Author's Note: First things first guys, I am so sorry for my continually promising I'll post more then ghosting (for years). For my part, I hope to keep you guys engaged, I do know what and where this story is heading and I am so thankful for those who are willing to wait, follow and favourite me. I especially love a review or comment, even a constructive critique! If you read this fan fic and feel you are the sort of person who can kick me up the butt to keep me on track/check through my stuff (I see the mistakes after publishing and cringe, one day I will go back and fix them). As I am sure many are, I'm a creature of chaos when left to my own devices, but hopefully I will be posting more regularly from now on. Thank you all once again, and I hope you and your loved ones are happy, healthy and well.

Chapter 20 – Psycho Killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est?

You start a conversation, you can't even finish it

You're talking a lot, but you're not saying anything

When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed

Say something once, why say it again?

The Talking Heads - Psycho Killer

"I don't know Harry, it's just…when did Mi learn to do that stuff?" Ginny was worrying her lip as she folded and refolded the same shirt, barely getting through the unpacking she was adamant Harry didn't need to help with. For his part, Harry had summoned a house elf to bring food and drinks to their chambers, and was currently constructing a large, meaty sandwich from the buffet they had provided for "The Saviour and his wife" whilst keeping a close eye on his newly wedded firecracker. Ginny had been aloof for most of the evening, and he had watched her taking everything in around her with a slightly bewildered face, she hadn't met vampires before and had been quite vocal at home about her views on them. He had had to coax her round to the idea of even coming to Scotland in the first place, but the promise of safety and the allure of visiting Hogwarts as an adult had finally prevailed, and after a lot of convincing she was ready for the journey. He knew she was particularly concerned after what she had seen tonight with Hermione's enhanced senses, and he felt a small pang of guilt at not warning Ginny of the...changes...Hermione had developed since her becoming involved with the Blonde Boulder. With a longing look at his beautifully constructed meat and cheese tower, he put his sandwich down after a large, hasty bite and crossed the chamber, wrapping his arms around her from behind and placing a soft kiss to the small of her neck. Maybe she just needed some time to process and air out her thoughts, and what was the job of a husband if not to offer his support when his wife was working herself into a tizz.

"Gin, honey, stop fretting!" He nuzzled against her ear slowly removed the overfolded shirt from her tightened grip.

"I'm not fretting, just now we're teaming up with vampires and…"

"Faeries?" Harry finished with a chuckle. "No worse than werewolves and hippogriffs. So that's not why you're fretting. Come on, let's get you something to eat, it's been a long day."

Guiding her to the buffet that seemed to be magically replenishing its stock or having new foods added and swapped by silent elves, he watched as she toyed with an empty plate, eventually popped a cherry tomato in her mouth, chewing absent-mindedly and looking off into the middle distance in a world of her own. A drop of ripe red tomato juice escaped her lips as her teeth crunched into the fruit, it's water dripping over the soft curves of the light pink lipstick she was wearing, the one he always liked to remove by any means necessary. Harry lazily drew a circular pattern on her lower back, making Ginny mewl softly and lean her whole back into his touch.

Ginny knew Hermione was strong and could handle herself. She had seen the power Hermione possessed, and of course who could argue with the intelligence. But she also knew Hermione had an odd relationship with her own heart, and sometimes that would cloud her judgement – for goodness sake she had tried to date RON and anyone could have guessed he was so deep in the closet a boggart wouldn't find him. Well, Ginny guessed, everyone else seemed to assume just because Lavender Brown threw herself at him every chance she had that that meant he was straight, so maybe it was a sibling intuition thing. Ginny was the youngest sibling, she had time to watch all of her brothers as she grew up, and the way Ron would sometimes look at Harry when they were together back in the day, the tint glances here and there, the jealousy if Hermione, or anyone for that matter, appeared to be too close, was almost painfully obvious. She knew he was hiding it to fit in, but she really couldn't understand why, their parents wouldn't have cared, nor would have anyone really who cared about him. If anyone did have an issue, they would have been bombarded by Weasley's with murderous intentions, with Ginny heading the charge. After Draco Malfoy moved into the Burrow, which had needed an adjustment period in and of itself, she would watch him, too. She could see he wasn't straight too, in fact she realised quickly with a bit of hindsight that he was almost as obvious as Ron. As time passed and he became less, well, Malfoy, and more Draco, she could see how well he would be matched to her brother, and after some time (and a lot of subtle hints to her parents) she began the process of setting them up with one another. She and her mother would leave them together as often as possible (even during the - difficult - adjustment period when Ron first came home from his wanderings). She would drip feed them both the obligatory 'well Draco said this' or 'well Ron also likes those'. After a period of their dunderheaded nonsense, she finally had had enough and, at the dinner table amid their routine obligatory petty squabbling, she had stood and shouted "WILL YOU TWO JUST GO UPSTAIRS AND SHAG THIS OUT ALREADY, WE ARE ALL BORED!". Now, they are happily married. So it was Hermione's turn next for happiness.

Harry could sense that Ginny had wandered into her own musings, and perhaps they were not on the same track as his own. She had such a big heart, it was one of the many things he loved about her. Hermione was like a sister to Ginny, and had been one of her best friends since they had fought Voldemort, so he understood her concern, especially after he had told her about Hermione and her Viking, even if he didn't necessarily tell her everything. However, Harry knew his adopted sister better than he even knew himself, and he knew she would come to them if she were in trouble, whatever that may be. He could not deny the attraction being mutual, that vampire looked like he wanted to eat Hermione up, and not in the assumed way. The man looked like he wanted to consume and be consumed by her, like she gave him the energy to move, to exist. Harry had a similar look on his wedding day as he watched the veil be lifted and saw his beautiful bride's face for the first time. That man loved his sister, Harry only hoped that he deserved her.

"Ginny, my love, Hermione will be fine. I don't know why I feel this way, but I just know deep down whatever is happening with her, especially with that Eric guy, she knows what she is doing, and for some strange reason I can't explain, I know she is safe. Safe with him. He will protect her, even when she forgets to protect herself. Now, you need to eat properly and keep your strength up…"

His hand slid down the centre of Ginny's chest, sweeping past her breasts with the lightest of touches that she could still feel even under her thick Hogwarts ready jumper and woollens beneath, down to her flat stomach where it rested, picking up the circular movements from her back. She placed her hand over his, turning her head slightly and smiling to be met with a chaste kiss.

"Oh I know, I know, but something is coming, Harry, I can feel it. It's the same ominous feeling I had before when we were here and you guys were on the run, the feeling of something big, something…bad. I just wish I truly knew what it was…"

"Don't we all love, don't we all! But please, no more fretting for tonight. If you aren't going to eat…"

Harry then spun her around and picked her up in a bridal fashion, kissing her soundly before adding.

"Then you shall have your mind taken off your worries by being eaten."

He gave her his best attempt at a cheeky, lascivious grin that only ended up having her in fits of excited giggles.

"You have been hanging out with Sirius again, haven't you? He is the king of cheesy pick up…"

Harry kissed her again and carried her over to the bedroom area of the quarters they had been allocated and threw her playfully onto the huge four poster, adorned in subtle yet distinct Gryffindor colours – probably decorated in advance by McGonagall to help them settle. Well…settle they would…

_-oOo-_

"All I'm saying is come up for one drink then you can slink back down here to do all your sulking- "

"I DO NOT sulk, Mutt, I loom and brood. LOOM AND BROOD. Never sulk. Now you've taken up enough of my time with your asinine whinging, if you are quite finished, I am sure you do not need my help to locate the door…"

Sirius let out a very canine huff, pushing the hair from his eyes as he watched his former enemy categorising his books alphabetically.

"Oh yeah, because you're clearly SO preoccupied right now practising for your next career as a librarian, eh Sev?"

Sirius knew that if he pestered for long enough Severus would do one of three things.

1. He would hex/kill/maim Sirius wandlessly so he couldn't be traced back to the crime.

2. He'd march off in a big huff and not talk to Sirius or Remus for a few days.

3. He would eventually, and this was the most probable outcome in Sirius's mind, cave and come along to see where the night led them.

"Black, I don't know if you are aware and to be honest, I doubt highly from your experience of the place, but this is a school, and in a week there will be children here…"

"Exactly! We must be on our best behaviour for the impressionable kiddies – at least that's what Remus told me I have to do, and as you know I cannot argue with my Pack Master…"

"And yet you do, constantly. There is a name for someone like you, Sirius…"

Sirius let out a laugh that echoed around the dingy dungeon, warming it with its jovial and teasing lilt.

"Yes, I'm quite aware I am a Brat, Severus, but I had no idea you would identify such a thing…"

Severus allowed his hair to fall over his face, his cheeks glowing red with the insinuation. He breathed slowly through his nose, not wanting his years of expert training to go to waste when he could hide his emotions from his friend. He turned and, giving his coldest sneer, he looked Sirius up and down once, piercing him with the gaze he reserved for those he loathed most.

"Sev, if that look worked on me, I would never have bullied you in school, however it never has, so put it away for the kids next week." Sirius waved a hand flippantly as he parked himself on the edge of Severus's desk, crossing his legs and flicking through the papers piled there, nosily looking for nothing in particular, fiddling in a way he knew would only goad Severus further. As expected, Severus swept over, reorganising the mini mess Sirius was making, and pushing him unceremoniously onto the floor. With a yelp, Sirius sprang up and wrapped an arm around Severus's shoulders now he was in such close proximity, slyly pocketing the man's wand while he had the chance, just in case, and started to steer him towards the door, all the while waxing lyrical about the fun they would have, how Severus never let his hair down – so to speak – and how the evening of entertainment would "do him good".

Before Severus had time to truly protest – even though even he wasn't sure why he was fighting so much when it wasn't an unusual occurrence for he, Sirius and Remus to have a nightcap every now and then, in fact it had been how the friendship had begun in the first place – he was standing in front of a door to a set of chambers that were neither Sirius nor Remus's. Sirius knocked a quick "shave and a haircut" and waited for a response.

"Have you two finally decided to co-habit? It's not a crime you know, and Harry will eventually get used to it all."

"Sev, I don't think it would be wise for me and Remus to live together if I'm honest, I get on his nerves as it is and around the full moon that can be…dicey…especially when I still find keeping my trap shut to be a bit of a problem…"

"You don't say," Severus sneered, but with barely any of his usual sarcastic malice.

"Not that he doesn't know how to keep my trap shut for me…especially if I am very very good…or sometimes even when I'm not…" Sirius winked mischievously and entered the room, not waiting any longer for an invite and almost dragging Severus in with him.

"The wanderer returns with a new bounty!" Sirius stated jubilantly as he located the most lounge-able seat and proceeded to make himself comfortable, levitating a glass of Firewhisky to his new spot and looking around the room with an air of smug triumph.

"Yes yes Pads, well done, you lured the beast from his cave. Severus, would you like a Firewhisky and a seat? Our new friend here has taken quite well to the stuff. Odd, I've never known a Muggle – no offence meant Lafayette – to take to it so easily."

As Remus wittered on and played mother, Severus finally added the new locale and the other presence in the room together. This must have been one of the guest quarters Hermione had been organising. After admiring the neutral décor that managed to also retain an element of the castle's grandeur, and also the view from the large windows leading to a small but functional balcony, Severus's gaze finally landed on the man stretched out on a chaise lounge feeling his full oats, Lafayette. Severus noted the way a silk kimono was draped elegantly over the man's broad, muscular shoulders, sweeping over the man's frame in a seductive, sensual manner, the curve of the man's well-toned hips and thighs beneath the silken material, accentuated by the sultry murmur of – was that low playing jazz music? - that seemed to permeate the air around the man and the genuine, relaxed smile he was currently sending Severus's way. Severus noted the jazz was, in fact, playing into the room, probably one of Black's muggle inspired charms that he and Hermione had been working on. Severus would have to get Black to teach him, he did miss being able to play muggle music in his own space at his leisure, especially when brewing the more volatile potions. Hogwarts being so magically charged meant he could only use magical technology, and that meant a Wizarding Wireless and the Weird Sisters (and he was not a fan of that wailing cat of a lead singer ever since the Yule Ball many moons ago where he never responded after a particularly boisterous night). Quickly recovering from his musings, Severus could not help but fall into the usual trap of closing his mind completely, like a steel trap snapping shut to what he was seeing and feeling. He simply nodded his greeting with a barely muttered good evening, taking the offered drink and perching in a comfortable high backed armchair, before the room fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence. Severus knew this would happen, it always did when there were more than just he, Remus and Sirius. He was out of his comfort zone, though he would never show as much to a perfect stranger.

'Perfect is the word, mate', Sirius projected into Severus's mind, making him jump. He hated when he did that, and still wasn't sure how considering Black was neither an occlumens nor a legilimens. It had been happening on and off for months now, particularly as Severus was not practising the arts every day like during the War. The usual interruptions from both Remus and Sirius had been comforting if Severus was forced to be honest, that, after so many years of hate and feeling that he would never belong, he suddenly found himself sharing a small bond with two people who he had once called enemy, and tried to kill on more than one occasion in the past. The same could be said in return of course, but now all of that animosity was in the past. Minerva had suggested one night during their monthly "catch ups" that perhaps due to the power of the emotions and the change of focus, the loss of Mouldy Shorts and the death of Dumblesnore (he really did appreciate how the world had come up with such names for two of the most powerful and dangerous wizards who ever lived, it made them feel less important and more ridiculous, something both needed to have learned during their long and turbulent lives), and of course his finding true friendship and acceptance – at which he had derisively snorted but Minerva had pointedly ignored – that their magics had somehow bonded together also. That, perhaps, after traversing through the veil and back again, all three men shared a bond not yet discovered. Severus had pawed through every book in his, Narcissa's, Draco's and Harry's respective libraries, the magical and even some of the non-magical sections of the British Library, and of course the library at Hogwarts. He had even managed to rope in Hermione, which had led to them developing a keen intellectual friendship that now meant he cherished her almost as a little sister (again, she would never hear him acknowledge that aloud – although she was a bright woman and probably already knew) and nothing had come of the search. Having to not know something had irked him, but with the castle suddenly trying to get his attention every five minutes, Minerva asking him to take on more duties as she started to, as she put it, 'feel her age', the arrival of these American's for reasons the "Golden Trio", or at least Hermione and Harry, had yet to fully divulge, and all other distractions he had inevitably given up trying to understand the bond and let it be. It was…nice…to have people understand him without him having to verbalise his feelings, and it was nicer still that they cared when the screams in his head were too loud for him to bear, or quietly and menacingly niggling at him, and tended to wade in – unannounced in Sirius's case, more politely in Remus's – to check everything was fine. It was a long journey from the light to living, but they were helping him get there, one day at a time.