Furry Magic

Title: Furry Magic, chapter 44

Disclaimer: Not my invention. HP belongs to JKR.

Bill Weasley was going over the ancient wards of Malfoy Manor. The writing was faded and the penmanship quite questionable in places, hardly more than random scratches, but he had read worse. Far, far worse, truthfully.

The wards were set to keep strangers out, unless they had permission from the head of the Household. Family, those with Malfoy blood, or those wed to Malfoys, could apparate in and out at will. Or, naturally, members of the pride.

Andromeda's aberrance, and treasonous behavior, had not been anticipated by the author of the wards. The binding oaths should have prevented it. But, the sister of the king was insane. It was up to Bill to fix the loophole.

Therein lay the problem. Somehow, Bill needed to change the archaic spells to prevent Andromeda from apparating into the Manor, or it's surrounding grounds. Despite her Malfoy blood. The trouble with altering spells this old was...you never were certain just what method had been used to set them in the first place. And disassembling them incorrectly would result in a collapse of all the wards. And no protection at all. It was complex and dangerous, risky. Probably it shouldn't even be attempted.

Very deliberately Bill began diagramming the wards on a piece of parchment. The tiny lines grew from just a few, to dozens, then half a hundred, and he kept inscribing the fine squiggles. The connections became ever more complex. He joined the sixth ward with the tenth, and sat for a moment admiring the spell.

The wizard who had written the spell had been a genius. It was elaborate, and yet stunningly simple in it's construction. As the last lines fell into place, Bill was seized by admiration. The wizard had been a master of his craft, worthy of being called an artist. It was flawless, incredibly, visually captivating. A mesmer. A puzzle designed to trap an unwary wizard in the labyrinthine workings, leading him, or her, in never ending, dizzying circles. Never quite grasping the solution to the wards. Unless they found the key.

Now it was up to Bill to follow the hundreds of lines, and find the one line he could change, twist and manipulate, to forbid Andromeda access, without causing the entire structure to leak, creating a back door that clever practitioners of magic could exploit, or worse yet to collapse the whole framework, topple it like a house of cards.

Bill grinned, his eyes sparkling. He loved this kind of work. He licked his lips and wrote so fast his quill was a blue blur as he moved it over the scroll. Drops of ink flew, all miraculously missing the scroll as the solution to the wards began to take shape.

A small mound of crumpled and shredded vellum grew beside Bill's chair as he tried first one solution then another. Discarding each when the balance of the diagram was not perfect. He scribbled faster. Tore up more of the scrolls, flinging the scraps into the air. Far from being frustrated with the amount of effort, he was grinning maniacally. Ghods, he loved this!

Charlie was seated not far away, head bent close to Kaithas' as they conferred.

"Lucius has taken the boy as his Chosen. A fitting choice when you think about it." Charlie said, getting a cautious nod from the Seer. "And Harry is just being himself, getting into a lot of trouble. Not doing what a good, obedient kitten would do. Am I right?"

Kaithas nodded again, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "You sound as if you have heard all I told you before. As if he has made a habit of being difficult. Yet, you think it is an acceptable circumstance, that our king has taken him as his Chosen?"

"No, not really. Not exactly. It is a lot of pressure, more than Harry needs. It is just...you have to know Harry. I could have predicted all of this. These kinds of things just happen to him. He does what he must, and what he thinks is right. He has the heart of a hero, but he is very vulnerable at the same time. More a child than many. It is just pure luck things happened this way. If he'd not been taken as the Chosen he might have self-destructed. This is actually the best way it could have worked out. I mean if he *had* to be a lycanthrope."

"But, there have been several major problems..." Kaithas was obviously skeptical of Charlie's conclusion.

"Believe me, where Potter is concerned, these complications don't come close to true problems. His problems come in industrial size only. These barely qualify as blips. Now. We have to get to work on keeping the problems small." Charlie said, as his brow furrowed. He tugged on his long, bright, carroty-orange braid, rolling the length between his fingers. "Then we can iron out the rest of these..inconveniences."

"I don't understand how you can minimize these many concerns. There have been several areas in which the pride laws have been ignored, flouted...." Kaithas began, but Charlie held up a hand.

"Please, Kaithas, humor me for a moment, and allow me to explain. Let's see. Harry is a powerful wizard. The most powerful of his generation, even though he was raised by Muggles, in Muggle society. His feelings about sex are very conservative, puritanical, very Muggle views, unfortunately. He doesn't know any other way. If he had been taken to the furs by more than one of us, he might have struck out, considering it rape, not just the workings of a normal pride. He may have felt that he had to defend himself. He might have destroyed Malfoy Manor, and half the pride." Charlie shuddered, then drew a deep breath. "So, forgive me, Seer, if I tell you the problems we do have aren't as bad as they seem. I honestly mean no disrespect."

"So." Kaithas said, after a long minute of contemplation, ascertaining that the younger were-leopard was indeed sincere. "How do we fix these...tiny troubles? Graeme has proposed certain...methods, that are now being used. Are you aware of them?"

"Merlin's blood! Graeme? What kinds of things?" Charlie went pale. He had had his own run-ins with the pride's third. He had learned to respect the man's quick paw. Graeme had been his primary disciplinarian while he was a kitten. And still, as an adult, gave him the willies when he did anything at all that might be questionable according to the pride's laws. Envisioning the monumental catastrophe of a clash between Graeme and Harry made Charlie go cold all over. "I can't think of a worse combination. Graeme and Harry?"

"Calm yourself. Just breathe." Kaithas told the man beside him, laying a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "You are shaking like a leaf. Are you unwell? Shall I get you some water?"

"No. No. Just tell me, what has Graeme done? It is possible here is still time to fix it." Charlie gasped, working to slow his panting breaths.

Kaithas frowned at him, the freckles stood out, splashes of darkness on bleached white skin. Not a good sign. He kept his voice low and soft, chafing the strong hands between his own to warm them. "I don't see that there has been a problem with how our third is handling the situation. He has decreed Harry will spend time with the senior members of the pride, get used to them, to their touch. It is working out well."

"I can't...Harry is letting them do this? Letting them touch him?" Charlie exclaimed. It had taken years before the boy had allowed the members of the Weasley family to include him in general hugs of greeting. Now he was letting the pride members touch him, this soon? Charlie couldn't believe it.

"Yes. With the caveat that there will be no sex with any but Lucius. He was outraged when he discovered that the Chosen was at times given for a night's pleasure to high ranking and much honored visitors. He threatened to castrate any who he was given to. He is also not happy with the fact our king has others in the furs. There was quite a scene when he discovered that. But, he is far more...controlled and tolerant since Graeme took over his training."

"He likes the structure. Knowing what to expect. My ghod. I never would have thought...Graeme, he is so predictable, so clear in his expectations. That is a refreshing change for Harry, I'd bet. It never would have occurred to me...." Charlie was chagrined, shaking his head, his breathing was almost back to normal. He stood. "I really should speak to Graeme, then."

Kaithas smirked at him. "Are you sure you want that?" He asked point blank. The mere mention of Graeme was enough to knock the man off his stride. Give him the wiggins.

Charlie laughed nervously. "No. I pretty much want anything but that. My knees are shaking, and I think I am going to throw up. But, I *need* to do it, anyway."

neichan
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