Full Summary: How does a spy's son live in a war-ridden world? Severus has an answer: he doesn't. If you don't look for trouble it does not have much chance of finding you. So, trusting his friend with his most prised possession Severus plays cards he has been dealt and tries to make the most of it. Follows the events in books until GoF.

Pairings: SS/? (will be revealed later on), SS/BW, VK/HG

Warnings: slash, mpreg (if any of it does not suit your taste, please read no further)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K Rowling's characters, or the magical universe in which the following story takes place. I do own Andrei and his friends, though.

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"...English..."

"...Bulgarian..."

'...thoughts...'

...Flashbacks and letters...

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The Butcher and the Gift

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After nearly a month has past Andrei started wondering what the hold up was. Perhaps Bill changed his mind and didn't want to meet him after all? Well, there was nothing he could do about it. He has done his duty and let his Dad make his own choices. If those choices happened to be unfavorable for Bill then it really wasn't his fault and he was glad for it. Very proud of his own mature decision he came down for breakfast.

For a few days now he had a distinct feeling that he was forgetting something important. He was hoping it would come to him when he least thought of it, but this annoying feeling of someone poking in the back of his mind was driving him crazy.

Preparing himself a sandwich with tomato, eggs and kashkaval (he asked Alex to send some from back home with Hoof, the breakfast without it was unimaginable) he poured some yogurt in a cup and made himself comfortable. His mouth watered as he took the huge sandwich to his mouth. He chuckled at the thought of what must his brother eat now and nearly choked on his food.. He was probably on some vegetable diet and hated it. But that was the price of playing quidditch and dumping your little brother for it.

For someone with such an appreciation for tasty dishes and deep dislike for quidditch Andrei was surprisingly fit. Team sports were really not his thing. He preferred to keep his exercise to himself, run a few laps, do some push ups and stuff like that. Viktor never missed a chance to make fun of his eating habits, though. 'Viktor... something about Viktor...' Andrei tried to remember whatever it was in the back of his mind but once again gave up.

"Good morning." Severus greeted making his way to the teapot.

Andrei mumbled something, his mouth full at the moment. Severus shook his head.

"How come Alex never thought you some manners?" he mused.

"Don't know." Alex answered in between the bites.

"What are you eating anyway?"

A very long mumbling and then gurgling noise was his answer. Severus was forced to revert his gaze from the abominable sight of a chewing boy.

"Come again?"

"I said it's a sandwich with tomato and cheese. Very nutritious."

"Very caloric I would say." Severus corrected.

"And very delicious."

Severus gave up. There was no point in arguing with this boy and it was best to save his energy for now. 'At least he seems to be keeping himself in shape.' He seated himself across from the bottomless food processor that was his son and was relieved when the sandwich was gone. Andrei was slowly sipping his yogurt, savoring the taste.

"I am glad you had a pleasant meal." Severus said sarcastically.

Choosing to ignore the comment that was supposed to rile him up, Andrei subtly changed the subject.

"So, what's up with Bill?"

"Last night I have received a response from him. He would be honored to join us at the dinner the day after tomorrow."

"How come he didn't answer sooner if he was so honored?"

Severus shot him a sharp look. Andrei understood it all too well 'No more messing with Bill or else! But where's the fun in that?'

"He is not in England right now. He will visit in two days."

"Where is he? What's he doing out of England?"

"He happens to be a curse-breaker for Gringotts bank in Egypt. One of the best if I may say so."

"You may not, you're biased."

"I used to be his professor, I recognized the potential even then."

"Are we talking about the same potential?" Andrei smirked.

Severus was perplexed. 'Where would he learn that kind of speech? Alex and Viktor wouldn't mention those things in front of him, would they? And Durmstrang rules are even harsher then Hogwarts ones, so there is no way he would hear about it there, right?"

"His magic has always been strong and he was a bright and hardworking student." Severus refused to take a bate.

They sat in uncomfortable silence. Or at least Severus did. Andrei was still calmly gulping down his drink.

"Have you bought a present for Viktor, yet?"

"Hm?"

"His birthday is in a few days. Have you forgotten?"

"BIRTHDAY!" Andrei jumped from his chair and slapped his forehead.

Severus tried to hide his amusement at the reaction.

"Relax, I will go into town this afternoon. You can come along and look for a suitable present."

"NO! You don't get it! He will expect something more then just some trinket I bought at the last moment!"

"Well, that is unfortunate, since that seems to be what he will be getting this year."

Andrei slumped in his chair.

"I knew I was forgetting something."

"And now you know what. Be ready to go after lunch."

Andrei nodded but didn't look too pleased. Perhaps it was the fact that he had been teasing Viktor how he didn't care about him and went of to play quidditch ignoring his little brother's needs. He will never live this down...

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Given the amount of time he had to come up with the idea of a birthday gift and limited possibilities of muggle shopping area (which in itself was a little scarce) Andrei was quite impressed with the solution he thought of. Now if only he could pull it off with his father breathing down his neck.

When they left the Manor Andrei insisted to check out the jewelry store. Severus was the first to enter. The door bell chimed signaling their arrival. The man behind the counter greeted them warmly and they started looking at the various rings and necklaces. Severus pointed out a few that he thought would suit Viktor but Andrei discarded them instantly. The shop keeper tried to meet his needs but that didn't go well either. Andrei was on a mission and knew exactly what he wanted.

"I don't like any of these." he told Severus.

"Then I suggest you look again, this is the only jewelry store in the area." Severus replied patiently.

"Excuse me, but if you tell me what it is you are looking for perhaps I would be able to help?" the shop keeper tried.

"Some kind of locket. It has to be at least an inch in diameter."

Severus looked at him oddly but did not comment. The man went behind the curtain in the back of the shop and came back a few seconds later carrying a wooden box.

"Something like this perhaps? I removed it from the window since nobody seemed interested in it, people tend to buy more fashionable things nowadays."

When he opened the box Andrei's eyes lit up. This was exactly what he was looking for. It was a long, thin silver chain with an oval shaped pendant. The pendant was made of amber with silver around the edge.

"It opens. Here, let me show you." the man said and showed Andrei how to open it.

Andrei just looked at Severus with puppy dog eyes hoping that for once it will work on him.

"Are you certain this is what you want?" asked Severus with a hint of displeasure, his arms crossed.

Andrei nodded.

"Fine. It is a gift so wrap it accordingly, please." he told the shop keeper.

"No, it's ok! We'll just take the box." Andrei cut in.

Severus did not care much what Andrei does with it as long as he likes it. So he payed for the item (it was a close call once he heard the price) and let his son lead the way to the grocery store.

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It didn't take long for Severus to find out what a hyperactive brat his son turned into inside the supermarket. He was jumping from one row of shelves to another. Each time he stopped to grab one item he saw another and ran to take that one too. All that without even asking if they could afford the junk he's been throwing in the cart.

"We have a strawberry syrup, there is no need for a chocolate one, Andrei."

"This one's better!" he said and disappeared from sight, presumably to get a vanilla syrup.

It was a complete surprise to Severus when he came bouncing back with a bottle of whiskey in his hands.

"Don't run with that! And why in the name of Merlin did you bring it?"

"We need to have some beverages at home! We are going to have a guest, you know?"

Severus nodded and took the bottle from Andrei before the boy managed to drop it. When he took a closer look at it he saw it was one of the finest one could choose and not too expansive either. Gently he lowered the bottle into the cart and went to find his son.

Fifteen minutes later Andrei was nowhere to be found. Severus picked up a few more things he thought were necessary along the way, and decided that Andrei will find him when he runs out of energy or things to see. He went to the long line of people waiting to be served in front of the meat stand thinking what a waste of time it was. This was not how he usually bought his food, but with his son around he could not visit wizarding places.

To his surprise Andrei was first in line. He made his way to the front ignoring a few elderly people protesting how he should wait in the line.

"What about that one?" he heard Andrei ask the handsome young man that was trying to sell meat.

"That would be a shoulder steak. I think it's delicious and it is fresh. And before you ask, thereare no bones in it. Would I be too optimistic if I hoped you would buy it?" the man asked exasperated, but didn't seem to mind the questions enough to send the boy away. And that was telling something considering the dozen people complaining in the line behind him. 'Perhaps it was Andrei's accent', Severus mused.

Andrei smirked at the man. In any other occasion Severus would be proud of that smirk but now it nearly gave him a heart attack. His son, his little boy was flirting with the butcher! 'He's eleven for crying out loud!'. Severus, to everyone's delight (Andrei and the butcher not included) jumped in before Andi could answer.

"A whole chicken and two flank stakes, please." he said giving Andrei a menacing side way glance.

The man handed him his order and he hurriedly pushed Andrei out of there. He could still hear a few cheers from the remaining customers.

"What do you think you were doing?"

"Did you see that guy? He's perfect!"

"He is at least fifteen years older then you, not to mention your own age." Severus scowled as he furiously pushed the cart towards the cash registers.

"Well that's nearly the age difference between you and Bill, right?"

"Bill is of age. Merlin, Andrei! Stop acting like a teenager and enjoy the childhood while you can!"

"I am enjoying!" Andrei said, helping Severus pull things out of cart at the same time.

"You know what I mean! I didn't even know you prefer boys...You are too young to be making passes at the man like that!"

"Oh... So he is prettier then Bill?" Andrei chuckled.

Severus turned, looking murderous.

"This has nothing to do with Bill, and everything to do with you! Stop acting like a spoiled infatuated girl and do something useful" Severus whispered and Andrei knew it was the end of discussion..

He turned back to unloading the cart thinking about the 'stupid butcher who got him into trouble'.

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There were times Andrei was glad his father worked at Hogwarts. Times like now. As long as it kept him away from his lab Andrei was satisfied. During those times that Severus was away, Andrei would use his lab and brew as long as he could. After all his Dad did give him a permission to use both lab and the ingredients. He did not say to which purposes though. It was a perfect opportunity to try out a few of his potion theories an hopefully use them on Vik's present.

He noticed that none of the charms placed on the usual lockets and rings were satisfactory, and none could avoid detection. It was weird that no one came to think of using potions instead of spells. Perhaps because, as his Dad put it, wizards do not appreciate the fine art of potion making. But Andi did. Andi figured that with constant quidditch injuries his brother needed a bit of luck. It occurred to him also that Viktor would not wear the locket if it gave him an unfair advantage in the match, but what Vik doesn't know won't harm him.

Just a few hours before Bill's arrival Andrei has finished his little project. Naturally his Dad's lab was a mess, half of the ingredients was gone and the other half spread out systematically on the table. On the same table was a bunch of paper which Andi used for writing down the results of various tests, most of which unsuccessful. However, in the end he seemed to have done whatever he was up to, after all he studied about these things for the better part of his life. He was pretty sure it would work just like he imagined it to.

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The locket was his own work of art.

Inside the pendant was bezoar dust mixed with the calming draught. If necessary a person could drink it from the pendant and it would have the same effect as bezoar against the poison but would make the drinker panic less in the given situation. Andrei was positive he got that part right, it only needed some adjusting so the bezoar wouldn't react to the draught. And not to mention drinking stuff from the pendant was not exactly hygienic but it was the best solution he could come up with.

The next two potions were more complicated. Felix felicis was one of the hardest to make, even when it didn't require any experimentation and altering. Andrei found a way to make the effect last longer then just a day but it's potency dropped drastically, or at least that's what the calculation said. Since he didn't have much time on his hands he settled with that. He dipped the pendant in the bowl with it, letting it soak thoroughly. Then he let it dry so it wouldn't interfere with other potions.

The Finite potion was the only one he invented all by himself. There was no guarantee it would work later on, but so far it did. It was just last year that he figured out how to substitute the Finite incantatem spell with the potion. The only trouble was that the potion stopped every spell the person came in contact with, including those he cast himself. He did his best to fix that little glitch, and prayed it actually worked. If not, Viktor will have his head...

Anyway, the present was all set. He returned it to the box and wrapped it in shiny blue paper. It was the first time the wrapper didn't have a snitch theme which testified to the fact he had forgotten this year's birthday. He also attached a short note with a spellotape telling Vik about bezoar part. It wouldn't be much use unless Vik knew it was there. He hoped it made up for the seemingly lousy gift. He also mentioned how Viktor left him alone with Sev thus lowering his expectations for a good present. And if Andrei cared to be honest with himself the pendant itself really did look a bit pathetic and ordinary if you didn't know about the added improvements.

But what's done is done. Andrei sent of his gift with the dark phoenix and waited for his Dad or Bill to arrive, whoever came first.