Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but MY Original Characters (Loki and Raiden for example) and the Elite. Everything else is owned by JK Rowling and the publishing companies. So the Canon stuff… isn't mine. Hogwarts… isn't mine. Everything you recognize from the books… isn't mine.

Complicated Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

My reasoning for updating, Bronchitis SUCKS! And makes it very hard to get up the energy to turn on my laptop and write! Whoever heard of getting bronchitis in the middle of May! Oh well, school is FINALLY OVER! I can't believe the workload I had this last semester. I've tried to finish this chapter at least a hundred times!

PS - special thanks to KingsDark who informed me about my spelling error. Appreciate it!

Title:

Students of Many Kinds

Warning: Original Characters that will never be heard from again! I hope.

29

Loki growled angrily, "My STUDENT is in that room!" he snarled.

Severus looked almost as shocked as Ymir and Eshu.

"You've taken a student?"

Loki nodded calmly, "Obviously," he said before he turned to Severus. "Would you care to inform me just how he came to be on your property?"

Severus nodded and then re-told the events, by the end Loki looked ready to kill. "You know what is wrong with him."

Loki nodded curtly, "I do. He was hit with one of the Irredeemable."

Severus frowned, he knew that phrase. Metas were trying to get more restrictions placed on a series of high powered revealing charms. True, they were harmless if the person hit with them was actually in full morph but if one were close to their base - like Gryffin was - then it caused pain beyond measure. The spells would search, painfully, cell by cell and try to undo what was not done. They easily compared the Cruciatus to be like a "tickling jinx"- or so it was theorized, no one had been hit so close to their base for them to know the true side effects of the curse.

He couldn't imagine what sort of pain Harry had to be in.

Another moan filled the silence.

Loki went over to Severus's liquor cabinet and poured himself a healthy drink. He knew that the only person who would think before using a spell like this was James Potter and right now drinking was the only thing that was going to stop him from searching the man out with a dull blade. Let that man feel a hundredth of what Harry was going through.

Hell, he'd pay to see it done.


GODRIC'S HOLLOW

James couldn't get the look of absolute betrayal out of his mind. He deserved to be put in jail for what he did to a teen who did nothing more than think that James was someone worthy of his trust.

He put his wand away and sat down at the kitchen table.

Lily came back with Rose, who immediately went up to her room.

He closed his eyes, "Lily… we need to talk."

Lily nodded, "Sure, where's Harry? Rose insisted on getting him a coffee mug with some American slogan on it. She thought he might find it funny."

"It's about him."

She frowned, she hadn't seen James look his scared of her reaction since before Jamie and Siri were born and he'd broken an heirloom her mother had given them for their wedding. She sat down across from him and reached across the table to take hold of his hand. "James, you can tell me. Whatever it is, I can and will forgive you for it."

"Lily, I wouldn't even forgive me for this." he said despondently and withdrew his hand from hers. "I thought I was doing the right thing! That I needed to protect our family."

"James… what did you do?"

"I cast "reverto vultus" on Harry. Merlin, Lils. His eyes… What have I done?"

Lily's face lost all coloring when she heard the spell, she knew of it and had even had the opportunity to comfort a half-morphed Meta when they had been hit with it. Nearly a full day of the poor girl just whimpering… "James…"

"Lily, what have I done?"

She shook her head, "James, I could gladly kill you!"

James nodded, "I know."

She shook her head in exasperation, "Would you have done it to Rose?"

James glared at her, "What?"

"Would you have done that to our daughter? As she is, right now."

"Lily, what kind of question is that?" he demanded. "Of course not!"

"And in the past eight months, what has Harry become to us? He isn't just a guest anymore, he's family!" she growled, showing how - if she chose - she could claim the Gryffindor vault as an heiress of the line. Lily might not be aware of her ancestry but she had enough Gryffindor in her to want to kick her husband's butt to the moon and back.

He bowed his head, "I know."

She shook her head, "James, you're sleeping on the couch until I want you in our bedroom again."

James nodded, he deserved it. He knew it.

"And feel free to call Sirius and explain what you have done. I'm sure that he would love to give you a piece of his mind as I want to."

That's when James knew that Lily wanted to do worse to him - much worse.

"I'll… be over at Moony's." he said and went over to the fireplace. "Moony's Den!"


Moony's Den - Bookstore - office

James coughed as he tripped over the grate that Sirius always managed to step gracefully over.

"Prongs." Remus Lupin said smiling as he saw his friend enter his office. He'd come in to "take a phone call" and was glad he had.

"Moony, uh… can I stay here for a bit?" the 35 year old asked his friend.

Remus nodded, "Sure. I've got a few more hours left until the shop closes…"

James shrugged, "Lily's kind of angry at me… Not that I blame her… so I have plenty of time to wait."

Remus frowned, there was not much that could make Lily so angry at her husband that she would order him to leave - especially these days. "Give me a half an hour. I can call Samantha, she's been begging me for more work."

It turned out that the girl was more than willing to come in, and use her precious discount to buy the series she'd been saving to buy as soon as she found out that Remus was going after the boxed set. It turned out to be a wise move for the werewolf as he'd had to re-order twice already.

"So," he said as he passed his friend a cup of tea while making one for himself as they sat in his office. "You need to talk?"

"I cursed Harry."

"What? Is he alright?"

James shrugged, "I don't really know to be honest. The last I saw of him was him Apparating… As far as I know he could be anywhere on the planet. He told me that he used to travel a lot during the Summer Hols with his friends…"

"Well, what did you curse him with?"

"Remy… I was stupid. I let myself think that a 15 year old kid meant serious harm to my family!"

Remus nodded, "Alright, tell me what's going on." he said, staying calm seemed to be the only thing he could think about doing right now.

"I hit him with Reverto Vultus. I had no idea what it would do to him. He's a Kid, Moony! How could I do that to a kid!" James said as he bowed his head.

Remus took his hand, and smacked James on the back of his head.

"Oi!"

"Prongs, you've done some stupid, immature and highly idiotic things without very much concern to future effects but this one takes the cake! You cursed him, you bloody idiot! Have you no concern for how you've effected him?" Remus said, nearly growling as he stood up and stalked over to his window and rested his hands on the ledge… letting himself look out to the street.

"Yeah… Lily asked me if I would have done the same to Rose and now I'm thinking of what I would have done to someone if they'd done that to my little girl."

"And?"

"I'd have killed them before they could utter even a semblance to an explanation. That just made me feel guiltier because I remembered that Harry doesn't have anyone to defend him from idiots like me." James said grimacing. "I need to find him."

Remus nodded, "Yes… you do. You need to beg his forgiveness, and even then I doubt that he will forget this instance any time soon."

"He reminds me too much of Sirius, first year."

"Yeah, Padfoot didn't trust anyone much that year."

"No, and I never really could understand why not. Not until January when he came back with his back split open because of his Mum…" James said, remembering with a shudder how he'd found his friend passed out in the bathroom with blood flowing from his back from a few dozen cutting curses. The only reason Walburga hadn't disowned her son was because she needed an heir after her favorite was killed. She would have rolled over in her grave to know that Sirius had married Pure, for love.

"Find him, apologize." Remus advised before James went to the fireplace. "And Prongs?"

"Yeah?"

"You ever do that to another child and I'll kill you for it." Remus said calmly but it was in the stoic face that James saw the werewolf wanting to tear him apart for harming cubs that were supposed to be protected by the pack. It was in the golden eyes that James saw the werewolf, and the human that was desperately trying to restrain himself.

James gulped, but nodded as he stepped into the fireplace.


Spinner's End

Harry groaned underneath the blankets as he awoke, coherent for the first time in several hours. He weakly stood and berated himself. By trying to keep James and his family safe he'd just added fuel to the fire!

'Damn Potter luck.' he thought as he weakly stood and found himself supporting himself with the nightstand. He was too weak to walk on his own power.

'Crutches it is.' he thought and concentrated. In his normal state he could do simple transfigurations without his wand - as long as the two were of the same material. He found two wooden canes nearby and transfigured them into crutches, gratefully supporting his weight with them and slowly moved into the hall.

Following the voices was easy, almost too easy but that didn't prepare him for what he saw.

Ymir.

Loki.

Eshu, he wasn't positive on the Magnus's name but though he recognized him from the training grounds.

"Master Loki?" he said quietly, his voice aching and raw.

elite

Raven, Ymir, Loki and Eshu were lightly drinking - mostly nursing the same ale they'd been sipping out of for the last few hours. They'd talked about seriously training Severus, and Ymir had made the renewed student do 200 push ups before he'd been satisfied that his student was not a slouch.

'My student.' Ymir thought proudly.

"Have you given thought to telling Raiden?" Ymir asked Loki as he took a swig of the ale Severus had in his house. Good King Henry. Not bad, even if it was a girly beer. Ymir was more partial to Chimay Beer or the American Classics.

"About my student? Yes. The more people who know at the moment can only benefit him. He needs to know that the world isn't on his shoulders. That he is not Atlas." Loki said and stood. "I want to go after his guardian, Master. I want to make him feel a tenth of the pain he has put my student through."

Ymir nodded, "Of course you do. You feel like his father, if not a beloved Uncle. You want to hurt the one that hurt him. But it would do you well to let things happen. Be water, Loki. Not fire."

Loki nodded, he heard the wisdom in his Master's voice. "I want to be a tsunami, not a little creek."

Raven and Eshu were silent, this topic was not brought up and each one of them knew that Loki had a powerful temper that only came up when one of his own was hurt.

"Master Loki?" a voice said from the hallway, aching weak and raw.

They turned and Loki was over to his student so quickly that you'd think he'd apparated.

"Are you well?"

Trick shook his head, "No. Master…"

Loki carefully helped him over to the couch, which Ymir and Eshu immediately got off of. "These are the Magnus Eshu and my Master, the Magnus Ymir."

Trick looked to Raven.

"This is Apprentice Raven, of the black shroud."

Trick nodded weakly, he was exhausted from walking twenty feet on crutches. He didn't know how he was going to handle going back to school. If he was even allowed to go back to school.

They sat down and Trick leaned his head against his Master's shoulder, Loki immediately putting an arm around his student.

"I won't be returning to Hogwarts any time soon, will I?" he asked weakly with his eyes half-closed.

"Not until you are recovered. I expect that you will be delayed by a few weeks. You will still attain all of your OWLs."

Trick nodded and glanced over to Raven, "You'll be short a Gryffindor, sorry."

Raven frowned before he glared at Trick. "Harrison Joseph Gryffin?"

Trick nodded, "Yes sir."

Raven nodded curtly, "You are not the most impossible of students."

"Thanks." he said softly as he closed his eyes and leaned against Loki's shoulder - asleep in moments.

Loki took a curious glance at Raven, "How does he do in your class?"

"Adequate, he knows that he will never be able to appreciate the simmering of the Draught of Living Death but he does know how to make it. For that I applaud him."

"Big words coming from you Raven." Loki said, a little surprised.

"Just don't tell anyone."

"Who'd believe me?"

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