Furry Magic

Title: Furry Magic, chapter 86

Disclaimer: I do not own HP.
Dedicated to Miko, who was the best cat ever...


Lucius lay with his head on Graeme's lap. The copper haired were-leopard ran his fingers through the long, blond locks of his king. Amrys sat cross-legged on the end of the bed, his hip brushing Lucius' legs. Snape had stayed with Draco to look the Mother and his new children over. Harry had been persuaded to go along, not that it had taken much convincing. He was eager to see the new infants. Hopefully Yaji and Mantheer would allow him close enough to touch the babies, or the Chosen would be very disappointed.

Graeme had his doubts, but it was worth a try. He himself, had not gotten closer than the doorway of Draco's rooms, before being threatened off by the larger were-leopards. They were fierce in their protection of their mate and his offspring. For in spite of Amrys' fathering of the heirs, Draco was undoubtedly the mate of the guardians. Time would see that mating consummated.

Only Severus and Amrys were allowed near Draco and his babies. Even Kaithas was turned away when he had come at Draco's request to see if the children were indeed not resistant to lycanthropy. Tanith roused a cacophony of roaring protests when she had come to pay her respects. She had gracefully withdrawn, without anger, she was, Graeme thought, a very wise woman.

Snape tended to enter the nursery without warning, and had never been challenged by either of the hovering leopards, completely accepted by Yaji and Mantheer as belonging with the heirs, and necessary for their well-being. Amrys was far more cautious, crawling in on his belly, and waiting for the other two to sniff him and let him enter with their approval. Graeme had to admire the human wizard Snape's gall. The man would be a fine leopard, with balls like that, willing to face down the guardians without so much as a shudder of un-ease. If Amrys ever asked for permission to turn him. Graeme would back his choice. If Amrys did not think of it, Graeme intended to bring it up himself. No wonder Amrys, always a lover of were-leopards, not wizards or common men, had finally chosen this man as his one human lover. And, unless Graeme was far less observant than he thought, as his future mate.

"So, Dumbledore will not come clean." Lucius said, resting comfortably under the soothing touch of his Tres. He moved his cheek so it rubbed along Graeme's thigh. He was not surprised that the wily old wizard was not going to take any of the blame for one of his teachers, one he had been tasked with responsibility for approving, turning out to be a deranged killer.

"No. Not for any price I would say. He will protect his own interests, even at the expense of all the lycanthropes." Amrys asserted. "I have agreed to allow the children to return to their studies, if he makes it clear to the rest of the wizarding world we had no part in the killings. If he fails to clear us unequivocally, the risk to our kittens will be too great to send them back to Hogwarts."

"It can be argued that we also hold some responsibility for the events that occurred. We should have suspected Andromeda, and watched her more carefully." Lucius sighed. "I at least sensed her madness was growing. She had been frustrated in her aims for so long it drove her over the edge of madness. I should have realized she would take such drastic measures. I should have seen and stopped her."

"Her insanity was well hidden. We watched her as we were able. There was no sign she had sought the aid of the mad witch. A woman who should have been in Azkaban if Dumbledore had watched *her* well." Graeme insisted hotly. "Besides, you had tasked me with her elimination. I was too late. I should have left the Manor and not returned until I had found her. I should have killed her when she was seized by Tambyn's people. Not allowed her to live and to escape."

"We trusted that they would not allow her to escape, that she was held well in their custody. Trelawny broke her out of her prison. We could not foresee that." Lucius said, melting under the caressing fingers of both his co-rulers. Amrys had pulled the king's feet into his lap and worked at them with his strong hands. Lucius barely held back a groan as he continued with his train of thought.

"Dumbledore could argue the same, that we did not watch Andromeda well enough, and so caused all of this tragedy. Sybil Trelawny was a teacher, one who showed no sign of her madness until it was too late to stop her." Lucius said, liking the rhythmic stroking of the hand on his head, as it feathered through his thick hair. His third had always been the one to take on this duty of comforting his king. Amrys joining in was an unusual bonus. The second sensing the king was in need of special comfort, and responding to that.

Amrys and Lucius, close as they were, were less likely to offer each other physical or sexual comfort. They slept next to each other, had for decades now, inseparable, but their ranks were so close, that at times Lucius felt Amrys, though called his second, held a rank equal to his, that he was an extension of himself in a way that went beyond ruling as second to the king. Amrys took pains to assure the king that he *was* the second, that he *was* subordinate, but Lucius, especially now that Amrys was the Sire, thought that to be cutting the truth a little fine.

The loyalty that Amrys showed to the pride and to Lucius was unquestioned. He was a wall of strength at the king's back. And Graeme, the one who followed the laws to the letter, the one who enforced them, who took the role of guardian of pack law, he was the one who reached out his deadly hand and petted, calmed and loved away the hurts, be it by his touch or occasionally with the offer of his submission, of his body and sex. Lucius accepted and valued that from his third. Rare thing that a king was so blessed with two who ruled with honor, loyalty, and such love at his side.

There was no competition between them. No questioning of their rightful places. Lucius had shared his Chosen, his beloved, with the Tres. And Graeme had accepted, as well as submitted, just as Lucius had needed him to. It had been almost unfair to force the issue, force Graeme to acknowledge their positions, their ranks, but Lucius had required it. So Graeme had willingly, happily, given him his body, reaffirming that Lucius was his dominant and his king, and that Lucius owned him, his loyalty, every thing he was. Lucius nuzzled his face into Graeme's palm, feeling the resultant shiver of acknowledgment run through the third's body.

"He should have felt her magic, when she used it so close to him. He is the Headmaster, he must be aware of all the spells going on at Hogwarts. He is not a weakling wizard. He was lazy, didn't take the time to monitor the wards." Graeme said, firmly. He traced a finger over the fine-wrought eyebrow, ran a thumb along the curve of his king's ear. There was silence among them for a time, then Amrys spoke, low into the quiet.

"Are you well, my king?" Amrys asked. He circled his hands around the king's ankles, rubbing away the tension, moving up the calf of each leg. Until he was rewarded with a sigh of bliss.

"I am well as can be expected. I ache for my Marked. I tried to tell him the reason he was leaving with the Weasleys. That it was not punishment. That it was because it was best for him, for them and for the pride. He did not believe me." Lucius' voice was thick with the recall of his former Marked's pain.

"He obeyed." Graeme said, with satisfaction. "He did what his king requested of him. That is the act of an honorable leopard. He will be a good, strong man. You made the right choice for him."

"Giving up your Marked was an unselfish act. It is what I would have expected of you, you are a more than average king, Lucius Malfoy, and I am privileged to follow you." Amrys added his opinion. He knew how hard the act of giving up the kitten had been.

"To rule beside me, with me." Was Lucius' response to that, reaching down his powerful arm to seize one of Amrys' hands, squeezing it. "And I did not wish to give him up. I wanted to hold onto him with both hands, to sink into him, meld our bodies into one. I was not being noble when I let him go."

"Yes, you were. You are the noblest of kings. I would not have any in your place." Amrys said with quiet certainty.

"Harry was glad to have one less to take your attention from him. Though, at the ceremony he realized just what you were giving up and it tore his heart in two." Graeme put in quietly. The Chosen's reaction had pleased him. The boy had love, and compassion, as well as an untutored strength. Strength could be cultivated. The compassion he had shown was far more rare and valuable. It could not be taught.

"He possesses great depth of feeling, does my Chosen. For all his protests, for all the troubles he has had adjusting to us and to our way of life, I think that keeping him was the right choice after all. I had feared for a time, I had not been wise. That despite my love for him, despite the pull between us, that it would have been kinder to end it when he first came to me, before we bonded as king and Chosen." Lucius murmured. "I did not like to see him suffer, and I did not know how to relieve it."

"I think, my king, that even then the choice was already made by fate, that you could not have done other than what you did do. The binding was set in the first instant that you met. Kaithas has spoken of the strength of the ties, he has never felt any so strong. You never had any choice, it was set, and meant to be, the Ghods' hands were in it." Amrys said in turn.

"How romantic!" Lucius half-laughed. "I was no doubt not what he wanted at first. I am old and set in my ways. He deserved the love of his fellow kittens, innocent pleasure, not this deep, frightening binding he must live with day in and day out. He was not prepared for it. I have to possess him, own him. Control him. It is hardly what a kittens first love should be."

"You are a were-leopard in your prime!" Amrys chided gently. "And this relationship, it is what you both need. Nothing is without trial. Nothing worth having is so simple and without conflict. It is the power of your feelings for each other that make it so. You need fire, and he needs flame. Together you burn until he is roused to be the balm, and he accepts and soothes your heat inside of his body. He will keep you sane, my king. He will be spoken of with reverence by the generations that follow ours. They will know how great his gift is to you, and to the pride as a whole. He is needed and loved." Amrys spoke softly, with absolute assurance, conviction.

Harry, outside the door, felt faint. He had tried to stay with Draco and the new babies, but Yaji and Mantheer would not have it. He had had a glimpse of the two tiny, beautiful children, but after that one glimpse, not even Draco's pleas on his behalf had swayed the huge guardians. They'd growled and hissed, and Harry had reluctantly left, heading back, wanting to be with the king if he could not stay with Draco and fuss over the infants.

Now he had inadvertently heard the words Amrys had spoken about him. He could hardly credit it, that the second would feel like that, that he believed that about him, Harry Potter. Harry sniffled.

Lucius lifted his head, hearing the tiny sound. He nodded at Graeme, and the third got up out of the furs and padded on silent feet to the hall. He lifted the emotional kitten into his arms and carried him back to the king. Lucius enfolded the small, cherished body into his embrace, holding him close. Graeme snuggled up behind the boy, and Amrys, completing the group, slid behind Lucius, long arms wrapped around his king.

ne'ichan
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