A/N: Heya, new chapter and all that. Before I bore you to death…

Chapter 12: Zombies, Colts and Other Troubles

Lucifer just wanted to set into motion and walk into the direction he could feel Dean in when he felt a ping against his senses. Confused, he turned towards the city as he could sense the ping coming from there.

"This is strange," he muttered.

The two of them followed Lucifer, who in turn tracked the ping that he had received.

"What is it?" Harry asked, confused, and a bit worried when Lucifer suddenly changed the direction.

"Something pinged against my senses when we landed. I want to find out what it is," Lucifer replied but elaborated when he saw Harry's unconvinced gaze. "Considering that the last time something like that happened, I found you, I'm not so fast to dismiss it."

"Wanting to replace me already?" Harry teased.

When Lucifer looked at Harry after the boy's last remark, he could clearly see that Harry was just making fun. Nonetheless, he felt the need to reassure his mate.

"Never," he said while pulling him into a sideways hug and placed a kiss on his head.

Draco, who observed the two, snickered. He could clearly see that Lucifer would never want to be far away from Harry, which was probably also the reason that he hadn't complained about taking him and Harry with him. A blind man would be able to see how much they cared about each other, and if they didn't become a pair in the future, he would eat his non-existent hat.

"So, we're currently heading towards someone or something that pinged you, not knowing what is waiting for us at the other end of it?" he carefully asked.

One thing his father had taught him was to always be suspicious when someone whom you didn't know desired to meet you. It could be a trap.

"The only one I'm worried about, other than the primal forces, is Michael and this just isn't his style. To say it with the Hogwarts houses, Michael would be the epitome Gryffindor, righteous and up front. He would appear right in front of us and challenge me. Not try to lure me into a trap," the fallen angel explained. "The primal forces are also out because I have a feeling that otherwise Death would already have shown up and blown a fuss."

"Primal Forces?" Harry asked, curious.

"Life, Death, Fate and Destiny," he replied. "Life and Death are quite self-explanatory while Fate works on a small scale, and Destiny watches over the bigger picture."

"Wait…Destiny…did not Death say something about her and…her sense of humour?" Harry questioned, trying to remember what Death had said during their first meeting.

"You know Death?" Draco exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well, I wouldn't call us friends, but we met a few times. He is quite nice if a bit protective of me for whatever reason. My familiar Hel? She's actually a hatchling from his familiar Thanatos," Harry answered.

Draco looked at his friend for a long time before he shook his head.

"You have the most uncommon friends. Just promise me to warn me before imparting even more mind-shattering news with me," he only half-joked.

After that, they walked in comfortable silence. It took the three of them about half an hour before they stood in front of a derelict and abandoned motel.

Both Harry and Draco instantly pulled their wands, not wanting to take any chances. They both might not have that much experience or knowledge, but walking into an unknown situation unarmed was the height of stupidity.

Lucifer though didn't pull any weapon, confident in his abilities.

More and more confused for why the ping came from this abandoned place, he walked into the building, stepping around rubble and fallen over furniture. Carefully opening every door they passed, he looked into the rooms behind them. It was down the corridor in the fourth room that he found the source of the ping.

Leaning against the far wall sat a man so beaten up and injured that it was a wonder that he was still alive.

Harry, who stepped into the room behind Lucifer with his wand pointed at every possible danger, drew a sharp breath. Despite all the blood, he recognised him, Gabriel. In an instant, he dismissed his wand as not to appear as a threat to the heavily injured archangel. To see him in such a shape made him sad but also incredibly angry. What have the resident Lucifer and Michael done to him?

Gabriel, though when he realised who just entered tensed minutely before sagging again as if all fight left him. His face was contorted in pain. It was evident that it was only his willpower that kept him from falling unconscious or worse...dying.

"Come here to finish your work, Lucifer?" he asked them, pain and resignation in his voice and he didn't even take the effort to open his eyes.

It surprised Harry that the archangel didn't show any fear towards whom he had to assume was his tormentor. To Harry, it looked like he accepted the fact that he wouldn't live to see the next day, which only reinforced his anger at the resident Michael and Lucifer.

Lucifer's heart constricted at seeing Gabriel in such a shape. He was eternally grateful that his own brother would – hopefully – never have to endure something like this. He wanted to take a step closer but was held back by Harry, who shook his head. It dawned him what his mate tried to convey with his eyes and that it would be a bad idea to approach the other angel at the moment.

Once he was sure that Lucifer wouldn't approach this Gabriel, Harry walked over to the man and knelt down next to him and carefully placed a hand on the angel's leg. He ignored Gabriel's flinching at the touch as if he expected to be hurt.

"Gabriel," he addressed the angel. "I swear to you, we're not here to harm you. Can you look at me?"

It took a lot of effort for Gabriel, but slowly he turned his head towards Harry and opened his eyes. The surprise that he was facing a child was evident on his face, and he slowly turned his head to look at Lucifer. Seeing how Lucifer looked and that yet another child was standing next to him as if he wasn't bothered in the slightest about who Lucifer was confused him even more.

"Who are you? What is going on?" he rasped out. "You're not my Lucifer, are you?"

"No, I'm not. As Harry said, we're not here to do you any harm," Lucifer told him while slowly walking towards the other angel.

Lucifer carefully observed Gabriel's reactions, not wanting him to panic in his state. He saw that Gabriel was watching his every move, so he tried to be as open with his actions as possible when he knelt opposite of Harry.

"How much damage have you sustained, and do you think you can persevere until I healed you enough?" he asked, making sure that his empty hands were always visible.

Gabriel laughed a hollow laugh that soon turned into coughing and spitting out some blood.

"This body is shortly before giving out, and I'm in no better condition," he finally brought out.

Harry looked worriedly at Lucifer. There was no way that he would leave the Archangel here to die. Gabriel might be one hell of annoying, but he was a good guy, and if this version of him were anything like their own...no, he would save him no matter what.

Lucifer had an inkling what Harry was about to do an only threw him a gaze that clearly read "you're not about to do what I think?".

However, Harry was thoroughly unimpressed by it. It wasn't that he didn't care about Lucifer's thoughts on that topic, but they simply didn't have the time to discuss things.

"What if you take me as your host for now?" he asked the other archangel.

Gabriel snorted. "I would kill you within seconds," he weakly replied, closing his eyes again when a new wave of pain swept over him.

Harry saw that they didn't have much time. "If Lucifer didn't manage that you wouldn't either. I won't leave you here to die," he heatedly argued.

"Harry, you know what a fit death will throw if you do this?" Lucifer interrupted. "He barely tolerated me, and that's only because I saved you. Not to mention that Gabriel might be right. Only because you were able to hold me, doesn't mean that every other angel could take you as his host."

"Death can shove it where the sun doesn't shine. I won't let Gabriel die just because your alternate version is a dick or Death has a problem with it! Not if I can prevent it! To your other worry…I cannot explain it, but I have a feeling that you're wrong. Please, just trust me with this," he exclaimed. "Lucifer, it isn't that I don't acknowledge your opinion on this, but we don't have the time to fully discuss this. Or do you want him to die?"

Lucifer looked at Harry for a long moment before his gaze wandered to Gabriel. In the end, he sighed deeply.

"Of course not!" he finally said. "That doesn't mean that I'm not worried about you."

In the meantime, it was a hard thing to do, but Gabriel opened his eyes and looked at Harry incredulously. This boy met Death and lived to tell the tale? Not to mention that Death obviously had an interest in the boy.

"Gabriel, you can take me as your host and don't worry about Death. I'll deal with him when the time comes," Harry explained to the injured angel. "Besides, it is my body and my decision whether I allow you to use it or not."

Gabriel looked at the boy indecisive. On the one hand, he knew that he wouldn't survive the day without a new host that would be able to hold him, but the probability of finding one in this wasteland was next to nil. On the other hand, this boy obviously caught the interest of Death, and he certainly didn't want to mess with someone like that. Not to mention that he had no idea of this Lucifer's intention. But one thing was absolutely clear, he was one hell of protective of the boy.

"As much as it irritates me, Harry is right," a new voice said.

Harry turned around to see Death standing next to Draco, who squealed in surprise and took several steps back.

"We both know that he's your only chance to survive and I will agree to it on the condition that you leave him again once you're well enough to be on your own," the entity conceded. Death knew very well how stubborn Harry could be, and he didn't want to have that argument with him. So, even if very reluctantly, he was inclined not to antagonise his future Master with this.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the old man. "But it is me who determines whether he is well enough to leave or not. I don't want him to attempt anything, and possibly worsen his condition."

Death looked at Harry for a long moment before he nodded. "Very well."

With that the entity vanished again, having done and said what he came for.

"See, nothing to worry about. Now I would say you hurry up before it is too late."

Gabriel looked at him doubtfully but, in the end, nodded knowing that there was no other way if he wanted to see the next day.

As much as he had come to terms with the fact that he wouldn't live much longer, he didn't want to die. He hated to admit it, but he was terrified of dying, of what would come afterwards. For angels, there was nothing after death, no heaven nor hell...just nothing.

So, he let go of his current body that instantly began to crumble to dust. It took him longer than it would usually do, but not soon later, he entered Harry's body.

However, instead of taking it over, he curled up next to the boy's magical core that was surrounded by currents of hellfire and that he used as a heat source.

Harry groaned in pain when Gabriel entered him but soon was shielded from it when the archangel realised that he could feel it. He felt Gabriel curling up like a cat next to a hearth, smiled and weaved a protective net of magic around the archangel. Gabriel instantly relaxed a bit and fell asleep.

"Are you alright?" Lucifer questioned when he saw Harry being in pain while Draco came over in worry.

"Yes, I shortly felt the pain he is in," Harry replied with a nod. "Don't be surprised when I hex both the resident Michael and Lucifer to kingdom come for what they did to him. You have no idea how glad I am that our Gabriel won't have to share his fate. Should you ever intentionally hurt our Gabriel, you'll sleep on the couch for the foreseeable future!"

The archangel looked at Harry in shock and surprise over his protectiveness over Gabriel before he nodded solemnly. The only reason why he would intentionally hurt his brother is if he decides to change sides and attack him. However, he couldn't see his brother doing that anytime soon. At most he would go back to being neutral.

To see the result of what could have been made him glad that he found Harry and that the boy grounded him.

"I don't know whether I should be miffed because you didn't even talk to me about it or glad that you did what you did," Lucifer said while standing up and dusting himself off. He curled one of his wings and his arm protectively around Harry, knowing that Gabriel would feel it even if the wing was phased out.

"Trust me, I would have talked to you about it, but we simply didn't have the time. Luc, I do respect your opinion on things just as much as you do mine," Harry replied, snuggling closer to Lucifer and doing the same for Gabriel. "As I said, it was this or letting him die."

"I know, or do you really think that I would have stayed this calm otherwise," Lucifer retorted with a doubtful glare which made Harry laugh.

"Not in a million years. Thank you that you let me do this," he told the archangel while hugging him.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked Draco, who was still standing near the doorway. "You looked a bit white earlier."

Harry knew that it was because of the sudden appearance of Death, and it wasn't how he imagined introducing Draco to the fact that he knew the entity, if at all. However, what happened, happened and he at least had to make sure that Draco didn't freak out about it.

"As if you wouldn't when Death suddenly stands next to you," Draco retorted and if his voice was a tad higher than usual, no one said anything about it.

"Oh, come on. Death isn't that bad," Harry teased his god-brother while leading them out of the building. "A bit protective of me, I must admit, but he was the one to give Lucifer the body he's using.

"You see angels can only take certain people as their host and archangels have even fewer choices, some – like Lucifer – only one...normally. It's because they would burn them up otherwise since they are beings of pure energy. So that Lucifer wouldn't have to leave me to get his true host to say yes to him, Death made him one that wouldn't be destroyed by his power."

"And you're one of those who could hold them?" Draco asked curiously now that he regained his composure.

"Apparently," Harry confirmed. "I found out when those idiots I had to live with nearly killed me. Lucifer took the gamble and asked me whether he could take me as his host. Sure, he could have killed me with it, but I would have died anyway so he couldn't have made it any worse."

"That may be as it is, but you couldn't have known that because you can hold me, that it would have been the same for Gabriel," Lucifer scolded lightly.

"Meh, I somehow knew that he wouldn't kill me," he replied with a shrug before trying to change the subject. "Anyway, how far is it to Dean?"

Lucifer glared at Harry, but in the end, dutifully pointed in a direction.

"About ten miles in that direction, at the other end of this city," he explained.

"Great, can't we fly? I don't want to walk so far," Harry groaned.

"And how do you think Draco is getting there?" Lucifer retorted though Harry just smiled at him winningly. "Do I look like a mule to you?"

"No, but like someone who could carry him," Harry piped, ignoring the glare the archangel sent him.

That sat Draco off, who began to laugh.

"Your bickering is really amusing to watch," he told them upon which Lucifer turned his glare towards the boy. "Well, you're in luck because I have my broom with me so no need for anyone to carry me."

"Why do you have your broom with you?" Harry asked, curiously. "Aren't first-year students forbidden from bringing their own brooms to Hogwarts?"

"We're Slytherins! The only rule that we have is not to get caught and well...," Draco began sheepishly. "I had hoped that we two could fly a bit in the afternoon and that you maybe could teach me how to grow wings."

It was evident to Harry that Draco wasn't used to asking for anything, probably having been granted every wish as soon as he uttered them. However, it was warming to Harry that the blond was trying for him. So, he nodded with a bright smile.

"Sure, why not. As soon as we have some time, I'll show you," Harry readily agreed.

All they had as a warning that something was seriously wrong, was Draco's suddenly fearful expression and his gaze no longer lingering on Harry but something behind him. Confused, both Harry and Lucifer turned around only to be met with a group of what any Muggle who watched a particular theme of horror films would readily describe as a zombie.

"Are…are those Inferi?" Draco asked, his voice cracking slightly at the sight of the about twenty undead.

"I would have called them zombies…but yeah," Harry replied with a nod

Lucifer could understand Draco's fear. Both Inferi and zombies as Harry called them were extremely dangerous when found in larger quantities and notoriously hard to kill.

It, of course, depended on what kind of zombie/Inferi one was confronted with. There were magically created ones that were highly resistant against all types of magic. Then there were those created by viruses like the Croatoan Virus as it was the case with those currently in front of them. The thing was to know which kind one was dealing with to identify their weaknesses.

As it was, the Croatoan Virus created highly aggressive and very fast zombies that had only one aim, infecting anyone stupid enough to stumble over them. However, they were compared to other versions reasonably easy to kill. Blunt force to the head, beheading them or fire was the easiest way to go.

Lucifer was just about to fry them to a crisp when Harry's exclamation stopped him.

"Wait! Didn't you say that the ring Death gave me has power over the dead?" he questioned.

"Yes," Lucifer carefully answered. What thought had come to his mate now?

"I want to try something," Harry just said instead of giving an explanation.

Knowing that they were relatively safe and that he could still fry those undead if the situation required it, Lucifer motioned Harry to go on with whatever he concocted.

Harry, on the other hand, began to concentrate on his magic, which he then channelled through the ring he could feel on his finger.

It was a strange feeling that enveloped him after a few moments, cold dry, and like death but not unpleasant.

Once he felt a connection with the stone that decorated the ring, he carefully reached outwards until he could sense the group of the undead. It took him a lot of magic and even more willpower, but after a few minutes, he could feel how the undead one after another succumbed to his will.

As soon as he was sure that he had them all, he opened his eyes with a broad grin. He was panting because of all the magic he used, but he was smug that he managed it without any instruction.

"Will you look at that! I have my own undead servants," he said with a giggle once he got his breathing back under control.

It surprised him, but once he forced his will on them, dominance was easily maintained. To prove his power over them, he let them march like a military procession before making them perform acrobatic moves.

Gabriel, who woke up when he felt the threat, cracked up upon the sight. It hurt him to laugh, but the sight was just too damned funny. Even Draco, who didn't know what to think about it, couldn't help himself but smirk.

Lucifer chuckled upon the sight of twenty or so undead behaving as if they were a circus attraction.

"Only you, Harry, only you," the archangel muttered while hugging Harry close and leaning close to his ear. "I love you!"

He kissed Harry on his cheek before letting go. Harry blushed heavily at his show of affection in front of Draco but nonetheless smiled broadly at the archangel's proud tone. With his upbringing, it was no wonder that he treasured every time Lucifer praised him.

"Okay, however, we should hurry up a bit. Not that your brother sends out a search party for us," Harry joked.

"Good idea, I'm still wary of him. He has something planned, and the prolonged quiet is troublesome," Lucifer muttered. "I wonder what he concocted."

It was highly amusing for Harry to watch how Lucifer was intimidated by his brother. One might think that someone like the devil didn't fear anything, but it simply wasn't true. It was admittedly a fairly short list, but it exists.

"Well, Draco, you use your broom. Lucifer will go ahead, and we'll follow him," Harry instructed.

Draco nodded and mounted his broom, which he had already taken out of his bag and enlarged. With a swift kick from the ground, he was hovering over them and waited for Lucifer to lead them.

Harry and Lucifer swiftly phased their wings in and also took off.

"Let's see how fast my new servants are," Harry said with a laugh while shooting off in the direction Lucifer had pointed earlier.

Lucifer shook his head in fond amusement and flew after Harry, closely followed by Draco, who didn't want to be left behind in this world.

Beneath them, the group of undead followed them at a speed that one would think impossible for a human. They stormed through the streets, jumping and climbing over everything that was in their way.

In their haste, they passed a group of soldiers, who looked in disbelief after them, wondering what triggered this highly unusual behaviour. However, when they saw two human beings with wings and one riding a broom passing over them, they didn't know what to think anymore.

With flying it took them only five minutes to cross the city and to reach the camp that was established at the corner of it.

Since they didn't want to be shot upon their appearance, they landed outside of it. Before setting into motion, Lucifer and Harry again phased out their wings while Draco put his broom back into his bag.

"What do you intend to do with your undead servants?" Lucifer asked Harry in amusement. "I have a feeling that they will see them as a threat."

"Hmm, let's give them a little show," Harry replied with a broad grin.

As if on a silent order, the undead went a bit ahead and stood in two rows facing each other. When Harry reached them, they saluted him one after the other, the further Harry walked.

Draco shook his head over his godbrother's antics but followed him. Lucifer, on the other hand, didn't know whether he should laugh or be annoyed over it because it put them in danger of being shot.

Nonetheless, he quickly followed the two and soon walked in between them.

To his relief, they reached the camp safely while the undead were content to wait outside of it.

Draco watched in barely hidden disgust the men and women who were watching them walking up the main road to the centre of the camp.

He didn't know what to think of the weapons nearly everyone was carrying. For a long time, he felt that muggles were inferior. But from what he had seen on their way here, a group of men in a large moving metal box and shooting at the zombies, he wasn't so sure anymore.

The people in the camp all were dirty and looked as if they hadn't washed for some time. There even sat people in front of tents who had lost a limb or two. Everyone had a resigned look on their faces, but they were weary nonetheless.

Each carried at least a handgun. Lucifer was highly worried that they might be trigger-happy and try to shoot them, hence why he kept Harry and Draco close.

However, they reached the centre and what seemed to be the main tent without incidences.

Lucifer was just about to decide whether to just enter the tent or wait until someone informed the occupants about his arrival when Dean – their version – walked out followed by his brother.

"For a rescue party you're damned late," Dean snorted. "The others are long since here."

"Sorry that we had to take a detour and pick someone up," Lucifer growled in irritation, not that Dean was in any way impressed by it.

It was that moment Castiel stumbled out of the tent. From the look of it, he was utterly doped up on something and looked more like a hippy than anything.

"My last pills must have gone bad," he muttered in confusion. "I could swear that Lucifer is in our camp and suddenly looks like a child. Also...two Gabriels?"

Unfortunately, too many of the assembled people heard the angel's muttering and connected the dots to the three children currently standing in the centre of their camp.

Within seconds each of them had their weapons trained on them and began to shoot.

As soon as Lucifer became aware of the sudden threat, he phased his wings in and wrapped them protectively around Harry and Draco.

However, Harry sank to his knees in pain and Lucifer was more than ready to wreak havoc on those idiots, when Harry stopped him.

"I'm not hurt!" he pressed out through clenched teeth. "Gabriel, when he realised what was about to happen, reacted and put up a barrier."

It was then, that Lucifer realised, that he hadn't been hit by any bullet either. Carefully, as not to endanger the two children, he lowered his wings, only to see that two layers of a protective dome were surrounding them.

One was flickering and soon died out, but the other stood firm. When he looked over to where his brother was standing, he saw that the other archangel had his right hand extended. To either side of him stood a Weasley twin, both with their wand in hand and ready to hex anyone stupid enough to try and hurt them. Behind them stood Neville, a bit unsure of what to do since he didn't know all that many spells yet.

With a grateful smile, Lucifer nodded to his brother, which he gladly returned.

However, Gabriel had enough, and with a shockwave, he pushed everyone off their feet who was shooting or pointing a gun at the three.

"Enough!" he roared, which in his still eleven-year-old body sounded as if he was about to throw a massive temper tantrum.

"And you! Next time think before you start talking," he snapped at the angel before his furious expression turned into an angelic smile, and he continued in a sweet voice. "Or bear the consequences."

Lucifer instantly knew that the little soldier angel would suffer. He was promptly proven right when the totally drugged up angel suddenly was sober, clean and wearing a deep green robe.

"What's the meaning of this?" Castiel questioned, confused.

"Congratulations, you just received a new job. Toodles! You don't want to be late for your first day, do you?" Gabriel just said with a broad smile, before he zapped him away with a snap of his fingers.

"What did you do to him?" a second Dean, who came out of the tent after Castiel, demanded to know.

"Ah, just sent him to our history teacher with a note saying that he needs a refreshing course in manners," the archangel chirped jovially. "Don't worry, he's in good hands."

"You sent him to Alastair?" Lucifer laughed while he, Harry and Draco, walked over to them.

Lucifer was supporting Harry on his right side, while Draco took the other. Harry wasn't in pain anymore, but the whole ordeal had been very draining. He had to fight Gabriel so that the archangel doesn't kill himself by trying to protect him. Luckily, he could calm him down again when the angel realised that none of the bullets had hit them thanks to Lucifer and the other Gabriel's quick reaction.

"I'd say that not only his manners will show an improvement," he added. "Say is there a place where Harry can lie down for a while? He is exhausted."

The resident Dean watched him sceptically. "So he is Harry?" he asked, pointing at the half-asleep boy in-between them. "Then who are you two and what do you mean with Alastair. Alastair is dead. Castiel killed him some time ago."

"To your question who we are, this is Draco, and Castiel was right...," Lucifer drawled with a smirk, bowing curtly when he introduced himself. "I am Lucifer."

The reaction was instantaneous, as the people, who by now recovered from being knocked on their asses, tried to shoot them once more. Though, the bullets merely hit the archangel's wings that he protectively placed around them and bounced off of them.

It seemed, however, that Harry was fed up with being used for target practice as he stood straighter despite his exhaustion, walked around the protection and fired a massive ball of hell-fire at the centre of the place where it exploded but didn't set anything on fire. It, however, blinded everyone in the camp was facing that direction. This sight stunned the people in shock so that they stopped shooting.

"If anyone of you fires at us even one more time, you will pay very dearly and believe me," he shouted so that everyone could hear him. "I won't be as lenient as Gabriel! Did I make myself clear?"

Fearful nods were the answer, and with a last glare, Harry turned around again only to see the predicament Lucifer found himself in.

Distracted by Harry's show, Lucifer hadn't seen how the resident Dean had pulled out a colt and aimed it straight at the angel's head. It was only when Lucifer turned around again, that he saw it, but by then it was too late.

Dean pulled the trigger.

Hogwarts

In Hogwarts, shock and surprise were the predominant emotions. No one knew what to think of the sudden disappearance of not only three Slytherins but also four Gryffindors.

Soon a low murmur went through the great hall that rose as students began to heatedly discuss what just happened. Some were wondering whether the group would return soon while others exclaimed that it was impossible in Hogwarts to apparate or use Portkeys.

Others, like Hermione, wondered how it was possible that Gabriel had received a call as it was thought that electronics don't work in Hogwarts.

But not only the students were worried but also the teachers. Most worried, where they had disappeared to and whether they were safe. Over the last few weeks, all of the students that just vanished had grown on them.

Sprout was especially taken with Neville and Lucifer. Both were naturals when it came to Herbology and always took the most exceptional care of the plants. Harry also wasn't bad, but he was more content to let Lucifer stay in the spotlight.

McGonagall, on the other hand, was mostly worried about Harry. She had been profoundly troubled when Dumbledore had left the baby on the doorstep of those muggles. However, she hadn't been able to do anything, especially after learning what wards the old man had put up.

Oh, she had been angry. She hadn't talked to Dumbledore for a solid three month outside the necessary, not that it had changed anything.

When Harry arrived at Hogwarts, she was glad that Harry looked happy and well cared for. Dumbledore, on the other hand, seemed shocked and absolutely adverse to the fact that Harry was friends with Lucifer Morningstar. McGonagall had no idea where that hatred towards the other boy came from. Morningstar was a perfect little gentleman, and she would be hard pressed to find anyone saying anything bad about him.

"Do you think they are alright?" Sprout asked, bringing her out of her musings.

"I hope so. But with how protective Mr Morningstar seems to be over Mr Potter and in a lesser version also Mr Malfoy, not to mention Mr Laufeyson over the twins and Mr Longbottom, I doubt that they are in any real danger," she replied while shaking her head.

"Truly? They are only first-years after all." It was apparent, how worried Sprout was.

"I'm fairly sure, that Mr Laufeyson and Mr Morningstar are more than capable of keeping the others safe," Flitwick threw in with a low chuckle. "I would even go so far as to say that being with them is the safest place for the five to be. Minerva is correct, the two are highly protective over the others."

"What do you know that we don't?" McGonagall questioned with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, a lot, my dear Minerva." Flitwick now outright laughed.

Yes, he knew very well who those two were thanks to his goblin heritage. It had frightened him at first very much to find Lucifer standing between the new first-year students. However, the more he observed him and in extension also Harry, the more he realised, that Lucifer was absolutely no threat to any of them as long as they left Harry alone.

That in time, cemented his suspicion. Harry Potter was Lucifer's soul mate. When he realised that, he was even more shocked than when Lucifer came to Hogwarts. It was so rare for someone to find their soul mate.

However, Flitwick was also glad about it, because it meant that the world was safe from the archangel as long as Harry was with him.

The three of them further discussed the disappearance of seven of their students, utterly ignorant of the distress one of their colleagues was in.

Alastair calmly continued to eat his breakfast because he knew very well, that the two groups of students were safe. Only very few beings could take it up with an archangel not to mention two.

Severus, however, was an entirely different matter. The man, of course, had his blank mask up but Alastair could feel the worry because of his close vicinity to the other demon.

"Severus, calm down," he told his colleague. "Harry is absolutely safe with Lucifer."

"How do you know that? For all I know, Lucifer could be just using him for his own ends. Though I'm not sure what they would be," Severus snapped back in a low tone.

Alastair sighed deeply. "It is really worrisome that no one seems to recognise what connects the two," he muttered under his breath so that only Severus was able to hear him before he continued a bit louder. I'll tell you but not here and not now."

Severus looked at the other demon for a long time to gauge his truthfulness but in the end, nodded in confirmation. They would have to meet later that day.

"Meet me in my chambers after breakfast."

Alastair nodded.

However, that was when someone else interfered with their plan.

"Severus, Sal, would you care for a cup of tea in my office after breakfast?" Dumbledore asked them with his customary twinkle in the eyes. "Minerva, would you like to join us?"

Both men knew that it wasn't just a request and so they both nodded in affirmation. McGonagall looked sceptically at the old man but in the end, nodded too.

What neither of the three knew was, that Dumbledore was also worried about Potter, however, for an entirely different reason. Dumbledore was worried where his little weapon has vanished too and what it meant for his plans.

All the recent happenings troubled him greatly, and Zacharia's words hadn't reassured him either.

He had tried to find a way to separate that Potter brat from Lucifer, but up to now, he hadn't found a solution to the problem.

It was aggravating, but nothing was going his way anymore.

That was when an idea occurred to him. Maybe he should try to bring the problem in front of the Wizengamot. Potter's guardians had died shortly before his eleventh birthday, so the brat needed a new guardian, him. Sure, he had been able to place him with the Dursley's after his parent's death, but unfortunately, he never petitioned to fully become his guardian, thinking that it wouldn't matter anyway.

Yes, that sounded like an excellent plan. Once he was affirmed as the full guardian of Potter, he would not only be able to forbid Potter any contact with Lucifer but could also force him to get resorted so that he would finally be in Gryffindor.

That had been something else that irked him rotten, that the brat dared to go to Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, the house he was meant for.

The more he thought about it, the better he found the idea. It was a surprise that he hadn't thought about it earlier. But with all the work he had to do after Voldemort's defeat, it wasn't that much of a surprise that it slipped his mind. However, he was sure that he could quickly rectify this oversight.

For now, he had a meeting to attend though. So, he stood up and with long strides, he left the great hall through the side entrance.

It was about fifteen minutes later that Severus, Alastair, and McGonagall together entered the headmaster's office.

"Albus, why is it that you wanted to meet?" McGonagall asked while taking a seat in one of the offered chairs.

"Ah, thank you that you came. Tea? Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore greeted them with his grandfatherly mask firmly in place.

"No, thank you, we just ate breakfast," McGonagall primly answered wondering whether the old fool thought that no one recognised the potions the sweets were laced with.

It had been Severus who informed her about the headmaster's bad habit of lacing the lemon drops with Calming Draughts, potions to make one more agreeable with the man and even minor truth sera. She would have long since reported him were there not the problem that everyone else thought the meddling old man as infallible.

Dumbledore nodded slowly while stroking his beard. "I asked you to come here because of the sudden disappearance of seven students. We have to make sure that it doesn't happen again. To think that someone could leave the castle this easily with one of the students…next time it could be someone with nefarious intentions."

Dumbledore honestly sounded concerned about this breach in security, but both Severus and Alastair knew that it was just a front. All the old man cared about was that Harry couldn't leave the school this easily. Not that anyone would be able to prevent that.

They all fell into contemplative silence until Alastair spoke up.

"I know quite a bit about wards and could have a look at the wards around the school to see whether they are compromised or if we could add some to prevent them from leaving again," he suggested, not that he thought that it would work.

No, to stop an angel from getting in or out, one would need Enochian wards. To keep an archangel from leaving...that is nearly impossible. There was a reason why Michael needed to craft a special cage to imprison his brother.

What surprised Alastair was Dumbledore's slightly widening of the eyes and paling upon that suggestion. To him, it looked like Dumbledore did something to the wards and now feared that he could find out. The headmaster's next words confirmed his suspicion.

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't think that it is necessary to meddle with the ancient wards of Hogwarts," Dumbledore hesitantly replied.

Alastair raised an eyebrow but didn't say any more on that matter. He would have to look at the wards at some point if only to ensure the safety of the children. Just because he was a demon and didn't overly care about the health of adults, children were a different matter altogether. Even when he still was Salazar Slytherin, he genuinely cared about any child that passed through the halls of Hogwarts, and that didn't change when he became a demon. No, he would make sure that the children were safe.

"Albus, with how easily they left I doubt that there is any way from keeping them doing it again," McGonagall threw in. "I also have a feeling that punishing them wouldn't help that matter either. Not if they think that it was the right thing to do."

"This is all only happening because you let Potter being pampered," Severus snarled. "Had you taken care that he was told no more often and not coddled like a prince, he wouldn't think that he could get away with everything. He is just like his father!"

Alastair had to withhold a snort at that statement. Just like his father, indeed. He had learned a few days after term started that Severus was Harry's father hence why he found it hilarious when Severus said that the boy was just like his father. Harry definitely had inherited his father's creativity when it came to torturing – not that he would use it on anyone who didn't deserve it – and affinity to potions.

"Severus!" McGonagall sharply admonished. "Harry is not James. Or do you really think that James would have ended up in Slytherin?"

"I wonder what the hat was thinking when putting him with my snakes.," Severus retorted with a sneer. "Potter is a Gryffindor through and through or did you already forget what he did during their flying lesson?"

"Of course not, and I'm grateful that he could see beyond the house prejudice to help a fellow student in need," she said with a fond smile. "However, it seems that you have forgotten how he tricked Lucifer during the welcoming feast. That was purely Slytherin."

Severus huffed but didn't say anything more about it.

"Minerva is right, Harry is not only James' son but also Lily's. You shouldn't be too hard on him," Dumbledore spoke up with a grandfatherly smile.

Severus though was disgusted by this blatant attempt at guilt-tripping him. Using Lily in such a fashion…however, it was expected of him to dislike Harry, and so he outwardly would give them just that. Therefore, his only reaction was to glower at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sighed deeply as if exasperated by an unruly child's behaviour.

"I would ask you to think about the matter and see if you can think of a solution. The other reason for why I requested you to come was that I wanted to ask you to keep a close eye on Harry and Lucifer. I fear that Lucifer has ulterior motives concerning Harry and we wouldn't want Harry to get hurt by him, now would we?" he told them concerned.

"Very well," Severus conceded, not wanting to argue with Dumbledore. "Was that everything? I have potions to brew."

"Yes, thank you for your time," Dumbledore replied with a benign smile

"Albus," McGonagall said with a nod before she stood up and left the office, closely followed by the two men.

Dumbledore watched as they left. He sank into deep contemplation of what he just learned. So, it was no wonder that he was profoundly startled when Zachariah suddenly showed up.

"Dumbledore, I just came to inform you that your problem with that Potter brat soon will be solved," the angel said without any preamble.

The headmaster looked at the angel in surprise but nodded gratefully.

"Thank you for informing me," he said with a benevolent smile though inside he was wondering what the angel was about to do about Potter.

Zachariah left without another word.

Left alone again, Dumbledore thought about what Zachariah had planned. The problem was that he didn't trust the angel to solve the problem in his favour. So, he needed a plan of his own.

Sure, he planned to petition for guardianship over Potter, but he probably should make a backup plan in case those fools at the Ministry denied him, or someone with a stronger claim over the boy showed up as unlikely as that was. That brought him an idea. Thinking it through, he had to admit that it was an excellent backup plan.

With a smirk that vanished as quickly as it came, he went to work. Oh yes, Potter would be irrevocably his.

Outside the headmaster's office, Alastair looked at Severus.

"Why don't we just meet in my office. It is closer by," Alastair offered.

Severus, who wanted to know what the other demon knew as soon as possible, just nodded.

Alastair led him down several corridors to the ground floor where his office was located. He gave the piece of armour that guarded the entrance the password upon which the armour stepped aside and opened the door to grant them entry. The two stepped through the door but stopped short, when they saw a man in deep green robes standing in the middle and looking around confused. On the desk laid a note.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Alastair demanded to know while walking over to the desk and picking up the note in the hope of finding out what was going on.

The man, however, when he realised who the man was who just entered, began to panic.

Alastair ignored the man for the moment in favour of reading the note while Severus pointed his wand at the unknown man in precaution.

"Oh, listen to that," Alastair said amusedly. "This is Castiel, a former angel. Gabriel sent him to me to teach him to think before to talk. It seems that an absentminded comment from him put Harry in quite the danger."

"We are to re-educate him because he put Harry in danger?" Severus asked for clarification, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Yes, but not torture him or hurt him in any other way," Alastair replied with a nod.

"This will be highly entertaining," Severus said with a smirk while he put his wand away and stalked towards the ex-angel. "You shouldn't have put my son in danger."

Castiel took a few steps back until his back collided with a wall. He knew there was no escaping the two demons.

As soon as the breakfast came to an end, Hermione rushed to the library. She had many things to research. So it was no surprise that she quickly walked over to the shelf she knew contained the first book she needed, Hogwarts a History.

Perusing the shelves soon more books found their way to the stack about wards and things like Apparition and such. On her way through the rows of books, her gaze was caught by a book that, on first glance, looks quite inconspicuous but found her interest when she read the title on the spine.

Quickly grabbing it, she walked over to the closest table where she put down her stack and opened the book that drew her in. She didn't realise just how much time passed until she reached the end and closed it with an expression of shock and surprise.

"So, it is true," she muttered under her breath before shaking her head.

Knowing what she did now, she didn't need any of the books she had picked anymore. After putting them away, she left the library again in search of something to eat as her stomach rumbled, deep in thought of what she just learned.

A/N: *cackles evilly* I found not one...not two...no three!...well actually four cliff-hangers in this chapter! I love being evil! Or to say it with some lyrics:

Maybe I'll change my evil ways
Stop taking shots one of these days
I'll settle down, I'll rearrange
Maybe I'll learn from my mistakes
Stop breaking hearts, forgetting names
I'll settle down, and act my age

One of these days... but not today!

(My evil ways - The Nearly Deads)