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.

\"And everything I can\'t remember
As fucked up as it all may seem
The consequences that I\'ve rendered
I\'ve stretched myself beyond my means

And it\'s been awhile
Since I can say that I wasn\'t addicted
And it\'s been awhile
Since I can say I love myself as well
And it\'s been awhile
Since I\'ve gone and fucked things up just like I always do
And it\'s been awhile
But all that shit seems to disappear when I\'m with you\"- \"It\'s Been Awhile\" by Staind

Chapter 10. Ill Effects

Two faces set in stone watched Harry and his friends, wands at the ready, and spells on their lips. Growls echoed throughout the hall, catching the two off guard. Umbridge saw red as Padfoot jumped and sank claws into her throat, bringing her down to the floor. Percy yelled as his wand was knocked easily from his hand, a punch delivered to his stomach, and a hook caught the side of his head, sending him backwards into a wall. Snape watched as Percy slid down to a seating position, still conscious, but too dazed to get up. The potions master turned around and rushed down to pick Io from where he had been set, then called for Poppy once more. The medi-witch rushed into the room, stopping quickly to see a near dead Umbridge lying on the ground, her breathing erratic, blood seeping from her jugular, and Io, who looked battered and bruised, and blood soaking through his pants. Snape suddenly became furious with her for trying to decide who to help first.

\"Poppy, if you don\'t heal this boy, and instead healed that old filth that just tried to kill us, I will come after you myself. This boy is more important than that bitch!\" he yelled, using every part of his commanding tone. Poppy made up her mind after giving Snape an impudent glare, taking only a moment to scold the man before motioning for the boy to be brought in one of the lower guest rooms.

\"Set him on the bed, Severus. If you can bring me one of your strongest healing potions from your special store, than I can heal his inner injuries a bit better. I\'ll heal the outer ones myself.\"

Hurrying away, Snape disappeared from the room, leaving the witch to her work. Poppy ran her wand over Io in a quick scan, a soft gasp coming from her mouth when she got to his lower regions. She sighed sadly, and held the boy\'s hand as she cast the spell, feeling the body under her tense up and start working fiercely to rid him of his bruises and cuts. She furrowed her brow in confusion as Snape entered, putting two Potions on a dresser and rushing over to Io\'s side, looking up at the medi-witch for answers.

\"What is wrong, Poppy?\"

\"His body, it isn\'t healing. My magic is having no effect at all. I\'m not too sure I understand why.\"

\"Why isn\'t it working?\"

\"I don\'t know, but my magic seems to be having an opposite effect. The cuts are growing and tearing him up further. I don\'t know what to make of it, but I\'m pretty sure no more magic should be used on him. That includes potions.\"

Snape moved closer to the boys side, taking his hand away from Poppy\'s, and holding onto it himself. His hand reached out, his fingers dancing over the boys forehead and brushing a few stray strands of hair from his eyes. The Slytherin ran his hand down the boy\'s delicate cheek, his eyes watering again at the other boy\'s pain, wishing he could have stopped the Ethereal who did this to him. Poppy gave her excuse to leave- to retrieve some bandages and alcohol to clean the cuts- and left the two in the room in that position. Severus bent down and kissed Io\'s hand, letting his eyes flicker up to the boy\'s face. He would be there all night if he had to.

\"Wake soon, Io.\" he didn\'t notice the choker disintegrate and disappear completely as a lance of magic tore through the house.
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A groan came from Percy as he woke, his eyes slowly opening but immediately settling on the golden boy and the boy he had an arm draped over. The real Ron and Hermione scowled at him while they sat together on a couch next to Harry and Malfoy. The next thing Percy saw was a slap as an irate Mrs. Weasley laid into him with her open palm, yelling at him after the first slap in words he couldn\'t seem to understand. His thoughts themselves made absolutely no sense, and nothing fazed him because he couldn\'t comprehend any of it. Of course, Molly and the rest didn\'t understand this, and believed him to be ignoring them by not answering or making a move other than breathing.

\"What do you have to say for yourself, Percy Weasley? Trying to kill Harry, Ron, Hermione?! No excuse could possibly cover this, short of Imperius! I disown you Percy! Hear me? You are not the son I raised, so you are not my son!\" Molly turned around, enveloping Ron and Harry in a hug, crying on their shoulders to forgive her for Percy. \"I\'m sorry he did those things, I really am! Harry, Ron, you\'re both alright? He didn\'t do anything to hurt you, did he?\"

\"No mother!\" came their chorused reply, before a dual \'humph\' came from Hermione and Draco. Ron and harry burst into a fit of laughter, and were still laughing when Sirius and Remus came into the room, their faces grim.

\"Sirius? Remus? What\'s going on? Where\'s Io and Snape?\"

\"Well, Umbridge is dead, and Io is close to it.\" said Sirius, shaking his head and sitting down on the floor cross legged. Remus joined him, tired but slightly happy at seeing Sirius again.

\"I talked to Snape. Io and him were captured by a group of Ethereals, and Io was tortured. From what Sev can figure, two of them were his brother and sister.\" Harry sputtered, remembering what he had seen when Snape had stepped through the door, and the blood that dripped down Io\'s legs.

\"How bad, Remus?\" Harry whispered, suddenly fearing the answer.

\"He... was raped, Harry. The third one was the one that wanted him, and said that he missed Io from before.\" the room was quiet now except for the ragged breath from every person there.

Finally, Harry stood, his fist clenched tightly, shaking while a sad smile played on his lips. Percy finally understood what power he had faced and not known it. The golden boy radiated from him, crackling around the room like lightning, leaving streaks of black on the walls. The painting of Ms. Black started up, screaming profanities at the top of her lungs, until an arch of magic stabbed at the photo, lighting it up in flames, the oddly colored white flames eating up the picture until her voice could no longer be heard, and died out completely. Harry still smiled sadly when he raised his head and looked over at a white glowing Draco, catching the Slytherin\'s pale blue eyes.

\"I do not approve.\" came his voice, silent, but somehow loud enough of every one present to hear.

His magic lanced out through the house, striking several doors and rooms before disappearing entirely. Harry walked away from the room, going into one that was currently empty, and flopped down on the bed, tears stinging his eyes and his body aching from his release of magic. He let sleep over take him finally, only seeing the younger Malfoy briefly before falling into unconsciousness. Draco looked in to see Harry close his eyes, and listened as only the Gryffindors soft breathing made any noise in the room. Draco saw the second bed, and shrugged his shoulders before walking in and closing the door. He slipped under the covers of the second bed, careful in his movements as to not wake the other sleeping boy up. His thoughts before falling asleep were on his dead mother, Harry, and revenge.
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It was silent in the halls of Hogwarts, noise non-existent in its empty halls. Dark figures glided through the castle, guarding the Dark Lord\'s new castle from intruders. Voldemort sat inside the headmaster\'s old office, on Dumbledore\'s chair, smiling contently, but lost deeply in thought. The cuts on his forehead were healed, now nothing more than scars, but the message still read as clearly as it had before. \'The boy will suffer for this.\' he thought to himself, his thoughts keeping too distracted to notice the darkness that seeped into the room from the cracks in the walls and floor. The room was pitch black before he snapped out of his pondering and saw two appear in front of the desk, growling ferociously at him. The figured stood at five feet, hunched over slightly with three glowing red eyes, clawed legs, and pointed arms that supported no hands. Their three rows of teeth dripped saliva as they bared them in animosity to the Dark Lord.

\"My agents have returned. Did you get what you desired? Where is your sister?\" The Ethereals changed to their human forms, the two boys appearing before Voldemort on their knees in front of him, both in obvious pain.

\"Your follower messed things up, milord. My sister is dead; took a reductor curse to the head. The potions master took off with my brother, and left Ethan crying out in pain. I thought you said he wouldn\'t be strong enough to cast a curse on us?\" Voldemort raised his wand and fired a Cruciatus curse on Tate, sending him onto his back, and eliciting a growl from Ethan.

\"Your tone is not to my liking, Ethereal. As I said, Severus shouldn\'t have been able to hurt any of you with spells. He does not have the magical strength needed to attack your kind. Only Potter and Lucius\'s son have the necessary strength, next to myself, to hurt you at all. So, what has changed in my dear Severus?\"

Breathing hard, Tate was unable to answer, and was pushed aside by Ethan. \"I think he has formed an unconscious bind to my Io, whose powers have increased dramatically since I last saw him. If Tate and Sky hadn\'t been there, I wouldn\'t have been able to control my little one at all. His dominative side must have latched onto your potions master and used him as an outlet for Io\'s magic. They will only grow closer from here on out... and the slimy man will have what is mine.\" Ethan\'s eyes were dark, fury laced within them and his words.

\"I see. I will look into this, but for now, heal your wounds, and guard my castle. I will call a meeting of my assassins to deal with Severus. But heed me now, next time you fail me, you will wish you had followed in your sister\'s footsteps.\" Voldemort dismissed them with a wave of his hand, and the darkness receded from the room.
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THANKS TO REVIWERS!

moopie~ Good thought, and I thought about it, and decided that he couldn\'t. If you really need a reason, I could go back and put one in the story, but otherwise, use your imagination.

Loki~ I\'ll keep on writing as you keep on reviewin\'! Yeah, a few more couple will pop up, and then I really will get into the slash and emo portions of the fic.

who me?~ Sorry I didn\'t live up to your expectations. When I start a new fic I\'ll make it Dom- Dray and Sub- Harry...

Aisling~ Yeah, now Lucius is available to toy with. More torture to come!

Memdrake~ yeah, a little sick, but I forgive you ~_^ If you think that is sick, wait until you see who Lucius will be with and the toys they will use!

Sheree~ A little upset, but I really didn\'t want to act like such an ass. I\'m sorry too! Of course, things are just beginning here behind the veil... >.>