THE CATALYST

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) – they belong to their respective owners. But I do own the idea for this story and the story.

Summary: He was tortured by the Dark side. The Light side betrayed him. Now he's back, but not alone. Watch out, Wizarding World, because two butlers from Hell are pissed. This is SLASH, don't like, don't read!

Shout Out: Ri-ight. Some very persistent readers - you know who you are - bugged me out of my furor of chasing after statistics, graphs and whatnot, in order to kick out the next chapter. I am sorry for my absence, but I have Real Life priorities to get straight, not to mention an unpredictable internet curfew that makes me literally jump through the hoops if I want to get work done to deadline. Be sincerely grateful to the Goddess of Words that is called Moon Howling Banshee - without her help this chappie would mope on my laptop's disk for a very, very long time. That said, onward, my faithful! /Ahem/. I mean, thank you for your patience and interest in my stories and I am humbly offering you this little morsel to whet your reading appetites.

Warnings: Mentions of torture, mutilated bodies, Sebastian being stupid for a change and meeting with a very unusual lady. Also, Slash, meaning Sebastian/Harry (Antares)/Claude . The butlers find something very addictive... naughty, naughty them...

God bless us everyone,
We're a broken people living under loaded gun.
And it can't be outfought,
It can't be outdone,
It can't be outmatched,
It can't be outrun.
No

(The Catalyst, by Linking Park)

They managed to smuggle their precious little burden out easily, Sebastian of course dropping a 'substitute' into Harry's cell so as to not cause undue alarm too early. Why invite unnecessary trouble if it wasn't needed?

The night was dark and cold, with moonlight shining glumly through the dark windows. Claude looked at his small bundle, golden eyes glinting behind the glasses.

Right now, Harry was unconscious, wrapped in both of their cloaks. The only thing that was visible of his body was his face – pale, small and withdrawn, like the face of a corpse, it was so very still and unmoving. If Claude hadn't heard his breathing or felt his heartbeat, weak as they may have been, he would have thought he was carrying a dead weight rather than a live one.

"So… Where to now?" Michaelis muttered, dark eyes glinting with a red flash. Claude narrowed his eyes in thought. "We could use the old Trancy Manor…" he trailed off.

Sebastian hummed approvingly. "It will be good enough for now."

And they vanished in a flash of speed.

The Trancy manor was just like Claude remembered it: big, imposing and painfully bland. Thankfully Alois didn't get it in his head to make any more extensive…makeovers to the building; besides, he was always too busy with his little pet projects to do so.

"You got the key?" Michaelis asked him, startling Claude out of his musings.

Golden eyes blinking, he switched his grip on the small body against his and after a short time spent rifling in his pockets, he found it.

He tossed the key to Michaelis.

"Huh... And I was so sure you got rid of everything that reminded you of him." The crow demon commented off-handedly, making Claude scowl at him almost imperceptibly.

"Just open the door, will you?" Claude snapped at the meddling bastard.

"My, my, so very impatient," Sebastian teased him, but he still opened the door.

And found himself staring at the muzzle of a well-preserved gun.

"Who the hell are you and what the fuck are you doing in my house?" A sharp female voice snapped from the half-darkness.

Sebastian lifted his arms. "I apologize for intrusion, my lady, but our Master is grievously injured and we seek your hospitality–"

The muzzle of the gun was jabbed into his chest painfully.

"In what way seeking hospitality also means possessing the keys of the house you are trying to get in?"

Sebastian sweat dropped. "Um…Faustus, help would be appreciated, you know." He mumbled to his fellow butler, who stared at the woman stonily.

The woman was clad in her evening robe, which was made from deep aquamarine velvet, and her feet were clad in worn out black slippers. She was middle-aged, but looked older – previously rich mahogany hair was thickly interwoven with silver, and her once youthful face was now pale and gaunt. Only those jade eyes were still shining with a strong life force and almost scary determination.

"Yes, do tell if you don't want to end with a nice big hole in the middle of your chest." She growled out sarcastically.

"Madam, I am Claude Faustus, and my errant companion under your gun is Sebastian Michaelis." Claude calmly interrupted Michaelis, who undoubtedly wanted to make a snarky comment again.

"We are butlers to the young Master here – "He nodded at the crumbled form in his arms.

Jade eyes narrowed. "And who is your Master?" The woman asked, her thin voice crackling slightly, but she still didn't lower her weapon.

"He's Harry Potter."

"...You're shitting me." She finally spoke out after she got her feelings under control.

"He shits you not." Sebastian interrupted her candidly as he turned to look at Claude's little protégé.

The woman harrumphed. "Let me see him." She demanded, making both butlers tense.

"With all due respect, Ma'am – " Sebastian began, but then, he was interrupted by a sharp jab of the gun's muzzle in his sternum.

"Don't you 'due respect' me, young man!" She barked out, jade eyes alit with fire. "Who was the one who broke in my house, huh?" Sebastian glared at her, and Claude could almost feel his fingers itch for some silverware to nail the annoying flesh bag with.

"If you give us your word you won't do him any harm." Claude said calmly, sending Michaelis a sharp look to stay put or else.

The woman cocked his head. "Who do you take me for, a murderer?" She bit out sarcastically, making Sebastian twitch with annoyance.

"You could be." Claude sniped back, his face set into expressionless mask. She glared at him, before harrumphing.

"So nice of you to have such a high opinion of me." She growled out. "Now, will you show me the brat or not?"

"Swear you won't harm him first." Claude repeated.

The woman rolled his eyes. "Right. I, Berenice Sistina Carruthers, swear that I won't intentionally harm one Harry James Potter, except in self-defense. So mote it be."

Sebastian's eyes practically bugged out as he felt the energy – magic, he reminded himself sharply – sealing the promise. "You're a witch?" he asked, inwardly berating himself for such an oversight. However, in his defense, it was hard to believe that when she was pointing a gun of all things at his person.

"You're losing your touch, Michaelis." Claude said mildly, but he stepped forward.

He was thankful for his poker face at that moment – because really, he didn't expect to meet a witch first thing in the house.

Worse yet, it was a witch with a gun – and Claude made a note to check the other Trancy properties for any other… surprises of the Wizarding variety. His only excuse was that he had been absent for at least two hundred years so he really wasn't at fault here – at least not directly.

The woman stepped forward. Her sharp eyes zeroed on the bundle and Claude unwrapped the boy, making her inhale sharply at the state the boy was in.

"Oh, God…" Her voice lowered into a sickened whisper. "Poor child, what have those fools done to you?" Gently, she touched the pale cheek, as she looked over the small one's injuries.

"I will allow you– no, I demand that you stay here until the poor dear heals." She straightened out, gently covering the child again. Jade eyes darkened with sympathy and disgust.

"Ma'am?" Sebastian inquired softly. The woman shook her head, putting the gun on the small tea table. "Call me Sistina. The explanations can wait - right now, it's more important to take care of his wounds. The first floor, right wing will be yours to do with. And I expect you to explain it to me just how and why you knew how to come here…" She eyed him sharply. "With the Manor being under Fidelius, it should have been practically impossible to do so, and yet, Mr. Faustus knew how."

She whirled around. "I will bring you bandages and some potions. The bathroom is –"

"Third door on the left." Claude interrupted her, making her gape momentarily before she collected herself. "Right. Go, I will join you later." She shooed them away briskly, making Sebastian gape and Claude snort as she herself hurried away.

"That… is one strange lady." Sebastian commented, a small quirk of his lips curving into a smile.

Claude snorted again. "Agreed."

The bathroom was just like Claude remembered it – thankfully they were in a guest wing and not in the master one, otherwise it would have been really awkward – if it hadn't been enough what with Claude's impeccable navigation through the maze that was Trancy Manor – it was Carruthers' Manor now, the spider butler supposed, but he would have to ask their hostess about that.

Right now he had more important things to do than muse about how time flew by.

Michaelis started the bath while Claude carefully placed his burden on the warmed floor tiles. He would have preferred the rug, but oh, well.

With a short glance at each other, the two demon butlers began to carefully disrobe their Master. Sebastian gently took their coats off of their skinny human, careful not to jostle any muscle or broken bone. The boy stank from the manure, sweat and old blood, and if they hadn't been so well used to such situations, they would've gagged at the scent of sickness and death. As it was, their coats were now fit only for the trash bin, as the scent had thoroughly permeated them and even if the humans couldn't scent the difference after the coats had been washed and dried, demons had infinitely sharper senses and the scent was really offensive to their sensitive noses.

The boy laid in Claude's arms like some kind of a doll - a broken doll to be precise, occasionally stiffening or flinching at their movements, but that was the only sign he was even alive to begin with.

Then, the ratty robe was shucked off, followed by the too big trousers and the crusty shirt. The boy didn't have shoes on, which was a small mercy, as the trousers were a literal pain to get off –they had to take care of the boy's legs and his skittishness over that particular part of disrobing told them disturbing news about his state.

Both the mocha colored and golden yellow eyes widened with horror as they finally looked upon the body of their Master.

Harry's body was thin, bordering on a skeletal, covered with lacerations, some half-healed, some still healing, and the demons could easily see where the bones had been broken and clumsily reset into marginally correct positions but - oh, hell who were they kidding. It was a fucking wonder the kid could even move what with the state he was in. His right lower arm was also marked with that unsightly mark that made both of the demons glare at it with irritation. Any other day, Sebastian would have been fascinated with the motif and Claude wouldn't have cared either way, but for someone to mark their Master like cattle…. It was unforgivable!

Swiftly, Sebastian turned away as he shut the shower, but he couldn't fool the spider butler any more than he couldn't read Faustus.

"Those fools will pay." Claude swore, his usually bland voice intense as his golden yellow eyes traced the mark, imprinting it into the memory. "Help me if you would?" He called at the equally fuming crow demon that was still shaking with repressed rage.

"Of course." Sebastian managed to get out politely, but his usually catty smirk was now more terse than anything else. Claude held Harry's upper body, while Sebastian swiftly got his legs and before their prey could squeak in alarm, it was gently placed into the bath.

Harry couldn't help but hold stiff as a board even if his body was practically screaming at him what a stupid idea being so very tense was. He emitted a strange hiss/yelp mix at the sensation of almost too hot water against his abused skin and muscles. It was too much, and his mind shut down.

The two butlers were aware of that, but right now, their Master's state was more of a blessing than a curse, although they would have to…. explain it to him just why shutting down his mind was a colossally bad idea.

Claude was silent as he put his gloves away to touch his Master in order to wash him. For some reason, he disregarded the washing sponge and allowed his cool, smooth fingertips to trace through all the filth that accumulated on the boy's sallow skin.

It was a journey –a journey of pain, shame and dirt and usually Claude would have been too disgusted to do what he was doing right now – even to Alois, and he had bathed the prissy blonde brat with his gloves on, avoiding the contact of skin to skin as much as he could. But for some reason, he thought it disrespectful to do the same to his poor little fly, and he was strangely fascinated with that broken body under his palms. Gently, he touched the fragile left shoulder, frowning as his gaze strayed to the awkwardly positioned right arm. They would have their work cut out for them….

For once, Sebastian held his mouth shut. Mocha colored eyes glinted with an undertone of red as he catalogued the boy's injuries, mentally tallying what it would have to be done to get his newest Master at least marginally comfortable. In his long life, he had seen many mutilated bodies, but this…. This was sick. It was a fucking wonder the boy was coherent as he was in the first place – anyone else would have been babbling gibberish and succumbing to madness.

But not him. Not Claude's little prey…. And Sebastian could respect that. He quirked his eyebrow as Claude pulled off his gloves - it was almost unheard of for the prissy kumoshitsuji to touch a human with his bare hands, but of course, Harry just had to be the exception, wasn't he?

He watched as those long fingers slid across the body, mixing dirt, sweat and crusted blood together and revealing a part of sickly pale skin underneath the filth.

Absentmindedly he also took off his gloves and touched the boy's knee – it was skinny like a bird's and also scarred – but what part of the boy's body wasn't? Gently, he began to sweep the dirt away, casually disregarding his prey's vacant expression and soon he fell into a familiar rhythm of scrubbing, massaging and lathering the body in front of him.

It took two baths for the boy to get at least passably clean – they had to also clean some of his wounds – some they had to open again to let out the pus, some they had to wash out more than usual to get the grit out and the boy's hair was a tale for itself. Claude almost despaired of ever getting it in order, so messy and filthy was it, and not to mention the lice! However, he wasn't a demon and a butler for nothing and even that annoyance perished under his skilled fingers.

It was the boy's third bath and really, this time was more for Harry to soak in and for the wounds to calm down from all the scrubbing and rinsing. The water was now lightly pink, and the wounds were oozing a steady stream here and there.

"Don't you feel better now, Master?" Sebastian inquired warmly, as he looked over the boy that was supported securely by Claude's arms. The boy's closed eyes opened only for a fraction of a second and then closed again, but Sebastian smiled anyhow as his charge decided not to answer. Not that he had needed to, the boy's relaxed position told volumes about his feelings.

Claude hummed thoughtfully. "It will take some work to get you up on your feet again, but I believe it is doable." He murmured to his charge, inhaling the scent of a boy, lavender soap and the tangy scent of fresh blood. Golden yellow eyes took on a pink tinge as he tried to restrain himself from tasting that succulent aroma. And then, he nuzzled the boy's neck, his tongue quickly darting out – just for a briefest moment - to taste his prey.

And with that one, forbidden taste, his word was turned upside down.

The taste exploded on the tip of his tongue, like the juiciest, most succulent berry ever known to man, bitter and sweet and so painfully addicting that made his breath stutter violently on the way out of his windpipe, making him gasp harshly as he fought to retain his mind and not lose himself to the instincts which were now practically howling at him to devour the tasty, helpless morsel in front of him.

"Again, Faustus?" Sebastian exhaled a long-suffering sigh. He had seen Claude in thrall after he had tasted Ciel's blood, and it wasn't pretty – the usually implacable man – er, demon, was turned into an irrational creature of want that went so far as to break one of the most sacred rules ever known to demons.

Claude's answer was tensing his shoulders and a shudder. Suddenly, his body stiffened, and those red eyes widened and –

Mocha-colored eyes widened as Sebastian's jaw dropped. "I can't believe you." Sebastian choked out. "I understood about Ciel, but perving on this kid?"

Faustus would have glared at him, but instead of that, he emitted a feral hiss and he had to force himself to be still as not to dislodge his precious cargo.

Sebastian watched, his eyes still wide as Claude slowly came down from the high their newest Master's blood had inadvertently caused.

Golden eyes intermixed with red narrowed at Sebastian's amused snort. And then, Claude did something completely unbelievable.

Those deceptively thin, slender fingers rubbed one of the deeper wounds, staining the pads of the pale fingers pink and red with fresh blood.

Sebastian froze at the scent of the fresh blood, but what kept him still in place was Claude's feral smirk. "You are always so high and mighty, Michaelis," Claude's voice was a mix of ragged growls and hisses, one more sign of how rattled he was. With a speed Sebastian didn't expect him to have – after all, there had to be some post-orgasm bliss and thus slower reflexes than usual - Claude quickly smeared the tempting red substance across Sebastian's pale pink lips.

He eyed his rival with smirk as Michaelis' eyes widened and he opened his mouth, unconsciously allowing his tongue to sample the sinful liquid.

And this little moment was Sebastian's doom. As soon as he opened his mouth –stupid him, he should have kept it shut - the tiniest droplet of blood slid in and he reflexively licked the spot where it came from and then, it was Heaven and it was Hell; It was pure torture, making adrenalin rushing his through his body and his head become strangely empty of thoughts as his body took command, muscles jerking involuntarily, spasming in a pleasure that bordered on pain– or was it pain, in the guise of pleasure? Whatever it was, he wanted more –

He erupted so hard that for a moment he saw darkness in front of his eyes, but after it passed, he remained here, in the blue-tiled bathroom in Trancy Manor, with Claude watching him mockingly over the dark tousled head of their half-asleep charge. Dark eyes, streaked with hellish red widened with mortification as his brain finally computed that his rival just witnessed his most humiliating moment.

"We are even now." Claude had finally regained his faculties, it seemed, as Sebastian's frazzled expression morphed into a silent snarl of fury as the crow demon struggled to keep his instinct under the wraps.

"You utter bastard." Sebastian hissed out, making Claude incline his head slightly, as he returned his attention to their charge, his easy dismissal of Sebastian's little… problem made the crow demon even more infuriated than usual. However, this was no place or time for their little spat, so Sebastian swallowed down his fury, inwardly swearing he would get the kumoshitsuji for the stunt he had pulled. Oh yes, he would, and one itty bitty spider would pay.

They silently finished washing their Master, both intensely aware of the mess in their pants, while the main culprit was half conscious and not entirely aware he somehow managed to get into an even greater mess than before.

The breaking and resetting of Harry's bones was done with the swiftness and precision of long practice, with the patient being deeply unconscious, courtesy of one of Claude's acupuncture needles. Of course, Sistina hadn't been idle either - she got the necessary potions and bandages ready, and although she was a little squeamish at what she deemed Muggle's barbaric practice, the ex-nurse held strong as the butler operated on their little Master.

Five hours later, Harry's body was in order – or as much one could be, as the green-eyed wizard still had a long way to recover – he never would recover fully, but most of the damage would be healed enough for him to function normally. He was clothed in a sleeping shirt of the softest cotton, which made his thin, gaunt face even paler in comparison to the rich color of the green sheets of his bed. Sistina looked away from the kid to his new… butlers, was it?

"I think you have some explaining to do." The woman's voice was plain, with a steely undertone, making the two butlers inwardly wince at the command. She was undoubtedly a Trancy, however diluted her blood was.

She eyed the butler duo, her jade eyes hard as she leaned elegantly into the dark green wing-backed chair, as if she were a Queen, expecting apologies from her loyal subjects.

The butlers were, when she looked at them, true specimens of human race, but something told her they were not so…. ordinary as to be mere mortals. She eyed the golden-eyed one expectantly.

Claude sighed. "How much do you know about the history of the Trancy Family?"

She blinked, taken aback by the question. "Well, not very much, I suppose. The Carruthers' bought off this Manor when it was put on auction after the unfortunate death of the last Trancy Lord – but I think it was a third cousin that bought off the property, because he wanted to have a house for his mistress. As the mistress was a Squib, she couldn't live in the Wizarding World without being scorned and joked about, so Alain Carruthers relocated her there. As he didn't have any heirs with his wife, Helen, his only offspring was born from the mistress Joanna. Even if Alain was from a Pureblood family, his descendants were mostly Muggleborns, as the Wizarding World didn't accept the fact that such an old family would stoop so low as for their Head making his bastard children legally his." She ended sardonically.

Claude nodded thoughtfully. "So I see. What do you know about the death of one Alois Trancy?"

Finely shaped eyebrow lifted. "Not much is known – some said that he suffered a heart attack, some said that he was attacked by some wild beast…Why do you ask?" Sistina inquired, intrigued.

"Because, Lady Sistina, Alois Trancy's death was not a coincidence." Claude spoke out, looking in those widened jade eyes calmly. "He had formed a contract…. With a demon."

She stared at the stony, handsome visage of the bespectacled butler. "And that demon is you." She finished, making the other butler's eyebrow quirk up in respect.

"You believe him?" Sebastian couldn't help himself but ask. Sistina snorted as she haughtily lifted her chin. "Of course. I would have known if either of you two busters wanted to fool me." She declared sharply.

It was the demon's turn to blink. "And how, pray tell, would you know that, dear Lady?" Sebastian asked, amused.

"Firstly, he didn't trip the wards." She replied, gifting him with a glare. "Secondly, he knew his way around the Manor and only the ones who had lived in it or had access to it know where to go or when to turn. Lastly…. I am the last Carruthers, and I don't have any visitors, so the only possibility was it was someone who had lived there before. "

"We could be Muggles." Sebastian purred back. She stared at him flatly. "And finding the Manor with a Fidelius Charm onit in a fit of pure dumb luck? I think not."

Claude snorted as Sebastian looked mildly embarrassed, before he complimented Sistina, which she accepted gracefully.

Thus, the strange truce between the last of Carruthers family and the two demonic butlers of a forsaken Savior was established, all while the teen was soundly sleeping for the first time in a long, long time.

/To Be Continued/