Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I DO, however, own the Founder's weaponry, Trieste, Medusa, Tristen, Thiele, Tremayne, and anything else you don't recognize.

Serpens Dominus Ruina

"Serpent Lord's Ruin"

Chapter 2 – In the Big Machine

When the carriage arrived at the castle door, Harry was the first out. Thiele scrambled past Tristen and her twin brother to leap onto her father's shoulders with a little shriek. Harry grunted at the sudden weight but didn't tell her to get off. He just grabbed her legs and gave her a gentle push up so she could lock her arms about his neck.

Tristen and Tremayne leapt down out of the carriage, followed by Severus, Ginny, and Hermione. The two boys gaped up at the castle towering above them and only found one thing to say about it. Which they, of course, said at the same time.

"Wicked."

Harry rolled his eyes as Severus began to chuckle before he mounted the steps, heading up towards the main doors. Before he could open then, they were thrown open and Minerva McGonagall greeted him with a warm smile and a hug.

"Harry," she said, "it's good to see you again."

"You too, professor…I mean, Minerva."

McGonagall smiled and looked at Thiele, who was peering at her over her father's shoulder. "And who is this?"

Thiele ducked down as Harry smiled and said, "This is Thiele, better known as Ele about the house. Ele, this is Professor McGonagall, my old Head of House."

"Surely you don't think she's old, Harry," quipped Severus as he came up to stand beside the other man. He smiled at the older woman and said, "Minerva, you should feel insulted."

"After the remarks you used to give me, Severus, how can I feel insulted about anything?"

Severus winced and Harry chuckled as he said, "Ouch…"

"Shut up, you."

"Both of you, hush," scolded Hermione as she came up behind them. She smiled at McGonagall and said, "Hello, professor."

"Minerva, please, Hermione."

"I'm sorry. I still think of you as a professor."

McGonagall smiled and said, "It's a natural thing, dear. Severus was quite the opposite. I could never get him to call me professor."

Severus snorted.

"Of course not, Minerva. After all, I knew you before you became a professor. Which was an amazement to me, by the way."

"Not as much as you becoming one was to me," shot McGonagall back.

"Oh! You cut me to the quick, woman."

Ginny rolled her eyes at their banter and asked, "Are we the first one's here? I'd have thought we'd be the last."

McGonagall smiled at her and waved them inside before she answered. "Actually you're the second group here. Mister Finnegan beat you by about a minute."

"Seven actually," said a man's voice in a soft, Irish lilt. Harry grinned at the man leaning against one of the huge doors leaning into the Great Hall.

"Hello, Seamus. Made it after all, I see."

Seamus nodded and said, "Yeah, I managed to get an hour or two off. Nearly got my hide scraped off by Torrance when I asked him about it but he let me go."

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes at the mention of the name. Edward Torrance was the manager of the England Quidditch team, for which Seamus was one of the Beater's. Harry had a vague sort of contract with them and stepped in for their Seeker whenever she was injured (as he has told them blatantly that he would not be their Seeker full-time). He didn't have to do so often as it was Cho Chang.

"What'd you have to get out of?" asked Ginny as all of them entered the Great Hall, which was decorated for the Welcoming Feast the following night. "Practice?"

"For the game versus Germany. He wasn't going to let me go but Cho bullied him into it. She can be very persuasive with that broom of hers."

"Don't tell me," said Harry, chuckling. "She still tries to take off people's heads with her broom?"

Seamus grinned and nodded, which caused Harry to laugh. During her last years at Hogwarts, Cho Chang had attempted to take several heads off with her broom. One of them being Harry's after he pulled the Wronski Feint on her. She hadn't taken the broken wrist she'd gotten very lightly.

"How long is he allowing you to stay?" asked Harry as he let Thiele slide down from her perch on his back. His eyes followed the seven-year-old as she began to wander about the Hall.

"A few hours," replied Seamus with a shrug. "Its not as if it matters. We've still got two weeks till the game and Dean can fill me in on any new techniques."

At the mention of Dean, Ginny smiled and asked, "Are you two still together?"

Seamus' cheeks flushed a slight pink and he nodded slowly. He still wasn't used to being asked so point-blankly about his relationship.

"Yeah. We are. Five years now."

"That's wonderful," said Ginny. "Relationships are a fantastic part of life. Right, love?"

"Hmm?" Harry blinked down at his wife, who glared at him. "Sorry, Gin. Just watching Ele."

Ginny frowned and touched his arm gently.

"Nothing is going to happen here, Harry. They're fine."

"They said the wards couldn't be broken," said Harry in a dark tone. "And look what happened to them."

"Harry…"

"I'm going to go find Tre," declared Harry in a loud voice, drowning her out. He rose and left the Hall in a series of long, quick strides, which caused Severus to peer after him then turn a curious look on Ginny before returning to his conversation with McGonagall.

Seamus blinked and looked at Ginny, asking, "What was that about?"

The redhead sighed and replied, "You remember what happened during the battle, don't you?"

"'Course," said Seamus, a dark look crossing his face. He, like everyone else who'd been in that battle and survived, hated remembering it. "Clear as day."

"Ever since then…ever since then Harry's been constantly worried that something will happen to me or the children. He blames himself for what happened to me in that battle. And he's afraid that something like that might happen again."

"Surely not…" began Seamus, only to be interrupted by Ginny.

"It's always a possibility," she said softly, looking at her hands. "A few Death Eater's did escape before the Aurors arrived and Merlin knows how many people would rather have all the Heirs of Slytherin dead rather than just the evil one's."

"So…the kids…they're Heirs of Slytherin too?" asked Seamus, frowning.

"They're Harry's children," Ginny replied. "I sometimes wonder about what might happen if something did happen to us. I wonder…I wonder what Harry might do."

"What do you mean?" asked Seamus, leaning towards her.

Ginny looked at him and said, "There's one thing I've learned about Harry and that's that I'm his main support. I'm the first person he ever let himself love – really love. If something happens to me – or worse, the children – I don't know if anything could stop him."

"He's that powerful?"

Ginny shook her head slowly.

"No. He loves us that much."

"Mummy?"

Ginny and Seamus both turned at the sound of Thiele's voice. The russet-haired little girl was standing at her mother's knee, shifting nervously away from Seamus.

"What is it, pet?" asked Ginny, used to her daughter's shyness around strangers.

Thielle glanced at Seamus then pushed herself up on her toes and whispered, "Where's Uncle Draco? I wanna see Derrick."

"I don't know, pet. Maybe he'll be in soon."

Thielle nodded and Ginny ruffled the crop of wild hair before she sent the girl off. When she looked back at Seamus, he was frowning after the seven-year-old.

"Seamus?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, Ginny. Is she shy?"

"Yes."

"That explains why she was scooting away from me. What about your boy…Tremayne, wasn't it? Her twin brother?"

Ginny nodded and, smiling, said, "If Tremayne is shy, then a squirrel is a layabout. It comes from him hanging around Sirius far too much."

"Oh dear," was all Seamus said and Ginny just laughed.