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Picking Up the Pieces	By : greenwizard11 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Snape/James Views: 13165 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe does not belong to me, ergo, no money is being made from this story.

Chapter List
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Dumbledore stood against the rampart, weakly holding himself up with his good arm. "Draco, you've had quite some time to kill me, yet you haven't. Let me help you."
"I have to do it," Draco repeated, his complexion nearly snow-white. "He told me I have to kill you, or he'll kill me." His wand trembled violently in his hand but he made no move to do anything except look over his shoulder at the door one more time.
Suddenly there was a loud blast from below that made the stones beneath them vibrate from the force of it. Dumbledore let out a soft sigh as he slid a little further toward the ground. "Draco, you don't understand. I was not as unprepared for this as you think." He gave a very quick glance over to where Harry was frozen under his Cloak, so quick that Draco never noticed. "James Potter is in the castle tonight. On that very fateful night Voldemort stepped over his body, assuming him dead, but Voldemort was mistaken. When I arrived I found James gravely injured but alive, mainly due to his sheer tenacity. I took him out of the country and made sure to keep him there. I had him brought to the castle tonight for extra insurance that the castle would be safe. I doubt your companions will survive the night. The only question is what's going to happen when he gets up here. For all his faults, James is a good man, and will protect you if you ask it of him."
"I don't believe you!" Draco cried. "You're trying to put one over on me to save yourself, but it won't work."
He nearly jumped out of his skin when the door burst open and James stepped out, carrying a rather large but invisible bundle. He stood there a moment, taking in the scene. "Well, isn't this precious?" he said sarcastically.
Draco looked like he was about to vomit. He stared in disbelief at the man who bore such a striking resemblance to Harry Potter. "You're him, aren't you? You're really here?"
James rolled his eyes with an amused expression. "And you're the minnow the idiot threw into the shark tank, I take it?" He let what he was carrying fall to the ground and a body seemed to appear out of nowhere, landing on the stone with a thud. Blood seeped out of a deep wound in the dead man's chest and formed a little pool on the stone floor. Draco's whole body heaved and he abruptly deposited the contents of his stomach onto the floor. James had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. "Let me get this straight. You're supposed to kill someone, but the sight of a little blood makes you sick?"
"James, what's all this?" Dumbledore asked, motioning to the dead body. "What are you doing?"
"I needed someone to pin your murder on," James answered. "Oh, yes, I know everything." His tone became a little sharper. "I also know just how far your little games have gone. You told me Harry was safe and happy with the Weasleys. You told me anything you could think of to placate me so I wouldn't try to get out of that slave shackle and kill you myself, but now I know the truth." Draco was completely forgotten for the moment. "You had no right to fuck with peoples' lives!"
"James, you don't understand." Dumbledore's tone was soft and pleading. "Lily sacrificed herself and saved Harry. He had to be with her blood relatives for that protection to be effective."
James snorted. "Shows what you know. It was blood wards that protected Harry that night. See what happens when you think you know everything?"
"<i>Expelliarmus!</i>" Draco shouted, the spell hitting James and causing his wand to fly out of his hand.
James whirled around to face Draco again, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Very ballsy for a little bitch, but do you really think I need a wand to kill you?"
"James, please," Dumbledore pleaded.
"Shut up, old man!" James spat, and he started walking toward Draco. "Your friends aren't coming to save you, Draco, I made sure of that. Now it's just you and me."
Draco stood frozen, fear written all over his features. When he was close enough, James reached out to snatch Draco roughly by the hair and pull him close. With his other hand he reached into his robes and pulled out a small dagger, bringing the blade to Draco's throat. "I'm not Dumbledore," he whispered in a menacing tone right in Draco's ear. "I would have no problem slitting your throat right here."
"James, he's only a boy!" Dumbledore cried, his horror at the scene reflected in his eyes. "I know you're angry with me, and you have every right to be, but please don't do this. Draco has done nothing wrong."
"Don't get your knickers in a twist. I promised Severus I wouldn't kill him, but I couldn't resist playing with him a little," James said, releasing Draco, who stumbled away.
"You spoke to Severus?" Dumbledore looked a little surprised.
"Who do you think told me everything?" James said with a wicked little grin. "There's so much you don't know."
Just then the door opened again and Severus emerged. "We don't have much time. The Order is cleaning up your mess, James, and they're baffled as to who got to the Death Eaters before they did."
"You're right on time, Severus." James walked over to stand by him. "I was just about to tell Dumbledore here our little secret. Maybe I'll show him instead." He reached to run a hand through Severus' hair and leaned up for a tender kiss.
"I don't understand," Dumbledore's eyebrows furrowed.
"James and I are in love," Severus explained. "I know it doesn't make any sense. It began with a Christmas party where we had a little eggnog with our rum, and it kind of snowballed from there. We kept it from you because we didn't think it was any of your business. Lily knew, of course, as did Black and Lupin, but no one else. We decided we might as well tell you now."
"I just have one problem," James said pointing to Draco. "He knows now, too. If we let him live, what's to stop him from blabbing?"
"Draco will keep his trap shut," Severus tried to assure James. "Draco, I'm sure you've been given a taste of James' nature. If anything happens to me because you told on us he will hunt you down and make you beg for death. His promise to me is the only thing keeping you alive right now. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"
Draco nodded furiously. "I...I won't tell anyone. Just please, don't kill me."
James huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine. If you trust him with your life, then I suppose I will, too."
It was then that Severus noticed the corpse spread out on the bloody floor. "James, what did you do?"
"He killed Dumbledore," James pointed to the body.
An amused grin appeared on Severus' lips. "I see. Gods, I missed you. But what am I to tell the Dark Lord?"
"You tell him it was really you, but you felt it best to be able to remain in the Order as a double spy. You're fairly certain they won't disband after this, and it would be wise to continue to keep an eye on them." James reached into a pocket and pulled out a wand, handing it to Severus. "Like you said, we don't have much time."
Severus took the wand and pointed it at Dumbledore, taking a deep breath. "And you're sure you're all right with this?"
James nodded. "You have to. Right now I'm disappointed he's getting off so easy. I'd dearly love to have a go at him after what he did. Keep in mind he robbed us of fifteen years. He brought me here without telling me much, not thinking that I might have killed you had things been different. I might feel differently in time, but right now, I'm okay with this."
"That makes this a little easier," Severus mumbled. "<i>Avada Kedavra!</i>”
A jet of green light hit Dumbledore in the chest and the force of it shoved him backward off the rampart. Severus knelt down and placed the wand in the hand of the dead man with a deep sigh. "I suppose that's it, then."
James nodded. "He made his bed." He took Severus' hand and gave it a little squeeze.
Severus squeezed back. "I need to get Draco out of here before the Ministry gets word. You know what you have to do." He motioned to where Harry was still hidden under the Cloak.
"But I don't...I can't..." James protested. "It's not that I don't want to, I just...."
Severus pushed Draco toward the stairs. "You'll be fine," he said, and he followed the blond boy out.
James turned to where Harry was and took a deep breath. He moved over to the spot and felt around to find the Cloak and pulled it off, revealing Harry still huddled under it, his eyes glazed over in shock. "I...I know your world has just been turned upside down." He reached out to gently place a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions. I'll try to answer them when you feel up to asking. For now, why don't we get you down off this tower?"
Summoning his wand back to him, he guided Harry toward the door. The younger wizard followed direction, staying silent. The halls were dark and deserted as the two moved silently through them. A few blood stains on the floor and walls were the only evidence that anything out of the ordinary had happened at all. James took Harry all the way down to the Hospital Wing, pausing outside the door. "Look, Severus told me everything about the two of you, so I know he isn't your favorite person. I know that what happened tonight was really fucked up. But Severus really does mean a great deal to me. Don't misunderstand, I care very much for you, too; I just—please, keep our secret. Like I said, everything will be explained in due time."
Harry only made a soft grunting noise in response. James kissed his forehead and led him into the Hospital Wing, where a little crowd was gathered. They all looked up as the two entered the room, and Remus' eyes went wide at the sight of James. "This can't be!" he cried.
McGonagall was just as shocked. "What in Merlin's name...."
James helped Harry to a bed and got him settled. "No, you're not seeing a ghost. I'm really here. Very long story."
"We saw him come out of Professor Snape's room." Hermione spoke up, moving to Harry's side. "Who is he?"
"This is Harry's dad," Remus answered. "The one who's supposed to be dead."
"Aren't you glad I'm not?" James gave a small smile. "I've been out of the country because Dumbledore thought that's what was best. He should really be the one explaining, but I have some bad news about him. He actually is dead."
"No!" Remus gasped and sank down into the nearest chair. "You must be mistaken."
"I saw it happen. He wanted me in the castle tonight because he feared something might happen. Anyway, I followed this Death Eater up to the Astronomy Tower. Dumbledore was up there with some boy. I relaxed my guard when I saw him, though he didn't look quite right. From what I gathered, the boy had orders from Voldemort to kill Dumbledore, but he couldn't bring himself to do it so the Death Eater did it. I tried to stop it, but I was a second too late. Severus was right behind me. He's tending to the boy—Draco, he called him. The Death Eater is still up in the tower...Dumbledore fell from the tower and is somewhere on the grounds below. Harry was up there, too, under my old Cloak. He's in a bit of shock—he saw everything."
McGonagall swept out of the room to go investigate. James sat down on one of the beds, wondering how Severus was faring. Voldemort would no doubt be pleased that Dumbledore was dead, though unhappy it wasn't Draco who’d done the deed.
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Picking Up the Pieces