Chapter Twelve – Parchment, anyone?
Snape awoke in his own bed with a blanket over him. Minerva's doing, he mused. He also noted a very angry headmaster next to his bed.
"What is the meaning of this, Severus?" he asked, his eyes flashing angrily.
"The Muggles came back and started threatening the kids. I did nothing to them, and pointed my wand at them only to light it with Lumos. The male," Snape said hotly, "The one I swear looked like a blueberry with arms and legs – shot me without warning as I had my eye on the stairwell for mere seconds to tell the children to get back in bed."
"So you felt the need to drive him insane?" Dumbledore asked, and Snape furrowed his brow. "He claims to have been tortured with one of the three unforgivable curses, the Cruciatus curse. He claims he didn't get a good look at his assailant, but saw that it was someone tall with black hair down to their shoulders."
"You're forgetting, headmaster," Snape interrupted. "That Arachne is still out on the loose. She may very well have done it to him before putting the Imperius curse on him."
"You deny it?" Dumbledore murmured, "When the boys clearly say otherwise?"
"What?" Snape gasped, startled. Surely Potter hadn't told the headmaster to get away from him. He'd been acting as civilly as possible to the spawn of his rival.
They hadn't fought yet (a record he knew wouldn't last the whole month, let alone the whole summer), and he'd even been gracious enough to allow Potter to dish out anything he pleased to Dudley, including recreating Dudley's pre-Hogwarts treatment of Harry. Yes, Dudley hated him, but he'd kept the whale out of prison and had been helping him lose weight to benefit the boy's health. Also, the two cousins were almost acting civil towards each other, although Harry still used Dudley as a target on his off days.
"I – headmaster, I would never," he stated shocked, then glared. "Wait a minute – this can't be right! I put up wards all around the house to make sure nobody – not muggle or wizard – could get in without my knowing! Which death Eater are you?"
"Clever," Dumbledore growled. "But not clever enough, Severus. And here the Dark Lord trusted you." Snape looked on as Dumbledore shrank into Bellatrix Lestrange, angry and menacing. "You're a spy for the old man! I'm no dummy – I slipped it off his robes when he visited while you were asleep."
"You," Snape growled, but stopped as her wand went to his throat. "You're nothing more than a vile, evil, no count slut of a whore."
"Hark who's talking," she cackled. "I tortured Sirius Black. You raped Sarabella to get out of marrying me. I rotted in Azkaban for thirteen years, and what do you have to give him, Severus? Twelve years of babysitting brats for Dumb-ly-dore!"
"I was a spy for the Dark Lord, pretending to be one for Dumbledore," he glared. "I'd like to see you balancing two psychotic masters on a dangerous tightrope. No, the man trusted me, so I was able to serve the Dark Lord more by keeping tabs on everything, especially the Potter boy."
"Yes, you house him, Severus," Bellatrix laughed. "How very soft of you. But, don't worry my love; I'll be sure to make you nice and hard again before I kill you."
"Don't move," Lily and James Potter glared. "Bellatrix Lestrange, I should have known. Is Voldemort not good enough anymore?"
"I'd rather die than sleep with you," Snape glared. "I'd rather die than sleep with any woman that I don't see fit to."
"Avada Keda-" Bellatrix began, but the two Potters apparated her away before she could finish. The trio writhed and twisted, stopping at the Ministry momentarily before leaving with Bellatrix screaming in defiance. "Potter!"
"Severus," Lily gasped as they arrived back.
"Severus, are you alright?" James asked, and Lily and Snape's eyes widened in shock. "What? I'm human, too you know. And, I, uh…apologize…for everything I did to you during school. I've watched the way my nephew treated Harry, and I realized that he was using Harry like I was using you. I'm sorry, Severus."
"Apology accepted, Pot – James," Snape said roughly correcting himself. If Potter could be man enough to use first names – his real first name – then so could he. He owed James a life debt in return now, damn it! Great, not again!
"No, Severus," James said roughly. "We told Kiru we had unfinished business all of a sudden. You saved our son and our nephew from getting kidnapped by my evil in-laws."
"Besides, Sev, you're a much better guardian for Harry than Tuney ever was," Lily added. "Bloody hell, Sev, your worst days are better than Tuney's best ones!"
"I get it," Snape frowned. "What'd you do with Bellatrix?"
"Oh, left her at the Ministry of Magic," James shrugged.
Snape sighed and crept off to check on the criminal trio. Kiru was wide awake, studying, and hadn't heard him peek in or close the door. The boys, on the other hand, were fast asleep and snoring loudly. Well, Dudley was snoring, while Harry was struggling to get some blanket back. The head of Slytherin scowled before picking Dudley up roughly and hauled him over to the couch, forcing a light sheet onto him to protect him from the air conditioner that was blasting in his face. Snape frowned and went back to Harry's room, to which the teen had woken up and put his glasses on in confusion. Snape jerked his head, and the young Potter silently followed in his pajamas.
"Mum, dad," Harry gasped quietly. "What are you doing here?"
"Checking in on you two," James replied, and Lily smiled at the potions master. "Son, I never thought I'd say this about Sn-Severus. But, he has turned out to be a better guardian than your aunt and uncle. I'm sorry I couldn't warn Sirius of Bellatrix's plot before she put it into action."
"Speaking of Bella's plots," Snape murmured quietly. "We've got a huge problem. She won't stop attacking and trying to rape and/or me until she manages it."
"She always was twisted in every way, even under the sorting hat, he said so himself," Lily shuddered.
"And the day I let that happen, everyone in all four houses will be singing 'kumbaya' together," Snape said with finality. "With me leading them wearing pink dress robes for a girl."
"Oh, god," Harry muttered, putting his hand on his mouth to suppress a grin. Snape singing 'Kumbaya' was one funny yet creepy image, him wearing pink girl robes was another. Put the two together? That was outrageously funny, but scary as hell at the same time. He didn't dare tell Hermione or any of the Weasley's though, not yet. Not if he wanted to live, he wouldn't. Snape saw into his mind immediately, so Harry surmised he really needed to work on shielding his thoughts somehow.
"Very funny," Snape snarled. "All jokes and sarcasm aside, I do believe we need to kill the bitch."
Harry nodded before getting an idea. Bellatrix may have been attacking him, but landed in Snape's room instead. Or, perhaps it was all a nightmare? Or – dare he say it – the prefect that had attacked Kiru had returned in Polyjuice Potion form?
"No, Potter," Snape sighed. "Bellatrix had used the Polyjuice Potion to impersonate the headmaster. Trust me, she timed this down to the minute, even the second, perhaps."
Bellatrix growled in frustration. The two Potters had come back, but that meant that someone in that house had one of two powers – Necromancy, or a Musiclancer. She growled, and apparated back, only to find that Snape was joined by the Potter boy and the boy's parents. She breathed heavily out her nostrils, but silently. This was her chance – she could kill Snape now and bring the boy – and the other children in the house – to the Dark Lord. The Potter clan was on edge, after hearing the familiar crack, and Kiru had been downstairs in the kitchen trying to find the source of the intrusion from the first time. Naturally, she heard the crack, grabbed a knife, and stalked upstairs to find a female with very curly black hair. Well, like mother always used to tell her – attack first, questions later.
"You're mine, Snape," the woman whispered quietly. "You'll be my husband or my name isn't Bellatrix Lestrange."
Kiru launched the knife like a dart, hitting Bellatrix in the back, then racing forward to drive it into her up to the hilt. Her father, having heard the noise, jerked the door open to find what had happened. She was staring at the blood on her hands, by now, and he at her. She'd killed a person, albeit it self-defense, in an ambushing way. He peered into Kiru's mind, seeing Bellatrix's threat resound in the girl's ears from the howler, and then the whispered threat. Naturally, she'd kill first and ask questions later – it was how her mother had probably raised her without him. He almost shuddered to think of what would happen if the child hadn't been there to protect him.
"Blood," she muttered, and he immediately led her to the sink in the bathroom to wash her hands. "Blood, oh Kami, what have I done?"
"Killed a criminal," her father replied roughly, but he couldn't help but be proud of her – she'd killed one of the best witches in her time without the woman even having a chance to fight back. It was a very crude, Muggle way of doing so, but she'd killed for Dumbledore nonetheless. He'd have to write the Headmaster now, and go to the Ministry of Magic for a hearing alongside Kiru.
"Oh, shit," the girl sobbed, and Snape immediately pulled her into a hug and cleaned up Bella's blood off the carpets with a flick of his wand. Naturally, he sent his patronus to one of the other aurors, who soon apparated into the house. Kiru jumped, playing Hime's song to drop the effects of the Nocturne of Shadow, and went back to washing her hands.
"Whoa," the five aurors muttered as they saw Bellatrix's dead body in the hall. "What the bloody hell happened here?"
"If you'll give me time, I'll explain," Snape said calmly. They remained quiet, so he told them everything he knew – excluding Kiru's being a musiclancer since he knew the ministry would put her behind bars for necromancy with it.
Naturally, Tonks went into the bathroom to find the girl still washing her hands, eyes wide. Severus pulled his daughter into the living room to have her explain her side of the story, which she did in very gruesome detail, also leaving out the fact that she was a musiclancer and had summoned Lily and James Potter. By the time she was done, she was breathing heavily, and Snape had his arm around her protectively since she was perched on the arm of his chair.
"Well, the stories match," Shacklebolt said calmly. "And Bellatrix Lestrange, a known Death Eater, is dead. We'll be sending you the reward money by owl or with another auror as soon as we get it from the Ministry of Magic. I'm sure Fudge would love to hear that an escaped Death Eater from Azkaban was ruthlessly murdered by a girl fresh from her first year at Hogwarts."
"Indeed," Snape muttered, more tired and stressed now than he had been at sunset. "it's enough to make this father proud, though."
He looked at the clocks – five-thirty in the morning, there was no use going back to bed now. Naturally, he gave Kiru a calming potion, to which she immediately fainted. He shook his head slightly and picked her up bridal style to carry her back upstairs to bed. Harry himself had also gone back to bed, wanting no part in what was going on with the aurors, although he was quite glad that his Professor had removed the body from the hallway. With the sound of five familiar cracks, the aurors left, and the Professor had gone to the kitchen to write a letter to Dumbledore – he had a lot to explain.
He could hear Dudley in the cupboard now, quietly hyperventilating, a fact that the adult's talking had covered up quite nicely, and wondering what the hell was going on upstairs and why Kiru had stalked past with a knife. He sighed, then turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand, pulling out a pen from the side of the fridge.
Headmaster,
In light of the recent turn of events, I feel the need to inform you of what has been going on at this insane asylum. To sum it all up would encase the whole letter, I'm sad to say. But, I shall start at the beginning after picking Harry up at Platform 9 3/4. I won't deny, I divulged the news of my adopting Harry to Molly and Arthur Weasley since they seem to have taken Harry under their wings whenever he was being abused by the wretched Muggles. Granger also knows, but I made sure that she wouldn't tell anyone else, and Minerva I'm sure can attest to such since she had brought Granger with side-along apparition.
The whale of the Muggle has begun behaving himself, I'm happy to say, and rarely talks back to me, or any other adult for this matter (although I'm sure this is because I've been using my teaching methods on him like I do the unruly seventh years). Harry has even begun doing his homework for Hogwarts, although I'm not sure how enthusiastic he is about that. The boys, shockingly enough, are acting extremely civil to each other and rarely get in fights that I can tell. Kiru is acting like Granger and burying herself in her studies, much to my delight. Heaven knows she needs it, although we don't need another know-it-all in the school, especially in my house, and most emphatically not my own child.
Their behavior aside, we have been attacked a few times over the course of this past week, only one of which each world is privy to. Although, I sincerely hope you get this letter before your morning papers of The Daily Prophet. The Muggle's parents mysteriously showed up in the middle of the night about a week ago, and I had let my guard down and left one of the back windows next to a door open just enough for the woman to stick her hand through and open the back door. Luckily I caught them with one of the charms I'd set up, and stalked downstairs. I found them trying to break their son out, but intervened since I knew they were terrified of wizards and you knew that the Muggle brat was imperative to the plan.
I shot no spells at them, I can assure you, and can show you as such. The adult male used a gun, a thought that I didn't think of, and shot me as I glared at the staircase to let Harry and Kiru know to stay away. Naturally, one of the neighbors heard the gunshot and called the authorities, and so I was forced with the humiliation of going to a Muggle hospital. Thank god the two Muggle doctors that came in to remove the bullet have a daughter who is a witch – they turned their backs to my magic and let me take care of myself until I could do no more. At that point, they stitched the wound closed and I spent a day or so in the Muggle hospital, to which quite a few friends of Harry and Kiru's decided to stop by, Lucius and Draco Malfoy among them. Thank God the Weasley's didn't show up until I went home. Luckily for me, the new neighbor across the street is the one whose parents were the medics that worked on me, so she was able to pick up the two boys after they'd given their testimonies to the police. Don't even think about telling me I need to marry her, you can forget it. I'll decide if and who I marry as I please.
It was at that point that Lucius brought Draco to the house, to which the latter brought Kiru to the hospital. I don't approve of her dating yet, but when she does, Draco is admittedly the boy who's best suited for her. Naturally, Arthur showed up with his two youngest, since our neighbor had just brought the boys back home and thought the children needed a familiar face to help them cope with their stress. I am quite glad, however, that they remained submissive and spoke mostly to Harry, although the girl did worry about the injury I sustained if only for a few minutes before she remembered that Harry was in the room. The Weasley's left first, thank god, unable to stand being in my house any longer and Draco and Lucius left soon after to let me get some rest. However, just after they left, not five minutes later, mind you, Minerva decided to show up with the Granger girl in tow. Whether this was to spite me, I have yet to force that information from her. Thankfully, they didn't stay long since Minerva was quite skilled in telling my emotions through my eyes, and added to the fact that I felt lightheaded somewhat.
I've been recovering fine from the gunshot wound, but I would be doing much better if I wasn't visited by an angry Bellatrix Lestrange, who seems to think that since Rodolphus is in Azkaban and the Dark Lord is gone, that I am her new play toy. Hell to the fucking no. Over my dead body would I sleep with her, or any other Death Eater for that matter. Strangely, Kiru happened to be awake when she apparated into my house, and summoned Lily and James Potter to my aide. Harry was allowed all of five minutes to talk to them, since we then heard a large object fall on the door. I can still see the look on the two children's faces when I opened the door to reveal and bloody, now lifeless, Bellatrix. Kiru had crept down to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and waited for what she knew was Bellatrix to reveal her plot before killing her ruthlessly by stabbing her in the back and driving the knife up to the hilt.
Alas, the children are once again stirring out of slumber, so I will close with the fact that Harry and I have yet to get in a fight (although I'm not sure how much longer it will last).
Severus
"Poe, take it," I hissed, rolling the parchment up quickly and fastening it to his leg. "Take this to Albus' office, quickly." He flew off just as Harry walked in yawning loudly and rubbing his eyes. Dudley walked in as well, not sure of how to continue with this. He knew something had happened, something wizard related and very deadly, but didn't know what.
"Dudley, maybe we should eat in the backyard," Harry suggested warily as he saw the mug of coffee in my hand. He could somehow tell it was the first one for the morning. I headed out to the living room to read the morning paper, and wasn't at all surprised to find that the news was, once again, back to being about boring Muggle Politics.