Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Bloody Skies	By : TokiMirage Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 44832 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: JKRowling owns Harry Potter. Everything else is mine. I do not make any money writing this fic.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Bloody Skies
oOo
Chapter Eleven:
oOo
Cyrus looked at the duffel on his bed that he’d conjured to put his stuff in, wondering if he’d forgotten anything. Tara had kidnapped his trunk for the holidays, saying that if she couldn’t get a bite out of him for that long, she was taking full advantage of his library.
Of course, he hadn’t let go of the family heirloom until she’d sworn a vow to take care of it and make sure none of the books got stolen.
Walking to his bed, he reached under it and pulled out the trunk he’d stolen from Dumbledore. As he knew the password, he’d left the wards in place. Pulling his invisibility cloak out and staring at it for a moment, he wondered if he’d need it. He shrugged. You’d never know when it could come in handy. He stuffed it into his duffel bag and closed the mini-trunk, ignoring the book sitting on the bottom. He’d glanced at it once, but never read it. Why would Dumbledore leave a children’s book for Harry Potter? He was meaning to read the tales at some point, as it must be somewhat important, but he’d never quite gotten around to it with all the homework and training he had to do in a week.
He stuffed the trunk back under his bed. Pulling out his mini-bookcase, he checked that all the books he needed for his Christmas homework and training were there before shrinking it again and putting it in the bottomless bag attached to his waist. With one more cursory glance around the room, he apparated.
oOo
He appeared just outside the door of Spinner’s End with a crack. He figured it was politer to appear outside than in the middle the living room during… adult activities. There was always a chance. And really, if the wards didn’t like him, he’d rather not accidentally splinch himself.
Casting a wandless warming charm on himself, he knocked. While waiting for someone to answer the door, he glanced around at the rolling white mounds of frozen condensation around him. He’d missed snow, actually. They didn’t have much of the wonderfully fluffy substance at Shikaan because every time it snowed the teachers just vanished it from the courtyards and pathways. He wasn’t sure if they were all snow-haters or there was a more practical reason. Probably the latter.
When no one answered the door for a half a minute, Cyrus frowned and knocked louder. Still no answer. Shrugging, he tried to open the door. The knob wouldn’t budge.
Shit. Maybe he should have sent advance notice? Snape knew he was coming, though. Surely they were just ‘out’ for a little while? Letting out a sigh and glaring at the puff of condensation that floated into the air, he activated his rune sight, not bothering to close his eyes as no one was around to see him. As he ‘read’ the wards on the house, he smiled. After doing the intense study of Dumbledore’s wards, he knew most of the runes that were used in this ward, so the process of reading and analyzing went much faster. After finding the ‘keys’ to the wards, he sussed out three signatures of magic encoded into the key structure. Finding his own magical signature among them, he grinned. Since he was already keyed into the wards, they wouldn’t… he examined the execution structure. ‘Remove his skin and hang him upside down from the gate by his entrails.’ He laughed as he disabled the lock on the door and slipped into the house, turning it back on behind him. Snape really did have a creative side. If he were Picasso, his favourite colour would be red.
After unpacking his stuff in his old room, Cyrus went into the living room and moved all the furniture to the walls. Hopefully Snape wouldn’t get pissed at him for touching his stuff, but he needed to keep working out and training every morning with the absence of Weapons and Battle running him into the ground. He was in the middle of one of the katas when Remus appeared in front of him with a crack. There was widening eyes on both their parts before Cyrus’s fist smacked into the werewolf’s face.
“Shit! Sorry Remus, I didn’t think you’d just apparate into the living room like that.” Cyrus winced.
Remus chuckled softly, rubbing his chin with his hand from where he’d landed on the ground. “Not a bad punch, Cyrus.” He grinned. “It’s pretty impressive when a human can knock a werewolf to the ground. Training has been going well?”
Cyrus grinned slightly, still worried that he’d injured the man. “Yeah, but I never would have landed a hit if you’d been prepared for it.”
Remus laughed. “That’s probably true.” He grinned, and Cyrus could see a bit of gold leak into those tawny eyes. “You want to test that theory sometime? I could spar with you. Severus has been teaching me some things. Says that if I get myself killed by staying in the Order, it won’t be because I couldn’t fight back if I lost my wand.”
Cyrus frowned. “You’re still in the Order? Why? I thought you’d quit with Snape.”
Remus shook his head and pulled himself off the ground. He patted his robes down. “No. We both agreed that it would be best if one of us remained in order to lower suspicions. Nobody in the Order knows that Severus and I are mates.” He smiled wryly. “And it’s a good idea to have a spy in both worlds. Severus has stayed with Voldemort, and I stay with Dumbledore. We save people if we can before a raid, and I keep Severus apprised of the Order’s movement so he doesn’t get caught.”
“Why doesn’t Snape just leave the Death Eaters? And why did Voldemort just let him quit? Isn’t he a spy?”
The werewolf sighed and made his way to the liquor cabinet. He poured himself two fingers of scotch before answering. “Severus’s loyalty was brought into question at the end of last year. Taking advantage of the situation, Severus explained to Voldemort why he was no longer a useful spy and why he had to quit. He was tortured quite… severely, for his failure, and now he mostly brews potions. Severus and I have been having… disagreements about his remaining with the Death Eaters for some time. If he chose to leave, Voldemort could still cause him a huge amount of pain through the Dark Mark. It might even be able to kill him.”
Cyrus frowned. “Why don’t you just remove the Dark Mark?”
Remus looked at him like he was crazy. “And who would have the power and the skill to remove it? Nobody has ever been able to do it before.”
The human scratched his chin in thought. “Well, it’s a spell, right? If you got a Rune Master to look at it, they might be able to take it off.”
The werewolf frowned thoughtfully. “Maybe. Is Runes one of the classes you’re taking?”
Cyrus nodded. “Yep. We have an amazing teacher. Did I tell you about him when I came to visit in the beginning of October?”
Remus smiled. “You might have. Much has happened between then and now, however.”
The human nodded.
“So, tell me how school has been going. I remember that you were quite adamant that you continue your education there after September. Do you still feel the same way?” Remus poured himself more scotch.
Cyrus grinned. “Yeah! I mean, the teachers are great. Rivehn let me skip a year because I was getting so far ahead,” at Remus’s confused look, he continued, “Runes, that is. In Animagus class I’m getting close to finding my animal. Weapons and Battle is tough. We rotate through different teachers depending on what we’re doing each class. They’re going to bring in the weapons specialist after Christmas, which is exciting. I’m not sure what kind of weapon I want, but I’m leaning towards a blade. Healing has been very helpful, Dark Arts and Their Defense is interesting, and Necromancy… Well, I finally had a break through in that class. I’d been hitting a wall for a while.”
Remus looked curious. “Really? What kind of wall?”
Cyrus blinked. Had Snape not mentioned the feather fiasco? Wouldn’t Remus know about his capture in Hogwarts? Unless… unless Dumbledore never told the Order. And wasn’t that a sticky question… “Um, well, let’s just say that before my magics were unbalanced and now they aren’t.”
The werewolf nodded thoughtfully, sipping at his drink. “Speaking of necromancy, did you hear about what happened at Hogwarts?”
Cyrus blinked innocently. “Hm? What happened?”
Remus chuckled. “Well, looking back on it it’s rather funny, but the wizarding world was in an uproar for a couple of days before Dumbledore smoothed things over.” When Cyrus wore a ‘confused’ expression, the werewolf elaborated, “There was a dead basilisk on the loose in Hogwarts. Needless to say, many parents were incredibly angry. No one knows how it even got there, and it didn’t hurt anyone except for the occasional student nearly trampled by their peers, but it took nearly the entire staff casting fiendfyre to get rid of it.” The wolf grinned darkly. “I can just imagine Dumbledore running around like a headless chicken. I bet it didn’t happen, but I’d still pay money to see something like it.”
Cyrus laughed nervously. “Yeah, me too. It’d be funny to see him off of that high horse of his.”
“Yes. I’m surprised, though, that you never heard anything about it. Doesn’t Shikaan carry the news? The latest Prophet is on the counter if you’d like to take a look at it. I haven’t read it yet, so let me know if there’s anything useful to know.” By this time, they’d gravitated into the kitchen and Remus handed him the paper as he prepared some coffee.
Cyrus took it with a grin. “Thanks. They have multiple subscriptions, but they only bring in one Prophet each day because the paper is complete rubbish, and by the third person reading it it’s about burnt to a crisp. I’ve only ever gotten my hands on a few.”
The werewolf laughed. “If only I could do that with all of my papers. Unfortunately, I have to keep my eyes on the politics going on around us. Besides, it helps to know when some werewolves have been wrongly imprisoned, because then Severus and I get them out again.”
Cyrus’s eyebrows rose. “Really? You and Snape are running an un underground railroad?”
“Something like that. What did you want for dinner?”
The human blinked at the abrupt change of conversation. “Uh, I dunno. Steak? Haven’t had a good steak in a while.”
Remus smiled and finished off his scotch. “Steak it is. Did you want to cook it yourself or would you like me to?”
Cyrus shrugged. “Whatever works for you. I could go study, or if you want some downtime, I could cook.”
The werewolf smiled. “Ah, that’s alright. I’ll cook tonight. You’ve only just gotten back, after all.”
“Thanks.” He plunked himself down at the kitchen table with his Prophet and gratefully accepted a cup of tea. Unrolling the paper with one hand, he sipped at his drink and nearly spewed it all over the table at the title.
The Boy-Who-Lived the Next You-Know-Who? Disturbing Events at Hogwarts
In an earth shattering press conference today, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry released daunting information about our well-loved savior! Apparently it has been determined by parties involved that Harry Potter was directly involved in the rampaging dead basilisk nearly a week ago!
According to Dumbledore, Potter returned to Hogwarts on a mission as of yet undetermined. This will both relieve and worry readers, for now we know that Potter has not been abducted, but instead chose to leave himself! What was he doing in Hogwarts? Was it his intention to endanger the student population? Was he responsible for the disappearance of one Ronald Weasley? Where is he now? These are questions that we ask and may never find answers to, now that the Boy-Who-Lived has disappeared once more.
If Potter was indeed involved with the tragic property destruction at Hogwarts a week ago, what does this mean? Did he have outside help raising the basilisk from the dead, or did he do it himself? Is he the next You-Know-Who in the making? Has he abandoned the Light and turned to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? If you have any information concerning the missing Boy-Who-Lived, please forward your information to the Auror’s department at the Ministry of Magic.
Cyrus swore viciously under his breath, tossing the paper down on the table and drinking from his tea. Of course Dumbledore forgot to mention that he had locked Cyrus in a bloody dungeon! And he wasn’t sure whether Weasley came down to torture him for his own amusement or had timely nudging in the right direction, but the ‘Light’ was in no way innocent in this incident! It pissed him off that they only had one side of the story, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to put himself on the interview chopping block.
While he was quietly fuming to himself, Remus had put down his knife and picked up the paper to read. When he finished, he smacked it down on the table and gave Cyrus a look.
The human couldn’t hold back his snarl. “Don’t give me that crap, Remus. It was Dumbledore’s goddamn fault I had to use a dead basilisk to escape his bloody dungeons.”
Surprisingly calm, Remus sat himself down at the table and poured himself a cup of tea. “I’m not saying anything until you give me the whole story.” He looked up sharply. “Everything. Now.”
So Cyrus told him about the feather, Dumbledore’s betrayal – again – and Ron’s part in the event. The werewolf remained impartial until the very end, set down his cup of tea, and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.
“You get into as much trouble as your father,” he muttered under his breath. Cyrus couldn’t help but crack a small smile at that. “Well, first of all, I would have liked to have found this out from you, and not the Prophet, but Severus is going to get into just as much shit as you for keeping this from me.” He shook his head, disappointment shining in his eyes. “I can’t believe Ron Weasley capable of the Cruciatus curse. He was brought up in a Light family! Every moral he would have been taught should have protected him from the Dark Arts.” He ran a hand over his face.
Cyrus snorted. “Like the Blacks and Sirius?” Remus flinched, but Cyrus ploughed on, ignoring the wound that opened in his chest thinking about Sirius. He’d managed to ignore his pain for the past months, as he was too busy with his studies to let himself get depressed, but… He shook his head, pushing such negative thoughts away. “Just because you’re raised in a Light or Dark family doesn’t mean that you’ll follow that path. I don’t know when R- Weasley started learning Dark Arts, but he had enough skill with the Cruciatus to hold it for a couple minutes, Remus.” He bit his lip and frowned. “When I tried to cast it, I couldn’t get it for a few seconds.”
Remus looked up sharply at that. “When did you try to cast a Cruciatus curse, Cyrus?”
Shifting nervously in his seat, he took a sip of tea. “After Sirius… fell through the veil. I hated Bellatrix so much… but even then I couldn’t get the spell to work. I mean, I can cast Avada Kedavra now, but I don’t think I could pull off a Crucio.” He shook his head and glanced up from his tea.
Remus was very pale. “C-cyrus, when did you learn Avada Kedavra?”
“After my first Necromancy class. We couldn’t find my death magic, so Yankovich had me try the spell.” He shrugged. “It worked just fine.”
The werewolf was staring at him incredulously. “ ‘Worked just fine’? Cyrus, do you have any idea the amount of power and experience with the Dark Arts it takes to cast that spell?”
Cyrus raised an eyebrow. “Remus, I’m a necromancer. Death is my thing. And besides, we’re learning Dark Arts in DATD.”
“What’s DATD?”
“Dark Arts and Their Defense. This is Shikaan we’re talking about, Remus. They don’t play nice.” He took a sip of tea. “They teach us how to learn Dark magic without losing ourselves in it, Remus. We’re taught how to fight the addiction from the very beginning. I mean, there are a few people who had Dark Arts experience before Shikaan, and some of them have far more difficulties than the rest of us, but if they’re addicted to Dark magic then the teacher just shows them how to control that addiction in safe ways. As far as I know, none of them are going out and torturing muggles for fun.” He scowled.
Remus sighed. “I understand, I just… I still worry about you. Even Severus, with his taste for Dark magic…” He frowned. “It worries me. Sometimes… sometimes I think he actually enjoys it. What they do in Voldemort’s circle. And other times I think he’s going mad from the stress.” He ran a hand over his face and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes.
Cyrus frowned. What were you supposed to say to that? I’m sorry? He didn’t actually know Snape all that well, when he thought about it. Remus and Snape were his pseudo guardians, but he never got to spend much time with them. He liked them, but… he didn’t think they were like a ‘normal’ family. No, not really.
“I’m sure Snape can take care of himself,” he said softly, tying to be consoling. It didn’t seem to help, but Remus gave him a tired smile and started cooking again. Feeling awkward, Cyrus mumbled that he was going to his room to study and beat it.
‘Why worry about things you have no control over?’ he tried to consol himself, but even in his thoughts he didn’t sound convinced.
oOo
Snape didn’t make it home for a few days, so both Remus and Cyrus kept their eyes glued to the papers for Death Eater news. When every Order meeting Remus was called to didn’t produce any more fruit, either, they began to worry.
It was Christmas Eve when the letter came by owl.
It seemed inconspicuous enough, at first. Cyrus, who was reading one of the runes books he’d removed from his library before Tara had gotten her hands on it, was sitting in front of the fire in the living room when Remus opened the window to let the bird in. He remained unconcerned at the arrival until the brandy glass in Remus’s hand shattered.
Immediately, Cyrus was on his feet and moving towards the werewolf, book forgotten on the floor. He stopped a few feet away from Remus, wary of the gold eyes and the look of positive fury on Remus’s face.
“How dare he?!” the older man growled, tightening his hand on the shards of glass in his palm until blood started dripping to the floor. Carefully, Cyrus took the fist into his hand and gently pried it open. Wandlessly removing the glass shards, he used the knowledge he had obtained from Healing class to heal the cuts. He vanished the blood and glass.
“What happened?” Cyrus asked, releasing the healed hand that had tightened into a fist once more.
“Fenrir. That’s what happened. That… that… argh!” He grabbed the brandy bottle and threw it into the fire. It hit the back of the fireplace with a satisfying crack, the alcohol sparking the flame brighter for a moment before the fuel was consumed.
“Remus? What happened,” Cyrus asked more urgently. He wanted in the loop. Now.
“Fenrir has Severus. He’s threatening that if I don’t return to the pack and defend my position as beta, he’s going to kill my mate!”
Cyrus frowned, completely confused. “Beta?”
Remus ran an angry and shaking hand through his hair. “I killed the old beta a few weeks ago by accident. I haven’t been back to a gathering since, to either take up my new position or to let someone fight me for it.”
The human raised an eyebrow. “How do you kill a werewolf by accident?”
Remus gave him a withering look. “Warrick pissed me off during the last full moon. He always had a big mouth. And a big appetite, for little girls. Something he picked up from Fenrir, I’m sure, except Fenrir leans towards the little boys. Warrick would hunt them down, terrify them, and then rape them before turning them. If they survived, great, if they didn’t, he couldn’t give two shits. He deserved what he got!” Golden eyes were glowing furiously.
Cyrus held up submissive hands. “I’m not arguing with you. Sounds like a real piece of work. I’m sure he got every bit he deserved. The question is, how are we going to deal with Fenrir taking Snape?”
Remus paced the room in agitation. “I don’t know. I mean, how did he even capture Severus in the first place? A vampire, even one not completely Shikaan trained, is no easy capture. They must have surprised him. Or caught him while he was wounded during a raid.”
Cyrus fingered his death wand. “We shouldn’t make any assumptions until we have the facts, Remus. Does it matter if we know how they caught him? How does that help us rescue him? We need to know facts. Where is Fenrir’s hideout. How many werewolves does he have in his pack. Who are the most dangerous that we need to pay special care in dealing with. Do they have Snape with them, or is he subdued at a different location?”
Remus, who had stopped halfway through his tirade, was staring at him as if he’d never seen him before.
Cyrus’s eyebrow twitched irritably. “Stop staring at me like doe in front of the head lights and start helping me answer some of these questions! We need a plan if we’re going to get Snape back. Snap out of this angry prowling of yours and use your common sense!”
The glow of Remus’s eyes faded slightly as he got himself under control. “Y-yes. Yes, you’re right.” He ran a hand through his hair again and chuckled nervously. There was a newfound respect in his eyes as he looked at Cyrus now. “You sure have grown in three and a half months.”
Cyrus smiled half-heartedly. “Yeah, well, when nearly everyone’s out to get you or just out for themselves, you have to grow a little to survive.”
Remus shared his poor humour. “You shouldn’t shoot yourself down like that, Cyrus. You’re only sixteen, but you’re much farther along than many adults these days.” He shook his head and stared pensively at the fire. “And you’re right. We need a plan. No, I need a plan.”
Cyrus gave him a look. “I’m not letting you go and save Snape alone.” When Remus opened his mouth to argue, he unleashed his churning magic for a second before pulling it back under his skin. “While I may not be a Shikaan graduate, I’ve been training non stop for nearly the past four months. I am going to help you save Snape, or you’re going to find yourself tied in knots while I go to save Snape.” Cyrus grinned. “Fenrir isn’t going to expect you to bring help along.”
Remus looked highly disagreeable. “No, Fenrir wouldn’t expect me to bring company, but you can’t ask me to endanger a child!” At Cyrus’s furious look, he continued, “You are a child, Cyrus. You are an incredibly intelligent young man, but I can’t in good conscience bring you under the nose of one of the most dangerous predators known to wizarding society.”
Cyrus glared. “That’s not your decision to make!”
“As your guardian it is!”
“You aren’t legally my guardian!” Cyrus shouted, and Remus looked as if he’d slapped him with a two-by-four. “I don’t know who the fuck owns the leash of Harry Potter these days, but Cyrus Obsidian doesn’t exist! And I won’t let you just ignore the skills that I can bring to the table in the mission to save Snape! You’ll have to tie me up in the basement to leave me behind!”
Before Cyrus caught the motion with his eyes, a red stunner was flying his way. Moving on instinct pounded into his muscles and subconscious from the hellish Weapons and Battle classes he’d been scraping by in, he jumped to the side and rolled behind the sofa. He had both wands in his hands before he even consciously thought to draw them. Opening his awareness as they’d been learning how to do in Wandless Magic class, he felt for oncoming spells even as he pointed both wands over the sofa and cast blindly. Hearing Remus jump to the left to dodge, he stuck his head over the couch and started casting multiple spells at once, with both wands, something he’d been practicing for the last week since he’d gotten his phoenix feather back. He wasn’t that good at it yet, but he knew enough paired castings to have Remus cussing like a sailor from behind his breaking shield.
When it looked like Remus was going to retaliate, Cyrus was already casting a shield with his right and stunners and non life-threatening Dark spells with his left. He didn’t know how long the duel went on for, but most of the living room was destroyed before Cyrus finally managed to surprise Remus with a wandless restriction spell as he pretended to cast something else with his wand. The werewolf hit the ground with growl, wand flying out of his hand from the disarming spell Cyrus had cast at him next. Casting a few more restraining and rope spells, he was finally satisfied with Remus’s surrender.
Still standing a food distance away, not wanting to chance Remus’s werewolf side at that moment, Cyrus called, “Do you yield?”
Remus started laughing, making Cyrus concerned for his sanity.
“Well?” he asked impatiently, summoning Remus’s wand to him with a flick of his wand. He kept himself at the ready in case the werewolf pulled something tricky.
The werewolf was still laughing, the yellow glow of his eyes eerie in the dim lighting. “Did you really think you beat a fully trained adult, Cyrus?”
Green eyes widened in shock as his spells were broken easily with a backup wand and Remus was on him, arms hitting his wands out of his hands like steal bars. He heard a crack and then he was on the floor, bound, and in pain from the ropes holding his arms tightly to his sides. Hissing at the pain, he stared up past the wand inches from his face into angry golden eyes.
“I am not bringing you along, Cyrus. You will remain here as I fetch Snape.”
Cyrus barely had time to put a tracking spell on him before he disapparated with an angry crack. Swearing under his breath, he removed the ropes with wandless magic and started healing his broken arm, having to shift it back into alignment after Remus’s spell had nearly made the bone pierce through his skin.
It took him a few moments to heal the damage, but after he finished, he flexed his hand carefully and squeezed his arm experimentally. When there was no lingering pain, he summoned his wands from where they had fallen and jabbed them back into their respective holsters. Feet slamming against the floor, he stomped up to his room to get out his battle gear.
He wasn’t going to let Remus foolishly run into a hostile situation without backup.
He ran over mission preparation 101 in his mind as he changed out of his leisure clothes and into his basilisk armour. Welkins had been pounding tactics into their heads for months, now. Prepare for shit, cuz the shit always hits the fan. Always bring healing potions, poisons, weapons, portkeys to be taken by the enemy, backup portkeys, backup backup portkeys, someone who knows where the hell you are in case they need to go searching for your carcass… the list went on, and as he hadn’t learned how to make a portkey yet (they were supposed to learn it soon, but obviously not soon enough for Cyrus), he had to forgo that safety precaution.
He was really glad now that he had packed everything he might need just in case.
Like Welkins always said. Shit that can fly, will fly.
It took him ten minutes to change into his basilisk armour and secret away all his blades and potions. It took him another two minutes to cast every single spell he knew to hide him from eyes, ears, and snouts. He knew, though, that if he wasn’t careful snapping twigs could still give away his location. He’d learned that the hard way during one of Welkin’s drills of ‘capture the flag’, or in this case, ‘capture the student’. So far Cyrus had been lucky enough to avoid that honour. He didn’t like the idea of being knocked unconscious and dragged around like rag doll.
He apparated, following the tracking spell he’d cast on Remus before the werewolf’s half-crazed escape.
oOo
Cyrus swore viciously in his mind as he snapped another twig. This was getting ridiculous. He was going to be discovered by werewolves long before he arrived at the camp. Examining the ground even more carefully, he tried to follow Remus trail through the woods. Intellectually he knew that Remus was worried about his mate, but did he really have to move so bloody fast? On the bright side, Remus didn’t know he was being followed because he was too far ahead to hear all the noise Cyrus was making.
Biting his lip to hold back more complaints, he nearly sighed with relief when he caught sight of bodies through the brush. Finally. Moving off the path, he carefully maneuvered himself into a good position to spy from.
Damn if he was going to break another twig and fuck up the whole rescue operation.
Cyrus carefully started picking his way through the brush, recasting his silencing charm as a precaution. He could hear Snape’s snarky voice coming from the right, so he headed in that direction. He caught sight of Remus pummeling a werewolf into the ground and proceeded to ignore him. Remus could take care of himself. Cyrus was there to free Snape, so they could all go on their merry way and get the fuck out of there.
“Ah ah. Careful Lupin. You get within ten feet of him and they’ll cut off his head. No vampire can survive that. You’re going to keep fighting challengers until you are defeated, or your authority as beta is cemented.”
At this time Cyrus had caught sight of Snape, who was chained to a boulder buried deep into the ground. He frowned. What kind of chains could keep Snape restrained? Activating his rune sight with a blink, he ‘zoomed in’ on the shackles to check for magic. His eyebrows climbed. Where the hell had Fenrir gotten that spellwork done? It was obviously custom-made and designed. Each spell and sub-spell had been woven almost artfully together, all of them keeping Snape restrained, slightly docile, unable to feel hunger, and unable to draw on a single drop of magic.
All which spoke of careful planning – something Fenrir didn’t seem capable of. So, if Fenrir hadn’t thought up this ingenious plan, who the fuck had?
“Why did you kidnap my mate?” Cyrus heard Remus growl as he tuned back into the conversation.
“You know why, Remus. He was the easiest way to get you back here. You are the beta of this pack until someone defeats or kills you.” A wheezing laugh. “Now, onto your next challenger. Redmoon here’s been itching to take a piece out of you for weeks.”
Cyrus stuck his head around a tree trunk to get a better look at the werewolf that stepped forward with a manic grin on his face. His eyebrows rose in surprise as he saw the wolf change his hands into claws. He’d seen werewolves at Shikaan transform multiple body parts during all phases of the moon, but he’d never seen Remus do it. This could get ugly.
Cyrus looked at Remus, then at Snape. He could break the spells on the chains easily enough, if he found the right sequence he could make the whole thing collapse. If he didn’t get the right one, someone might notice his tampering before Snape could break free. Reactivating his rune sight, he started delving into the enchantment with a critical eye.
It was difficult to concentrate on the spells when he could hear Remus kicking ass and getting his own ass beat. He was probably exhausted. Most of the time he couldn’t tell who hit who, but the occasional unfamiliar grunts had his hopes rising. And every time he heard Remus hiss or grunt in pain, every muscle in his bodied tightened and demanded he do something. He had to continuously remind himself of his mission.
Once Snape was free, the pack was fair game.
There had been a couple of Dark curses he’d been wanting to try out, but hadn’t been able to find a guinea pig for. He consoled himself with images of Redmoon’s thighs being flayed into strings of beef as he began dismantling the spell.
He hit a snag halfway through destroying the main command sequence, but was quick to recover. He knew the exact moment his patience had paid off, as metal cracked and a jugular was severed to spray blood in a parody of a water fountain all across Snape’s tattered robes.
Letting his rune sight fall away, normal light came back into focus in red. The werewolves were running about, trying to restrain Snape and getting batted away like flies. Snape was pissed, but even Cyrus could see he was tired and beginning to weaken as a werewolf got in a lucky shot and brought him to his knees. Before anyone knew what was happening, Cyrus had released a salvo of Dark curses, manipulating their paths as they flew to hit the dodging Weres. Screams and howls ripped through the air as Cyrus cast spell after spell with his death stick, the sheer power of the wand quickly overwhelming the shields of the few wizards and witches among the werewolves who had been smart enough to draw their wands. His position was quickly discovered, however, so he escaped the trees and brush that could give away his position and got onto open ground, casting curses the entire time.
A glance to the left showed that Remus was still fighting Redmoon. Cyrus quickly turned his attention back to the mob of werewolves charing in his direction and conjured a wall of silver needles, sending them wave by wave into the masses. There were so bloody many…
An arm smacked into his back and sent him tumbling forward, swearing under his breath as his position was given away.
“He’s over here! Kill him! Kill hi-“
He gutted the werewolf, cutting off the voice with a gurgled moan. The body hit the ground with a thump and a mess of blood and intestines, and Cyrus tore his eyes away from the sight just in time to see the mob nearly upon him. Apparating silently, he moved to the edge of the clearing away from the crowd and started casting more spells from afar. A quick glance at Remus showed him using martial arts training to overtake his adversary, as the other Were apparently had no experience other than to hit hard and fast. When Remus finally had Redmoon on the ground, Cyrus moved quickly through the confused werewolves in search of Snape. Remus was holding up, but he was worried for the vampire. He probably hadn’t eaten in days.
Dodging around silver-spike laden bodies, he nearly cursed as he saw most of them pulling out the weapons and beginning to heal. Apparently he had to go for the kill. The fuckers were like cockroaches. No matter how much metal he put in them, they just didn’t die. Using progressively darker and darker curses, he started knocking bodies down with sprays of blood and screams of pain as flesh was shredded and burned. The scent of death filled his nostrils as he made his way towards Snape, who was being held to the ground and cut up with claws.
The werewolf on his back didn’t know what hit him. One moment he was torturing his victim, and the next his bones had melted under his skin and he fell to the side with a howl of agony. Helping Snape to his feet, Cyrus tried to lead him away from the battle, casting spells left and right as he was forced to sheath his phoenix wand to hold Snape’s arm over his shoulder.
It was stupid of him to forget to cast an invisibility charm on Snape. Perhaps it was his lack of battle experience, but his inattention cost him.
A fist landed on his spine, sending him careening forward and into the ground. Hearing something crack, and a peculiar tingle race down his legs, his eyes widened in realization. He’d been hit hard enough to cause nerve damage. Rolling over quickly, he barely managed to avoid the foot that planted itself exactly where his ass had just been. He caught sight of yellow eyes and a sickly smile before he apparated again, this time into the woods a distance away where he could fix his back, swearing under his breath as he was forced to leave Snape behind. Slipping into a healing trance, he examined this wound with his senses and quickly sent his magic to work, healing the fractures in his spine and maneuvering the disks back into alignment.
It hurt like a bitch, but the tingles slowly faded as he repaired the nearly severed nerve.
That had been a close call. If Fenrir had punched him any harder, he’d be paralyzed and probably dead on the ground a minute ago.
Apparating back into the battle, he grimaced at the sight of Remus and Snape both on their knees in front of Fenrir. The expression on the Alpha’s face could only be described as glee.
“-ver liked you, Lupin. You never fit into this pack, did you? Always trying so hard to mingle with the humans. What made you choose them, Lupin, over your own pack?”
Remus spat blood onto the ground, and Cyrus could see blood trickling from his healing split lip.
“You’re a barbaric monster, Greyback, who happily indulges in biting and raping children for your own amusement. Why the hell would I ever willingly join a bastard like you?”
Fenrir’s lips drew back in a snarl, and Cyrus was already formulating a plan to try and get them out of this mess. “Do you think your little invisible friend will save you, Lupin? I heard his bones break. He’s not going to help you now, wherever he ran off to.” He raised his clawed hand and flexed it, muscles and tendons showing under the pale and hairy skin. Cyrus wondered if he chose to never completely change back into a human on purpose. “I had high hopes for you, Lupin. Though I shouldn’t be surprised you fell through again.” When he raised his clawed hand to deal the deathblow, Cyrus was already sneaking forward. Crouched on the ground, all of his subterfuge spells still active, he hovered both hands over the back of Fenrir’s thighs and cut with his magic. Before the werewolf could react, Cyrus was kicking his legs out from under him and he fell to the ground. Before he hit the dirt, Remus had a clawed hand buried wrist-deep in his chest.
Silence.
Cyrus kept his eyes wide open, ready for attack, but Remus seemed entirely unconcerned as he pulled Fenrir’s heart out of his chest and held it in the air.
“Your Alpha is dead. What will you do now, Pack of the Waning Moon?”
Cyrus watched in complete astonishment as one by one, the werewolves in question got down on their knees and bared their throat to Remus. A quick glance to Snape showed the vampire watching the proceedings with amusement in spite of his multiple wounds, not the least bit confused as to what the hell had just happened.
“Who will you appoint as beta?” a daring Were asked from the crowd.
Remus frowned, deep in thought. Cyrus wondered if he’d be able to hold up under the pressure of Alpha. “Blacktide. She will be beta until a… ranking night is set. For now, I want you all to go home and meet back here tomorrow night. We’ll… figure everything out then.” He turned to Snape and pulled the vampire to his feet. He ran a caring, bloody hand over the hard features for a moment before seeming to remember where they were.
“C- My invisible friend, meet us ba- at you-know-where.” With that said, Remus and Snape disapparated with a crack.
Cyrus was quick to follow, not wanting to stare at the blood pool of blood soaking into the ground under Greyback’s corpse.
oOo
“You IDIOT! What were you thinking you foolish mortal?! Were you trying to get yourself KILLED?!”
Cyrus glared at the raging vampire as he poured himself a glass of milk. He was tired, cranky, and had nearly been killed ten minutes earlier. He was in no mood to fight off Snape as well.
“I did what I had to, you overgrown bat! And stop complaining, because if it hadn’t been for me dismantling those chains, you’d still be tied to that bloody rock! And probably DEAD to boot!” He took an angry gulp of milk and started fixing himself a snack. He was hungry.
“That is no excuse for your idiocy! If-“
“Just stop right there! I am a Shikaan student, not a bloody invalid. I may not be as experienced as you, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit here and hope both my guardians survived the night in one piece!”
Snape frowned and turned to Remus, who was sitting quietly at the table and staring at his hands. He’d cleaned them with charms and soapy water, but didn’t seem to believe they were quite clean yet. “You let a Shikaan freshman follow you into that disaster?”
Remus sent the agitated vampire an annoyed look. “I did no such thing. He must have followed me after I apparated.” Here he focused on Cyrus, his eyes flashing with agitation before they softened slightly. “He was invaluable, though, Severus. I…” His voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “I’m not sure if we would have survived the night if it wasn’t for his disobedience.”
Snape looked completely taken aback. “You’re defending him?”
The werewolf raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t about who takes whose side, Severus, this is about complicated circumstances and an unusual solution. You may not want to admit this, but he’s extremely adept for someone who has only been in Shikaan for four months. I may not have wanted him to come, but he saved both our lives just now!” Snape’s thin lips twitched, and Remus seemed to read something more in the vampire’s expression than Cyrus could, because his eyes widened before narrowing. “You can’t possibly be jealous, Severus!”
The vampire’s eyes narrowed to slits as he hissed. “I am no such thing!”
Now Remus looked amused. “Of course you’re not. My mistake. You’re angry because Cyrus saved our lives, not because of your own short comings.”
Cyrus winced as Snape’s expression turned glacial.
“How did they manage to capture you, Snape? You’re a Death Eater. You went to Shikaan for a full year before dropping out and returning to Hogwarts. You know more Dark spells than anyone I’ve ever met, and you’ve got the strength and senses of a vampire. How did they get their hands on you?”
Snape crossed his arms in agitation and moved to stand by the window and glare venomously at his own reflection. “They… they poisoned my food supply.” Cyrus watched as Remus’s eyebrows climbed into his hairline. “I was leaving the apothecary in Knockturn Alley when I caught sight of a whore disappearing into one of the alleys. I hadn’t eaten in three days, as I was locked up in Voldemort’s dungeons brewing potions for his army. The wolves took advantage of this… She was a ploy the entire time. They hoped that I would see her as an easy target and take a pint, so they drugged her with an herb that’s debilitating to vampires and bribed her to follow their plan. I didn’t wake up for a day, and when I did they had those chains on me…” Absently, Snape began to rub his wrists. “I’ve never experienced such a complete repression of my vampiric and magical abilities before…”
Remus stood from the table and went over to Snape, wrapping his arms around the vampire’s waist and burrowing his face into Snape’s lanky and dirty hair. Cyrus tried not to think of the oil and potions fumes that must be stinking it up something nasty and failed miserably. Remus didn’t seem to mind at all.
“I’m sorry, Severus.”
Cyrus snuck out of the room to leave them alone, taking his snack with him. He hoped the reaming was done for one day.
oOo
Christmas day was uneventful in comparison to its eve, but it was a pleasant change of pace. Cyrus let himself sleep in until 9, having cast a silencing charm the night before just in case. He didn’t want to think about it.
When he stumbled down the stairs that morning, a yawn making his jack crack uncomfortably, the sight of a tree decorated the wizard-style and the many presents underneath had him freezing on the last few steps. He stared into the living room in confusion, wondering where the hell so many presents had come from. The tree he could understand. Remus was probably capable of decorating a tree in minutes with his wand, but the presents? They were quite… numerous. And unexpected. And it made Cyrus uncomfortable, as he was now unsure whether the gifts he had bought during the past couple weeks were adequate.
“Good morning, Cyrus,” Remus greeted cheerfully from where he sat in front of the fire, a steaming cup of cocoa in hand and an open bottle of fire whisky on the table. ‘He probably spiked his drink,’ Cyrus thought absently to himself as he went down the last couple stairs.
“Morning, Remus.” He glanced around. “Where’s Snape?”
Remus looked amused. “He’s downstairs in the cellar, brewing. After you didn’t wake up at 6, like usual, we chose to entertain ourselves until you decided to get out of bed.” He smiled. “You did seem rather tired, yesterday. I hope there were no lasting injuries?”
Cyrus shook his head. “No. I healed the worst of the damage when I strategically retreated. Fenrir managed to crack a few disks in my spinal column.” He sat across from the werewolf, basking in the warmth of the fire as he poured himself a cup of cocoa from the steaming pot and poured in some fire whisky. Remus didn’t stop him from so obviously drinking, but he might have been more occupied with his concern.
“He nearly broke your spine?! Why didn’t you tell us yesterday?”
Cyrus shrugged. “You were busy. It’s been a rough week. The damage was taken care of, so I didn’t think it was urgent or anything. You and Snape needed… time alone.”
Remus’s face turned slightly red at that, and Cyrus pretended not to notice as he sipped his spiked cocoa.
“When’s Snape coming up?”
“Now, Mr. Obsidian.”
Cyrus’s lips twitched in amusement at the address. “Really, Snape, you’d think you could call me Cyrus. I haven’t been your student for a couple months now.”
The vampire looked slightly pained, but eventually nodded his head. “Very well. You may call me… Severus, if you wish.”
Cyrus nodded, testing the name in his mind. It would be hard to adjust to. Severus sounded too silky for the vampire’s abrasive and snappish personality. “So, are we going to unravel the gifts now or indulge in breakfast?”
Remus smiled. “Whatever you want, Cyrus. Severus and I have already eaten, and there’s some leftover fruit in the fridge if you’d like something to snack on.”
Cyrus shrugged. “I’m sure I can throw breakfast together in five minutes if you guys don’t mind waiting.” The two adults shook their heads, so Cyrus headed into the kitchen. “I’ll have to go get your presents from upstairs, too, before we start,” he called behind him as got out a pan and started frying some eggs and toasting some bread.
After his empty stomach was filled and the gifts were retrieved from his duffel, Cyrus let himself sit back down in the plush chair in front of the fire as Severus and Remus argued about which present Cyrus was going to open first. He closed his eyes and relaxed, the pleasant bantering comfortable along with the gentle cracking of the fire. After a minute of debate, a small parcel as big as his hand was placed in front of him. Raising an eyebrow at the two faces, both with varying degrees of (visual) enthusiasm, he read the address on the top of the parcel and blinked. This one was from Sna- er, Severus. Carefully unwrapping the paper, he took his time unveiling the gift and ended up staring in incomprehension as he pulled off the lid and saw a stylishly simple chain bracelet sitting on black velvet. He looked up at the vampire with an enquiring look.
Severus’s lips twitched, and Cyrus could see a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. Or maybe it was just the light of the fire. “It’s a potions bracelet, Ob- Cyrus. Each gemmed chain link has a variation of the bottomless spell on it. As you may notice, it would be easy for a standard-sized vial to be slid into the opening. After you do this, a stone appears to seal the vial inside. When you wish to use the potion, simply press on the stone and it will eject.”
Cyrus was now staring in shock. “Th-thank you! This is so… so cool.” He grinned. “Now I won’t have to carry my potions inside my boot!”
Remus chuckled softly and held out another gift. “Here. This one’s from me.”
Cyrus took it with a grin as he wandlessly maneuvered the bracelet around his wrist and clasped shut. Less careful with this one, he ripped off the packaging of what was obviously a book and stared in shock at the title underneath. Remus had managed to find a runes text on ancient Egyptian wards and curses. Grinning broadly, he couldn’t help but give the werewolf a heart-felt hug.
“Now I want you two to open your gifts!” He grabbed the two haphazardly packaged presents from the coffee table and shoved them at his guardians.
Remus was the first to open his, his lips quirked slightly as it, too, was obviously a book. When he pulled off the wrapping, however, his amused smile was replaced by a look of shock as he saw the title.
“I wasn’t sure what exactly you knew about werewolves, because the textbooks from Hogwarts’s DADA class were grossly inaccurate compared what I found at Shikaan, so I figured this book might be of some use to you. I don’t know why some werewolves don’t seem to suffer the full moon as you do, but I was hoping you might be able to glean something from this book. Xanthir suggested it to me.”
As Remus was now reading the contents page in fascination, Severus was the first to speak. “Who is Xanthir?”
Cyrus grinned. “He’s one of my friends at Shikaan. We met when he asked me to help him with his Runes homework. He’s a great guy. Really energetic.”
Severus looked amused. “Werewolf?”
Cyrus looked sheepish. “Er, yeah. Sorry, didn’t I say that?”
“No.”
The human shrugged. “Oops. Now, open your gift, Sn- Severus.”
The vampire raised an eyebrow and slit the paper with letter opener. Typical Snape. Cyrus stared as the paper was pulled off easily, revealing a box. Lifting the latch on the lid, he opened the wooden case and stared down at the contents inside.
“I, er, figured you couldn’t be unhappy with potions stuff, so I decided to go with that instead of being adventurous.” He grinned. “The shopkeeper said it would keep for a few months before going bad. Something about not being able to put stasis charms on them?” He shrugged. “I’m not that well-versed at potions, so I just asked for whatever he had that was rarest. I figured shopping in the Other Realm would get me something that you wouldn’t be able to easily get your hands on.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “It’s good, right? I wasn’t duped? Because they cost a lot of-“
“Cyrus.” The human stopped blathering and looked into Severus’s amused black eyes. “Thank you. They are a wonderful present.”
Remus was grinning. “Oh, he admitted he liked them. You must have done well, Cyrus.”
The human perked up even more. “Really?”
Remus took a glance inside. “I don’t even recognize what they are. That gets you points.
Cyrus grinned. It was panning out to be a wonderful Christmas.
oOo
When Cyrus returned to Shikaan a week later to rejoin the student population, it was with a light heart and a clear head. The time off had done wonders to rest his taxed mind, even though he had studied and trained during his free time, and now he was ready for the rest of his grueling school year.
He was whistling ‘White Christmas’ softly to himself as he apparated into his room, and was therefore understandably surprised when a throat cleared. He dropped his duffel and whipped around, wands raised in startled surprise at the intruder. None other that Yankovich was sitting at his measly table, legs crossed and a decidedly odd expression on his face. Just as Cyrus was about to ask what the hell the demon was doing in his room, the teacher spoke.
“I need the assistance of Harry Potter.”
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