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.

\"Throw your dollar bills and leave your thrills all here with me
And speak but don\'t pretend I won\'t defend you anymore you see
It aches in every bone, I\'ll die alone, but not for you
My eyes don\'t need to see that ugly thing, I know it\'s me you fear
If you want me hold me back

Frail, the skin is dry and pale, the pain will never fail
And so we go back to the remedy
Clip the wings that get you high, just leave them where they lie
And tell yourself, \"You\'ll be the death of me\"

I don\'t need a friend, I need to mend so far away
So come sit by the fire and play a while, but you can\'t stay too long
It aches in every bone, I\'ll die alone, but not for pleasure
I see my heart explode, it\'s been eroded by the weather here
If you want me hold me back \"- \"Remedy\" by Seether

Chapter 14. Chaos Inside

Bruised and battered, the four walked in on the rubble that had once been Borgin & Burkes. Harry half carried Malfoy, who limped painfully along with them, his magic nearly drained from his mental shielding and that last Reductor curse. His breathe caught painfully in his chest, and nausea seemed to be the word of the day. Severus and Io were farther in front, wands drawn and pointed ahead, waiting to see if anyone had survived the blast. A shifting of rubble caused the smaller boy to jump, and the other froze, aiming at the offending pile. It rose slowly and then was launched out of the way, but instead of a Death Eater standing there, Colin and a very badly wounded Lucius, a shield wrapped around them both, emerged. Colin removed his shield, and Harry all but slapped his forehead.

\"Colin, you aren\'t supposed to do magic outside of school!\" exclaimed Harry, looking sternly at the boy, who rolled his eyes and nodded to Snape.

\"I\'m seventeen, Harry. I can do magic. I started Hogwarts as one of oldest students in my year, believe it or not.\" Colin whipped around with the others at the sound of more shifting of the building as someone dark rose from the ground.

\"Vile creature...\" muttered Draco, switching his stance.

\"What?\" Harry asked, still looking forward, but still concentrated on Draco all the same.

\"Nothing.\"

The Golden Boy decided not to press the matter, and instead kept his focus on the woman looking to him. Her sneer was all to familiar, her eyes radiating worlds of experience and malicious intent. This woman had haunted him since he had last faced her at the Ministry two years ago. Her hair was still as long, just as black. One thing Harry noticed about the woman was the deeper dark circles under her eyes, her fatigue showing. Harry knew he might had a chance with the maniacal witch this time.

\"Well, Bellatrix, time sure hasn\'t been polite. Looks almost as if you\'d faint if I just glared at you. Long nights with our Lord?\" Severus let a smirk play on his lips, his eyes twinkling as if he were Dumbledore himself.

Bella, however, didn\'t find the potions master\'s commentary all that pleasant as she yelled out, snapping her wand down and a Crucio flying over their head. The golden boy pulled Draco down behind cover, a spell flying just passed their heads as Snape and Lestrange started casting them at one another. Io disappeared with a simple thought, melting back into the wall and appearing next to to the covered teens. Lucius arrived a second later, holding his arm, which sported a long gash. The mousy haired Gryffindor was no where in sight, and neither Harry or any of the others could find him. It was when Severus was thrown passed them, slamming into a wall, that Colin showed up again, stepping around a corner behind Bellatrix, his wand aimed at her back.

\"Don\'t move, you little bitch, or you\'ll find out why I am the Order\'s number one assassin.\" All eyes turned to Colin. Even Snape, who had still been getting up from Lestrange\'s attack, stopped and started shivering. Bellatrix herself had stopped smiling, and thought she looked unafraid, her voice betrayed her.

\"No way could someone like you be him-\" the force of a small taxi slammed into the back of her head, throwing her forward and onto the ground. Whatever spell the boy had used had been done without a word.

\"Yes, I know what you will say, you mindless bitch. I\'ll just tell you now, I am indeed him, and you know what Bellatrix? I have you to think for it. Avery at Azkaban, Walden in this alley, Rookwood at Puddlemere United\'s last game, Rabastan and Rodolphus in...\" he cut himself off, smirking at the visibly shaking Bellatrix. He laughed mockingly at her.

\"You filthy mud-!\" Bellatrix tried to twist around and aim her wand at him, but he sent his spell into her back, fire igniting her robes and hair.

Her screams could be heard as she slowly burned, a very wide grinning Colin watching merrily. Finally, when her echoing yells of anguish could no longer be heard, the smell of burning flesh filling the room, and the flames died out completely, Colin turned to the others, grinning innocently. Harry, Draco, and Io were completely confused, watching the boy oddly. The Golden Boy had never seen Colin act like this; it was sadistic... almost. Harry couldn\'t help but cheer a little inwardly, knowing that was one less nasty enemy to face, but still, the way he did it just didn\'t sit right with him.

It was then Harry understood the anguish Colin felt, as the boy became sullen, tears sliding down his cheeks, and sobs wracking his body. He now looked like the boy Harry had known from school. The group watched the boy break down in front of them, and that\'s when Severus and Lucius broke out of their stupor, Severus hugging Io close to him, while Lucius walked painfully over to the hurting Colin. A small warning went off in the Gryffindor\'s head as he gazed at the aristocrat lightly hugging the smaller boy, and Harry called to them.

\"Everyone, back to number 12! Aurors will be here any minute!\" Bags flew to Io as he summoned all of them, shrinking them quickly before grabbing hold of Snape and disappeared. Harry and Draco grabbed Lucius, and, with a great magical boost from Harry, the entire group apparated away, only second before Aurors arrived on the scene.
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Soft crying came from Colin\'s room, the boy in question lying on his bed, facing the wall and on his side, legs drawn up close to his chest. He didn\'t even hear Lucius enter his room, or walk over and stand over him. The man looked coldly down at Colin, scowling and keeping a hand over his wrapped up arm. The wounds over his body were no more than scratches and scars now, Poppy doing well in healing them. The man\'s thoughts were jumbled as he watched the boy who shook with grief. He had reason to be confused, and his reason was this boy. He just wanted to make sure of something.

\"Is it true boy? Are you who you say you are, or were you just getting your kicks by making one of the most fiercest Death Eaters working for Voldemort shake?\"

The mousy haired Gryffindor stopped shaking, totally quiet. \'Quiet as a mouse\' though Lucius with an inward smirk. The boy didn\'t turn as he answered Lucius.

\"I am him; I wasn\'t lying.\" Lucius frowned deeper, almost glaring at the boy.

\"How could you be him? I\'ve heard many stories of Sire, and all say-\" Colin turned around quickly, his face angry.

\"That I am what? Taller? Handsomer? Stronger? Older? Only fools listen to stupid rumors, Mr. Malfoy. I am a killer, and I am good at what I do. Many of your old associates shared your surprise, too. None of the ones that have actually seen me are alive to tell anyone, so, how do you think such rumors started?\"

Lucius smacked himself for not knowing this. How could something so obvious escape his attention? \"So, how many?\"

\"15 Death Eaters, three Dementors, and 5 Giants. I also killed Lestrange\'s husband and his brother. I don\'t know if they were Death Eaters; I did it out of revenge.\" Lucius couldn\'t help but love the pained look on Colin, but still, he sat down next to the boy, gathering him up in his arms.

\"What did that woman do to you that turned you like this? From what Potter and my son told me, you were once a very cheerful and exuberant little mischief-maker.\" Colin smiled at the remark, but then sunk lower into his own darkness, not knowing if he was ready to let someone know.

\"I... I began learning dark spells in my fourth year. When Harry wasn\'t training the DA in a special room, I was studying hexes and curses to become an Auror. I already had a thirst of knowledge that not even my own brother knew of, but it was there. It was the summer before 5th year, and my parents were away, out with friends for a movie. They had left me in charge of my brother, Dennis. We just were watching television when she and three others apparated into our house. The three other men hauled Dennis away, and used him as a punching bag for several hours. They entertained themselves with my brother while Lestrange played with me.\"

Colin whimpered as the memory surfaced, flashes of pain long gone causing him to un-intentionally rub old wounds that, like the pain, had long since faded. Lucius, who listened carefully and had not interjected yet, thought about the situation as Colin explained it. To him, this sounded like an average raid on a muggle family, so, what had happened that made Colin like this? Bella usually left her victims insane...

\"At first, she made me watch as the men beat my brother brutally, breaking his fingers slowly, cutting him, burning him, boiling his blood, and, just as I felt as if I couldn\'t stand any more, they severed his arm. The scream was so loud, and I fought so hard that I finally made it out of her grasp. I tried to help him, but the men knocked me back to her, and she pinned me to the ground. Those men did un-speakable things to my brother, until he was driven insane. They made me watch, then, just as they finished with Dennis, and wondered if I could be worth some laughs, Bellatrix stopped them. She turned on me, setting Cruciatus on me, before holding me against a wall and raping me. She... used Imperius on me to do the same to Dennis.\" Lucius cradled the boy with his good arm, pressing him close. He knew this boy\'s pain, and, strangely enough, wanted to ease it. He didn\'t like seeing the Lights best assassin like this.

\"When I finished, she was casting the killing curse when Aurors appeared and fought her off. Dumbledore himself helped carry me to St. Mungo\'s, and after I had recovered, asked me if I wanted to train to help Harry. He said Harry would need all the help he could get, and if I trained, I could become his bodyguard. I completely changed the day I saw my brother die from his injuries, knowing that I had caused some of them. I went to see the headmaster the next day, and agreed to the training.\" Colin finished, his eyes left teary, and the crying leaving him drained.

The older man just smiled, starting to get up when Colin\'s hand shot out. \"Stay, please?\" Lucius couldn\'t say no, even if he wanted to.The man laid down in the bed, letting Colin rest against his chest, and the boy fell to sleep almost immediately. Lucius smiled, and wasn\'t far behind.
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The Dark Lord sat on his thrown, glaring down in rage against the only one of his followers yet to return. The rat on the floor changed back to the bumbling and rather stupid Wormtail. Voldemort was not pleased with the man, and told him so, sending a Crucio at him for good measure.

\"But master, I know where they went!\" The Dark Lord lifted the curse.

\"Then where are they, Peter?\" he asked, arching an eyebrow in challenge.

\"We need a charm breaker to get into it, master, but I know the location. I followed them there and remember exactly where they disappeared at.\"

\"Then find one, moron. Wormtail, before you leave...\" the man turned around, staring straight into the beady red eyes of the Dark lord. \"Good Job.\" he cackled as he set another Crucio unto the ratman, before dismissing him with a wave of his hand.
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THANKS TO REVIEWERS!

Narcissa Black~ Uh... yes, yes, yes, and no. I don\'t why you being obsessed with my good story is a bad thing, but I felt saying yes all the time would be too repetitious. Idk.

fraser~ Fine, if you insist and if I must...

sharon~ I was never going for shock value, actually. I was just using them for the sake of using them ~_^ It\'s funny how you belive I was being defensive, because in truth, I wasn\'t. I was thinking of being now, but I figure it isn\'t worth it. I didn\'t take your words personally, and, if you had read a little better, would have seen that. But, I digress, you seem to have missed the entire point of my response, and hey, who knows, maybe I missed yours. In fact, besides the profanity I used to notify you that (edit, whoops) PUNCTUATION(is what I meant) is appreciated in reviews or opinions of complexity, I took a rather objective tone to your remarks, and responded in only fact. I believe... no, I KNOW, that this argument is pointless. Your opinion is that my a/n is a waste of time, not necessary to the story, and you are implying that I should stop writing them unless they are to explain something confusing with my story. My opinion is that this is my story, and I will write what I wish, whether you agree with it or not. I will continue to write things with a/n, and whether you read them or not is not of my concern. They will still be there, and if anyone does have a question I haven\'t already answered, they shall add it to their review, and I will answer it next chapter. Thank you again for your comment, and forgive any rudeness on my part. Six energy drinks in one sitting would make anyone this wired.

Aisling~ hey, where did you get the idea that Bellatrix is dead? I mean she is now, but still...

tessa3~ Big bro? No... to clarify, Tate is Io\'s brother, as Sky was his sister. Ethan was his old boyfriend... god, I still have so much to connect in this story it\'s not even funny...

RissSta~ I\'m hurrying!

EmeraldEnchantress~ Yeah, I think it makes more sense for them to gradually come together, and not fall in love right away. They have so much animosity between them, it just doesn\'t strike me as realistic of Draco or Harry to just shag on a whim of a writer. Yeah, even when I first read the Sorcerer\'s Stone, my first thought when JKR introduced Snape was \'He needs to get laid.\' If I can get someone who can do draw, I\'m thinking of getting this and a few others done up. OCs are always fun to do when I have some free time. To answer some other questions, I am not entirely sure how many chapters this story will have, but I do know that once I am done with this story, I have three others that are like sequels to it. Also, Harry will top most of the time, but there will be those times when he and Draco\'s switch. Oh, and that\'s just perfect. You\'re zoinked out and I am wired. Winning combination, no?