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.

\"Highly frustrated wanna feel elated
come monday morn you feel checkmated
you can be uncool and become the rule
exceptions were made to drown

I\'m not used to it, you\'d think I\'d be by now
the ins the outs the ups and the downs

I wanna make a mess, I wanna blow off stress
I wanna stoke the fire, just creatures for awhile
I wanna make a mess, I wanna blow off stress
I wanna stoke the fire, just creatures, just creatures\" \"Creatures(For Awhile)\" by 311

Chapter 17. Planning Ahead

The room was deathly quiet, eyes from every person watching the three leaders. Harry\'s DA was mostly present, only a few of their members that were unable to get there. Besides Harry, Draco, Io, Colin, Ron, Hermione, the others talked among themselves quietly. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan sat near the edge of the room, whispering to the twins, Oliver Wood, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell. Harry smiled when he realized the old Gryffindor Quidditch team was together again. Parvati and Padma Patil were with Lavender Brown, Susan Bones, Cho Chang, and Ginny, arguing amongst themselves and looking up at the leaders every few seconds. Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, and Justin Finch-Fletchley sat off by themselves, trying hard not to participate in any of the discussions.

Order members seemed more of minority amongst the students, and were spread between them evenly. Besides Black and Moody, Mundungus Fletcher, Lupin, Hagrid, McGonagall, Snape, Tonks, Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, and Lucius stood, watching the ministry Aurors who spread numerously around them room. All stopped as Sirius called for peace, and many Auror faces turned to sneers once they realized who this was. Outcries began of his Death Eater status and criminal records. It was Harry who stood high, raising his hand and sending a loud bang into the air.

\"Silence, all of you!\" the boy yelled, and the room went quiet. \"Sirius Black is no more of a criminal than I am, and you will get that through your heads before we continue. He was set up by Pettigrew, who is currently serving the Dark Lord, and if you want proof, you\'ll be joining us in the retake of Hogwarts. Is that understood?\" another murmur went through the room, before another started to cry out.

\"I see Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape here! They are known Death Eaters!\" it was Moody, surprisingly, who called for silence with a blast of his wand.

\"Lucius Malfoy is currently serving our Order, and his allegiance has been verified through Veritaserum. Professor Snape has been a spy for the Order as long as he has been teaching. Any more questions, you insolent whelps?\" Moody\'s eye was going wild in it\'s socket, but his normal eye glared challengingly at anyone else to ask another question. No one did, and Moody grunted, giving the floor back to Sirius.

\"Okay, as I was saying before, we have a plan to take back the castle. We have been well informed about what is guarding the castle. It seems, though You-Know-Who\'s following of Death Eaters has declined vastly since his return, he still has over two-dozen of them guarding the inner castle. They will be the easy part, however, as the outer walls are well guarded by many a dark creature. As we all know, the Dementors left Azkaban earlier this year, a prison break nearly occurring before we were able to replace the guards. There are over 100 of them circling above the castle, and a dozen haunting Hogsmeade.\"

\"100?! How can we take so many of them?\" Inquired McGonagall, knowing that all of them together could not take that many enemies at once.

\"We will have more help than you see here. Firenze, our new Divination teacher, has been our envoy to the Centaurs, and, after much deliberation, had gotten them to agree to help us. Hagrid and Madame Maxime have gotten a small army of Giants to aid us, but it isn\'t a lot. Maybe 10 at the most. Last but not least, our Defense against the Dark Arts Professor, Remus Lupin, has contacted a sect of werewolves that hunt around the area. With the help of Severus and his wolfsbane potion, and that our attack will be happening on the night of a full moon, we have forged an alliance with these werewolves, and they shall also aid us in the battle.\" Lupin stood from his seat, taking the stage from Sirius.

\"I\'m afraid it gets much worse. Besides the Dementors, You-Know-Who has forged his own alliance with a group of Veela and renegade Vampire. The Veela fly around through the forest, and the vampire, around merely a dozen, are inside the castle.\"

\"Well, now that we know their fortifications, what is our plan?\" asked Shacklebolt, causing students and Aurors to nod their heads. Sirius took the floor again.

\"We will be split into three groups for this assault. Aurors will be paired up with the Centaurs, Giants, and the professors that are getting in place as we speak. You will be traveling through the edge of the forbidden forest, and will meet up with out allies on the way. When you get to the edge of Hogwarts, you will start a siege on the wards. This will be part of our two-pronged attack, as the second team will start a similar siege from the lake. The second team will consist of the Order and Lupin\'s sect of werewolves. We will be traveling on the edge of the lake, and attempting to make our way to the Whomping Willow. When the wards are down, we will be able to meet up at that position with the Aurors for the next phase of the plan. We attack the castle directly from there.\"

\"What about the third team? Who is it and what will they be doing?\" Harry stood for this one, eliciting a gasp from some of the students.

\"That is my team. We are Dumbledore\'s Army, a class who studied defense and use of the dark arts for this during school. We consist of the students, as well as a few of the post-graduates of Hogwarts. Your attack is merely a distraction while we get into place. There is a tunnel in Hogsmeade that runs under the school and opens up on the third floor. We will use this to get past the wards, infiltrate the castle, and attack Voldemort outright.\"

\"You\'re just kids! You could be killed, and then where will we be? No, I cannot allow it!\" Harry was slightly surprised that it was Molly was the one to speak up.

\"No, we are not just kids. We are the most powerful generation since the time of the Marauders, and we were built since our entrance into Hogwarts for this. Our group is only made up of 6th and 7th years, and whose powers, at the very least, equal any adult in here. We are ready to do what we have to do to fight for this world. We will fight, and we will succeed.\" The power that echoed in his voice radiated in the room, and several things happened at once.

A glow shot from Harry down into those he stood above. Each student glowed white, blue, and even green. Each student who was hit with the energy started to float like the golden boy, and their energy seemed to radiate towards him. He absorbed their power, letting it course through him, until it intensified and changed into something else. Several adults started trying to get them all down, but nothing, not even spells, seemed to pass through to them. Harry went from a golden yellow to white, and with a harsh cry, all of the magical energy he had been collecting shot in a wave, striking the other students and giving them more magic than before. All the many colors of energy wavered and collapsed and the pure white energy was incorporated into them. As the students started slowly drifted down, a few still lingered in the air. Harry opened his glowing white eyes, seeing Neville, Colin, Draco, and Io still in the air with him. They descended much slower than the others, and when they gotten to the floor, many rushed to hold the four up.

\"Meeting adjourned. C\'mon, help me get them to Poppy.\"

Sirius, Remus, Ron, and Hermione carried them to the temporary infirmary. Harry was still able to walk, and he helped the bushy-haired Gryffindor with his boyfriend. Harry laid down with Draco and waited as she started going over him and the rest. \'that was not supposed to happen\' the Gryffindor though before passing out on the bed.
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Shadows passed overhead the Dark Lord as he watched over the lake as the sun set. The uneasy feeling in his stomach was confirmed as two of the shadows descended onto his window, passing through and taking form in the chairs before him. Ethan pressed his fingertips together in an imitation of Voldemort, and smirked, knowing that Voldemort could do nothing to stop him. It was quite funny to know the next dark ruler of the land could be mocked by a creature who he thought of as below him. The other Ethereal crossed his arms, and looked coldly at his brother.

\"Stop teasing him, Ethan.\" Ethan kept his smirk and just sat there. Voldemort did his best to ignore the creature, and instead sneered at Tate.

\"Why are the two of you here, besides to infuriate me enough to have to resort to calling your parents.\" Ethan stiffened at \'parents\', but Tate was only blank.

\"I have contacted them myself, Lord, and I have bad news to report. They say they will not lend aid to you in this war. In fact, less it is to report any more casualties of their immediate family, they never want you to contact them again.\" Ethan let go of the the breathe he was holding.

\"Impudent little...\" started Voldemort, but he soon found a hand gripping his neck and holding him a few feet off the ground. The true form of an Ethereal stood before him, it\'s long, lightly muscled arm able to hold him with ease. White eyes and jagged teeth leered at him from the creature, a snarl of sorts emitting from it\'s mouth. The monster was 9 foot tall, it\'s body and legs incredibly thin, but taught with muscle. The knees bent backwards slightly, but still allowed the being to keep it\'s legs perfectly straight, but gave it an odd look when it walked. An arm guard and a pair of cream colored shorts were the only things the Ethereal was wearing.

\"Do not threaten my kind, Dark Lord,\" came Tate from his seat, \"Or Ethan here might want to play with your cute little head.\" Ethan\'s other arm came up into sight, and Voldemort\'s eyes flickered over to it in obvious fear. The hand that was there was actually mechanical, attached to nerves that could be seen in his arm, and fingers were non-existent; only blades that seemed sharp enough to cut anything they made contact with were there.

\"Noted,\" said the Dark Lord, losing most of his courage, \"Put me down, now.\" Ethan snarled a little before throwing his captive into the chair he himself had vacated a few moments before, changing back slowly until he stood before them with his coat wrapped around himself.

\"Do not cross me again, Ethan.\" the two Ethereals rolled their eyes, before melding back into the ground and leaving the castle. Voldemort shook as he called in his guards to retrieve him one of his followers children.

\"Just get me any of them. I don\'t care what the gender, I just need one, now.\" Sitting down into his chair, the Dark Lord set his face into his hands, still visibly shaken with his encounter.
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\"Draco, I must speak with you, in private.\" states Lucius as he scowled down at his son, who was currently being held protectively by Potter.

\"Yes, sir.\" Draco turned around and kissed Harry, losing himself momentarily in his silken lips before disentangling from his lover\'s embrace and following his father to an empty room. Draco shut the door behind him.

\"Son, I am severely disappointed in you. I though I taught you to never show any weakness.\" Draco look questioningly to his father.

\"What weakness do you speak of, father?\" Lucius sneered in distaste.

\"You were supposed to beat Potter in the struggle of wills. A Malfoy never loses, and a Malfoy is most certainly never a sub, much less to a Potter.\" Draco became slightly annoyed at his father, and let down his mental shields.

\"He didn\'t beat me, father, he out-Slytherin\'d me. When I began, he had no idea what we were doing, just that he had to beat me. He used Legilimency to scan my mind to understand why it was so important, and he flooded my mind easily. His will is much stronger than mine, father.\"

*Potter? Does he really have that strong of a will? Maybe I\'ll have to \'test\' that.*

\"I don\'t believe it. You are a Malfoy, and he is a half-blood-\" Draco cut him off with a hiss.

\"That half-blood just happens to be the most powerful wizard in the world right now. That half-blood could turn you inside out with a wave of his hand, father. I\'ve met muggle-borns whose power rivals our own. I am sick of your delusions that the pure-blood race is stronger, begins it isn\'t always. Granger\'s magic rivals your own right now, and she is 100% muggle! You\'re a fool to think otherwise.\"

Lucius squinted darkly at his son, anger evident on his face. \"You dare talk to me like that!\" Lucius\'s wand came down, a spell sustained on his lips. It was an instant later that he found his arm unable to move, and arms wrapped firmly around his shoulders. Harry stood in the door way, a finger out-stretched, his magic holding Lucius\'s firmly, while Colin was behind the older blonde, arms physically holding his lover back. The mousy Gryffindor whispered into his ear.

\"Love, forgive him, he is your son. It is in his nature to rebel, remember, he is also a teenager. Come to bed, or you\'ll miss out what this muggle born had to show you.\" Lucius seemed to melt back into the calming sound of Colin\'s voice. Harry could sense the magic swirling around the two.

With a nod to Harry, Colin lead his lover towards their room, still talking to him a soft voice. The Golden Boy took his shaken lover by his hand, leading him back to their own room, and, while rocking the distressed blonde in his arms, petted him until they both fell asleep. The next day would be an eventful one.
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The mousy Gryffindor cried out as his back slammed forcefully against the shower wall, his mouth soon being consumed greedily by Lucius. The water sprayed between them, leaving their skin glistening in the light. His breathing was heavy, and his legs were wrapped around Lucius\'s torso as the older man continued to pound into him, sinking his teeth lightly into the younger boy\'s neck. Colin moaned the aristocrat\'s name loudly with each thrust, his own need pulsating after each pleasure-filled push filled him and stroked his prostate. Lucius continued to hit that spot, over and over, before crying out and filling his lover with his seed. The two collapsed softly in the shower, Colin grinning widely in the arms of the older man.
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Note: Please Review >.<
THANKS TO REVIEWERS!

sbkar~ No!!!!!!! Ah, yes, Io and Snape still have parts to play in the upcoming chapters. Have fun with the their next scene...

tessa~ No, he belongs to the OC characters in my head. They keep him in chains on their bed and have their wicked way with him several times a day. The sequel to this will be very interesting >.>

Aisling~ Voldie will never have a good dream again, but when you see him next, it should be very very obvious that I want to give Harry every reason to not kill him with a single thought.

fragonknight01~ I\'m glad you like that scene, I thought it was good too ^_^ but, alas, the penguins are original to this story...

BitchOfDarkness~ Thank you!
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Okay, I\'m thinking two chapters, four most, left to go. Sorry I missed my update, I was quite busy these past three days. I had to whittle away at this and random times, so I hope it is okay. I was also hitting myself with a toaster yesterday because I had totally forgotten about the book coming out today(or tomorrow?). I felt like an idiot... I mean, what kind of fan, of Harry Potter no less, forgets something as important as that? Oh well for now, I have plenty to do, and to read, so, Later!