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.

\"If your experiences don\'t compare, just turn the tables
And stop acting like you really care, if you\'re not stable

Full resistance to those who care at all
Dictating the call, it\'s consuming us
Backs against the wall
Convincing the meek to dictate all their actions on command
and eviction to those who swear it all
Fit to befall the false memory
Facts begin to stall
Permitting the bleak existence, this is our time to discover\"- \"Turn the Tables\" by Flaw

Chapter 2. The Master

The silent halls of Hogwarts, barren except for the occasional ghost because of Summer vacation, erupted with sound as Draco Malfoy stormed through, his face fixed in a death glare at nothing in particular. If looks could kill, well, then it was probably a good thing nobody was present to witness this break in the normally perfect dam that served as a mask for the Malfoy line. All of the darkest images crossed the Slytherin\'s mind, and anger as well as hatred played on his face. To Draco, everything was fucked up. \'Blasted old fool, trying to put me under a memory charm. Even if it didn\'t work, it\'s the goddamn principle of the thing! Nobody tries to erase my memory!\'

Draco had reached the height of his tantrum when he rounded a corner and came face-to-face with his godfather, Severus Snape. Surprised, Draco launched himself back, his heart beating a mile a minute at the sudden appearance of the potions master, but he quickly regained his composure and turned his own haughty smirk on the man, crossing his arms and leaning against the corner of the wall..

\"Where did you come from, sir? I really am too young to die of a heart attack at age 17, and I\'m sure my father wouldn\'t appreciate my untimely demise at the hands of his ex-.\" Draco cut himself off, letting the statement hang in the air. Snape, who still hadn\'t moved, continued to smile at his godson, and seemed to ignore the comment.

\"If you would learn to focus, you would have known I was approaching, Draco. Throwing a fit in usually isn\'t your style, so, what has gotten you so wound up?\"

The blonde snorted. \"Stop playing games, Sev, you know exactly why I\'m ticked.\"

\"Yes, unfortunately. Obliviate charms never did have any effect on you, did they? Haven\'t for... two years? Only that long? Seems your own inheritance was so long ago. We never did find your other.\" Draco lost his smile and instead found himself glaring.

\"I guess we know who it is now. Fuck! Why did it have to Potter?! I was hoping to stay out of this idiotic feud between Dumbledore and the Dark Lord.\"

\"Don\'t whine about things you cannot change, Mr. Malfoy. Now, let\'s worry about what will happen when Mr. Potter does get here...\"

Snape crept down a different hallway, his face suddenly becoming set in his usual scowl. Draco went the opposite direction towards what he knew was the library; he was going to look up anything he could find about strong inheritances, but stopped short as Dumbledore\'s voice caught his ear from behind him.

\"Severus, we have a problem. Mr. Potter seems to be missing from his relatives.\"

Draco suddenly became rigid.
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Harry looked at the three in front of him and couldn\'t help but draw his wand. With everything that had been going on, he just had to land in someplace like here. He would rather be anywhere else at the moment, \'but,\' he thought bitterly, \'I had to land with a nut-case like Fudge.\' As it was, he wasn\'t anywhere else, and indeed, the minister himself stood in the doorway, trailed closely by Percy Weasley and Dolores Umbridge. \'Perfect\'. The minister cracked a smile and mock-laughed as he finally recognized who was occupying this room with his servant, and he walked up greet the-boy-who-lived. Dolores and Percy merely scowled.

\"Harry, my boy, what are you doing here?! How\'s training? I hope they are building you up a lot because the Dark Lord will order the final attack any day now. Any day, yep. Ah, I see you\'ve met my servant! Is he to your tastes? He\'s a fine \'Ethereal\' he is!\" Fudge stopped as he caught movement in the corner. \"Hiding again, little Io? Tsk Tsk...\" Fudge raised his wand and Harry saw the other boy\'s choker start to glow, pulling Io towards the minister.

\"Finite Incantatem!\" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the minister. \"Protego!\" A bright blue shield came into place in the nick of time as two bright red stunner spells bounced off it harmlessly.

\"Mr. Potter, what do you think you are doing? Stopping me from punishing my servant for his misbehavior?\" An unnatural grin placed itself on Fudge\'s lips. Umbridge and Percy were at his side, wands trained at the golden child.

\"Oh Harry, what would mum think? I\'m sure mum will be real disappointed in you, attacking the minister! Maybe she\'ll actually realize I was right!\" Percy\'s wand began to glow an eerie red.

\"Yes, it seems now I can give you more than just lines, Mr. Potter, though it seems my last ones made you think twice.\" the older woman spat, her wand copying Percy\'s in the fiendish glow. The scar still was etched in Harry\'s hand. Fudge raised his own wand, a darker spell charging at the tip.

\"Stupefy!\" the two yelled, just before Fudge\'s own.

\"Crucio!\"

Everything seemed to go in slow motion, as Harry finally had it, and his own wand glowed a bright white. He had learned a number of new spells during his training in 6th year, but most he was supposed to use only in the final battle, as a surprise for all of those he came up against. These spells were more powerful than any he had learned, but they required more strength than usual to cast. His blood boiled as he thought of Fudge, Umbridge, Fudge\'s treatment of what he deemed as \'lesser beings\'- magical creatures, Fudge\'s ignorance and stubbornness towards seeing what was directly in front of his own face, Umbridge\'s scar... and suddenly, Harry found himself directly in front of the three, finger trained at the bridge of Fudge\'s nose, speaking one of his new spells, his own wand forgotten on the ground.

\"Exturbio Turpis!\"

A field of energy wrapped around the three, slamming them back into and through the crumbling wall. Harry\'s watched wide eyed at the new gap, and back down to his own hands. His eyes slid from the energy dancing around his hands to the rubble that had fallen in front of him. Harry sat stunned, still not believing what he had done, but knowing he should be getting the hell out of there. He rushed to grab his wand, but found it sticking up at him, the boy who called himself Io holding it for him to take.

The kid nodded his head, motioning for Harry to take the wand. Harry reached out and grasped it, but muttered something as he did so, and a pair of pants popped onto the ground. The boy reached for them and slipped them on, smiling at Harry as he did so.

\"Thank you, master...\" Harry paled.

\"What? No, no, I\'m not your master. I don\'t need a servant! I don\'t want a servant!\" Io shook his head, placing his hands on the choker, and pulling away a second later. Now engraved in one of the silver stones was a green lightning bolt, shaped like the one on Harry\'s forehead.

\"I am yours now, until you either die, or free me.\"

\"I free you then!\" Harry exclaimed, backing away slightly from the smaller boy, who continued to shake his head.

\"I\'m sorry sir, but it isn\'t that easy. I do not how you can free me, but this would come off if I was.\" he pointed to the choker as he spoke, then lowered his eyes. \"I\'m sorry sir, I\'ve forgotten my place. I need to be punished...\"

\"I don\'t think so, stop now! Listen,\" Harry had realized Io took his orders now ,\"Never, under an circumstances, punish yourself. Never, and that is an order I am comfortable giving.\"

\"Yes, sir.\"

\"And don\'t call me \'sir\' or \'master\', either. Harry would be fine, okay? I\'m going to find a way to free you, but for now, we need to leave.\" Io nodded, and followed Harry. As the two stepped outside, Harry rounded on Io.

\"Io, that\'s your name, right?\" the boy nodded. \"Fudge called you something else back there, an \'Ethereal\'. What is it?\"

\"It is what I am. We are shades, Incubi and Succubi that have mated with wizards. I don\'t know too much more than that, s- Harry.\"

\"Wait, you were once a wizard? When did you change, and for that matter, how old are you?\"

\"I\'m 19, and I\'ve been like this for three years.\"

Harry was taken aback. He thought this was just a kid, not knowing that the boy was actually older than himself. Something wasn\'t adding up right in his head, though, and Harry just couldn\'t put his finger on it.

\"How did you wind up with Fudge.\" It was then Harry noticed the look in Io\'s eyes, his face dropping slightly, the pain written there. Harry stopped him from answering almost right away.

\"No, never mind. C\'mon, let\'s get out of here.\"

The two walked out of the narrow alleyway, Harry looking around to catch sight of the buses, cars, and well dressed people roaming the streets and sidewalks. Harry recognized the building across the street as the entrance to the Ministry. Harry looked back to where his hole was, to see the alleyway itself gone. Bewildered, Harry tapped Io\'s shoulder, and the two started to walk the opposite direction. As Harry came to the street, he raised his wand, and signaled. Io ducked low at the sudden appearance of the Knight Bus, and eyed it carefully while Harry got on, and started pleading with Stan to let him pay them when they got to his house in Surrey.

They missed the two people who walked out from the building, the older woman call his name and rage, and the younger fire a bright orange light into the air- an Auror manhunt.
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THANKS TO REVIWERS!

sbkar~ Yeah, looking back, I think it is too. Don\'t worry, I\'ll go back and fix it when I have the time.

Alexa~ Keep your pants on >.< Yeah, like I said I\'ll update as often as possible. But, hey, I got plans... and water.

tessa3~ *Grabs hold and huggles Luc, petting his hair and telling him I\'ll keep him safe from the big bad reviewer, all the while sneaking a whip from under the sofa.* Okay, just no fire. I hate getting burned... weeeeeeeeeeee! Oh yeah, and good thing catching that veil comment >.>;

Slytherinsbitch- Krazy are we? THAT\'S MY GIG! *Pulls out tommy gun* Thank you.

smurff~ I am not 100% sure, but somewhere in between the Ministry, and Fudge\'s little hideout... every little bad guy has one, and may I take this time to apologize to any Fudge fans because, well, I hate Fudge.

Lili~ Always! I read a lot of fics on here myself, and even though I enjoy submissive Harry a lot, I still like it better with Dom Harry. Not what you meant? Still, Powerful as hell Harry is a lot more cooler than weakling Harry that barely survives. My plot bunnies just broke my black light ;_;
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Okay, that one is done. Wow, I have a life... when did this happen? I\'ll try to update every day, but I don\'t know if I can manage it. My plot bunnies thought it would be funny to play this trick of not multiplying when they should, so ideas are coming to me a lot slower then before. No worries, I\'m pretty sure I know where this will go. I think...