Furry Magic

Title: Fury Magic, chapter 106

Disclaimer: Hp is not mine!


Severus Snape, Potion's Master, and newly Headmaster of Hogwarts, poured himself a cup of tea letting it cool a bit while he selected the robes he'd wear for the ceremony. Amrys had gifted him with several, beautiful replicas of the pride's traditional robes, and Severus thought it only fitting he wear them to the pride's function rather than one of his stiffly formal tailored suits.

His concentration was so great that he never noticed the ghostly form of the eavesdropping Peeves floating in the air watching him with blatant interest and curiosity. The little ghost drifted in closer as he watched the Headmaster pondering the many colors of silk hanging in his closet. He had taken to hanging around Snape when the man was at Hogwarts, admiring the energy and industry of the new head of the school.

Snape turned and Peeves, knowing how Snape would hate discovering he was being watched, almost an echo of what had happened to the young students here for years at the hands of Dumbledore....decided to hide. The little ghost wiggled his way into the shelves of potions and herbs so carefully arranged there by Snape's exacting and organized hand. He fit tightly into the space, discovering not for the first time that ghosts could cramp up just as easily as the corporeal persons. But at least he was well hidden.

He squirmed a little as Snape drew the robes over his head, admiring the long, lean form as it disappeared under loose, flowing robes of deliciously soft and richly expensive handwoven silk. The man's very posture had changed, no longer stiff, he now moved with an upright grace,and had a new and sinuous ease. Peeves was amazed that being in love could so change a man like Severus Snape.

The dark, blue-black color he chose brought out the incredible paleness of the Potion's Master's skin, and made his hair glisten, like a black fire was highlighting his lengthening hair. His dark eyes snapped with vitality. He looked really very handsome, Peeves thought, and years younger, taller, broader. He wriggled a bit more as Snape strode into his bathroom, disappearing from view.

All that wriggling...Peeves felt something give, and his eyes caught the small vial as it dropped off the shelf, his hand darted out and he caught it in mid fall, but the stopper fell out, bouncing down to strike the table on which the cooling cup of tea sat, bouncing high again, before ending behind the table, out of sight.

Peeves let out a small gasp of horror as he watched what else fell, a few crystalline drops of the potion from the uncapped vial, plop, plop, in the tea. He let out a whimper, thinking that he must spill the tea before the man drank it. As he watched a faint release of mist rose up....then Peeves heard Severus coming back out into the open. He did the only thing he could, he dematerialized before he was discovered and had to explain himself and what he was doing, to an enraged wizard.

Severus Snape absently reached for his tea, sipping it. He frowned, tried another sip. The leaves must have been old, there was s faintly bitter, musty taste lingering on his tongue. He carried the brewed tea the the sink and dumped it. He would have to set a new supply in. Washing the cup and leaving it on the side board. Then he headed out of the door, carefully sealing the wards behind him. He was resplendent in the floor length silk, a tall, regal form that would drawn almost any eye.

Peeves materialized two floors away, shaking violently, chiding himself for making yet another bad choice. He should have taken his medicine and confessed the the professor. But it was too late now. He peered down at the tiny vial in his hands struggling to read the precise but cramped writing on the minute label.

The size of the label and the vial was actually a frightening thing, it meant whatever the potion was, it required only a minute amount to be effective, or that the ingredients were so rare that Hogwarts could only afford a fraction of them. Peeves knew either reality did not bode well for him, he floated over to a window hoping the better light would make the reading easier. When he squinted, there next to the window, he could just make out the words. He gasped, dropping the vial with a clink, it shattered on the flagstones. Oh, ghod, what had he done? He streaked towards the dungeon chambers, praying to Merlin he was not too late to reach Snape before he left the school grounds.

Peeves was less than a corridor away when he heard and felt the apparation spell that let him know Snape was out of his reach. He let the sob that was rising in his throat out. Oh, ghod. Snape would kill him for this.

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Severus apparated into the Malfoy Manor rubbing his belly. He wished he had finished his tea now. Or had a sliver of plain toast. He hadn't eaten in hours, and having something on his stomach might have soothed it. His lower stomach was a bit upset, roiling, like a restless snake was twisting and turning through his guts. All trembly. Which was not a word he habitually used when describing himself in any way, shape, or form. Yet it was entirely accurate this time. His insides felt trembly, anxious, needy. Restless. He drew in a deep breath.

"Sev." The warm voice of Amrys came from behind him as the were-leopard walked towards him, gorgeous in gold silk, breathtaking. The unsteady feeling faded as if it had never been and a new feeling replaced it. Wanting, needing, desire. Snape had to touch him. Had to.

Snape slid his arms around the tall, muscular form, wanting to be close, not wanting to be reserved, not now. He lifted his mouth, offering and Amrys never hesitated, taking him up on his unexpectedly offered lips, teasing his mouth with a kiss, possessive, deep, drawing a groan from the wizard. Snape reveled in the embrace, sinking his pale hands into the thick, blond hair of his love. Rubbing his scalp with adoring fingertips.

Then Snape heard a soft laugh from beside them. And sanity flooded back. They were in a crowded room in a crowded manor, waiting to see a royal bonding ceremony that was essentially one of the most important marriages in Snape's lifetime. And here he was, snogging in plain view of all the guests who cared to look. Not a position for the respected and very new Headmaster to take. He drew back, face flushed, straightening his robes, feeling the heat rise up his chest and neck, ending in his face. Amrys chuckled. Caressing the kiss swollen lips with a gentle thumb when Severus drew back.

"I love your passion, little mouse," the were said, running affectionate fingers through his lover's black locks. He loved that Severus was growing his hair, letting the strands go unchecked, untrimmed, until they reached past his shoulders. If Amrys had his way, they would soon cascade all the way to his hips, so that when the two of them coupled, they would do so on a bed of the man's lush hair, fanned out under his surrendering body. "I do not care who knows that you are mine, Severus."

Snape cleared his throat, forcing himself to drop his hand, and put a few inches between them. Instantly the gnawing in his gut resumed. He pressed a hand over his belly, and drew in another calming breath. The scent of Amrys was so close, so rich, so tempting, he would give anything for privacy, for enough time to feel that tall strong body possessing his, delving deep into him. Sweat sprang out all over him at the vision of it.

Amrys sniffed at the air, the pheromones were strong coming up off of his beloved wizard, and it made him want to growl, to step close and claim him. Even as he thought it, Amrys found his hands reaching out across that small amount of space the man had put between them. Dragging the man back, up against his body, burying his nose in the sweet smelling hair, the curve of his neck. Merlin preserve him, Snape had never smelled so good before.

Amrys lifted him, carrying him down the hall and into an empty room. The furs were just inside the door, and he made use of them, putting Snape on top of their softness, his hands going to the ties of the robes and loosening them, pushing the silk off the pale shoulders so his mouth could wander over hotly desired flesh.

Severus moaned, arching up into the touch, arms outflung, knees already up, open, inviting. Amrys did not waste the invitation, he moved between the spread thighs.

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Peeves wasted about ten minutes agonizing over what to do. Flying ever faster back and forth in the unoccupied room he'd materialized in. Then it hit him. The perfect solution. Professor Lupin. The wizard was kind, and would know what to do. He was also less likely to blast Peeves into true oblivion than just about anyone else.

Peeves streaked towards Lupin's quarters, desperately hoping that the wizard was there. He burst through the door without knocking, catching the slender man in the midst of dressing, startling a yelp out of the shocked werewolf.

"Help! Help!" Peeves yelped, frantically, waving his see-through arms, wildly. "Professor...Headmaster Snape... he is in danger! You have to stop him! He drank the tea, and he is gone. I can't help him!"

Remus Lupin willed his racing pulse to more normal ranges, before his heart leapt out of his body, and felt behind him for the arm of his chair. He sank into it as Peeves babbled on, clearly in some sort of distress. He help up a long fingered pale hand. He would get nothing concrete until he manged to calm the apparition. He kept his voice quiet and soothing.

"Slow down, Peeves. Tell me, what has happened, exactly." Lupin knew that Severus was at the Manor early, ready for the ceremony that would commence very soon. The one Lupin himself had been dressing to attend.

"Help! Help!" Peeves howled once more. Lupin sighed, pulling out his wand and waving it as he spoke a calming spell. The effect on the small ghost was immediate. Peeves began snoring loudly. It was so difficult to measure the amount of magics needed to work on a ghost. Remus tried again, and was rewarded with a tiny moan. He sat forward, touching the ghost with the tip of his wand. Peeves shuddered violently, but opened his fluttering eyes.

"Now, Peeves, tell me what has happened. There is no need to panic." He soothed, his gentle tone finally reaching the other.

"Ohhhhh, Professor, I have runined everything. I didn't mean to, I was just watching him, admiring him. He is so different than the man he was. He is so beautiful now." Peeves was weeping ghostly tears.

Lupin reflected that he would not precisely call Severus Snape beautiful, but the man certainly had a commanding presence that had only grown stronger in these last few months. "Shhh. What has gone wrong?" He urged quietly, determined to find out what had the ghost in such a state.

Peeves let out a wail of words. "I knocked over a vial, and it fell into the Headmaster's tea. I am sorry, I didn't mean...."

"What vial? What was in it?" Remus asked, suddenly feeling almost as anxious as the ghost. A premonition of disater racing through him.

Peeves told him. And Remus paled further, hand pressing to his chest in an effort to contain his pounding pulse.

"Oh....shit." He said, very uncharacteristically, but perfectly appropriate in this instance. He stood, and without delay apparated to the Manor, barefoot, and coatless, his bow tie, untied, the ends dangling around his neck.

There was no time to waste.

ne'ichan
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