Disclaimer : All characters belongs to J. K. Rowling, minus Dr Slump, whose name belongs to Akira Toriyama. All were kidnapped in the dawn, and are not being used to make money. They will be returned when I'm done.
See, don't own so don't sue, unless you're interested in my teddy bear collection...
This work will contain : mpreg and people out of character since I am definitely not JK Rowling, and some strange sentences since I'm French. Still here?
I know it's been a long time since I updated, but I tried to make up for my lateness with an extra long chapter. Enjoy.
!WARNING! In the "evening" part of this chapter, James is, according to who you ask, either a very bad cat, or a very good one, though a very cruel one.
For Shinigami, who wanted to see Draco being dragged to the infirmary...
Chapter 18 – Another Death Eater bite the dust!
Morning : training, James' style.
It was early this saturday morning, much earlier than expected, when Harry was woken up from his much needed sleep in a very rude manner. That is, by a bucket of cold water being upturned, with absolutely no warning whatsoever, on Harry's head.
Sputtering, he sat up, brushing some of his hairs from his face, and turned to his snickering half brother. He frowned and glared when Blaise only laughed harder. When the Slytherin Nekojin had his laughter under control and had wiped the tears leaking from his eyes, he handed the Gryffindor a mirror. Harry was forced to laugh as he discovered that, even wet, his hair still defied gravity in places, while in others they did their utmost to lie flat, giving the locks a little more length. All in all, it made for a very special style, and Harry could only thank Merlin that his hair dried as quickly as it did.
Hissing, Harry jumped from his sodden bed, landing on Blaise who had begun to laugh anew as soon as he had glanced at Harry's expression, and was currently rolling on the floor and holding his aching ribs. Ignoring the Slytherin's half hearted tries to wiggle his way out of under him, tentatives promptly ruined by laughter as soon as Blaise clapped his eyes on him, Harry used his quidditch honed reflexes to pine the Nekojin to the floor, not that Blaise was in any state to put up much of a fight.
Harry cocked a menacing eyebrow. "Ah, you find that funny? Well, let me give you something to laugh about!" He then proceded to tickle the helpless Blaise. The two rolled back and forth on the floor, exchanging tickling attacks, and laughing merrily till they were out of breath.
As they were both lying on the floor, panting for breath, Harry turned his head towards Blaise.
"So, to what do I owe this wake up call?"
"Well," Blaise grinned, "I was woken up awfully early by a buddle of nerves masquerading as an owl looking for you. I though that since I was up, I could just as well share the fun."
Harry feigned cluelessness. "A little more precisions in the description?"
"Let's see… Height, a fistfull, weight a little over an handfull of feathers I don't know what it is on..." He paused for a smirk and to built a little suspens. "but I want some!"
Harry waved his hand dismissively from his place on the floor. "Forget it, Dad may let you try, and he would be right behind you, but the consequences… Remember the first time we managed to get our hands on catnip?"
Blaise shivered as he remembered all too well their expedition against the whomping willow. The fun had been great, true, but even now he was not too sure it had been worth the gruesome detention that followed. Sweeping the deeper and damper dungeon clean when you couldn't even name what you were ankle deep in did not rate high on Blaise's list of fun things to do. All because they had charmed the willow's branches to tie themselves into fun shaped knots…Waking up the whole castle at three in the morning with loud bangs when each knot was tied… Them being high, on a substance they had pilfered from his ingredients cabinet, had only added fuel to the Potions Master's ire.
As Harry had been silent for a while now, Blaise spoke up. "Do I want to know what you're thinking?"
An evil smirk was sent his way. "On the other hand, maybe we could manage to anger old Snakey enough to give him a stroke, he is afterall quite old."
"Naah!" They chorused before bursting into laughter as they began to describe what pranks they could play on the Dark Lord and what his reactions could be.
Harry suddenly sat up, all traces of laughter reduced to a suspicious quiver of the corner of his lips. "By the way, you didn't tell me why Pig woke you up for."
Blaise's eyes widdened comically. "So, Weasley's pocket owl is named "Pig"?" He snickered and shook his head. "Only Weasley…" He smiled as Harry frowned, making fun of his friends being a touchy subject. "It went for me when all its efforts to wake you up failed. It maybe reasonned that I, being the nearest to you, would be angered enough at being woken up so early and would take my frustration and anger on you."
Harry blushed and opened his mouth, but all his efforts to retaliate were shot down when his door opened and in bounded James, obviously in hyper-mode. His face fell when he saw the two teens sat on the floor looking up at him.
"Drat, you're awake! Meaning I won't be able to try…" He shrugged before smiling brightly. "Well, I'll just bid my time!"
Harry and Blaise sneaked a glance at each other, both shivering slightly. James could be rather inventive when it came to wake people up. It was bad enough that he had managed, in the short lapse of time he had been "back", to prank the whole student body, professors included, but to imagine him devising ways to wake them up…Once a Marauder, always a Marauder… Just a tiny bit more scarier with the mood swings.
"What were you discussing that had you laughing so hard?" James enquired with a small pout, put upon with being left out of the fun.
"Ron's powl."
James blinked and gave his sons an exemple of the rhetoric the Gryffindors were famous for amongst Slytherins. "Huh?"
"Weasley's pocket owl."
"Yeah, his Pig powl."
James reitered his sentence and added a slurred "wha'?" to its end.
Sighing exageratingly, Blaise proceed to explain. "The name of Weasley's powl is Pig. Making it a Pig pocket owl."
The Potions Master entered Harry's room a little bit later to find himself confronted with the sight of three lunatics rolling in hysterics on the floor.
He cleared his throat and began to speak. "Breakfast is ready…" before being pounced on by his ecstatic husband who kissed him hard, his hands pawing at Severus' waistband.
Severus rushed to still the wandering hands, his face a beautiful Gryffindor red that only James could make him achieve. "Not that kind of food, you maniac!" he mumbled in one of James' furry ear.
James smiled beatifically at his embarassed husband, not resenting at all being called obsessed, and plastered himself flush against Severus.
"James" Severus began to admonest his incorrigible Nekojin but bit on the rest of his words when James bent and whispered in his ear "You were the one not wanting to give the kids a show, so get us out of here prompto!" before applying little licks on the side of his neck.
Severus grumbled something sounding like "Stupid horny Gryffindors" but still he encased James in a tight embrace, all the while executing an odd sort of dance consisting of retreating from the room in small steps while making sure to keep James glued to himself. James' slight shuffling steps were good at keeping their rhythm, and soon they were able to cross the door, James keeping them in place long enough to wave at their sons and called cheerfully to the two teens "Don't wait for us!" before being tugged away by his hand.
Blaise and Harry looked at each other incredulously.
"What happened here? Did Dad came onto Father?" Harry asked, an eyebrow cocked.
"That was slightly disturbing, that was for sure." Blaise answered, his face mirroring Harry's.
They smirked and ended together "But we don't want to know!" before hightailing out of their parents' appartements in the direction of the kitchens, deciding to bypass the tiny appartment's kitchen as both were sure that the adults had been in such a hurry that they had forgotten the silencing charms, again.
They were festing on scrambled eggs with a side dish of bacon, when something suddenly occurred to Harry.
"And why exactly was the powl looking for me?"
Blaise snorted. "Took you long enough." He handed Harry a thick kraft enveloppe. Harry ripped it open and poured its contents on the table. Photos after photos were revealed to their eyes. Seamus Finnigan posing with a fake bambou stick, taking a bite from time to time from the sugar leaves. Hermione coursing Dean as he had transfigured her clothes into a lady smurf's apparel. Draco Malfoy being dragged by two laughing Hufflepuffs to the Infirmary, them planning to play a prank on Madam Pomfrey, claiming Draco had caught a variety of multi-coloured Dragon pox. Crabbe and Goyle laughing at each other. Ron, who had been right behind Harry and Blaise, and had taken a face full, his face a study in abstract art. And so many more...
Harry was disturbed from his perusal when Blaise tapped him on the shoulder. He couldn't stop the few snickers that escaped him when he saw the Slytherin, one fist on his hip, shaking the index of the other hand at Harry in an eerily good imitation of the Weasley matriach. "Harry James Potter-Snape!" he screeched, "What were you smoking when you didn't let your friends know that you were going to spend the night at your father's?"
"Ah."
"Is that all you're going to say for your defense, young man? Because let me tell you it is not enough!"
Harry smirked. "Oops?"
Blaise shook his head at him before joingning him in his mirth.
Harry sighed. "I'd better tell them, though it seemed kind of obvious to me, with the week ends being the only time I can spend with Dad and Father, afterall. Besides, I had already tell them of my week end training."
"You'd think they would have understood. Or maybe they're a little jealous?"
"What of?"
Blaise, who was more of an analyst than Harry, answered after a few seconds of thought. "That you don't spent all your free time with them anymore, for one. And that you get to see your familly every day when they can't, for second."
Seeing his little brother's face fell, Blaise opted to distract him with a game of chase the tail, which Harry readily agreed to. Once he was calmed enough, Harry wrote back a quick note of thanks to Ron and asked Dobby to deliver it, seeing as Pig was nowhere in sight.
They were bantering back and forth, commenting on the photographies, when an elf popped in the kitchen and tugged at Harry's sleeve. Once sure he had their attention, the Elf delivered his message, the had wringing and shuffling adding a comical dimension to a message that was not. "HarryPotter sir is needed with the blaze. Or else the cat said 'fear my wreath'".
Both teen winced before running at full pelt towards the classroom graciously put to at their disposal for their training.
James was there, waiting for them, sat on the desk, banging his heels on its side in a rhythm known only to him and irritating to everybody else. His smug smile sent forebodding shivers the long of his sons' backs.
As soon as they stopped in front of him, he jumped from his perch and turned to put on the desk a little clothe wrapped parcel he had been clutching in his hand.
"Well, today, we will conclude the lesson on control you started with a bang. Or several. Remember what you learned, because you perhaps will have to fonction while impaired either by alcohol or catnip. You can't let your ennemies detain and possibly hurt you or the people closest to you because you were unable to react in time, even drugged.
Don't worry, you'll manage very well, just focuss like you were taught to. Today's game is to sniff me out while under the influence of catnip. And wipe those smirks, it will not be that easy, as I won't be anywhere near Severus, as much as I want to.
And you won't have your wands, as taking them away from you is the first thing your ennemies will do. You have till lunch to find me." He extended his hand, palm up. "Your wands, boys?"
They reluctantly obeyed, their eyes glued to them as James carefully placed them in one of his pockets. He smiled sadly at his sons' dropping tails and ears. "Don't worry, you'll pass. Remember what you learned and don't panic. And don't forget, any thing goes, even asking for help as long as you find me before lunch. The door will unlock thirty minutes after my departure, and the package will open five seconds before that."
He waved and closed the door. Harry rushed to the door panel and pressed his ear against it, spying the sounds of his father's retreating footsteps. Once he couldn't hear anything anymore, he went to slump near Blaise.
"So, nervous?"
Blaise shrugged. "As always before a 'rite of passage'. Remember the time he taught us pick-pocketing and had us practice on Father?"
"Well, it was fun and worth it against the Deah Eaters. Not to mention that it gave them a good lesson. Now they know that they have to work on defending themselves wandlessly."
"I doubt that it is a lesson well learned. And all the better for us. At least, this time, we don't get to practice on Father."
They both valantly tried to contain their laughter at remembering the day Severus Snape nearly ripped his hair out as it didn't matter much in what pocket he put his wand in, he always came empty handed each time he needed it. And they had made sure he would need it a lot.
When he had finally caught on, he had raged and threw a temper tantrum of epic proportion. It took James one week of uninterrupted sexual favours and a wizzard oath to never use him as a test subject anymore before Severus relented and forgave him.
Harry and Blaise became very good at preparing the most disgusting ingredients their Potions professor could put his hands on.
They cut their waiting time shorter by exchanging gossip about their respective house mates. When the cloth slipped, the parcel opening, their noses twitched in synchronisation.
A sudden gust of magical wind swept the odorant weeds from inside the cloth and brought them over the two yougnsters' lift faces. The wind swirled the weeds against each other, enticing the Nekojins. Their eyes widened in horror when the wind suddenly died, and the weeds appeared to be frozen into place for a few seconds before submitting to the call of the gravity and bathing both brothers into the most odorant cat weed James could find.
The five following minutes were hectic. Harry kept trying to either bat at his own tail, or pounce on his shadow. He jumped all over the room, which eventually lead him to the door. Blaise, during this time, was rolling himself in the weeds. Harry's snickers dragged him out. The sight of Harry, on all fours, in his in-between form, nose on the floor and tail whipping from left to right and going into circles sent Blaise back on the floor. Harry pounced on top of him, trying to bat at his tail. The only defense Blaise, suffering from a fit of the giggles, could think to oppose, was to roll on his back. Or try to. And so they went, rolling back and forth, stopping just in time to avoid tumbling down the stairs.
Somewhere else in the castle, James Potter was anxiously pacing, looking at the closed door every ten seconds.
Blaise and Harry had morphed back in their feline form and were currently bounding down the stairs on the bannister. They had, more or less easily, followed James' trail until they reached the Divination ladder, from which professor Trelawney was coïncidentally stepping off.
Harry stopped suddenly, mesmerized by the way the Divination teacher's head was zooming in and out continuously, as if trying to fill in the space delimited by her head scarf and glasses, and shrinking when it was about to blow up.
Harry stayed there, standing as stiff as a Quidditch goal, lost in his own little fantasy world. Blaise took the opportunity to plaster himself on his back, attempting to bite the quivering and furry ear that poked through Harry's hair. His aim, impaired by the catweed, allowed him to find himself with a mouthfull of hair.
Seeing that Harry was lost in the enjoyment of his 'zooming moment', Blaise pushed him out of the way and rushed towards the stunned professor, morphing into a copper eyed black cat in mid-step. He startled the gaping Divination fraud by rubbing around her legs, purring for all he was worth. She shrieked as soon as her mind registered that yes, there was a cat rubbing against her, and that yes, it was a black one. She then began a sort of hopping dance all around the ladder stepping, hoping to get rid of Blaise.
This jolted Harry into motion, and he put to good use the diversion Blaise-the-Black-Cat-of-Death against the Batty-Professor-Afraid-Of-Bad-Omen provided him with. He sneaked across the room towards the handbag his professor had abandonned in her haste to flee from Blaise. Upturning it on the floor, he rooted through its contents. He squealed happily as he found his target, a little rectangular parcel wrapped in clothe. He quickly tore it open but was dispointed as he smell its contents to find only ordinary weeds. A wrong track, then, but the clothe still smelt of James.
Blaise joined him and they cavorted out of the room, leaving a disgruntled and rumpled professor sitting on the floor and swearing that she had predicted it but decided to brave them anyway.
They ancountered Hagrid as they stepped into the Great Hall. They made a bee line for him and were then all over him, but it was Blaise who found the parcel. With a mewl of triumph, he dig his claws in Hagrid's shirt, and transformed back into human. He then coiled the half-giant's beard none too gently around his neck and fished the parcel in his breast pocket.
He jumped from his perch and proceeded to rip it open. Harry quickly joined him to nose the contents. Both were purring as they were done.
"Wha' are ye doin' boys? Yer father asked me to keep tha' fer 'im when I met 'im. He was comin' from the Greenhouse and…" Both cats were alreay gone, leaving a surprised Hagrid in front of a small heap of weeds, as well as surprised on lookers in their wake.
They spent the next two hours running all over the castle, shoking people as they went. Even if Dumbledore had made an anoncement at breakfast to explain what would happen in the morning, having two black cats crossing your path at a run or engaging themselves in eccentricities was still nerve wrecking for both students and teachers alike.
As reported by Flitwick, it was rather unsettling to suddenly come face to face with an upsided and snickering Nekojin hanging by his claws to the upper side of a door frame, while another pounced from the side with no warnings on the first one's switching tail. Bowling the tiny Professor over in the process and stealing his parcel.
Or, as experienced by an amused Malfoy, receiving a green eyed, grinning one in his arms after said one had slided down the banister, relieving him of the parcel James had slipped into his robe that same morning.
All in all, both Harry and Blaise had a very good morning, jumping from false leads to catnip parcels and scaring Hogwarts' population while they were at it.
The last half an hour before lunch found them in front of a closed door. Harry spoke after a few seconds of mute staring.
"Well, you know, it won't open itself, even if you ask it nicely."
"So, stop staring and do something."
"Why me?"
"I'm too tired."
"And I'm not?"
"You're the Gryffindor, you're the one courageous or stupid enough to go on moving while exhausted. I'll stand guard."
"Glare."
"What was that?"
"I'm too tired to try and muster the energy to turn my head and actually look at you."
"Smug smirk."
"Nya nnya nya… raspberry."
Soft and delighted laughing interrupted them. "Congratulations both of you! You managed to force me out of hiding. What happened, you took your time! Here, drink!"
Harry and Blaise mechanically reached and took the hangover potions James was handing them and downing them quickly. They sighed as their migraine began to recede. Both followed him into the room and the three of them cuddled on the couch in front of the fire.
"Well?" James insisted on rekindling the conversation. His sons' only reaction was to blink owlishly at him.
"What took you so long? I thought I would die from boredom here. Either that or I would have to go and track you down!"
"Smirk."
James blinked twice before retaliating. "Pout."
"Sigh."
Harry began after a glare at a closed eyed Blaise, seeing that he seemed to have absolutely no intentions to speak first. "I spent the five minutes after you left listening through the door to the direction you took. It gave me a general direction to work with." He shrugged. "The only hidey holes, apart from the classrooms, but I don't think Dumbledore would give you use of those, unless they were unused, were the Room of Requirement, Dumbledore's office or the infirmary. I ruled the infirmary out, seeing as you wouldn't want to be caught dead in the Chief Torturer's lair." He shivered theatrically. "We may have never see you again."
Blaise took the floor. "We agreed that the Headmaster would have bored you out of your mind fairly quickly, and you wouldn't want to take the risk to have to change hiding place in the middle of the test, as it would increase the risks of being discovered… That left us with one possibility."
James nodded. "I should have guessed. So, if you knew where I was all along, what did you do with your time?"
"Let's see…" Harry ticked on his fingers. "Trelawney, scared her. Hagrid, idem. Flitwick, Malfoy…"
"Finnigan" Blaise cut in.
"Boot, Parkinson and Corner."
"Weasley Ginny, Abott and Cornfield. Did we miss somebody, either real or false lead?"
"So, you spent your morning terrorising Hogwarts. And nosing at catnip."
Harry and Blaise hummed in agreement.
"I'm so proud of you both!"
"We had your permission, why should we refrain from enjoying it?"
"Besides it was good stuff. But potent."
"So, do you want to sleep a little or would you rather eat, or a pepper-up?"
"No, I quit smoking, it's bad for your health." Blaise quipped.
Harry laughed and yawned and both him and Blaise settled more comfortably against their dad. Both were asleep in seconds.
They woke up a couple of hours later to the almost unheard sound of Severus Snape laughing.
"So it's your turn." He remarked smugly. "I was wondering why they were absent from lunch instead of devouring all food in sight, as is the wont of teenagers."
James whined and made grabing motion in the air in the direction of his husband. "Help me?"
"And whyever would you need help, husband of mine?" Snape smirked.
"My legs are asleep! I've had two dead weights confusing my legs with pillows for the last two hours!"
With a last upside twitch of his lips, Severus strode in front of James and grabbed his hand. He tugged hard enough to get him up on his feet. The two teenagers toppled on the recently vacated space on the couch and opened an eye to glare half heartedly at their father before standing to stretch.
Once sure he had James secure on his feet, Severus winked at him and kissed him deeply. His arm sneaking around James' waist was the only thing that saved him from falling on the floor as his knees buckled with pleasure.
"Pout" He dreamily stated to Severus, who raised an eyebrow in inquiry. James burrowed into his arms, hiding his face in the potions expert's neck. It was only because of that that Severus couldn't see his mischievous smile and didn't push James away instantly.
"You did that on purpose." he mumbled before he began to apply small licks with his rough tongue on his husband's neck. Severus' startled yelp and small jump in the air was vengeance enough for James, he stopped torturing him and kissed him instead.
"So, everything alright?"
James nodded excitedly, the effect spoiled by the fact that his head was currently sideway on Severus' shoulder.
"Of course, they did well, they're our sons!"
Severus hugged him and turned to face Harry and Blaise. "Well, back to your week end occupations for you. We'll inform the Headmaster that the test is finished, so don't get any ideas."
"You sure know how to crash a party, don't you?" mumbled Blaise before following Harry out.
A quick floo call later and Severus and James were able to catch up on the time they had been apart.
Harry and Blaise divided their afternoon between snacking, plotting and catching up with their friends, which allowed for a much more calmer afternoon, if one did not pay attention to the Potions Master's grumblings about how he already saw enough of the Gryffindors during class, without them invading his quarters when Hermione and Ron stopped by to pay a visit to Harry and ask for explanations on Ginny's behalf.
The four teenagers were actually engrossed in a game of chess, Ron versus Blaise with Harry and Hermione on the sidelines, acting as the cheerleading section. James was following Severus wherever he went, the claws of his right hand firmly planted in his husband's sleeve. He was purring non stop.
Evening : Death Eater meeting, James' style.
Dinner freed Severus from two Gryffindors in close proximity but gained him a lot more staring at him, from farther, as James did his utmost to sit the closest to him he could without actually sitting in his lap, always purring.
Harry and Blaise bounded out with Fred and George Weasley as soon as they had swallowed their last mouthfull. Draco followed them precautionously before being tugged by Blaise to join their whispering group.
James was currently dragging an unresisting Potions Master towards their chambers, his intends very clear. So clear, in fact, that they had to stop twice in conveniently placed alcoves to exchange a few heated kisses, leaving them yearning for more.
They were engaged in such a fashion when suddenly Severus' dark mark burned. He quickly disentertwined himself from James' embrace, sighing at the little whine of deny his actions produced. To stop James from waylaiding him into another snogging match, he hold him at arm's length. "I have to go, will you warn the Headmaster?"
James pouted but nodded gravely. Severus pecked him on the lips in thanks before striding away, too fast to notice the steely glint in his Gryffindor's eyes. James ran to accomplish his mission.
The gargoyle slided away as soon as she spotted the agitated Nekojin coming its way. The stairs deposited an impatient James to the door. The Headmaster himself opened his door, saving it from being torn open.
James lost no time in pleasantries. "Severus left for a meeting." He then let the gasping Headmaster standing there, not interested in him anymore. Instead, he went to the chimney and stuck his arm into the conduit, waving it around a bit. Taking his arm back, he sat crossed legs in front of the hearth, his eyes glued to his soot covered arm to which he whispered continously for a few minutes before nodding and climbing to his feet.
With no regards to the bewildered Headmaster, he calmly sticked his arm back in the conduit for a few seconds. He sat back down and absently wiped at the soot still covering his arm, making quite a mess on the floor.
Meanwhile, Severus had apparated a short way to his destination. He frowned as he enlarged the Death Eater's robe and mask he had taken from his pocket, his mind swamped with thoughts. Dressing himself in the black robes and white mask, he walked the small distance to the latest place the Dark Lord hid in, his thoughts racing a mile a minute. It was the first time he had been called back since James' return. He had no illusions that there had been other meetings, and wondered what his presence meant.
Was the Dark Lord in need of his potions skills? Or was it because of James? Would Voldemort be stupid or arrogant enough to torture him? If yes, will he do it himself, or will he ask that from ones whose loyalties were in doubt, knowing what would happen once James learned of it? He knew for sure that James would, curtosy of the dark wizzard himself, so that he could be used as a weapon to purge the ranks of wavering loyalties… Or would he try to enroll James, or sent him to gain his lair's support? Perhaps he shouldn't have come, but then the situation would be worse. Curiosity killed the cat, as the popular saying goes, or in his case, its mate…
With an almost unaudible sigh, Severus squared his shoulders and shielded his mind before stepping in the dilapidated mansion.
He had just gone back to his place in the ranks after kissing the hem of the Dark Lord's robes when something tumbled on the chimney's hearth, gaining all the Death Eaters' attention. The figure climbed to its feet and, ignoring completely all the wands pointed at itself, proceeded to shook itself like a wet dog, sending soot flying all over the wizzards who had the bad luck to stand in front of it. Once as clean as it was getting to get with such a succinct cleaning, it flipped its tail thrice like a whip. Gulping, Severus braced himself for the purring bullet which impacted with his body at top speed and then attached itself securely to his waist.
He groaned and closed his eyes even as his hands went to rub James' back. He opened his eyes a sliver to try and gauge the others' reactions, as Death Eaters were, afterall, not known to take kindly to such occurences. He glanced at the Dark Lord and groaned anew as he saw the interested glint in his eyes and the way he divided his looks between the fireless and warded fireplace and the purring Nekojin who was all but melting into the Potions Master's arms.
"Well, Severus, perhaps you should introduce your surprise guest to everybody. And let him explain the hows and whys of his most unorthodox entrance."
Severus suppressed a wince as he knew there was absolutely no way he could get out of that order. To avoid any more problems, not that it seemed possible, Severus decided to keep his answer short.
"Everyone, my husband. James, everyone." James turned in his arms just the minimum necessary for him to wave cheerily at the stunned wizzards before going back to hiding into his husband's chest.
"That was a bit minimalist, Severus, and bordering on impolite. You forgot quite a few details, such as his name, what sort of creature he is. Would you care to elaborate?"
"Snape now. Nekojin." The reluctant Severus uttered, his mind distracted by the need to know where the Dark Lord was going with this seemingly genuine interest in James, and praying that his husband would, for once, keep his peace and refrain from aggravating the megalomaniac Lord.
Voldemort smiled sinisterly, fingering his wand. "Do I have to pull every word out of you, Severus?" he threatened.
James wrenched himself from Severus' embrace and stepped protectively in front of him, snarling. This reaction elicited a condescending chuckle from Voldemort. Severus wasted no time in bringing James back where he was in the start.
"Now, now, no need to act like that, we are between friends, are we not?" James' soft snort made him smirk. "I was thinking about his… maiden name, for lack of a better term. By the way, Potter, didn't your parents warned you not to start a fight you could not win?" He turned to their audience, extending his arms at his sides. "Yes, my faithful Death Eaters, this is really James Potter. Our sly Potions Master managed to hide our regretted senior Auror for fifteen years right under Dumbledore's nose. And no, neither him, Snape or their sons are to be hurt, either directly or indirectly. Do I make myself clear?"
The silence that followed this declaration was defeaning for the first seconds before every Death Eater present, except Severus and Lucius, agreed noisily with their master.
James was frowning. "Take away all my fun…" he murmured.
Focussing on James once more, the Dark Master sent a smirk his way before invading his personnal space to murmur in the vicinity of his furry ear. "And, pray tell, Mister Potter-Snape, how did you manage to arrive here?"
Turning to place himself back to chest with his husband, James stared unblinkingly at Voldemort. After a few seconds of silent staring contest, he tilted his head to press his ear against Severus heartbeat and answered. "Uh, the floo?"
"The chimney is unlit, closed and warded. Do try again."
James sighed and bit his lower lip before answering. "Floo worms."
"Floo what?"
"Worms. They live in soot. We have an agreement with them. I asked them where my husband was and if they could bring me to him."
"Why would you want to come?"
"He's my Mate." James spoke slowly as he explained this, to him obvious, evidence. He couldn't resist to add "And he didn't say I couldn't come."
Voldemort looked appraisingly at James before chuckling. "What do you know, the perfect Gryffindor is reasonning like a Slytherin! Unfortunately, you'll have to go back, as this meeting is not for your innocent ears."
James frowned stubornly and grabbed his husband tightly. Severus winced and murmured "Claws, James". James' eyes opened wide before he kissed his Potions Master on the cheek in excuse, and waved his arms around him. He turned back to Voldemort, frowning mulishly and grabbing Severus tighter.
"I do believe you should let your Mate breathe, Potter. He is turning quite a shade of red. He will not be harmed here, and will be with you shortly. Leave now."
"Making him leave will not be necessary, and will require quite a few painful hours for all of us, seeing as he is pregnant." Severus cut in smoothly. "I have already planned for this contingency." He extended his hand, palm up, under his pouting husband's nose.
"Either you comply, or you go back." Severus warned him.
Rumbling in the back of his throat, James slowly placed his wand in Severus' hand. The wand disappeared into the Slytherin's pocket so quickly, one could think it had disaparated in there. Even James' excellent reflexes were not enough to take it back.
The hand came back, empty, under James' nose. Grumbling, James carefully deposited his wedding ring in it. Following Severus in a corner of the room, James sat on the floor and observed with great attention as the Potions Master placed his ring on the floor in front of him. Aiming his wand at the ring, he whispered the most powerful warding charm he knew.
James was now acting as if hypnotised by the blue sphere surrounding his ring, nothing existing anymore but the ring. He slowly lowered himself on his arms till his nose nearly touched the opalescent sphere. A small litany composed of 'ick', 'maw' with mewls thrown in between escaped his lips as he looked at it from all sides.
Severus commented to the Dark Lord. "Give a Nekojin a ward, and it'll occupy them till they manage to disassemble it. If you want to put a silence bubble around him, he will be alright as long as he can see me."
Once done, the meeting was finally back on the rails. Glancing over his shoulder, voldemort spied James pawing delicately at the sphere. Shrugging, he began the meeting by welcoming two new Death Eaters. He was asking for reports when two late Death Eaters burst in. Irritated by this new interruption, Voldemort welcomed them by a round of Crucio to teach them the merits of punctuality.
He was enjoying their delighteful cries when they were drown by a loud roar. Everybody turned like one in the direction of the failing silencing charm to see what could only be described as an enraged Nekojin, eyes ablaze and fur bristling.
Petrified, they all could only look as James Potter-Snape, wedding ring in its rightful place, seemed to materialise in the middle of their circle. Severus' pleas to stop fall into deaf ears as James rushed towards two peculiar Death Eaters.
Severus resigned himself and swore as he had just enough time to reach for Lucius and to get him out of harm's way before James went down like a vengeful angel on Mac Nair, all claws out. Goyle could only blink from his position on the floor as James leapt over his prone body.
Severus grabbed Lucius' wrist to lower his wand. He looked around at the others Death Eaters, shook his head and shouted loud enough to be heard by everybody "It's useless. The state he is in can be compared to the Vampires' Blood Lust. Even I can't stop him. And attacking him now will only get him to retaliate!"
The scene playing now was wild and horrifying. James was clawing at a trembling Mac Nair, in a boxing fashion. Left, right, left, right. And again, and again. An uppercut grazed Mac Nair's throat. James stopped for a while, letting Mac Nair get a breather before pouncing again. Mac Nair dodged, James' run-up taking him a little bit too far on the right. James came back again, and his opponent used the same evasive method. Again, James stumbled and missed him.
Mac Nair was beginning to think he would win this fight, when suddenly James jumped on his back and bit his ear. He shook the Nekojin off, losing the major part of his ear in the process. James spat the offending morsel before roaring again.
And again he locked Mac Nair in a little dance. Right, then left. Left and right, till Mac Nair tripped James to the floor. As he was nearing his fallen foe to kick him in the ribs, James sprang up and, with a wide swipe of his hand, caught Mac Nair in his lower stomach. Blood, which had, till now, been only splattering the floor began to flow.
Mac Nair screamed and huddled on himself on the floor. Beginning to see that he would not win this brawl so easily, Mac Nair began to look for help. He glanced at James, who was actually squatted on the floor observing him, and crawled in the direction Lucius was in. James waited a few seconds before pouncing.
Lucius and Severus, as well as the others surrounding them, had now an unobstructed view of the proceedings. They winced as James landed squarely, feet first, on Mac Nair's back, breaking some of his ribs in the process, and caught an handful of his hood and hair. He tilted Mac Nair's head back enough to expose his neck, and, with a savage roar, he cut it from one ear to the other, silencing his screams with his blood.
The Death Eater, who should have been immune to scenes of this caliber, seemed to suddenly feel a little bit queasy. A few were shaking, and some did their best to look everywhere but at the gruesome killing.
Still not satisfied with the death of his opponent, James took his time to widden the gap. He cut the back of the body's head till all that connected it to the rest of the body was the spinal column. The newest Death Eaters left the circle, some of them being noisily sick as soon as they left the room.
Grabbing the head in both hands, James twisted it sharply to the right, the crack of breaking bones reverberating in the deathly silent room. Standing up, the dripping head clutched in one hand, he sauntered back to his white-faced Mate, uncaring of the wide berth the others gave him.
Too far gone to speak, James offered the severed head to Severus. Not wanting to anger James when he was in this state, Severus reluctantly brought his hands up and shivered a little when the head was unceremonously dumped into them.
It took him a few try before he could speak, and his voice was still not really assured. "For me?"
James nodded and rubbed the side of his face against Severus' face, neck and shoulders, transferring a large quantity of blood to him.
"Well, thank you, this is a very….nice present." He noticed James' insistent stare. "I'm full for the moment, I'll keep it for later, alright? Why don't you go and warn the lair?"
James turned on his heels to leave but came back to vigourously rub his face against Severus' own. He skipped to the chimney, the Death Eaters respectfully stepping out of his way, and sticked his arm inside the conduit, bounding into place with the last of his adrenalin rush.
As soon as he was sure that James was not coming back unexpectedly, Severus rushed to drop the head on the body. From near, the damages were even worse, especially the bloody gap between the legs. Severus nodded grimly as Lucius stopped near him and whispered "I think I understand now better what you meant, Severus."
Severus went to wait near James while Lucius accioed all the Dark objects from the body's pockets and incinerated the black robes and mask. He looked up to see the arrival of the lair's leader, Guido Zabini, followed by a middle aged couple. The woman was crying. The three new Nekojins stepped to James and proceeded to sniff at his blood covered form. The female hugged him and strode to the body on which she spat. She then burst into tears and take refuge in her Mate's arms. Both left shortly.
Guido then squeezed James' shoulder and adressed Severus. "Take your Mate home to rest. Make sure he doesn't lick himself clean, we don't know what was in its blood. He did us a great service, you can be proud of him."
"I am." Severus tightened his embrace on an half asleep James who purred in response.
"Go, I'll take care of the rest."
Severus nodded and stepped in the hearth. He looked up, finding himself quite stupid for forgetting to ask how to travel by the mean of what James called 'floo worms'. He poked his head out of the hearth to ask Guido but the old Nekojin was standing over the body, his eyes locked with Vodemort's.
Shrugging, he looked at James, debating if he should wake him up or let him sleep when he noticed a few particules of soot dancing in the air. He looked up. His eyes widdened comically as he saw the soot colored cloud descending on them, envelopping them. He yelped as he felt his feet leaving the floor. Soon, the feeling of being whisked away through many chimneys took precedence on his senses and he made sure to tighten his hold on a slightly snoring James. It wouldn't do to have him tumbling out of a nice old witch's chimney in the state he was in. Or, even worse, out of the Minister's…No, it definitively would not be worth the commotion which would occur.
They were dumped with no warning on the Headmaster's hearth. Severus had just enough time to cushion James' fall with his body.
He looked up into the concerned and frantic blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore. He winced as he remembered the state they were both in and prepared to submit to the interrogation he knew would follow.
"Severus, what is the meaning of this? First James rushed into my office to inform me you had left for a meeting, then he stuck his arm in the conduit, talked to it for a while before sticking it in anew, stepped on the hearth and disappeared! And now, you're both back, and in what state!"
"Well, I know you want answers but it will have to wait till I have James clean and in bed. And he need a check-up, he gave himself quite the work out today." He looked down at his robes, who were now covered in a disgusting mixture of blood and soot. "Don't worry. It is not our blood. But I'm burning both of our outfits."
He stood up and stretched. He extended his wand towards James, but it was shaking so much he pocketed it. "Could you cast an invisible charm on both of us? And levitate him to our quarters? We'll speak after."
They left in the direction of the professor's quarters, Severus making sure to keep an hand on James at all times. Dumbledore made it a quick trip, using all the secret passages he knew.
Meanwhile, in the Dark Lord's mansion, Guido had finished his examination of the body and was now walking around the circle of sycophants, looking each and every one of them in the eyes, noticing how the younger ones, who didn't have as much experience as the older ones, had trouble to keep their composure.
"Well, they certainly look like a group of students being caught being naughty by their Headmaster." He commented to Voldemort.
He went to stand in front of the Dark Lord once again. "Will you, as the Lair Leader, seek retribution on my grandson?"
"I am no fool, I can clearly see that it was no hasardous attack. As I have no wish to have your entire Lair breathing on my neck, I will order my Death Eaters not to. However, I'd like you to explain what Mac Nair did to warrant such a retribution."
The answer was quick in coming, Guido meeting Voldemort's eyes to let him see the truth, if he wished to use Legilimency. "He kidnapped and raped the underaged daughter of the couple you saw before murdering her."
"How...fitting a pubishment then." Voldemort mused coldly.
Guido nodded once. "Direct any Auror seeking information my way. Though I couldn't fathom why any Auror would want to interrogate you… Do you want to deal with the body, or shall I?"
"Don't worry yourself over such an insignificant matter."
"I shall take my leave then." He turned on himself, his eyes sweeping on the assembled Death Eaters. "And that, humans, is the reason why no none mess with the Nekojins." He inclined his head and left by floo worms.
The Dark Lord barked "Avery, Goyle! Get rid of the body in the usual way, the rest of you are dismissed!"
They couldn't walk away speedily enough, neither of them jalous of Avery and Goyle. Once alone, Voldemort sat himself in his throne, his hands gliding with a chafing and dry sound over the scales of his familiar coiled over his lap and the nearby floor. His cunning mind was trying to find ways to incorporate one James Potter in his plans, lest he would lose his Death Eaters one by one.