you ignore me!" She screamed at him.

"I was trying to get through a dangerous lesson with no mishaps," Severus broke in smoothly. "There are a lot of things to do before O.W.L.s, and this allows them to understand that. I couldn't afford to have my concentration split today, as you could see."

"Why give them such a complicated potion, then," Umbridge hissed, eyes narrowing.

"Because this helps them learn," Severus began to clean his room for the next class.

"And why is an untrained oaf in this room?" She demanded, glaring at Leon.

Severus bit back several replies about how she was the one inspecting his classroom so it was necessary until he found a suitable answer for Leon's presence as opposed to her own. "You said you would need to ask questions," Severus' smooth answer caught her off guard. "I needed to concentrate. Leon knows his way around far more complex potions than this, so I felt it would behoove me to allow him in here to keep you occupied. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other classes to prepare for."

"And I have another assignment," Leon offered, twiddling his fingers in a parody of a wave before slipping out of the classroom. Severus ignored her while he cleaned the room and Umbridge glared. How dare they even think of ignoring her?

"Class is dismissed," Severus pointed out. "I believe you need to make it to the North Tower for Divination?"

Umbridge glared at him a little longer before snatching up her things and striding furiously from the room. Severus snickered behind her. He probably shouldn't have riled her like that, but it had been so much fun. Hopefully it wouldn't cost him his job.
oOooOo

It wasn't until later, when Leon and Severus were both safely locked away in Severus' quarters that they felt safe enough to burst into laughter. "Did you see the look on that toad's face when I offered to show her around?" Leon howled, fists beating the floor.

Severus was more calm in his laughter, shaking his head at his lover's antics and sighing. "And if this cost me my job?"

"Then you can come to America with me," Leon smiled, eyes crinkling. "You like is there so much better anyway."

Severus shook his head, facing the ground. It was true he liked America, where people didn't know or understand what the dark mark was, and where he could enjoy being himself. No one on the farm cared if he holed himself up with his potions, or that he was awkward in social situations, or that he had no idea what it meant to be a farmer. They just helped him along. Over the past two summers, Severus had loved staying with Leon's family. They had adopted him as their own, really, even if he was just Leon's lover.

Many times over the summer, Leon's nieces or nephews would bring him fresh ingredients they saw in the farmyard that they knew he used in his potions, or would take him to find his own in places they had planted randomly amidst the regular farm plants. A few of the aunts grew herbs and other potions ingredients, and the animals around the farm were also, occasionally, useful. And when Severus wasn't brewing potions, they included him there in a way he never was at Hogwarts. The other teachers at Hogwarts had a strictly professional demeanor with Severus. Minerva didn't invite him out for drinks, Filius didn't ask him for a casual game of chess, and not even Albus dragged him out of his dungeons.

At the farm, Severus was rarely left alone. The families took it for granted they had free run of each others homes, since they were all family, and didn't bother to knock when they entered. They knew better than to sneak up on Leon, and had quickly learned that some of Severus' experiments were dangerous, but Severus had also learned to put a sign up when that was the case. When the sign was down, though, a steady stream of family members were in and out of the house, working, looking for help, or even just wanting to relax. And when Severus wasn't working on a potion, they were finding something else for him to do. It didn't matter if they had to explain every step; they felt he had the need, and the right, to learn.

Over the last summer, Severus had even learned to drive. Automatic and stick. Montague had felt that Severus needed to learn, and so they began Severus' education. First on a four-wheeler, then on a tractor, then in a truck. Severus never had anyone to even ask for driving lessons, and Montague had been the one to insist. Severus was surprised that anyone would even want to teach him. They'd even let him drive the combine for a little bit, with Bastion--one of Leon's in-laws--with him.

"I couldn't," Severus protested softly, looking around the room. "I'm needed here. To help with the war."

"But you don't need the war," Leon told him gently, wrapping his arms around him. "It's killing you, and that's killing me."

"It doesn't matter. No one here understands just how dark war is. The children as innocent, and the teachers. . . they haven't had the same experience I have. Most of them have always fought behind the front lines. I can't. . . I can't leave them blind." Severus shook his head. "Harry needs this, too."

"Harry needs a lot of things." Leon agreed, cuddling his lover close. "I think. . . I think Phyrrus was the best thing to happen to him."

"It's not just Flame," Severus disagreed. "All of you. Before this, all he had were the Dursleys and Dumbledore. The Dursleys. . . there's no love lost between them, but Albus. . . no matter how much he loves the boy, all he can see is his weapon. And Harry. . . Harry is no weapon. He's a child. And I can't leave him here to fight alone."

"We won't leave him to fight alone," Leon's blue-green eyes hardened. "If we hear of it. . . we'll all fight."

Severus nodded, burying his face in Leon's chest, mostly to muffle his laughter. "I just pictured your mother fighting the dark lord."

The thought of Grandma Lugovalos chasing after Voldemort was too much for Leon, and he collapsed again. Then he smirked. He just thought of a suitable punishment for the blood quills.

And it involved his mother.
oOooOo