Chapter 9: Things that Goes Bump in the Night

The demon stood over the corpse of a Minotaur drenched in blood. From the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was red. Only his golden eyes twinkled through the gore. His master came out from the shadows and laid his hand on his head, blessing him for his service.

"Such a brave warrior you are. Where do you find the courage to face against such a monstrous beast?"

"It's not courage that made me kill this beast master, it was boredom."

"Oww." Harry held his right hand and squeezed it tight, trying hard to stop the aching. As he move his little digits pain began to shoot up his forearm. It's a minor pain, but it still made him nervous. He tried to rationalize it by saying that it was just an ordinary sprain, but in his mind he believes that his body was punishing him for striking his friend.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, Stevens ignoring him as they search for a hidden entrance to Grimmauld place. Steven was supposed to be his butler, the only place where he could trust and lean on. However… Harry shook his head, bringing up the will to justify his action. He only intended to give him a playful love tap, just to knock some sense into his babbling butler.

'Oh god I sound like those abusive husband trying to get the jury's favor.' His stomach turn at the thought.

As much as he tried to justify his actions, the mark on his butler's face his face tells him another story. Harry cringed when he saw the little cut on Steven's just below his eye. It was certainly never his intention to draw blood. Maybe that's why Stevens is giving him the cold shoulder. Magic and blood are often related in ways he couldn't even imagine.

While Harry was pondering and making wild guesses, his butler was leading them down into a dirt tunnel. The passage was low and claustrophobically small, but it had just enough space for them to hunch down and crawl. Other than muttering about how a noble shouldn't be on his knees, Stevens kept his silence. Harry sighed and accepted the fact that his one and only friend may be royally pissed at him. He just hoped that they could finish the job quickly.

Sadly, when they arrived into a clearing large enough to straighten their backs, they were immediately met with an imposing wall of runic rubble. The runes glowed bight red when Stevens approached it, activating it's hostile wards. However, as Harry approached it, the blinding light settled down into an inviting blue glow. Without a word, Stevens set off to work, citing a line of ancient incantations as he began to levitate the rocks away.

The silence was stifling them more than dust of dried of fecal matter and waste.

While he was working Stevens noticed how his master kept fiddling with his hand. Unable to bear it any longer, he paused on his work and pulled him closer.

"Here, let me make it better." He as he pull his reluctant master towards the glowing light. He looked almost beautiful bathed under the radiant stones. Stevens shook himself back to reality and examined the hand.

"It's just a minor sprain." He said quietly, not expecting his master to reply. Invoking an ancient power, the genie whispered a short prayer to the Egyptian God Heka and massaged the palm back and forth. As if a candle was lit, his hands glow and begin to grow warmer.

"Oh wow." Harry exclaimed, surprised at how quickly his hand is healing. "Thank you." He said rather loudly, making sure that Stevens knew he appreciated his help.

In the beginning Stevens ignored the boy's guilty look and continued healing the strained tendons. But after a while those eyes seemed to pricked at him. Stevens grunted in annoyance and stopped the prayer. "Stop looking at me like that." He snapped, turning away to work at the tunnel.

"Sorry."

"And stop apologizing! The Lord of Black Manor does not apologize to his servants."

"I'll apologize to whoever I damn please!" Harry argued defiantly, . "And besides, I shouldn't hit you like that. I'm sorry."

Caught off guard by the sincerity of Harry's voice, Stevens sighed and stopped moving the stones.

"You did the right thing. " he said in his calmest voice. "I was berating you in another's family house, humiliating you in front of other people. I was certainly crossing the line and as a master, you shouldn't feel bad for disciplining your staff."

"I don't believe incorporeal punishment." Harry crossed his arms defiantly. "But really? Are you sure you're ok?" He asked, unsure weather to trust the genie or not.

"Yes, I am. Now stop looking like I killed your pet dog. You look pitiful." Stevens laughed nervously. "Master." He added, quickly dropping his tone respectfully.

Harry's smile melted away at the word. "Just drop the Master already. I told you I don't like being called that." He wanted Stevens to talk to him again, but not because he's his servant.

Stevens couldn't help but crack out a smile. "You best get used to it Master." He added, teasing the boy again to ease the tension. "We will soon need a staff for the manor and we can't have servants calling their employer by their name." Stevens said, horrified at the notion.

"Staff? We need a staff? Whoa- wait, wait. When did we agree to this?"

Before they had time to banter in their newly mended friendship, a burst of steam exploded from the cracks of the stone. The cloud of vapor was so thick that when it died down, Stevens was drenched to his bones.

"Son of a-"

Before he could complete his expletive, a thick log like creature rushed past their feet. "What the hell was that!" Harry exclaimed, dreading the worst.

Indeed, in front of them lay a thick boa constrictor, it's beady eyes blinking rapidly while tasting the air with it's forked tongue.

"Food for massssster." It hissed, raising it's head to ready itself for a bite. "Masssster is hungry. Ssssheding makessss massster hungry."

Understanding completely what the snake was implying, Harry grabbed his butler's hand and pulled him away from the slithering reptile.

"I think we should go now." He whimpered, inching backwards until he's right in front of the tunnel.

Stevens gave him a disapproving look. "With all do respect sir, I hardly think that we should be afraid of a measly boa contri-"

Psssttt. Another burst of steam rushed through the runic cracks, condensing against the cave wall that they have their backs against.

"Forget the snake. I'm more worried about the giant Basilisk breathing up our pants."

"Oh." Stevens said, perplexed.

"Yeah. Oh. Now run!"

Stevens hurriedly put up a shield as the snake slithered close to them. "You first master!" he motioned at the tunnel they came from.

Harry nodded and hurriedly crawled for his life. The tiny pebbles dug painfully into his knees, but the boy still crawled until the tunnel was wide enough for him to stand up and run out into the clearing, the moon's round shine giving him light in the pitch black backyard.

"Stevens!" He called desperately for his butler. The genie stumbled out after him, his arm still outstretched with his magical shield out. Just as Harry started to order the shield to be put down, the large boa came out of nowhere and launched itself at their faces.

"Diffindo!" Harry said out of instinct, effectively shredding the snake into ribbons. Seconds after the spell left his tounge he realized what a terrible mistake he had done. He had been trying so hard to avoid using his wand to avoid detection, and now all of his effort was gone. He's sure that he's going to pay for it in the future.

Steven stared at the pieces of shredded snakes on the ground, impressed at his mater's blood thirst. Instead of complimenting him on it, like he wanted to, Steven turned the conversation towards the danger lurking in that dark cave.

"How did you know it was a Basilisk? It's been decades since our family used them as guards."

"Uh, because of… reasons." Harry said hurriedly.

Stevens' lips twitched into an unhappy frown. He doesn't like it when Harry hide things from him.

"I'm afraid that's not good enough sir. I insist I must kn-"

"Shhh!" He shushed him. "Listen."

"A demon would tassste sssswell, but a wizard would tassste better." A deep ominous voice hissed from a distance.

Steven leaned down and listened intently. "I hear nothing master." He said worriedly as the colors dissipate from his master's face.

"Yeah. Ok. Cool. Well you will just have to trust me on this. Something big is going to come through that little itty bitty cave, and when it does, I want you to blind it ok. That's my wish for today."

Surprised by the sudden gory command, a sadistic smile spread across the demon's face. "Yes master." He said delightfully as gold liquid envelopes his eyes.

Chilled by his demon's voice, Harry turned away. As much as he wanted to discuss his Demon's psychopathic grin, he has bigger things to worry about.

"I've killed this thing before but, uh, I kinda don't have the right mystical sword of Gryfindor with me."

"Do not worry my Lord, this humble servant will be your sword." Steven said, his voice echoing with power. Harry gulped and nodded.

"Oh, and try not to look it in the eyes." The boy added, his hand shaking in fear as the basilisk approaches..

"I will try my best sir." Steven replied, giving his master a smile as his body began to hum with power. "I shall slay the beast in your honor."

Harry swallowed nervously and looked away from that steady golden stare. That amount of devotion is simply too much for him to bear.

"Here he comes." He said, his eyes shut tight and a shielding charm dancing on the tip of his tongue. Steven smile widened at the sight of the boy. What a charming boy his master is.

"You won't need to shut your eyes for long." He said cockily, rolling his neck as a golden hum began to envelope his body.

A muffled roar could be heard from the cave. The surrounding area broke out in deep fissures as a massive body began to force itself out of the entrance of the cave. Sneaking one last longing gaze at his beloved master, the genie caressed his sharpened blade and lunged towards the massive beast with the speed of lightning.

Harry stared at the dead beast with his jaw slack. The beast's thick body was a large as those construction pipes Harry saw in the muggle world. Dust and moss covered the glassy dark green skin. It's great bulbous yellow eyes slit open, revealing the bloody inner workings of the organ.

"That." Harry took a deep breath. " was AMAZING!" the victoriously screamed out, punching the air with his fist.

Stevens broke out in laughter, watching curiously as the boy celebrated with more passion than he had ever shown him before. In the few weeks that he had been with him, Stevens had never saw Harry this happy. Add a giant murderous Basilisk to the mix and the boy was all hugs and smiles. Stevens sighed and shook his head. It will be hard to keep this adrenaline junkie safe.

With that foreboding thought, he jumped down from his perch on top of the beast's head. The back of its skull had been completely destroyed. The caved in cranium still holds the indentation of his five slender fingers.

"Let me see you." He said weakly, staggering over to examine his overexcited master.

"Did you see yourself? Pfft, well of course you couldn't see yourself, you were too busy being a badass. You were flying everywhere with that dagger! Can Genies even fly? It doesn't matter, you did and it was so fucking-"

"Language now…"

"-AWESOME!" Harry laughed and knuckled him on the arm. Steven staggered weakly, his body completely emptied from fulfilling his master's wishes.

"Wow." Harry breathed out in a newfound respect that he never had for the genie. "I know that you had some power, but never knew you're that powerful… I should really wish for more stuff like these."

The comment made Steven chuckle, but other than a few proud glances at the monster he had slayed, he answered modestly. "It was nothing my Lord."

Harry was beaming with pride, so instead of arguing with his butler for the umpteenth time today, he gave the genie a hug.

"Man, am I glad to have you on my side." Said Harry sincerely, grinning ear to ear in happiness.

Before Stevens could answer anything, Harry patted him on the arm. "Come on! Let's get those eggs and get out."

After realizing how embarrassing that phrase was, the boy faked a man-cough and bolted towards the cave. Although his body was sore and beaten to all hell, Stevens was glowing with happiness.

Granting his masters wishes have always been rewarding for Genies, but few wishes in the past had ever been quite satisfying to complete. Not only have he killed an ancient and noble beast, he had gotten his master to say things he wouldn't say to anybody else in a million years.

Today was a good day indeed.

The first crack woke him up like a thunderstorm. From the moment he was conscious, he felt an ominous sense of dread. The sound was lightning quick that he wasn't sure that he heard it at all. Then there was a faint screech of pain coming from the distance.

The second crack fills the air with a heaviness he couldn't explain. He wanted to slid back into his cover and cower under it, but the wolf inside

The third crack never came. Instead, it was replaced with a heacy thud that

Then silence.

Silence is never good.

Remus quickly shoved his furry feet into his slippers, the symptoms of the coming full moon already dawning upon him. He wanted to call on the other members to check on the noise… but then they would be put in risk just by simply being near him. Besides, they're all locked in their warded rooms, the very same room used to protect them from his transformation,

So like many times before he went alone. Afterall, he's going to turn into a werewolf anyways. Anything that's outside will think twice about going into the house with a wild werewolf roaming the grounds.

As he ran down the cold stone stairs Remus thought excitedly about what might be out there. Maybe it was just some wild Gerklings causing mischief. Or maybe… a few death eater

That unruly head of hair. Those brilliant green eyes. He could recognize him anywhere. He didnt rush down to see the dead monster laying on the yard. Nor did he rush down because of Harry's sudden reappearance. A glimpse of an old friend caught the corner of his eyes, and the wolf inside him howled. He dashed down the stairs like a madman.

"Padfoot…" he whispered. "Padfoot!"

Instead of the warm welcome he expected, Remus was greeted with a slash of metal near his face. He jumped back in confusion, but his wolf side taking over, making him growl towards Sirius's walking specter.

Remus focused his eyes on his friend. Wait… he is no ghost. Ghost cannot hold knives or be opaque. Andghost certainly does not have glowing golden eyes…

"Walk away from my master or I will skin your pelt, wolf." The specter said.

Intruder. The wolf inside him growled. In my territory. Intruder baring it's teeth in my territory. Must. Kill.

And so he did.