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.

\"Like a savior, coming down
you got just enough time now rest assured.
the savior is coming down
you got just enough time now rest assured
if you want to step up and be my friend
sorry sir, you can\'t contend
if you wanna step up and be my friend
sorry baby, you can\'t come in.\"- \"Book(Be My Friend)\" by Apartment 26

Chapter 5. Friends?

Pain shot up Harry\'s left arm, telling him he could once again feel the injured limb. The throbbing of his head didn\'t help current matters either. He scanned the room quickly, seeing Dumbledore watching him from his desk, but not the only one. Three red heads smiled at him, and Harry inwardly groaned, wishing he didn\'t currently have to speak to his best friend. Molly and Arthur stood from their chairs, the former enveloping him in a bear hug that nearly crushed his bones.

\"Harry my dear, how have you been?\" Molly asked. Her smile was that of a mother to a son, and Harry really did think of Molly as his second mother. Arthur grabbed his hand and shook it enthusiastically, grinning as broadly as his wife.

\"Harry, boy, where have you been? Had us worried there for awhile.\" He grinned back at Arthur.

\"No where re-\" Harry was cut off when Ron jumped through his parents and pulled Harry to him, almost knocking him off his feet.

The two laughed as they wrestled to the ground, Ron soon winning and pinning the other Gryffindor to the ground. Harry smirked, playfully trying to push Ron aside, but the other boy continued to push, holding him down and grinning broadly. It seemed to Harry that Ron had grown again over the short two months they had been away. He seemed stronger and taller than ever, and he had let his hair grow out a bit, down to his shoulders. Harry stopped looking at his friends to see the rest start pulling wands from their robes, and a soft growl caught his attention. Ron looked up and instantly became frightened as a black dog jumped towards him, knocking him over and pinning him to the ground. Harry instantly shot up, calling to his servant.

\"Io, no! He was just kidding around, let him go! Stop, I am telling you to stop this instant.\"

The massive black dog gazed at Harry, it\'s red eyes flaring before purple ones surfaced, a second set just under the first. The black fur shrank back, and the red eyes misted and disappeared entirely. The dog\'s paws changed slowly back into hands and feet, and soon Io stood in front of the wizards and witches in the room, his head bowed and his arms stiffly straightened at his sides. Harry bustled over to Ron, seeing only small scratches, but looking up, Ron didn\'t seem to notice. He was too busy staring at Io and Harry to check over himself.

\"Harry, what is he? Why did he attack me, and why did he listen to you?\" Arthur and Molly were looking at him quizzically as well. Even Snape was still watching the two oddly.

\"He thought you were attacking me, Ron. Io, he is my servant.\" Molly walked to Harry and slapped him hard, and Arthur looked at him with hard eyes as well.

\"Harry Potter, this is disgusting. Why would you buy something so vile as a sex slave is beyond me! Then you go and kill our minister! I was going to let that slide, because Fudge was bad, and not one person here doesn\'t know that, but I never expected something like this from you.\"

\"Molly, this is definitely not what it looks like! If you\'ll let me explain-\" Ron pushed Harry away, a look of disgust on his face.

\"Harry, that is disgusting. I mean, it\'s alright that you\'re gay, but, a slave? What would Herm say? Mum\'s right, this is sick.\" Ron shook his head, and got up and stood next to his parents. They all turned to leave, but found the doors already open and a silver haired boy standing in their way, his whole body shaking.

\"Oh shite...\" muttered Arthur, pulling his family out of harms way as a glowing Draco shot passed them and slammed his fist into Io, knocking him to the ground. Severus and Dumbledore had their wands out instantly, shouting stunner spells at an irate Slytherin prince.

He fell at the combined force of the spells, but not before hitting the smaller boy again. \"Headmaster, he knows, sir. Your mind-erasing spell didn\'t work, and I\'m guessing he heard about Harry\'s slave.\" he turned to Harry, pointing his finger at the boy. \"You have some questions to answer. I am going to take Mr. Malfoy and Io to the infirmary, and you can come and ask some questions yourself when you are done.\" Snape lifted Draco and left for the infirmary.

Harry waved a hand, waiting for the others to take seats before beginning his tale from the moment he had woken from his dream, to meeting Io, to killing Fudge, to finding out some things from Snape. He talked for what seemed like forever, retelling his tale in excruciating detail, but not stopping to let them ask questions. When he had finally gotten to the now, even Dumbledore looked at him oddly. Some things, to them, just didn\'t make sense.

\"So, how did Fudge get his hands on a slave?\" asked Ron, furrowing his brow as he thought.

\"I\'m not sure. I have been in a rush since I left Privet Drive, and that seemed like a question Io really didn\'t want to answer. He was near tears when I asked him, so I let it drop.\"

At that moment, the doors banged open and Hermione walked into the office, and was looking very angry at Harry. Ron shot up and stopped her, struggling with her as she tried to run past to get to Harry.

\"Ron, can you explain this to her, please?\" Ron grunted a yes, before sitting her down and going over everything Harry had told them so far. A while later, she got up and hugged Harry.

\"Hey, I\'m sorry. You know how I am when it come to this kind of thing. I thought you were being a bad, bad, Mormon.\" Harry laughed with the joke, knowing the movie she was referring to. Of course, they were the only two laughing in the room, and everyone else just thought they were crazy.

\"Harry, she isn\'t the only one who needs to apologize. We\'re sorry, we shouldn\'t have jump to conclusions. You\'re too good to be bad.\"

Harry beamed up his second parents, taking in the apology, and crossing the room to smother Molly and Arthur in a hug. The two waved their good-byes, and then left, leaving Hermione and Ron to Harry. Harry regarded his friends, seeing Ron\'s hand wrapped around Hermione\'s waist, and couldn\'t help but grin. Ron raised an eyebrow in challenge or confusion, Harry couldn\'t tell which, while the brunette just leaned with her eyes closed on Ron\'s shoulder.

\"About time is all I have to say.\" Now Ron was definitely confused, and Herm chuckled to herself.

\"What do you mean, mate?\"

\"C\'mon Ron, it was obvious to the entire school you two would get together eventually. Last I heard, there was a pool going about when you two would finally start dating. Last I checked, the pot was pretty high...\" Hermione started chortling, trying to hide her laughter in Ron, but wasn\'t that successful.

\"Herm, how could you be laughing about it?\" asked Ron, confused at the antics of his girlfriend. She just lifted her head and kissed his cheek, and grinned at Harry.

\"Because,\" she said happily, \"I won the pot.\" Harry burst into fits at that while Ron looked at her disbelieving. He shook his head, starting to laugh himself.

\"Barmy, the lot of you.\" and gave Hermione a chaste kiss. It was a few minutes later, just as Harry and they walked towards their dorms, that Ron spoke again.

\"Hey mate, what was with Malfoy back there? I don\'t suppose you know why he acted like that towards the kid or why he is even here in the first place?\"

Harry shook his head. \"I don\'t know why he did that or why he is here. I\'ll have to ask Dumbledore tomorrow.\"

\"Hey, I\'ll come with you to that. I know you aren\'t exactly happy with him right now.\"

\"Thanks Ron, I appreciate that. Herm, do you want to come?\" the bushy-haired Gryffindor looked away from Ron.

\"No, I have to go to the library tomorrow. I want to study a bit for our new classes. With Newts, they are going to be even more difficult than normal.\"

\"Hey, while you\'re there, do you think you could look something up for me?\"

\"Yeah, I think so. What for?\"

\"If you could find anything on \'Ethereals\', it would be helpful.\"

\"Ethereals? That is what Io is, right? Yeah, I think I can do that while you are at your meeting tomorrow. I know you should come by after, so you can finish your homework.\"

Harry rubbed the back of his head as he climbed through the portrait, knowing that she was right. He hadn\'t finished his homework over the break. He found his trunk at his bed, and was about to ask Ron if he had seen Hedwig before he had come to Hogwarts, but, seeing that his friends was already asleep, he crept back out the portrait and headed to the owlry. He hoped to himself she had come there. He was passing by the infirmary when he heard voices inside, and stopped to listen.
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Severus set Io and Draco on separate beds, setting up a ward over Draco, before calling for Madam Pomfrey. She bustled in, clicking her tongue, and sending a spell over the two to keep them sedated.

\"What happened to them, Professor?\" she asked, scanning over Malfoy with a wave of her own wand.

\"Mr. Malfoy was displeased by some news about Potter and decided hitting this little kid would solve his problem. Me and the headmaster stunned him.\"

\"That also explains why he is out.\" she said, pointing to Io. \"Oh, and he isn\'t a kid, Professor. He is 19 years of age. It seems his body is aging much slower than average for a wizard, and something in him has currently shut down his body to let it heal for itself.\"

Severus stared, momentarily licking his lips, before taking his eyes off Io. \"Are you sure? Maybe it is an effect of his inheritance. He is what they call an \'Ethereal\'.\"

\"Yes, I know of them. That does make sense, as Incubi and Succubi live a lot longer than most wizards or muggles. Okay, I\'m going to go get something to heal the broken ribs he sustained from the hit.\" as she left, a soft noise alerted Snape that Io had woken up.

\"Where am I, sir?\" Io said groggily, attempting to rise, but hissing in pain of his ribs, and fell back down.

Snape rushed to his side, pressing down softly, trying to keep the boy down. \"You have to stay still, Io. You were attacked by Mr. Malfoy there and he hurt you pretty badly. You\'re in the infirmary.\" Snape found himself talking softly to the boy, almost oblivious to the lack of his natural sneer or attitude.

\"Sir, why did he hurt me? I don\'t know of anything I could have done to upset him or my master...\"

\"You did nothing, and you may call me Severus, or Professor Snape, if you wish. Mr. Malfoy reacted negatively to finding out that Potter had a sex servant. He was very angry that someone seemed to be challenging his position as Potter\'s mate.\"

Snape thought he had heard something scrape behind him, but at that moment, Io coughed, spitting blood over the other side of the bed.

\"Professor Snape, I have to do something. You might want to stand back, sir.\" Snape backed off a bit, not sure what Io was about to do.

Suddenly, a loud crack rang out in the room, and Io arched painfully off the bed, his ribs visible through his shirt. He could see broken ribs clearly, and watched as more crack were heard and the ribs set themselves straight. Io\'s back arched even higher at each one, and his hands clawed and tore at the sheets, finding something solid to grip through the pain. Tears welled up in his eyes as he cried out, his excruciating pain and anguish letting itself be known. Snape rushed over to the bed and gathered the weeping boy in his arms as it ended, and he went slack, though not out, yet too weak to move. The Head of Slytherin rocked Io softly, letting Io cry himself to sleep, exhausted from his ability. Madam Pomfrey walked in on them like this, the medicine in her hand. Snape laid Io out on the bed, and pulled the covering over his shoulders, and sat down in the chair next to the bed, eyes locked on the boy.

\"Just a pain relieving potion, Poppy.\" Poppy scowled a little, but left the two alone, going into her own study to return the potion to its proper place, and to gather the correct one.
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Outside the door, Harry walked away to the owlry, looking in to find Hedwig awake on her perch. She hooted happily to him, but he looked straight passed her, his mind slowing down to a halt as he felt his world had just been flipped up-side down. He sat down in the hay, and fell asleep, pushing back all his thoughts to think and worry about the next day.
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THANKS TO REVIEWERS!

Loki~ I\'m thinking of several ways I could work fire into the story. Io might have a hand in it >.>

sbkar~ Blasphemy! I would never harm my cute little Penguins! One thing I am going to answer about your questions... Umbridge and Percy? Ewwww*Shudder* that is not something I wanted to imagine... it is so going in the story!

Aisling~ Yeah, Penguins, falling Toasters, screaming Death Eaters. Perfect place to be. No prob.

elecktra~ Oh yeah, thank yous!

Memdrake~ I didn\'t think it was all that original, but thanks for the compliment. I\'m also glad you decided to check my story out ^_^

RebaWilliams~ Thank you for reading my fic, and I hope you will continue to enjoy it.
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This was a fun chapter because I had so much time to do what I wanted with it. Sundays are the direct opposite of Saturdays, \'cause while I am Super busy on Sat and wishing there were more hours in a day for me to work, I have relatively nothing to do on Sundays. Hopefully, on Sundays, you can expect more than one chapter, but not today. I have a lot more to do tonight, and I have to go to bed early for work. Music ideas would be appreciated! I wasn\'t kidding when I said I listen to everything! I have currently everything from Rap, Pop, Rock, Alternative, Punk, Ska, Country, Metal, Christian, and Classical on my computer. I\'m more into Rock and Alt than the others, but if you are able to suggest a band or singer, I could look them over. Maybe one of their songs could end up in one of my fics. Later!