"How do you know he's alive?" Lupin asked. Somehow the wolf didn't sound concerned but Severus could see the way him and Black had tensed.
Bill shifted his feet a little looking somewhat guilty.
Severus's hand found his wand.
"You mean besides Sirius's grieving being short lived or how never once did Severus agree with or support Dumbledore's claims? Or how my brothers never reacted like they were hurt or heartbroken despite how close I know they are with Harry?" the older Weasley shot a quick look at his brothers, "have you forgotten how many times I've caught you sending him things in the middle of the night?" Both twins blushed and lowered their heads.
"Besides all that," the curse-breaker took a breath, the guilty look from before returned. "his vaults are still active." Severus almost laughed. How had no one else thought about that?
"Couldn't that have just meant no one shut them down?" One of the twins asked.
Their brother shook his head, "the goblins are meticulous about the vaults. They check and recheck every security measure and maintenance spell or ward daily. They know almost instantly when someone's vault is sealed off. Whether it's done by the client or outside sources, like arrest or death, they know."
"How?" this time it was Black who spoke.
Getting the impression this was going to go on for a while, Severus pulled his wand and summoned a small couch. He sat down and a second later Bill joined him. Lupin and Black sat on the edge of the bed, Severus was positive they shared, and the twins just dropped to the floor sitting cross legged, looking at their brother like he had their full attention.
"When you open a vault, you are required to give a few drops of blood and a sample of your magic, correct?" Severus nodded his head as did the others in the room. Even the twins, who he had to wonder about, when had they opened a vault? They were still in school, shouldn't they still be using their parents?
"Well the goblins use those to bind the vaults to the client, or a client's bloodline, when a person dies it affects the blood and magic, which triggers a spell that seals the vault. Normally when that happens the goblin in charge of the vault pulls the required documents and then summon whoever the vault transferred to, if it does in fact go to someone. If it doesn't. The vaults are left closed off."
"When Dumbledore told the Order Harry was dead. I didn't believe him. Neither did Charlie. The next day when I was at work I sought out the goblin in charge of the Potter vaults. He refused to tell me anything about them because I'm not a Potter, but he did tell me they were still active."
"Which means Harry had to still be alive." Lupin muttered. The wolf looked at him, worried, "Would Albus think to question the goblins?"
"He hasn't yet." Bill said before he could answer. He looked over at the redhead who grinned, "I asked them to keep me updated on if anyone inquired about the vaults."
"And they just agreed?" He asked because he didn't believe it. Goblins and wizards didn't really get alone. The curse-breaker shrugged, "they like me." he muttered much to the amusement of the others in the room.
After a second Bill spoke again, "so is Harry alight? And why are you worried about the headmaster looking into his vaults?"
Severus looked at Lupin and Black, it was their choice whether they wanted to tell Bill anything. To two men exchanged a look, and like the twins often did, held a complete conversation without saying a word, before Black smiled and looked back at Bill.
"It's a hell of a story, kid," the animagues started.
Before he got going however, Severus cleared his throat, "as I am not needed for this, I shall be going."
The three older men nodded their heads and Bill muttered a good bye, but the twins were doing that silent conversation thing again before one of them stood up and gestured toward the door. With a long sigh he followed the young redhead out of Lupin's room and down the hall and into the twins room.
"Me and George have an idea," Fred started, and Severus made a note of which he was talking to because he wanted to learn to tell them apart.
"What kind of idea?" he asked, an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach,
"Well Harry's got to be lonely," he glared at the redhead in front of him, not that it seemed to have any effect in fact the twin grinned, "not that you aren't awesome company, or that Barty isn't either. But Harry has to be missing his friends." That Severus had to agree with.
"What is your plan exactly?"
Fred winked at him and then a small burst of magic came from the twin. A second later a fox was sitting on the floor where a second before the boy had stood. It's fur was mostly red, except some black along its spine and tail,and a small bit of white on its chest.
"You're joking." he muttered, though he knew the twin wasn't.
The fox shook its head.
"And how are you going to disappear and no one notice?"
Another burst of magic and Fred was back in his human form, "We're twins." the young man said, like it explained everything- which after a second of thinking it kind of did. The two boys were already impossible to tell apart, even their own mother confused them. They spent very little time around the Order members, preferring to keep themselves locked away in their room. If George was careful about it, he could pretend to be both of them and no one would notice. At least for a short while. Sooner or later, someone would realize they hadn't seen both twins in a while.
"Fine." he said, stepping forward so that he was right in front of the younger man, "but you will be on your best behavior. I don't care if you prank the other Death Eaters. But you will not attack them or do anything foolish. If I find you have retaliated against them in any way I will turn you into potion ingredients. Understood?" The redheaded nodded his head.
"And for your own sake, do not prank the Dark Lord." Fred snorted before shifting back into his fox form. Severus was starting to worry about his own mental health as he bent down and picked up the surprising light animal.
Why was he doing this? It was a ridiculous risk, if Fred was found out, he could be killed. Not to mention someone would wonder about how the young wizard had gotten into the manor, and yet, he was still agreeing.
He didn't show his uneasiness as he left, nor when he apparated to Malfoy Manor. He didn't let his nerves show as he greeted Bastin in the entryway. His hands however shook a little when the other man told him his cat had last been seen with Draco. Somehow he had forgotten his godson was coming home for the holidays.
He headed straight for the younger Malfoy's room, only to find it empty. Not wanting to search the entire manor he pulled out his wanted and muttered a 'point me' spell. Following his wand to his room was a bit of a surprise.
He held Fred carefully as he opened his door and stepped inside. He let out a relieved breath when he found a small black kitten asleep in the middle of his bed.
A small bark startled both him and Harry. The kitten's head shot up. He took in Severus and the fox in his arms before titled his head to the side clearly confused.
Severus sighed, "your idiot friends missed you."
The fox barked again and started wiggling and trying to get free of his hold, annoyed he dropped Fred onto the bed. The fox didn't seem to care, just hopped over to Harry and started nudging and licking him.
Severus was about to explain in more detail what was going on, but Harry's eyes widened as he sniffed the fox and then he was on his feet jumping and tackling his friend. There were a few excited yips and meows as the two played.
Perhaps the twins had been right about just how lonely Harry had been. Then he wondered about just how close the three had to have been that Harry in his cat form knew the other boy by his scent. Of course as he stood there watching them he started to notice the animal hair they were leaving behind on his bed.
"Would you two be so kind as to move this little reunion to the floor?" he snarked. Both cat and fox froze. Their heads turned to look at him, and then at each other. Severus felt his eyes narrow. It didn't matter that they were in animal form. He could tell they were amused by his annoyance, and that usually meant trouble. Especially if one of the Weasley twins was around.
"Don't you dare." he growled out. The fox snickered and in a flash both animals were laying down rolling around on his blanket.
Severus pulled out his wand.
"You little-"
"Severus."
Surprised he spun around to see his Lord standing in his doorway, looking not at him but at his bed. He swallowed and bowed his head.
"My Lord." he greeted the man, hoping it would pull his Lord's attention back to him.
"I need a word." The man said before he turned and walked away.
Severus only waited a second before he looked at the two frozen animals on his bed, "behave." he muttered before following after his Lord.
Harry
He should have been worried about what Voldemort wanted with Severus but the truth was he was too excited to see Fred, and it was positive it was Fred and not George because George always smelled like rain when he hugged him, while Fred reminded him of the fresh mint. He'd never told them that but the second the fox got close enough he could all he could smell was mint and knew without a doubt who it was.
Him and Fred had frozen when Voldemort spoke but thankfully the man didn't ask any questions and left quickly.
The second both men were gone Harry lunged at his friend. Fred dodged him, darted to the side of the bed and jumped off. Harry rushed over and looked over the edge. Fred was sitting there looking back up at Harry with his tail wagging behind him. Amused Harry jumped off the bed, aiming for his friend.
As they raced around the room, Harry couldn't help but be amazed by Fred's fox. He had known the two were working on becoming animaguses. They had written about it to him, in detail, but they hadn't achieved it yet in the last letter he had read from them. It seemed in the weeks since he had been with the Death eaters, they had and of course they were foxes.
He had bet on Coyotes, telling the twins that it would suit them best, but truthfully he had pictured them as clever foxes.
He was a little jealous. He had told them how badly he wanted to learn and they had promised to try and help him this year at school but they hadn't gotten a chance the first couple weeks and then he had found that damn memory in the headmasters office and everything went to hell. Now he was trapped in this form and he wasn't sure if he would be able to try to become an animagus in the future. Not after having been stuck for so long as a cat.
A bark from Fred, who somehow had ended up on Severus's desk had him pushing aside his thoughts as he scrambled across the room and jumped on to the desk chair and then onto the desk.
Of course just as he hopped onto the woodened desk, Fred made a laughing sound and jumped off. Harry meowed at his friend and followed. The impact was a little hard, but it didn't hurt, not that he didn't let out a pained whine and licked at his front paw.
He heard Fred's careful steps as his friend walked over to check on him. When the fox was close enough, Harry tackled him.
They continued playing until Harry was out of breath. Finally he just dropped to the ground and refused to move again. Fred tried a couple times to get him to play more, even going so far as the bit down (gently) on the extra fur around his neck and pulling at him. But he just shook his head and remained where he was. After a couple seconds his friend huffed and gave up. Laying down next to him, Fred pressed against his side. Harry couldn't help but inch as close as possible. Feeling perfectly content he closed his eyes.
He jumped a little when Fred licked at his ear. But figured the older boy was still being playful, so he ignored it. It was only as Fred's licking moved over his neck and towards his check, that he realized it was more that Fred was grooming him then playing, it was strange but comforting.
