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 prized 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/?, 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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Veela vs. Dragon
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After he came through the floo Severus was assaulted by a minor heat wave that left him staggering. He felt a short stab of guilt but suppressed it with accustomed ease. Taking down the wards he opened the windows and breathed in the fresh air that now surged through the Manor.
Standing in front of his son's door he contemplated how this should all go down. The last thing on his mind would be to start another silly fight. Taking a deep breath he knocked and entered the room.
The sight that greeted him was not the one he expected. Andrei was sprawled on his bed, humming some tune he didn't recognize, but as soon as the boy noticed his entrance he turned and sat up on the bed. Severus was surprised to see there was no trace of anger on his face, more of a confused look.
He was glad they seemed to be on the same page, at least for now. With both of them having such a short temper it was a good thing they learned to control it.
"Care to explain your imprudent use of floo a few moments back?"
"You didn't leave me much of a choice there." Andrei shrugged.
"Whatever possessed you to contact the Headmaster? Can you not perceive the danger you put yourself in?"
"In all honesty, dad, no."
"And which part of that is so hard for you to grasp?" Severus gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Why would I be in danger from Dumbledore? As far as I remember you and Alex have always trusted him."
"He is a nosy old coot who would nullify everything Alex and I did to keep you safe, turn my life upside down, demand I stop hiding and take responsibility for my mistakes, trust you into my hands while I still have classes to teach and position to uphold among the Death Eaters, therefore exposing you to the rest of the world and all that thinking he is working in our best interest." Severus tried not to raise his voice but failed miserably, his anger overwhelming him. "Anything else you do not comprehend?"
Andrei raised his eyes defiantly and Severus was surprised to see unshed tears there.
"And letting people know about your mistake is, of course, unacceptable." Andrei stated.
Severus backtracked to what he said and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Merlin, no! Andrei that is not what I meant..." he pulled his fingers through his hair.
"You were quite eloquent there, dad."
"Andrei...", he sighed, "I wasn't thinking straight, I am exhausted and..."
"But you didn't mean that? You don't think having me was a mistake?"
"I may regret some things I did back then, but I do not regret having you here." Severus carefully explained.
"But if you could do things differently, you would, wouldn't you?"
Severus wavered. The truth was he would never let that Death Eater scum touch him again if he had any choice in the matter, but telling Andrei that wouldn't go well.
A few silent moments were enough for Andrei to notice his indecision.
"I suppose I should be happy you can't change the past, then."
Severus waved his wand and the messy sheets his son pushed away recklessly on his bed folded themselves. He put them away and took a seat next to Andrei.
"Andrei, never think you are not wanted. The reason I hesitated was my reluctance to consider the feelings I had towards your father at that time."
"Oh... I didn't think about that."
It did come as a shock to Andrei. He hardly ever thought about anyone other then Severus being involved in his conception. Of course, he knew he had a father and that he was in Azkaban but other then that he wasn't curious to know anything more about the man and even if he was, Severus wouldn't tell.
"Did you ever love him?" Andrei was uncertain whether he should be asking that.
Severus scooted closer and put his arm around him.
"I did, but that was before I met his true self."
"Do I look like him?"
Severus' eyes roamed over Andrei's face and slight build. He liked to think his son took after him in every way that mattered, but there was no denying resemblance to his other father. However he felt the strain of this day increase it's hold on him with this conversation and decided to put an end to it.
"Any resemblance you may have to that man is purely physical, I assure you." he noticed Andrei was put off by that answer but he ignored it."What matters now is that you need to realize that as much of an ally Dumbledore wishes to be it is still unsafe for you to reveal any further connection to me."
Andrei sighed, frustrated by the change of subject.
"You should have left a note or something before you left."
"Honestly, it was the last thing on my mind." Severus, now drained, rubbed his eyes .
"But you did take time to eliminate every chance of me leaving the house, going as far as locking the broom cupboard. Not that it would matter since flying out the window was impossible due to the wards..." Andrei rambled.
"What are you talking about? I didn't lock the broom cupboard."
"Oh... well it was locked."
Andrei could see Severus frown in confusion. However a moment later it turned into an apologetic look.
"After I saw you loose control on that broom I thought it safer..."
"Is there anything around here that I am allowed to do?" Andrei stood up in anger.
"You could always try reading or brewing."
"How about going out? Let's visit the village!"
"Andrei, now is not the time to leave the Manor..."
"What? Why the hell not?"
"English and no cursing, if you please. And to answer your question, because there is a dangerous fugitive on loose, so I am not taking any chances."
"Is that why you left this morning?" Andrei dropped back down to sit next to Severus, his anger abating a little.
"Yes. I had no choice but to talk to Albus about this course of events as soon as possible."
"Did you know him? Why do you think he'd come after you? Or me for that matter?"
"We always knew my past could come back to haunt me, Andrei. This is just one of those times."
Andrei nodded but didn't seem satisfied.
"Can I at least go for a run around the Manor?"
"That would be fine, as long as you are within the wards. And Merlin knows you need a proper exercise with all that junk you eat. I am still amazed you are not as fat as Goyle with that food regime." Severus shook his head.
"Speaking of food I haven't had my breakfast yet. Wanna join me?"
"If I have a choice, I prefer not to watch you consume food while I'm eating, thank you very much."
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It was nearly sunset and unsuspecting Andrei was sitting on front porch, when Hoof materialized in front of him. Startled, Andrei held back a curse that was on tip of his tongue and grabbed a letter from Hoof's beak, earning a glare from the black bird.
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Hey, Andi
I got your present. Somehow I get the feeling you were running out of time when you bought it. Never mind, though. I love it! Thanks, kid. The bezoar dust is a nice touch, too.
The fist time I put it on, mum asked, and I quote: "Get that grotesque thing of your neck, Viktor!" It was hilarious! I kinda thought to put a permanent sticking charm on it just so I could see her face.
Joke aside, it's not the most beautiful thing you could have picked but it's useful, and let's just say it's 'fascinating' so I won't be taking it off any time soon.
I hope you are not still mad at me, Andi. Just try to understand that Quidditch means a lot to me so I couldn't just throw that away by telling dad to keep us at home. If I thought Konstantinov posed a threat to any of us I would have told him, but all that kid can do is make threats so don't let him get to you. Especially not when you get back to Durmstrang. Try to stay as far away from him as possible.
How is Severus? Dad will be sending a letter to him soon. He wants to know how you're doing and I think he wants to make sure you haven't killed each other yet.
I train hard every day, and I never thought I'd say this but I'm getting tired of it. Not of Quidditch, just practices. In three days we'll play an exhibition match against Ukraine. Or at least the others do, I guess I'll be warming the bench. Everyone in the team is older then me, and they don't trust me yet. Dad says it will happen with time, but I'm losing patience and it's really hard.
Write back soon.
Vik
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The letter brought out a vindictive smile on Andrei's face. 'So not everything was rainbows and roses for Vik either.' That thought somehow made up for everything he's been through since leaving the school. Every morning he opened his eyes he would think what a good time Vik must be having while he was stuck here with his dad. Even though he tried to deny it there was always a bit of jealousy gnawing at the back of his mind.
And now it was all gone. Andrei let out a loud laugh. He was being mean, and was perfectly aware of it, but the irony of it was amazing.
"Andrei?" Severus appeared on a doorstep behind him.
"Hey, dad!"
"Did I miss something funny?"
"Nope, just Vik cheering me up with his letter. The cosmic justice and all that..." he chuckled.
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"Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to today's match..."
Sofia clapped her hands as hard as she could but she could barely hear it over the roar from the stands around her. Alex stood beside her, proud smile spreading across his face. Just a few minutes ago Viktor told them he made the first team. The youngest player in history of Bulgarian Quidditch.
"… Bulgarian fans are still filling the stands, and... Great Merlin, what is that!"
Heads turned towards the northern stand where, above the Ukrainian supporters, the huge dragon flapped it's wings. Gray scales shimmering in sunset and blood red eyes made people scream in fright and a few closer to Alexander started running for the exit, knocking over a few veela in the process. Stunning women changed their shapes, screeched indignantly and spreading their wings flew up in the air.
A roar of laughter spread from those standing closer to the dragon. Prying his hand free from Sofia's sudden grip, Alexander pulled his omnioculars out and directed them towards the rival part of the stands. Now he could clearly see that the dragon was conjured by a few more fanatical fans, but he had to admit it truly was a work of art.
"A faithful representation of Ukrainian Ironbelly. I'm truly impressed." Sofia heard him say.
People were still running aimlessly in panic while the security tried to keep some semblance of control. Sofia wondered where the commentator was.
"Shouldn't the commentator be trying to calm the masses?"
"I believe he has his hands full, honey."
And indeed the poor man seemed to be struggling to keep his handsome face from being clawed by two enraged veela at the moment.
A few minutes later though, the crowd seemed less wild and most people were sitting in their respective seats waiting for the glorious moment when two teams would make their appearance.
Finally, the young man who everyone was anxiously waiting to hear managed to magically raise his voice and clear his throat in obvious attempt to keep composure.
"Hello to everyone who joined us in the past few minutes and hello again to those who already recognize my dulcet voice! I've been told I should be grateful I still have it thanks to our darling little beasties in the front rows." veela's faces contorted in anger in front of Alexander and he knew troubles have only just begun for that blabbering idiot, "I've also been told to inform those who are still pushing through the crowds in blind panic that the dragon you see is NOT real. If it was, chances are this stadium would have gotten a long due redecorating before you even pulled out your wands, if you had enough sense to do so anyway. And now, the moment we've all been waiting for! I present the National teams of Ukraine and Bulgaria!"
The roar was deafening. Two teams zoomed through the air in perfectly synchronized patterns greeting their fans. Players in dark blue jerseys flew around their frightening mascot, while their opponents demonstrated their impressive skills. Alexander saw Viktor's face light up with delight. His heart swelled with pride and glee. Viktor made it. This is what he always wanted of his life and he made it happen! He heard Sofia's cheers on his right and laughed wholeheartedly. He only wished Andi was here to see his brother, but they didn't know until the last minute that Viktor would be in the first team.
"In blue robes: Holub! Dolinsky! Pavlik! Baranski! Kovalsky! Gnatenko! Aaaand Saksaganskiy! Well, that was a mouthful... anyway, in red: Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaand Krum!" Each name was followed by applause and cheers. "And this will definitely be an interesting game! Bulgaria has decided to try out their newest asset. The youngest player in the history of Bulgarian Quidditch! Viktor Krum! Only a few days ago he turned 17! Fresh out of school ladies and gentlemen!"
The referee flew down to the field and released the balls.
"And they're off!"
Alexander and Sofia could barely follow the Quaffle without their omnioculars, but it pleased them to see Viktor didn't have those problems. He seemed to always know where his teammates were and helped as much as he could while still looking for the Snitch. He turned to share his opinion with his wife but was interrupted by the commentator's angry shout and couldn't help but think that the kid was getting a bit annoying.
"What! You can't be serious! You obviously joined us after they went nuts today!" People were confused what was going on, and furious supporters from both sides took no qualms in expressing their opinion of his lousy commenting.
Alexander looked up and saw what caused all the commotion. Ukrainian supporters have pulled out a magnificent banner saying 'Our claws are sharper then yours' with a moving picture of mighty dragon claws on one side and smaller Veela ones on the other. He tried to turn to his wife to point out the banner, but was once again held back, this time by a hand on his shoulder.
"We must talk." It was said in a whisper but Alex heard it clearly.
When he turned he came face to face with a man he hoped never to see again.
"We have nothing to talk about. Leave me and my family alone!"
"You don't understand, Alex. Please, give me a chance to explain..."
"Don't call me that! You lost that right when that brat of yours cast an unforgivable on my son!"
"Alex, this is important..."
"And that wasn't? Get out of my sight Lisovskii! I always knew your actions were far from ideal and still I made excuses for you, knowing there's something hell of a lot worse then you out there, but hurting a defenseless kid puts you on a whole new level indeed!" Alex pushed away the man's hand with a look of disgust.
A long whistle from the referee and the eruption of cheers all around drew their attention to the field. Sofia jumped into Alex's arms and enveloped him in the hug , not noticing the pale looking man beside him.
"He caught it! He won! We won!"
Viktor could only catch a few words from their young commentator "… the star is born! Young Krum has caught..." the rest was drowned by the waves of yells and cheers from the crowd. Alexander didn't pay much attention to his surrounding he just leaned in to kiss his beautiful wife.
When he turned around, still smiling, Lisovskii was gone. And he couldn't be happier.