AN: Wow… I'm back after nearly a year since my last up date. You wouldn't believe the number of reviews I've gotten in that time. It's amazing, and I love you all for it.

Brief reasons for my absence. Mainly personal issues. I was in the hospital off and on. School was a pain because I actually needed the marks to get into university, and I was working insane hours.

The good news. I'm a little more stable now. I've got some free time. My stepfather isn't as bigoted as he once was, and I'm getting married in December. I'm very happy about that.

Anyway, I hope this was worth the wait. It isn't beta-ed, but it should be alright. I might go over it later. If anyone wants to beta it, just e-mail me. For that matter, if anyone wants to just talk, you can e-mail me, or use AIM, though I'm not on there much now. eniverment (at)hotmail .com , or AIM: enivrement. Just put Six Feet Cold in the subject line or I can't guarantee I get it.

Hope you enjoy, and thank you for the reviews and support.

Chapter XVII

Rein Raus

He stalked down the hall after leaving the Headmaster's office, cloak billowing behind him in a manor none of his peers had ever been able to duplicate. It was an art he prided himself on.

He was plotting, of course. Having Dumbledore's full permission to trail Professor Ethan James, Severus was ready to begin spying in earnest. In a way it was a sort of game for him, something he had sorely missed since Voldemort's fall. One of the very few things he missed, actually. There was something thrilling about the secrecy and, though he was loathed to admit it, the recklessness of it all. It almost made him feel alive.

He entered his chambers and slumped less than gracefully into his chair. His back was sore, and though he wasn't one to complain, he felt like he was getting old. At forty-two he was, at least in the wizarding world, still a child compared to others, yet if he went by Muggle standards he should be well on his way to a midlife crises.

He snorted a little at the thought. He could hardly imagine himself moping about wondering if he'd made the right choices in his life. He had too much occupying his time to consider things like that. Besides, there's no use crying over spilled milk. It only led to self-doubt and misery. He was much to smart to let himself fall into that trap.

Not wanting to get trapped into dwelling on bitter thoughts, he turned his mind back to the task at hand; Professor James.

Half of him feared that Ethan would be bright enough to know not to give up his location by returning to his fellow Neo Death Eaters. The other half didn't have that confidence in his fellow, and he was fairly confident that the younger man would want to warn whoever it was he was working for that he was under suspicion, whether it be by meeting with him, talking to him through flue or using owls.

He was going to watch Ethan using a unique sort of… 'tracking device.' He had in his possession several small demons, or spirits to be precise. Some of these spirits were able to track the movements of whatever they were set on, not by anything visual, but by recording magical signatures. Each place and individual, with a few exceptions, had its own distinctive signature, and Severus was blessed with the gift to, with a lot of concentration, interpret, visualize and, in some cases, manipulate these signatures.

He smiled a bitterly at that thought. He'd tried to teach Harry how to interpret the signatures, but the boy was abysmal at it. It had taken Severus nearly two weeks of wasted effort to realize why. The boy's own signature was constantly changing. Only small alterations, but they continued to build on one another until he couldn't recognize it. In addition to that, the boy seemed to change the signatures of people, places and things around him. In the two weeks of changing, Harry had managed to distort nearly every signature in Severus' chambers; things that had taken him months to memories. Needless to say he had moved the boy's lessons to another room after he realized that.

Sighing and dragging himself out of his reverie, Severus summoned one of the spirits to him. They were mischievous creatures, and spying was more of a game for them than it was for him. When one finally came to him, dancing in the air around his head, he gave it the target, and sent it on its merry way. He briefly wondered if he should send several to follow the professor. He's sent one as soon as Ethan James arrived, but it stopped answering his summons shortly after. He decided against it, not wanting to waste the demons. If the one he sent did disappear, it would be a shame, but at least he wouldn't lose more than one.

Severus pulled himself tiredly out of his chair after that, and glided over to his cupboard to pour himself a glass of wine. Even alone, his movements were graceful. He headed back to his chair and summoned a book he'd already read more times then was necessary and settled himself for a long period of waiting.

--

Severus' eyes opened and he was immediately awake. He took in his surroundings, and was surprised to find he had fallen asleep in the chair. The wine glass was empty, and had fallen harmlessly to the carpet. Hovering around his head was the little demon, ready to report. Checking his watch, he realized that it was hardly past ten. Shaking his head he berated himself. He's getting too old for this time of thing, falling asleep so early.

It took several minutes for the demon to give him all of the information, but it soon became clear where Professor James was. It was in a neighbourhood Severus himself had frequented quite a bit during his days as a Death Eater in Muggle London. The neighbourhood was certainly less then reputable.

Heading towards his wardrobe, he dug around a little in search of the Muggle clothing he'd worn when he was younger. He eyed it as he pulled it out, wondering if it would still fit him. He also questioned his sanity. What was he thinking when he'd bought leather pants?

They were the only things he had to wear however, and he was pleasantly surprised to discover they still fit, no enlarging charms required. Next on was the black dress shirt. Eyeing himself in the mirror (a wonderfully silent one) he sneered at himself. All of the black was contrasting with his skin and making him look paler than he actually was. In his opinion he looked like a corpse, but there was little to do about it.

One last glance into the mirror and he was out his door, stalking out of the castle and past the anti-apparition wards, and then he was off to London.

--

Despite having his demon tracker with him, Severus still managed to apparate far to closely to a wall than he was comfortable with. A few more inches to his left and he would have been partway stuck in the outer walls of a muggle pharmacy. That risk was why young wizards were forced to go through so many tests and lessons before they were allowed to apparate, and also why it was so important for them to know the location they were heading to very well.

It shouldn't have been a problem for Severus. He'd started apparating well before he was of age. And even if it had been a long time since he'd last been in the area, the signatures didn't change over time. They stayed, for the most part, completely constant. In addition to that, his demon had returned to him with an exact copy of the damn thing!

Severus took a few minutes to straighten his clothing and compose himself. He schooled his expression into his normal scowl. Truth be told, he felt a little self-conscious without the ability to pull his cloak around his body. Something about the gesture was oddly comforting for him. Maybe it was simply because the black cloak provided warmth; more likely because it was very much like the shadows he was used to hiding in… familiar surroundings and the like.

Now, for surroundings that weren't familiar… Severus remembered this particular area of Muggle London being used for various Death Eater meetings during Voldemort's first rise to power. He'd even been in the building where he'd tracked Ethan James to. Old, dingy, pretty much falling apart. And that's how the building appeared on the outside. Pulling his invisibility cloak, or rather the one that previously belonged to the estranged Harry Potter, he stepped inside…

…And received quite the shock. The difference was unbelievable. Instead of rotting floor boards and a few tables, not to mention the Neo Death Eater members he was expecting to see, there was a large bar in the centre of the room, as well as three stages set up in the four corners of the room opposite the door he'd just entered.

It wasn't a meeting. It was a Muggle club!

Severus was dumbfounded.

Surely he'd found the wrong place. It was a logical assumption. After all, something had skewed the signatures of his landing point. He would just turn around, leave, and try one of the many other buildings in the area. Better yet, he could send one of his daemons to scout of the place, and find where it actually was…

And then he saw him; the professor who was most certainly a Neo Death Eater. Ethan James was on the stage across from the entrance, twirling drumsticks in his hands, talking absently to a rather attractive, leather-clad man.

So that would explain the racket in his room at night, Severus concluded. By stroke of ill luck, it turned out that James' room was right above his at Hogwarts. It sounded like things were being thrown around half the time, and the other half it was deadly silent. Snape had always wondered what was going on in there so late at night.

He was about to leave, feeling rather foolish, when the lights went out. With his hand near his belt, ready to whip his wand out at any moment, Severus readied himself for an attack.

It never came. Instead, a bright light flashed on to spotlight a middle-aged man who looked like a drugged out rocker from the seventies standing on the bar. A cheer went up in the crowed, and abruptly the Potions Master was ready to believe again that it was a Death Eater Meeting. Everyone was just very well disguised as the things they loathed the most.

But he was wrong again.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the man exclaimed, producing a few muffled snickers in the room. "I am pleased to announce the beginning of the twelfth annual Battle of the Bands!"

The cheers became even louder now, and on the three stages the particular bands were jumping around and making catcalls at each other. Even Ethan James was at it. He looked much younger there than he did in the severe teacher's robes he usually wore. Severus was a little dumbfounded.

"On my left we have the talented and lovely Naitsu Aisu." A group of four girls stepped forward and bowed, blowing kisses to the audience. They were all dressed in ragged blue and white clothing that was a little too revealing for Severus' taste. "To my right we have delinquents from Torment." This group wasn't nearly as enthusiastic, greeting the crowd with obscene gestures. "And finally, back by popular demand, your personal favourite, and winners of last years competition, Six Feet Cold!"

The cheering was the loudest this time, and the band members did everything they could to encourage it. In Severus opinion it looked as though his fellow professor was having the time of his life. Contrary to his ornery nature, Severus found himself pitying the younger man. He wasn't meant to be teaching (aside from the fact that he was abysmal at it). Ethan James was meant to be here, in the Muggle world, doing what obviously made him feel alive. It was almost a shame that Dumbledore had found a way to con James into teaching.

Only almost though, because the man certainly looked good in tight…

Severus stopped mid-thought. It was a bad idea to think of fellow professors in a sexual manner. It made working with them much more difficult, and not to mention uncomfortable.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Severus went to the rest room, where he then removed his invisibility cloak. Upon emerging, he found a nice seat at a table against the wall that gave him a decent view of the stage 6' Cold was playing on, though not much else. It was a small price to pay for sitting with his back to the wall.

It was partway through the sixth set of songs, seemed like they were all playing hard rock, that Severus decided he'd had a little too much to drink. He vaguely remembered on of the bands, probably Torment, doing a cover of a song by the band Rammstein called Rein Raus. He knew he was a little drunk when he heard some of the lyrics and didn't feel the need to sneer in disgust. Something along the lines of, "Ich bin der Reiter/ du bist das Ross/ ich steige auf/ wir reiten los/ du stöhnst."

It translated roughly into: "I am the rider/ you are the horse/ I climb on/ we ride off/ you moan." Even the title was dirty. "In, Out." His drunken recollection of German helped him to figure that out.

Next it was 6' Cold playing something called Cold. He couldn't remember for the life of him who it was by, nor did he care. It wasn't his type of music. The only redeeming quality about the whole performance was that he got to see Ethan James beating away at his drums, body glistening in sweat (because by then he'd taken off his shirt), intense look of concentration on his face.

It made a very attractive scene, and caused the Potions Master to wonder what his fellow professor would look like in bed.

It also caused the Potions Master to stop drinking completely. Thoughts like that one were never, ever productive.

He decided it would be most prudent to go to the restroom and try to sober himself up a little. When he stood up, however, had had the unfortunate luck to meet eyes with Ethan just as they finished the song. It was amazing the change that came over the younger man. He went from having the time of his life to smouldering in anger. The man's eyes narrowed, his lips tightened, and he looked as though he were ready to kill.

Severus made his way quickly to the washroom, something along the lines of anger making a good aphrodisiac. I need to drink less and get out more often…

In the middle of splashing water on his face, he was forced to turn around by a strong hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Ethan demanded, his one violet eye sparkling in ire. When Severus didn't answer, the younger man answered for him. "You followed me, didn't you! You thought I was some sort of spy! A Death Eater maybe? Well I'm not! I'm trying to live a double life, yes, but it's none of your business!"

Severus still remained silent. Faced with the accusation, he couldn't really deny it. He just stood there, looked Ethan in the eye, and raised one finely sculpted eyebrow.

Ethan could only tremble in rage, ready to snap, and then he did the unthinkable. He grabbed Severus by the back of the neck and proceeded to thoroughly kiss him. The potions master was taken aback, but didn't resist.

The whole thing might have lasted a lot longer, but then Kestor decided to open the washroom door.

"Hey Ethan, we're on again…" He trailed off, surprised to see his friend making out with another man in a washroom. "I'll just… ah… let you two finish up here… no hurry…"

The door closed, and Ethan took a large step back, bumping into the wall. His eyes darted towards the door as he whipped his mouth with his wrist.

"Don't leave yet," he said coldly, "I want to talk to you still."

AN: This was supposed to be longer, but I'm tired, I'm feeling sick, and I want to go to bed. Please review by hitting the button in the corner. Thank you for your patience.