Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Except a few things which you don't recognize.
Author: zimagesto
Title: Harry Potter and the Legacy of Slytherin
Summary: Seventh year at Hogwarts. Contains: the Lord of Darkness, the Dark Lord, a bunch of elves, a lost kingdom and a lot of interesting stuff. Twisted story with a twisted end. Not conventional. Worth reading. R&R
Author's Note: My second chapter and I'm feeling... Weird. I sometimes get the feeling I should be up at chapter 10 or 20 already...
Chapter 2: Orphans and Promises
Harry nearly fell on the floor as they landed in the kitchen at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Luckily, Sirius grabbed his arm and stabilized him.
"How do you do that?" Harry asked, frowning. "Keeping balance, I mean"
"You get used to it" his godfather replied with a hint of a smile. "Come on. Jane's already here, she's in one of the dormitories with Hermione. The whole place s getting really crowded if nothing happens soon, we'll have to conjure up sleeping bags and turn the whole house into a dormitory."
Harry nodded a little as the two elder men led him out the door of the now empty kitchen. Sirius was the first in the small procession and he quickly led them to one of the bedrooms on the first floor.
He cautiously knocked and then opened the door, pushing Harry gently inside. There, on the double bed, Jane was lying down, Hermione sitting next to her. They both looked at him sadly as he entered the dark room and walked over to the bed. He noted somewhere in the back of his mind that Sirius and Remus hadn't entered the room, but he didn't really care.
"Hey" he said slowly. "Jane, I'm really sorry for your parents..."
"Don't worry" she said with a small shake of her head. "I'm... I'm trying to get over it. It's not easy, but I'll manage"
Harry raised his eyebrows in a small question, wondering if she was indeed brave or a heartless person who didn't care too much about her parents. She seemed to be relatively not shaken, thinking that she had seen her parents' dead bodies only that morning.
"It feels like a dream... A nightmare" Jane said slowly. "I can't... I really can't believe they're gone. It's as if I'm trapped in one of those horrible nightmares I sometimes have. Just that this one... it won't end"
"It'll end" Hermione said slowly, soothingly. "Don't worry"
"But I can't believe it. It can't be true!" Jane said, tears in her eyes. "It just can't be"
Harry realized then why she had been so brave... Why there weren't too many tears: she was in denial.
"But it is true" Harry whispered. "It is, I am afraid. It's not a nightmare... It's real life"
Jane looked at him with her brown pained eyes and he could suddenly see something in them that he had not seen before: maturity. And also... Was that nobleness? Pained nobleness...
"Harry!" Hermione glared at him.
"She must understand it's real" Harry said, turning to his friend. "She can't keep saying it's not real... Saying so will not make it go away."
"But still..." Hermione started saying and Harry knew exactly what she meant: she should be given some time... Not be woken up quickly.
"Harry's right, though" Jane said, surprising them both. "Denying it won't make it go away... It just doesn't feel real. It's a nightmare... I just entered the house and went to their bedroom... They were lying on the floor, their eyes closed. The furniture looked as if it had been hit and thrown all around the place. It was like... like one of those horror movies."
Harry sat down next to her and looked in her deep brown eyes.
"They did die. But think about it this way: it's a passing to a new world. Your parents are fine... They're just not here"
Jane looked at him and smiled sadly.
"You got that from Towers' funeral" she said. "But he was a Navrad. Navrads don't really die, you know that by now."
"Nevertheless, I think it was a good description of death" Harry replied slowly. "You'll be ok. They already are"
He raised his eyes and met Hermione's. She was looking at him as if she had just realized something weird.
"Since when do you speak like that?" she asked slowly. "Last year, you weren't able to sooth anybody and now..."
"I guess it happened when they attacked Hogwarts" Harry replied with a shrug. "Then... when I used the Torch. It's the same feeling now that I got then. Do you know what I mean?"
"No" Hermione replied truthfully. "But I don't think I would anyway, so don't try to explain it. I think it's more about the feeling"
"Hey, you did understand" Harry said with a small smile, then turning to Jane. "Listen... I'm not sure what to do now... But want to go downstairs and drink something? Like a cocoa?"
"Harry!" Hermione said, returning to her you-are-so-insensitive glare.
"Sure" Jane replied, to her surprise, and got up from the bed. "You know what I wish?"
"That this all didn't happen" Harry replied and smiled sadly at her surprise. "Yeah, it's understandable"
They all got up and went downstairs in the kitchen where Sirius and Remus were. The two of them looked at the three surprised, but said nothing as they sat down.
"Um... Mr. Black, sir?" Jane said, unsure.
"Sirius" the elder man said.
"Right. Sirius" she said slowly. "Could you please give me a cup of cocoa?"
"Sure" he replied and got up to prepare it.
The four people who were sat at the table stood in silence for a few seconds before Remus seemed to gather his courage and say something.
"How are you, Jane?" he asked kindly.
"I'm starting to realize it actually did happen" she replied. "It's not a pleasant feeling, though"
Remus smiled at her encouragingly as Sirius gave her the cup of hot cocoa.
"Don't worry, it's not that bad being dead" the long-haired man said. "It's a bit pissing off that you can't talk to the ones still alive, but other than that, it's fine. Even the place I was in was alright. Yeah, the scenery sucked, but the company was sometimes interesting. Not counting the weird Guardian of Death that was always grouchy, that is"
Jane's eyes opened wide as she realized hat Sirius was saying.
"Oh my God, you were dead" she said, nearly choking on her cocoa. "I forgot completely"
Sirius started laughing.
"Yeah, I was dead. But then, Amala Wright comes to the rescue and gets me out of there. Anyway, in the months before, I had the chance to talk to Mark Strois, you all know about him by now, I suppose"
"Who doesn't?!" Hermione and Harry said at the same time. "But I didn't know you ever met him" Harry added.
"He was sometimes around there. He told some of us that the place we were in wasn't really the place where all souls go after death. In fact, he said that we were 'quite in the wrong place' to quote him. He said that it was only a passing place and that there were realms and realms where we could stay after we left that place. And of course we wondered how we would leave. Some of us did do it, too, nobody knows how. Trust me, your parents aren't all that bad"
Everybody was watching him wide-eyed as he said that.
"You know, I never really thought of what happened to you in those months" Harry admitted.
"Yeah, well, not much did happen, so there was nothing to really talk about. Let's just say that Mark referred to those realms as 'usually very nice'. Don't worry about your parents, kid, they're probably in one of the nicest realms they could get into"
Jane smiled at him and sipped her cocoa.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Don't you find it really, really odd that everybody keeps saying death is just a new life and believing it?" Hermione asked Harry when they were alone in the room.
"Actually, yes, I do" Harry replied, after thinking about it for a moment. "I can't think of any other time this happened..."
"And you too... the way you spoke, there was something behind those words that spoke of wisdom, Harry" Hermione said. "What happened? At the attack on Hogwarts, I mean?"
Harry collapsed on the bed.
"I can't remember" he replied. "It was something nice, but I don't remember what. I met someone... or something" he said thoughtfully. "I don't know what it was. I just know that from then on, I wasn't really afraid of death, you know"
Hermione looked at him thoughtfully and sat down on the bed next to him.
"I wish you'd remember" she said slowly.
"I wish I did, too" Harry replied and smiled a bit at her.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
It was night, right after dinner and everybody was in the kitchen for a weird Order meeting. Actually, it couldn't really be called that, since not so many people from the Order were there. Harry looked around the kitchen and saw Hermione and the Grangers, none of them looking too pleased; Jane Chase, sitting next to them, tears in her eyes; Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley and the whole Weasley family, wearing the same type of brave, but afraid expressions; Luna Lovegood and her father, both looking crazy, but sad; Amala Wright, alone and retreated in one corner of the room; Neville Longbottom, looking brave, and his grandmother, looking scared and stern; Draco Malfoy... alone and looking as if he hadn't slept in three weeks; Mark Evans and his parents... Harry's before unrevealed family; Dumbledore, looking sadly at all of them; Severus Snape, standing tall and proud, cold as ever; Remus Lupin, looking as if he were about to turn into a wolf any moment; Sirius, concerned and afraid; Nymphadora Tonks, sitting at the table, her head in her hands; Minerva McGonagall, sad, but stern; Mundungus Fletcher, for the first time attentive at what was happening; Iris Rose, looking like frightened, but pure and powerful antelope in her white dress; Filius Flitwick, sitting on the tallest chair there was in the place.
"Today" Dumbledore started. "Today, a terrible thing has happened. The Chase-Monroe family was attacked, as we have all found out. None of the rescue mission from two weeks ago or their families is safe. All of them must go to hiding. Let us start with calling everybody, to see if they are all here"
"Everybody who is supposed to be here is here" Amala spoke up from her corner. "I can see it. Everybody... but my parents"
"Are you sure, Mrs. Wright?" Snape asked and Harry frowned. Wasn't the man aware that everybody around knew of him and Amala? Or was it just a reflex...? To call her by her last name in public?
"Positive" she replied. "Everybody who is supposed to be here is here"
"What about your parents?" Snape asked.
"They had work to get done. Besides, they are safe from such harm" Amala said slowly. "They are now in a place I know nothing about and neither does anybody else. They retreated there to study a weird type of dragon that lives in underground caves. I believe they captured one and put it in a special cave where they can study it."
"What if the Dark Lord finds them?" Snape asked.
"Does the Dark Lord know that I am Romanian? Does the Dark Lord know of where the cave is? It might be in China or in Mongolia, as far as I know. They have made themselves untraceable, the place is unplottable. It is an unrevealed location to anybody, he'd have to search underground on the whole planet to get them! He has better things to do" Amala said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Are you sure they are safe, Mrs. Wright?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, sir. Perhaps safer than any of us" she replied.
"Let's hope it is so" McGonagall said slowly.
"To our next problem" Dumbledore said. "Where will all of you live?"
"They could stay here, but there isn't much room" Sirius said. "I guess this place could house about... fifteen people if necessary, but not more. And even then, we'd be deadly crowded."
"How many are we?" Harry asked and everybody turned to look at him –which was quite unpleasant.
"Twenty" Sirius replied thoughtfully. "Snape should stay here, too. We're gonna be like sardines."
Harry looked around the kitchen and saw the not-very-pleased faces. His eyes fell upon Severus Snape, though, as he seemed to be really, really sick.
"I'll bloody lend you a hand" he growled. "I have a manor, for God's sake. I could take in everybody. And by the way, Black, I need no help from you"
Everybody stared at the glaring man. He was actually offering his help to welcome in his house a lot of people. He hated everybody! And besides, he had troubles with Voldemort himself, surely he didn't think his manor was safe?! Dumbledore seemed to bet thinking along the same lines as he said:
"Thank you for your offer, my boy. But you know that Voldemort" half the room cringed "will be hunting you in that manor? It is not safe"
"It is safer than Hogwarts" Snape said with a smirk. "Not even the Dark Lord can get there and he can try all he wants."
Most of the people in the room started talking to each other, saying things like "safer than Hogwarts?!" and "Snape manor?!"
"Are you sure, Severus?" asked Dumbledore disbelievingly.
"Quite sure, Albus. Quite sure" the dark wizard replied mysteriously.
"Why are you doing this?" Sirius asked with a great hint of hate. "Is there something you wish to gain from this? What is it?"
"I made a promise once and I will respect it. Respecting it means I had to offer myself for this" Snape replied with a smirk. "And, before you ask, Black, yes, I am a man of honor."
The tension was starting to grow in the kitchen as most people looked concernedly at Snape. They seemed to be as thrilled as Sirius to hear that proposition. And the two men in question were ready to jump at each others' throats. Then, of course, Albus Dumbledore decided he should jump in the conversation.
"Well, then, it's settled!" he said quickly. "Who stays with Severus?"
Everybody gaped at him as he obliviously asked that small question.
"Not me" Ron said, shaking his head.
"Why should I stay with him?" Amala asked, making everybody but Snape, Dumbledore and Iris Rose gap at her in surprise. "I don't like staying around teachers a lot, it makes me feel weird"
"I'll stay with him" Jane Chase said slowly with a small shrug. "What've I got to lose?"
"I-I'll stay there" Neville said and this time there were actual gasps of surprise through the room. Even Snape seemed thrown off. However, the reason made them all understand. "I heard you have huge gardens with many rare plants, is it so, Professor?"
Snape blinked a few times, probably wondering if he had heard right.
"Yes, it is so" he replied slowly.
"I'll stay there" Hermione said and looked purposefully at Ron. "I bet he has an extremely large library. Don't you, Professor?"
"I do... But since when do you all live under the impression that you can go through my personal things?" Snape asked, frowning.
"Ah, well..." Hermione said, confused. "Well, I..."
"Fine, you may use it" Snape said with a glare. "Anybody else up for devastating my property?"
"I am!" Ginny said with a mischievous smile. "Since you put it that way..."
In only a few words... Snape couldn't have looked more... "thrilled" if he wanted to.
"Fine, I'll be going, too" Ron said under his breath. "Hell with everything."
"Wonderful. Potter, you're joining them" Snape said with a smirk.
"Now, wait a minute, Snape!" Sirius snapped. "What do you think you're doing?"
"My place is safer than yours" Snape replied. "Besides, his buddies will be there and therefore it'll spare us a lot of inter-house traveling if we put them all in the same house. Manor, in my case. Got it, Black?"
Amala let out a short, pained laugh.
"He's right, you know."
"I'm staying there, too" Draco suddenly decided. "Somebody has to watch out so that Professor Snape doesn't kill Harry"
"Everybody for Snape manor?" Luna asked. "Well, then, I'll be staying there, too"
"Oh, goody" Snape muttered and shot one look towards Amala. She replied with a dead-sad look. "Well, then, anybody else want to join?"
There were general replies of 'no' from the others and soon they all had their trunks and luggage ready in the kitchen. Harry shot Sirius a sorry look.
"See you later guys!" Amala said, moving through them, hugging them all –all except Snape, Harry noticed. What had happened? Had they had a fight? Broken up?
"Very well, if everybody's ready..." Snape said before he turned to Sirius. "You may visit whenever you want. You and the other canine and just about anybody here"
Then, he took out of his pocket a small rag he touched with his wand, muttering 'portus'. He then looked at the eight people who would live in his house, probably until the end of summer and frowned.
"Grab this rag, it's a portkey" he said bored. "Today!"
They all complied and somehow, Neville ended up staying right next to Snape and he gulped and smiled a smile that said he'd faint soon. Snape just glared in reply. Soon, they could all feel a hook behind their navels and...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Harry had never imagined that Snape's house looked like that. In fact, he hadn't imagined so much style... He hadn't imagined style at all. But the place they had landed in was wonderful.
After managing to regain their balance, they all stared at the entrance hall they were in. No, the main color wasn't black. Nor was it green, or even silver. It was white. White and cream. A huge room with a few shoe shelves and hangers and even a few chairs.
"Welcome to Snape manor" Snape said as unpleasantly as possible. "Leave your trunks here. There are three house elves taking care of my estate, don't interrupt their work please. If you get lost, there is nothing I can do for you and you're on your own, but you can use the labyrinth trick and walk next to a wall. It is possible you might make it to an area from where you can get back to wherever you want to get. If you don't, switch the wall"
They all watched him wide-eyed as he said that in a perfectly calm voice, as if it was absolutely normal for people to get lost in his house for days in a row.
"Also, I'd like to say that as long as you are within the estate's walls, you are perfectly safe. There are two main gates from the estate, it is impossible to pass through them unknowingly and it is impossible to pass through the other gates without knowing how to do so, never mind without noticing. In other words: if you get out of the estate, I am not in any way responsible for your death. As to satisfy the usual curiosity you have: one of the gates leads to the Forest of Wolves –which eventually leads into the Forbidden Forest, yes we're in Scotland- and the second gate leads to a road. Three miles from here there is a very small village. You do not want to know what is in it."
Snape took a deep breath and the eight students looked at him wide-eyed. That made him smirk as he added in a more human and less recorded tape voice:
"Now, although I can see you have been dumbstruck that I have a very... nice place for a home, I will lead you to the wing of the house where you will stay. Try to remember the path downstairs, we wouldn't want you to end up in the dungeons, now would we?"
He then smirked to them and turned around in a quick, elegant, feline-ish way and walked quickly, in bat-mode to the doors. The students started nearly running after him –damned be his long legs!-. When he made it to the large, wood doors, they opened at their own accord, quickly enough for Snape not to flatten himself against the hard wood.
And then, there it was: a huge place –the first one was seemingly just the small part for guests to take clothes off that some castles and manors have. But this one... This one was really large and it still had the white-cream-brown colors. Double stairs began in the middle of the room, one going right and one going left to the first story, making two wonderful curves. Anyway, the two parts of the house were linked together, but it all looked wonderful. They could also see two corridors on the ground floor, right beneath the two corridors on the first floor.
Paintings were looking at them from the walls everywhere and a huge brownish marble animated wolf statue that was between the two stairs coked its head to the side to stare at them. A house-elf squeaked and gave a short "master has returned!" as he saw Snape.
The party entered the room, stepping on the fluffy Persian brown carpet that was on the floor. The whole place was so... warm. Harry could see some plants –by that understanding young trees and some exotic-looking bushes- in different parts of the room, a pool table on the left and a normal table with a couch and three armchairs on the right. It looked really spacious, but it would have looked downright empty if the colors hadn't been so warm.
"Hello, master, anything I could serve you or your guests with?" the house elf asked and ran to Snape, kissing his hand and making Ron want to puke.
"No, thank you, Krowcher, we are quite alright" Snape replied and Harry frowned. Krowcer? A house elf called Krowcher?! Oh, well, this was Snape they were talking about.
The house elf was taller than Dobby or Winky, Harry could see. He had a black something he was wearing and had a long pointy nose and two pointy ears sticking up like wolf's ears. He was the sneakiest, most human-looking elf Harry had ever seen.
The house elf bowed his head again and left the room through the corridor on the left. Snape smirked and started walking again towards the stairs on the right when the wolf sculpture decided to jump off its pedestal.
"Severus, what's with all the teens?" he asked pleasantly.
"I'm housing them for awhile" Snape replied in a way that made the others wonder if that was the Severus Snape, master of all glares and snaps. He had said it as if the wolf had been a friend or maybe even brother.
"Great! Company!" the wolf said and walked next to them. "Shrink me! I'm the size of an elephant!"
Snape smiled amusedly.
"Not denying that. Plus, you're destroying my floor with the jumping around. I'll place a feather-light charm on you."
"Wait a second?" the wolf asked, outraged. "Your floor? May I remind you, I've bee here for three hundred years!"
"I know" Snape replied with a wicked smile. "But you're a sculpture, I'm a Snape"
The wolf growled lowly at that and the eight stared at the two residents of the Snape manor. Surprisingly, they seemed to be friends. And surprisingly, the wolf seemed to be quite young at heart and pleasant to be with.
"Shrink me, you bat, bat man!" he growled playfully. "Or I'll step on you and squash you"
Well, he was three meters tall, so that might have worked. Harry suddenly found himself willing to witness such a thing and grinning at the show.
"Bat, bat man?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow. "I might send you outside in the rain if you say that again"
"Gods, Severus, it's sun and it's nearly a drought. It hasn't rained in two weeks!" the wolf said, looking at the other man with sparkling eyes. "Check out the weather!"
Snape let out a snort of laughter –and that surprised everybody, including the wolf-. He then shrunk the wolf to 'only' one meter tall –add twenty centimeters for the head-.
"That alright?" Snape asked.
"'tis ok, but really, I'm not the size of a real wolf, they're shorter, ya know!" the wolf said and grinned a wolfish grin.
Then, to everybody's surprise, he stepped in the middle of the group and said happily:
"So, I'm Colt, who're you?"
They were all a bit shocked, but Jane said slowly:
"Jane Chase"
"Chase?! You one of the famous Chases that are always running around for one thing or another?" Colt asked.
"Yep" she replied with a small smile.
"Cool" Colt said with a grin. "Well come on, Severus, wouldn't like to keep our guests standing, huh? Let's give 'em a nice dinner, perhaps some tea or whatever?"
"We already had dinner" Jane said, smiling at the wolf. "But thanks anyway"
"The bedrooms are this way" Snape said, pointing towards the stairs and they all had to rush quickly after him. "Five bedrooms are enough, I believe. If they aren't, sleep in the kitchen"
The eight children looked at each other inquiringly and Colt let out a snort of laughter and a sarcastic "aren't we a good host". They passed a few paintings and three or four doors –which made Harry wonder just how large the manor really was-. But soon enough, Snape came to a halt and pointed to the corridor in front of him.
"There are three bedrooms on the right and two on the left. The first four doors are two large bathrooms and two day rooms. One has a piano. Do not and I repeat, do not play it in the middle of the night unless you're really skilled with it. I bid you all goodnight. My three elves will bring you your trunks. Their names are Krowcher, Inkle and Spot, in case you were wondering."
"Krowcher, Inkle and Spot?!" mouthed Harry and Ron at each other and Colt saw them and grinned.
"I bid you all goodnight" Snape said and they all stared after him as he went off at full speed in bat-mode.
"One day" said Colt and all eyes turned to him "one day he'll win the gold metal for fastest bat alive, don't you think?" he asked, his eyes twinkling. "Say, neither of you look sleepy. Care for a chit chat in one of the 'day rooms', although it's night?"
"Sure" Jane replied and the others hurried up to agree with her. Colt grinned again and led them to the second room on the left. It was dark when they entered, but soon the lights popped on out of nowhere and they could indeed see a piano, a few armchairs, a few chairs a table and two couches as well as a small bookshelf and plants. It was nice and cozy and they sat down on the couches or on the armchairs.
"So, how come you and Snape are... friends?" Jane asked the wolf.
"Ah, long story, kiddo" Colt replied.
"We've got all night" Hermione said and Ginny nodded furiously.
"Ah, ya know, when young Severus Snape lived here with his parents" Colt started "the house wasn't so big. Actually, this whole place started as a small house of the Snapes and it kept growing with each generation. Every one of the Snapes wanted a bit of him or herself added to the house and Severus added more than any other. Too bad there're no Snapes left, but who knows"
"Who on Earth would want to have children with Snape?!" Draco asked, making a face.
"Well, Mortimer Snape, Severus's father, asked the same thing about Lucius Malfoy and apparently, the 'child' is right in front of me" Colt replied with a smirk. "Believe it or not, it didn't seem likely for ol' Lucius to get to convince a woman to have children with him Apparently, our guesses were wrong. There was a woman and she full-heartedly agreed"
"Our guesses?" Hermione asked before Draco could make any nasty comments.
"Yeah, mine and Severus's" Colt replied with another of his wolfish grins. "Which brings me back to the point. So, Mortimer Snape was a real pain in the you-know-what. His wife was worse than him, her name was Rosalina. God save you from horrible creatures like her. Anyways, when Severus was young, he was quite sensible of all the things that happened to him... his parents were fighting viciously, they hated him... It was hell on earth for Severus"
"He'd kill you if he knew you told us this" Jane whispered.
"Yeah, he probably would" Colt agreed after a second of thinking. "But never mind. So, he had to find a friend to confess to... A friend who didn't tell him, like Lucius Malfoy, to get a grip on himself and learn to be a cold-hearted bastard. So, in one of his searches, he somehow ended up between my front paws. I was only half-animated then, so I didn't really talk like I do now. I just stared at him, at the seven-year old fledging in front of my eyes. The talk we had then I will never forget. The way he said he didn't care if I was a statue. The way he told me about everything on his heart. I somehow managed to soothe him then. I listened. I knew the outer part of things because I was in a good position to hear or even see the Snapes fighting and bickering. But what was happening in the heart of their fledgling... I hadn't ever known"
Colt made a small pause and sighed before he started talking again, slowly.
"He liked me. I replied warmly to everything he said. He started coming to me more and more often. He hid behind me when his parents were looking for him. He started to think of me as the great friend he needed. I liked him. In three hundred years not many had tried to talk to me. Kylie Snape was the first, but that was two hundred and fifty years ago. Then, there was Ronald Snape, one hundred seventy five years ago, when he became an old man. After that, Amelia Snape, a hundred years ago, but she died in an accident before I got to know her too well. And Severus's grandfather, James Snape, he talked to me in his youth, too"
"James Snape?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah" Colt replied. "You're Harry Potter, son of James Potter, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am" the teen nodded.
"Thought so" Colt replied. "I saw him in pictures a few times. You look like him. Anyways, Severus and I were becoming real friends, despite my incapability of truly responding to what he said. So, yeah, a word or two... I would sometimes move slowly or try to say something, but it was really difficult. Anyways, after awhile, he went to Hogwarts, When he came back after a long, cold year, I could see something had changed in him. He told me that nobody liked him too much. That he enjoyed studying. That he liked Potions... He loved the cauldrons and the potions... Ah, Potions, such a lonely subject! But that was why he loved it. He also mentioned 'James Potter and co' quite a lot. Never good things"
"It figures" Harry said as Colt stopped to look at him.
"Anyways, I thought he'd forget me soon. Just that... he didn't. He still cared for me, even though I could see that he was becoming darker and darker. When he was 17, he wanted to join the one he wanted to call the dark lord and gain power. I wanted to stop him, but how could I? I just showed me my sadness... And then, poof! One day he comes home and talks to me about this Jack Strois fellow he met who told him to join Dumbledore. The weird part is, I've always heard of Jack Strois. Even three hundred years ago. So, normally, I felt a bit weird as he told me all that, but I was happy that he chose for everything to be that way and I showed it to him. So, soon he was working as a spy and everything was just fine."
Colt paused a little and smiled at them, daring them to ask what happened next.
"What happened next?" Draco inevitably asked.
"Well, he wanted to become a Potion Master. So he went to study the subject further. When he came home, he somehow managed to create a potion to animate half-animated statues. He made it for me. He cared for me so much that he spent tones of his time to bring me to life... for real. And so I became who I am now, thanks to the miracle of him still liking his childhood friend. And then... then was her"
He paused again, a mischievous glint in his eyes and he looked at each and every one of the ones present there.
"Monica. She was one hell of a woman, must say that. I of course knew Severus had had a few lovers through time, but only with her did he really fall in love with. She was beautiful and graceful and smart... All that he liked in somebody, she had. There was the small episode with the death of his parents sometime around then, they got killed by a werewolf, not such a big deal for Severus. So, soon, I could see her in this very manor. She helped him decorate... She lived in this very wing of the manor. Severus lived in the other."
"They didn't live together?!" Draco asked, surprised. "I mean, even my parents sleep together"
"Hey! They were together all the time, except when they slept. They slept in two completely different rooms!" Colt said, shaking his head. "But it kept their relationship really fresh, actually. One year and it was just like at the beginning!... Ah, but I'm forgetting to mention something here. She was the only woman that Severus courted for real."
Colt chuckled at the memories and at the amazed faces of the teens.
"Oh, yeah, Severus really loved her. And she was, besides wonderful in many points of view, a mistress in a few arts... She thought him many things. Let's just say she made him a wonderful lover to have. I see you can't believe it, but he shows it to those he wants to show it to. I mean, consider it: he has to be snappy and all that, he's a Death Eater, albeit a spy. But he can be a great friend and lover. You can see it in his eyes. It was wonderful for the both of them. But then, after two years, she had to leave... They mourned the end together and even years after they parted, they still keep in touch. As friends now, but they are really warm with each other."
The wolf jumped on the couch next to Hermione.
"So, now I heard he loves somebody else" he said with a grin. "Three guesses who..."
"Amala!" they all said nearly in the same time.
"Oh, yeah" Colt replied with a nod.
"Which reminds me" Hermione said and took out a small bit of paper. "She left this to me when she hugged me goodbye"
They all looked curiously at her as she unfolded it and cleared her voice.
"Dear Hermione,
Please read this out loud. You're probably all wondering what was up with me at the meeting. So, I'd like to say first that I'm really sorry for you, Jane. I wish I could have said that to you in person.
Unfortunately, I couldn't, for the same reason why I couldn't go to Severus's manor. I had to keep away from everybody, I was bugged by the Ministry. Apparently, they're trying to sack Severus as fast as possible, reason: he was a Death Eater. But they couldn't just sack him like that, so they had to get a real reason to do it. Like being in a relationship with a student. Of course I know he made it clear at the end of the school year, but they can't sack him for hugging a student. I had to be cold and bitchy and stay away from people that could have said anything about us. Also, if I accepted to go to Severus's manor, they'd have kept me tracked. I hope they'll remove these things from me now.
Again, sorry for not socializing... and really, really sorry I couldn't say anything to you in person, Jane. But as you will soon see, everything shall turn out alright.
Love,
Amala"
"That explains things" Ron muttered slowly.
"Yeah, it does" Jane said slowly. "I really had been wondering why she had kept herself in a corner and spat at everybody. And it was nice of her to say she was sorry for me"
Colt looked at her and realization appeared in his eyes.
"Oh, child..." he said slowly and nuzzled her with his cold marble nose, making her smile sadly.
They all looked at each other for a few seconds before Draco asked slowly:
"So... how do we sleep?"
"Um... I'll stay with Harry" Ron said.
"I'll stay with Ginny" Hermione said, smiling at the youngest Weasley.
"How about we say together?" Jane asked Luna and the other smiled and nodded approvingly.
"That leaves us two bedrooms" Draco concluded. "I'll take one of them. Neville, you take the other. No offence!"
"None taken" Neville said and they all got up from the armchairs. "But guys, do you think the house elves delivered our trunks right?"
"Hope so" Draco replied. "I don't feel like carrying those things around."
"They'll get them right, don't worry" Colt said with a wolfish smile and ran at a quick pace to the door, opened it and howled: "Inkle!"
The eight went to witness the scene. A house elf, so much different from Krowcher, was standing in front of Colt and smiling in what seemed to be a disturbed fashion. He had a small pointed nose and floppy ears. He was thin and small and had dirty rags and fingers. He looked as if he was a child in trouble.
"Hello, master" the elf said, making the eight feel that he had done something wrong.
"Have you been playing with Severus's inks again?" Colt asked and the others turned their attention to the house elf's ink tainted rags and his ink-tainted fingers.
"Huh... Yes?" he said, forgive-me smile getting larger.
"Ah..." Colt said, shaking his head. "Listen, bring all the trunks here, we need to sort them out. Now"
The small elf nodded his head and disappeared with a pop. In less than three minutes, trunks rushed at a high speed towards the group and three elves rode on top of them. Krowcher was like an old, respectable man. He was standing tall and proud on the first trunk. Inkle was enjoying himself and riding on the thing sitting and acting as if it were a horse. Spot, the third, was fat and small and had two floppy ears and a tomato-like nose. He was trying to keep his balance while standing on the trunk.
They stopped right in front of the eight teens and they were told how to put the trunks around the dormitories. Soon, they all went to bed. Jane politely asked Colt to sleep in her and Hermione's dormitory, which he agreed to full heartedly.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
AN: I have no clue where Colt came from. I really like him, though. So, review!
Responds to reviews:
Alcapacien: Thanks!
Tsuetsu: Thank you!
Jrayner1276: Thanks for the review and I hope it's soon enough!
Author: zimagesto
Title: Harry Potter and the Legacy of Slytherin
Summary: Seventh year at Hogwarts. Contains: the Lord of Darkness, the Dark Lord, a bunch of elves, a lost kingdom and a lot of interesting stuff. Twisted story with a twisted end. Not conventional. Worth reading. R&R
Author's Note: My second chapter and I'm feeling... Weird. I sometimes get the feeling I should be up at chapter 10 or 20 already...
Chapter 2: Orphans and Promises
Harry nearly fell on the floor as they landed in the kitchen at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Luckily, Sirius grabbed his arm and stabilized him.
"How do you do that?" Harry asked, frowning. "Keeping balance, I mean"
"You get used to it" his godfather replied with a hint of a smile. "Come on. Jane's already here, she's in one of the dormitories with Hermione. The whole place s getting really crowded if nothing happens soon, we'll have to conjure up sleeping bags and turn the whole house into a dormitory."
Harry nodded a little as the two elder men led him out the door of the now empty kitchen. Sirius was the first in the small procession and he quickly led them to one of the bedrooms on the first floor.
He cautiously knocked and then opened the door, pushing Harry gently inside. There, on the double bed, Jane was lying down, Hermione sitting next to her. They both looked at him sadly as he entered the dark room and walked over to the bed. He noted somewhere in the back of his mind that Sirius and Remus hadn't entered the room, but he didn't really care.
"Hey" he said slowly. "Jane, I'm really sorry for your parents..."
"Don't worry" she said with a small shake of her head. "I'm... I'm trying to get over it. It's not easy, but I'll manage"
Harry raised his eyebrows in a small question, wondering if she was indeed brave or a heartless person who didn't care too much about her parents. She seemed to be relatively not shaken, thinking that she had seen her parents' dead bodies only that morning.
"It feels like a dream... A nightmare" Jane said slowly. "I can't... I really can't believe they're gone. It's as if I'm trapped in one of those horrible nightmares I sometimes have. Just that this one... it won't end"
"It'll end" Hermione said slowly, soothingly. "Don't worry"
"But I can't believe it. It can't be true!" Jane said, tears in her eyes. "It just can't be"
Harry realized then why she had been so brave... Why there weren't too many tears: she was in denial.
"But it is true" Harry whispered. "It is, I am afraid. It's not a nightmare... It's real life"
Jane looked at him with her brown pained eyes and he could suddenly see something in them that he had not seen before: maturity. And also... Was that nobleness? Pained nobleness...
"Harry!" Hermione glared at him.
"She must understand it's real" Harry said, turning to his friend. "She can't keep saying it's not real... Saying so will not make it go away."
"But still..." Hermione started saying and Harry knew exactly what she meant: she should be given some time... Not be woken up quickly.
"Harry's right, though" Jane said, surprising them both. "Denying it won't make it go away... It just doesn't feel real. It's a nightmare... I just entered the house and went to their bedroom... They were lying on the floor, their eyes closed. The furniture looked as if it had been hit and thrown all around the place. It was like... like one of those horror movies."
Harry sat down next to her and looked in her deep brown eyes.
"They did die. But think about it this way: it's a passing to a new world. Your parents are fine... They're just not here"
Jane looked at him and smiled sadly.
"You got that from Towers' funeral" she said. "But he was a Navrad. Navrads don't really die, you know that by now."
"Nevertheless, I think it was a good description of death" Harry replied slowly. "You'll be ok. They already are"
He raised his eyes and met Hermione's. She was looking at him as if she had just realized something weird.
"Since when do you speak like that?" she asked slowly. "Last year, you weren't able to sooth anybody and now..."
"I guess it happened when they attacked Hogwarts" Harry replied with a shrug. "Then... when I used the Torch. It's the same feeling now that I got then. Do you know what I mean?"
"No" Hermione replied truthfully. "But I don't think I would anyway, so don't try to explain it. I think it's more about the feeling"
"Hey, you did understand" Harry said with a small smile, then turning to Jane. "Listen... I'm not sure what to do now... But want to go downstairs and drink something? Like a cocoa?"
"Harry!" Hermione said, returning to her you-are-so-insensitive glare.
"Sure" Jane replied, to her surprise, and got up from the bed. "You know what I wish?"
"That this all didn't happen" Harry replied and smiled sadly at her surprise. "Yeah, it's understandable"
They all got up and went downstairs in the kitchen where Sirius and Remus were. The two of them looked at the three surprised, but said nothing as they sat down.
"Um... Mr. Black, sir?" Jane said, unsure.
"Sirius" the elder man said.
"Right. Sirius" she said slowly. "Could you please give me a cup of cocoa?"
"Sure" he replied and got up to prepare it.
The four people who were sat at the table stood in silence for a few seconds before Remus seemed to gather his courage and say something.
"How are you, Jane?" he asked kindly.
"I'm starting to realize it actually did happen" she replied. "It's not a pleasant feeling, though"
Remus smiled at her encouragingly as Sirius gave her the cup of hot cocoa.
"Don't worry, it's not that bad being dead" the long-haired man said. "It's a bit pissing off that you can't talk to the ones still alive, but other than that, it's fine. Even the place I was in was alright. Yeah, the scenery sucked, but the company was sometimes interesting. Not counting the weird Guardian of Death that was always grouchy, that is"
Jane's eyes opened wide as she realized hat Sirius was saying.
"Oh my God, you were dead" she said, nearly choking on her cocoa. "I forgot completely"
Sirius started laughing.
"Yeah, I was dead. But then, Amala Wright comes to the rescue and gets me out of there. Anyway, in the months before, I had the chance to talk to Mark Strois, you all know about him by now, I suppose"
"Who doesn't?!" Hermione and Harry said at the same time. "But I didn't know you ever met him" Harry added.
"He was sometimes around there. He told some of us that the place we were in wasn't really the place where all souls go after death. In fact, he said that we were 'quite in the wrong place' to quote him. He said that it was only a passing place and that there were realms and realms where we could stay after we left that place. And of course we wondered how we would leave. Some of us did do it, too, nobody knows how. Trust me, your parents aren't all that bad"
Everybody was watching him wide-eyed as he said that.
"You know, I never really thought of what happened to you in those months" Harry admitted.
"Yeah, well, not much did happen, so there was nothing to really talk about. Let's just say that Mark referred to those realms as 'usually very nice'. Don't worry about your parents, kid, they're probably in one of the nicest realms they could get into"
Jane smiled at him and sipped her cocoa.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Don't you find it really, really odd that everybody keeps saying death is just a new life and believing it?" Hermione asked Harry when they were alone in the room.
"Actually, yes, I do" Harry replied, after thinking about it for a moment. "I can't think of any other time this happened..."
"And you too... the way you spoke, there was something behind those words that spoke of wisdom, Harry" Hermione said. "What happened? At the attack on Hogwarts, I mean?"
Harry collapsed on the bed.
"I can't remember" he replied. "It was something nice, but I don't remember what. I met someone... or something" he said thoughtfully. "I don't know what it was. I just know that from then on, I wasn't really afraid of death, you know"
Hermione looked at him thoughtfully and sat down on the bed next to him.
"I wish you'd remember" she said slowly.
"I wish I did, too" Harry replied and smiled a bit at her.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
It was night, right after dinner and everybody was in the kitchen for a weird Order meeting. Actually, it couldn't really be called that, since not so many people from the Order were there. Harry looked around the kitchen and saw Hermione and the Grangers, none of them looking too pleased; Jane Chase, sitting next to them, tears in her eyes; Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley and the whole Weasley family, wearing the same type of brave, but afraid expressions; Luna Lovegood and her father, both looking crazy, but sad; Amala Wright, alone and retreated in one corner of the room; Neville Longbottom, looking brave, and his grandmother, looking scared and stern; Draco Malfoy... alone and looking as if he hadn't slept in three weeks; Mark Evans and his parents... Harry's before unrevealed family; Dumbledore, looking sadly at all of them; Severus Snape, standing tall and proud, cold as ever; Remus Lupin, looking as if he were about to turn into a wolf any moment; Sirius, concerned and afraid; Nymphadora Tonks, sitting at the table, her head in her hands; Minerva McGonagall, sad, but stern; Mundungus Fletcher, for the first time attentive at what was happening; Iris Rose, looking like frightened, but pure and powerful antelope in her white dress; Filius Flitwick, sitting on the tallest chair there was in the place.
"Today" Dumbledore started. "Today, a terrible thing has happened. The Chase-Monroe family was attacked, as we have all found out. None of the rescue mission from two weeks ago or their families is safe. All of them must go to hiding. Let us start with calling everybody, to see if they are all here"
"Everybody who is supposed to be here is here" Amala spoke up from her corner. "I can see it. Everybody... but my parents"
"Are you sure, Mrs. Wright?" Snape asked and Harry frowned. Wasn't the man aware that everybody around knew of him and Amala? Or was it just a reflex...? To call her by her last name in public?
"Positive" she replied. "Everybody who is supposed to be here is here"
"What about your parents?" Snape asked.
"They had work to get done. Besides, they are safe from such harm" Amala said slowly. "They are now in a place I know nothing about and neither does anybody else. They retreated there to study a weird type of dragon that lives in underground caves. I believe they captured one and put it in a special cave where they can study it."
"What if the Dark Lord finds them?" Snape asked.
"Does the Dark Lord know that I am Romanian? Does the Dark Lord know of where the cave is? It might be in China or in Mongolia, as far as I know. They have made themselves untraceable, the place is unplottable. It is an unrevealed location to anybody, he'd have to search underground on the whole planet to get them! He has better things to do" Amala said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Are you sure they are safe, Mrs. Wright?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, sir. Perhaps safer than any of us" she replied.
"Let's hope it is so" McGonagall said slowly.
"To our next problem" Dumbledore said. "Where will all of you live?"
"They could stay here, but there isn't much room" Sirius said. "I guess this place could house about... fifteen people if necessary, but not more. And even then, we'd be deadly crowded."
"How many are we?" Harry asked and everybody turned to look at him –which was quite unpleasant.
"Twenty" Sirius replied thoughtfully. "Snape should stay here, too. We're gonna be like sardines."
Harry looked around the kitchen and saw the not-very-pleased faces. His eyes fell upon Severus Snape, though, as he seemed to be really, really sick.
"I'll bloody lend you a hand" he growled. "I have a manor, for God's sake. I could take in everybody. And by the way, Black, I need no help from you"
Everybody stared at the glaring man. He was actually offering his help to welcome in his house a lot of people. He hated everybody! And besides, he had troubles with Voldemort himself, surely he didn't think his manor was safe?! Dumbledore seemed to bet thinking along the same lines as he said:
"Thank you for your offer, my boy. But you know that Voldemort" half the room cringed "will be hunting you in that manor? It is not safe"
"It is safer than Hogwarts" Snape said with a smirk. "Not even the Dark Lord can get there and he can try all he wants."
Most of the people in the room started talking to each other, saying things like "safer than Hogwarts?!" and "Snape manor?!"
"Are you sure, Severus?" asked Dumbledore disbelievingly.
"Quite sure, Albus. Quite sure" the dark wizard replied mysteriously.
"Why are you doing this?" Sirius asked with a great hint of hate. "Is there something you wish to gain from this? What is it?"
"I made a promise once and I will respect it. Respecting it means I had to offer myself for this" Snape replied with a smirk. "And, before you ask, Black, yes, I am a man of honor."
The tension was starting to grow in the kitchen as most people looked concernedly at Snape. They seemed to be as thrilled as Sirius to hear that proposition. And the two men in question were ready to jump at each others' throats. Then, of course, Albus Dumbledore decided he should jump in the conversation.
"Well, then, it's settled!" he said quickly. "Who stays with Severus?"
Everybody gaped at him as he obliviously asked that small question.
"Not me" Ron said, shaking his head.
"Why should I stay with him?" Amala asked, making everybody but Snape, Dumbledore and Iris Rose gap at her in surprise. "I don't like staying around teachers a lot, it makes me feel weird"
"I'll stay with him" Jane Chase said slowly with a small shrug. "What've I got to lose?"
"I-I'll stay there" Neville said and this time there were actual gasps of surprise through the room. Even Snape seemed thrown off. However, the reason made them all understand. "I heard you have huge gardens with many rare plants, is it so, Professor?"
Snape blinked a few times, probably wondering if he had heard right.
"Yes, it is so" he replied slowly.
"I'll stay there" Hermione said and looked purposefully at Ron. "I bet he has an extremely large library. Don't you, Professor?"
"I do... But since when do you all live under the impression that you can go through my personal things?" Snape asked, frowning.
"Ah, well..." Hermione said, confused. "Well, I..."
"Fine, you may use it" Snape said with a glare. "Anybody else up for devastating my property?"
"I am!" Ginny said with a mischievous smile. "Since you put it that way..."
In only a few words... Snape couldn't have looked more... "thrilled" if he wanted to.
"Fine, I'll be going, too" Ron said under his breath. "Hell with everything."
"Wonderful. Potter, you're joining them" Snape said with a smirk.
"Now, wait a minute, Snape!" Sirius snapped. "What do you think you're doing?"
"My place is safer than yours" Snape replied. "Besides, his buddies will be there and therefore it'll spare us a lot of inter-house traveling if we put them all in the same house. Manor, in my case. Got it, Black?"
Amala let out a short, pained laugh.
"He's right, you know."
"I'm staying there, too" Draco suddenly decided. "Somebody has to watch out so that Professor Snape doesn't kill Harry"
"Everybody for Snape manor?" Luna asked. "Well, then, I'll be staying there, too"
"Oh, goody" Snape muttered and shot one look towards Amala. She replied with a dead-sad look. "Well, then, anybody else want to join?"
There were general replies of 'no' from the others and soon they all had their trunks and luggage ready in the kitchen. Harry shot Sirius a sorry look.
"See you later guys!" Amala said, moving through them, hugging them all –all except Snape, Harry noticed. What had happened? Had they had a fight? Broken up?
"Very well, if everybody's ready..." Snape said before he turned to Sirius. "You may visit whenever you want. You and the other canine and just about anybody here"
Then, he took out of his pocket a small rag he touched with his wand, muttering 'portus'. He then looked at the eight people who would live in his house, probably until the end of summer and frowned.
"Grab this rag, it's a portkey" he said bored. "Today!"
They all complied and somehow, Neville ended up staying right next to Snape and he gulped and smiled a smile that said he'd faint soon. Snape just glared in reply. Soon, they could all feel a hook behind their navels and...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Harry had never imagined that Snape's house looked like that. In fact, he hadn't imagined so much style... He hadn't imagined style at all. But the place they had landed in was wonderful.
After managing to regain their balance, they all stared at the entrance hall they were in. No, the main color wasn't black. Nor was it green, or even silver. It was white. White and cream. A huge room with a few shoe shelves and hangers and even a few chairs.
"Welcome to Snape manor" Snape said as unpleasantly as possible. "Leave your trunks here. There are three house elves taking care of my estate, don't interrupt their work please. If you get lost, there is nothing I can do for you and you're on your own, but you can use the labyrinth trick and walk next to a wall. It is possible you might make it to an area from where you can get back to wherever you want to get. If you don't, switch the wall"
They all watched him wide-eyed as he said that in a perfectly calm voice, as if it was absolutely normal for people to get lost in his house for days in a row.
"Also, I'd like to say that as long as you are within the estate's walls, you are perfectly safe. There are two main gates from the estate, it is impossible to pass through them unknowingly and it is impossible to pass through the other gates without knowing how to do so, never mind without noticing. In other words: if you get out of the estate, I am not in any way responsible for your death. As to satisfy the usual curiosity you have: one of the gates leads to the Forest of Wolves –which eventually leads into the Forbidden Forest, yes we're in Scotland- and the second gate leads to a road. Three miles from here there is a very small village. You do not want to know what is in it."
Snape took a deep breath and the eight students looked at him wide-eyed. That made him smirk as he added in a more human and less recorded tape voice:
"Now, although I can see you have been dumbstruck that I have a very... nice place for a home, I will lead you to the wing of the house where you will stay. Try to remember the path downstairs, we wouldn't want you to end up in the dungeons, now would we?"
He then smirked to them and turned around in a quick, elegant, feline-ish way and walked quickly, in bat-mode to the doors. The students started nearly running after him –damned be his long legs!-. When he made it to the large, wood doors, they opened at their own accord, quickly enough for Snape not to flatten himself against the hard wood.
And then, there it was: a huge place –the first one was seemingly just the small part for guests to take clothes off that some castles and manors have. But this one... This one was really large and it still had the white-cream-brown colors. Double stairs began in the middle of the room, one going right and one going left to the first story, making two wonderful curves. Anyway, the two parts of the house were linked together, but it all looked wonderful. They could also see two corridors on the ground floor, right beneath the two corridors on the first floor.
Paintings were looking at them from the walls everywhere and a huge brownish marble animated wolf statue that was between the two stairs coked its head to the side to stare at them. A house-elf squeaked and gave a short "master has returned!" as he saw Snape.
The party entered the room, stepping on the fluffy Persian brown carpet that was on the floor. The whole place was so... warm. Harry could see some plants –by that understanding young trees and some exotic-looking bushes- in different parts of the room, a pool table on the left and a normal table with a couch and three armchairs on the right. It looked really spacious, but it would have looked downright empty if the colors hadn't been so warm.
"Hello, master, anything I could serve you or your guests with?" the house elf asked and ran to Snape, kissing his hand and making Ron want to puke.
"No, thank you, Krowcher, we are quite alright" Snape replied and Harry frowned. Krowcer? A house elf called Krowcher?! Oh, well, this was Snape they were talking about.
The house elf was taller than Dobby or Winky, Harry could see. He had a black something he was wearing and had a long pointy nose and two pointy ears sticking up like wolf's ears. He was the sneakiest, most human-looking elf Harry had ever seen.
The house elf bowed his head again and left the room through the corridor on the left. Snape smirked and started walking again towards the stairs on the right when the wolf sculpture decided to jump off its pedestal.
"Severus, what's with all the teens?" he asked pleasantly.
"I'm housing them for awhile" Snape replied in a way that made the others wonder if that was the Severus Snape, master of all glares and snaps. He had said it as if the wolf had been a friend or maybe even brother.
"Great! Company!" the wolf said and walked next to them. "Shrink me! I'm the size of an elephant!"
Snape smiled amusedly.
"Not denying that. Plus, you're destroying my floor with the jumping around. I'll place a feather-light charm on you."
"Wait a second?" the wolf asked, outraged. "Your floor? May I remind you, I've bee here for three hundred years!"
"I know" Snape replied with a wicked smile. "But you're a sculpture, I'm a Snape"
The wolf growled lowly at that and the eight stared at the two residents of the Snape manor. Surprisingly, they seemed to be friends. And surprisingly, the wolf seemed to be quite young at heart and pleasant to be with.
"Shrink me, you bat, bat man!" he growled playfully. "Or I'll step on you and squash you"
Well, he was three meters tall, so that might have worked. Harry suddenly found himself willing to witness such a thing and grinning at the show.
"Bat, bat man?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow. "I might send you outside in the rain if you say that again"
"Gods, Severus, it's sun and it's nearly a drought. It hasn't rained in two weeks!" the wolf said, looking at the other man with sparkling eyes. "Check out the weather!"
Snape let out a snort of laughter –and that surprised everybody, including the wolf-. He then shrunk the wolf to 'only' one meter tall –add twenty centimeters for the head-.
"That alright?" Snape asked.
"'tis ok, but really, I'm not the size of a real wolf, they're shorter, ya know!" the wolf said and grinned a wolfish grin.
Then, to everybody's surprise, he stepped in the middle of the group and said happily:
"So, I'm Colt, who're you?"
They were all a bit shocked, but Jane said slowly:
"Jane Chase"
"Chase?! You one of the famous Chases that are always running around for one thing or another?" Colt asked.
"Yep" she replied with a small smile.
"Cool" Colt said with a grin. "Well come on, Severus, wouldn't like to keep our guests standing, huh? Let's give 'em a nice dinner, perhaps some tea or whatever?"
"We already had dinner" Jane said, smiling at the wolf. "But thanks anyway"
"The bedrooms are this way" Snape said, pointing towards the stairs and they all had to rush quickly after him. "Five bedrooms are enough, I believe. If they aren't, sleep in the kitchen"
The eight children looked at each other inquiringly and Colt let out a snort of laughter and a sarcastic "aren't we a good host". They passed a few paintings and three or four doors –which made Harry wonder just how large the manor really was-. But soon enough, Snape came to a halt and pointed to the corridor in front of him.
"There are three bedrooms on the right and two on the left. The first four doors are two large bathrooms and two day rooms. One has a piano. Do not and I repeat, do not play it in the middle of the night unless you're really skilled with it. I bid you all goodnight. My three elves will bring you your trunks. Their names are Krowcher, Inkle and Spot, in case you were wondering."
"Krowcher, Inkle and Spot?!" mouthed Harry and Ron at each other and Colt saw them and grinned.
"I bid you all goodnight" Snape said and they all stared after him as he went off at full speed in bat-mode.
"One day" said Colt and all eyes turned to him "one day he'll win the gold metal for fastest bat alive, don't you think?" he asked, his eyes twinkling. "Say, neither of you look sleepy. Care for a chit chat in one of the 'day rooms', although it's night?"
"Sure" Jane replied and the others hurried up to agree with her. Colt grinned again and led them to the second room on the left. It was dark when they entered, but soon the lights popped on out of nowhere and they could indeed see a piano, a few armchairs, a few chairs a table and two couches as well as a small bookshelf and plants. It was nice and cozy and they sat down on the couches or on the armchairs.
"So, how come you and Snape are... friends?" Jane asked the wolf.
"Ah, long story, kiddo" Colt replied.
"We've got all night" Hermione said and Ginny nodded furiously.
"Ah, ya know, when young Severus Snape lived here with his parents" Colt started "the house wasn't so big. Actually, this whole place started as a small house of the Snapes and it kept growing with each generation. Every one of the Snapes wanted a bit of him or herself added to the house and Severus added more than any other. Too bad there're no Snapes left, but who knows"
"Who on Earth would want to have children with Snape?!" Draco asked, making a face.
"Well, Mortimer Snape, Severus's father, asked the same thing about Lucius Malfoy and apparently, the 'child' is right in front of me" Colt replied with a smirk. "Believe it or not, it didn't seem likely for ol' Lucius to get to convince a woman to have children with him Apparently, our guesses were wrong. There was a woman and she full-heartedly agreed"
"Our guesses?" Hermione asked before Draco could make any nasty comments.
"Yeah, mine and Severus's" Colt replied with another of his wolfish grins. "Which brings me back to the point. So, Mortimer Snape was a real pain in the you-know-what. His wife was worse than him, her name was Rosalina. God save you from horrible creatures like her. Anyways, when Severus was young, he was quite sensible of all the things that happened to him... his parents were fighting viciously, they hated him... It was hell on earth for Severus"
"He'd kill you if he knew you told us this" Jane whispered.
"Yeah, he probably would" Colt agreed after a second of thinking. "But never mind. So, he had to find a friend to confess to... A friend who didn't tell him, like Lucius Malfoy, to get a grip on himself and learn to be a cold-hearted bastard. So, in one of his searches, he somehow ended up between my front paws. I was only half-animated then, so I didn't really talk like I do now. I just stared at him, at the seven-year old fledging in front of my eyes. The talk we had then I will never forget. The way he said he didn't care if I was a statue. The way he told me about everything on his heart. I somehow managed to soothe him then. I listened. I knew the outer part of things because I was in a good position to hear or even see the Snapes fighting and bickering. But what was happening in the heart of their fledgling... I hadn't ever known"
Colt made a small pause and sighed before he started talking again, slowly.
"He liked me. I replied warmly to everything he said. He started coming to me more and more often. He hid behind me when his parents were looking for him. He started to think of me as the great friend he needed. I liked him. In three hundred years not many had tried to talk to me. Kylie Snape was the first, but that was two hundred and fifty years ago. Then, there was Ronald Snape, one hundred seventy five years ago, when he became an old man. After that, Amelia Snape, a hundred years ago, but she died in an accident before I got to know her too well. And Severus's grandfather, James Snape, he talked to me in his youth, too"
"James Snape?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah" Colt replied. "You're Harry Potter, son of James Potter, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am" the teen nodded.
"Thought so" Colt replied. "I saw him in pictures a few times. You look like him. Anyways, Severus and I were becoming real friends, despite my incapability of truly responding to what he said. So, yeah, a word or two... I would sometimes move slowly or try to say something, but it was really difficult. Anyways, after awhile, he went to Hogwarts, When he came back after a long, cold year, I could see something had changed in him. He told me that nobody liked him too much. That he enjoyed studying. That he liked Potions... He loved the cauldrons and the potions... Ah, Potions, such a lonely subject! But that was why he loved it. He also mentioned 'James Potter and co' quite a lot. Never good things"
"It figures" Harry said as Colt stopped to look at him.
"Anyways, I thought he'd forget me soon. Just that... he didn't. He still cared for me, even though I could see that he was becoming darker and darker. When he was 17, he wanted to join the one he wanted to call the dark lord and gain power. I wanted to stop him, but how could I? I just showed me my sadness... And then, poof! One day he comes home and talks to me about this Jack Strois fellow he met who told him to join Dumbledore. The weird part is, I've always heard of Jack Strois. Even three hundred years ago. So, normally, I felt a bit weird as he told me all that, but I was happy that he chose for everything to be that way and I showed it to him. So, soon he was working as a spy and everything was just fine."
Colt paused a little and smiled at them, daring them to ask what happened next.
"What happened next?" Draco inevitably asked.
"Well, he wanted to become a Potion Master. So he went to study the subject further. When he came home, he somehow managed to create a potion to animate half-animated statues. He made it for me. He cared for me so much that he spent tones of his time to bring me to life... for real. And so I became who I am now, thanks to the miracle of him still liking his childhood friend. And then... then was her"
He paused again, a mischievous glint in his eyes and he looked at each and every one of the ones present there.
"Monica. She was one hell of a woman, must say that. I of course knew Severus had had a few lovers through time, but only with her did he really fall in love with. She was beautiful and graceful and smart... All that he liked in somebody, she had. There was the small episode with the death of his parents sometime around then, they got killed by a werewolf, not such a big deal for Severus. So, soon, I could see her in this very manor. She helped him decorate... She lived in this very wing of the manor. Severus lived in the other."
"They didn't live together?!" Draco asked, surprised. "I mean, even my parents sleep together"
"Hey! They were together all the time, except when they slept. They slept in two completely different rooms!" Colt said, shaking his head. "But it kept their relationship really fresh, actually. One year and it was just like at the beginning!... Ah, but I'm forgetting to mention something here. She was the only woman that Severus courted for real."
Colt chuckled at the memories and at the amazed faces of the teens.
"Oh, yeah, Severus really loved her. And she was, besides wonderful in many points of view, a mistress in a few arts... She thought him many things. Let's just say she made him a wonderful lover to have. I see you can't believe it, but he shows it to those he wants to show it to. I mean, consider it: he has to be snappy and all that, he's a Death Eater, albeit a spy. But he can be a great friend and lover. You can see it in his eyes. It was wonderful for the both of them. But then, after two years, she had to leave... They mourned the end together and even years after they parted, they still keep in touch. As friends now, but they are really warm with each other."
The wolf jumped on the couch next to Hermione.
"So, now I heard he loves somebody else" he said with a grin. "Three guesses who..."
"Amala!" they all said nearly in the same time.
"Oh, yeah" Colt replied with a nod.
"Which reminds me" Hermione said and took out a small bit of paper. "She left this to me when she hugged me goodbye"
They all looked curiously at her as she unfolded it and cleared her voice.
"Dear Hermione,
Please read this out loud. You're probably all wondering what was up with me at the meeting. So, I'd like to say first that I'm really sorry for you, Jane. I wish I could have said that to you in person.
Unfortunately, I couldn't, for the same reason why I couldn't go to Severus's manor. I had to keep away from everybody, I was bugged by the Ministry. Apparently, they're trying to sack Severus as fast as possible, reason: he was a Death Eater. But they couldn't just sack him like that, so they had to get a real reason to do it. Like being in a relationship with a student. Of course I know he made it clear at the end of the school year, but they can't sack him for hugging a student. I had to be cold and bitchy and stay away from people that could have said anything about us. Also, if I accepted to go to Severus's manor, they'd have kept me tracked. I hope they'll remove these things from me now.
Again, sorry for not socializing... and really, really sorry I couldn't say anything to you in person, Jane. But as you will soon see, everything shall turn out alright.
Love,
Amala"
"That explains things" Ron muttered slowly.
"Yeah, it does" Jane said slowly. "I really had been wondering why she had kept herself in a corner and spat at everybody. And it was nice of her to say she was sorry for me"
Colt looked at her and realization appeared in his eyes.
"Oh, child..." he said slowly and nuzzled her with his cold marble nose, making her smile sadly.
They all looked at each other for a few seconds before Draco asked slowly:
"So... how do we sleep?"
"Um... I'll stay with Harry" Ron said.
"I'll stay with Ginny" Hermione said, smiling at the youngest Weasley.
"How about we say together?" Jane asked Luna and the other smiled and nodded approvingly.
"That leaves us two bedrooms" Draco concluded. "I'll take one of them. Neville, you take the other. No offence!"
"None taken" Neville said and they all got up from the armchairs. "But guys, do you think the house elves delivered our trunks right?"
"Hope so" Draco replied. "I don't feel like carrying those things around."
"They'll get them right, don't worry" Colt said with a wolfish smile and ran at a quick pace to the door, opened it and howled: "Inkle!"
The eight went to witness the scene. A house elf, so much different from Krowcher, was standing in front of Colt and smiling in what seemed to be a disturbed fashion. He had a small pointed nose and floppy ears. He was thin and small and had dirty rags and fingers. He looked as if he was a child in trouble.
"Hello, master" the elf said, making the eight feel that he had done something wrong.
"Have you been playing with Severus's inks again?" Colt asked and the others turned their attention to the house elf's ink tainted rags and his ink-tainted fingers.
"Huh... Yes?" he said, forgive-me smile getting larger.
"Ah..." Colt said, shaking his head. "Listen, bring all the trunks here, we need to sort them out. Now"
The small elf nodded his head and disappeared with a pop. In less than three minutes, trunks rushed at a high speed towards the group and three elves rode on top of them. Krowcher was like an old, respectable man. He was standing tall and proud on the first trunk. Inkle was enjoying himself and riding on the thing sitting and acting as if it were a horse. Spot, the third, was fat and small and had two floppy ears and a tomato-like nose. He was trying to keep his balance while standing on the trunk.
They stopped right in front of the eight teens and they were told how to put the trunks around the dormitories. Soon, they all went to bed. Jane politely asked Colt to sleep in her and Hermione's dormitory, which he agreed to full heartedly.
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AN: I have no clue where Colt came from. I really like him, though. So, review!
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