Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Survival of the fittest	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 18501 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor profit from it. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Author's note: Well, at least this time it didn't take an entire month to update? *coughs* Sorry, during the day I'm busy studying for my exams, so I only have the nights to work on the fic.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: So, next week I have to start retaking the exams I failed. My last exam is on the first of September. You probably are bracing yourselves for a long period of no updates. Well, this time it'll be different! You see, normally the quest would be put in one chapter. BUT! The chapter grew quite long, so I decided to cut it into two parts (which explains why this chapter is rather shorter than the previous one). Anyway, the next chapter is almost finished, so in two weeks (the end of August, so right before my last exam), you'll be getting the next chapter!

This means you'll only have to wait two weeks for the next chapter :)
Anon: The title wasn't chosen to reflect the offspring aspect. I chose it in the sense that only the strongest person (in this story referring to the magical capabilities) will survive their last battle. (Admittedly, I'm not really creative when it comes to titles)
Warnings: A bit of drama; spell and curse violence; a rather flirty Lucius (*coughs* Don't look at me, the chapter wrote itself like that)
I hope you'll like this chapter!

Chapter 19: Helpful Hufflepuff and Precarious Potions Part 3
"Dumbledore's house?" Harry repeated weakly and felt his heart starting to beat quicker, while his hands became clammy.
Snape nodded slowly. "He hasn't been there in years as far as I can remember. Said something about the place having bad memories. I only know the coordinates, because I once had to go there to report on the Dark Lord's whereabouts." A faint grimace tainted his mouth at the mention of Voldemort.
"It does make sense why he chose that place," Remus murmured thoughtfully. "If he hasn't been there in years, he probably thought people wouldn't think of searching there for a portrait."
"Is it a manor?" Draco furrowed his eyebrows and sneaked his hand over Harry's, gripping it softly.
"No, just a regular house. It's a Muggle neighbourhood and it doesn't contain a lot of wards either," Snape replied and his eyes were trained on the map. "Then again, he could have changed those since the last time I visited him. Especially because he would need to protect something as important as a Founder's portrait."
"So Rowena is hidden away in the house of the person you want to Bind?" Gryffindor remarked and clucked his tongue. "He certainly knows how to pick the places, the bastard."
"Makes one wonder where he has hidden our dear Helga," Slytherin murmured and his eyes had a distant sheen over them.
"Let's concentrate on finding Ravenclaw first," Sirius said brusquely and glanced at his godson. "Harry, are you okay?"
Harry looked up startled. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," he muttered and rubbed his arm.
To be honest, he didn't know what to feel about the fact that he would need to enter Dumbledore's house in order to find Ravenclaw. Would it be safe to enter? How many traps would Dumbledore have put up? What would happen once they were there? His own family manor had given him trouble to enter and he had been largely helped by the fact that house elves were still present and the manor recognized him as the heir.
How much trouble would they land in by entering Dumbledore's house?
"You'll be okay, Harry, you'll see," Luna murmured next to him and she gave him a big, almost blinding smile.
He returned her smile with a weak one of his own.
The meeting was soon wrapped up. Remus mentioned he would talk to McGonagall and ask her when they would be able to leave and the three students left the room together with Snape.
The Potions Master gave them a short nod and silently walked away.
Luna surprised Harry by giving him a firm, but careful hug. "I'll see you next week, Harry," she smiled and then skipped away.
"Have I mentioned before how much she creeps me out at times?" Draco murmured and regarded her retreating figure warily.
Harry sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah, you might have mentioned it before, but you know she wouldn't harm me, Draco," he reminded the blond.
Draco sniffed. "Doesn't mean she can't be creepy at times."
Harry just rolled his eyes and started to walk away.
"She smells harmless," Ruby remarked casually.
"See, Draco, even Ruby thinks she's okay," Harry couldn't help but point out, making his lover roll his eyes this time.
"Only harmless to you two, though," Ruby continued dryly. "She smells dangerous when she's looking at some other people."
Harry didn't need to look at Draco to know that he was looking rather pointedly at him. "Oh, shut up," he groused and quickened his steps, while Draco followed him with a soft chuckle.

25th of January
Apparently McGonagall was very eager to have all the portraits gathered, because she gave them permission to leave the school a week later, again with the warning that they would have to be careful about sneaking out and sneaking back in.
"Are you feeling all right?" Draco asked worriedly and gazed at Harry from his spot on the bed.
Harry wriggled himself in a shirt, his fingers gliding over the buttons to slip them in the buttonholes. "We're planning to enter Dumbledore's house and encounter Merlin knows what, but apart from that, yeah, I'm feeling fine," he huffed and stared speculatively at his stomach. He had just entered his fifth month and his stomach had grown to be a noticeably rounded bulge. He still hadn't felt the baby moving, but he figured it wouldn't be long now. "I probably should start using that belt your mother purchased during the holidays," he muttered absentmindedly and touched his stomach for a few seconds.
"Yeah, you should," Draco agreed and stood up. He came to a stop behind Harry and slipped his arms around him, placing his chin on Harry's shoulder, while looking at their reflection in the mirror. "I'd rather you didn't join us today," he admitted and caressed his stomach. "I can't imagine it will be easy to walk into that house and to have you there in this condition …"
Harry sighed and patted the hand that was caressing him. "Do you think I haven't thought about that? I'd rather we didn't have to search through that house, but we don't have a choice."
"Mara and I will join you," Ruby informed them and rose up from his place on the floor, stretching his massive front paws during the progress. "Garin and Rowen will stay in the castle."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Will you two be able to Apparate with someone?"
Mara yawned and let out a soft snort. "We have our own manner of travelling," she replied haughtily.
"Why do I still ask?" Draco muttered and shook his head.
Harry caught a glimpse of the clock. "Let's go; it's nearly time to leave."
After patting Sapphire's head, making her growl sleepily, they left Harry's quarters and made their way to the Great Hall.
It was still relatively early – only seven o'clock; the sun had barely risen. They had chosen this hour, because they were less likely to be caught by students. During the weekends, the students who woke up early usually went to eat around eight, so this way nobody would see them leaving the castle. Both Draco and Harry had asked a house elf to bring breakfast to Harry's room and the house elf had been happy to comply.
Only Snape was already waiting near the alcove where they had agreed to meet.
"Your father is waiting outside the gates," he informed his godson curtly. Then he glanced at Harry and the small bag that hung over his shoulder. "What does that contain?"
"My Invisibility Cloak and the device that Narcissa lent to me," Harry answered, grabbing the bag tighter. "I figured that my Cloak could be useful today." He shrugged.
Snape merely nodded with a sigh.
"Harry!"
The small group tensed when they heard the familiar voice calling out and Harry turned around quickly.
"Luna, what are you doing here?" he asked confused.
Her bracelet with charms in the form of golden pyramids made a high bell like sound when she came to an abrupt stop in front of him.
"The air spirit came to talk to me yesterday," she smiled excitedly and dug into her large bag, pushing aside various little trinkets that were on the verge of spilling out. "Said I had to give you these."
Harry received a small, round vial filled with a thick, orange red potion and a larger, thin vial filled with a deep midnight purple coloured potion that seemed to be half liquid form, half gas form. He stared at them bewildered.
"Eh, thank you, Luna," he murmured, wondering why she would give him two potions and what their purpose was.
Instead of explaining their use, she merely smiled happily and then bent forwards so that Draco nor Snape could hear her say something.
"Remember, Harry, while your mind may be in doubt, your heart knows the best," she said solemnly, her clear blue eyes gazing at him intently. "Don't ever stray from the answer your heart gives you." She placed a hand on his chest for a few seconds, then fleetingly touched his stomach – hidden away by a thick jumper and his robes – and then twirled around and walked away without looking back.
"Potter, what was that about?" Snape asked sharply and Harry faced him.
"Eh, she gave me these potions, but she didn't really say what they are supposed to do," he muttered confused and held up the vials in the light.
Snape narrowed his eyes and studied the potions. "Why would Miss Lovegood give you a healing potion meant for deep wounds and the Aconitum Mentis?"
"The Aconitum Mentis?" Harry repeated blankly. He thought he could recognize the Latin word for poison in the name, but that didn't help him with the purpose of the potion.
"It's a complicated potion that is meant to heal the mind of people. The mind usually is attacked by a curse or in rare cases infected with a potion and that potion," Draco nodded towards the thin vial, "will pull all the 'poisonous' elements out of the mind and heal it."
"Huh," Harry muttered and stared at the two vials. Why would Luna give him these specific potions? Did she know something?
If he didn't have a bad feeling about this trip before, he certainly had it now.
After hesitating for a short moment, he opened his bag and carefully slipped the vials inside. He didn't know why Luna had given him those potions specifically, but he trusted her. Besides, carrying two potions wouldn't hurt.
Not long after the small exchange with Luna, Sirius and Remus arrived with grim faces.
After a quick greeting, they silently left the castle and joined Lucius at the gates where they Apparated – or in Harry's case, used the device to transport him.
They appeared in a small alley; a cat rummaging through some garbage cans hissed at them and scuttled away.
When the small group slowly left the alley, they found themselves on a silent street. The street was on the outskirts of the town and the houses looked near the point of crumbling down. The sidewalk contained several cracks and chipped, dirty stones; weed was growing through the cracks. The gutter was littered with empty beer cans, small candy wrappers, half eaten food ... It was obvious that the people living here weren't too keen on keeping their street clean.
The sky was overcast and it was raining softly while a sharp wind whistled, making the dented beer cans softly roll back and forth.
"Lovely street," Sirius commented dryly.
They passed three cars: one with chipped paint and a dented roof; another one didn't have wheels and the third one had a smashed window shield.
The former childhood home of Dumbledore was situated at the end of the street, hidden partly from view by a gnarly, dead tree. The iron mailbox in front of the house contained discoloured leaflets with commercials and something that looked like an old bill.
The house itself was in badly need of repair. The once lovely white painted front door was nearly rotten and several chips of white paint laid on the small doorstep; the window next to the front door had a small hole in it and small pieces of glass littered the sidewalk – as if something had been thrown out of the house (or as if a spell had been aimed at it, Harry thought). The house seemed to contain three floors; one round window was placed the highest and Harry assumed that floor was the attic. The two windows beneath the round one had some small cracks, but were covered by dark curtains.
"All right, everyone ready?" Lucius asked and he casted the house a wary look.
They nodded and – having learnt from their mishap at Potter Manor – Sirius conjured a small stone and threw it on the small doorstep.
Nothing happened.
Keeping their senses on high alert and their wands firmly in their hands, they walked closer to the door. Remus pointed his wand at the door and one muttered spell later, the door silently flew open, revealing a rather large hallway filled with cobwebs and dust.
Remus and Sirius entered the hallway first and once they confirmed that no immediate traps would activate, they waved the others inside.
They looked around, taking in their surroundings. A narrow, wooden staircase was on the right side of the hallway and a small, ratty, dark red carpet was nailed into the wood. There were three rooms on the ground floor; two of them were closed and one didn't have a door. The open one seemed to have served as the living room, because Harry could see the shape of a large couch and what seemed to be a chipped coffee table. A huge mirror was hung up next to the front door (which was closed again by Snape as to not attract the attention of outsiders), but Harry could barely see their reflections in it, because the glass had become very dirty and smudged throughout the years.
Ruby and Mara were sniffing the air and the hair on their back rose up while the fire on their tails started to glow brighter.
"It stinks here," Mara spat and her tail swished agitatedly back and forth.
Ruby agreed. "It smells dark and oppressing."
"Well, that answers the question whether there are traps in the house," Draco murmured and grimaced.
"How are we going to do this?" Harry asked and looked warily at the open room. "The inside looks a lot bigger than I expected."
"Wizard space," Sirius answered. "That's the only explanation. It makes things slightly more difficult."
"Why don't we split up in groups and search through the house for Ravenclaw?" Lucius suggested. "If we stay together, it will take us longer to go through the house and find her. I do not want to waste more time than needed in this place."
Remus grimaced. "I'd rather we don't split up, but it probably will make the search easier."
"Draco and I will search upstairs," Harry offered and eyed the staircase, wondering whether it would hold their weight. Merlin, he hoped so. He had no desire whatsoever to fall through rotten wood.
"We will search this floor first and we'll meet up upstairs if we don't find her here," Snape said; his dark eyes glancing around suspiciously.
Harry and Draco turned around and after casting a spell to check for traps on the staircase – the first step carried a Jelly-Legs Jinx and they avoided that particular step – they slowly made their way upstairs, looking around them in case there was a trap waiting for them. Ruby and Mara were following behind them, their paws making no sound on the creaking steps.
When they arrived on the first floor, Harry noticed a second staircase – which was even smaller than the one they just had ascended – and assumed this one led to the attic.
"What do you think of first checking out the attic?" he asked and eyed the floor warily.
In front of them was a closed room and a small dark blue vase stood next to it on the floor; some dead flower petals strewn around it. The door was hidden partly in the shadows and if they turned the corner they would step into another corridor.
A dusty, golden chandelier hung above their heads, almost completely covered in cobwebs.
"Probably the best," Draco agreed and a spell revealed nothing out of the ordinary on the staircase.
It only took them fifteen steps before they arrived in front of a half closed door. Stale air drifted through the gap and Harry wrinkled his nose.
After confirming that there were no wards around the door or spells attached to the wood, Harry pushed it open with his foot and entered together with Draco and their two pets.
The attic was fairly empty: there were a couple of boxes stacked to the furthest wall and underneath the small window a plastic table was stored with some garden tools thrown on it. A pile of children's toys were lying in the left corner, gathering dust: a couple of dolls with tangled, blonde hair; some colour books; a play mat and even a toy wand.
The floor creaked when they walked further into the room, dodging the cobwebs and some dead rats lying on the floor.
Ruby and Mara were investigating the side near the window while Draco and Harry searched the rest of the attic.
Of course it would have been too easy if they had found the portrait already. Harry stifled a disappointed sigh and turned to Draco.
"I've found nothing. I don't think she's here," he said and took a step towards the door. "Let's go back to the first floor."
Ruby and Mara turned their heads and grunted their acknowledgement.
Draco and Harry were right in front of the open door way when a sudden sound of wind whirling made them turn around.
Ruby and Mara were right in the middle of the floor when a dark yellow shield rose up around them and their growls tore through the barrier before they disappeared in a flash.
"Ruby? Mara!" Harry exclaimed in shock and wanted to rush forwards when his arm was grabbed tightly and he was pulled back.
"Don't go there," Draco snapped and pulled him out of the room.
Harry tried to resist, struggling so that he could go back and try to find out what had happened to their pets. "Let me go! I need to …"
"I know what that spell does," Draco raised his voice and that was enough to make Harry stop struggling.
"What does it do then?"
"That's a Transportation spell," the blond replied grimly and then casted the Colloportus spell on the door, which had swung close. "It doesn't do them any harm; it brings them to another location either in the house or just outside of it."
"But they will be all right?" Harry asked worriedly, glancing back at the closed door.
Draco nodded. "Yes, they will. You know I wouldn't lie about something like that."
Harry calmed down somewhat, though he didn't like the thought of his pets being transported to a place where he couldn't find them immediately.
"Let's go check out the first floor now," he sighed. "Maybe they are there."
With one last look at the closed off attic, they descended the staircase again and started to explore the first floor.

"Let's split up," Lupin suggested and glanced around. "Sirius and I will search the kitchen."
"Severus and I will look in the living room and the room on the other side of the kitchen then," Lucius replied and the group broke apart.
Severus casted a spell on the doorway of the living room. An open doorway did not necessarily mean there were no spells that would activate once they passed through it. The spell couldn't find anything and they entered the room, coming to a standstill.
It was a rather bare room. On their left there stood a large, black couch, big enough to fit three people at least. Some pillows were haphazardly thrown on it and the cloth had darkened due to the dust and grime that had been building up throughout the years. On the opposite of the couch, two armchairs of the same colour stood and the stuffing of the couches was peeling through the seams. Between the couch and the armchairs a chipped coffee table could be found, leaning partly to the ground thanks to a missing leg. A ratty yellowish carpet covered the wooden boards that served as the floor.
Behind the couch there was a window which was partly covered by dark green curtains. A bookcase, still stuffed with books, stood next to the window. The spines of some of the books were broken and none of them appeared to be magical ones. Some trinkets like a porcelain doll stood in front of the books, covered in dust.
When Severus looked ahead, he stiffened and heard Lucius hissing softly through his teeth. Right in front of them was a fireplace; it was grey thanks to the ashes that wasn't swept out of it and a small pile of logs was stacked next to the fireplace.
What caught their attention the most was the portrait hanging above the fireplace.
It was a family portrait – a Muggle created one, as the people in it didn't move or speak. Two boys with large grins on their faces stood in the front with a small girl, who was smiling shyly, next to them. Their parents were standing right behind them; the man's hands were placed on the shoulder of each boy and the woman had placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.
The smile on the man's face was barely visible, but the woman was smiling tenderly.
Looking at the owners of the house, this could only be one family: the Dumbledores.
"Is that …"
Severus nodded. "Yes, that's Albus, together with his brother Aberforth; his sister Ariana and their parents."
Lucius frowned. "Why isn't it a Wizard portrait? Was the mother a Muggle?"
Severus stared contemplatively at the portrait. "No, I believe she was a Muggleborn. I'm surprised this portrait hangs here, though."
"Why?"
"Because Albus told me that they moved here after his father went to Azkaban."
The Potions Master stepped forwards. "I doubt we'll find Ravenclaw's portrait here, but let's search. Knowing the old fool, he could have easily hidden her portrait behind that of his family," he sneered and rolled his eyes.
They went about casting spells on each furniture and slowly covered the entire room. Some minor curses like the Hair Loss curse were dealt with before they went further.
Severus frowned and stared at one of the armchairs thoughtfully. This didn't make sense. The magical wards and curses on the furniture suggested that Dumbledore had returned to the house after Severus had visited him years ago. He knew they hadn't been there when he visited the old man when he was still serving under the Dark Lord. He would have sensed them.
Yet, the man had barely left the school once the Dark Lord had temporarily disappeared. When had he returned here and why had he decided to place all these curses? The presence of them suggested that he had been trying to hide something important or dangerous and this meant that this place was indeed where Ravenclaw was hidden. Had he known somehow that someone would start searching for the Founders? Had he therefore placed as many curses and wards as he could?
Had he expected to have to flee one day?
Severus sighed irritated. He had never tried to understand the way Albus' thought process went – the times he had tried, it had always ended up with him getting a headache from it – but this time it didn't make sense at all.
Had he maybe been planning to …
It was barely audible, but Severus had trained senses, thanks to years of being a spy and his ears picked up the soft whisper and the clicking sound.
He whirled around and snapped, "Lucius, stay back!"
Lucius was standing right in front of the fireplace and without questioning his lover, he jumped back – but not before a dozen sharp knives appeared, rising up from the ashes and shot forwards. They flew at high speed past Severus and he could hear the dull 'thud' sound they made when they landed right into the wall in the hallway.
"Severus …"
The dark haired man turned around quickly and his eyes widened when he caught sight of his lover. Lucius had sunk down on the ground, his jaw clenched while his eyes were closed. His hand was gripping his leg; one of the knives had found its target and had buried itself to the hilt in his thigh. Blood was starting to drip from the wound, colouring his trousers, but ironically the knife was the same thing that was keeping most of the blood still in his body. As soon as the knife was pulled out, blood would start flowing quicker and judging at the place the knife was buried in, Severus feared that it had hit a large vein.
Fuck, this was not what he had thought would happen when he had set foot in this house.
With a loud curse, Severus went towards the blond, but took a detour around the coffee table in case there were more knives waiting to fly towards him if he triggered the trap again.
Lucius had propped himself up against the couch, his leg bent at an awkward angle while his hands were clenched around his thigh. His breathing escaped through his clenched teeth and his breath was quickening in response to the adrenaline that was no doubt flowing through his veins now.
"Did it hit a major vein?" Lucius asked and his eyes glittered while he grimaced from the pain.
Severus bent over the wound and studied it with critical eyes. He had no Healing degree and he briefly considered searching for the wolf, because he recalled him having a Healer's degree. Lupin would probably know best what had to be done, but he wasn't certain whether it would be a good idea to leave Lucius on his own for the time it would take him to search the man. Already the blood was flowing more thickly and Lucius was starting to look even paler than he usually was – whether that was from shock settling in or the blood loss, Severus didn't know.
He had no other choice than to try to heal the other man. Fortunately, during his school years he had been busy creating spells and curses and one of them he had created as response to one of his more severe curses, that being the Sectumsempra spell. He was certain this particular Healing spell would work on this wound, because he had seen it used before on similar wounds.
"All right, I know a spell which will heal this wound," he said and conjured a strip of leather. "I have to pull the knife out, so bite on this, because it's going to hurt more."
Lucius nodded grimly and accepted the leather strip, putting it between his teeth. His hands dropped to the floor and he closed his eyes.
"All right, I'm going to pull out the knife now," Severus warned him and tightly grabbed the hilt of the knife while keeping his wand trained at the wound. In one fluent motion, he pulled out the knife, threw it hastily away and covered the gaping wound with his now free hand while the blood started pouring out of it. "Vulnera Sanentur," he chanted and put his wand on the wound, ignoring the loud hiss that his action evoked.
He repeated the spell three times: the first time made the blood flow slow down so that his lover wouldn't die of blood loss. Only a slight trickle seeped from the open wound now. The second time took care of removing any residue that could have been left behind by the knife and the healing progress started. When he finished chanting for the third time, the wound was knitting close until nothing else remained but an angry red scar.
Severus lowered his wound and took a deep breath, forcing his trembling hands to still.
Almost mechanically, he conjured up a cloth and wiped his hands with it, removing the sticky blood.
"We still need to put some dittany on it to prevent scarring for the rest of your life, but that's something I don't have now," Severus muttered and looked up. "Your leg will feel a bit stiff for at least the upcoming hour, but at least you won't be bleeding to death."
Lucius removed the leather strip and dropped it on the floor. "Thank you," he murmured and in one fluent motion – one that a man whose leg was stabbed and who nearly died of blood loss shouldn't have been able to pull off so smoothly – he leant forwards and kissed the surprised Potions Master.
Severus kissed him back until he couldn't ignore the faint taste of leather anymore and he pulled back with a grimace. "You'll be brushing your mouth before you kiss me again," he sneered and stood up. "I'm not particularly fond of the taste of leather."
"Oh?" Lucius smirked and with some slight difficulty rose up. "Leather is an acquired taste, I give you that. But maybe depending on what the leather is meant for, you could become used to the taste?" he suggested and vanished the leather strip with a quick snap of his wand.
Black eyes stared at him incredulously. "Only you would be able to suggest something as vulgar as that after nearly bleeding to death."
"Nearly," the blond reminded him almost cheekily. "Thanks to you, I didn't and I feel like I should properly repay you for saving my life."
Severus raised an eyebrow and took a step closer to the slightly taller man. "You want to repay me?"
"Of course; a Malfoy always repays his debt after all," Lucius whispered and one of his hands reached out to touch Severus' waist.
"Well then," Severus murmured and leant closer until their lips nearly touched and he could see the pupils in those grey eyes widening. "Keep your blood in this part of your body," he sneered and lightly slapped Lucius' head, making the man rear back in surprise.
"You tease," he said amused.
The other man ignored the comment and motioned towards the hallway. "It's clear we're not going to find Ravenclaw here. Let's check out the room next to the kitchen."
"Let's hope the traps there won't be as severe as the one in here," Lucius muttered and followed the dark haired man into the hallway.
This room was closed off by one magical barrier and a regular lock. It took them some time to bring down the barrier, but once that one was down, the lock was easily blasted out of the door (Severus might have put a bit more power behind the Reductor Curse than was strictly necessary) and they entered the room.
The purpose of the room wasn't clear. It seemed to have been used as some sort of storage room. There were some wooden chairs piled up against the wall and there was a small children's desk present on which some parchment and several broken quills were placed. Some orange coloured boxes were thrown haphazardly underneath the cracked window and they carried some burn marks. One of them was open and it appeared to contain some canned food – Severus had no desire to know the expiration date on those small containers.
Some spiders scuttled away from them when they walked further and Severus had to resist the urge to sneeze when the dust started flying.
"It doesn't look like her portrait is present here," Lucius remarked and casted a spell on the desk. The desk rattled a bit, but nothing else happened.
"Looks can be deceiving," Severus snorted, but inwardly he agreed with the blond.
The room was quite bare – unless the old man had used a Disillusion charm, it wasn't likely that they would find her here.
Still, they searched through the entire room: shoving the chairs aside, looking through the desk, casting charms that would eradicate any Disillusion charm …
While Lucius was still busy on the side with the desk, Severus made his way towards the window … and promptly halted when he glanced at the floor right before the boxes.
The spiders, which had been running away from them, were all lying dead on the floor. One of them was still twitching slightly, before it stilled as well.
That could only mean one thing.
Narrowing his eyes, he casted a Detection spell and a small hiss escaped him when the entire window glowed a bright green. The bright green colour signalled that there was a dark curse put on the window and when he casted a more complicated Detection spell, it revealed what kind of curse was placed on it.
It was the Poisonous Barb curse. This particular curse could only be put on objects or in rare cases on certain parts of a house and it would lay dormant until a living being came too close to it. Then it would reach out like tendrils, wrap itself around the victim and when the poison was absorbed through the skin in the bloodstream, it would feel like barbs were stabbing through the skin until breathing became too difficult and the victim died.
"Did you find something?" Lucius asked curiously.
He turned around to face him and gestured towards the window. "Only a Poisonous Barb curse," he replied with a slight grimace. "You?"
Lucius shook his head. "Nothing, except for some children's drawings and some multi-coloured ink."
"Let's go then. Normally the wolf and the mutt should be done inspecting the kitchen by now," Severus sighed and threw one last look at the window, before shaking his head.
They were nearly out of the door when their ears picked up a peculiar sound. It sounded muffled and it was as if someone was slamming against a door.
Severus and Lucius frowned and shared a look before turning their attention back to the room where the mysterious sound was emanating from, seemingly from underneath the ground.
"What on earth …" Lucius started to say, but was cut off when the sound grew louder until suddenly a part of the floor blasted apart.
Dust and smoke swirled through the air and they hastily covered their noses while keeping their wand and eyes trained on the hole in the ground, wondering whether this was a trap of Albus.
But no, instead of a trap unfolding, two very familiar shapes climbed out of the hole, shaking their enormous bodies to get rid of the dust.
"Mara, Ruby, how the hell did you get there?" Severus snapped and took a step closer to the lion and snow leopard – only to freeze when he took notice of the object glinting between Ruby's big, sharp teeth. "That can't be possible!"

AN2: You've got to love those cliffhangers, right? *coughs and sneaks away* Anyway, before you start asking: the identity of the object that Ruby holds between his teeth will be revealed in chapter 21 - but you can start guessing if you want :) I'll give you a hint: it is used in the books, so it's not like I invented it.
Next time: Sirius learns to think before casting spells and Remus is forced to face his demons from the past. Harry will have his faith in Draco tested and is left wondering whether their love for each other is strong enough to survive the horrors of the house.
See you all in two weeks!
Cuddles
Melissa
- 18
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Survival of the fittest