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Well, Ain't That Strange?	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 56074 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 12
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and make no money off this story

Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
Just a reminder of what's on my profile; reviews complaining or whinging about the lack 'o sex in stories will get deleted. If you want a smut-filled romp, you need to find another story to read.

Beta'd by the most amazing Tenchi, who I can't thank enough for all the hard work she does for me!

And thanks to Lynn who works with me when it comes to flow, continuity and other issues.

Chapter 26

After poking his head out of the bathroom to investigate some odd noises and giving an amused snort, Lucius shook his head. Rather than do the traditional birthday spankings, it appeared Sirius had started a new tradition; wrestling around on the bed and tickling while wishing Harry a happy birthday. It was quite amusing and nice to hear Harry laughing over it.
When he finished and came out, he snorted again. It appeared Harry had won, probably through doing something sneaky and underhanded, having Sirius pinned on his stomach, sitting on him. Once he took a seat in his usual chair and glanced at the mail an elf brought with his breakfast, he said, unable to hide the amusement in his voice, “Happy birthday, Harry.”
“Thanks,” Harry said with a winning grin before Sirius finally tossed him off his back.
“Sneaky lil' shite,” Sirius told his godson, pulling him into a hug and kissing him on the side of the head.
“I learned most of that from you, Sirius,” Harry laughed, leaning back against his godfather.
“Yeah, I know. I’m regretting teaching you some of it now, honestly,” Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. “Why don't you go take care of what you need to first, then I'll go.” After Harry nodded then went to the loo, shutting the door behind him, Sirius flopped back, propping himself up on his elbows. As he watched Lucius go through what the elves brought while eating, he asked, “Anything we need to worry about?” He figured the elves had brought in any messages that needed passed with the rest of the junk.
“Nothing dramatic, no,” Lucius told him between bites. “One is from Narcissa. She said the wing of the Manor will be done in a couple of days. They are applying the temporary warding this morning. Which means it'll be in place and functional today. It'll only take a couple of days after that to get it to where we want it.”
“Good,” Sirius nodded. The warding was the biggest of the issues. They could handle most anything else as long as that was up and ready.
As he ate a few more bites of his food, Lucius sorted through the rest of what was there. As he read through the one from the Dark Lord, he nodded. “First, I'm supposed to send off the time the party will start, if we can at all give him one. He wants an idea, though he'll have a few watching and can judge by who shows up. If he is informed, it'll give all of us in the know time to prepare. Secondly, Draco will know to focus on Remus. He said he's made sure to pass that along with Remus' assurances that he won't harm him and whatever is done is just to look good. However, he did say to make sure all of us are aware of what's going on and realize he's pulling every big name in he has, including all of those broken out of Azkaban.”
“I'll make sure Remus and Arthur know,” Sirius assured him with a nod, planning to do that as fast as he could manage. Remus was easy, of course, it was Arthur that was tricky as hell. He'd manage, somehow.
“This morning, Severus is being summoned, well, once the warding is done,” Lucius pressed on. “Several others will also be there while he is. The Dark Lord is going to drop big hints and tell him that he's being called in more often then press for information on what Albus is up to. He's also going to pressure him to get some intelligence on very specific areas. There won't be torture or anything physical, but he'll feel the pressure to produce plenty. That should do what we need nicely.”
“It should help, a lot,” Sirius grinned, knowing what Snape was like after being summoned. Oh yes, that would set him off. Just what they needed as it would take no poking for him to end up snarky about something.
“And he says he will keep it up for at least a week, longer if we need it,” Lucius smirked, setting aside the letter. “Other than that, it's just his reassurances that no one will end up injured unless it's defensive, then only minor. He wants a grand showing to turn up the heat as high as he can get it.”
“Good, we need that, desperately,” Sirius admitted with a sigh, sitting up and scooting to the edge of the bed. “Once we go down to breakfast, I'll see if I can get a lock on the time everyone plans to show up. I know it's this afternoon, but not much more than that.”
“Even an estimate will be most helpful,” Lucius told him. After a glance at Harry, who was coming out of the en suite with nothing but his pants on after his shower, he added, softening his tone, “I'm also supposed to pass along that the Dark Lord says he's sorry if he ruins the party for you. You know what we're trying to accomplish, of course, but he also understands you haven't had much like this in the past.”
“Not a problem,” Harry said, coming to sit down on the bed then starting to pull on his socks. “I get why. Whatever I get out of this will be just fine with me.”
“We'll make it up to you,” Sirius told him, patting him on the back. “Not to worry.”
“As long as this is a step closer to getting us out of this mess, I'm good with it,” Harry said with a grin and a snort, pulling on the rest of his clothes.
“It is that,” Lucius assured him with a nod, going back to eating.
“Anything else?” Sirius asked. When Lucius shook his head, he stood with a groan and said, “Let me go take care of my end now then we'll get our brekky.” After that, he headed towards the bathroom.

“Anything we need to know about?” Sirius asked Remus as he started to dig into his breakfast. He had already filled him in on what Lucius said was coming, so they were all up to speed there.
“A couple of things, yes,” Remus nodded after taking a sip of his tea. “Alastor was already over this morning. He's setting up to keep watch because of all that's happened. So, I do have a time estimate for you on the party. Molly is bringing the brood over about four. We'll eat, have the cake and open presents before giving everyone time to muck around for a while.” Then he smiled and added, “And everyone is bringing their brooms so we can have a pickup game of Quidditch. We thought that would be nice.”
“It will,” Harry said with a smile, looking forward to playing with his friends. He wasn't sure how much time they would get before all hell broke loose, but even some would be fine by him. After all, it would probably be the last time he would be able to see his friends before they vanished.
“We'll have fun,” Sirius told him with a pat on the back.
“We will,” Remus reiterated, smiling himself. “From what I know, we are going to have plenty over, so expect to be bombarded.”
“That's fine too,” Sirius said with a little grin, reaching over to rub Hobbes on the head. He wouldn't get into it beyond that, but Remus would understand what he was going for.
“Oh yes,” Remus said with a small smile. Though he knew no one was in the house but them and they weren't likely to have company, Remus put up a sound proofing ward on the kitchen door just to make sure. When it was in place, he said, “I sent one of the elves off to Arthur to pass along the message about what's coming. They will make sure they aren't seen, of course. So, he won't get blindsided and will help keep everything under control with his family.”
“Good,” Sirius nodded. “It's going to cause enough panic that we don't need Molly set off more than she's bound to be anyway.”
“Very true,” Remus agreed. Then he added, sighing, “There is something else you need made aware of, Sirius. Albus was over before you came down this morning and I heard part of his newest scheme because I'm involved.”
Not liking the look on Remus' face at this, Sirius asked, tone highly wary, body tense, “What's going on?” A glance at Harry and Hobbes showed the two of them were paying close attention as well. No, this wouldn't be something he would like, that's for damned sure!
“I think Albus is trying to find a way to get Harry into the castle for the semester and it's one that would look mighty odd if you turned it down, Sirius.” Remus told him softly, shaking his head.
“What in the hell did that old man come up with now?” Sirius asked, tone a low snarl. He already didn't like that there was probably a big spanner about to get tossed into their plans. Because he was sure that's what was coming with this.
“Albus asked me about taking on the job of being Harry's tutor for homeschooling. His thought was, since you've been cleared and the war is gearing up, that he would hire you to be in charge of security for the castle. Argus is tending to that now, but he thought you would do better because you were an Auror. He then mentioned giving the two of you one of the towers to stay in.”
“Oh, hell no,” Sirius snarled, hearing Hobbes do the same. “That is not happening! It's just a way to get Harry back into that damned castle and under his thumb for whatever deranged plans he has for this nightmare.”
“I agree wholeheartedly,” Remus nodded. “Just stay calm, Sirius,” he soothed, making a placating motion with his hand. “Now you know, so the three of you can deal accordingly.” Eyes shifting to Hobbes, who was snarling, looking angry, he added with a sigh, “Hobbes needs to stay with Harry at all times I think, especially if you're not around. If neither of you agree to this, especially Harry, it's going to end up looking mighty odd.”
“Fuck,” Sirius muttered, listening to Hobbes snarl. After scrubbing a hand over his face, he said, “Yeah, at least we got a heads up for this. We'll come up with something, don't worry. How? Not sure, but we will.”
“I would say avoid him all you can, Sirius,” Remus schooled, looking at his oldest friend. “The more you avoid, though make it look like you aren't, the more time you're going to buy yourself.”
“We need to do that,” Sirius nodded. With a sigh, he looked at Harry then told him, “Don't let that old man get you alone whatever you do. I don't care. Even like today when he's around, find something else to do. We'll see what we can come up with to keep him busy. I don't know.”
“As soon as we're done talking, I'll get a message to the Dark Lord about setting this off when Albus shows up, or shortly after,” Lucius told both of them telepathically, his voice a low snarl. He didn't like what he was hearing either, as it would look decidedly strange if Sirius told the old goat no. “Let him see what he can manage. That and to poke Severus with it in some way. If we do that, we might be able to set this on fire faster and get out.”
Relaying that to Remus, Sirius nodded. “We'll do that and see what we can manage.” With a heavy sigh and a groan, he breathed, “Bloody hell, we do not need this.”
“Let's see how fast we can push to get you out, Sirius,” Remus told him. “Maybe make the goal a week to accomplish it. If everyone is under pressure, tempers will end up plenty short. The shorter the tempers, the more apt someone is to set you off. That might be the way to handle the situation, honestly.”
“Tell him I'll send the message to see what the Dark Lord can do on that end,” Lucius sighed, curling up to the stressed out Harry. “He'll manage in some way.”
“That's a good way to go about this,” Sirius said after passing the message to Remus. “We'll find something, somewhere, to manage. Let's see.”
“Just let me know what you plan then I'll help all I can. I'm sure that it's the same for Arthur as well,” Remus told him with a sigh himself, shaking his head at what Albus was trying. “We just need you out, nothing more. While I won't like what it'll cause in the aftermath, it's for the best.”
“We'll probably need some help and I'll make sure,” Sirius assured him. After pushing his plate away, he held Harry close then grinned, trying to lighten the mood, “When we go flying, I say you take Hobbes with you. I'm sure he'd like all those stunts you do.”
Harry laughed when the cat shot Sirius a deadly look and hissed at him. “I'll take that as he doesn't want to.”
“That was real clear there, wasn't it?” Sirius chuckled, reaching out to rub the cats head. “He can cozy up to Remus while we do dangerous bits in the air. That way he doesn't get his fur all ruffled.”
“You're still deranged, Sirius,” Remus said, shaking his head and looking amused. “He can stay with me where it's nice and safe on the ground.”
Though he was joking around with Harry and trying to make light of all that was coming, he was uptight and pissed, knowing what this was about to set off. It was just his way of handling the mounting stress and trying to keep Harry calm. He hoped it would work at least a little, because the closer it would draw to the time of the party, the more stressed both of them would be. All he had to do was make sure it didn't show. If it did, questions might end up being asked that none of them wanted to answer or make someone wonder after the events.

“It's big, Albus, that's all I know. The hints I told you about lead me to think he's planning something large scale. Then there is the information he's pressing me to not only give up, but get out of you. I don't like this,” Severus said, pacing in front of the chair Albus was seated in. As he thought it over, he stopped and looked at the aging Headmaster then told him, “I don't have any idea what it could be, either. The hints aren't enough to piece it together. At least for me. Do you have any idea on your end?”
As he tried to connect the dots between what Severus said and what he knew, Albus twiddled his thumbs. After a few minutes, he sighed then admitted, “I don't either. I don't know, Severus. We need more information to suss it out. The fact that he is focusing on Grimmauld Place, Privet Drive and the Burrow makes me think it's a strike against Harry in some way, but that's all I have. After all, those are the residences that Harry is known to stay at.”
“This is true,” Severus admitted with a nod, mind working over the hints he picked up at the summons that day. “I'm assuming to set Potter off and draw him out once more. Has Potter reported any visions at all? I do understand he would be wary after that debacle this spring and that the Dark Lord is Occluding, but that's all I can come up with.”
“No, not that I know of. Let me get with Sirius to find out. He's said nothing about it and knows to stay alert for such instances,” Albus told him, planning to do just that. “Let's see what else you can bring us. More clues are needed to put the puzzle together.”
“I'll see what I can gather,” Severus sighed, not sure what he could manage. The Dark Lord was quite tight lipped over so much that he just had to judge by the questions asked what it might mean. This was big, however, very big. The people at the meeting this morning were the biggest names there were, aside from Lucius. As Lucius kept tabs on bits at the Ministry, he assumed he was tending to that task as it wasn't odd for him not to be at meetings during daytime hours.
“How much do you want me to give up, Albus? He's asking very pointed question about quite specific areas, none of which we want him to know about,” Severus inquired after a few moments of silence.
“Like always, I'm going to tell you to use your initiative and judgment. You know best what might get us the information we need,” Albus told him softly, mind still working over the issue. He was quite off-kilter about the whole mess, not sure what to do or which route to go.
While Severus scowled, not liking that he had no hint what to do, he understood what the old man meant. After all, he was the one at the meetings and could best judge what information might give up the tidbits that they desperately needed to add to the puzzle.
“Have you come up with any way feasible to get Black and Potter into the castle for the term? With them focusing on Grimmauld Place, we need those two out of there,” Severus finally said after listening to the clock tick loudly in the quiet room for several very long moments.
“I'm going with what we mentioned about security. Sirius should accept that. While my normal contacts on the Board are wary about his reputation, I can manage. It'll just take me time. My plan is to bring the suggestion up to Sirius today while at Harry's birthday party. It's my thought that it won't take too much talking to get him moving the way we need. Once Harry is in the castle, we can breathe a bit easier. While it won't be over, it'll make it far simpler to protect him until we can work out the issues we have.” Albus explained.
For once, Severus had to agree with Albus. With a short nod, he told him, “Keep me filled in. You never know when I can use the information.”
“But of course, my boy,” Albus agreed with a nod. He planned to. Though Severus might have to give up plenty, he would get what they desperately needed in the end. That's all that mattered, honestly. They couldn't win this war without the information only he could provide.

“Everyone is ready, are they not?” Tom asked, pacing before his desk. His glamour was already on and he was in his normal 'Voldemort' robes. Everyone that would be on this mission was already here and waiting, what he needed.
Once he heard the normal assurances, he said, “First, Draco,” seeing the youngest Malfoy, though not Polyjuiced yet, look at him, he pressed on, “Lupin has given his assurances you won't be injured. Focus on him. Let us tend to the others.”
“Of course, my Lord,” Draco said with a nod, heart already hammering from the excitement of his first real mission.
“We have a possible spanner coming from that direction, so we're having a slight shift in plans. Those I have watching the park are going to let us know when Albus shows up. If they don't see him, one of the elves in residence at Grimmauld Place will notify us when he arrives. Once he makes an appearance, we'll launch our plan. We need him as off-kilter as we can get him and to keep up the pressure. If that means we have a mission each day of some sort, we do that. Until Lucius, Black and Potter are out, we tighten the screws. I know all of you here are more than capable of tending to the task. That's what we need.”
Waiting for the normal assurances, he then walked everyone through what they wanted to do so that it would be almost automatic when the time came. The more prepared they were, the better off they would be with as little time as they had to put this together.

Though a bit sheepish over the mound of presents spread all over the table in the back yard, Harry adored everything he received. Though he knew what was coming, it was shoved back by the fun he was having so far.
Sure, his friends were all around, something he adored, but so were plenty of others. To him, it seemed as though almost all the Order members were around for not only the meal and cake, but plenty of them brought their brooms so they could play. There were far more than needed for teams, so it would end up most interesting.
Arm slipping over Harry's shoulders as his godson petted Hobbes after giving him some more of the food that was left on his plate, Sirius grinned. “You got a good haul, didn't you?”
Once more looking around at the mass of gifts, everything from a new broom from Sirius, to clothes, goop for his hair, a razor, books, you name it, he then grinned sheepishly and nodded. “I did. I don't think I've ever received this much on my birthday before. And it's all bits I not only needed but love!” That was true, too. It seemed like he not only received a whole new wardrobe of clothes, both Muggle and Wizard, but hygiene stuff he hadn't had before. Then there was the new broom from Sirius. It was great!
As the back door opened, Sirius looked up and gave an internal sigh. It was Albus. All he hoped was the other side would put in a showing damned fast so that he didn't have to deal with the old man or have him start down the road talking about the idea he had. No, it wasn't a corner he wanted himself in.
After taking a seat with a tired groan, Albus looked around at the mass of gifts all over then took a piece of cake from Molly. “Well, Harry, it looks as though you had a good birthday, doesn't it?” Once more scanning around, he saw the large collection of brooms lined up by the door then chortled, “And will have a lot of fun soon.”
“Oh yes,” Harry grinned, picking up his new broom and checking it over. The newest model of Firebolt. Leave it to Sirius to get him the best there was. Showing it to Hobbes, who was busy glaring at Dumbledore, he petted the cat softly, feeling like he could deal with whatever as long as Lucius stayed in his lap, he said, “I'm going to have fun on this. What do you think, Hobbes?” As always, he heard a loud meow in response, something that made him grin.
“What do you say he comes over here. I'll make sure to continue the spoiling by feeding him what's on your plate. That way you can get in the air and try it out, Harry,” Remus told him with a soft chuckle in his voice.
Harry was about to shift the cat to Remus so he could fly a bit, when Professor Moody, Tonks and Kingsley came out. All of them were pale and looking determined. Stiffening up, knowing it was time, he looked at the three, waiting.
“Albus, we need everybody you can muster. We have company in the park. One of them is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself.”
At the mention of that name, the panic and shouting started, with people scrambling to get ready for what was coming.
Face grave, Albus stood then began barking out orders. No, this wasn't good, at all, and he needed to tend to it, fast. Once he had jobs delegated, he swept to the front of the house, planning to take on Tom and whatever deranged plans he had.
Watching everyone go, though Sirius stayed behind with Molly and Arthur to keep watch on him and the others his age, Harry petted Hobbes. Well, at least it worked. So far anyway. He just hoped that no one ended up hurt in the confrontation.
With a sigh, he picked up Hobbes and held him close while Sirius and Mr. Weasley tried getting everyone calmed down, making sure no one took it in their heads to go see about helping. They were now a step closer to getting out. That was all that mattered to him.
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Well, Ain't That Strange?