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 4 – World is Way Too Fast

When Harry, Tristen, and Tremayne entered the Great Hall a few minutes later, they saw many more people in it than had been there when they'd left. Or when Harry had left as neither boy had entered the Great Hall as of yet.

"Potter!" yelled a voice and Harry turned to see Draco striding towards him, a grin on his face.

"I've told you to call me Harry, Draco," growled the dark-haired man as he clasped the blonde man's extended hand.

Draco just grinned and said, "And when have I ever listened to you?"

"Never. How's Nadia?"

"Pregnant. Again." Draco shuddered and asked, "Don't you think there's enough little Malfoy's running about?"

"Apparently Nadia doesn't. Is she here?"

"Nah. Said she didn't want to 'get in the way of my memories'. Heh. Merlin knows, the only memories I've got here are bad one's."

"Oh, I'm a bad memory? I'm hurt."

"Shut up, Potter," growled Draco and punched him on the shoulder. Anyone watching would have thought they were arguing but those who knew them, knew that this was their general behavior around each other.

"S'Derrick here?" asked Tremayne, peering around the blonde man.

"I believe your sister dragged him off for something," replied Draco. "C'mon, Potter, let's go find my dear uncle."

"Alright. Don't you two get into trouble and stay in the castle." Harry gave both boy's the Eye then turned and followed Draco off into the crowd.

"What exactly makes your dad so paranoid?" asked Tristen as the two of them wandered back out into the entrance hall.

Tremayne frowned and replied, "Mum said he's scared he's gonna lose us."

"A fear well set into him," said a gravely voice from behind them and both boys turned to see a figure in a dark cloak towering above them. Tristen yelped as Tremayne turned and yelled, "DA!"

"That'll be enough," growled the man, jabbing his wand at the two boys. Their voices froze in their throats and as they looked fearfully at each other the man grinned evilly underneath his cowl. "That's better. Now…come with me."

The man grabbed Tristen about the waist and snagged the back of Tremayne's shirt before the boy could get out of reach. He jerked him back and began to drag him towards the main doors and the outside.

"Now, now, let's not be so hasty, young Potter. Or should I say…Slytherin."

Tremayne yelled wordlessly and jerked on his shirt, trying to get away. Finally he slumped, earning a venomous look from the still fighting Tristen. But Tremayne was getting help the only other way he knew how.

By contacting his twin.

Thiele was talking quietly to Derrick Malfoy, Draco's dark-haired, gray-eyed son, when her brother's voice rang through his head. Like most twins, they had a link. And with that link came a smattering of telepathy.

Ele!

"Eep!" cried Thiele, not expecting the mental yell. She toppled out of her seat, clutching her head as she hit the floor. Derrick knelt down beside her, panic starting to form in his gray eyes.

"Ele?"

Tre? Wha's going on?

Strange man, came the reply. Can' hold connection…

Thiele hissed in frustration and focused on their link, trying to hold onto her brother. Of the two of them, she was the stronger mentally and she knew it. Derrick's continual shaking of her didn't help her concentration, however.

Tre!

Strange man, repeated Tremayne. Has me 'n Tris. Ge' Da. Abruptly the connection fell apart and Thiele was left alone in her mind. She could sense her twin's presence but could no longer speak to him.

Jumping to her feet – which scared Derrick out of his already smattered wits – she ran through the crowd trying to find her father.

"Papa! Paaaaaaapaaaaaa!"

"Ele?" said Harry, looking up from his conversation with Hermione and Seamus.

"Papa!" exclaimed Thiele, flying out of the crowd towards him. He scooped her up into his arms and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Tre! A strange man has him an' Tris!"

Harry went stock-still at that and he wordlessly passed Thiele over to Ginny before striding out of the hall. Severus followed him, a grim expression on his face. He looked at the man beside him and said, "Strange man, eh?"

"Strange man," agreed Harry. "He can't have gotten off the grounds yet."

"And if he has?"

"He hasn't," growled Harry, shoving the main doors open. He glowered at the cloaked figure who was dragging a much smaller figure behind it towards the gates then charged down the steps. Severus followed him, an ugly gleam in his eyes as he saw another small figure under the cloaked man's arm.

"Da!" yelled Tremayne wordlessly as he saw his father and godfather coming out the main doors. He reached up and tugged up Tristen's pants leg, which gained the attention of both Tristen and the cloaked man. The man turned and peered back behind him, eyes growing wide underneath his hood.

Instead of two men barreling towards him across the grounds, it was two magical creature's. A black Thestral galloped stride for stride with a black unicorn, both gaining yards on him with every stride. Dark wings flared suddenly and the Thestral let out a shrill scream, echoed by the unicorn. Emerald eyes blazed as the Thestral kicked itself off into the air, wings flapping furiously.

The man let out a squeak of terror and threw Tristen down, snatching Tremayne up into his arm. Tristen leapt at the man's heels, grabbing the end of his cloak. He earned a swift kick for his trouble and let out a yelp of pain, clutching at his nose.

The Thestral folded its wings and landed a few feet from Tristen's head. It snorted and kept running, leaving the unicorn to come to a halt beside the boy.

"Dad," mumbled Tristen wordlessly through the blood spilling from his nose. Severus, human now, knelt down beside him, drawing his wand and tapping his son's throat and nose. He then pulled the nine-year-old up into his arm's and climbed to his feet, jogging after the man who had his godson.

"Get away from me!"

The cloaked man glanced fearfully back over at his shoulder at the huge beast that was charging after him. He then pulled Tremayne close against him, causing the boy to squirm away. Tremayne beat on the man's chest with his fists, screaming wordlessly.

The Thestral screamed again and thundered past. It ground to a halt, kicking up bits of turf, and turned back on the man. The huge creature glared out from under a fringe of dark hair and snorted steam before it charged.

The man shrieked and stumbled backwards, dropping Tremayne as he fumbled for his wand. Then he grabbed the boy by the neck and shoved his wand right up against it.

"I'll kill him!" he yelled at the still charging Thestral. His voice quavered as he yelled this.

And the Thestral still kept coming.

"Avad…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"

Tremayne felt something hot flood over his neck and shoulders before the man shoved him to the ground. He fell on top of something soft and peered down at it as he heard someone tackle the man.

It was the man's hand that he had landed on top of, its wand still clutched in its grasp. His wrist had been sliced cleanly away.

Tremayne turned over and saw his father crouched over the man with a vicious expression on his face. A gleaming katana was held against the man's throat.

"Who are you?" demanded Harry.

"N-nobody," croaked the man, his cowl falling back to reveal a face a few years younger than Harry's. "My hand. Oh God, my hand…"

Harry scowled.

"You're Muggleborn. Wizards generally don't talk to God."

"Please," moaned the man. "Please…don't hurt me."

"Who are you?"

"Edward. E-Edward Windmyer."

Harry frowned. He'd heard that name somewhere…

"Harry! Harry, are you alright?"

Severus came pounding up suddenly, Tristen clutched in his arms. He looked down at the man on the ground and exclaimed, "Windmyer!"

"You know him?" said Harry, glancing up at the other man.

"Of course. He's the one who applied for Transfiguration professor after Minerva became Headmistress."

"Oh really. How interesting. Let's see here…" Harry kept the katana against Edward's throat and fumbled for his left sleeve, jerking it up. He peered at his arm and said, "No Dark Mark. That would have made things so much easier. Okay, so you're not a Death Eater. Unless…a Death Eater in training, perhaps?"

Edward, face flushed from pain, moaned, "Please…please, I didn't want…"

"Didn't want what?" snarled Harry. "Didn't want to try and kidnap my son and godson? Bit too late for that, isn't it? Now give me what's left of your arm."

"No!" yelped Edward, jerking away. Harry pulled the katana away from the man's neck and plunged a good four inches of it into the ground by his head. Edward froze and stared up at Harry in horror.

"Look here, you," growled Harry. "I don't take kindly to people attempting to kidnap and/or kill my family. But I'm not going to let any fool that tries such a thing bleed to death. Now…give me your arm."

Edward gave him a calculating look but held out his arm, which his had wrapped up in a corner of his cloak. Harry jerked the cloak off, causing Edward to hiss in pain.

"I thought you were helping me!"

Harry sneered, "I never said I'd be gentle about it." He pointed his wand at the stump of an arm and said, "Medicor. Now, wrap that back up. It's going to take about a half-hour to fully heal and I don't want you to bleed to death before I can find out who sent you. Now get up."

Edward stumbled to his feet and Harry settled his hand on the man's shoulder. Pulling his sword up, he gave the man a shove forward and snarled, "Move."

As he walked off, Severus turned to Tremayne and said, "C'mon, Tre."

"I've never seen 'im like that," mumbled Tremayne, staring after his father. He didn't appear to have heard his godfather.

"Not many have," said Severus, dropping a heavy hand down onto the boy's slim shoulder. "Come on. We have wild women to reassure and an amateur kidnapper to interrogate."

"Alrigh'," mumbled Tremayne. He looked up at Tristen, who was holding a handkerchief to his nose, and asked, "You okay?"

"Fine," mumbled Tristen. "You?"

"Same."

"Now that we've got that done," said Severus, starting forward. "Let's head up."