Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Except a few things which you don't recognize from original series or anywhere else.
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: Sorry about the extra-long wait! Really, really sorry about it, guys, I just went through a pretty bad period and well, writing was not one of my easiest tasks. Especially since my inspiration had disappeared somewhere...
Link to my
Chapter 6: The Messengers, the Queen and the Monica
"Severus? You still up?"
"Yes, Colt. I am still up" the Potion Master said slowly.
The wolf jumped on the man's black bed sheets and nuzzled him easily with his stony nose.
"They've talked about things..." Colt said to his friend slowly. "That Draco Malfoy has a very sexual mind, I must say"
"Why?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Should I quote? Or perhaps just tell you the basic idea?" Colt chuckled. "Well, he said something about you and Amala putting your mouths to better use tomorrow"
"If he meant kissing, he isn't all that sexual" Severus said with a small smile. "You should get out of the house more often"
"More often?! I hardly if ever get out of the house!" Colt laughed. "And Amala asked him why he didn't say kissing too."
"Why didn't he?" the man asked curiously, gently petting the wolf.
"He didn't mean kissing, that's why" Colt said and gave the other a very amused look. "Three guesses what he did mean"
"I think I get the point" Severus mused and closed his eyes. He felt Colt squirm under his touch and opened them back again watching his pet statue with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, cub" Colt said a bit worriedly. "You should be somehow else if you just got out of the Dementors' clutches. Not that I'm complaining!"
"The Dementors didn't affect me all that much" the Potion Master said slowly and thoughtfully. "Yes, they brought back memories, but soon the memories escaped what they wanted me to feel. I missed her, Colt. More than I did for a long time"
"Dear old Monica" Colt sighed after wondering for a second who 'she' was. "But you've got Amala now"
"I think I still love her, somehow" Severus said, looking the wolf in the eyes. "And I think I should one day tell Amala about her"
The wolf just looked at him thoughtfully.
"Just watch out, will you? I'm sure she won't want to know the... details"
"I will watch out"
"'course you will" the wolf replied in a 'yeah-right' tone.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Sybille, slow down" Simnai said, urging his horse to go faster. Would that woman ever go slower? And how on Earth did she manage to get the poor horse to ride that quickly?
"Hurry up!" the witch cried back to him, oblivious to the fact that the others had quite a time galloping behind her. She probably had the best horse in the whole damned realm!!!
Sania wondered how on Earth she'd managed to get herself in that group. So, yes, she'd lead them to Snape Manor to talk to Jane, but still! What was she doing with Sybille –Sybille, of all people!-, two elves –Simnai and Varamesh, good friends of hers- and Maxwell Theodore? The woman, Sybille, was completely against Jane, saying the girl was supposed to be brought to the kingdom and not vice versa–she'd been saying that in the meeting a lot-. Simnai and Varamesh were great elves, yes, powerful, but what did they have to do with Jane? And Maxwell... Well, Maxwell was the viceroy's son. What a team!!! And all to get Jane.
This was not happening, she was not leading a complete witch -said in the Inquisition-y meaning of the word!- two elves that were straight out of nobility and a Fal'silian prince to get a twelve-year old to be the Queen of the Fal'sil!
But then... She thought to herself in a moment of inspiration, what was so odd? What was unbelievable?... Nothing. She'd learned it a long time ago. Nothing was weird or unbelievable when magic was involved... Second thought, nothing was weird or unbelievable when life was involved.
"This is the pathway to the Forbidden Forest" Sybille said with a wrinkle of her pale nose, finally slowing down –but so quickly that the others were already two meters ahead of her when they realized she'd nearly stopped. "What are we dong there?"
"Transform yourself into a man and become Severus 'Bat' Snape" Sania muttered. Yep, even her hair was oily and her eyes were black. Onyx black. The only difference between her and said Potion Master being that she was actually beautiful. "The path that leads to Snape Manor" she said out loud "goes through this forest and then through the Forest of Wolves. We should be there... soon"
"How soon?" Maxwell asked, seemingly having experienced the 'soon' syndrome. After all, 'soon' was always a relative word. It could be 'soon' compared to the time the journey had lasted, 'soon' compared to a human being's lifetime –which was a month or two-, 'soon' for an elf and his or her lifespan –a few years- or 'soon' for the Universe –oh, let's say... 10.000 years?-.
"Um... not so soon" Sania replied with a small smile towards him. "But cheer up, we'll be there in less than a day"
"Less than a day?" he mock-moaned.
She studied him closely. He was fun, young, powerful, noble, a prince and an intelligent person, not to mention handsome! She liked him... Maybe, just maybe, she could get her hands on him?
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Severus held Amala in his arms, enjoying every moment of it. They were both sitting in a very comfortable armchair in his wing of the house, just being together quietly. But Severus knew it wouldn't last long and that he would be the one to end it... He just hoped against hope that Amala would understand... But would she?
"Amy" he said softly.
"Hmm?" she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"There is something I would want you to know" Severus said carefully.
"What is it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and suddenly looking him in the eye.
"I have a wonderful friend which you are bound to meet sometime and well..." he drifted off.
"Is he a vampire or something?" she asked, frowning. "Because, if he's a vampire, he better be safe or I'll have your head"
"No, not a vampire" he chuckled. "It's a human being... a woman, one of my exes"
Amala gave a slight jerk of surprise.
"Why are you telling me this again?" she asked. After all, a female friend, ok, no prob, but why did he mention the word 'ex'?
"Because you are bound to meet her sometime and, as we tend to be quite familiar with each other, I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression" he said.
"How familiar?" Amala asked, sensing a bit of Severus's uneasiness.
"Quite" he replied. "But it's a relationship of the past... One that ended a long time ago"
"How come you're still friends?" Amala asked, feeling slightly jealous of the woman. Especially because she could feel something was amiss in what Severus was telling her.
"We always were very close and since we didn't part at our own volition..." Severus replied slowly.
"Why did you part?" she asked with a frown.
"It is a long story" Severus replied.
"I have time" Amala said and moved from his lap on to a chair. Severus sighed.
"Perhaps then I should start from the beginning..." he silently said. "From the first time I met her. I was twenty one when I met her. I will not hide it from you that from the very beginning I thought her very beautiful, and I don't mean just the way she looked. I mean the way she truly was.
"She was twenty-four and she had just come from a job somewhere in Eastern Europe and still had a slight accent in her English. She was fascinated with gods, goddesses, myths, religions, Oriental religiosity... And she had a great hand with charms. I had to get to know her better. I was still studying the Arts of Potions then, I was not yet teaching, no, I started doing that when I was twenty-four. I lived in this very house then, but I was going to Hogwarts from time to time, speaking to the Headmaster and then I got to see her. She was working in the Forbidden Forest, searching for some signs of old civilizations. I could see her then, walking up and down the corridors, at fast paces or going slowly, lost in her own thoughts.
"And so I started speaking with her as often as I could... Asked her about her work, what she was searching for, how she'd gotten here, her family, friends... It turned out that she had a sister who'd married an English man and that she was staying with them almost all the time when she wasn't at Hogwarts. Now, she loved her sister, but the two were as far apart as the sky is from earth and she didn't really enjoy staying with them.
"After not so long, she became my first true lover, the first I dare say I ever loved. And well, she was a mistress of many arts, including the one of love. It is from her that I learned many things that I do not easily show to others.
"We were very in love and soon she came to live in this house, she even had the very room you have now. She would walk through this place as if everything here was under her control, which it probably was.
"But after a while, my problems with Voldemort became numerous. He caught me as a spy, I was nearly killed and very, very afraid that she might have been seen in my mind by the Dark Lord. It was not long before that Halloween night when he got nearly killed... But she had to leave, her work here was done and she had some scores to settle with some people she never really told me much about. No matter how close, we still had our secrets that we wanted to keep.
"It was a very saddening time, but we promised to be together how much we could... Unfortunately, I never followed her path. I stayed here to teach and by time I became even more far away from her than I used to be. She was always in a different part of the world, I had to teach, couldn't Apparate all the time since the Ministry was growing suspicious due to my past relations with the Dark Lorrd and well... Our love turned into friendship some eleven years ago. But I still wonder sometimes if I don't still love her, and then I wished she was here again, in my arms..."
"Pardon?!" Amala said and Severus sapped out of his dream-like state. Her eyes glittered furiously like a dragon's and she was glaring in a way that brought his glares to shame. "What the hell do you mean, Severus?!"
His eyes widened at his mistake, but he wouldn't go back on it now. Hell, he wondered, but why wouldn't Amala see that he loved her? No matter if he loved Monica too! And since when did the girl swear in her speech?
"I mean what I say" Severus replied, holding his stance and regarding her with a light frown. "But no matter how I feel about her-"
"Whoa, wait! You still love her?!" Amala said. "Why are you telling me this?!"
"Are you jealous?" Severus asked with an ice-like calm.
"Jealous?! JEALOUS?! You know damned right that I'm jealous!" she yelled. "You dare say you still love this woman from sixteen years ago and in front of me! Why the nerve!"
"Amala!" Severus said in a demanding tone, ready to explain.
"No, just leave it. I understand" she spat, got off her chair and stormed out.
Severus looked after her with a deep frown on his face. What was wrong with her? Couldn't she see that he loved her? Couldn't she see that, damn it, his feelings for Monica didn't affect his feelings for her? Yes, he understood that she was a bit jealous, but make such a scene! And why?!
"That was very smart on your side" he heard a calm voice and turned to glare at whomever was standing in a door frame. That was odd. When had he appeared there? He hadn't seen him before.
"She's acting stupid, can't she see?" Severus said with a bit of tension in his voice.
"She doesn't know she's acting stupid" Colt replied and walked towards Severus. "She is upset that you love somebody else and not her. And it's pretty tough on her"
"But I love her" Severus replied with a glare towards the wolf.
"Not in her mind you don't" Colt pointed out. "Take a good look around yourself, Severus, I think it's you who should be getting out of the house more often. People think that if you love one person you cannot love another and so does Amala. She is not Monica, you know"
"I know she's not Monica" Severus replied pissed.
"You don't show it" Colt replied. "After all, look at what you just did: confused Monica's reactions with Amala's. She is jealous, Severus and if you're not careful, your relationship might go down the drain. Go find her. And put that wonderful ice-cold mask back on, it fits you better than this pissed-off state"
Severus snorted and made a few steps before turning back to his life-long friend.
"Why are you here, anyway?" he asked.
"Oh" Colt said and chuckled. "I came to say that there is a weird group of men heading this way, heard so from Mayhowl. I told you about Mayhowl, didn't I? The Lord of Wolves."
"Right..." Severus said with a frown.
"Now, go get her and let me worry about the group" Colt said and jumped at the window. "Go, go, go, go!"
With a smile, Severus walked out the door and went to find his younger lover.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Mayhowl was running through the forest with a part of his pack. Those, those, those... humans had better be on his side, or else. Yes, yes, it was true that he could turn into a human being at will, but he still didn't trust the humans as specie. There were quite a few exceptions, but humans were not wolves to show their true colors from the very beginning.
The wolves in Mayhowl's pack were of course the most human-understanding and the best fighters he could gather. They were his 'alpha team'. And he was their absolute Alpha! He was the Alpha of all wolves and therefore he was also the Alpha of werewolves and even of dogs. Some of the dogs did not see him as their master, but all transformed werewolves would obey his will.
Some humans had called it magical, but wherever the Lord of Wolves went, he was recognized as such. They had managed to find the Lord of Wolves several times and made him order his packs or several individuals do one thing or another and they saw that even the orphan pups obeyed him without as much as a question. The Lord of Wolves was recognized beyond words, at a very deep level and he would be obeyed by all... Not mindlessly, mind you, just the pups did that, but the others obeyed him while thinking for themselves. And as a Lord of Wolves, he had most understanding of other species and could understand their speech, be it bird, veela, human –yes, any language- and could turn into a human or human-like being at will.
But how did such Lord of Wolves appear, you ask? How did they come to be? Well, none of them had ever been elected, that was for sure and it had been one of the jokes of the wolves for many a years. No, such Lords were born usually or they earned their title after much work to become what they wanted to be-on the inside. It was rather about power and attitude, and Mayhowl was one of the lucky ones who had been born so. He also remembered the tales of the White Wolf, who'd been the absolute Alpha of the Alphas, the greatest Lord ever. He'd been born one thousand years before and he'd fought the Terrorist Wolf, an ill-intentioned Lord of Wolves and then had disappeared. Legend said he was still alive. Well, if he was, he wasn't anywhere near the normal packs of wolves, that was for sure.
And yes, my friends, there could be more than one Lord of wolves at one time, but it was not often and usually one of them was greater than the other and one would be able to tell it from the wolf's looks the overall feeling he generated.
Yep. Wolves were the best, Mayhowl grinned. Unlike humans who never knew who their Lords were and who wanted to be Lords without working hard to change themselves.
Those humans who were invading his territory would better be prepared.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Amala had just collapsed on her bed. Severus was such a... such a... she didn't know exactly what he was, but it was definitely bad. How could he do that to her? Saying he loved her and then confessing his love for that Monica-woman. She snorted to herself. What an idiot.
The door opened and Severus's head poked inside.
"Amy?" he asked.
"Go away, to your Monica!" she cried back.
"Let me just explain..." Severus said.
"Leave me alone" she said with a growl.
"I love you" Severus said slowly. "I love you... in a different way than I loved her. And I don't think I can stop loving you. I don't want to and I only told you about Monica because I thought it would be a very good idea to tell you about her, since she is still a friend... And because I want you in my life long enough to meet her and maybe even befriend her. I know you two would get along well"
"Are you listening to yourself, Severus?!" Amala said with a deadly glare. "Confessing your love left and right and expecting me to even get along with your other love! Am I the one you're cheating her with?"
She had expected anything from him but a snort and a small laughter.
"I haven't even kissed her for eleven years. Eleven years, Amala. It's more than half your life"
"I know how much it is!" she cried. "But I know something, if you still love her, you can't possibly love me the same as you love her!"
For a second, Severus seemed undecided before saying:
"Of course I don't love you the same"
"Hah!" she cried and her eyes glowed like a dragon's. "I knew it! And you dare come here and-"
"Tell you that I love you in a different way than I love her because you're two different women? Of course I dare" Severus replied with a smirk. "I dare do whatever I like. Now, you should know that I've meant every word I've said in the past few minutes. You can either cope with it or not, but I should warn you that I will not tolerate any jealousy scenes from anybody. The only owner of myself is myself and you have no right to tell me off for anything except what I do to you."
"WHAT?!" Amala cried, outraged.
"The reverse is also valid" he said with a smirk and walked towards the bed. "I have no right to tell you off for anything that has nothing to do with me... Or with your safety"
"Yeah right!" Amala said and poked him not-so-gently in the leg as he sat down on the bed right next to her. "As if! What if I told you now that I always wanted to kiss Harry Potter and now that you allow me to, I'll go out with him?"
Severus grimaced.
"Out of all people, she had to pick a Potter" he muttered to himself. "Damn"
"Oh, so you can comment?!" she said with a glare.
"I'm commenting your lack of taste in men" Severus said and Amala suddenly had a mischievous smile on her face as she opened her mouth. "I was the exception that confirms the rule" he said quickly and Amala moaned exasperatedly.
"Don't change the rules!" she cried at him.
"I'm a Slytherin, that's what we do" Severus replied and crashed on the bed.
"I definitely am not done with ranting against you loving another woman!" Amala cried.
"I can see that" Severus replied with a roll of eyes. "But she isn't here... and you should cut down on that jealousy. It's not as if I wouldn't want you because I love her. And in fact, even if she was here, I'd still be with you, since she doesn't think of me as a lover anymore. And even if she did and we would be together, you still wouldn't be out of my life. Unless you left it on your own accord"
"So, you'd be going out with two women" Amala growled.
"Of course" Severus replied and grabbed her in his arms. "But do you really think I'd be neglecting either of you? Cut down on your jealousy"
"I don't want to, because you're a complete jerk here!" she replied and poked him in the chest. "I mean..."
"Shut up" Severus said in a calm manner.
"WHAT?!" Amala cried.
"I said... shut up. You talk too much and assume way too much and it's tiring" Severus replied and caught her lips with his. For a second or two, she went still with surprise before pushing Severus back and staring at him.
"What are you doing?" she asked in a tone that meant she actually inquired him about what he was doing.
"Unexpected turn, isn't it?" Severus asked with a smirk before letting himself fall down on the bed. "You'll grow to see that I still have surprises up my sleeve. I don't show them to anybody, but maybe you'll get to see some of them."
"As?" Amala asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well..." Severus replied slowly. "I might show you..."
"What?" Amala asked and he smirked devilishly.
"See that?" he asked and she stared at him.
"See what?" she asked with a frown.
"I got your mind off my ex, didn't I?" he replied with an even more devilish smirk. "Done ranting? Can I go ahead and try to do some very wicked things to you now?"
"What do you mean, 'wicked things'?" Amala demanded and Severus snorted, got up and grabbed her in his arms.
"I win this round... I got your mind off my ex again, even while mentioning her two seconds before" he purred. "And now, decide: what's more important? Ranting about her, or cursing me for touching you in... off-bound places?"
"Your hands aren't..." she started saying before one of his hands slid down under he shirt and on her skin, up to her breasts. "Hey!"
"About time, isn't it?" he chuckled mercilessly. "So? What will it be?"
"Damned be you and your choices" she growled. "Get your hand..."
"Not about to" he cut her off with a dark voice and she growled. He wasn't intimidated though –and she supposed it would be hard to intimidate him, Death Eater and all that- and took her growl as a good sign. Which, hell, she couldn't tell if it was.
And then, the Divine Providence decided to bump in the situation by allowing one redhead to knock on the door and enter without waiting for a reply.
"Amala, where-"Ron started asking before stopping to gap at the scene in front of him. Of course, he'd expected to see Amala there. He'd seen her go in the room about twenty minutes before. He'd naturally assumed she wouldn't be undressed. After all, she had no reason to be. So, he'd just popped in hoping to find Hermione's homework –his girlfriend had told him she'd left it with Amala-.
He had not expected to see Amala on the bed, Severus Snape holding her in his arms while having one hand slid under her shirt rather visibly and with his lips nearly an inch from her neck. And the look on their faces was rather odd: she had a surprised look on her face and she was reddening quickly, while telling him rather desperately from her eyes to just go away. Snape had, however, an ordering expression which clearly said: "get out". He was dark, powerful, not quite glaring, but very close to and... turned on? That was odd. Ron had somehow missed that side of said Severus Snape in favor of the 'snarky bastard' one.
"Ok, like, shit, sorry, Professor... Amala... bloody hell... I'll be back later... no, tomorrow... bye!" he said, turning redder than the couple had thought possible and shooting out the door at maximum speed behind him and shutting it with a bang.
Severus pulled his face back from Amala's neck and said in a somehow sarcastic tone:
"Your friends are rather odd"
"Says the man who has a walking, talking wolf statue for a friend" she pointed out with a smirk.
"Ah, yes, good old Colt" Severus muttered. "At least he bothers to knock on the door and wait before coming in"
"Really?" Amala asked, raising an eyebrow. "How does he knock? With his tail?"
"Surprisingly enough" Severus replied with a small smile. "Yes. Now, where were we?"
"Well, you were just about to explain why you're acting odd lately" Amala replied with a frown. "And I still wasn't done ranting..."
"Acting odd?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow, ignoring her second sentence on purpose. "No... You just haven't had the chance to see a great deal of me yet. But we could change that..."
"Could we really?" she asked with a small smile.
"Oh, yes..." Severus replied in a purring tone and moving back to her neck.
"I see now that you have quite a dirty mind" she mused.
"Dirty mind? And why would my mind be dirty?" he snorted. "You teens have a tendency to call every sexual manifestation 'perverted' or 'dirty'"
"Just for a joke" she laughed.
"Words have a greater power than you imagine" he said seriously. "Especially when said a lot by everybody around you. Voluntarily or not, they get to you"
"You don't have to get so serious, sheesh" she said with a roll of her eyes.
"I've seen too many good people taken down by mean words, Amala" Severus replied. "I tell you those victims are sometimes even more frightening than the Dark Lord's victims."
"Ok, ok..." she said exasperatedly. "Listen, I need to go check out on something with Hermione..."
"Of course" Severus replied not very pleased. "But I will be seeing you later"
"Right" she said with a small nod and got out of the room.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Stop!" Sania heard and could see that Sybille had stopped suddenly even before the cry. The group of five stopped and saw that they were surrounded by a pack of wolves who were eyeing them not very nicely. She could almost swear that the one who'd given the cry had been Mayhowl, but she couldn't be sure and Sybille and Simnai were covering the view. She decided to give it a shot, after all, most wolves obeyed Mayhowl and those who didn't... well... they'd attack anyway.
"May?!" she cried and saw the wolves growl dangerously.
The man moved quickly around the five people and looked at her.
"Sania? What a pleasant surprise!" he said with a genuine smile before turning to his wolves and letting out some sort of command which made the wolves lessen their guard, but not let it down completely. "What is the occasion?"
"You have heard of the Fal'sil" Sania replied, and it wasn't a question, but a statement. "They are lacking royalty and have found a Queen for themselves. The path to her leads this way"
"Only Snape Manor is this way, the way you've been coming. Or the village, but I've seen no royal there, unless she's a human kind of a royal... In which case, turn back, you're making a big mistake"
"She's a true Queen, May" Sania replied and realized that the others were watching her closely.
"In Snape Manor, then?" the Lord of Wolves questioned.
"In Snape Manor she is, yes..." Sania replied. "Kind of young, but still..."
"I was young too when they found me" Mayhowl replied with a small smile. "If she's a true queen, then the only thing she lacks is experience, but that she can always get"
"You're letting out too much" Sybille warned coldly.
"Anyway it's been told in public, Syb" Sania replied with a short laugh and the woman glared madly. "And I'd trust wolves with my life, they are much more discreet and trustworthy than humans"
Mayhowl smirked.
"Hear, hear" he said slowly. "Then, you won't mind an escort"
"No, we wouldn't!" Sania said with a huge smile. "Just tell them not to eat us alive, they look like it"
The Lord of Wolves laughed and turned to his wolves, ordered them something, then turned into a wolf himself.
"Ok, let's go" Sania said, eager to get to Snape Manor. She was sour from the trip.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Amala entered the dayroom with a dreamy look on her face. Well, dreamy until she saw a very red Ron in there, along with the rest of the group.
"Amala, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt" he said as red as a tomato.
"Don't worry" she laughed and saw the very odd look on the boy's face. "What?"
"I just realized how close you and Snape are..." Ron replied and went, if possibly, even redder.
"Earth to Ronald Weasley" she said shaking her hand in front of him. "Of course we're close, remember?"
"Ron, what did you witness?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Me and Severus together in a rather uncompromising situation... What's wrong?" Amala asked with a frown. "It's not as if we were even kissing"
"I might be blind" Ron said slowly "but I did see his hand under your shirt..."
"Yeah, that doesn't happen often" Amala said, still puzzled "but surely you've done that too?"
"Yes, but I'm not Severus Snape and I don't think I have that 'let-me-just-get-you-in-bed' look when I do it" Ron pointed out. "I'm still in shock"
"I didn't see his look" Amala said with a frown.
"You were kind of back against him, now weren't you?" Ron asked. "Still, in shock, still in shock"
"He is a human being, despite common beliefs" Amala replied with a small smirk. "You should have seen that before"
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by Colt who jumped at the window and let out a loud howl, nearly deafening everybody.
"What the hell was that for?!" Draco cried.
"Mayhowl let me know that he was here and I had to say something, so he'd know I'd heard" Colt replied simply. "I've gotta go meet him... See what's going on"
The wolf ran out of the room and the teens just stared behind him.
"Did you guys hear anything?" Ron asked after a few seconds.
"Before that infernal howl?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "No. But wolves do have extremely good hearing, you know"
They stayed in silence for a few more seconds, each of them trying to hear anything odd, but no suspicious sound could be heard. Finally, Draco got up, holding Ginny's hand, and said:
"Well, then, we'll be on our way now..."
They all just nodded, before Ron's eyes widened.
"Where are you going with my sister?!" he cried.
"Quick in anger, as always, aren't you, Ron?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why can't you just calm down?"
"I won't let you go away with this... this..." Ron stuttered.
"Pardon?" Ginny asked with a low growl. "You won't let me? Ron, you're such an idiot..."
"I might not like you a lot, Weasel" Draco said with a feeble smile, looking worriedly towards Ginny "but I'd advise you not to go against your sister. She looks murderous"
"Thank you" she said with a glare towards Draco. "Now, Ron, you will finally learn that I am a person and not your property, so I have the right to do whatever I desire... Or at least I hope so. Come on Draco, let's go"
She stormed out the door and, for the first time in their lives, they could see Draco Malfoy dragged away by somebody and tripping on the carpet, looking a bit helpless.
"I wouldn't worry about her, Ron" Harry said with a smirk. "In case of need, she can kill Draco"
Ron didn't comment, he just muttered something darkly.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
In front of the gate towards the Forest of Wolves, Colt was staring through a small hole in the wall that was there for him to see the ones outside. Indeed, he could see Mayhowl and a few of his wolves and two humans and two elves... and, what was that? She smelled like both a human and an elf, but she looked like an elf. He probably had a cold. Hey... could stone wolves get colds?
Let us in, Mayhowl said to his stone companion, not bothering to explain the oddity of the group.
Sure do Colt replied and opened the gate easily.
We're looking for Jane Chase, you know her the Lord of Wolves said and let out a stifled yawn. He should have probably slept more than one hour the previous night.
Yeah, let me show you the way Colt replied. "Follow me"
The surprise to hear a wolf talking human nearly made the cold-looking woman fall of her horse. Colt led them through the gardens, up to the castle and straight to the stables. The Snape family might not have had horses or mules or anything of the sort for a long time, but the stables would suffice... Especially with a bit of help from the house elves.
They all left their horses there, having enough tact not to wrinkle their noses and the places and then Colt led them into the house and howled for Severus to get there.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Severus was reading in the library when he heard the howl and he understood quickly that he had to get there fast. He let his book down, carefully putting a book sign in it –damned be that idiotic guest he'd had once that had ripped all the page numbers from that book away. Whatever he had been thinking, it must have been a pretty stupid thought-.
He hurried down the corridors, frowning to himself. Probably that group Colt had announced had arrived. For the first time since he'd left Amala, he was actually happy he hadn't managed to convince her to go further. Imagine... just imagine... having to stop... like that.
He made it in the large room in the new part of the house that people got to see first if they went through the main entrance in the house and there he saw six people and four wolves, plus Colt, looking at him in odd ways. What was going on?
"Hey, Severus, this is the group that I told you about earlier... the two male elves there are just that: elves... the female is half-elven, the two others are humans and... oh, Mayhowl seems to be in his human shape also. The four wolves are bodyguards, so to say... Um... yeah"
Severus just stared at them weirdly. What the-?
"We're here to talk to Jane Chase, the new Fal'silian queen" one of the humans said with a feeble smile. "I believe you know of the situation?"
"Oh, yes... Hard to miss" the Potion Master replied, suddenly the problem seeming more and more important, now that these messengers were here.
"Where is she?" the human woman asked unpleasantly and Severus instantly smirked on the inside. She was ready to go to business... and she resembled him a little. Oh, he would so show her who was master of the house.
"Somewhere around the house" Severus replied with a smirk. "Inkle!"
A house-elf appeared at his command and the company raised eyebrows at the situation, especially the two real elves.
"Yes, sire?" the small creature asked.
"Find the others for me and get them down here. Now." Severus said in a somewhat kind matter and the creature bowed and left. "Shall we sit down?" he said towards the six human and human-alike beings and, without waiting for a reply, he went and sat down on the largest couch around. The others could only follow and he could feel Colt muttering darkly behind him.
They all sat down opposed to the Potion Master, the human woman, Severus observed, right across from him. They introduced themselves quickly and then they were all quiet for a few minutes until the teens came. Yes, it would turn out interesting.
They entered the room at different times, Draco Malfoy and Ginevra Weasley first, both looking surprised at seeing the unusual company, then Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, and then in a group, Jane and everybody else except Amala and Amala half a minute later. Then, Maxwell decided it was time to make the introductions and speak what they had to speak.
"Hello, we're here to speak to Jane Chase" he said, getting up. "I am Maxwell Theodore, son of the viceroy of the Fal'sil"
Jane paled hearing that, but she looked daring and brave nevertheless.
"We are here to tell you of your duties and to make sure you are trained as the new queen in the right way" Maxwell said with a small smile. "We will take you to your kingdom and we will introduce you to your subjects"
"You'll take me away from my life here, so" she said with a very pale smile. "I could cope with that"
"No, you can stay here... We understand you have a life and it is good for our alliances with the wizarding world" Maxwell said and some color returned to Jane's face. "Now, this is your new trainer in the arts of war" he said, turning towards Sybille, who got up.
"My name is Sybille and you will refer to me as such. Do not dare to call me Syb or I will have your head" Sybille said in a very unpleasant matter.
"Don't mind her, unhappy childhood" Maxwell said towards the worried Jane with a wink. Sybille turned towards him with a glare. "Theodore Maxwell" she threateningly said. "How dare you?"
"I'm the viceroy's son" he pointed out with a sly look. "I have my diplomatic immunity"
"Diplomatic, yes. Magical, no" Sybille said, grasping her wand.
"Oops" he said slowly. Jane chuckled, still seeming to be a bit distraught.
"Simnai and Varamesh, to your service" Simnai recommended while Varamesh made way to calm Sybille down. "We will help you with the arts of swords and bows."
"And you know me" Mayhowl said with a smile. "I'm the Lord of Wolves and I'm here for no really important reason besides having made sure this group got here safely... And that they were no threat"
"Aha..." Jane said slowly. "So... What happens now?"
"Now us wolves leave" Mayhowl said. "Colt, will you please lead me and my pack outside?"
"Of course" the wolf replied and led the others of his specie outside the house.
"And we will stay here for one night, if Mr. Snape allows it" Maxwell said with a look towards the Potion Master who rolled his eyes.
"Very well, you may stay" he said with a growl.
"And tomorrow you shall become more acquainted with us. Tomorrow night we go towards our realm, where you shall meet your people and see your castle. We will return as soon as you like after that" Maxwell said, seeming to be relieved that Snape would have them.
"All settled then" Sybille said with a dark smile. "Snape, show us to our rooms"
Severus raised his eyebrow at her commanding tone, but then said with an evil smirk.
"Very well, follow me"
He got up and stormed through half the room before stopping, looking behind him and rolling his eyes at the group that seemed to still be glued to the couch.
"Well?"
The five people got out and followed the Potion Master.
"It seems to me, Jane" Draco said with a worried glance towards the girl "that your life has just gone straight to hell"
"You can say that again" she said, raising an eyebrow. "That was odd..."
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
AN: Perhaps not the best ending, but... Anyway. Maybe I'll repost.
RtR:
Skillz: thanks for your review! And yeah, Ron really is lovable ;-)
Tsuetsu: Already added you on livejournal... I think. My username is priestesssaren... All the others I tried were out. :-)
Alcapacien: lol. Yes, there will be no slash in this story and thanks!
marauder#3: Well, I hope this chapter answered your question... although kinda late. ;-) Thanks for the review!
Soramiko: thanks for your wonderful reviews and yes, you could say I'm rather found of the Amala/Snape pairing too. :-)
GamingGuy84: I was just joking about the insult lol. Don't take me personally. Thanks!
Inu-kokoro: Yes indeed, a young woman's heart is fragile... unless that young woman happens to be me ;-). Poor Amala indeed... She'll be seeing a lot of Monica.
Other chapters:
Skillz: Ginny and Voldemort? Hmm... That's something that makes my hair sit up. Really. But I get what you mean. Thanks for the review!