PB10

Disclaimer – I don't own it – just having a party with my favorite characters.

Chapter 10

Albus entered the Malfoy's brightly decorated sitting room trailed by a happily grinning Fudge. He intended to have a witness, in case the Malfoys got ugly with him. He was relieved to see Severus ensconced in a chair surrounded by the three boys – he was sure to have persuaded Harry that Albus was just doing 'the right thing' in all that had happened and to be properly enthused that the Headmaster was bringing a present to him.

Minister Fudge greeted everyone and accepted thanks from Draco, Harry and Dudley for the presents from the Fudge family that had arrived by owl post. Albus frowned, belatedly realizing he should have brought token gifts for the other children.

Severus stood with a faint smile and suggested they let Albus speak with Harry for a bit. They'd decided to let Albus have his way – with a large number of listening spells and the room heavily warded for any spells Albus might try to cast – such as coercion and tracking charms. Lucius scowled and appeared to give in with ill grace and they left with apparent reluctance. This would reassure Albus that Severus was doing his job and had some influence with the Malfoys and Vernon Dursley.

Severus had given Harry a few pointers on handling the scenario with Albus, though Harry's assured him that he could read surface emotions and that often helped in these situations and that reassured Severus a bit. Harry had told him this before, but he was wary of the ability. Albus did know some Occlumency and that could mask emotions.

None the less, Harry was now sitting next to Albus - giving him a neutral look and suppressing the mischievous impulse to ask where Dudley and Draco's presents were. Albus held the glittering present in his hands and donned his best kindly grandfather persona and spoke in grave tones with a bit of sorrow in them.

"Before he was killed your father, James, entrusted me with this cloak … a very fine invisibility cloak." Albus smiled and pushed the merrily sparkling package toward Harry. "I know he would have wanted you to have this … and he would have wanted you to use it well, Harry."

Harry dropped his eyes to the gift, glad to have an excuse to not meet the Headmaster's eyes. True, he was thrilled to receive the gift, however he somewhat resented having to behave like the Headmaster was doing anything more than returning his rightful property. Albus giving back something that was not his to keep did not require more than a polite 'thank you' from Harry as far as Harry was concerned.

Still, he needed to play along. It wasn't difficult to act delighted at receiving the cloak; in truth he was ecstatic to have another possession of his father's. Aunt Petunia had given him some trinkets that Lily had left with their parents when she had married – childhood treasures and a few things from her teen years. They had been carefully put in a box and stored while they were living in the hotel. There had been nothing of James' except for a few photos spelled to remain still that Lily had sent to Petunia while they had written each other. Getting the map off the twins and now this cloak … they might be the only personal effects of James' he might ever get.

"Thank you so much, Headmaster …" Harry managed to choke out, hoping the man thought he was choked with tears and not anger. Harry could feel smug satisfaction ooze out to join the sense of eagerness that Harry had felt when the Headmaster had first arrived. "I'm sure it will come in handy …" Harry allowed a smug smile to creep out for extra effect – he knew Albus must be wanting Harry to step up his pranks and hopefully start looking for the Sorcerer's Stone. The surge in the eagerness following Harry's words told him he was right.

Albus felt quite cheered and launched into a few tales of James' exploits with the Marauders that Albus was aware of … throwing in a few of the pranks that had been pulled on Severus, telling the stories with a twinkling eye and in a chummy 'just between us Gryffindors' sort of tone.

Harry fought to keep the smile on his face. Sure, Petunia had known that James and his friends had been bitter rivals … she had not tried to hide that, knowing that Harry and Severus would need to get along and had wanted Harry to understand why a bit of patience with Severus would be needed. The tales Albus was telling were of much more mean-spirited pranks that Petunia had known of. Harry could only guess that Lily had not known of them and therefore had not passed them on to Petunia.

Harry's heart plummeted while Albus blathered on until Harry shakily said he wanted to show the cloak to Dudley and Draco. Albus clenched his teeth and it was his turn to fight to keep a smile on his face at the thought of Harry sharing the cloak. Albus nodded shortly and then threw in another shocker.

"A friend of your fathers – the Remus Lupin I mentioned in my stories – has expressed a wish to see you. I hope you will ask your Uncle to set up a time to meet with him?" Albus twinkled happily as Harry nodded uncertainly – he didn't have a ready answer for this.

Back in Lucius' study the mention of Remus caused immediate chaos. Luckily Cornelius had already taken his leave to visit other 'important families', so he did not witness Severus' wild lunge toward the door to stop Harry from agreeing to meet Remus Lupin.

Lucius and Vernon each grabbed an arm to stop him, causing Severus to spit out a few choice expletives that made Draco and Dudley's eyes widen. Narcissa tried to cover the boys' ears but simply didn't have enough hands. She settled for hissing "Calm yourself at once, Severus!"

As always, Severus took a reproach from Narcissa more seriously than from Lucius and realized he couldn't charge in to yell at the Headmaster – it would give everything away immediately.

"My apologies, Narcissa." Severus nodded to her and she nodded back. "We must divert Albus from bringing in Lupin, though ..."

"What's the big deal, Severus?" Vernon asked, confused. He realized that none of the Marauders would be Severus' favorite people, but this was an extreme reaction.

"You don't understand." Severus answered a bit desperately as the two men eased off their hold on his arms. He fought with the long habit of keeping Lupin's secret. During school he had been under a spell. Later, the Dark Lord already knew because Fenrir knew … but it was not spread around because Voldemort did not care about Lupin, so it hadn't been an issue while he'd been a Death Eater. Now, while under Albus' dubious 'protection' he was expected to continue to keep Lupin's secret. Still, he needed to tell them.

Harry strolled in, clutching the invisibility cloak with a happy smile. He picked up on the tension in the room and looked at Severus' tense face. He'd seen Albus to the floo and had managed a reasonably cheerful goodbye. He'd thought the meeting had gone rather well.

The sight of Harry decided Severus, though. "I need promises of secrecy from all of you … if the information gets circulated – Dumbledore will know it was from me. He won't hesitate to get me thrown in Azkaban if he believes I've betrayed him. His influence may be diminished, but it isn't gone." The room's occupants nodded in trepidation, unsure of where this was leading.

Lucius sensed a long story in the works and waved everyone to sit and called for tea. Harry sat next to Severus, still holding the cape reverently and watched Severus with concern.

Severus stirred his tea with ferocity, frowning unhappily. "Lupin is a werewolf." It was blunt, but he knew he wouldn't be interrupted after that. He told them of his curiosity regarding Lupin's monthly absences at school. Sometime he had 'a sickly relative', when the full moon would occur over a weekend. There were excuses that Remus was a 'sickly child' or 'delicate'. Severus had briefly thought of him being a werewolf, but had dismissed the thought since there were a great many rules against it.

Then he related Sirius Black's taunting and dropping the hint about the Whomping Willow and the tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. Narcissa gasped and Lucius eye gave a few agitated twitches. Severus described the horror of being faced with a transformed werewolf. After that - being rescued by James Potter.

Severus grimaced, but turned to Harry. "I can't say I was pleased to be rescued by my rival … but I was quite happy to be alive – and not a werewolf's meal. Certainly I did not want to become a werewolf, myself."

"So my father saved your life?" At Severus' nod he grinned. "I'm very glad he did." Harry's rather simplistic view of the event made Severus smile a bit. The others were less sanguine.

"Dumbledore had a werewolf at the school." Lucius ground out in disbelief. "How could he be so careless … and if he did it why didn't he secure Lupin better at the full moon?"

Severus shrugged, "He never said, and he never brought in another that I am aware of … but he is quite fond of his little 'social experiments'. Nevertheless he placed a spell that did not allow me to speak of Lupin that ended once I left school. I know we need to keep Dumbledore believing he has a chance to win Harry over – but I'm quite uneasy about him seeing Lupin."

Draco looked frightened at the thought of a werewolf; Dudley looked like he'd been given another Christmas present – in spite of Severus' horrifying tale. Harry was ambivalent; he would like to meet a friend of his father, even a werewolf. However the tales the Headmaster had regaled him with made it less of a joyous thought. He mostly wanted to ask this Mr. Lupin what they had been thinking with all those dirty tricks and whether his father had ever grown up.

Vernon frowned, he was wary of Dumbledore but he had not grown up in the wizarding world and did not have the awe and fearful respect for Dumbledore that the wizards and witches had.

"I understand you don't want to tip our hand at present – but don't you think we could hold him off until summer – promise him a lot of visits at that time, but that we don't want to distract Harry from his studies at present?" Vernon offered. "Severus hopes to have all this swept up by then – and if he has not, then the werewolf will be the least of our worries."

"A wise suggestion …" Narcissa broke in, giving Vernon a smile. "Or at the least make it spring break if he is persistent – we will have time to make a plan by then."

Severus finally settled enough to nod reluctantly, unwilling to have Lupin near Harry at all – he would have been alarmed even if he had never developed an affection for Harry.

Harry smiled happily, "Are you going to be at the races tomorrow?" With the question of Lupin decided, Harry lost interest in the subject, to Severus' relief.

"Of course … I would never dare to miss both Rusty as well as his snotty grey friend running in races." Severus managed a smile.

Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z

Rusty snorted softly, scenting the cold breeze drifting along the stable aisle. The heavy winter blankets he and the other racers wore kept them warm enough, however Rusty was restless. A race was coming up – he always knew when he was to face his rival thoroughbreds. The boy that talked to them at their home stable had confirmed it before he and the grey had left.

The boy had told him about the races and had wished him luck. Rusty didn't understand the concept of luck – but he did understand defeating the competition at any cost. Rusty wasn't the most highly bred of Lucius' racers - and he didn't have the heavy musculature of racers like the grey who had muscles everywhere – even their eyebrows. What he did have was a burning drive to win and Lucius had recognized that in the yearling he'd seen at the bloodstock sale, even though he had been banished to the back lot with the other bargain-basement horses.

Lucius had given him his chance and Rusty had done well, though he'd had a bad time just before Harry had found him. Since then he'd come back better than ever. Still, he knew he was delicately built - his build was made for distance, like the Arabian stock that was the foundation of the thoroughbred breed.

However he had some weak points – but he tended to ignore them and bulldoze ahead … like at that particular moment when a siren and lights went off nearby as a drunk got pulled over. Rusty reared and pawed at the walls of the stall, objecting to the sudden noise that had blasted his ears. A sharp pain lanced up a foreleg, making him squeal as he went back down to all fours. He tossed his head and rolled his eyes, startled. The grey snorted and pinned his ears back, disturbed by the sound of pain from his stablemate – it possibly meant danger and it had him on alert as well. Danger to one of the herd meant danger to all.

Rusty pawed at the floor with the leg that was still aching and it slowly eased to nearly nothing. He was sure he could still run the next day, and that was all that mattered to him. The grey huffed and went back to his hay net, no longer interested.

Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z

Severus went back to Hogwarts to pack for his vacation. Albus had cheerfully given him leave to take the whole Winter break off if it made him able to spend a great deal of time with Harry, persuading him that Albus was an all-knowing and great wizard and was to treated with awe and respect. Severus had promised faithfully to talk to Harry about 'doing the right thing', though he hadn't said exactly what that was.

Severus congratulated Albus on a job well done – that 'Harry had been deeply touched by the gift and was speaking quite well of Albus now'. Albus had looked gratified as he and Minerva went toward the Headmasters tower. Severus had been about to leave, but – the meeting might be important.

Severus flew as the Raven to the usual window and took his spot while the pair below poured tea. Albus blathered on a bit about how Albus had as good as gotten Harry Potter under his thumb 'just a matter of time'. Minerva smiled tightly and expressed unhappiness with Hermione's attitude and Ron's sudden questioning of Albus' methods. Albus grimaced.

"Maybe Ronald should have gone into Hufflepuff – it was the Hat's other option, and Miss Granger … well Ravenclaw was likely a better fit …" Albus looked aggrieved that the two were less useful than he had expected. "Still, perhaps they can be salvaged if Harry says that he trusts me, now – their faith will be restored."

"I don't like it that Potter still listens to Snape so closely – I can talk until blue in the face, and he'll just give me a smile and do as he pleases – or as Snape pleases." Minerva grouched.

"Well once all is said and done, when he is no longer needed, Severus will not be around. Without my say-so, he'll not stay out of Azkaban for long." Albus said it a bit casually, making Severus' blood run cold – the twinkling old rat had been planning to be rid of him for quite some time, had probably had it in mind even as he first took Severus in. "When Harry dies – as he must – Severus will be found to be culpable in his death, most likely."

Minerva chuckled meanly. "It's not like he's beloved by any of the students, except a few Slytherins – if Harry can be made to distrust him, he could be gone even sooner."

Severus was a bit disappointed – he'd thought Minerva and he had a chilly but normal Gryffindor – Slytherin rivalry. Finding she was eager for his blood a was an eye-opener.

"Still, I begin to wonder if I might need another way to bring the Potter boy to heel. If Potter still hasn't started to listen to reason by second year I'm bringing out his godfather." Albus said this as if it wasn't a bombshell. Severus nearly fell off the mantle and had to muffle a slight squawk.

Minerva's jaw dropped and her eyes bugged in an unflattering way. "G-g-godfather? You mean Sirius Black …? But what possible use could that traitor be …?"

Albus assumed a slightly preoccupied air while his eyes glittered with glee. "It could be that he isn't as guilty as everyone thinks." Minerva gasped and Severus was stunned. "It might be found that he was set up by the real traitor … Peter Pettigrew." Minerva was speechless and Severus thought he might be ill.

"But why let Sirius Black languish in Azkaban? – if you have found this out we should retrieve him right away." Minerva said faintly.

"Oh, I always knew they had switched secret keepers … but Sirius would have been a rotten guardian – he'd have given Potter airs and made him as self-important and unruly as the rest of the marauders. Sirius would never have let Potter be put into any danger. Hopefully Azkaban will have subdued him by now and he'll do as he's told." Albus ignored Minerva's look of horror and popped another lemon sherbet into his mouth.

"But he wasn't guilty …" Minerva finally managed in a faint voice.

Albus looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "Not guilty of betraying the Potters … but he was guilty of attempted murder when he sent Snape to Remus – we both knew that and covered it up – to save Remus from execution and Hogwarts from a prolonged investigation by the ministry. A decade in Azkaban would actually have been considered an acceptable sentence for that."

Minerva flushed and tightened her lips. She hated being reminded that Black had gone beyond any acceptable code of conduct with that act.

"We'll spring him during the summer and have him ready to act if need be. We can insist Harry visit he and Remus and then go for custody of Harry Potter if we need to." Albus smiled happily – he now had a plan that might work – especially if Potter managed to get injured with that cloak.

Severus flew back down and headed for the gates to apparate away, luggage shrunk and in his pockets. He had a great deal to think about now.

Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z

Christmas presents were opened by the Malfoys and the Dursleys and then the happily celebrating revelers moved to Seamus Finnegan's father's pub for lunch. Vernon went along to the track to tidy up paperwork and make sure the horses were ready to run.

The three boys had a wonderful time playing darts with Dean and Seamus. Dudley was quite good at it and Draco was eager to learn. Harry was scorekeeper and they soon had a group of inebriated customers cheering for the two teams and making the inevitable bets on the outcome. Severus kept an eye on them while Lucius kept an eye on his wife. Far too many louts were eyeing her and her assets.

One cheeky fellow had slurred a compliment and asked her to dance. Unfortunately the drunk had immediately broken out in a bad case of hives and needed medical attention. Severus had snickered at Lucius, but Narcissa now had a firm grip on his wand hand so he would find it difficult to hex anyone again.

It had been an enlightening experience. Narcissa had met Mrs. Finnegan and they had gotten on well. Seamus' father was an impressive figure and Severus had whispered that he'd been a boxing champion – and then had to explain boxing.

Narcissa had been relieved to meet Dean's family – they looked as out of place and uncomfortable as the Malfoys. Mr Thomas was obviously a well to do businessman and Mrs. Thomas was smartly dressed. They'd been invited to sit at their table and they exchanged information in low tones, though as loud as things were no one was likely to overhear any mention of magic.

The Thomas' flooed back after lunch – using the Finnegan's fireplace once again, as they had more family functions to attend.

Harry's party got into several taxis and made their way to the Leopardstown Racecourse. The Christmas festival with its racing was well attended. Lucius smiled to see the number of wizards and witches that were there. They made it to the Malfoy box that was very close to the rail as well as the finish line with no difficulty.

Lucius watched his grey racer strut imperiously out onto the track. He knew that the boys referred to the grey as "The Snot", and he felt that even that name was marginally better than the unlikely name he'd been registered as - no horse should have to endure a name like "Sissy's Silver Sweetie". For the hundreth time he wished he'd renamed the grey after buying him. The grey towered over his competition, muscles rippling even under the slightly shaggy winter coat - he was no one's "sweetie", that was certain.

The racers were off and the grey loped along mid-pack until they reached the far turn. The grey pulled around the others and made for the front. A valiant chestnut also surged forward, unwilling to let the grey steal the race. There was a brief battle of speed and then the grey got a head and neck ahead and won the race.

The boys cheered and Lucius went to accept the winner's cup and have a photo taken. A few more races and it was the bay's turn to parade out onto the track. Rusty usually pranced to the starting line, but he was saving his leg for the race. The trainer frowned, he disliked any change in the horses – it never boded well.

Rusty broke well, staying just behind the leaders. He never liked being very far back at any time in a race. This was a long race, though – a mile and a half, so he would have plenty of time to make his move. A couple of horses fell back as they entered the backstretch and a couple more moved ahead. Rusty kept his own pace, though, waiting for his moment. His foreleg twinged a bit as they went around the far turn, not liking the strain but he ignored it – winning the race was everything.

Entering the homestretch he lengthened his stride and ran faster, not waiting for the jockey to even ask. He swept by the leaders and two others also made their move, challenging him hard – but Rusty's ancestors had not known the meaning of surrender and neither did he. His leg burned from the hairline crack in one of the bones but that was not important – getting ahead of the other horses was.

With a last burst of speed he got ahead at the finish line, but his hoof came down on an uneven bit of frozen earth – not usually a problem, but it bent the leg just enough to cause the fracture to give … and break.

Rusty went down hard – almost flipping in the air, throwing the jockey to the track forcefully. The snap of his foreleg was like a gunshot. Screams were heard from the crowd and they held their breaths as the field of horses galloped around the downed horse and rider.

Harry was over the rails and onto the track before Lucius or Vernon could think to stop him. Severus was right behind him, though, hoping to prevent disaster. Rusty was struggling, trying ineffectively to rise – in a horse's mind a horse unable to get up was a dead horse, and it was a sure way to make an equine panic.

Harry flung himself across Rusty's neck, pleading with him to stop struggling. Rusty heard him and his panic subsided. The boy said he could fix it – that nothing bad would happen with him there. Rusty relaxed back, letting Harry soothe him.

Severus bent over the horse, laying his hand – wand hidden from sight under it – on the horse's shoulder, wand pointing down the leg and muttered the incantation to mend the bones quickly before the muggles could reach them. He knew that spell well enough. There was obviously injury to tendons and ligament – but with the bone fixed the muggles wouldn't be doing any mercy killing – someone else could fix the rest out of sight … he hoped. Equine medicine was really beyond his knowledge.

The track vet and an Equine ambulance arrived. Severus and Lucius – who had also gotten there – hauled Harry off Rusty and the horse was gotten to his feet. The audience breathed a sigh of relief – if the racer was on his feet, they seemed to feel, he would be alright. The track officials were equally relieved - putting a horse down in front of a crowd was a sure way to lose customers. Rusty gingerly put the foreleg down and winced – there was still pain, but he managed to board the trailer.

The group followed the trailer to the vet, Harry anxiously asking Lucius, "You won't let them kill Rusty?"

Lucius shook his head – Rusty was a very strong draw for Harry to stay at Malfoy Manor and Lucius had no intention of letting anything that kept Harry happy there to up and die on him. Rusty would become the longest living horse in history if Lucius had anything to say about it.

"If Rusty can be saved, I assure you it will be done." Lucius said with grim intent – that vet had better have good news, or face severe consequences.

The vet was standing by a well – sedated Rusty when they arrived, and he was looking at X-rays in a puzzled manner. One of the track personnel was protesting whatever the vet had just said.

"I was sure that 'e had busted it up good! I can't believe 'is legs not broke." The man was gazing at the horse in awe.

The oblivious Rusty just swayed a bit, drunkenly wondering where the grey was – and where was the hay net? The vet and Lucius consulted a bit and agreed that as there was no broken bone, Lucius' vet could take care of it. Severus wondered if he'd had to use a spell, or if the track vet had really agreed.

None the less, Rusty went onto Lucius trailer and back to their own row of stalls. They left Rusty on the trailer and Severus suggested he and Harry take Rusty back to Malfoy Manor for care, and everyone else stay for the rest of the festival as planned.

"I have a few ideas in mind … and by the time the rest you get back I'll have a very interesting plot for us to put into effect." At Lucius' raised eyebrow, Severus continued. "There is some information I received yesterday that will shock everyone - your eyebrows might never leave your hairline."

Lucius nodded and left the trailer to join Narcissa and the others. There was an enormous crack as the trio left - leaving the horse trailer empty, and Lucius grimaced. But at least as long as he didn't have to see Severus apparate not only Harry and himself, but an entire horse back to Malfoy Manor he could pretend it hadn't happened.

Bloody Snape and all his raw power … and Harry was going to be even worse. Lucius smiled … not that Harry's power was a bad thing, of course.

Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z~Z

A/N – Apologies for the wait – if people would stop having parties I would post more often.