Copy Cat

Chapter 5 – The Mishap

A/N: So, clearly I didn't update again that night... My bad. But, at least I've been quick with this one, right? Thanks again for your continued patience and support. If I didn't have y'all reading this and telling me to update, I'd probably abandon it. ^^; And that really wouldn't be fair to MBR, for whom I write this fic. Anyway! Onto the chapter!!

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The train arrived without any further difficulty, so long as one didn’t count the minor argument Sirius and Severus had about whether they would all live together in Severus’s quarters, which he promised to have Dumbledore expand or else in the rooms Dumbledore had already provided for Sirius and Remus closer to the Gryffindor tower. Sirius was unwilling to dwell so close to so many snakes and Severus was understandably reluctant to leave the comfort of his dungeons. Remus suggested they talk to Dumbledore about quarters that might be somewhere in between. Glaring at one another, the two darker-haired males agreed. Remus sighed – it was going to be a loooong rest of his life…

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Harry had spent the train ride sleeping, curled up on the seat. Ginny had rubbed his ears while he slept, which had been nice, but eventually he had gotten tired of it and woken up, growling at her. After that, she left him alone. Hermione had prodded him awake, shoving his robes into his arms, telling him to hurry up, before he could get mad at her.
She and Ginny had then left to change into their own robes, leaving the boys to the compartment. Ron had been slightly appalled to realize that he thought of Harry as ‘cute’. He’d shaken himself quite thoroughly, adding a good slap to his own face, though Harry, as usual, took no notice of what was going on.

“So, Ron?” Harry asked after a moment’s pause. He realized, with relief that he hadn’t hurried as Hermione had asked, so thankfully she was out as potential mate material.

“Yeah?” Ron refused to look at Harry, though he imagined that Harry’s tail was swishing in the manner he had come to identify as anxious.

“Could you… This is going to sound really dumb, but, could you tell me to do something please?” Harry really hoped he didn’t obey Ron. Ron was his best friend, yes, but he was sure he’d go insane if he had to spend all of his life with the redhead.

“Uh… okay. Sit down.” Ron glanced at Harry. “Why aren’t you sitting?”

Harry was standing there, smiling. “Thank you!!” He flung himself at Ron, hugging him tightly before rushing off to find Sirius and Remus and tell them that it didn’t appear that any of his friends were his mate.

It was then that the train decided to stop. Harry went tripping over his feet and onto the corridor. He was just starting to pick himself up when the door to the corridor opened, and he saw Severus.

“Sev!” He cried out, leaping to his feet and embracing the man tightly.

Severus was completely caught off guard. “Hello, Harry.” He pat the boy on the back gently and quickly re-glamoured Harry’s ears and tail. There was no need to go advertising for trouble with Harry’s luck after all. “We probably shouldn’t hug in public. It ruins my heartless bastard image.”

Harry let go and fixed a good scowl on his face as he looked at his professor. Severus restrained a laugh.

“Harry!” Sirius said, quite relieved to see him off the ceiling and safe from any sort of harm. “You’re all right?”

Harry nodded, then frowned. Memories from earlier suddenly came back to him. “Sirius, what was with that pendant around your neck? And why did you hand it to Hermione? And come to think of it, why was everyone screaming? What was at the door? With you standing there, I didn’t get a really good look. And there was a strange little hole in the window of the compartment. Do you know anything about that?”

Severus stared at Harry, having momentarily forgotten about the sudden bout of inquisitiveness they’d been dealing with in the little cat boy. Then he looked at Sirius… his mate expectantly. Sirius looked back at him as if to say ‘what am I supposed to do about it?’

“He’s your godson, Sirius.”

Harry was quick to note the use of Sirius’s first name. “What’s going on?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Harry, why, uh, why don’t you go with Remus,” here Sirius began gesturing fervently to get Remus out into the hallway, “and get on up to the school? We’ll talk later, all right?”

Harry crossed his arms stubbornly; it hadn’t been a direct command, so he didn’t have to obey, suggestion from his guardian or not. “No.”

“Harry, please. It’s… it’s not safe… right now.” Sirius looked over his shoulder. Draco appeared docile enough, but if Harry was or wasn’t his mate, it could set him off. If Harry was, then everyone in the near vicinity could expect to experience a rather bloody death. If Harry wasn’t, then there was the slight possibility that Draco would see Harry as food, and that was not something Sirius was prepared to deal with. The very thought of it made him sick – his cousin, and, strangely enough, his soon-to-be-adopted godson, eating his own godson… He shuddered, though the sensual aspect of his Angeline inheritance pointed out that Draco could still eat Harry even if they were mates, just with different connotations. And that brought on a nausea like he had never experienced before.

“Why not?” Harry asked, his eyes gleaming with a particular light that suggested he had better get his way. “You have some big, scary monster inside there?”

Despite three adults trying to grab onto him, he managed to slip into the compartment. He stared when he realized it was just his rival. Draco turned and looked at Harry with mild disinterest, though Harry would never know the effort it took the other boy to keep his pointed teeth from bursting into that wicked smile he’d caught sight of in the reflection off a window. Disappointed, Harry left the compartment.

“It’s just Malfoy. What’d he do? Summon the crazy thing that had Ron muttering about something worse than spiders? What was that anyway? Was that what was at the door and had everyone screaming?” Harry walked by the stunned adults, not really expecting any answers to his questions. A thought occurred to him. “Oh no! That thing’s not this year’s Care of Magical Creatures project, is it? I can’t imagine Ron would like that much. And I’ll bet Malfoy’d just love to go running to his father about some crazy beast with teeth roaming the grounds of the school.”

The three adults shared a look. Oh the irony…

“So, Remus, let’s go.” Harry said, all cooperative smiles again. He grabbed Remus by the
arm and pulled him off the train and toward the carriages.


Severus and Sirius watched them go.

“That boy’s going to be the death of me.” Severus said after a moment.

“Join the club.” Sirius answered, turning toward the compartment. “Oh. Draco. You’re up.”
And Draco was up. He was in the doorway, his 6’3” frame dwarfing Sirius who stood at
5’11” and Severus even, who was a respectable 6’1”. Part of his seeming hugeness at present was the fact that his wings were extended behind him into the compartment and he was hovering a few inches off the ground, staring after Harry.

“Draco?” Severus said slowly. “Is Harry your mate?”

Draco gave a rather pathetic sounding whimper.

“Well, at least he doesn’t think Harry’s food.” Sirius pointed out, despite the fact that Severus had suddenly blanched and looked like he was going to be ill.

“Mine?” Draco asked, looking at Severus with doleful blue eyes and pointing after Harry with a long, elegant finger.

“You’re going to hate yourself when you get yourself back under control, you know.” Severus said instead of answering the question.

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The Welcoming Feast was like it was every year, in Harry’s opinion. However, this time, he got to cheer extra loud for the new professors. Finally, Gryffindor would have a chance at getting some favoritism other than stingy McGonagall’s five points here and there. (To be honest, he was still a bit sore about the fact that he and Ron only got five points each for taking on a mountain troll in first year. It was a MOUNTAIN TROLL for crying out loud! And he’d had its bogies on his wand.)


Immediately following the feast, he ran up to the teachers’ table, waiting for Sirius and Remus to show him where their rooms were. To his surprise, Severus also hung back.

“Hey, Harry.” Remus greeted fondly, rubbing Harry’s ears. Harry purred contentedly. “Have a good dinner?”

Harry’s response was to purr louder and push his head more firmly into Remus’s hand. All three professors laughed.

“Well, Harry, we’re not going to be as close to the tower as we’d thought.” Sirius said, leading the way to his new quarters.

“Why not?”

“Something… a new development, I guess you could say….” Sirius began awkwardly.

“Oh for crying out loud…. Harry, Sirius is a magical creature as well. He’s what’s called an Angeline. He has two mates. Myself and…” Remus looked at Severus pointedly, but Harry was a step ahead of him.

“Sev?” Harry questioned in awe.

Severus nodded once.

“That is so cool! Now my intermediary’s like another primary! What’s that mean?” Harry turned back to Remus, knowing he’d be most likely to have the answers.

“We’re not entirely sure as you chose him as an intermediary before you found out that he would likely be a primary.” Remus answered. “But I think it means that Severus is now your third godfather.” Remus winked at Harry, remembering how tightly Harry had hugged
him when he’d found out that Remus was his guardian as well.

On cue, Harry hugged Severus, which was rather difficult given that they were walking.
Severus gave Remus a good-natured scowl; after all, Remus was the sensible one in this crazy relationship. It wouldn’t do to get Remus on his bad side before any sort of real ground was established in this fledgling…thing they were suddenly sharing. But, he hugged Harry back. It was easier to hug Harry than Draco as Harry, being a Gryffindor, was naturally inclined to it. Plus, with Draco’s recent tendencies to bite anything that entered a two-foot bubble, it was best to just nod at the blond. Speaking of…

“I’ll have to meet you all later. I have to attend to my students.” Severus said. Sirius and Remus immediately understood. Sirius gave him a smile. In a bold move that Severus would deny adamantly if ever confronted, he strode up to Sirius and pecked him on the cheek before bestowing the same courtesy to Remus. It was such a brief little kiss that Sirius was sure he’d imagined it, even while the Angeline within him hummed with delight.
Even Remus looked pleased. Harry had watched them with an amused smirk as they watched the billowing cloak disappear from view.

“So. You gonna tell me what made you scream like a little girl on the train today?” Harry asked.

Sirius jumped, having completely forgotten that Harry was there.

“I didn’t scream like a little girl. And so you know, I think you should take the pendant I gave to Hermione.”

“Why?”

“It’ll be safer.” Sirius said, growing a little agitated. He hadn’t seen Draco at dinner. What if he was in freaky mode waiting just around…

...the corner.

Sirius screamed. He hated when he was right. Draco’s many pointed teeth seemed even more numerous in the dim torchlight. His large wings were held in that warning posture again. If Sirius hadn’t known it was Draco from earlier, he never would’ve known what the heck was looking at him in such a menacing manner.

Remus came up beside him, wand at the ready. Harry was quick to come to his other side only to forget all about his wand in favor of staring. And then those eyes turned on him and the grin widened. Harry did the first thing that came to mind, whether it was a Slytherin tendency or not – he ran.

“Talktoyoutomorrowgottagobye!” He managed to shout as he began running for the tower.
Draco made to follow him but found his path blocked by two dangerous men with wands. He growled.

Remus, wolf awakened, growled back. Sirius wasn’t sure what would win in this case, but he really didn’t want to find out. Fortunately, Severus returned after a few short minutes, out of breath.

“Can’t… find…” He panted. He looked up to see why they were so still. “Oh.”

“As much as that man annoys me, I really wish Lucius were here.” Sirius admitted.

“So pleased to know you care.” Lucius’s voice carried up the corridor. Sirius, in spite of all his instincts and training, turned toward the source. Indeed, Lucius Malfoy was in Hogwarts, strolling along as if admiring the scenery. “Severus managed a brief fire call about how he thought Draco was out and about in manic mode. I came right over.”

Draco visibly cowed at the sight of his sire, a more powerful Ryuugon than he was when provoked. He made a keening noise in the back of his throat. Lucius answered with a clicking of his tongue. This series of whines and clicks continued for what seemed like hours to Sirius (who had an attention span of a puppy), but was only a few minutes.

“His mate’s been here?” Lucius asked mildly.

“Apparently it’s Potter.” Severus confided.

“An interesting turn of events.” Lucius said as if it was the most amusing thing he’d heard all day, which, let’s face it, it was. His son’s rivalry with Harry Potter bordered on legendary. It was almost on par with the rivalry of Sirius Black with one Severus Snape. And wasn’t it interesting that the two weren’t bickering as much lately? His eyes narrowed; he, of course, knew what Sirius was, had known in fact. The fact that Severus was part Vampire seemed to him to indicate a potential for Sirius’s second mate.

“Not as interesting as some.” Severus said glumly.

“Oh? Do tell.” Lucius said, his gaze once again on Draco, keeping him still, though he’d been about to dart off toward Gryffindor territory if Lucius remembered his Hogwarts correctly, which he was certain he did.

“Due to my own genetics, it’s come to light that Severus is my other mate.” Sirius admitted. It wasn’t like Lucius wouldn’t have figured it out anyway. It was infuriating how much the blond man could infer and be right about from just a few casual glances.

Lucius managed to keep his grin as a smirk. Now that had been the most amusing thing he’d heard all day. “My, things have taken an interesting turn around here. To think, so many of us delightful creatures all in one place at once…”

“What do you mean, father?” Draco had managed to regain himself and was slowly forcing himself toward the group and away from Gryffindor tower.

“Oh, well, the old Arithmancy professor went on maternity leave. So, I’m filling in. Last minute substitute, I assure you. Oh, and your mother, incidentally, is filling in for the Ancient Runes professor, who went on holiday to America for the year.”

Sirius sighed to himself. If Draco really was Harry’s mate, then it was going to be a loooong rest of his life…

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Harry would never understand why every year he had Potions first thing in the morning. You’d think that after six, soon to be seven, years of this pattern he could have had the class in the later morning or early afternoon. But no. Life did not work that way for Harry James Potter. It was incredibly difficult to get up that morning, too. He’d just wanted to spend the day somewhere warm and asleep. But Ron had pulled his tail, which he could see through the glamour now. So, grumpy and wet, with his tail causing strange drip patterns where normal people wouldn’t be dripping from, Harry dressed for classes, mumbling about how he hoped potions would be better.

When he showed up to class, he was startled to see that Malfoy was not present. Hermione and Ron also noticed. Ron was quick to speculate about how he was sure that Malfoy was up to some sot of Death Eater activities. Hermione squashed that theory.

“Late last night, at the Head Girl and Head Boy meeting, which, interestingly, Malfoy didn’t show up to, though Dumbledore assured me that it was excused, I found out that Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy are both filling in for teachers here.”

“What?!” Ron and Harry had exclaimed.

“Sh. It’s not completely public yet. But yes. They’re both going to be working here for the year.”

“I’m a dead man.” Harry decided. Lucius had never really liked him, and he had no clue what had died under Narcissa’s nose, but he was gradually suspecting that it was going to be him by the end of the year.

“No you’re not. You both know that they work for the Order now.”

“So? Doesn’t mean we can trust them.” Ron remained resolute. Malfoys were no good.

Severus swept in at that moment and flicked his wand at the board. Instructions appeared, as usual. “Get to work. Last year’s final potion. Let’s see how many of you can make it properly this time.”

Harry began prepping his cauldron. He didn’t remember last year’s final potion, but he assumed that since he was back in the class again he’d done all right… Maybe… His brow furrowed and his tail started swishing anxiously, invisible though it was to all but the professor and his two best friends.

“Harry. Mind your tail. Neville’s right behind you.” Hermione hissed at him.

Harry turned to look at her curiously, and then sensed Neville’s presence. He stilled the motion while Neville walked behind him, his face a faint pink over embarrassment at not even having realized his tail was swishing. As soon as Neville had passed, however, his tail went right back to its pendulum motion.

“So, ‘Mione,” Ron asked in a low voice, not wanting to rouse Severus’s attention. “For best results, the squid tentacles are added at the same time as the diced mandrake roots, right?”

Hermione looked horrified. “Ron, the potion doesn’t require either of those.”

Ron turned red.

“Did I say that there was talking allowed?” Severus asked, appearing behind the two silently.

The students jumped and looked up at him fearfully.

“Be glad that I am in a forgiving mood today. You have received your only warning.”
Severus then walked over to Harry to see how the boy was doing. Under pretext of careful observation, he spoke quietly in Harry’s ear. “You’re really not upset by the fact that you’re going to have three godfathers?”

Harry shook his head, careful not to smile and give away Severus’s softer side.

“I know we haven’t gotten on well… in the past, but I’ll make it up to you. I loved your mother very much.”

Harry nodded, feeling choked up against his will. He had never expected Severus to accept him quite so readily, though he strongly suspected Remus’s hand in that. The wolf in Remus was a bit tetchy when it came to Harry, whom he viewed as his cub. So while Harry could deal with periodic harsh comments and cruelty directed toward himself, Remus would absolutely not permit it.

Severus turned with a sweep of robes and bore down on Neville, who looked about ready to cry. Other than a brusque comment about how he should chop his ginger roots a bit finer, he did nothing. Unfortunately, this meant that Neville collapsed in a dead faint, disrupting the table behind him, which housed Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini. Blaise had just been adding the ground scarab beetle in a sprinkling fashion, as per the instructions on the board when Neville slammed into the table, which in turn caused the table to slam into him.

He lost control of the powdered beetle and added it in a dump with a cry of pain, alarm, and dismay. Harry, his extra ears giving him keen hearing, had already been on his way to help Neville up when he heard the cry from Blaise. The hero complex he had long been accused of having surged into action. With a great shove, he pushed Neville out of the way and braced for impact.

BOOM!

An explosion that shook the very walls of the potions classroom erupted out of the cauldron. Blaise and Pansy had already taken a step or ten back, Blaise standing protectively in front of her. Glops of powder blue colored potion were everywhere. The students stared in amazement as the desks began multiplying before their very eyes. Blaise had also been hit, but strangely only on his hands. He screamed when hands began piling up around him, flexing their fingers and reaching for robes to adjust. Poor Blaise had ten pairs of hands adjusting his robes for him while Pansy had another ten trying to smooth her hair.

Severus rushed toward them, not seeing the little Kuronegato on the floor, completely drenched in the potion. He immobilized the hands and sent Blaise up to the Infirmary to talk to Madame Pomfrey.

“But, Professor, what about the hands?” Blaise asked, looking a bit ill.

“Charm them to follow you.” Severus said tersely. Honestly, how hard was it?

Blaise nodded and left, hands replicating and walking on their fingers in their hurry to keep up with their origin, even if a few did wander off course and pinch several people on the ass.

“Was anyone else hit?” Severus asked, looking at his students. He did a mental tally – Zabini (gone), Parkinson (whimpering), Granger, Weasley, Finnegan, Crabbe, Goyle, Greengrass, Nott, Brown, Thomas… Where was Longbottom? Oh. There, getting up off the floor. He frowned. Zabini, Parkinson, Granger, Weasley, Finnegan, Crabbe, Goyle, Greengrass, Nott, Brown, Thomas, Longbottom, Malfoy (thankfully accounted for elsewhere), and Potter. Wait, where was Potter? A panic began to settle itself in his gut. Was this what it meant for an Intermediary to become a Primary – you felt an irrational amount of fear when it came to your charge?

Desks continued to replicate. Severus growled as he shoved past them, trying to find Harry. Replicated cauldrons began spilling everywhere, creating a hazardous maze. Severus began levitating the obstacles. Hermione, seeing her professor struggling and having lost sight of Harry herself, followed his example. Soon, every student in the room was levitating at least four desks and ten cauldrons a piece. A large stack of cauldrons shifted with a groan. Severus rushed forward and pushed them aside. Underneath was a groggy Harry. Relieved, he examined the boy for any signs of injury.

Before he could cast any diagnosis spell, however, another groan came to him from behind. He turned and blinked. He blinked again. It didn’t change what he was seeing. There was another Harry. A new panic began to make itself known. They were about to be overrun with Harry’s.

“Everyone out! I need to put a locking and containing charm on the room until I can get back in here to restore everything to normal.” Severus barked. Everyone began to do as instructed, carefully stacking their levitated articles on top of one another. Before they left, however, Severus thought of something. “And if you find a Harry Potter, grab it and bring it with you.”

Puzzled, the students began to look around. Sure enough, there were at least seven Harry’s all sitting around…. With cat ears. The girls squealed with delight. How cute was that?! Severus swore under his breath. The potion spill must have counteracted the glamour charms. There was time to deal with that later. For now, he grabbed the Harry in front of him and pulled it along with him as he ushered the class out of the room, each of them now with their own Harry in tow.

As soon as they were in the hallway, Severus cast the necessary charms on his classroom. He grimaced as he heard the resounding clatter as another stack of cauldrons toppled. No doubt the potion was spreading to the other cauldrons and then the replicated ones were replicating. He scowled at the door. And slowly, he thought of something. With a horror-struck face, he turned toward his class.

“Let go of Harry!” He shouted, uncaring that he used Harry’s first name in front of people. Startled, Harry’s were released. He watched as more Harry’s filled the hallway and a few hands replicated. Whose hands were those? That meant that they had the real Harry. “Line up against the wall.”

Everyone, including the Harry’s, lined up along the wall. As Harry’s appeared, they looked around and also lined up along the wall. The hands compulsively twirled the hair of those nearest them. That gesture was a trademark move of nervousness by Lavendar Brown. Lavendar had had the real Harry. Swooping down on her, he cast a quick cleaning charm on her hands.

“Brown. Hospital wing. Take your hands with you.”

Lavendar, wide-eyed, stopped twirling her hair and hurried off to the Infirmary, levitating her hands behind her, unaware of the shouts of pain as the hands yanked hair out before they were forcefully pulled away. Severus then turned to the ever-lengthening line of Harry’s. One looked slightly damp, he sighed in relief. That had to be Harry. But then out of the corner of his eye, he saw another that looked a little damp. Oh no… Now that he looked more carefully, there were at least four Harry’s that looked as if they had been wet. That meant that there were four Harry’s replicating in the hallway presently. Those must have been the real Harry and the first three copies, which immediately must have touched the potion as well.

He groaned. He didn’t dare count how many Harry Potter’s were in the hallway. But he could see that they had already reached the end of the corridor one way and were lining up along the wall coming back towards him on the other side. And it seemed the longer he waited, the more rapidly they multiplied. In the course of a minute, they reached the potions classroom again and kept going… up the stairs and toward the Great Hall. He had to stop the replicating, and he had to stop it NOW. Going up to the four damp Harry’s, he cast cleaning charms followed immediately by drying charms followed by an intense scourgify. He stepped back and looked down the hall to see how far the Harry’s had gotten. They were out of sight.

With a frustrated sigh, he walked up the stairs and saw that the line of Harry’s had, in fact, reached the Great Hall, but only just. Damn.

‘At least you like Harry reasonably enough now. If you didn’t, this could be really painful.’ A sardonic voice said inside his head. He told it that it wasn’t the least bit helpful and to go stuff itself.

“Harry!” Two voices shouted, running down the stairs, past the line of Harry’s, all of which turned to look at the sources.

“Sirius!” Half said in unison while the other half said “Remus!”

Severus put a hand to his temple. This was going to be annoying, mates with them or not.

Sirius marched right up to him with a fierce look. “Severus, I hope you have an explanation for why there are hundreds of my godson standing around without glamour.”

“Potions accident.” Severus answered by way of explanation. “Not sure exactly how, but I can tell you that it happened because of powdered scarab beetle being added in a dump rather than in a sprinkling fashion, which in and of itself, would not have been too bad had the widdershins stirring not reacted to cause the explosion. If it had just been dumped in, it would’ve created a copying potion that only lasts for a half hour and would only activate if ingested. I wonder if the diced ginger roots might also have had something to do with it…” Severus said.

“Sev, I appreciate your knowledge, but ‘potions accident’ was good enough for me, thanks.” Sirius said with a forced smile. “I don’t understand half of that jargon when you’re saying it that quickly.”

“So sorry. I forgot I was in the company of idiots.” Severus bit back, already at nerve’s end from the accident.

Sirius growled and bared his teeth. Remus, wisely, stepped in. “Now, now. There’s no real harm done, other than a few hundred Harry’s and a couple of students with extra hands. The real question is what to do with the Harry’s.”

“You’re right of cour-… How do you know about the hands?” Severus asked.

“We passed Miss Brown on the way down here. Sirius had been roaming the halls, rather than helping me with the lesson as he should have been,” Remus fixed Sirius with an intense glare. The man had the decency to look sheepish. “And he came running back saying he’d seen Mr. Zabini running to the Infirmary blushing an intense red as a hoard of hands followed him, waving flirtatiously at passersby and even going as far as to… grope several of them.”

“But you didn’t believe me.” Sirius pointed out. “It was only after one of the prefects came back to class and said that he’d overheard another student say that they’d just seen Harry Potter by the hundreds that Remus dismissed the class.”

“I see.” Severus said. “Well, presently, we have no way of knowing which Harry is the real one.”

“Why can’t you just ask?” Ron chimed in, having been standing close to the professors while they spoke.

“Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds, Mr. Weasley?” Severus asked with a sneer. “Think before you speak, boy.”

“I thought it was a good idea.” Ron defended, blushing a bright red.

Severus sighed. “Let me prove to you that it’s not. Would the real Harry Potter please raise his hand?”

All hundred-some Harry’s raised a hand. Several frowned at each other when they realized that the Harry next to him was raising his hand. A few squabbles broke out along the line.

“Enough! I will take five points from every Harry Potter who doesn’t stop bickering this second.” Severus snapped. The hall went quiet.

Remus, who had been watching with amusement, suddenly recalled something about the Kuronegato that they had never had to worry about with James, again because James had grown up with the knowledge. Frantically, he waved Severus and Sirius closer to him. Casting a Muffliato charm around them, he shared his epiphany.

“Harry has a mate.”

Sirius and Severus looked at him blankly.

“I hate to be rude, but duh.” Severus said.

“No, I mean… Ugh.” Remus tugged on his hair in frustration. “An aspect of the Kuronegato is that if the submissive partner mates with anyone but their destined mate…”

Sirius and Severus caught on and blanched. “… they die.” They finished in a faint voice.

“What do we do?” Sirius asked, fearful for his godson.

“I don’t know.” Remus answered. He cast a glance at the students around him. “We can’t keep them all in one place. And it’s certainly not safe to let them roam around. The way some of those students are looking at him… them…”

“Harry’s already been something of a sex icon.” Severus pointed out. “The potions spill can’t have done anything to help that. Teens today are quite into the cat-boy craze.”

Sirius and Remus gave Severus incredulous looks. Severus blushed faintly.

“I do pay attention to current trends among the youth. It helps reduce the risk of heart attack should a student show up wearing cat ears on their head. I confiscated thirty pairs at the end of last term.” Severus explained.

“I ask again, what do we do?” Sirius asked.

There was a long moment’s pause.

“The Room of Requirement.” Remus said after a bit. “We’ll put them all there for the rest of the day until we can come up with a better solution.”

“Great idea!” Sirius said, following Remus as he turned to begin leading the way. “We will come up with a better solution, right?” He asked.

Severus sighed and ended the charm. Casting a Sonorous charm on himself, he spoke to the students. “Mr. Harry Potter is to report to the seventh floor immediately in an orderly fashion. All other students return to your classrooms. My class, go to your dormitories or be docked five points each.”

There was a frantic scurrying to obey the Potions Master.

Severus walked beside the line of Harry Potter’s that dutifully marched up stairs and through the corridors to the seventh floor. He was aware that Ron and Hermione had not followed his instructions. He sighed, but did not dock them points. He supposed that they already knew about Harry’s condition to some extent. Besides, what was the Gryffindor Trio without Know-It-All and Dumbass?


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A/N: Whew! Done with another one!! Shallah! *dance* I will try to hurry up with the next chapter. As I say below to one of my reviewers, I am almost jealous of y'all getting to read this. I adore stories that are like this - fun, lighthearted, and squishy. (What squishy means, I'm not sure, but trust me on this.)

Reviewers' Address:

Roe- So, you reviewed AGES ago... like, back in December. And I'm only now responding. Sorry. ^^; Anyway, I am very glad you're enjoying it, and as I have said, I will try my damnedest to update once a week when school starts up again. Please be patient with me. I do want you to read.

steph - Hope this satisfies your want for an update. It is a cute story though, and I'm loving the writing of it. I'm almost jealous of y'all who get to read it. I LOVE reading fics like this.


butterpie - Don't try to choose which is scarier. They're both terrifying. ^_^ I just had this mental picture of Draco with pointed teeth and a manic grin, peering inside the compartment at them all, and I went with it. Or rather, creepy creature Draco threatened to use me as food and then use my bones to pick his teeth if I didn't... I am so glad you're still with me, love!


Lilith - Ah, my wonderful Lilith! So sorry to have kept you waiting!!! Glad you loved the ceiling scene. That was one of my favorite parts to write. Sorry I didn't update when I said I would, but three days later isn't SO bad, right?? ^^;


kanaro - Ah! Excellent! I love new readers/reviewers! At least, I think you're a new reviewer. If you're not, I apologize. I'm a space case. Anyway, so glad you're enjoying this. And hopefully I'll get some Draco/Harry action soon!!


Night The Storyteller - One of the faithful hath returned!! Yay!! Thanks for sticking with me! The screaming scene was something completely inane. Think of the scene with Fluffy and Harry, Ron, and Hermione all just screaming instead of running... That's kinda where the inspiration came from. As for Hermione, she'll be seen in the library coming up soon, I'm sure. ^_^


Roguey - Are you a new reviewer?! Sweet! If not, sorry... I fail at things so easily. *cry* Anyway, glad you like. I will do my best to update. Scout's honor. Never mind the fact that I haven't been a scout for... 12 years.


Jacq - You were one of the ones I hoped would come back when I updated again. Glad you did. Hope you continue to enjoy it. To be honest, the threesome snuck itself in. I was just writing, and then BOOM. There it was. It caught me off guard, too. But, I like it. So, hopefully it works out... O.o


TatsuTipatico - Good. I am glad you're adoring this story. And Draco didn't get to Harry because I like to draw things out. ^_^


Vittani - Really? You missed three chapters? LOL. Well, at least you got a good long chunk to read, which has to be nice with how much I suck at updating. ^^; Ah, well. Glad you're enjoying. And sugar highs are fun. I love sugar!! And I love sugar highs that aren't induced by sugar. What an ego boost though that this story can kick you into that kind of mindset! Yay!!! ^_^ As I told Jacq, the threesome snuck up on ME even, so LOL. I've long wanted to write a creature fic, so this has been good for me, seeing what works and what doesn't. Of course, I have read a buttload of fics with this theme, so I have done a lot of studying and comparing what works and what doesn't - standing on the shoulders of giants, and all.


serpensortia - Glad it's a good twitch! At first, I was like, "Oh noos!" But then I read further and was like, "Oh. Good. LOL!" I have read a lot of creature fics, so I know what I like best, and I turn that into something that I hope other people will enjoy as well. But I am glad to have you onboard with my little crew of reviewers. Welcome. Please continue to stay with me. And I have to say that I adore your username.