Short Fuse

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its corresponding ideas and themes. If I did, well, never mind; that\'s a big if.

Summary: This takes place in Harry\'s 7th year. Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape... are they really what they seem? Some things in Harry\'s life aren\'t as simple as they seem, and with his powers growing, he begins to learn this in a difficult way.

Notes: Yes, I am one crazy mother... Welcome to the Insanity.

\"Sometimes I feel the fear of
uncertainty stinging clear
and I can\'t help but ask myself
how much I\'ll let the fear take the wheel and steer

It\'s driven me before, it seems to have a vague
haunting mass appeal
lately I\'m beginning to find that I
should be the one behind the wheel

Whatever tomorrow brings, I\'ll be there
with open arms and open eyes yeah
whatever tomorrow brings, I\'ll be there
I\'ll be there.\"- \"Drive\" by Incubus

Chapter 8. You and I

Snape slammed the book down on the table in front of him, making the two Gryffindors jump in surprise at the reaction from the potions master. While Snape was usually calm and collected, his anger now overwhelmed his instincts to keep a cool head and to not lose his prized control. Yet, he couldn\'t help but act out his rage at the words written on the old pages, every word and letter like knives being shoved through his gut by the Dark Lord himself. The potions master was so irate that when he left the room he failed to notice that Ron and Hermione burst into a fit of laughter.

Slamming open the door of the infirmary and stepping into the room, Snape stepped past the same two brats he had just left in the conference room only a few minutes before, heading straight to the sick bed where the young Ethereal jumped off of, readying himself to leave, before seeing Severus and breaking into a sheepish smile. Looking down, the boy muttered his greeting, and clasped his hands behind his back. He looked up to see the angry head of Slytherin glare daggers, before a wand was held to his throat, the hand attached shaking madly with anger. Io swallowed, looking up at Snape confusedly.

\"Severus...?\" Io asked, his eyes wide and slightly teary.

\"Do not call me that, you foul creature! I can\'t believe I didn\'t see right through you, one snake to another. How long did you think it would have taken me to figure out what you were doing? How long ago did you start?\"

The bushy-haired girl ran up and grabbed Snape\'s arm, Ron behind her, his own wand aimed at the professor. While Ron looked determined, Hermione merely looked frantic and frightened.

\"Professor, what are you doing?!\" she yelled, trying to pull him away from the bed. \"What has Io done to you, sir? What are you talking about?\" Snape snorted, pushing her away roughly as he grabbed his hand back.

\"You should know, you stupid little girl! You brought me the book, read the sentences, word for word, so clearly that I got the impression you thought I was too stupid to understand. I was being used, and now that I know, I will not let it go so easy. This... thing will pay!\" he gestured to Io, raising his wand again.

\"Just tell me, boy, how long did you use your pheromones on me? How long did it take you to put me under your spell?!\" The professor glared furiously, easily catching the eyes of Io slowly change as something fought for control inside him.

\"That... is all? You... fool.\" Io\'s dominative side was speaking through gasps, trying to break past its submissive side, the struggle wracking the small body with pain, and causing him to shutter uncontrollably. \"This shackle... it stops me... from using them.\"

Snape stepped back, the shock obvious on his face. His face contorted into a half-sneer, but he seemed to lack the conviction he had moments before. Hermione pulled her wand and kept it at the ready, in case she had to stop the professor from doing anything that he would later regret. Ron left the room, running away and leaving his girlfriend to deal with the problem.

\"How do I know you aren\'t lying to me, boy?\" the shaking stopped, and Snape briefly wandered if one side had lost. Then Io looked up, both sets of eyes glowing red and purple gazing at him with anger.

\"If you do not trust my sincerity, then do a test yourself. You\'ll then feel like the prat you are acting like.\" Shadows rose from the ground, grabbing hold and pulling the Ethereal boy down with them. Without a moments thought, the Slytherin jumped through after him, and the two disappeared from Hogwarts altogether, leaving Hermione staring blankly at the spot where they had been.

\"Well that\'s just perfect.\" came a voice from behind her. She wheeled around, seeing two Rons and a copy herself walk into the Infirmary.

One Ron was bound, struggling slightly against obviously magic made ropes. The copy of Hermione smirked, pulling glasses out of her pocket, and started to change, slowly becoming another person entirely. The other Ron took out his own pair and slid them on his nose, and started morphing back himself. Soon, the two were back to normal, and Dolores Umbridge stood where the fake Hermione had moments before. Hermione looked to where her fake boyfriends had stood, and gasped as she stared into the cold eyes of Percy Weasley. The duo smiled, Umbridge keeping her wand trained on the bushy-haired Gryffindor.

\"I never knew my little bro to be so inquisitive. He never should have come looking for us, or maybe, he wouldn\'t be in the way of our investigation.\" Umbridge walked forward, raising her wand higher.

\"I am placing you and your little boyfriend under arrest for impeding our progress in the search for the murderer Harry Potter and the stolen property of Minister Fudge. Petrificus Totalus!\" Hermione straightened and fell painfully to the floor. Percy and Umbridge grinned evilly to each other as they advanced on the two.
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\'Soft\' was the first thought that came to Draco\'s mind as he found himself pushed up against a wall, his hands held over his head, and the Golden Boy\'s lips pressed to his. He closed his eyes, melting into the feeling of the sweet lips that ravished his own, forgetting for a minute who this was that kissed him so passionately. The other boys hand rubbed along his back, along Draco\'s spine, and letting out a shudder, he began to kiss back. Harry pressed his body to Draco\'s, before biting the blonde\'s lip and pulling away and walking towards two recliners that had appeared in front of a fireplace. The flames rose high, and the warmth was great in the comfy chairs. Sitting down in one, Harry motioned for Draco to do the same. After a moment, in which the blonde collected himself, he moved and took the chair opposite of Harry, and sunk low into it, reveling in its comfort.

The two boys sat in the chairs, watching one another in silence for a few minutes. Draco eyed the other boy, trying to figure out what he might say, and why, after all this time, he had chosen to get along with him. He was his dominative mate, and it really shouldn\'t matter to said mate if he was happy with all of this. It was puzzling to Draco that the Gryffindor could sit there in that chair, having just kissed his archenemy, and even in the same room with him without throwing an insult. \'Maybe he feels obligated to make me happy because I am his mate? Fucking hero complex.\' Draco thought bitterly, though unsure of Harry\'s true reason. Harry grinned wider, and then Draco felt it. \'Oh that sonuva...\'

\"You sonuva-bitch!\" Draco shouted, jumping up angrily from his chair.

\"I wondered when you\'d figure it out. Took you forever!\" Harry responded, keeping his eyes glued to Draco\'s, but his smile not fading.

\"What gives you the right to go through my thoughts like that? Who even taught you Legilimency?\" he huffed with each breath.

\"I don\'t think I was too wrong to do it. I got one up on you, Malfoy, at least. Besides, when someone I like is thinking \'He looks so damn kissable\', well, I just can\'t help myself.\"

\"Very Slytherin of you Potter, but if you ever do that again, I\'ll...\" the Slytherin cut himself off short as the Gryffindor\'s words caught up with him. \"... Wait, you like me? How could you? I\'ve made your life a living hell since you got here? Are you masochistic or something, because I\'ll tell you now, I\'m not into that.\" Draco backed away slightly in horror as Harry laughed at him, thinking the boy mad.

\"It\'s alright, Malfoy, I already know you\'re not, and don\'t shit yourself, I\'m not either.\" The other boy stood, folding his hands behind his head and leaning against the brick wall of the fireplace. \"Now, as to how and why I like you, it\'s pretty simple, really. I\'ve liked you since 6th year, when I figured out I was gay, and that you were gorgeous.\" at the look of disbelief on Draco\'s face, he waved his hand in a dismissive manner. \"Oh, of course that\'s not all of it, but I thought I might try playing up to your vanity first. I like that about you; that you always look so good.\" Harry winked and then chuckled, to Draco acting like he thought it was a game. \"Listen, you\'re smart, you don\'t take crap from anyone, you don\'t let yourself be manipulated, your my mate, and you\'re not as evil as I thought you were. I bet if I placed a kitten in your hands right now, you\'d start tickling and petting it and talking to it in a goofy voice. Seriously though, I like you for everything you are, Draco, and for everything you\'re not.\"

Walking back to his chair, the Slytherin lowered himself into it. He closed his eyes and lowered his face into his hands, sighing. When he lifted his hands again, his eyes looked sad, and his expression was confused. Harry tilted his head, before dropping his arms to his side and walking over to the Slytherin, squatting down in front of him. The other boy just watched him until he was close, and then he closed his eyes again and drooped his head.

\"Why? Why do you care so much? You could just have me and not care how I felt, so why do you care about my feelings?\"

\"Because...\" Harry stopped mid-sentence, not able to complete his thought. Standing and turning his back to the blonde, Harry suddenly could not look at him. \"I just do, okay? We are much more alike than you think, remember that.\" Harry turned back around, smiling again, and holding out his hand for Draco to take. \"Look, for now, I want a mate about as much as I want a slave. I want us to get along first before we go farther. For starters, could we at least use each other\'s first names? It gets annoying when I have to call you Malfoy and I am reminded of Malfoy Senior.\"

\"What do you mean about the slave? You mean you haven\'t used that little boy?\"

Looking sick, Harry answered. \"No, I\'ve never touched Io. He\'s older then you, by the way. He was Fudge\'s slave, and when I killed the minister, he pledged to serve me. I only want to set him free, but I don\'t want to have him fuck anybody to do it. I hope you don\'t have a problem with having a guardian for awhile until I can figure out how to free him?\"

\"No, I think that will be okay, Harry.\" The other boy smiled and Draco\'s smirk widened.

\"In that case, c\'mon Draco, we need to go pay a visit to the little Ethereal. You owe him an apology.\" Draco folded his arms, but grinned sheepishly.

\"Yeah, whatever.\"
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The two boys walked into the infirmary, looking around to see Io and Sirius\'s beds empty. Harry caught movement out of the corner of his eye just in time to push Draco out of the way and to see a growling dog leap past. Harry locked eyes with it as it turned around, growling, but stopping as it gazed at the Gryffindor. Slowly, its hair retreated, and the dog shifted onto its back paws, as the shaggy man that was Harry\'s godfather appeared before them.

\"Sirius!\" Harry jumped to the man and enveloped him in a hug, which was returned cautiously.

\"Harry, I\'m glad to see you, pup. Why is that here, though?\" the older man pointed to Draco, growling a little. Harry let his godfather go, and looked at him seriously.

\"That is Draco Malfoy, my mate. His father and him sided with us for the war.\"

\"That\'s great.\" Padfoot said sarcastically, walking past his godson and glaring at the blonde, narrowing his eyes. \"If you hurt him, there won\'t be a place on this earth where you will be safe.\"

\"That goes double for us, Draco.\" Hermione and Ron walked from the corner of the room, pocketing their wands and glaring at the blonde. Draco rolled his eyes, but nodded his head and heald his tongue. Harry laid his arm on the Slytherin\'s shoulder.

\"Don\'t worry, they\'re harmless. Well, Ron and Sirius are.\" the two named huffed, but Hermione smiled.

\"Hey, Harry, you should see who we have here.\"

The golden boy followed Ron to two wriggling people bound and gagged on the floor. He gasped as Umbridge glared up at him and Percy struggled helplessly with his bonds.

\"How did they get here?\"

\"Sirius woke up just after they petrified me and Hermione. He tackled Percy, rolled, picked up the wand, and stunned Umbridge. Percy tried to get away, but was caught from behind by a full body bind from Madame Pomfrey.\" the medi-witch herself rushed into the room suddenly, looking around the room, then stamping her foot, annoyed.

\"Where is Professor Snape and Io?\" she asked, looking to everyone in the room.

\"Oh, Io left in a portal, and Snape followed. We don\'t really know where to.\" Hermione answered.

As she spoke, something wrong was happening with the room. Black seemed to wrap around the walls, and a dark laugh filled their ears. The group looked around in shock, watching as the walls started opening to reveal eyes that watched them. Sirius froze and fell, fainting.

\"They\'ll be back soon, little ones.\" a deep voice spoke, the eyes around them closing as it finished. The black slowly lifted, and soon, the room was back to normal, and Sirius woke up.

\"That was... different.\" said Draco, just as Remus Lupin stepped through the doors, and, upon seeing Sirius, ran full speed to the fallen Padfoot and wrapped him in his arms.
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THANKS TO REVIEWERS!

Anon~ Of course there is room for them to switch. I like both as top and bottom, so no worries! ^_^

sbkar~ The first question, good one. You will find out soon! Things are still going, and my plot bunnies are multiplying faster than I can write, so we shall see what becomes of the others, but Ron and Hermi didn\'t look at Harry because they were trying to get Snape to kick him out, because they know that Snape likes the kid, and could possibly be the one to get him set free. The answer to all question in time, and, since it might help, this is going to be the start of my series. Right, this is only the beginning!

Narcissa Black~ Damn, now that you\'re here, I can\'t kill her off... hmm, possibility. You just made the story all the more interesting ^_^ thank you! Anybody against Luc being bi?

Aisling~ Yes, one crazy mother... new update!

Memdrake~ Without ruining the story... never mind, that would ruin the story. Yes, Dumbledore is gone... for now. Oh, and I don\'t mind answering that question. I\'m not going to tell you the exact place, but I live in California, and the choir played in the Oakland Colosseum.

RebaWilliams~ Oh, I just love writing in cliff-hangers. They\'re so fun, and pissing people off is so appealing ~_^

Lady X~ Yeah, fixed the mistake, and I\'m not going to say yes or no to that question, but if you people keep asking me that or saying that, I\'ll change my plans, just to be mean.
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I\'m sorry but still no two chapters. Anyone pissed yet? I\'m really sorry, but I\'ve just been busy. I\'ll keep on working and I\'ll keep on updating. Need sleep -_-; Later!